Assistance at Barbados?

[Nancy48]

Hi, I am disabled and on previous cruises have taken my wheelchair.  This time I am thinking of managing with my crutches.  I have completed the assistance forms etc., and know I can get assistance at Gatwick.  I also know the system from plane to transport to ship.  I am just not sure about the embarkation process at Barbados.  Previously I have been wheeled through and it has all been very simple.  I know there is a long snake queueing system in the sheds.  Does anyone know if they have-ship’s wheelchairs there to assist with the boarding process. Any information would be much appreciated.

 

 

[carlanthony24]

They did have wheelchairs waiting when you pulled up outside the shed back in March along with the assistance team.

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, Nancy48 said:

Hi, I am disabled and on previous cruises have taken my wheelchair.  This time I am thinking of managing with my crutches.  I have completed the assistance forms etc., and know I can get assistance at Gatwick.  I also know the system from plane to transport to ship.  I am just not sure about the embarkation process at Barbados.  Previously I have been wheeled through and it has all been very simple.  I know there is a long snake queueing system in the sheds.  Does anyone know if they have-ship’s wheelchairs there to assist with the boarding process. Any information would be much appreciated.

 

 

 

4 minutes ago, carlanthony24 said:

They did have wheelchairs waiting when you pulled up outside the shed back in March along with the assistance team.

As carlanthony says you should be able to have wheelchair assistance for boarding. It may also be possible to borrow a wheelchair for use around the ship.

[Nancy48]

Thank you both that has reassured me, six weeks to go now, very excited.

 

 

[annieuk]

I wouldn't bank on being able to borrow a wheelchair on board, much better to take one with you.  Mobility at Sea will arrange this for you.  When I arrived in Barbados in a wheelchair after getting over a broken ankle I was offered assistance to wheel me to our cabin but my husband was able to manage.  When we left the ship at the end of the cruise we were told where  to assemble.  To my amazement a taxi waited for me on the dockside and we were driven to the airport.  Whether this always happens I don't know but that was my experience, but I am talking pre Covid.

 

 

[TigerB]

As others have posted, you'll get assistance on arrival if you have requested it. Even if you haven't and you are spotted on your crutches, you will likely be offered a wheelchair and be pushed onboard.

 

I am afraid to say though that on our return yesterday it was a totally different experience, a very poor one. From the ship to the airport, no problem. On arrival at the airport and being escorted through security to the accessible seating area, no problem. Everything thereafter was diabolical.

In every other airport we have used, wheelchair users and others requiring assistance are boarded first. At Barbados yesterday they called such passengers to the gate. The very officious female member of the assistance team then declared that only the wheelchair users could go on the air lift vehicle; all family members, including essential carers, had to board by taking the bus with other passengers. When I said I need to dismantle my wife's power chair after she boards the aircraft, I was shut down with, "What did I just say?" in a rude school ma'am tone. There were elderly wheelchair users and those with complex needs who were visibly upset being separated from their carers, with just one young man from the accessibility team accompanying about a dozen of them in the air lift vehicle. My wife spoke with an elderly gentleman who said he had never been apart from his wife for many years, and she would be fretting about not being with him. Why they didn't use two vehicles, I have no idea. Anyway, I was on the aircraft at least thirty minutes before the air lift vehicle arrived. Consequently, we were an hour late taking off.

 

Then, on arrival at Manchester, despite my wife's and at least three other power chairs being labelled as needing to be returned to the aircraft door, all were taken to the luggage carousel. It was thirty minutes before a manual airport wheelchair was brought for my wife, which I had to push all the way to baggage reclaim.  That left about ten others onboard the aircraft that required chairs to be brought to them, with just two members of the special assistance team to deal with them. Frank Gardner is spot on about the diabolical way in which disabled passengers are treated when arriving at UK airports.