I just recently broke my leg and have a cruise scheduled for Oct. Most likely I will be using a wheel chair. Do I need to notify the air or cruise line? I have secured a handicapped room.
Yes, definitely, on both counts. Request wheelchair assistance from the airline (to use in the terminals) and also ask the cruise line about the possibility of renting a wheelchair or bringing your own - or have your travel agent do this for you if you booked the trip through them. If you do plan to bring your own wheelchair on the trip, be sure to let the airline know; they will have you check it, either at check-in (in which case you would be using their wheelchair service to the gate) or at the gate. Be sure to do this as soon as possible. You might ask your doctor if there are any special precautions you should take. Find out if your cabin on the ship has a tub or just a shower stall - that will make a difference in your personal hygiene plans as well. Good luck - enjoy your cruise despite the injury!
Posts: 1361 | Location: Illinois | Registered: June 19, 2002
Just another comment in addition to Ms. Knowltons' remarks. The Air Terminals have planty of available WCs, IF one does not mind a long wait, however in our experience Princess, Celebrity and RCInt'l have only a limited amount of wheelchairs available on Board. To my great surprise the Nordic Empress, for example, had 46 HP persons on board (last year cruise to Bermuda) and they certainly would not have that many WCs to provide. The same for Princess, it is a popular Line in accessibility for HP people. Wife and I always take her own WC and so far it works perfectly.
Posts: 35 | Location: Wexford, PA, USA | Registered: February 11, 2003
Hi Vladamir Sure you will have fun. Measure your wheelchair width and check the width of your cabin and bathroom doors, with the ship. Also see if your room is near the elevator. First the halls are hard to move in with a wheelchair because the stewards often have their carts in the hall when cleaning rooms. Also ships are large and getting around can be tiresome. Always try for room close to elevator. Post a review on your return. Bill New jersey
Posts: 36 | Location: New Jersey, USA | Registered: June 23, 2002
Hi Bill, thanks for the information.I always research the Internet to view the deck plans and find out where are the HP cabins. The nicer ones are by the elevators, I jot the number and then tell the TA, this the cabin I want. If one is concidering a sister ship for the next cruise, (the same deck plans and the lay-out,) my wife and I ended up in the same C301 on Golden and Grand Princess! You are certainly right about the carts in the hallways,but I do move them out of the way (if no one is looking!) Lastly, I will be glad to write a report after our cruise this Oct22, as I did also in the past for the Access-Able.com. Regards, Vladimir
Posts: 35 | Location: Wexford, PA, USA | Registered: February 11, 2003
What is Queen Cruiser trying to prove by asking questions in the disabled section? I was reading through some other areas, where it was pretty much determined that she was a travel agent, and her email appears to confirm this. Are you so in need of seeing people answer you, that you must resort to things like this?
