Scooter questions

[orkaren1]

23 hours ago, sellwingri said:

Is a transport chair the same as a portable wheelchair?  I’m thinking of buying one for my port intensive Mediterranean cruise.  Will they take them on the bus on ship shore excursions? 

Transport chairs have four small wheels and are meant to be pushed by someone.  They generally are lightweight and easy to manage but the person using them will not be able to manuever themselves in the chair.  A portable wheel chair  (any wheelchair) has two small wheels in the front and two large wheels in the back with a rim the user pushes to roll the chair. They  usually can be folded for transporting in a vehicle.The person using the chair can move themselves by using the large wheels and don't need someone to push them.

[molsonschooner]

8 hours ago, torpeedo said:

My husband finally broke down and rented a mobility scooter and has changed his life.  You should use it on the ship, especially the big girls.  We take it off the ship and can wander around ports.  No scooters on tenders though.  You are definitely permitted to take it off the ship by the rental companies and Royal.  They always assist you when getting off and on the ship.  Special Needs at Sea and Scootaround provide the services and Royal has this on their website.  We've used both.

Is it safe to  assume it is ok to take a wheel chair on a tender

[torpeedo]

10 hours ago, molsonschooner said:

Is it safe to  assume it is ok to take a wheel chair on a tender

Yes, you can as well as a walker/rollator.  But you will have to be able to pretty much get off to step over to the tender itself.  There are a couple of stairs in a tender.  They/ tender staff and Royal staff/ will assist you,  When we go to Bar Harbor you have to go by tender and we've used a walker before.

[brillohead]

Regarding tenders:

It TOTALLY depends upon the tender set-up, which is different at locations.

I was in Grand Cayman last month, and they are completely set up for wheelchairs and scooters on their tender system.

It is true, however, that MOST tender situations aren't able to roll on/off.  

For situations with a transport chair or regular wheelchair, if the person can walk / take a few stairs, then the portable chair can be transferred to/from the tender and the chair can be used in port and/or taken on excursions.

 

[brillohead]

20 hours ago, RFerrington said:

THANK YOU !!  I can definitely walk.  I just don't have any stamina.  I have been just staying on the ship in most ports as we've been to them over and over again anyway.  But I think if I had a scooter I would be more inclined to get off and at least explore a little.  I was concerned when I read (somewhere above) that a rented scooter could not be taken off the ship.  That would not work for me at ALL as I intend to not use the scooter on the ship, just in the ports.

 
You're VERY welcome!  

And the post that you mentioned was going off an assumption, not a reality.  You can totally take them anywhere you want.  

I also agree with the previous poster who recommended using the scooter on the ship, particularly "the big girls".  Using a scooter to get around on the ship, even periodically, will help conserve your energy and might enhance your entire cruise experience.  (Sorry, I'm a nurse with experience in cardiopulmonary patients -- it's an occupational hazard!)

 

[Rubyfisch]

My mother has limited mobility due to a mixture of balance issues and joint issues. She is fine at home (as long as she has something to hold on to) or in a cabin, but needs a wheelchair outside of that. She has both a transport chair (good for quick errands with my father or visiting somewhere on land) and a lightweight full-sized wheelchair for traveling. Excursions have been an adventure - some are fine, some less so. She can go up a couple of stairs and we can fold up the chair, which obviously isn't an option with a scooter.

 

The other thing that is very important to remember is the rest of the world is not as handicapped accessible as the US. We went on a Baltic cruise and I can't tell you how many places have three stairs up to an elevator. Luckily, my father is very strong, my mother is very light, and we are all pretty obliging - my father and I would just carry her in her wheelchair up the stairs.

[rudeney]

3 minutes ago, Rubyfisch said:

The other thing that is very important to remember is the rest of the world is not as handicapped accessible as the US. 

 

We took my wife's mother on a cruise and I pushed her around in a wheelchair most of the time.  She was not a regular wheelchair user, but was having severe leg cramps due to medication, so we used a chair.  Around the ship was no problem, but we missed the tendered ports with her because they were not setup for roll-on/off.  Also, in Cozumel, it was a major challenge because the sidewalks were not smooth, and there were no ramps cut into the curbs.  

[Rubyfisch]

11 minutes ago, rudeney said:

Also, in Cozumel, it was a major challenge because the sidewalks were not smooth, and there were no ramps cut into the curbs.  

The lack of curb cuts is maddening. Both my father and I ended up with bruised shins from pushing, pulling, and lifting my mother in her chair over curbs with no cuts. It's seriously one of the cheapest accessibility features that can really give so many people more freedom and flexibility.

[brillohead]

11 minutes ago, Rubyfisch said:

The other thing that is very important to remember is the rest of the world is not as handicapped accessible as the US.

Even the US, which has had ADA laws for THREE DECADES, still has a lot of areas that aren't easily accessible.  

