Rhapsody of the Seas HC cabin; renting scooter

I just returned from an Alaska cruise on Rhapsody of the Seas. We departed from Vancouver and disembarked in Seattle, stayed in a HC JS. If you have any questions about the HC facilities, please feel free to ask. Also, if anyone is considering renting a scooter, I found that it was about $80 cheaper to rent it at the pier (Vancouver) from Care Vacations as opposed to making an advance reservation with them. I'm not sure why.

I just returned from an Alaska cruise on Rhapsody of the Seas. We departed from Vancouver and disembarked in Seattle, stayed in a HC JS. If you have any questions about the HC facilities, please feel free to ask. Also, if anyone is considering renting a scooter, I found that it was about $80 cheaper to rent it at the pier (Vancouver) from Care Vacations as opposed to making an advance reservation with them. I'm not sure why.

How did you rent from Care Vacations in Vancouver? We always make our reservations by phone. Let us know how it worked. Also, how HC accessible is the ship. All JS were sold before we booked, had to take the E2...........luck of the draw I guess. We always sail in a JS/HC and love the bathroom and the closet. We have MTD, did you give it a try, and if so, how did you manage with the scooter. Any tips of where on the ship we can't go because of lack of accessibility will be appreciated. We usually book RCCL because the ships accommodate our special needs.

Oh yes, how was the menu?

Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.

We just returned from Alaska on Rhapsody May 15th. We had a HC cabin on deck 7 and rented a power chair from Care Vacations and it was in our stateroom when we boarded. Sure cost us a lot more than $80 - don't know how you managed that, but good for you. We love RCCL because their handicapped cabins are always near elevators and most of the time they are midship or close to it. And the cabins are spacious. We had more than enough room for my husband's power chair and his manual wheelchair and the bathrooms are spacious also. It was a great cruise......................

I hope you enjoy your cruise.

I couldn't decide in advance if I wanted to ship my own scooter on the plane, or just rent a scooter for the cruise when I arrived in Vancouver. I'm always afraid that it will be damaged on the plane, although the worst that has ever happened in the past are some scratches. In the end, I decided to let the airlines wheel me through the airport, and to rent a scooter at the pier.

I had researched the price before I left for the cruise, and I was quoted a price of $309 to pick up the scooter in Vancouver and to leave it on the ship when we disembarked in Seattle. They charge more, apparently, for a drop off point that is different from the origination port. Since I couldn't decide what to do, I ended up renting the scooter at the pier. You can rent from Care Vacations right at the Canada Place pier. They have a kiosk there in the area where you wait before going through the security checkpoint. There were 2 employees there, both seemed very knowledgeable. They had three sizes of scooters there as well as manual and power chairs. All were available to rent. The interesting part was that the price they quoted me at the pier as $245, quite a bit less than the quote I received on the phone. I have no idea why! The scooter was fine, a Pride, and the entire experience was great. I'd do it again this way any time.

About MTD: I found it was much easier going into the dining room when using MTD. When I was eating at a regular seating there were always many people entering the dining room at once, and this often created some congestion that made my progress slow and sometimes I felt like I was stuck right next to people seated at another table as I waited for the congestion to clear. With MTD, there's not ususally more than 1 or 2 parties trying to enter the dining room, so it's much easier. The scooter was no problem. They assigned us a seating area near the entrance (although not necessarily the exact same table) for the entire cruise, and they took the scooter out to the entrance of the dining room after I was seated. I really prefer MTD. You can adjust the time you want to eat, and although they prefer a reservation you don't need one. The one time we did not have a reservation, we waited less than 5 minutes for a table. We were on the first cruise that Rhapsody had offered MTD, but it went smoothly. I did hear, however, that the waiters didn't love it because they had no breaks during the dinner service.

