cheza Posted August 15, 2005 #1 Share Posted August 15, 2005 has anyone any experience of taking an oxygen consentrator on a cruise. This will be my first time of taking oxgen with me during my cruise. We are traveling by car to the port and will take it to checkin. will they take it off us at checkin & deliver to our cabin or do we keep it with us. Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks Chez :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEL67 Posted August 15, 2005 #2 Share Posted August 15, 2005 Is it a full size oxygen concentrator or a travel one? If its a travel one, I think you should keep it with you. If its a full size one, you will need to check to see if it will fit through the scanner. If not, you will need to box it up and send it with your luggage. The company that provides my husband oxygen lends us a travel concentrator when we go away. Its not small (about 24" high by 17" wide and 37 lbs), but it is portable. I have to box it up for air travel, but I take it aboard ship strapped to a luggage carrier. I figure that it is one less opportunity for it to get broken. Regardless of how you get it aboard, I suggest you bring an extension cord and power strip so you do not have to rely on the location of the one outlet in the cabin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queenie2 Posted August 15, 2005 #3 Share Posted August 15, 2005 You probably already did this, (but just in case) you need to notify the cruise lien that you will be traveling with an oxygen concetrator. Candy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montgomeryfamily Posted August 16, 2005 #4 Share Posted August 16, 2005 We've taken a full size concentrator on our last two cruises. It is on wheels and rolls. We didn't have any trouble with security. They didn't try to run it through the scanner. Instead they just checked it out and let us on with it. We would have been concerned about checking with the baggage because of potential damage to the machine. Perhaps it would be different if you had a box that could provide sufficient protection for damage. The power strip and extension cord is very important to bring. There is usually only one outlet in the room and in our case, if we had not had a power strip and extension cord, we would have had to keep the concentrator in a very inconvenient location in the room. Also, we brought duct tape and taped the cord down. This prevented tripping and also enabled the cabin steward to vacuum the room without pulling the cord out or causing some other problem with the cord getting in the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoriTX Posted August 16, 2005 #5 Share Posted August 16, 2005 We travel with my Brother in law who uses oxygen. We have been on 2 carnival cruises and had no problem bringing the Concentrator and Bottled oxygen onboard. We hand carried both the concentrator and bottles onboard. They did not put any of it through the scanner. He used the conentrator when ever he was in the room. Bottles for around the ship and in ports. On the Elation they let him keep all his bottles of oxygen in the room with him and on the Valor they kept the bottles in the medical center. When he needed a new bottle the room steward would take the empty and bring back a full one. Now when we were diembarking on the last day it was a problem to get all the bottles back on the Valor. And some that they brought back were NOT the ones he came with....took a while to get it staightend out. Make sure Everything and Every bottle has your name, address and phone number on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imsulin Posted August 16, 2005 #6 Share Posted August 16, 2005 It would also be a good idea to bring a letter from your doctor stating your need for concentrated oxygen. And - notify the cruise line in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEL67 Posted August 16, 2005 #7 Share Posted August 16, 2005 Yes, definitely notify the cruise line in advance. I have had different reactions when I did so. I documented that we are brining an oxygen cocnentrator on the HAL and Carnival special needs forms. RCL no longer requires a special needs form for HC cabins so I contacted them. Their responses: - HAL: No response which was okay. - Carnival: Called to make sure it was a concentrator. The rep told me it should be carried aboard and asked if I would need help. - RCCL: Asked for a "fitness to travel letter" from my husband's doctor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheza Posted August 18, 2005 Author #8 Share Posted August 18, 2005 thanks guys for all your replies. I have already contacted the cruise line who are p&o. We are in a balcony cabin. Will I have to keep the door open overnight, to keep the machine supplied with fresh air. Has anyone left them on their balcony overnight, as they are a little noisey to have in the same room. I am lucky as we don't have anyone to our left