Zodiacs and exploration cruises using wheelchair

[JSR]

Hi everyone. I am a paraplegic taking our first exploration cruise. Buck list item to see a Polar Bear in the wild. I use a manual wheelchair for mobility. We are on the Silversea Endeavour. Has anyone out there gotten off and on zodiacs while cruising with a mobility disability? If so would you please share your experiences?

Thank you. 

Jean

[1025cruise]

Zodiaks are glorified rafts. I would guess that if you had a couple of people that could carry you onto the zodiak that you might be able to get your manual wheelchair on. But, I can't answer for certain if this would be allowed. I would contact Silversea and see what they say.

[Silver Sweethearts]

According to a Cruise Critic article describing a Zodiac, "Cruise ships use these sturdy inflatable rafts in every part of the world, from the Caribbean where Zodiacs may take you through mangrove isles on a bird-watching tour, to Antarctica, where their easy navigation is key in getting passengers through waterways dotted with chunks of floating ice.  Due to their smaller size and lack of cover, Zodiacs are best used by passengers with full mobility who are comfortable boarding and disembarking at sea, when the boat will be rocking due to wave motion and currents. Be prepared for wet landings, where the Zodiac pulls up at a beach and passengers hop out in the water and wade a few feet to shore".  As mentioned above, best to talk directly to Silversea.

[JSR]

Thank you both for the information and the effort to help me, much appreciated. I have researched and reached out to Silversea.

 

Hoping to hear from people with first hand experience either having done the zodiacs or been on an exploration cruise and not done the zodiacs and how they felt about that. What I have read about AB people and zodiacs varies as well. Some love them, others think they are hardly worth the effort.

 

I have read one review by a person who has done the zodiacs using a wheelchair on Ponnet but do not have a contact information to ask questions or converse. 

 

This has been postponed, canceled, canceled (Seabourn) and finally a go with Silversea. I know no matter what it will be a wonderful trip and we are very excited about it.

Edited January 12, 2023 by JSR

[FOPMan]

Usually, riding a Zodiac requires upper body rigidity and being able to sit without back support. Transfers between the ship and zodiac can be challenging. I’d also look explictly how your ship is configured for transfers between vessels.

[JSR]

Thank you all for your response. I appreciate the time you took to post. I would like to ask my question again. (I have actually ridden in a zodiac in calm waters of Alaska from land).

 

I am asking if anyone has first hand experience (or at least first hand observation) with cruising and utilizing zodiacs or cruising where zodiacs were utilized and not utilizing them and if so would you please share your experience. 

[Silver Sweethearts]

If you haven't done so already, you might read "Silver Cloud Antarctica Live Blog" (hope we got that right) on CC Silversea.  Interesting reading, and perhaps it will be of help to you.

[FOPMan]

Here is a recent story about passenger deaths while on a Zodiac expedition off a cruise ship in the Antarctic in November 2022. The same cruise coordinator also had a passenger death on a Zodiac expedition about 10 years earlier.

 

At the end of the day, it is the captain’s decision whether to permit passengers in general or specific passengers participate in activities. On a day with no weather and perfectly calm seas, it may not be an issue.

 

If seas are 6 feet, that’s a whole other issue. I have transferred between boats in various weather conditions. It is a tough transfer. Riding in Zodiacs is great in low seas, but in rough water it can be workout.

 

My back is solid from a spinal fusion, so back support is nothing I need to worry about. There’s nothing to lean against to help prevent falling backwards.

 

How do you envision a transfer working? Do you expect crew to lift you into the Zodiac? Can you transfer yourself?

 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/expedition-cruising/two-die-quark-expeditions-zodiac-incident-antarctica

[NorthernLite]

