Mobility assistance question

[corgigrl]

I am planning an Alaska cruise for next summer with Princess. Our travel party would be myself, DH, my sister and BIL. All in our 60s. I have advanced arthritis in both knees and normally use a cane for support. I ca handle short distances, but would possibly need a scooter or wheelchair for long hauls. My sister is worse off than me and will be bringing her own scooter onboard.  A couple questions. Is it possible to rent scooters or chairs for excursions, or would I be better off renting one for the entire trip? Would there be room in a typical balcony cabin to store said scooter? DH and I are experienced cruisers, though it’s been a while. My sister and BIL will be first timers, so I want to make sure things go as smoothly as possible. Any suggestions?

[Essiesmom]

The ship will not have scooters or chairs for rent.  As to whether the scooter would fit in a regular balcony…probably not.  You could store it in the closet area if you can get it through the door, but there will not be any outlet there to charge it.  And you might not be able to get it past the foot of the bed to the desk area where the outlets are.  EM

[Nephite Beauty]

13 hours ago, corgigrl said:

I am planning an Alaska cruise for next summer with Princess. Our travel party would be myself, DH, my sister and BIL. All in our 60s. I have advanced arthritis in both knees and normally use a cane for support. I ca handle short distances, but would possibly need a scooter or wheelchair for long hauls. My sister is worse off than me and will be bringing her own scooter onboard.  A couple questions. Is it possible to rent scooters or chairs for excursions, or would I be better off renting one for the entire trip? Would there be room in a typical balcony cabin to store said scooter? DH and I are experienced cruisers, though it’s been a while. My sister and BIL will be first timers, so I want to make sure things go as smoothly as possible. Any suggestions?

I used to go on Princess all the time, Elite status. 
But now I am a HAL gal, had it not been for covid, I am sure I would be a 5 star Mariner by now.
So I can share a few things I do know.
A regular stateroom door is not wide enough to store a scooter in.
You can not store it in the hall either.
There are smaller collapsible wheelchairs that was about 50 pounds and are powered on lithium batteries that might be able to get in the room....
But I am in a wheelchair full time, and there are many times that we have had Cruise Critic cabin show and shares and I have just had to peer in from the doorway.
Your best bet is to get a handicap accessible room, then there will be no question if you will be able to get in and out, and yes, there is enough room in most (not all cabins) to park 2 scooters for the night as they charge.
Have FUN on your cruise!! 🙂

[kokopelli-az]

I would rent a scooter for the entire cruise.  I don't know of any tours where you can rent a scooter just for that tour.    If you are thinking about taking shore excursions offered by Princess, take a look at what tours they will be offering for your particular cruise to see if any of them will have vehicles that can accommodate scooters (ie, a lift or ramp).  There also might be private tour opertators at your port stops that have vehicles that can accommodate scooters.  However, since your cruise is a year from now, you probably won't find much information about tours yet (at least from Princess).  

 

You should definitely get an accessible stateroom if you rent a scooter.   Your sister might need an accessible stateroom, too, depending on the size of her scooter.  These rooms sell out quickly.  

 

Take a look here for more information:

https://www.princess.com/learn/faq/pre-cruise/prepare-for-your-cruise/?accordion=accessible-cruising

 

 

[willoL]

I wonder if these relatives could get one accessible room for the sister with more limited ability and store both scooters in the accessible room?

The feasibility of this would depend whether you and your sister have similar schedules (night owl or morning lark?), whether the B-i-L would feel weird about S-i-L popping in to grab her ride, etc., but seems possible if @corgigrl is usually able to get around with a cane.

 

Are you the kind of sisters who will be in each other's rooms all the time, or more reserved/separate? Families do differ, but I could easily share like I'm proposing with my own S-i-L (brother's EX-wife!) or most members of my husband's clan. Not *all* of them, however... 😆

 

I definitely believe in preparing for one's most extensive likely needs and being glad to not require everything I brought, but my own health condition waxes & wanes so I'm used to a roller coaster of ability.

[corgigrl]

I was thinking along these lines. My sister would greatly benefit from the features in an accessible stateroom and we will definitely try to score one for her. I really don’t need all that (just a little help on longer hauls) and would most likely be fine onboard with just my cane as there are places to stop and sit most anywhere onboard. It is primarily ashore that I am concerned about for me. To further complicate things, we are considering doing a cruse-tour, so as long as there is room to store it, I may end up renting for the duration.

[FOPMan]

Please be aware: assistance in pushing a wheelchair is often provided to your cabin on initial boarding, but ship’s personnel do not normally regularly push chairs all over the ship. They will help push you up the gangway and provide assistance disembarking- some of the ramping can be rather steep.

[corgigrl]

I would certainly benefit from that assistance boarding and disembarking as those are long hauls with sometimes steep ramps and nowhere to stop and rest. I’m generally ok on level, even ground. Hills and uneven ground on the other hand are rough on the bad knees.