Wheelchair

[mikesusan]

we've cruised several times and are interested in taking our mother who needs wheelchair. Does Princess supply them and how do we find out about handycap rooms?

[wwinfl91]

You can find out about handicapped rooms from your travel agent or from Princess. On some cruises they sell out early. Princess has some wheelchairs available for use on the ship but I don't know if they let you take them ashore.

Again your best bet would be call Princess customer service as they have special reps who handle handicapped issues as do many travel agencies.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[Latitude 20]

Princess has some accessibility/wheelchair information here:

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/answer/before_you_leave/ready.jsp

 

Scroll about halfway down the page.

[cruisinlawn]

we too recently dealt with this. Mom has some mobility issues when walking distances so a wheelchair is a great help. As others have stated, refer to Princess for the HC cabins or you can locate them on deck plans, but they do sell out early most of the time. Our parents did not have a HC cabin and did fine. Only about 25' from elevator corridor and Mom can walk that far so it enabled us to fold up chair if needed to get down hall corridor. In cabin, she does not require any assistance with pull bars in bathroom or shower so this was not an issue for us.

 

As for the chair, in '05 we were allowed to use Princess chair onboard and in port off ship. Seems that things have changed and were told didn't allow them off ship any longer for our '08 Alaska cruise while we were planning. To eliminate any confusion, we found a local medical supply here at home and rented from them. It actually worked out better as we had the chair from start to finish for the vacation. Didn't have to bother with airport assistance and it seemed more convenient.

 

If you do this, couple things I suggest, get a wc with full size rear wheels, not a transport chair. This is a chair with 4 small wheels. We have one of these and it works fine for quick in/out shopping trips at home but not good for street touring. If you're flying, you will check the chair at gate, when you do, remove the footrest and take them with you and put them in overhead. We just drop them in our carryon or a small shoulder bag. When checked to the cargo, one or the other tends to get lost. When arranging transfers be sure to mention you have a chair when asked about # passenger/luggage. We also took along a cable/padlock in the event we needed to leave chair unattended, never needed it and returned it after we got back home. Lastly, you might go over to 'disabled cruisers' forum where you'll find other helpful ideas. Hope this helps. Enjoy.

[serene56]

I would find the number for cruise care and rent a chair for the cruise. We did that for my mom- that way we ALWAYS had the chair. could get off the ship with it.

Waiting to get onboard to get a chair-- suppose if they are all being used.. then what will your mom do>?

 

renting a chair-- it will be in your room when you arrive. and you leave it at the pursers desk when you are getting off.

[cruisebum50]

I rented a chair for my mother for our Alaskan cruise last year from Ken's Baggage and Cold Storage at the Seattle airport. I told them we were going on a cruise and they gave us a lightweight one that folded nicely and was great for use on and off the ship. Cost me $60 for the week. I found them by googling "wheelchair rental in Seattle". :)

[cjh]

Unless you get a mini suite handicap cabin someone has to sleep in an upper. Also there are more ships that don't have handicap cabins that can hold more then two then there are that do.

[joediver]

Just got off the Emeral 2 weeks ago and when my wife broke her ankle we were allowed to use a Princess wheelchair on the ship and in ports at no charge. Getting people to let you get on elevators is the hardest part!

[WCAB]

Cruise care is great. You do not have to haul the stuff through a crowded airport. It will be in your cabin waiting for you and you just leave it when your cruise is over.

 

Carol