If you are using a travel agent use them for this; if not email and follow up by snail mail to the address for passenger questions. Ask for simple pictures of the tendering area. We went on Crystal's Serenity Northwest Passage cruise from Anchorage to NYC complete with our own ice breaker through a good deal of it. I know I did not have the balance for a RIB but my husband did and a table mate, retired Navy Captain with a posterior cervical injury while mine is anterior, also did once. He can walk well on flat services but brought a lovely old silver topped cane just in case. After getting back from a rather smooth ride about 500 meters each way his back muscles were telling him where they were and that was as wobbly as mine if I needed a muscle relaxer. My husband walked on down and did keep a decent grip on the bench edge. Then let me know why they were wiping me out of the line up of shore excursions that their department for such things had assured me were no problem for a person who could not, even a little bit, walk or stand. All the places that were marked tender I had questions about and why I called rather than use their app. First with a regular adult size Quickie manual there was no way to get down the narrow downslope to the tender area and most tenders like Nome would either leave me in the RIB or my butt and chair seat soaked through getting the last few feet to solid beach. They straight out lied about inaccessible school buses in Alaska. We still hoofed it in Dutch Harbor to get pictures for my cousin as my Uncle has been on the Wichita up there before being called back to head to the Coral Sea. But St John, NB, Bar Harbor, ME and Newport RI have always been a tender for most ships. If you get a company like Holland America they brought the tender on the old New Amsterdam up over the davits about 3 decks higher than for the able bodied folks and once secure they swing the tender door open and I rolled over and a crew member helped my casters make a soft landing. Then we went down to the rest of those going ashore and loaded them. The reverse was the same with letting the majority of first then further up me, my husband and a women using a rolling walker. Silver Seas ships are, I believe, even older than Crystal's 2 ocean going ships. My husband did get a great pic for his abilities with anything digital of a polar bear on an small ice flow having his lunch of seal and the red blood against the blue white ice and the yellowish bear came out with sharp edges of contrast between each. As we left the Passage and headed to Greenland we had a decent display of the Northern Lights. But 2 days later for the last RIBs scheduled just to cruise the UNESCO site for most calving glacier coming off northeast Greenland just a few made it as close as our drone's, the Captain and the last icebreaker after ours thought safe. They turned the other groups back before they got to the walkway down and several in the first group were very happy they had worn the rental tall wet boots. 

So, good pictures of the tender area including how you get there are needed. Be honest with yourself about your abilities but hey, we all have to go sometime. And have every measurement and weight anyone could possibly need in both American standard and Metric. Oh, and try the Silver Sweethearts idea and go to their blog or any where someone might be able to answer questions and may get you a pic of that area of the ship.

[JSR]

23 hours ago, Silver Sweethearts said:

If you haven't done so already, you might read "Silver Cloud Antarctica Live Blog" (hope we got that right) on CC Silversea.  Interesting reading, and perhaps it will be of help to you.

Thank you for your suggestion. I will look for the thread. 

[JSR]

1 hour ago, NorthernLite said:

If you are using a travel agent use them for this; if not email and follow up by snail mail to the address for passenger questions. Ask for simple pictures of the tendering area. We went on Crystal's Serenity Northwest Passage cruise from Anchorage to NYC complete with our own ice breaker through a good deal of it. I know I did not have the balance for a RIB but my husband did and a table mate, retired Navy Captain with a posterior cervical injury while mine is anterior, also did once. He can walk well on flat services but brought a lovely old silver topped cane just in case. After getting back from a rather smooth ride about 500 meters each way his back muscles were telling him where they were and that was as wobbly as mine if I needed a muscle relaxer. My husband walked on down and did keep a decent grip on the bench edge. Then let me know why they were wiping me out of the line up of shore excursions that their department for such things had assured me were no problem for a person who could not, even a little bit, walk or stand. All the places that were marked tender I had questions about and why I called rather than use their app. First with a regular adult size Quickie manual there was no way to get down the narrow downslope to the tender area and most tenders like Nome would either leave me in the RIB or my butt and chair seat soaked through getting the last few feet to solid beach. They straight out lied about inaccessible school buses in Alaska. We still hoofed it in Dutch Harbor to get pictures for my cousin as my Uncle has been on the Wichita up there before being called back to head to the Coral Sea. But St John, NB, Bar Harbor, ME and Newport RI have always been a tender for most ships. If you get a company like Holland America they brought the tender on the old New Amsterdam up over the davits about 3 decks higher than for the able bodied folks and once secure they swing the tender door open and I rolled over and a crew member helped my casters make a soft landing. Then we went down to the rest of those going ashore and loaded them. The reverse was the same with letting the majority of first then further up me, my husband and a women using a rolling walker. Silver Seas ships are, I believe, even older than Crystal's 2 ocean going ships. My husband did get a great pic for his abilities with anything digital of a polar bear on an small ice flow having his lunch of seal and the red blood against the blue white ice and the yellowish bear came out with sharp edges of contrast between each. As we left the Passage and headed to Greenland we had a decent display of the Northern Lights. But 2 days later for the last RIBs scheduled just to cruise the UNESCO site for most calving glacier coming off northeast Greenland just a few made it as close as our drone's, the Captain and the last icebreaker after ours thought safe. They turned the other groups back before they got to the walkway down and several in the first group were very happy they had worn the rental tall wet boots. 

