traveling with wheelchair what about tendering?

[ibcruiseing]

Does anyone know if you can get off with a wheelchair if we are tendering at a port? we are on the Spirit in March please help!

[roger001]

A guest on the Sun several months ago was confined to a wheelchair. He was able to board the tender at Belize. He was fairly young with very good upper body strength and had a very physically capable wife to help him. They boarded the tender first and left last. To do so, you would have to be capable of exiting the chair with help, boarding the tender, and the chair loaded separately. The tenders do rock and splash quite a bit when at the ship, and the ramps down to the tender can be fairly steep . So I guess it would really depend on the physical situation of the individual.

[Azure Moon]

We were able to tender on another of NCL's ships, so wouldn't see why not on another of their ships. We used a full size collapsible wheelchair.

[BooBooMonkey]

It depends where you are going.

GSC (the private island in the Bahamas) requires boarding the tender on the upper part of the tender boat and exiting on the island from the bottom of the boat. You could probably do it with a lot of assistance. I don't think a mechanized wheelchair or scooter would work there.

 

You may wish to check the ports of call boards of the ports you will be going to as well as the board for assisted travelers here for more info.

 

Have fun on your cruise!

 

Boo

[mikewrit]

DW used a rollator on our last two cruises. The tender crews were most adept at getting her and her wheeled walker on and off the little boats in several ports. Folks in wheelchairs who braved the tendering also seemed to be well served. (I did not see anyone in a power chair using a tender, however.)

[EileenN]

Power chairs are not allowed to tender on any ship we have sailed on. Our DD can walk short distances with assistance and had tendered on GSC and Belize with a good deal of polite assistance. She is in a standard folding full size wheelchair. It did require her climbing a long staircase.

[terrymtex01]

I don't know if this helps anyone, but I do know at GSC they have special wheelchairs for the beach. I don't know how you reserve one or what you do to get one, but I would inquire at the front desk of your ship if you are interested.

[uppitycats]

Whether or not you can make use of the tenders relies in part on your ability to assist getting on/off, but also is at the sole discretion of the captain, and those crew members at the tender location. If they say no, it's no.

 

Usually people in power chairs will not be allowed -- the chair is too heavy to transport (lift on and off the tender). If the waves are too rough, no. Sometimes if the person in the chair is too heavy, the answer will be no.

 

So if you go into it understanding that you may be disappointed, you might be successful getting on board....or not.