Getting on and off for heavy wheelchair passengers

Hi, I am going on my first cruise this August to Alaska. It will be myself, my husband and our mothers. My mother-in-law is mostly wheelchair bound, she can only take a few steps at a time. Due to thyroid problems and the steriods the docs have her on she has gained a lot of weight - she is 250lbs.

After much uncertainty I booked a handicapped cabin on the Celebrity Infinity out of Vancouver. So I am wondering about ease of getting on and off the ship. Our ports will be Ketchikan, Juneau, and Sitka.

I have read on the forum that crew will lift a person in a wheelchair into a tender. It might be too much to ask the crew to lift her in her chair. If there is no tender can the ramps to get on and off the ship be too steep for someone with a scooter/wheelchair to get on and off?

I have heard good things about Celebrity. It was more money than we were hoping to pay but I think it will be worth it. Alaska is the only state my mother-in-law has not been to. So I am sure she will enjoy it save a major disaster :)

This forum really helped me choose a ship. I am glad it exists. I will certainly post a reveiw when I am done.

Cheers,

Anja

The only place you will tender is Sitka and they will do their best to see she gets ashore. It will depend mostly on safety issues.

I saw a lady in a wheelchair assisted up a steep gangway in Skagway by five crew members. All that proves is they do make max effort .

As far as the gangways go, the pitch can be quite variable. Alaska has some really large tidal fluctutions, so you can get off the ship in the morning with a nearly level gangway, yet return to a very steep one. It's an issue that all cruise lines have to deal with (Mother Nature). In most cases the help is there.

Sitka is a tender post and Ketchikan *can* be due to traffic. I've even heard of cases of the Infinity tendering in the morning but later moving into docking position. It's a busy little port there.

Of course if the weather is rough, the captain can decide to not allow wc-users to tender (because of safety issues). Everybody is at the mercy of Mother Nature, but then again that's one of the main draws of Alaska (scenic beauty).

Candy