northernlights3

Thank you so much. That's useful to know. I've done gangways in my manual wheelchair without too much problem, it's just the confusion as to whether they will let an electric one do it. The joys of holidays lol.

Morning all, I am not new to cruising, however I have not cruised in an electric wheelchair before, only a manual. I am looking to go on a Fred Olsen cruise in 2025/2026. The one we are looking at specifically departs from and ends in Newcastle, UK. However we seem to have come across an issue that says if your wheelchair is over 25kg, which mine is, and it can't be dismantled, then you can't get on and off the ship. We are waiting to hear back from Fred Olsen, but they've said it could be months before we get an answer and now they aren't even sure if we can get on and off at Newcastle because it's a tidal port and doesn't have an air terminal. Has anyone else cruised from the UK (preferably with specific knowledge of Newcastle itself) who is a full time electric wheelchair user (I have no mobility at all outside of my wheelchair). Could anyone give me any clarity on this situation? Or even from Southampton on another cruiseline so we could look at other options if Newcastle doesn't work out. I don't want to book a cruise and then have to cancel it, but also don't want to miss out on an opportunity to go if I can. This is a bit of a bucket list item for me, so any info would be greatly appreciated. I've posted this on the disability part of this forum as well, but it was suggested that I might have some luck over here as well, so hope you don't mind the repeat post.

Thanks for the reply, that's especially useful to know tidal surges also haven't been an issue, may I ask if you don't mind sharing roughly how much your electric wheelchair weighs? According to the manual mine is 140 kg so quite a way over the 25 kg limit. Is yours quite heavy as well, or is it a lighter weight one?

Thank you so much for all the replies, that is really helpful. We do book an accesible cabin, we have actually got a room preliminarily booked, but then this suddenly came out and we panicked a bit. So don't want to put down payment, until we know for sure what's going on. Good to know others haven't had an issue, I may post this over on the Fred Olsen forum as well as you suggested, but thank you for all the help.

Evening all, I have posted this over on the disabled cruise forum as well, but someone suggested I may have more luck here. I am not new to cruising, however I have not cruised in an electric wheelchair before, only a manual. I am looking to go on a Fred Olsen cruise in 2025/2026 (Doing my research early to avoid any problems). The one we are looking at specifically departs from and ends in Newcastle, UK. However we seem to have come across an issue that says if your wheelchair is over 25kg, which mine is, and it can't be dismantled, then you can't get on and off the ship. We are waiting to hear back from Fred Olsen, but they've said it could be months before we get an answer and now they aren't even sure if we can get on and off at Newcastle because it's a tidal port and doesn't have an air terminal. Has anyone else cruised from the UK (preferably with specific knowledge of Newcastle itself) who is a full time electric wheelchair user (I have no mobility at all outside of my wheelchair). Could anyone give me any clarity on this situation? Or even from Southampton on another cruiseline so we could look at other options if Newcastle doesn't work out. I don't want to book a cruise and then have to cancel it, but also don't want to miss out on an opportunity to go if I can. This is a bit of a bucket list item for me, so any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you. I am new to this forum so still finding my legs as it were. I will have a look over at the UK one as well.

Afternoon all, I am not new to cruising, however I have not cruised in an electric wheelchair before, only a manual. I am looking to go on a Fred Olsen cruise in 2025/2026 (Doing my research early to avoid any problems). The one we are looking at specifically departs from and ends in Newcastle, UK. However we seem to have come across an issue that says if your wheelchair is over 25kg, which mine is, and it can't be dismantled, then you can't get on and off the ship. We are waiting to hear back from Fred Olsen, but they've said it could be months before we get an answer and now they aren't even sure if we can get on and off at Newcastle because it's a tidal port and doesn't have an air terminal. Has anyone else cruised from the UK (preferably with specific knowledge of Newcastle itself) who is a full time electric wheelchair user (I have no mobility at all outside of my wheelchair). Could anyone give me any clarity on this situation? Or even from Southampton on another cruiseline so we could look at other options if Newcastle doesn't work out. I don't want to book a cruise and then have to cancel it, but also don't want to miss out on an opportunity to go if I can. This is a bit of a bucket list item for me, so any info would be greatly appreciated.