Scooter rental question?

When you rent a scooter should you rent a regular wheelchair for the ports with a tender.I read conflict ing thinks about scooters on tenders

Show should I also bring a regular wheelchair with me to get on and off the ship into the tender

Show should I also bring a regular wheelchair with me to get on and off the ship into the tender

What tender port is on your itinerary as some tendered Ports have roll-on capabilities that allow mobility scooters ? For example in Grand Cayman RCCL does not use its own tenders the Port of Grand Cayman provides a tender that allows you to ride the mobility scooter or EOV Wheelchair directly on board depending on sea conditions.

Costa mayo .on the Celebrity eclipse

Costa mayo .on the Celebrity eclipse

No roll-on tender is available for Costa Maya .

Copied directly from Celebrity's website :

In order to safely board most tenders, guests must be able to take steps and use a collapsible manual wheelchair. In addition, motorized wheelchairs and mobility scooters can not be taken on tenders, unless roll-on capability is available. Inquire about tender roll-on capability at Guest Relations Desk while on board. Please note roll-on capability is not guaranteed.

Weather, sea conditions and other factors may preclude tendering. Safety of our guests and crew is our primary consideration, and the Captain and his staff will make the final decision regarding transferring guests and their assistive devices based on safety reasons.

Many if not all of these questions can be answered by calling the folks that rent mobility equipment to the cruise ships as they are intimately familiar with all the changing policies, tenders, etc.

I use special needs at sea dot com.

Instead of using the online forms, just pick up the phone and talk to them.... even if you don't end up renting from them they provide a wealth of information.

Every cruise line has their own "policies" of what they will and won't allow on tenders, and as the other op mentioned sometimes the tenders are the "ships" tenders and sometimes they are from shore. So each "tender" boat will have different access and capabilities.

Also it depends on sea conditions, if it is rough they will always want to keep your safety in mind and may or may not load you or your wheelchair/scooter or other mobility devices onto the tenders.

So these questions are difficult because each ship, tender and port have differences that need to be taken into consideration.

Or you can work with your travel agent and they will get the answers for you (smile).

But I encourage you not be discouraged, cruising is one of the MOST accessible ways to travel and the crew are always going out of their way to help anyone with special needs where ever they can. You will not regret it! Bon Voyage!

Thank you for your response .I will call them.Im new to this

We travel with a scooter and I think it would be easier to have the scooter delivered to the ship. If the scooter is delivered to the hotel, you then have to arrange for special transportation to the ship. Traveling with the scooter is fine, but I always get tripped up with taxis. You may be able to get a regular taxi, but only if you don't have much luggage and you can take apart the scooter. Some taxi drivers are very hesitant when they see the scooter and will not take us. If you have to pay for a special transfer, it can add to the cost.

If you get it delivered, at the airport you can get a sky cap who will push you in a WC.

I also have the Pride Go-Go Elite Traveler Plus scooter and have been using it for the past 7 years. It has flown many times without any issue and I took it on one cruise. No problems with anything.

As far as using shuttles supplied by the hotel, they have to also supply accessible transportation to you too. It is a law that they don't like to abide by but they have to. If they provide free transportation to other patrons they have to provide it for you too. If there is a charge for other patrons, then they can charge you too, but not more than they are charging others.

If you look down the forum further there is a thread pertaining to this and lists the law.

Here is a link to the forum.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2169831

As far as using shuttles supplied by the hotel, they have to also supply accessible transportation to you too. It is a law that they don't like to abide by but they have to. If they provide free transportation to other patrons they have to provide it for you too. If there is a charge for other patrons, then they can charge you too, but not more than they are charging others.

This advice only applies to US hotels that are covered by the ADA. At least one poster mentioned South American cruises.

We have a folding travel scooter that folds to the size of a suitcase. With that we haven't had any problems with either taxis or shuttles.

You are right that it is for US hotels only. I am sorry I forgot to mention it. I meant to.

Here is some more information for transportation within the US for those of us with disabilities.

http://www.fta.dot.gov/civilrights/12325.html