Wheelchair or Scooter on the Enchantment of the Seas

[cwo4wife]

Are there more wheelchairs on the Enchantment of the Seas or more Scooters.?I have a hard time walking distance and I am unsure which to rent for our 4 night/5 day Cruise to the Bahamas.

[DonnasMom&Dad]

Are there more wheelchairs on the Enchantment of the Seas or more Scooters.?I have a hard time walking distance and I am unsure which to rent for our 4 night/5 day Cruise to the Bahamas.

 

I wouldn't worry about how many wheelchairs/scooters are on board, if you need it, rent it. ;)

 

Make sure it fits through the door, and there is room in your cabin, the renters will help you choose

 

Cato :)

[cwo4wife]

Thanks Donna's Dad

 

I wouldn't worry about how many wheelchairs/scooters are on board' date=' if you need it, rent it. ;)

 

Make sure it fits through the door, and there is room in your cabin, the renters will help you choose

 

Cato :)[/quote']

[mutzy]

I was on the enchantment in 2012 and had a jr suite. there was plenty of room in the cabin for a scooter. you had to be careful getting thru the door but it is doable.

[xxoocruiser]

Are there more wheelchairs on the Enchantment of the Seas or more Scooters.?I have a hard time walking distance and I am unsure which to rent for our 4 night/5 day Cruise to the Bahamas.

 

RCCL does not rent scooter or wheelchairs on board any of there ships. So if by your question you're trying to determine which is more readily available on board to be rented the answer is neither . If it pertains to what passengers are using more of than no one can say for certain because passengers change with every cruise as do passenger needs. Any cruise I've been on there's been a mix of both being used.

 

If you're area able to safely operate a scooter and would like independence than a scooter may be the best option for you. An electric Wheelchair is also a rental option and would offer the same independence as a scooter but you might find operating the joy stick control to be tricky. A manual wheelchair will be exhausting if you currently do not use one and don't have the upper body/arm strength to operate it may require someone to be with you to push it.

 

RCCL's approved rental vendors

 

http://www.carevacations.com

 

http://www.specialneedsatsea.com

[KathyHKidd]

I have cruised on Enchantment perhaps a half dozen times. I usually travel with my own scooter and a backup walker, although now that I'm paralyzed I guess it will be a backup wheelchair till my feet come back. Scooters and wheelchairs are about 50/50 on the ship. It's a matter of personal preference.

 

Scooters only fit in the rooms with great difficulty on the Enchantment, so usually they are parked outside the rooms in the hall. It's a pain in the neck for everyone concerned, but the cruisers are usually really nice about it.

 

Although RCCL does not rent wheelchairs or scooters, you can rent them as mentioned in the above post. They will be waiting in your cabin, which means you have to make it to your cabin first. (This is a HUGE challenge in Baltimore, and I'm sure it is in other ports.) But once you and your scooter/wheelchair are united, you will have a lovely cruise.

 

Kathy

[xxoocruiser]

 

Scooters only fit in the rooms with great difficulty on the Enchantment, so usually they are parked outside the rooms in the hall. It's a pain in the neck for everyone concerned, but the cruisers are usually really nice about it.

 

 

 

Kathy

 

Personally have never found it difficult to store a Portable Scooter in a standard cabin whether it be on the Enchantment or any other ship. More often than not scooters are left in the hallways because the individual does not what to attempt to get the scooter into the cabin or that the scooter is a full size scooter that doesn't fit through a standard cabin door in which case the person should have booked an accessible cabin.

 

Storing scooters in the hallways is actually a safety violation and hallways must be devoid of all such equipment in the event of an emergency. So unless some one reports this being done to ships Security often RCCL's housekeeping staff just ignores the issue because they choose not to be the bad guy in the matter.

 

Being disabled and being impaired from safely moving through the hallways with my mobility aids because someone has chosen to store their scooter in the hallway impairing the safety of others including able bodied individuals, I for one have no problem contacting ship's security to have the scooter in question removed from the hallway. After all RCCL clearly states on its website that "Assistive devices including mobility scooters must be stored and recharged in your stateroom so fire doors, corridors and elevator lobbies are kept clear for emergency evacuation"

[MedicKen]

Scooters and wheelchairs need to be kept in the cabin and out of the hallways, unless in use. They block exit in case of emergency and also for other users of mobility devices. AND there is no place to charge the battery in the halls. So, if you need a scooter or non-foldable wheelchair might I suggest an accessible cabin. If this is the case book early as there are not that many on the ship. We have sailed Enchantment twice and found it very accessible to my wife and her scooter. As a matter of fact the only RCI ship we've found, that was quite difficult was Grandeur of the Seas.

