gwentcruiser Posted May 19, 2017 #1 Share Posted May 19, 2017 i am looking to book a river cruise for the first time. Probably the Rhine or Danube in June or September. My daughter is in a wheelchair and I understand that there is a risk that our ship might moor alongside other ships making it impossible to go ashore. Does this happen a lot in practice? Missing one or two excursions wouldn't be a big problem but missing more than that would spoil the trip. Any advice would be really appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capriccio Posted May 19, 2017 #2 Share Posted May 19, 2017 Welcome to cruise critic! This question would be better asked and answered on the River Cruise forum (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=191). Here are some recent threads about accessibility on a river cruise: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2438104 http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=786530 http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2020271 http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2388572 I did a 15 day river cruise last summer using a cane and the previous summer we made friends (on another 15 day cruise) with a woman using a walker. You need to be aware that not all ships have elevators that go to every deck (usually not the sun deck) that cabins are very small and may not be large enough to store a wheelchair that embarking and disembarking can be problematic due toships raft together (frequently in the summer tourist season) and you may need to go up and/or down decks to get to your ship docks can be very steep [*]Europe is full of cobblestones which make even walking difficult; using a wheelchair is even harder in many towns and cities Research on the River Cruise forum and the Disabled Cruise Travel forum (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=190) are good places to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1025cruise Posted May 19, 2017 #3 Share Posted May 19, 2017 Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that river cruising is ideal for people that are in wheelchairs. It's just the nature of the beast. It might be best to look into a different type of vacation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmf123 Posted May 20, 2017 #4 Share Posted May 20, 2017 gwentcruiser, the Cruise Critic article 'A Guide to Accessible River Cruising' may be of assistance to you: http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1959 :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt_BJ Posted May 20, 2017 #5 Share Posted May 20, 2017 copied from Viking cruise documents .... expanding ... while a 'cruise ship' may have a deck crew of 100 or more and even for tendering operations, several folks are able to help .... IME on a river cruiser the deck staff is 3 or 4! Help beyond a hand held out is not happening! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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