Can I get priority boarding?

[Cholly]

My sisters and I are taking our Mom on cruise to Alaska in August. She has a bone marrow disease and tires very quickly. At this point she refuses to use a wheelchair and she needs to sit to rest often. (She could be in a wheelchair by Aug). Can I get priority boarding for her so she does not have to stand in long lines?

[pegpowell]

In San Francisco, we have a special needs boarding line. You just need to let the people who are doing the lines know of your need. You might find a wheelchair helpful for a one time thing. There is quite a bit of walking to the check-in and then to the ship. Have fun, you will love Alaska.

[Pam in CA]

My sisters and I are taking our Mom on cruise to Alaska in August. She has a bone marrow disease and tires very quickly. At this point she refuses to use a wheelchair and she needs to sit to rest often. (She could be in a wheelchair by Aug). Can I get priority boarding for her so she does not have to stand in long lines?

Request wheelchair assistance and have your TA make a note on your booking. (You can also do this at My Princess on the Princess website.)

 

There are porters as you enter with wheelchairs. They'll wheel her in and up to a special check-in line for those needing assistance. Since you are accompanying her, you'll be able to check-in there too. The porter will then wheel her to the gangway (to the front of the line if there is one) and leave (they can't enter the ship.) Someone from the ship will come and wheel her to her cabin. If she has her own wheelchair, it's essentially the same process except she's using her own wheelchair. Once you board, the Pursar's Desk will send a package to her cabin with tips and a list of shore excursions appropriate for someone needing assistance. This has been my experience 3x in very different ports, from LA to Southampton, for my daughter who is still (2 years later) recovering from a very severely broken leg/ankle.

[pegpowell]

In San Francisco, we have a special needs boarding line. You just need to let the people who are doing the lines know of your need. You might find a wheelchair helpful for a one time thing. There is quite a bit of walking to the check-in and then to the ship. Have fun, you will love Alaska.

[dakrewser]

Convince her to use the wheelchair, the stewards will treat her like a queen...

[Cholly]

Thanks for your help....I am trying really hard to convince her to use the wheelchair. I think she would enjoy the trip more as she wouldn't be using her energy just to get somewhere. She is very independent and this disease has taking much of what she loves to do from her.

The special needs boarding is just what I was looking for.

 

Thanks,

Monica

[wizard-of-roz]

INSIST that she use the wheelchair for embarkation and debarkation....she doesn't have to use it during the cruise (unless she wants to)!

The wheelchair will give her and you better access to the ship and than off the ship. Otherwise she's truly going to be fighting the masses in long lines and some people can be so rude with the pulling of their bags and sometimes unnecessary shoving into and out of elevators or escalators! There's just too many opportunities to trip!

It can be a "pride" thing as we get older.....tell mom to swollow her pride just for this. And, while on board she can be the beautiful, strong, assertive woman that she wants to be! ;)

[willysgrandma]

INSIST that she use the wheelchair for embarkation and debarkation....she doesn't have to use it during the cruise (unless she wants to)!

 

The wheelchair will give her and you better access to the ship and than off the ship. Otherwise she's truly going to be fighting the masses in long lines and some people can be so rude with the pulling of their bags and sometimes unnecessary shoving into and out of elevators or escalators! There's just too many opportunities to trip!

 

It can be a "pride" thing as we get older.....tell mom to swollow her pride just for this. And, while on board she can be the beautiful, strong, assertive woman that she wants to be! ;)

 

Not only that, but if for any reason she tires and falls, you may all have to leave the cruise early.

 

I am handicapped and put aside my pride once and got a motorized wheelchair at an amusement park once. After being able to do the entire park, rather than having to sit all the time, I've done it several times. It's the best way to travel and not exhaust yourself.

[wizard-of-roz]

INSIST that she use the wheelchair for embarkation and debarkation....she doesn't have to use it during the cruise (unless she wants to)!

The wheelchair will give her and you better access to the ship and than off the ship. Otherwise she's truly going to be fighting the masses in long lines and some people can be so rude with the pulling of their bags and sometimes unnecessary shoving into and out of elevators or escalators! There's just too many opportunities to trip!

It can be a "pride" thing as we get older.....tell mom to swollow her pride just for this. And, while on board she can be the beautiful, strong, assertive woman that she wants to be! ;)

[willysgrandma]

Oh these boards!!

