How important is it to have an accessible room

I'm just wondering if it's necessary to have a specific accessible cabin? The person I'm traveling with is in a power chair so may need wider doors. But she won't use the bathroom or showers at all. There seem to be very few HA rooms or even suites. We will be traveling with a lot of equipment like a portable lift, ventilators and all the other stuff that goes with a person with all these needs. There are 4 of us traveling. I'm wondering if we should get one HA cabin and then another cabin near by. If that would work better than trying to have a suite HA or otherwise that fits all 4 of us and equipment. Certainly the smaller cabins wouldn't work with her equipment but maybe a Veranda one would? I think we'll go in and talk to the travel agent next week and see what she says.

The accessible cabin is a must for what you describe as it has wider doors. Regular doors will not be wide enough for a wheelchair to go through.

Some accessible cabins are quite large, so it really just depends on the ship

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You definitely need an accessible cabin. Whether or not all of you need to actually share it will depend on a number of factors unique to your party.

A second cabin gives you a second bathroom if that matters. And you could likely store some consumables if any your companion will require to save room in the HA cabin.

Cost may also play into it. May be cheaper to get two non- suite cabins than 1 big suite.

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I'm just wondering if it's necessary to have a specific accessible cabin? The person I'm traveling with is in a power chair so may need wider doors. But she won't use the bathroom or showers at all. There seem to be very few HA rooms or even suites. We will be traveling with a lot of equipment like a portable lift, ventilators and all the other stuff that goes with a person with all these needs. There are 4 of us traveling. I'm wondering if we should get one HA cabin and then another cabin near by. If that would work better than trying to have a suite HA or otherwise that fits all 4 of us and equipment. Certainly the smaller cabins wouldn't work with her equipment but maybe a Veranda one would? I think we'll go in and talk to the travel agent next week and see what she says.

100% a requirement in your friend's case. the only other cabin that would be large enough inside is a GS or above, but those will have standard doors which means the chair probably will not fit . you can see if there is a HA Junior Suite, I have been in those and they do have more room as well, although I wouldn't try and fit 4 plus all that equipment into one.

Hi again, angelbearmom. Add my voice to the "yes you need an accessible cabin" chorus. It's not just the width of her power wheelchair, although that would be enough to justify an HC cabin IMNSHO. You also need room for her caregiver(s) to be able to move around her, as well as room for her equipment and supplies, plus room for the clothes of the people travelling with her (whether in the same room or a different room). Shipboard rooms (other than suites) are extremely compact and you simply wouldn't all be able to fit in a standard room. My folding scooter would probably fit through a standard door, but even so I wouldn't even consider a non-HC room because DH and I wouldn't have room to move around even with both scooter and wheelchair folded up.

I do like your two-room plan (but one of them still needs to be HC). That would give the caregivers a quiet place to go to relax when they aren't "on duty" (for lack of a better term). I think you said you were looking at a 7-day cruise? Each caregiver will definitely need down time and privacy or none of you will still be speaking to each other by the end of the cruise. That would also give each person a real bed to sleep in, instead of 2 people having to share a sofabed or someone sleeping in a Pullman.

Spookwife, Pepsicola? lol

Add me to the list of "you absolutely need a HA cabin". Even if you could get in the door (which I don't think it wide enough) there wouldn't be enough room to turn around, especially with the added equipment. None HA cabins are just not big enough, unless you're in one of the larger suites. Honestly our last Princess cruise, we were in a HA veranda cabin, and it was pretty darned small.

On the "door wide enough" question - this comes up a LOT and the bottom line is that a 22" wide scooter/chair won't fit through a 22" wide door. The reason is that the door opens IN and consequently the depth of the door (typically around 2") is blocking that much of the theoretical 22" door opening. Plus, frankly, you need at least a little clearance no matter how clever a driver you are. (When my DH is pushing me, 6" clearance isn't enough - I think in 10 years of pushing me, he has never gotten through a doorway without hitting my wheelchair on one side of the other.) There are plenty of old threads on this topic if you want to look through back topics.

There are some non-accessible cabins on some ships that are large enough to hold a scooter, and to get through the door.

I have been using a scooter for my last several cruises, and never had an accessible cabin; I don't need the rest of the amenities (my cabin has a shower, and I can step over the lip; I can step into the bathroom so long as I hold on to the counter and grab bar).

