Logistics of renting

My parents are going on a cruise with myself and my daughter to Alaska in July. Both have significant mobility issues. Dad uses a walker and my mother has very severe RA and cannot walk any significant distance without paying for it greatly.

They do have an accessible room booked. He's planning to take a walker and the plan is to rent a regular wheelchair (from somewhere else than a cruise supply place) for her. My concern is that she loses any independence and has to depend on us to wheel her. I'm willing, but this sounds severely limiting. I'm looking at the rental companies that do rentals of power chairs specifically for cruises.

I'm puzzled by the logistics though. When and where do these appear when rented this way? What about the long walking area through check in, security and embarkation? What else do I need to know to make this work smoothly?

Thanks

My parents are going on a cruise with myself and my daughter to Alaska in July. Both have significant mobility issues. Dad uses a walker and my mother has very severe RA and cannot walk any significant distance without paying for it greatly.

 

They do have an accessible room booked. He's planning to take a walker and the plan is to rent a regular wheelchair (from somewhere else than a cruise supply place) for her. My concern is that she loses any independence and has to depend on us to wheel her. I'm willing, but this sounds severely limiting. I'm looking at the rental companies that do rentals of power chairs specifically for cruises.

 

I'm puzzled by the logistics though. When and where do these appear when rented this way? What about the long walking area through check in, security and embarkation? What else do I need to know to make this work smoothly?

 

Thanks

This part is relatively simple: There are essentially 2 companies that have contracts with the cruise lines -- CareVacations and SpecialNeedsAtSea. First you have to contact your cruise company and find out which one(s) they allow on their ships. If both, I've found that SpecialNeedsAtSea is cheaper...but your experience may differ.

Once you know the company, you simply call them, and tell them what you want -- power chair, scooter, whatever. They'll want to know the height/weight of the person using the equipment. Then they'll want to know which cruise line, when and where, and which cabin. You pay for it, and that's pretty much it.

It will be in the cabin (or be delivered to the cabin) on the first day of your cruise. Your mother can use it both on and off the ship. On the last day, she simply leaves it in the cabin. They pick it up from there. Assuming there has been no damage to it, you'll not hear from them again.

It would be good to have a manual chair for her anyway, if she plans on going on excursions. It's much easier to load a manual chair into any sort of vehicle. You can usually find a used manual chair pretty cheap, if you start looking in your neighborhod classifieds, or on places like Craigslist. That would be cheaper than renting in the long run, and she could use it at home, too.

As for getting on/off the ship: Tell the cruise company that they both will need assistance getting on/off the ship. When you arrive at the port, look for a representative of your cruise line -- several will be around -- and tell them. They'll direct your parents to a waiting area where there will be chairs. Eventually (and of course before the ship sets sail!) they'll come with a wheelchair and wheel your parents onto the ship (or if your mother has a manual chair by then, will wheel her on in her chair). They'll take your parents to the front of lines and directly on to the ship. Sometimes -- not always -- they'll let you go with them. Once on the ship they may take them to their cabin...but may not, meaning they'd have to walk to the cabin where they'll find the power chair.

Another issue to be resolved is tendering -- not all the cruise lines will allow wheelchairs on tenders, even manual ones. So it might be that your parents can't get off the ship at tendered ports, unless they're willing to walk.

Note that none of the cruise lines have wheelchairs that can be used throughout the cruise, though (they used to, but don't do this anymore). They only will allow their use to get on/off the ship (or for emergencies on board). You might want to consider getting a wheelchair for your father, too. As you already know, there are long distances to walk on the ship, too, just to get to the dining room sometimes!

Also, your mother should start now "test driving" power equipment. Many of the larger stores have scooters available for people. They're not as easy to drive as they look, and learning how to use them in the larger areas of stores is less intimidating than in the narrower confines of a cruise ship. Encourage her to use them, and use different ones, so she gets a sense of how they manueuver, and how to get on/off easily, stop suddenly, back up, and so on.

Have a great cruise!

Two companies that have permission to place their equipment onboard are http://www.carevacations.com and http://www.specialneedsatsea.com. There is a variety of equipment you can rent --- which is in your cabin waiting for you. I rented a motorized scooter for DH for our 30 day cruise on RCCL's Mariner of the Seas which was wonderful. It saved his legs for our shore excursions. At the conclusion of the cruise -- you just leave the equipment in your cabin. VERY easy ! You may want to also take/rent a foldable manuel wheelchair that can be taken on the tenders and ashore.

I hate to say it, but the prices that those two companies want are ridiculou$$$, upwards of $350.00 for seven days for power chair or scootet, $175.00 for just a pick up walker. I am renting a scooger for $245.00 from a company on shore, locally in Tacoma,and leaving my perso al power chair safely at home. Google is your friend, check out your options on shore, you probably won't regret it.