Mobility and things to Remember when taking a wheelchair on a cruise !

Advice for wheelchair users whilst cruising .

I have come across this recently and thought it might be good to get out there, things you need to know for  using a wheelchair and general Mobility on board your cruise.  There are several companies out there that deal directly with the cruise lines. You can hire a mobility scooter from ‘Mobility at sea’ (08003281699) at a very reasonable rate and the scooter folds up , so you can go in a normal cabin , provided you can manage the step into the bathroom and shower as normal. Quite a lot of the cruise companies will provide a shower stool. Please remember that some cabins come with a shower over the bath.

The reason for needing a fold up scooter in a normal cabin is that nearly all scooters are wider than 55cm which is the normal width for most cabin doors. All scooters must be stored in the cabin and some cabins will not have enough space for this. If it is just a normal fold up manual cabin then that’s fine.

I also did a bit of research into other thing you might need on board, Oxygen is a costly but necessary item for some cruisers, Bill the friendly man from Omega Oxygen (01273 308176) is always ready to help with this if travelling from Southampton.

The wheelchair adapted cabins have a lot more space and usually a wet room so you can access easily the shower and toilet (usually lower than normal). There is usually a fold down chair too to aid you when showering.

I do think that on embarkation days and disembarkation days there should be one lift that is solely for the wheelchair passengers as I had a conversation on my last P and O Cruise with a lady and she said it can be a long wait for a lift on those days.

Most ships are easy enough to navigate with a wheelchair, but do remember if there is a tender at a port, unless you can walk a couple of steps onto the tender this can become a problem, so always check when booking.

more info on ships and their facilities for wheelchair users
If in doubt book an adapted cabin to be on the safe side.

What are your thoughts and experiences travelling on a cruise with a wheelchair , please share…..