The friends I travel with are wheelchair dependent -- one is paraplegic and one an amputee.  Everything requires extra thought and preparation. 

And don't get me started on how absolutely clueless the general public is about things.  I can't even begin to tell you how many times we've been seated at a table in a restaurant and they either try to seat us in a booth, or they don't remove the chairs so my companions can pull up to the table. 

One nice thing about Royal's dining room is that once they know there are chair users in your group, they will remove the chairs each subsequent night so you can roll right up to the table each night.  I do recommend checking out where your assigned table is when you first get on the ship, though.  Often times we've been assigned a table that is behind other tables, so you have to squeeze between chairs to get to the back table, which you can't do with a wheelchair or scooter.  They'll switch your table assignment if you get a back table, but it's a lot easier to take care of before others are seated.  (Our last cruise, they just moved the table number sign with an adjacent table for our seating, so nobody had to go to a different table number.)

[rudeney]

It seems that if you booked a wheelchair-accessible cabin, that they could automatically know to assign you an MDR table that doesn't weaving around to the back of the room.  Of course this would take some work by IT, and we all know that's not going to happen.

[Joseph2017China]

1 hour ago, Rubyfisch said:

The lack of curb cuts is maddening. Both my father and I ended up with bruised shins from pushing, pulling, and lifting my mother in her chair over curbs with no cuts. It's seriously one of the cheapest accessibility features that can really give so many people more freedom and flexibility.

It's actually not that cheap, to completely make all sidewalks in a major city, accessible.  As an American, my expectation of what other countries do, for their citizens is not my concern.  We learn to deal with it and accept it since we are the guest of that country.  We are happy for what we have, but never complain what other countries have.  

[brillohead]

1 hour ago, rudeney said:

It seems that if you booked a wheelchair-accessible cabin, that they could automatically know to assign you an MDR table that doesn't weaving around to the back of the room.  Of course this would take some work by IT, and we all know that's not going to happen.

The thing is, you don't have to be in a wheelchair to need an accessible room.  Someone who can't step over the threshold into the bathroom / shower / tub can need the no-threshold shower, but might use a walker instead of a wheelchair.  

But yeah, it would be nice if the various departments could talk to each other. 

[rudeney]

20 minutes ago, brillohead said:

The thing is, you don't have to be in a wheelchair to need an accessible room.  Someone who can't step over the threshold into the bathroom / shower / tub can need the no-threshold shower, but might use a walker instead of a wheelchair.  

But yeah, it would be nice if the various departments could talk to each other. 

 

If you have mobility issues which would need an accessible room, you might also need a MDR table that is more easily accessed, but I guess they might no always be correlated.  Maybe what they really need is an additional data point to collect in the reservation per-passenger to indicate if that person uses a wheelchair or other mobility device.  But again, that would mean RCCL IT would have to make programming changes, and that either won't happen, or probably would not work very will. 

[MississippiMom]

On 6/20/2022 at 2:55 AM, brillohead said:

Just curious, what places were "challenging" about where to park the scooter?  

In the MDR, you can drive it to your table and your assistant waiter will drive it out front to park it, and then retrieve it for you at the end of the meal.  

In the theater, you can drive it to the back row and watch from there while seated on the scooter, or park it on the edge of the entrance area and walk to a regular seat.

On the pool deck, you can park it next to your lounger.  In a lounge, you can park it next to your table. 

I travel with handicapped friends quite a bit. Royal is extremely accommodating.

It took until day 3 for anyone to offer to park the scooter in the dining room.  And it was NEVER our assistant waiter.

 

We did figure out where to park the scooter at the theater and lounges on our own, as there was no guidance from the staff there.

 

My mother did not lounge on the pool deck, so I cannot comment about that area.

 

The main challenges for my mother were at the two ports - Labadee & Haiti.  The staff inside the ship would recommend we leave the scooter right off the ship and request a wheelchair, but then when we would get off the ship, my mother was instructed to drive it down as far as possible.  In Labadee, she was told to leave it parked under the tram stop, then we were shuttled over to Barefoot Beach.  In CocoCay, they had us wait for a ramp accessible tram that took us to Chill Island beach and the scooter had to be parked in the sand.  (We still think those instructions were wrong.)

 

We did appreciate that one of the RCCL staff looked at the rented scooter, when it stopped working upon returning from Labadee.  Whatever repair he did, fixed it.

[mets123]

2 hours ago, MississippiMom said:

It took until day 3 for anyone to offer to park the scooter in the dining room.  And it was NEVER our assistant waiter.

 

We did figure out where to park the scooter at the theater and lounges on our own, as there was no guidance from the staff there.

 

My mother did not lounge on the pool deck, so I cannot comment about that area.

