kokopelli-az

What cruise line will you be on? Each cruise line has rules regarding boarding the tenders. Typically, however, as long as you can board the tender on your own, the crew will put the rollator/walker on and off the tender for you.

I would rent a scooter for the entire cruise. I don't know of any tours where you can rent a scooter just for that tour. If you are thinking about taking shore excursions offered by Princess, take a look at what tours they will be offering for your particular cruise to see if any of them will have vehicles that can accommodate scooters (ie, a lift or ramp). There also might be private tour opertators at your port stops that have vehicles that can accommodate scooters. However, since your cruise is a year from now, you probably won't find much information about tours yet (at least from Princess). You should definitely get an accessible stateroom if you rent a scooter. Your sister might need an accessible stateroom, too, depending on the size of her scooter. These rooms sell out quickly. Take a look here for more information: https://www.princess.com/learn/faq/pre-cruise/prepare-for-your-cruise/?accordion=accessible-cruising

Did you order your distilled water from HAL? Maybe they were having supply issues but that's not what you want to hear when you need it for medical reasons. Anyway, this is direct from HAL's Cruise Contract (section 5): Purified or distilled water in factory-sealed containers (including plastic containers) for use in conjunction with medical device(s) are allowed in checked luggage and must be packed with the device(s). I would contact HAL's Accessibility Department ahead of time and advise them if you decide to take the distilled water with you. And this is an interesting thread from December 2021: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2821523-distill-water-for-cpap-i-was-too-late-please-help/

We just got off the Caribbean Princess 6/18. Planks was not open.

We have rented from Scootaround many, many times. We have never bought their insurance. In my opinion there are just too many exclusions and deductibles. And we never rent the scooter until 10 days or so prior to our cruise date. You may need an accessible room, if you don't already have one. Scooters cannot be parked in the hallways. Your cruise line will have an Access Department (or something similar) and they will probably request that you complete a form indicating you will have a scooter. You can go to your cruise line's website and find contact information for this department. If you rent from Scootaround, try using code USCRUISE for a 15% discount. This is from United Spinal Association. You might actually have to contact Scootaround and ask them to apply this discount if their website will not allow you to enter it. Attached is directly from Scootaround's website:

European river cruises are a challenge for mobility limited passengers. Everyone has different limitations but here is a good article that was written for wheelchair/scooter users but has some insight on river cruises. https://spintheglobe.net/dir/2019/08/04/river-cruises-wheelchair-users/

You might check on the disabled board on this site. Many CPAP discussions.

We're in Cozumel on the Caribbean Princess as I type this and guess who is docked right next to us? The Equinox 🚢 The Equinox is absolutely our favorite ship and we'll be on her in August. BTW it looked like most of the passengers on the Equinox went directly to Margaritaville. 🍷

We're on the Caribbean Princess as I type this. The ship left Fort Lauderdale on Sat June 11. We took our Covid tests on the previous Wednesday. 3 days prior to sailing. Zero problem getting on the ship. We have all our Covid vaccinations (Pfizer) and two boosters. Four in total.

To attach a walker to the back of a wheelcheer, how about using: Velcro straps in varying widths (1" is usually adequate) in rolls at fabric stores. It's self-sticking.Buckle straps (different widths/lengths) at sporting goods or camping stores.Bungee cords of various lengths at sporting goods, camping or auto stores.

Some people have reported using something like this when they are in an accessible stateroom without an automatic door: https://www.amazon.com/Wedge-Ultimate-Door-Stop-Black/dp/B00070FYZE

I assume you are having the ship's wheelchair service provide a wheelchair and pusher for embarkation and disembarkation? You would have a wheelchair pusher for each person and then you could follow with the rollators. In the event the two in the wheelchairs get separated (ie, a pusher comes and gets one person and then 5 minutes later another pusher comes and gets the other person), you might have an agreed upon ahead of time meeting place for the wheelchair users to meet and retrieve their rollators that you have waiting for them. You also could ask when you are waiting in the area assigned for people waiting for wheelchair pushers if you could have two pushers assigned to your group at the same time so you could all stay together. Same with disembarking. Have the ship's wheelchair service push your rollator users and you follow with the rollators. Plan B might be to have the people embarking/disembarking with the wheelchairs carry their (folded up) rollators on their laps. And no, once you debark the ship on your last day, you cannot get back on.

The Equinox is our absolute favorite ship with any line. I agree with the post that Royal might be a better fit for someone younger or with kids.

Here's some info from Royal Caribbean that may be of interest. Will your scooter fit through a 23" door? https://www.royalcaribbean.com/experience/accessible-cruising/mobility-disabilities

I think completing the disability form is always a good idea. In the event of an emergency, the ship personnel will know which passengers possibly need extra assistance. The airlines (any airline arriving or departing from the United States) are actually governed by the Air Carrier Access Act. Here is a good summary of it: https://wheelchairtravel.org/air-travel/air-carrier-access-act-summary/

Does everyone label their DME bag identifying what it is? Or do most people just advise airline personnel it's DME if asked about the bag?

We have rented scooters from both Scootaround and SpecialNeedsatSea. The scooter was always in our stateroom when we boarded pre-covid (we always boarded as early as we could). Except a couple of times when the scooter was waiting for us outside the terminal, which is where we had to return it. However, since cruising has restarted we have had several times that the scooter was not in our stateroom until 2ish. We actually called the rental company on these occasions and we were always told that it was on its way, and we did get the scooter later. Your instructions from your rental company will tell you where to pick up your scooter and where to leave it after the cruise. Typically, you pick up in your stateroom and that's where you leave it when you disembark on the final day. And on the last day, don't leave the scooter anywhere except where your documents say to leave it or you will be assesed a fee. If you rent from Scootaround, I've attached page 1 of Scootaround's confirmation for a cruise we will be on in June so you can see the wording about where to pick up the scooter. And we're usually on our third drink by 2pm, too 😁

They have zero obligation to protect any of your personal medical information.

Following. We have been on the Equinox several times and it is absolutely our favorite ship. We will be on her again in August. Our first stop when we board is the Martini Bar (well, after checking into our muster station). What kind of a stateroom do you have? Your photos look great!

Regarding renting from Special Needs at Sea, this is direct from NCL's website: For security and safety reasons, we have selected Scootaround as the only outside vendors that we will permit to deliver oxygen supplies to the ship. Oxygen supplies need to be requested from Scootaround.

In case you haven't found it, here is NCL's oxygen information: https://www.ncl.com/about/accessible-cruising#oxygen And here's information from the Travel with Oxygen website: https://travelwithoxygen.com/cruise-can-travel-oxygen/ Also, for other information, do a search in this forum for oxygen.

Here are the official Princess ship abbreviations (or codes): Princess-ship-facts.pdf

I would ask at customer services or your room attendant when you get on the ship. There are also electronic boards at the elevators where you can look up where things are.

Caribbean Princess. Although its official abbreviation is actually CB. Apparently CP was already being used when the Caribbean Princess entered service so it was abbreviated CB.

scootaround.com rents scooters in Italy, including Barcelona, but I don't know about Ravenna. They do have a network of contacts and vendors in Europe/Italy so you might ask scootaround about your situation. I don't know what cruise line you will be on, but most will only allow certain rental companies to board their ships (ie, to pick up or drop off equipment). And also John Sage has information on renting scooters in Italy. He does not list Ravenna, but you could contact his company to see if they have any ideas. https://www.sagetraveling.com/wheelchair-rental-and-mobility-scooters-for-hire There is also bringing your own travel scooter or renting one from home and bringing it with you for the cruise. Check with your airline, but the scooter should fly for free.