next cruise in a handicap room

[AAA75]

As a sometimes "broken" person I have gotten a scooter several times when on trips to Disney. I know it is not the same as a ship, as it is mostly flat. Outside is up and down and that affects battery life. You will need to charge it every night. The cost for 7 days is like others have said about $200. She WILL need to get used to it. If you can find a Costco/target/Walmart ride theirs for a bit to get a feel for it. Theirs are big, but she will learn skills. These include starting, stopping, turning corners and running people over.

 

The accessible staterooms have widened doors, no step to bathroom, grab bars in bathrooms, and if i recall a chair and not a couch. I may be wrong on this.

[Jana]

sez who? I am handicapped. doesn't bother me in the least to see the term used, I do so my self all the time( except I usually refer to my self as broken)

 

its a helluva lot less asinine than 'differently abled' which was the buzzword a few years ago.

 

LOL! And I am "mobility challenged," "disabled" and "handicapped" too. (Not quite "broken" but that's a fun one.)

 

Ostensibly the accessible rooms are the same price as other rooms in that category but be cautious. I had a standard outside view with the dropdowns, which were the least expensive when I booked. When an accessible room became available it didn't have the extra berths and I was charged the higher rate.

 

I travel with my scooter. I have also rented a scooter twice because I wanted something more robust for a specific destination (maybe hilly, maybe cobblestones...) I own a 4 wheel GoGo Elite Traveller Plus with extended-distance batteries which I bought used for $450. I am intending to purchase a new 4 wheel Drive Phoenix HD ($1200 USD) which is substantially stronger, has an inch more ground clearance, a light and a 15-mile battery set. Either way, I have considered the scooter a life-enjoyer necessity for a couple of years now, just like I did with my rollator 10 years ago.

 

I rented from Special Needs at Sea for a cruise out of Miami. It cost $250 three years ago. I called them for a cruise out of Seattle and it was near $350 ("Miami is our home base so it's cheaper.") I ended up renting from a local shop at considerably less, so you might try that too.

 

Re: the challenges... yes, it's important to get the major moves down before you attempt a cruise ship. A three-wheeler is more maneuverable BUT also more prone to tipping and not nearly as good on roadways and sidewalks that aren't the standard of American indoor malls. So my recommendation is a four-wheeler. Apart from learning how to speed up or slow down, go backwards, forwards and angled, it's important to know, as another poster said, that while we do have transportation as such, it is definitely not as easy as just being able to walk, twist out of the way of something, back up to avoid an obstruction, open a door that isn't automatic or reach for something that's too high to obtain without help. The "not broken" often look at us as entitled, not realizing how lucky they have it.

 

As for excursions and tenders, if you plan well you should be ok. I choose itineraries without tender ports for the most part, or just plan on an onboard day if there is one. Now I also bring my rollator so if I want to, I can get off in Grand Cayman and walk around the part of town close to the dock for a few minutes. Ditto other places. HAL has some tenders that allow scooters to drive right on but mostly it's not doable. Staff on RCCL and Carnival and NCL are beyond helpful and considerate. There are certain things they can't do for liability reasons but generally will help in any way possible. Last year we couldn't get an accessible room on Explorer with the scooter I had rented locally, bigger than my own. The only way to get it into our room was to take it apart. Housekeeping actually OFFERED to help us out... they took the scooter from outside our door every night, charged it, and brought it back when we called in the morning. When the gangway is too steep due to tides, for example, a staff member will drive it or push it in neutral up the ramp for me (but I can walk up using the rails).

 

The bottom line is: don't be afraid to use whatever you can -- scooter, rollator, accessible room -- to be able to sail on a Royal Caribbean ship. They aren't perfect but are striving for excellence in that department (the boomers are coming, after all)! Did you know that every ship has at least one pool lift and hot tub lift? At the same time, the room doors, including the accessible rooms, are so heavy that an able-bodied person find them hard to open, and at least on the older ships, there's no automatic open for the accessible rooms. A step at a time... (just like us, LOL).

 

jj

.

Oh, PS, the accessible outsides have a couch AND a chair on Explorer, Navigator etc. and on Enchantment and Radience.

[mexico8]

Lots of good info by Jana in post #27. I just want to add that some scooters can be bought on sites like Kijiji (used) for under one thousand dollars. Do a little research on the size and weight of the scooter and you might get a bargain that can be picked up without too much effort. I have a Travelscoot (costs about $3,000 Cdn. new) that is lightweight and I travel extensively with it. I can even put it on the tenders from the ship and use it in all the ports. I drive it right up to the door of the plane and they carry it down into the hold with the wheelchairs and strollers. It's at the door of the plane when we land.

 

Jana is right that 3 wheels are not as sturdy as four wheels but there are definite advantages to some smaller scooters so it depends on what you want to do with it. Good luck and hope it all turns out well for you.

[firegal2539]

SG75CB,

In the accessible rules it states the crew isn't allowed to help you. On one cruise the crew wouldn't assist me with the exception of moving it out of the way in dining rooms. On another cruise the crew helped me on the gangway.

 

I think it depends on the crew.