 

When we are able to drive to the port (Bayonne or Baltimore) we take my wife's scooter with us. When we have to fly we rent one from one of the approved vendors. They will take care of you and have the equipment waiting for you in your stateroom. RCI provides assistance with wheelchairs to board and depart the ship at the home port.

 

Have a great cruise.

[KathyHKidd]

Personally have never found it difficult to store a Portable Scooter in a standard cabin whether it be on the Enchantment or any other ship. More often than not scooters are left in the hallways because the individual does not what [want?] to attempt to get the scooter into the cabin or that the scooter is a full size scooter that doesn't fit through a standard cabin door in which case the person should have booked an accessible cabin.

 

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Alas, my scooter is full-sized. I have tried mightily to get my scooter inside the Enchantment's staterooms, with absolutely no success. I am not a thoughtless oaf, despite any inference to the contrary.

 

As for, "in which case the person should have booked an accessible cabin," all I can do is shake my head. There are exactly six inside accessible cabins on the Enchantment. I book my cruises nearly a year in advance, and I call every single week to see if one of those cabins has been vacated. I guarantee you, it's not as easy as just calling up and making a reservation.

 

I hoped that with the refitting of the Enchantment there would be more handicapped staterooms created, but that was not the case. All I have been able to do is to book my staterooms near an elevator so I can park the scooter in an area that is out of the way and still close to my cabin. Other cruisers in scooters do not go to the trouble that I do to keep their scooters out of the way, but that's life.

 

As the cruising population ages, I see this problem getting more and more severe. I am not sure what the solution will eventually be.

 

Kathy Kidd

[xxoocruiser]

Alas, my scooter is full-sized. I have tried mightily to get my scooter inside the Enchantment's staterooms, with absolutely no success. I am not a thoughtless oaf, despite any inference to the contrary.

 

As for, "in which case the person should have booked an accessible cabin," all I can do is shake my head. There are exactly six inside accessible cabins on the Enchantment. I book my cruises nearly a year in advance, and I call every single week to see if one of those cabins has been vacated. I guarantee you, it's not as easy as just calling up and making a reservation.

 

I hoped that with the refitting of the Enchantment there would be more handicapped staterooms created, but that was not the case. All I have been able to do is to book my staterooms near an elevator so I can park the scooter in an area that is out of the way and still close to my cabin. Other cruisers in scooters do not go to the trouble that I do to keep their scooters out of the way, but that's life.

 

As the cruising population ages, I see this problem getting more and more severe. I am not sure what the solution will eventually be.

 

Kathy Kidd

 

Know that I too am disabled and use a mobility scooter so I'm really not being insensitive when having made the statement "in which case the person should have booked an accessible cabin,".

 

Even though you believe that you're being considerate by parking the scooter by the elevator it doesn't negate the fact that by doing so you are still not complying with RCCL's safety policy which states "Assistive devices including mobility scooters must be stored and recharged in your stateroom so fire doors, corridors and elevator lobbies are kept clear for emergency evacuation" This is not a policy exclusive to RCCL cruise ships rather it's a requirement of SOLAS that all cruise ships are required to enforce.

 

A standard cabin doorway is 23" from frame to frame . Unfortunately the cruise line doesn't tell you that 2" has to than be ducted due to the depth of the door as it does not close flush to the wall leaving a clearance of only 21 ". Only portable travel scooters will fit through a 21" clearance some even have to have the arm rests removed to do so.

 

Re: more accessible cabins. Don't count on more accessible cabins being retrofitted on any cruise ship. After all cruise lines are all about revenue and for every accessible cabin the cruise line looses the revenue of one standard cabin as an accessible. I believe that the only cruise ship built that had to comply with the minimum calculations of accessible cabins vs. non-accessible cabins under ADA Law is NCL's pride of America which is registered to the USA and sails under the USA Flag. Again it needs to be stressed that NCL only had to comply with the minimum number as best.