I back through the cabin door to make it easier to maneuver the scooter into its parking place inside; there's about a half inch clearance on each side.

Now, I will say that the cabins I choose are an odd configuration, and I would not try this in most of the non-accessible insides, but if you can manage walking some, and can't get an accessible cabin, don't rule the cruise out entirely. There may still be a solution.

My wife uses a wheelchair due to right side paralysis from TBI and has severe balance issues. On our first cruise, when she could walk more, we had a regular veranda cabin because we were clueless about accessible cabins. So we folded the chair when in the cabin and parked it up against the door. We did request a shower stool but otherwise no other accessibility features.

Next cruise, on RCCL we booked an accessible and it was a LOT easier for her. Grab bars in bathroom and room to use wheelchair since her balance had gotten worse and "wall walking" was not working. Biggest/best feature was the power door opener. Next two RCCL cruises also had this feature but we've come to learn that HAL and even some other RCCL ships don't have that which is a shame because she can't leave the cabin by herself without it. All in all the accessibility features and not just the extra space make cruising possible for us.

> we booked an accessible and it was a LOT easier for her

I think you may have just hit on the crux of the matter for a lot of handiicapped-but-not-terribly cruisers. I could probably manage with a regular cabin. I can walk short distances, my husband could fold my wheelchair and I could fold up my scooter to get them through a regular room door, I could step up to the bathroom (although it would be difficult every single time), and I could use showers elsewhere on the ship that I wouldn't have to step over the lip for. But it sure would put a damper on what is supposed to be a relaxing, fun experience. So I pick cruises based on whether I can get a nice accessible cabin and can concentrate on having fun.

The OP is in a really different situation, and I don't think anything but an accessible cabin or one of the larger suites would work for her and her party. There is just too much equipment and standing the handicapped person up to get them through the door isn't an option, from what I gather.

I think in 10 years of pushing me, he has never gotten through a doorway without hitting my wheelchair on one side of the other.) .

mine not only cannot drive straight, he can't find the curb cuts at Disney....:rolleyes:

Good thing they have other positive qualities or we'd just dump them, right? lol

And I laugh every time I see your "Pepsicola FL"

I'm not sure which cruise line you are looking at but we were just on RCCL LOS in April and we had a GS. It was not an accessible room which is usually what we get. The door of the suite was wide enough for me to go through it in my electric wheelchair. The suite was a little small to maneuver around much in the wheelchair but we managed. I don't think a GS would be enough room for a lot of equipment and everything else needed in your circumstances. The accessible cabins are hard to get unless you book really far out but if you can get one, I would suggest that and maybe an inside room near for plenty of room for all 4 of you. Hope it gets worked out and you all have a great time.

Our experience:

We booked 2 years ago on Oasis Of The Seas for this year. Husband has hip replacement that takes too long to recover. We rented a scooter 1 month before cruise. It was waiting outside our cabin. We had a regular balcony on 11th floor. Bed close to balcony, couch next to closet. I took out the side table and put in closet (made a good shoe rack). Pushed the couch close to bed. DH drove forward, park beside couch, and I had walking room to get into closet. He then had to back out of cabin. The door was big enough to have him not scrape corners.CONCLUSION: regular cabins on Royal Caribbean can accommodate a scooter, as long as one is mobile enough to get into bathroom.

Our experience:

We booked 2 years ago on Oasis Of The Seas for this year. Husband has hip replacement that takes too long to recover. We rented a scooter 1 month before cruise. It was waiting outside our cabin. We had a regular balcony on 11th floor. Bed close to balcony, couch next to closet. I took out the side table and put in closet (made a good shoe rack). Pushed the couch close to bed. DH drove forward, park beside couch, and I had walking room to get into closet. He then had to back out of cabin. The door was big enough to have him not scrape corners.CONCLUSION: regular cabins on Royal Caribbean can accommodate a scooter, as long as one is mobile enough to get into bathroom.

AND depending on the size of the scooter itself. They are not all created equal.

Neither are the rooms. I really don't think you can accurately make a blanket statemtent that ANY line or ANY ship will or won't accomodate a scooter. You really need to call the accessible desk and ask about any particular room you are considering.

Plus, the OP wasn't concerned about a scooter. Her friend uses a power wheelchair (which may be larger or smaller than a typical scooter) and additional medical equipment as well.

I believe special needs would be able to help you determine if your scooter/wheelchair will work for whichever cabin you have.

Have a wonderful cruise!