Alaska cruise/land - which ship?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts. I'm planning an Alaska trip - cruise and Denali for 2012. My DH has MS and uses a scooter full time. He can transfer and do a few steps, but is unwilling to give up the independence he has with the scooter, so a wheelchair is out of the question. There are so many choices. Royal Carribean? Celebrity? Holland America? Other?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts. I'm planning an Alaska trip - cruise and Denali for 2012. My DH has MS and uses a scooter full time. He can transfer and do a few steps, but is unwilling to give up the independence he has with the scooter, so a wheelchair is out of the question. There are so many choices. Royal Carribean? Celebrity? Holland America? Other?

I too have MS and use a scooter. I have done an Alaska Cruise on RCCL and had no problems. Prior to my Dx I cruised on Holland. Since MS I have found RCCl to be very handicap friendly. RCCL is the only cruise line that I know of that has one pool on all their ships equiped with a chair lift. Regardless of what cruise line you choose you'll find that all are very friendly and that the staff is very well experienced with passengers traveling with scooters and wheelchairs. A coup,le of issues you might encoutner regardless of the cruise line .

Tendering : It's up to the descretion of the Captain if your Dh will be hanlde to use the tender with his scooter. The scooter cannot be driven onto the tender your husband must be able to walk onto and may have do a couple of steps. If denied it's for his safety . Best bet is to wait after all the crowds lessen so he has a better chance of getting on and the crew to load the scooter.

Elevators: people have a tendency regarding what ever cruise line to jump in front of scooters and wheelchairs waiting for the elevators. Though most people are considerate you will have to run interference for your DH from time to time.

Thanks for the info. What happens to the scooter when there's tendering and the Captain allows boarding? Is it lifted into and out of the tender and then used onshore?

Elevators: people have a tendency regarding what ever cruise line to jump in front of scooters and wheelchairs waiting for the elevators. Though most people are considerate you will have to run interference for your DH from time to time.

I recently returned from a cruise on Carnival Spirit Honolulu to Hawaii and perhaps it was the passengers on this type of cruise or not, but I had the totally opposite experience. We had folks holding elevators open for me while my DH backed up my wheelchair, folks that said to us to take the elevator they would wait for the next one and many folks that when we were on the elevator and had room for them were so pleasant and nice moving themselves around my chair. One fella joked about how fun it would be to stand between my legs..:p,,,we all laughed. To all my fellow passengers on this cruise, thank you all for your kindness, consideration and help during this my first vacation ever having to use a wheelchair.

Thanks for the info. What happens to the scooter when there's tendering and the Captain allows boarding? Is it lifted into and out of the tender and then used onshore?

Yes it's lifted in and out but depends on the size/weight of scooter and the space available to store it on the tender. I use a travel size Pride Elite Traveler Go Go scooter. Only weighs 93 lbs w/batteries

Yes it's lifted in and out but depends on the size/weight of scooter and the space available to store it on the tender. I use a travel size Pride Elite Traveler Go Go scooter. Only weighs 93 lbs w/batteries

Great! Thanks.