Access: Our cabin was JS 8550, and yes, it was huge! Wheeling around was no prblem in either the room or bathroom.. There is a 2 " lip to get out to the balcony, but I could manage to walk out there, so it was fine for me. The rest of the ship was pretty easy to navigate aorund. As ususal, the elevators were difficult because if you wait in your scooter in the middle of the elevator area, and it "dimgs" that it's arrived, you have to scoote like "H" to get there before the doors close. I did not have difficulty finding room on the elevators most of the time. The only area I found dificult was the shops area. They tended to be crowded and just too congested for the scooter. Also, the shows in the theater were VERY crowded (early seating), so I would suggest arriving at leat 20-25 minutes before the show to be able to scoot up and get an aisle seat.

In general, RCCL was extremely accommodating. For example, one night my back was not cooperating and I didn't feel well enough to go to dinner. So, when our attendant knocked on the door for the evening turndown, I explained that we didn't need anything and that I needed to remain lying down. He offered to order me anything from the MDR menu if I needed assistance. I declined, thanked him, and he left. An hour later the housekeeping supervisor stopped by the room. She said that our attendant had told her that I wasn't feeling well and wondered if there was anything she could do to help! I really felt that they went the extra mile to assist me.

The Food: It was good, although I won't say it was gourmet quality (but then, they do have to feed 2000 people several times day). The lobster tails were the only major disappointment because they were mushy, fishy-tasting and pretty much inedible. The highlight for me was the pork medallions on the first night. The Windjammer is seldom easy in a scooter. It tends to be crowded, the food is at counter height and I needed assistance to both navigate and get my food/drink. Again, the one time I went there alone, the staff was VERY helpful, carrying my tray, etc.

I hope this is helpful. Please ask if you have any other questions.

We just returned from Radiance OS, 11 night Alaska (SD to VAN).

I rented a mobility scooter from Care Vacations, they included a free wheelchair. Both delivered to cabin in SD, we left in cabin in VAN, Cost 150 for 11 nights, about 13-14 per night.

The rental is Commissionable to your TA, if you use one.

Their website cruiseshipassist dot com provides information.

245.00 is the price from care vacations, we will be on the NCL Star the 4th of July. We booked the scooter over the phone.

We normally rent from scootaround which have lower prices...but for some reason they don't do NCL ships.

Our 15 night Hawaii cruise last year, the scooter was 250.00

We rent from scootaround in Vegas also...its usually about 30.00 a day.

Sandy

We just returned from Radiance OS, 11 night Alaska (SD to VAN).

I rented a mobility scooter from Care Vacations, they included a free wheelchair. Both delivered to cabin in SD, we left in cabin in VAN, Cost 150 for 11 nights, about 13-14 per night.

The rental is Commissionable to your TA, if you use one.

Their website cruiseshipassist dot com provides information.

So you were able to rent even though your cruise was ONE WAY? Also were you in a standard cabin or a suite or a HC cabin? If not an HC cabin did the scooter fit through your door?

So you were able to rent even though your cruise was ONE WAY? Also were you in a standard cabin or a suite or a HC cabin? If not an HC cabin did the scooter fit through your door?

CareVacations indeed rents scooters and other mobility equipment for one way trips. They seem to have agents in all the usual cruise ports. I'm assuming the agent collects the equipment, cleans it up, and if possible, puts it back on a ship going back to the original destination.

The other rental company -- which name now escapes me but which has been mentioned here -- does that too -- rents for one way cruises.

Franksandy -- I think it is NCL who has chosen to only do business with CareVacation, rather than CareVacation choosing to limit their customer base. I think they'd rather do business with "whoever", when possible, but NCl makes it quite clear that the only such company allowed on their ships is CareVacation.

Yes, they rent one way. On the phone they told me that I would pay a premium for the one way, but when I questioned their price, telling them that their competitor quoted a lower price, they reduced their original quote. That quote was still about $50 higher than the price I actually paid by renting a scooter at the pier.

Care vacations offer three different sizes of scooters. The medium size, a Pride, would not have fit thriugh the standard cabin door, but we were in a junior HC suite.