I need to use a hoist

[JohnLittle]

When I went on my one and only cruise I found it almost impossible to transfer from bed to wheelchair and vice versa in rough weather. A hoist could have done the trick except that the bed was built in to the floor with no space under to slide the 'feet' of the hoist - that was an inside cabin on Norwegian Dream in 2007. Does anyone know if there are any ships that have enough space under the beds so a hoist could be used?

[klauer]

I can't think of any cruises I've been on where I couldn't store my luggage under the bed.

The cruises were on Regent, Princess, Celebrity, and Royal Caribbean. Are you talking about a Hoyer lift, which I can picture working fine (although it would take up a lot of room), or something else?

[jackretired]

NO.

 

What about a transfer board?

 

Or for less money.

.

[jihwaan]

My husband requires hoisting at all times and we have been on Rhapsody of the Seas and Sun Princess. Both were disabled cabins and we had no problem with the hoist fitting under the bed. When not in use I used to store the hoist in the wheel in shower recess.

[mattandkelly]

My hubby also requires hoisting at all times and we have also been on Rhapsody of the Seas with absolutely no problem either getting the hoist on/off the ship or fitting it under the bed. Our hoist requires a 12cm clearance and our bed was fine for this. The only problem we encountered was me trying to manoueuvre the hoist to the bed with DH onboard in rough swell but once I started going with the waves rather than against them we were fine (after we managed to stop killing ourselves laughing about the whole thing that is!!!). We're booked on Radiance in November and not expecting any issues there either.

[meatloafsfan]

The only problem we encountered was me trying to manoueuvre the hoist to the bed with DH onboard in rough swell but once I started going with the waves rather than against them we were fine (after we managed to stop killing ourselves laughing about the whole thing that is!!!). We're booked on Radiance in November and not expecting any issues there either.

 

This is the trick for everything when dealing with a wheelchair on board.

 

The last night of our DCL cruise, we had some really rough seas and the ship was really shifting back and forth. When getting my mom up and out of bed or out of her wheelchair and back into bed, it was so much simplier when we started to go with the motion of the boat. Same for rolling from the bed to the bathroom - if you try to do it when the boat is moving the other way, it's like pushing up a hill; if you do it with the motion of the ship, it's so much easier (though I kept one hand on the hand brake of the chair just in case it was too easy).

[xxoocruiser]

I've also known people to request an additional mattress to be placed on the bed inorder to transfer from a wheelchair in order to avoid having to rent a hoyer a lift.

[Splinter]

Unlike hotels, for many, many cruises, have never had a platform bed. Virtually all ships have beds that can be moved to split or combine to make a queen-sized, so a platform bed is even difficult for the room steward to use.

 

One problem we have run into using a lift is that the steward often stores the bed quilts under the bed at night. We keep two suitcases under the one bed used by the AB person, and one suitcase all the way at the head of the bed under the one my mother uses. We have to ask the room steward to not store anything else under that bed. If they forget, we cannot get our travel lift under the bed until I crawl around and extract whatever is there.

 

If the bed is too low (sometimes a problem) the room steward will nearly always have another mattress to put on top of the primary mattress and make it higher.

[JohnLittle]

Thanks to everyone for the contributions here. it has been a big help :)

[GRBlizz]

This has been a big help to me, too! My DH has progressed enough in his MS that we do have to use a hoyer at home a lot of days, because he just can't transfer. Our next cruise is in November, and I have been thinking that we will definitely need it.

 

We will be doing a TA, so we have to fly to Barcelona to embark. We do have a lift that folds for travel, but it sure isn't small. Will the airline simply accept it as medical equipment and check it?

 

Anyone have any experience with this?

[JohnLittle]

My experience with airlines - mainly Qantas, BA, United and AA is that they will take the wheelchair plus 1 more piece of equipment free. We always have a large box which carries an over-the-toilet frame to raise the height of the seat, it goes on as oversize baggage but when we explain it is "medical" equipment they never charge us.

[jihwaan]

We also use a fold up hoist at home so it can be taken with us if needed. My husband also relies on a monkey bar (goose neck ). We have a free standing one so I had the long standing pole which goes behind the bed cut in half which made it easier for transporting. On one particular holiday we went on we took those two items and of course his electric wheelchair and we flew Qantas and Virgin and all items were carried free of charge. I may add we only flew within Australia but we had a few flights with no problem at all.

If we are going to one place only and not travelling around we usually hire the equipment from where we are going as it is a lot less hassle for me dealing with all the equipment and luggage as well. We are going to Melbourne for a week and from there I have hired a hoist plus sling. an electric bed with rails, mattress and goose neck (which will be set up and delivered to hotel room) and a shower commode. With all delivery costs this came to $200.00 which to me was worth it. It is just another option for us to use sometimes.

[Splinter]

We travel with a power wheelchair, manual wheelchair, folding travel shower/commode chair, and a travel type lift. All are marked clearly on the outside of the case or a visable part of the equipment as "Medical Equipment" with directions for moving them in both English & Spanish. We have never been charged extra for flying with this stuff as long as we make sure to declare it as medical equipment. We usually take both wheelchairs and lift to the gate and gate check them instead of putting through checked baggage (but do check the commode, which packs into a suitcase type bag). We also take a carry-on bag with bowel/bladder supplies stenciled "Medical Supplies" with us, and this is not counted in the maximum carry-on alotment.