Wheel Chair off ship RCCL

[ne3180]

I had read someplace that wheelchairs provided by the cruise line can not be taken off the ship. Is this true? I have multiple sclerosis and have trouble walking/standing for long. We have 5 shore excursions planned and I will need the wheelchair when off the ship. We requested the wheelchair through the travel agent. Cruising the Inside Passage in June. This is our first cruise.

[DesrtDrmr]

Hi,

I don't know about Royal Caribbean, as I was still "hoofing it" when I was last aboard, but I know that on Princess, they have chairs and pushers to help you get on and off the ship, but you can't use it full time, and you can't take one off the ship. They are for temporary use, and medical emergency use only, as directed by the medical center.

I rented a folding lightweight manual chair from Care Vacations.com, Scootaround.com also rents them, and they leave them in your cabin for your arrival, and you leave it there when you leave. it's very convenient, and the chair folds so you can take it off the ship and put it in the bottom bay of a tour bus or taxi. The ship's chairs I've seen do not fold and are heavy. Also, if you do not have a handicapped cabin, a chair that does not fold will not fit through the door. If you do have such a cabin, it will and there will be space to turn around. We now take both my chair and a scooter when we travel as the airlines carry them at no charge.

Check in at the Disabled Cruising board here on Cruise Critic and there will be someone that can tell you for sure about Royal Caribbean. Here's the link:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=190

 

Have a wonderful cruise!!!

[Barbee524]

RCI will not allow you to take their wheel chairs off the ship. We used Care Vacations for my MIL on our last cruise and they were great. We were referred to them by RCI. If you call RCI they will give you the 800 number for Care Vacations.

 

The chair will be waiting for you in your cabin when you arrive and you just leave it behind when you leave. The staff at Care Vactions are extremely helpful.

[ne3180]

Thanks for the great answers! I see that my next job is to call the travel agency and find out which is reserved, the cruise ship chair, or a rental agency wheelchair. I also need to make sure it is a folding wheelchair, something I had not thought about previously. I just use a cane at home and an occasional grocery store scooter.

[Cricket63]

From past experience...DO NOT LEAVE YOUR "RENTED WHEEL CHAIR OUTSIDE YOUR STATEROOM DOOR THE LAST NIGHT OF THE CRUISE WHEN THEY COME AROUND TO PICK UP YOUR LUGGAGE"!!!!

Our friends had been leaving there chair in the hallway every night, and they left it out there the last night. The ships help picked the chair up with the rest of the luggage and "MISPLACED IT". They ened up paying a late fee for the wheel chair since it disappeared into thin air. The cruise line did call them about 4 days later to come back to the port to get the chair.

Also, don't forget to put your name and cabin number on the chair.

This did not happen on an RCCL ship, but it easily can.

[kitty9]

As a disabled person, I can tell you to NEVER, EVER rely on a cruise ship's wheelchair. They aren't kept in good shape and to be honest, I've found some of them to be in such poor condition as to be dangerous. All cruise lines tell you that you must provide your own wheelchair or scooter as they cannot provide them to their passengers. You can use their chairs for embarking and disembarking, but not for much else. Care Vacations does a great job delivering and picking up wheelchairs for cruises.

[ne3180]

Good tip about leaving the wheelchair in the hall and having it disappear. I''ll be sure to not do that. I'm dismayed to her that the cruise lines keep their wheelchairs in such poor condition. I will make up a label with my name, ship, and cabin # on it. After calling my travel agency. I found they had not arranged for a wheelchair, but had given me the # to do so myself. This agency is in Florida and I am in New York. They are the agency doing the Multiple Sclerosis Cruise for a Cause, and I have never used them before. I called Care Vacations and arranged for a chair. They tell me that it will be in my cabin on arrival and I leave it in my cabin when I depart. I did find the disabled board on cruise critic as well. I will address further questions there. As for the wheelchair question y'all gave me great answers. Thank-you. :)