So, good pictures of the tender area including how you get there are needed. Be honest with yourself about your abilities but hey, we all have to go sometime. And have every measurement and weight anyone could possibly need in both American standard and Metric. Oh, and try the Silver Sweethearts idea and go to their blog or any where someone might be able to answer questions and may get you a pic of that area of the ship.

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. My expectations are limited, I will have fun no matter what I do and do not do. I am older then I was when I was last in a zodiac and am fine however it plays out. I am just trying to benefit from others experiences. The ship is new, bought from Crystal, and is a couple years old. However, I have realized that many things have done are out of the box for someone with my disability but far from extreme. 

[bitob]

Seabourn has a video on line about disability and Antarctica. They have a can do attitude

[JSR]

8 hours ago, bitob said:

Seabourn has a video on line about disability and Antarctica. They have a can do attitude

That’s great to know. I will check it out. We were originally booked on Seabourn for the Arctic. They kept postponing and then finally canceled. I believe they decided it was just not an itinerary they wanted this season. 
Do you have a link by any chance? 

[bitob]

3 hours ago, JSR said:

That’s great to know. I will check it out. We were originally booked on Seabourn for the Arctic. They kept postponing and then finally canceled. I believe they decided it was just not an itinerary they wanted this season. 
Do you have a link by any chance? 

Easy to find on their website

[JSR]

6 minutes ago, bitob said:

Easy to find on their website

I guess I’m not very adept as I can not find it. I did find this 

https://www.seabourn.com/en_US/faq/mobility-accessibility-information.html

but it’s not a video and more about what can’t be done. I would appreciate the link if you could. Thanks so much. Jean 

[bitob]

3 hours ago, JSR said:

I guess I’m not very adept as I can not find it. I did find this 

https://www.seabourn.com/en_US/faq/mobility-accessibility-information.html

but it’s not a video and more about what can’t be done. I would appreciate the link if you could. Thanks so much. Jean 

I will look

[bitob]

I could nt find the video — it was there several years ago — but here is an article you might like 

 

She Inspired All Of Us, Mobility Impaired But No Holds Barred: Antarctica Explored, A Photo A Day

• Ralph Grizzle 
• January 28, 2015 
• No Comments 

No Limits! Bound to a wheelchair, a guest from Germany shows her delight as she prepares to tour glaciers by Zodiac. There are actually two wheelchair guests in the Zodiac, and while neither were able to participate in landings (stepping ashore in Antarctica) both were able to observe the beauty of Antarctica up close in Zodiacs. © 2014 Avid Travel Media Inc.

I received an email from a reader the other day. She writes:

Ralph, I travel to the Magical White Wonderland vicariously with you in every posting, as I am longing to go. I have held off this long as I am not sure whether it would be worth my while as I am almost chained to a walker. I did, however, see a photo on one of your voyages where someone in a wheelchair was ecstatic that they had been transported somehow onto a Zodiac and taken to the shore. In your opinion, is an Antarctica cruise still worthwhile for someone such as myself? And if so, is there a cruise line/ship you would particularly recommend? I am not in a wheelchair (yet!) and can navigate short distances with a cane, but for anything else I really need my walker. Your thoughts please? Thank you, Catherine

I wrote to Catherine that I would absolutely consider the trip if I were her. Yes, the lady in the wheelchair (there were two people in wheelchairs, by the way) was ecstatic. The photos barely reflect her true enthusiasm for the whole trip. Incidentally, I learned that she was a star athlete when she was young, and a botched surgery put her in the wheelchair for life.

I have never met a more positive person, so the first thing that she took with her to Antarctica was a positive attitude that impressed all of us who met her. If you go with a positive attitude and your cane and walker, and you go with a cruise line that will take care of you, such as Seabourn, I think you would really enjoy the trip.

If you did nothing more than to observe Antarctica from the ship, you would likely come away having had a satisfying experience. Now, here is a big caveat. The wheelchairs did not go ashore. It’s too difficult to “land” on the beaches for wheelchairs. The two women did Zodiac cruises along the shorelines, past glaciers and wildlife along the shoreline. And on most days, the sea was too choppy – not bad choppy – but too choppy to safely get them into the Zodiacs. Even with a cane, I think going ashore may be difficult for you with limited mobility.

There are cruise lines that offer “drive-by” cruises and if you’re not doing “landings” they may suited for you as well. The best advice I can give is talk with a good travel agent who can explore the options with you.

[JSR]

Thank you. I so hope I’m able to do a zodiac moment in the Arctic but time will tell. I will report back after the cruise.