Handicapped on Danube River Cruises

[thefish]

My DW has had both knees replaced, has other health issues and uses a nice walker with four wheels and a seat when walking for any distance. After reading posts that a river cruise is not for the handicapped I am a little concerned that the pace of the tours and cobblestone streets might cause us to miss out on a lot of the experience. We will be doing the Thanksgiving cruise plus Budapest through Gate1 on the Bolero.

 

Is their anyone with disabilities willing to share their Danube River cruise experience? Last year we did a Beijing China land tour including all the tourist attractions without many problems and it is hard for me to imagine that a cruise on the Danube would be more challenging. I am still fairly healthy and ride a bike five miles a day so pushing her in a wheel chair should be no problem for me. Would buying a wheelchair be a more viable option?

 

thanks

[tiggypooo]

Hi dafish:

I'm just going to give you my opinion on this topic. I have not experienced doing this type of trip handicapped, nor did anyone on our cruise have these issues. I do have experience dealing with some of the reps for the river cruise companies though and have been told more than once, that they do discourage passengers that have mobility issues from travelling with them.

Any ships that I know of, just aren't equipped to handle people with physical limitations.

I think that it would be quite difficult, doing some of the tours that we did, with a walker. We were on the Amsterdam to Vienna itinerary and almost every street that we were on for the whole trip, was cobblestone. Sometimes it was hard enough to navigate them just walking, without having to push something with wheels.

The pace that some of the tours moved at, might be challenging with a walker also. We were also up and down quite a few hills and sets of stairs that just wouldn't be possible with a walker.

If your DW can get up and down the stairs on the ship, then it shouldn't be too hard while onboard.

I would say absolutely no to the wheelchair idea. I'm not even sure if they would allow one on, as they're just not equipped to handle them.

I hope that I didn't disappoint you too much with my comments, but I think that if you're doing this type of trip, you should be well prepared for what lies ahead.

[Kayelache]

I have done two river cruises with my husband who used a wheelchair. Both were GCT cruises, the first on the Rhine, Main and Danube from Amsterdam to Vienna, and the second from Antwerp to Basel on the Rhine and Mosel.

Yes, the cobblestones are a nuisance, but not impossible to negotiate. The first cruise, we took a lighter "companion chair" with four small wheels. The second time we took a regular wheelchair It was harder with the companion chair. The chair fit in the cabin with no problems. There was no problem on the first ship, the Melody. There was an elevator and no steps necessary within the ship. We also had no major problems on shore. There is almost always a handicapped entrance to the cathedrals, museums etc. Not always obvious, but it you look, it is there. The second ship, GCT's Debussey, I thought would have the same layout as the Melody. Wrong. There was an elevator, but it was necessary to negotiate two small steps to get into the dining room. However, the crew bent over backwards to help, two of them lifting the chair and my husband up the stairs. Another problem on this ship was the "lift" that went up the stairway to the sun desk malfunctioned the first day, and was not repaired for the duration of the two week trip. It just meant that he couldn't go up there, but the weather was rainy and cold most of the time, so few people did. Again, no problem on shore. It was a climb sometimes, but I was good at pushing the chair. The first program director was a jewel, making sure we got on and off the buses with help etc. The second was an arrogant man, who was almost rude to my husband at times. In spite of him, we both enjoyed the trip. My husband passed away last year, so these experiences were two and three years ago. I'd say go for it.