side & on our right is my sisters cabin. Will be taking her a pair of ear plugs for the racket.... Thanks once again. Chez :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queenie2 Posted August 18, 2005 #9 Share Posted August 18, 2005 I don't know that I'd put it out on the balcony at night -- things can get kind of wet out there. I thought they worked on ambient air. I mean there *is* oxygen in the room so it's just concnetrating that, right? What do you do at home? I can't imagine a cruise ship cabin being any different than your bedroom. Maybe I'm missing something here? Candy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montgomeryfamily Posted August 19, 2005 #10 Share Posted August 19, 2005 You don't have to keep the balcony door open for the concentrator--there is sufficient air inflow in the stateroom--it is just like home.' I agee with Queenie--if you put it on the balcony, it will get wet. This could damage the machine. Since it is electrical, you could even have a safety issue. If the problem is that your machine is too noisy, then if your machine is rented, you should insist the agency give you a newer model. We had a machine that made so much racket even the cat wouldn't stay in the same room. The home health agency finally replaced it with a newer model that is very quiet--it makes a small hissing noise. If you purchased it, then perhaps you can look into purchasing a new model--it might be worth it to get a good night's sleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheza Posted August 19, 2005 Author #11 Share Posted August 19, 2005 I did think it maybe too damp on the balcony, but I read on an old posting that someone had problems getting the o2 level up on there machine, & had to keep the door open, as it was too hot & stuffy in the room & not enough air circulating. We are going to the Azores & Cannary island so hopefully it wont rain....... My machine is provided for by my doctors, it is a very recent thing for me to be on oxygen (just over a month now), as I had a very bad lung infection back in my and hit my lowest levels ever in my lungfunction test & oxgen levels, it used to be 97, now it about 91/94 (I have cysitc fibrosis). I looked into buying my own machine but they are between 2 to 3,000 pounds (I am from england), and they have 3 to 4 week delivery lead times, as I only found out last week after doing an overnight oxycimeter that my levels were dropping to 80 and my doctors wanted me to take it with me. There wasn't enough time to organise buying or renting one. We go in 2 DAYS TME..... The one I have at home is a new model, it does his and has a gentle hum, then of course there is the bubbling brook at the side of the bed with the oxgen going through water. We have soon got used to the noise. Thanks once again for your invaluable advise. Chez :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentS Posted August 19, 2005 #12 Share Posted August 19, 2005 It's not necessarily rain that will cause it to get wet, it's the sea/salt spray... Even on higher decks I've had significant salt spray on my balcony, and that can't be good for it. ;) If for some reason you do have to leave your balcony door open you'll want to keep it inside. My aunt had one of those machines and it was very quiet. I realize you're leaving in 2 days, but if your travel one is that loud I would call my doctors and have them arrange for a quieter one. I would think they could do something for you in an emergency. Good luck, I hope you have a great cruise! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trachgirl Posted September 3, 2005 #13 Share Posted September 3, 2005 i recently went on a cruise on the Carnival Holiday and I require oxygen 24/7. I use liquid oxygen so that is a little different. We had my supplier deliver the oxygen to the cruise ship and they were able to get it in my room before We even arrived. I did have to take my humidifyer and ventilator (for night time) They let one of the porters walk us and all my medical stuff right to the stateroom door which was very helpful!! The benefits of liquid oxygen are that it doesn't require electricity and makes no noise. Then I have a portable tank that can fit in a small backpack and what i do is fill up the portable tank off of the main liquid o2 reservoir and then go about my day. Each portable tank lasted about 5 hours on 2 liters so while on the ship if it was running low I would just make a quick stop at the room to refill it. When we went off the ship I filled up 2 portable tanks and hung the extra one on the back of my wheelchair ( I can walk but tire easily) So we had a great time!! ANyways, if you want to see a quick video of my trip here is a link of one I put together. Have a great time on your trip!! http://www.neptune.com/users/trachgirl/videoWMP/trachgirl349183.wmv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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