Thompson won't allow electric buggy

My wife has difficulty walking, so we have invested in a battery powered buggy which has been specially designed for air travel. It's very light, folds up like a suitcase and wheels like a suitcase when folded. We have taken this on several P&O cruises and it's just great. It gives my wife lots of independence whilst on-board. We keep it in the cabin so it's not cluttering the passageways and lots of passengers have asked us where we bought it.

Last week I tried to book a cruise with Thompson cruises and they refused to have the buggy on the ship, ergo, Thompson are off our list of cruising companies. Does anyone know if other cruise lines refuse to let electric buggies on-board?

Duncan

I do believe there may be a communication problem with Thomson (verify company name). Who ever you contacted may not be familiar with “buggy”. I am assuming that you are referring to a mobile scooter which falls in the classification of electric wheelchairs for most purposes. Below is the information I found in regards to Thomson and transporting electric wheelchairs.

http://www.thomson.co.uk/editorial/faqs/disabled-passengers/general-information.html

For accessibility purposes, I recommend that you use “wheelchair” when making inquiries. Seems to be internationally understood.

Betty

I do believe there may be a communication problem with Thomson (verify company name). Who ever you contacted may not be familiar with “buggy”. I am assuming that you are referring to a mobile scooter which falls in the classification of electric wheelchairs for most purposes. Below is the information I found in regards to Thomson and transporting electric wheelchairs.

 

 

http://www.thomson.co.uk/editorial/faqs/disabled-passengers/general-information.html

 

 

For accessibility purposes, I recommend that you use “wheelchair” when making inquiries. Seems to be internationally understood.

 

 

Betty

 

 

Thomson cruises does specifcally state that scooters ( AKA - "Buggy) are not allowed on any of its ships .

The following is copied directly from Thomson's website :

This is the link to the entire section http://www.thomson.co.uk/cruise/life-onboard/special-assistance.html

Sounds like their ships aren't very accessible.....another cruiseline seems to be the prudent choice!

Thank you everyone and especially xxoocruiser for the link to that particular part of their website, and that's exactly what I was told when I spoke to them. I'll take cb at sea's advice and choose another cruise line.

Thank you everyone and especially xxoocruiser for the link to that particular part of their website, and that's exactly what I was told when I spoke to them. I'll take cb at sea's advice and choose another cruise line.

Any line that's US based will allow mobility scooters. But, if you speak to a person at any of those lines, make sure to use the term "mobility scooter". The term buggy in the US refers to what an infant is transported in.

[quote name=teksonic;32815073 a battery powered buggy which has been specially designed for air travel. It's very light' date=' folds up like a suitcase and wheels like a suitcase when folded. We have taken this on several P&O cruises and it's just great.

Duncan[/quote]

Hi Duncan Please could you put up the details? This sounds brilliant. Thanks:)

Hi Duncan Please could you put up the details? This sounds brilliant. Thanks:)

Yes, I'd be interested too. Thanks.

Here you go, this is the travel scooter we have, it's all aluminium and very light ....

http://www.mobilitydiscount.com/web/scooters/mini_traveler_supreme_electric_s.htm

We have the one with the standard seat because there are no arms to get in the way when you fold it down. We bought ours off ebay in the UK. In fact we liked it so much we bought a second one off ebay just in case one breaks down. I think we paid about £200.00 that's about $270.00

It's been all over the world and we take it right to the door of the plane, and usually it's waiting at the door when we get off. I'ts best on smooth flat surfaces like airports and ships decks. It can't go up ships gangways, but it's no problem, my wife gets off, I wheel it up the gangway, go back to help her, she gets back on and has the lift waiting ready for us to go up. So we are self sufficient.

There is one small drawback, the battery life is only 2 hours of travel which is approximately 4 hours of use, but that's a small price to pay for a great little scooter. When we are out and about on tours or in the ports, I take the charger with me, and that's small and light as well, and plug it into the cafe's or restaurant's electricity sockets and keep it topped up that way.

The ships waiters love it, when they see my wife getting ready to leave the table, there's a rush to see which one can ride the scooter to her first.

Dunc

That's great, thanks.

Sounds like their ships aren't very accessible.