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Scooting ashore


DrTee
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I’m renting a scooter for the first time, and I’m curious about the possibilities and limitations when it comes to taking the scooter off the ship and just browsing the town for some of the ports. How far is reasonable? Do you have warning that your power is running out? What if it breaks down? Any other advice?

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You should find out what model scooter you are renting, then google it. You will find a lot of useful information for all of the normally rented models, including owner's manuals. These will help you understand the mechanics of the scooter, battery level meters, use of manual mode, etc. A little knowledge is a lot of power :)

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All scooters are different. If I know I am going into port the next day, I fully charge the battery overnight. I have a smaller model and mine goes 8 miles on one charge...and yes, there is a gage to show if the battery is running low.

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My sister and I are just off Adventure. We got off in Nassau and simply tooled around the main area for about 3-4 hours (in and out of stores, Pirate museum, stopped for lunch). He has a small collapsible scooter and she was fine all day. Just plugged in every night and was good for the next day.

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  • 11 months later...
On 8/8/2018 at 10:43 PM, mamaofami said:

I've been using aTravelscoot since 2009 and always take it off the ship. If taking an excursion, they put it in the trunk of the car or van. I prefer non cruise ship excursions.

Hi Recently got a TS and I am planning my cruise in Sept. new england/canada ... have you taken it to Bar Harbor? by any chance? I know it is a tender port so I was curious if it will work for me

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It's up to the captain and safety officer if they will allow scooters on the tenders.But the decision is not made until the ship drops anchor. Keep in mind a not all tenders can handle scooters. The tide level also comes into play. At low tide it's a very steep a angle getting off the tender pier to the main street in town.

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My experience with travelscoot and tendering is as follows: First, if the seas are at all rough you will be refused.

Second, if it is possible to tender you must be able to transfer independently to the tender including going down the stairs into the boat. You will not be carried onto the tender, nor will you be able to ride you scooter onto the tender unless it is a specially adapted tender. Even with an adapted tender it will be necessary to get off the scooter and onto a wheelchair. Finally, the crew will lift the scooter onto the tender. Luckily the travelscoot is less than 50 pounds so this is permitted. You should expect to be the first on and last off usually.

Edited by katisdale
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On 7/18/2019 at 7:42 PM, mooche said:

Hi Recently got a TS and I am planning my cruise in Sept. new england/canada ... have you taken it to Bar Harbor? by any chance? I know it is a tender port so I was curious if it will work for me

 

Bar harbor has a very steep street after you get off a tender.  There may be an elevator inside, but the outside driveway is steep.  Then the main part of town is fairly steep.  While I’ve only done those hills with a walker I would expect my scooter to eat battery life for sure.  Admittedly Edinburgh Scotland is worse, and there were ways around the worst streets.  The ramps to some of the restaurants can also be steep, not nearly as bad as the one section of stores.

 

Having said that there are several places to explore that aren’t shopping and the area is quite peaceful.  

 

As others have said getting on to a tender with even just a walker is the captains call.  I’ve never been denied, even in Hawaii after someone had caught her leg between the tender and the dock due to rough seas.  Normally, I’m seated very close to the door as they don’t want me walking too far.  It’s been my experience that the crew truly wants to help you and they are totally useless.  I’m convinced that if I slipped the best that they could do was cushion my fall while I smushed them by falling on top of them.  We now compromise, I get to hold on to the handle with one hand and they can have only one hand!  They are legitimately afraid you will get hurt by holding on to the tender, but I can break my own fall if I’m holding on!   Getting off if you try to pull against them they turn to mush too!  

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 8/8/2018 at 10:43 PM, mamaofami said:

I've been using aTravelscoot since 2009 and always take it off the ship. If taking an excursion, they put it in the trunk of the car or van. I prefer non cruise ship excursions.

I've never taken or asked to take my travel scoot on a tender. I just stay on board.

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  • 1 month later...

Although it doesn't need it I charge mine every night while sleeping.  I have a Pride Victory. Its a heavy duty one and has a 15 mile limit. That being said, they do use more power going uphill so I would calculate about 10 miles per charge. Have never had it run out yet.

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We have scooted from the ship into the downtown area in St. Thomas - over a mile, spent all day shopping and going in and out of stores, scooted back to the ship, and not lost one single 'bar' of power.  I have never come close to running out of battery power after ~5 cruises using a scooter.  Enjoy!

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42 minutes ago, gadaboutgal said:

Aways have your charger with you.  Many stores will let you top off if you ask kindly.

And you can often find a power point in many cafes etc and top up both your body and your battery at the same time. I am a big fan of topping up whenever I can. I also hav3 a portable battery pack with an A/C outlet

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