[pegpowell]

I remember a granddaughter (adult) and her grandmother getting ready to check in on a cruise to Alaska. The grandmother had a weak spell in line. The pier staff called paramedics and she was taken to the hospital. I don't think they made the cruise. She kept insisting that she was fine, but the liability was an issue for everyone.

[dforeigner]

My sisters and I are taking our Mom on cruise to Alaska in August. She has a bone marrow disease and tires very quickly. At this point she refuses to use a wheelchair and she needs to sit to rest often. (She could be in a wheelchair by Aug). Can I get priority boarding for her so she does not have to stand in long lines?

 

The only ones that get priority boarding are those staying on full suites and Platinum or above members. Everyone else gets treated the same.

[PlanoDebbie]

The only ones that get priority boarding are those staying on full suites and Platinum or above members. Everyone else gets treated the same.

 

Not true. Passengers in wheel chairs do get priority boarding. We were on the Sapphire two years ago with the whole family which included Grandma and Grandpa. Since there's a lot of walking to and on the ship, we had requested a wheelchair for Grandpa. He was 84 at the time. Although he uses a walker around the house, he can't walk and stand for that long.

 

Grandma and Grandpa were immediately moved over from the regular boarding line to the priority section and were on the ship before we turned to make the next row in our line. A rep from Princess brought them the wheelchair and escorted them up the gangway passing up all other passengers and took them straight to their cabin.

 

We also requested a wheelchair to have in the room for the duration of our cruise. Although Grandpa used his walker to get around the cabin, he was more than willing to have someone push him around in the wheelchair to go to dinner and anywhere else on the ship. This worked out great for him!

[donna5]

It would be best not to get there early, many times it takes longer than normal to start boarding, if they are not ready to board you will be waiting outside for a long time. The wheelchairs will be used first, to get the passengers offloaded. We have been there several times, early and 1/2-hour after boarding was to start. All times people were standing in line complaining there was no where to sit. If I had any type of disability that would prevent me from standing for an hour or so, I would wait until the lines were shorter. Also if they have not changed it. There is a steep ramp to get on & off the ship. If she is in a wheelchair, I think they can board her at a lower deck.

[Tina G]

I took my 82-year-old mother to London last year. The word "stubborn" was invented for her. I deserve a medal. Try this tack:

"Now, Mother, of COURSE you can walk! I know that! But THEY don't know it, and if you will just play along with me, we can get special treatment, and that would be cool! So if you could just pretend to be tired, then I won't have to wait so long. Then once we get to the cabin, you can do as you please!";)

PS: She fell asleep in the wheelchair at the British Museum.:p Good luck!

[Toto2Kansas]

The only ones that get priority boarding are those staying on full suites and Platinum or above members. Everyone else gets treated the same.

 

I totally disagree with this statement.

When we have arrived early at the port, we often times see the wheelchairs being assisted onboard before even the first number is called. The reason it sticks in my mind is we all saw two young (20 something) girls, one in a wheelchair, the other following close behind, using the early booking for assistance. I felt for the girl and hoped she wasn't in too bad of shape at that early of an age. Well, funny thing was, when we finally boarded this same girl was in the elevator running around, on and off the elevator laughing and jumping. Just a few moments before, she was looking horrible being pushed onto the ship in a wheelchair. A scam to get onboard early? It really made us wonder. We ran into this same young woman many times on our sailing and in port and not once did she have to use a wheelchair but was fit as could be.

This isn't the first time we have seen this happen when boarding. Wheelchairs are assisted on the ship first, if they are waiting at the pier before they begin the boarding process.

[dforeigner]

I totally disagree with this statement.

 

Me too. I meant to say that if you can walk, you get treated the same as everyone else. The OP stated that her Mother refuses to use a wheelchair. There was a thread about a month ago where a mother did not want to wait in line because she had to young children and wanted to get preferential treatment as with the airlines.

 

I will do better at explaining myself next time.

[Casshew]

I usually arrive late for boarding, like 4:30pm when the ship sails at 6pm - there is no one around, you just breeze through security and check in and straight on the ship. If she really doesn't want to use a wheelchair and walk in herself, then arrive an hour before sailing when mot passengers are already onboard.

[Tina G]

Hey, I was not suggesting that Mother fake a disability! I was just suggesting a way to convince the lady to GET IN THE CHAIR!