Cruising with my disabled aunt - opinions needed

[cruise_bunnies]

Dear fellow cruisers,

 

My aunt has severe Parkinson and sits in an electric wheelchair. She can hardly use her hands so she needs a lot of aid. We have done holidays with her, once in Benidorm, Spain in an assisted facility, meaning she would have somebody to shower her, help during the night and be able to continue her physical therapy. We have also done Germany, where she said she really wanted to go, in a wheelchair accessible room and with somebody to come in and shower her. That wasn't so good, because the room was very hard to navigate in and there was no in-room alarm, so I had to check up on her several times during the night. Our room was the closest, which was a floor up. That was exhausting, but worth it.

 

Now we are thinking: why don't we cruise? I saw that the HC cabins are very roomy, usually have in room alarms or the possibility to be next door, we have everything on board (food, entertainment, HC toilets) and she can always rest if it's too much. I'd have to shower her, but, the trade off is that I can rest and she can rest whenever needed and it should be rather relaxing as she wouldn't want to do excursions.

 

She loves Spain, but mostly Valencia/Palma de Mallorca/Benidorm area, so I've looked at a few cruises that go there. We'd prefer not to fly if at all possible, but that was harder then I thought. I narrowed it down to 3 possibilities:

 

Possibility 1: HAL, 11 days, Rotterdam-Barcelona, September 2015

Possibility 2: HAL, 15 days, Rotterdam-Rotterdam, September 2014

Possibility 3: Aida Cruises, 3 or 4 days, Palma de Mallorca - Palma de Mallorca, June or September 2014

 

What would you recommend and is there a cruise line that I overlooked that goes into that area or something I should be mindful of traveling with her by cruise ship.

 

cruise_bunnies

Edited May 26, 2014 by cruise_bunnies

[dorisis]

Not all HAL cabins are true accesable cabins. Be sure to check that whatever you choose will suit your needs.

[cruise_bunnies]

Not all HAL cabins are true accesable cabins. Be sure to check that whatever you choose will suit your needs.

 

I thought that everything on the deckplan that is marked HC is handicapped accessible? I've been in places before where it was really bad, so if you could be more specific that would be great :)

 

If we take HAL, we will only be taking the wheelchair that can be folded with us, so we don't expect space trouble.

 

cruise_bunnies

[Ians Grandma]

The modified HC cabins have a step into the bathroom. I travel with my son who uses a chair full time. We had a modified HC once which was very difficult for him. We have had large HC cabins but sometimes they have been quite small. Its hard to know until you get there. The newer the ship the better as far as HC rooms go.

[cruise_bunnies]

The modified HC cabins have a step into the bathroom. I travel with my son who uses a chair full time. We had a modified HC once which was very difficult for him. We have had large HC cabins but sometimes they have been quite small. Its hard to know until you get there. The newer the ship the better as far as HC rooms go.

 

Wait.. what? Why would you put a step into the bathroom? That's just ridiculous. That reminds me of the stupid large chair that was in our HC room and the narrow little hallway in the middle of the room (because of closets) so you couldn't even get into the bathroom when we were in Germany. Ugh. They should stick the people who build HC rooms/cabin into them and see how they like it.

 

A HC G and HC E room were still available for the sailing I selected. Do you have any idea if it has a step or not?

 

I'm so sorry you have had to deal with this and your son had a difficult time. Thank you for helping out.

 

cruise_bunnies

[xxoocruiser]

Wait.. what? Why would you put a step into the bathroom? That's just ridiculous. That reminds me of the stupid large chair that was in our HC room and the narrow little hallway in the middle of the room (because of closets) so you couldn't even get into the bathroom when we were in Germany. Ugh. They should stick the people who build HC rooms/cabin into them and see how they like it.

 

A HC G and HC E room were still available for the sailing I selected. Do you have any idea if it has a step or not?

 

I'm so sorry you have had to deal with this and your son had a difficult time. Thank you for helping out.

 

cruise_bunnies

 

HAL has both Wheelchair Accessible Cabin and Modified Accessible Cabins. The reason being is that not all people need a zero threshold bathroom entrance nor do all people use mobility aids often what's needed is only a shower seat and or grab bars. Therefore since Fully Accessible Cabins are limited and not to have to go through the expense of a costly retro fit HAL took some standard cabins and added a few additional features to the bathrooms in an effort to leaving the fully accessible cabins open for those that need them.

 

Wheelchair Accessible Stateroom Features are:

• Wider entrance and bathroom doors that can accommodate a wheelchair/mobility scooter.
• Zero threshold roll-in showers with grab bars, fold down seat and hand held shower nozzles
  
• Lower closet and towel rods
  
• Generally speaking with specific regards to HAL, it's wheelchair accessible cabins are not really all that larger than the non-accessible cabin in the same category. There's just less furniture to accommodate mobility equipment.
  

 

Modified Accessible Staterooms

• Standard width doors for both entrance and bathroom that generally will not accommodate a wheelchair and will only accommodate mobility scooters that are 19" in width or less.
  
