Cruising with transport chair and rollator

[Less2me]

Just my daughter and I cruising this time and I'm bringing my transport wheelchair for excursions and a walker for getting around on the ship. My question is will the pusher push me on the ship in my transport chair while my daughter brings the walker on or must I use the ships wheelchair to board? If I must use ships wheelchair I'm not sure my daughter could handle the transport chair along with the walker. Ideas?

[meatloafsfan]

they will push you onboard in your own transport chair.

 

You will need to ask for a pusher; when you arrive in your own wheelchair, they kind of assume that you also come with your own pusher. Does your walker fold? I've also seen where they have a person in their transport chair and have them hold the folded up walker.

[Less2me]

Thank you! The walker does fold but is still pretty bulky. Good to know if needed we can ask for a pusher.

[kokopelli-az]

17 hours ago, Less2me said:

Just my daughter and I cruising this time and I'm bringing my transport wheelchair for excursions and a walker for getting around on the ship. My question is will the pusher push me on the ship in my transport chair while my daughter brings the walker on or must I use the ships wheelchair to board? If I must use ships wheelchair I'm not sure my daughter could handle the transport chair along with the walker. Ideas?

What cruise line are you going to be on?    You will need to contact your cruise line's access department and let them know you will be bringing a wheelchair.    And also request wheelchair pushing assistance for when you embark and also for when you disembark on your last day (assuming you want a wheelchair pusher when you disembark).  They will probably send you a form to complete. 

 

My husband has his own transport chair he brings.   When we arrive at the ship terminal we have always been guided to a special line to check in.   And then we go to the area where the ship's wheelchair personnel are and wait for an available pusher.   They usually push him in his own chair.   However, we have used the ship's wheelchair and in that case I push his chair and (if we have his walker) fold up the walker and carry it on the wheelchair (using the wheelchair as a "cart").   So we can have someone push him in either the ship's wheelchair or his own chair.  

 

And at most ports, prior to getting inside the check-in terminal, there are porters (who work for the port) who will also push the wheelchair.   They typically can only push you to a certain point (such as up to the check-in counter) and then after check-in you would wait in the wheelchair section and one of the ship's wheelchair pushers would take over. 

 

By the way, depending on when you arrive on your ship, you might want to figure out where you want the ship's wheelchair pusher to take you.   They usually will steer you to the buffet.   But if you want the pusher to take you elsewhere decide on this ahead of time.    If your room happens to be ready, you could have your pusher drop you off at your room and drop off wheelchair.

[Less2me]

Thank you so much Kokopelli-az! All good information. I'm cruising Princess and my TA has already done all the notifications. I appreciate you taking the time to help out a fellow cruising enthusiast.

Happy cruising!

[Tsdcruiser]

I was considering buying a rollator/transport chair combination.  Although I already have both, I though having a combo might be easier for travel.  

 

 

[kokopelli-az]

17 hours ago, Tsdcruiser said:

I was considering buying a rollator/transport chair combination.  Although I already have both, I though having a combo might be easier for travel.  

 

 

That might be a good idea.    I didn't even realize they had a combo of the two.    Anything to make things easier!

[Tsdcruiser]

They have a lot of them on Amazon, just search rollator/wheelchair combo.

[Benthayer Gonbak]

On 4/26/2019 at 4:55 PM, kokopelli-az said:

What cruise line are you going to be on?    You will need to contact your cruise line's access department and let them know you will be bringing a wheelchair.    And also request wheelchair pushing assistance for when you embark and also for when you disembark on your last day (assuming you want a wheelchair pusher when you disembark).  They will probably send you a form to complete. 

 

My husband has his own transport chair he brings.   When we arrive at the ship terminal we have always been guided to a special line to check in.   And then we go to the area where the ship's wheelchair personnel are and wait for an available pusher.   They usually push him in his own chair.   However, we have used the ship's wheelchair and in that case I push his chair and (if we have his walker) fold up the walker and carry it on the wheelchair (using the wheelchair as a "cart").   So we can have someone push him in either the ship's wheelchair or his own chair.  

 

And at most ports, prior to getting inside the check-in terminal, there are porters (who work for the port) who will also push the wheelchair.   They typically can only push you to a certain point (such as up to the check-in counter) and then after check-in you would wait in the wheelchair section and one of the ship's wheelchair pushers would take over. 

 

By the way, depending on when you arrive on your ship, you might want to figure out where you want the ship's wheelchair pusher to take you.   They usually will steer you to the buffet.   But if you want the pusher to take you elsewhere decide on this ahead of time.    If your room happens to be ready, you could have your pusher drop you off at your room and drop off wheelchair.

 

In one of the terminals in Quebec, a port not a begin/end, they had carpet on the floor and few in the terminal. A woman was really struggling pushing her husband and expected help from the strip personnel.  They were being kept from the terminals but were at the door to the gangways.  My husband push for her and they both used wheelchairs to get onboard.  The ramp was a bit long! 

[GUT2407]

Or you can put a tag on the rollator and check it in with your luggage

[Benthayer Gonbak]

2 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

Or you can put a tag on the rollator and check it in with your luggage

 

That has some advantages in that your wheelchair pusher then can guide you to a gate.  However, not all leave the wheelchair which can make getting to the restroom tougher! 

 

Gate checking doesnt guarantee less damage, but it does mean that you get to show them how to fold the walker.  Mine had paddle locks they mostly were unfamiliar with. 

[UFMOM]

On 7/1/2019 at 6:57 PM, Tsdcruiser said:

I was considering buying a rollator/transport chair combination.  Although I already have both, I though having a combo might be easier for travel.  

 

 

 

In the past I would bring my transport chair and my fold up travel walker that I packed in a large suitcase. I just bought a combo transport chair/rollator to use on our three upcoming cruises On my combo the footrests just fold back to the sides and you flip the backrest to the other side and it goes from chair to rollator. Easy peasy. A few drawbacks are it is bigger than my current rollator so a larger footprint when in crowded areas and may be slightly more difficult to push as a chair on certain surfaces as the wheels are a bit smaller than my current rollator and transport chair, but will be much more convenient for travel. I even got it free by using the cruise reward cards I get from my big box store travel agent. Looking forward to using it for the first time on a cruise in August.

 

Mary Ann

[Tsdcruiser]

Thanks you for the info. Mary Ann. Let me know how it goes in August.