 

The main challenges for my mother were at the two ports - Labadee & Haiti.  The staff inside the ship would recommend we leave the scooter right off the ship and request a wheelchair, but then when we would get off the ship, my mother was instructed to drive it down as far as possible.  In Labadee, she was told to leave it parked under the tram stop, then we were shuttled over to Barefoot Beach.  In CocoCay, they had us wait for a ramp accessible tram that took us to Chill Island beach and the scooter had to be parked in the sand.  (We still think those instructions were wrong.)

 

We did appreciate that one of the RCCL staff looked at the rented scooter, when it stopped working upon returning from Labadee.  Whatever repair he did, fixed it.

I'm surprised to hear you had issues with parking the scooter in the dining room and at shows. We've had just the opposite experience with my wife. The staff fights over who gets to park and return her scooter. The same holds true when we go to shows. The entertainment staff always shows us where to sit, and where to leave the scooter. Most times they let us leave it right where we are sitting. The same holds true in the MDR. The staff bends over backwards to help.

[iuki]

3 hours ago, MississippiMom said:

It took until day 3 for anyone to offer to park the scooter in the dining room.  And it was NEVER our assistant waiter.

 

We did figure out where to park the scooter at the theater and lounges on our own, as there was no guidance from the staff there.

 

My mother did not lounge on the pool deck, so I cannot comment about that area.

 

The main challenges for my mother were at the two ports - Labadee & Haiti.  The staff inside the ship would recommend we leave the scooter right off the ship and request a wheelchair, but then when we would get off the ship, my mother was instructed to drive it down as far as possible.  In Labadee, she was told to leave it parked under the tram stop, then we were shuttled over to Barefoot Beach.  In CocoCay, they had us wait for a ramp accessible tram that took us to Chill Island beach and the scooter had to be parked in the sand.  (We still think those instructions were wrong.)

 

We did appreciate that one of the RCCL staff looked at the rented scooter, when it stopped working upon returning from Labadee.  Whatever repair he did, fixed it.

Unless the ECV is made to be driven in sandy areas, scooters should never be driven on sand, even if it’s on a sidewalk.  That’s probably why it stopped working.  That RCCL crew member has probably seen it before and knew how to fix it.  We are currently looking at a foldable electric wheelchair that you can ride on sandy terrain.

[iuki]

Maybe this thread should be moved to the Disabled forum.

[brillohead]

13 hours ago, iuki said:

Maybe this thread should be moved to the Disabled forum.

I disagree -- it's pertaining to how Royal deals with scooters.  

While it does contain some "general" scooter info, it's still a Royal-related issue, which may be dealt with differently on other lines.

[brillohead]

15 hours ago, mets123 said:

I'm surprised to hear you had issues with parking the scooter in the dining room and at shows. We've had just the opposite experience with my wife. The staff fights over who gets to park and return her scooter.

That's been my experience as well.  Although I guess with the recent staffing shortages, maybe everyone in the MDR is too busy to drive the scooter unless they're asked to do so.

[mets123]

3 hours ago, brillohead said:

That's been my experience as well.  Although I guess with the recent staffing shortages, maybe everyone in the MDR is too busy to drive the scooter unless they're asked to do so.

Nope. That was both the week of May 22 and June 5 on the Oasis. Yes, they were short staffed but always made time for those who are handicapped or needed assistance.

[iuki]

8 hours ago, mets123 said:

Nope. That was both the week of May 22 and June 5 on the Oasis. Yes, they were short staffed but always made time for those who are handicapped or needed assistance.

On my recent cruise on Ovation 5/27/22 sail date, the staff were very accommodating in the dining room and getting on and off the ship in ports.

[molsonschooner]

On 6/21/2022 at 9:06 AM, brillohead said:

 
You're VERY welcome!  

And the post that you mentioned was going off an assumption, not a reality.  You can totally take them anywhere you want.  

I also agree with the previous poster who recommended using the scooter on the ship, particularly "the big girls".  Using a scooter to get around on the ship, even periodically, will help conserve your energy and might enhance your entire cruise experience.  (Sorry, I'm a nurse with experience in cardiopulmonary patients -- it's an occupational hazard!)

 

it doesn't even need to be a big ship. The first time we were on Freedom our cabin was at the back of the ship. I was looking for a shuttle to get us from the elevators to our cabin. It seemed like a very long walk

 

[Bloodgem]

On 6/21/2022 at 5:44 PM, rudeney said:

 

If you have mobility issues which would need an accessible room, you might also need a MDR table that is more easily accessed, but I guess they might no always be correlated.  Maybe what they really need is an additional data point to collect in the reservation per-passenger to indicate if that person uses a wheelchair or other mobility device.  But again, that would mean RCCL IT would have to make programming changes, and that either won't happen, or probably would not work very will. 

If you book an accessible cabin Royal, normally, sends out a special needs form that the passenger is suppose to fill out and return to Royal. One of the questions on the form does ask if anyone in the cabin uses a wheelchair /scooter.