• Step up into the bathroom
  
• Shower is not zero threshold as it has a pan base that has a 4'-5" edge that the person has to step over.
  
• Additional grab bars in bathroom
  

 

HAL's deck plans generally state if the a cabin is either Wheelchair Accessible or Modified Accessible. Website information is not always accurate so if it were me I'd contact HAL to make certain that the staterooms you're considering are not Modified Accessible.

Edited May 26, 2014 by xxoocruiser

[cruise_bunnies]

xxoocruiser, thank you for making it clear :) I will call again later, but first we need to discuss with the family who is coming, who can come, who wants to come and who pays what.

 

I had asked to keep my aunt out of the loop until we have a good proposal, but of course my mum didn't listen. Now she's asking my mum when she's going to go sailing. Hahaha! At least since I didn't say anything, she's not asking me :D

[Splinter]

Who helps your aunt at home? Does she have an aide who helps her? Could that person travel with her as her roommate and attendant? If you pay the person's way, they may be willing to travel with her. That way she would not need to be alone at night, when she might need help to get to the toilet, etc. and you wouldn't have to be the only person who can help her.

Edited May 27, 2014 by Splinter

[cruise_bunnies]

Who helps your aunt at home? Does she have an aide who helps her? Could that person travel with her as her roommate and attendant? If you pay the person's way, they may be willing to travel with her. That way she would not need to be alone at night, when she might need help to get to the toilet, etc. and you wouldn't have to be the only person who can help her.

 

She has several aides. Some of them have traveled with her in the past. At the moment, none want to travel with her. I understand, as it's exhausting and she can be very demanding. Also, they are losing money even their way is paid, as they have other clients too, but they won't be working for them. For us, it's a labor of love, so different.

 

She can move to the toilet more or less unassisted if she has her electric wheelchair there, but I don't think getting it on board would be smart.

 

I don't mind being the only one there to help her, we've done it before. Some other family might want to join in so that would help too. I don't think I'm underestimating the amount of work, but most of the things that were very difficult for me, where putting her in and out of the car and not having adequate facilities. It's very stressful to have her use a normal toilet, I'm always afraid that she will fall.

Edited May 27, 2014 by cruise_bunnies

[dorisis]

She is a lucky lady to have someone as thoughtful and caring as you.

[cruise_bunnies]

She is a lucky lady to have someone as thoughtful and caring as you.

 

Thank you for your kind words Doris :o *blushing here*

I think I'm the lucky lady having the opportunity to have her in my life still and to be able to travel with her :)

 

cruise_bunnies

[Splinter]

I am concerned about her being in a cabin by herself. I take it from your discussion above that you will not be sharing the cabin with her. How will she get help at night to go to the bathroom, for example?

 

The emergency call bell in HAL is in the bathroom (not at the bedside) and summons a cabin attendant, but they will not assist with personal care or transfers.

 

Not sure why you would not take her power wheelchair with her. This would give her more independence. My mother used a power wheelchair too, and we took that as well as a manual wheelchair for all of our cruises.

[kellanrevere]

What about adjoining cabins ?

[cruise_bunnies]

I am concerned about her being in a cabin by herself. I take it from your discussion above that you will not be sharing the cabin with her. How will she get help at night to go to the bathroom, for example?

 

Right now she lives home alone and she doesn't get help at night to go to the bathroom and she still manages. When I travel with her, either she has a night nurse she can call or I will wake up every night, to make sure she can go to the bathroom. Mostly because I'm paranoid, not because she really needs it. I forgot to write that with her normal wheel chair, she also manages it to the toilet. I can see where your concern is coming from.

 

The emergency call bell in HAL is in the bathroom (not at the bedside) and summons a cabin attendant, but they will not assist with personal care or transfers.

 

They don't need to, they just need to get me. She has a personal alarm I wanted to take, but bf reminded me it's call activated, so it will cost a fortune if she uses it. We are thinking now on taking either a baby monitor or walkie-talkies.

 

Not sure why you would not take her power wheelchair with her. This would give her more independence. My mother used a power wheelchair too, and we took that as well as a manual wheelchair for all of our cruises.

 

Because it doesn't give her more independence. We've seen before that she has a lot of trouble navigating through smaller places, she gets tired in it easily and we will be on a ship with loads of people. Whenever we go to crowded places she prefers her normal wheel chair and us to push her.

 

The problem is mostly that her hands are useless and she can't walk long distances, but she can stand up, walk at least 20 paces and do some other things independently.

 

cruise_bunnies

Edited May 30, 2014 by cruise_bunnies

[cruise_bunnies]

What about adjoining cabins ?

 

Sadly, the ms Rotterdam has only 2 HC Cabins that have adjoining normal cabins and they are booked full. I have no idea why it's like that. So we will be probably a few cabins away, but not much more.

 

cruise_bunnies

Edited May 30, 2014 by cruise_bunnies

[Splinter]

Just be warned that your walkie talkies or baby monitors may not work reliably from cabin to cabin due to the metal walls.