Wheelchair for Port Area

[Susa]

We're traveling with my 70+ inlaws and have reserved a wheelchair for the ship. My mom-in-law can't walk a long time but in cabin she'll be fine. PROBLEM: Will we be able to take the chair off the ship?

Also I haven't found shore excursions that don't require much walking. We'll be on 10-day X Century in Jan. to Aruba, Ocho Rios, Costa Rica ans Panama (Limon)

[DELTABLUE]

If you are referring to reserving a wheelchair from the cruise line, it will probably only be available for use on the ship, and maybe, only for use to get on and off the ship. To guarantee that you have a chair available for her use full time it is best to bring your own manual chair. This can be rented and delivered to, and retrieved from,your cabin on the ship for you. Another possibility is to rent one at home before you leave and take it along with you. If you rent, request a lightweight chair. ;) This will be easier for you to manage and to throw into a taxi trunk, if you do any sightseeing in ports. Another possibility is to rent a scooter for use on the ship. This will allow your Mom more independent movement on the ship, so that she does not require assistance to go wherever she wants, whenever she wants. ScootAround is one source that provides this service.

If your Mom has mobility problems and can only manage short distances, she will require some means of transportation for use on the ship, full time. The ships are huge and you always seem to need to go from one end to the other. A chair/scooter will allow her to fully enjoy her cruise and make things easier all around. Hope this helps.

[DEL67]

A few ideas for "excurrions" that do not take much walking.

 

Aruba - An island tour would probably be best. There are usually plenty of vans outside the pier that offer tours.

 

Ocho Rios - Again a van tour of the area would probably be best. The tours usually go to Fern Gully, a hotel with gardens (probably too much walking) and shopping. Most also go to Dunns River Falls, but I would try to find one that does not as your mother-in-law would have to wait for everyone else to climb the falls.

 

Limon - The Tortuguero Canal tour would work. The only walking is from the bus to the boat and back to the bus. The boat sits about 20 people on bench seats and although we did not see a lot of animals, it was pleasant out on the water. Take binolculars if you go because it was hard to see the monkeys and sloths without them.

 

Panama - There are several choices here. I've been on two: the Panama City tour and the aerial tram. The Panama City tour did not have a lot of walking. The aerial tram, which I enjoyed, had some, but not a lot of walking. We stopped at a hotel in an ecological area for a drink, then went to their butterfly farm, reptile house and acquarium, all of which are compact and close together. Then we went up the mountain on the tram. Once there we went to the top of an observation tower. The tower would be the problem. It would be too much for your mother-in-law to walk. It is ramped so you could push her up in a wheelchair, but it would be hard work. I have not been on them, but I would assume the boat trip through the canal or the train between two oceans would also work.

[kitty9]

I have found that the wheelchairs they have on board the ship, for emergency purposes only, aren't in the best of shape. You said you reserved a chair for the ship, do you mean you have rented a chair and it will be delivered to the ship and then picked up after the cruise is finished? Cruise lines don't reserve wheelchairs on board the ship---only for use getting on and off the ship at the beginning and end of the cruise. They do not provide chairs to passengers unless there is an on board emergency and you need one at some time during the cruise. Plus, they have precious few wheelchairs on board the ship. According to their brochures and websites, passengers are expected to provide their own wheelchairs/scooters while on board the ship.

 

As for excursions, in Panama the Railway tour to Panama City is completely accessible and very comfortable. My mom and I (we're both disabled) were able to easily do this trip and loved it.

 

In Aruba, we just walked around the town on our own. We've been to most of the islands and after a while, they all look alike, so we just like taking our time and walking around the areas near the dock.

[Susa]

I called again to confirm that we will have a wheelchair reserved and our TA verified that we would have it throughout the cruise on the ship and off. This is Celebrity I am referring to.

I'll call them myself to inquire. Thanks!

[kitty9]

Susa, the reason I said this about the chairs is because a friend of mine, who was cruising on Celebrity Summit, tried to get one of their on board chairs for his use and was told no, we cannot give out chairs, you have to bring your own.

[DEL67]

Susa:

 

Most cruise lines will no longer commit to letting you have a chair for the entire cruise. Regardless, even if they do, I would not count on it. I used to request one because my husband uses a power chai r aboard ship, but a manual one in port and I did not want to travel with 2 chairs. On one occaision, the only available wheelchairs were broken and I had to take pieces of several to create on , passable one. The other time they reneged on their promise to provide a chair because other people who needed chairs for embarkation kept the chair for the entire cruise (we did not need it because he used the power chair.) Now we travel with 2 chairs.