travel with elderly relative

Dear Members, if any of you are disabled or have experiences or references that you would be willing to share with me regarding cruising with a disabled senior, please let me know. I am an RN and wish to take my aging mother on a shorter cruise with my teenage children, somewhere with lots of sunshine. Any recommendations. Concerns are size of accomodations, rigid schedules, WC access considering liners are exempt from disabilities act. Thankyou and blessings to all who respond.

What is your nearest cruise port? How many cabins? How many people per cabin?

Not sure what you mean by "liners".

Most ships on most cruise lines have decent WC access.

A handicap cabin will be bigger than a normal cabin.

The only rigid schedule that is a real problem is getting back on the ship at a port of call. The ship will leave without you.

Are you looking at a specific cruise line?

You may want to not get off at a port of call if it requires a "tender". This not all bad, it is nice having the ship nearly all to yourself.

You'll need an accessible cabin, and most times you have to book early to get those. I highly suggest booking a ship that's not more than 5 years old. The older the ship, the less accessible it can be. Any ship who's parent company is US based should be OK as far as accessibility is concerned. I've not traveled ships such as Star Lines or Thompson, that are not US based lines, so I can't speak to their accessibility.

We took our elderly mom on cruises all the time. She loved every minute. We preferred Celebrity as their ships, especially their S Class ships, are amazingly accessible. And as the previous poster said, select an itinerary that has no tender ports.

Accessible cabins are designed for wheelchair/scooter use....lots of turning room and the bathroom will be designed for WC use, too....roll-in shower, higher toilet, room under the sink for the WC.....

You set your own schedule on a ship....you are not required to be anywhere at a specific time (except for muster drill!)....almost every line now has some form of "anytime" dining, so you can eat when you're ready.

It's ports that may not be WC friendly...many other countries don't have regulations for the disabled.

Folks,

Not to devalue the responses on this thread but the OP is a troll or hacker. His/her original post is a word-for-word copy of a 2004 thread (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=33818&highlight=travel+with+elderly+relative).

S/he has been doing the same thing all over CC the past few days.