P&O Oriana

[AMPS]

Hi everyone,

 

Just a question for anyone who's been on Oriana in a wheelchair. I'm taking mine for the first time this year, as last year on my cruise i found just walking around the ship very tiring and then i struggled walking on trips. I have arthritis in my toes so find walking 'normally' painful. So this year i plan to use my chair during the day on the ship so I can enjoy a few trips :D One of which is pompeii, which i know will completely tire me out, but it be worth it lol

So my question is how easy is the ship to get around in a wheelchair, i know I will need my mum to help me out on the promenade deck. I'm not looking forward to waiting for the lifts, last year i had to sit down and wait then people would just stare at me and push in front :(

 

Thanks in advance

 

Amps :D

[leoandhugh]

If you are planning a trip to Pompeii, be aware that it is hardly negotiable with a wheelchair - the old streets are worn cobblestone with dranage ditches across them at intervals. Even if you have trouble just walking with your painful toes, it is a long and grueling trip over very rough roads and terrain. I suggest you use the Search feature at the upper right hand of this thread and type in Pompeii; there are threads there that tell of other's trips with accessibility problems And you will find the same applies to Herculanum. Are you used to using your wheelchair on carpeted surfaces such as you will find throughout the ship? It takes a great deal of upper body strength to do that, so you are better if you have someone like your mom to help push part way.:)

[Splinter]

Don't even think about taking a wheelchair to Pompeii. If you cannot walk long distances, including steep ramps and stairs, and lots of walking on rock and cobbles, this is not the trip for you. We did it with a wheelchair, with 3 AB people pushing, pulling, tugging and lifting the wheelchair....it was horrendous. Would never attempt it again.

 

I know nothing about that ship, but if it is an older ship it may not be very accessible. Pushing on carpet is harder than around the promenade deck. Suggest you take or rent a scooter to use for aboard ship, and plan on limited or no-walking shore excursions where you can take a manual wheelchair if absolutely necessary. For example, in Naples, the Amalfi Coast drive may be more up your alley.

[AMPS]

Thank you both for your replies, I guess i didn't make it clear than i'm not planning on taking my wheelchair off the ship, just going to use it during the day on the ship. I'm okay at pushing myself for a while, but my mum will help me lol She said she doesn't mind pushing me around the ship just not off the ship. Shes the best mum, i've trained her well, she now sees problems ahead for me and sorts it out :D We did think about a scooter, but we find lifting them out of the car too difficult, and if i was to get a scooter i would get a bigger one so i could use it where i live, but i'm not really ready for that step yet, getting a wheelchair was enough for me.

I have been to Pompeii before when i was younger and i really loved it, (i'm not taking the wheelchair) as i really enjoyed it and i know my mum did, it be worth all the effort for walking. Hopefully by being in the chair on the ship that will help. Its hard to explain about my feet :confused: I found one website that had a girl explain her probably with spoons :rolleyes: She said she had 20 spoons a day and each spoon counted for a task, so for example washing her hair was a spoon and making a cup of tea was a spoon. Once she used up the spoons she couldn't do anything else. I find that with my feet I have a time limit on my them, and that time can be used up just by standing still. Also the weather is the major thing, damp is a nightmare, however its weird on a cruise as your surrounded by water, but its not a damp atmosphere :confused: Luckily the day before Pompeii we go to Rome and for that we will just do the coach tour where there is no walking, so that should help. Luckily after Pompeii, there's nothing else major to see on our cruise, so it doesn't really matter if i over do it. Sometimes i get so fed up i just push on.