 

 

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[GUT2407]

SG75CB,

In the accessible rules it states the crew isn't allowed to help you. On one cruise the crew wouldn't assist me with the exception of moving it out of the way in dining rooms. On another cruise the crew helped me on the gangway.

 

I think it depends on the crew.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

Help on the gangway may vary by line or even by port I guess, but when I've cruised with a wheelchair they have always insisted that the crew help me on the gangway.

[molsonschooner]

Molsonschooner, any idea of what type of cabin? I have some pics of some accessible cabins to give you an idea of what to expect.

we would be looking at a balcony.

[A&L_Ont]

we would be looking at a balcony.

 

I have some pics. Hopefully I can post tomorrow for you.

[molsonschooner]

I have some pics. Hopefully I can post tomorrow for you.

thanks, I will be watching for them

[Jana]

Here are some links to the Voyager class accessible balcony room. What ship will you be sailing?

 

https://images.bonvoyage.uk/bonvoyage/upload/stateroom/VY_Accessible_Balcony.jpg

 

https://images.bonvoyage.uk/bonvoyage/upload/stateroom/VY_Accessible_Bathroom.jpg

 

https://images.bonvoyage.uk/bonvoyage/upload/stateroom/VY_balcony_sup_dlxe.jpg

 

Hope this helps! I'm going solo in an outside and I found these photos to be of great assistance.

 

jj

.

[A&L_Ont]

Molsonschooner here they are. I took a bit of time to locate them from the thousands of cruise pictures. It was from a port side Broadwalk cabin.

 

First is the view from the balcony.

 

 

 

This is how the sliding door works for wheelchairs. There is a spring loaded ramp that goes down when the door is opened. It then slopes down to the balcony level, where it is normally a step down.

 

 

 

This is a quick general photo of the room. There is much more space between the bed and wall for accessibility. The Guest in the room brought her transfer board to get into bed. She was very happy with the cabin. The cabin space seemed to be 1/2 sized larger than a regular one.

 

 

 

Here is a photo of the washroom. There is no step up into the washroom, there is a drain grate into the washroom. The floor in the washroom is one level. There is a curtain for the shower, and in the shower there is a bench. If I remember it comes down from the wall.

 

 

 

 

I am fairly certain that all cabins will be of the same standard. The only one that will vary greatly is the CLS. The difference being that it had an elevator from the first to second level. That being said the brother/sister that I met who were in it said that the elevator would stall between the left and the main level floors frequently. Just food for thought.

 

 

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[Jana]

These are AWESOME, A&L! Thank you so much for posting them! Now he has (and I have) an idea from two ship classes. I have something from Enchantment too, but not a balcony.

 

jj

.

[A&L_Ont]

These are AWESOME, A&L! Thank you so much for posting them! Now he has (and I have) an idea from two ship classes. I have something from Enchantment too, but not a balcony.

 

jj

.

 

Glad to help. Your pictures are great.

[Sue1260]

I had booked a balcony cabin and then decided to upgrade to a AFT balcony and called customer service to switch reservation to AFT balcony. A few days later when I went on website I realised they booked us in a HC AFT balcony. I called them and stated I didn't need HC accessible cabin there response was it was only AFT balcony left. I told them if someone needs HC accessible cabin I would give my cabin up. So if you book yourself via website and don't see any HC accessible cabins call customer service rep they maybe able to make calls to people that can switch cabins to make HC cabin avaliable.

[payitforward]

I have taken scooters on a number of vacations including at least four cruises. A lot of good information already here.

 

I'm not sure about the posts saying there isn't much room for them in accessible cabins. On Allure, we had TWO scooters in our accessible balcony cabin and still had plenty of room. Important to note, however, that when they separate the beds, one bed is sometimes in front of the emergency pull cord. We learned this the hard way when officers kept pounding our our door because I was sitting in my bed, with pillows leaning against the wall. lol

 

It is important to learn about the features of your scooter before your trip. I sometimes rent them from a store at home. The first time I did this, I thought the scooter died in the Las Vegas airport. Only when I got the scooter (in pieces) to my hotel, did the bellman know about/show me the circuit breaker button. What a relief. Renting from home is nice because it makes it much easier for me to get through airports. However, it makes things difficult getting in/out of cabs and Ubers.

 

Renting on the ship means you pay more, but there are usually back-up plans if something goes wrong.

 

There are tender ports that allow scooters as long as you board from the front of the ship, and the water conditions are calm. As for excursions, send a message in advance to ShorexAccess@rccl.com with your ship and sail date. They will send you a complete list of accessible shore excursions that are not available in the Cruise Planner.

 

I have found that the cruise insists on helping me up and down the gangway even when I would prefer they don't.

 

I think that covers just about everything that the others had not already said. Good luck.

[molsonschooner]

Glad to help. Your pictures are great.

thanks to both of you for the great pictures/information

[toras]

A video walk-through of an accessible cabin on Anthem

 

On Grandeur

(this doesn't have the powered door opener)

[babys mom]

we would be looking at a balcony.

If you type in Oasis accessible cabin 9162 you will find a nice video. Supposed to be the same on Allure.

[babys mom]

If you type in accessible handicap cabin on Oasis of the seas 9162 you will see a nice video of cabin and balcony .

Supposed to be same on Allure