Best cruise itinerary & ship for sitting back & enjoying the views - not into excur.

[dcsam]

There are so many river cruises out there, and it's overwhelming where to even begin. My husband is slightly disabled, so a cruise that includes excursions is out. Most of our time would be spent onboard rather than touring around. We're not into large cities, but prefer smaller village type settings. My husband does enjoy swimming, so finding a ship that has a pool would be great. We also enjoy open and airy spaces. A balcony or windows that open are a must. He doesn't drink, but I enjoy wine. Casual dress is much preferred over dressy. I'd like to find a river cruise for the latter part of August or September. Any suggestions what itinerary and cruise line I should check into?

Thanks so much!

Caroline

WA state

[papa B me]

I would recommend you consider Uniworld's SS Antoinette Castles on the Rhine cruise. There is beautiful scenery as you cruise and most of the stops are small villages along the way. When we sailed it last year there were several who went on few of the excursions and enjoyed sitting on deck where there were often nice views. They have a pool on the back of the ship that is in door and if the weather is nice they can open the back windows to be open air. It has jets that can be turned on to swim against the current. If you book a suite you will have an open air balcony that you can put a window up and down to enclose it as needed as well. There is also a small movie theatre and a small spa that might be nice as you stay on the ship. I would totally rule out excursions either as Uniworld does provide slow walking tours where those needing extra help or time can still enjoy many of the sites. I'm sure there are other lines that others will comment on that can meet your requirements but this is the one I'm familiar with and it would meet all that you outlined in your post.

Edited May 7, 2015 by papa B me
I would not rule out excursions

[papa B me]

I meant to say in my above post I WOULD NOT instead of I would rule out excursions. Sorry!!

[dcsam]

Thank you. It will be great to get other suggestions too. My husband can walk. But for longer distances, he sits in a wheelchair/walker, and I push him. Works great for long airport walks. But typically, the wheelchair just sits once we get to our destination or board a ship.

Thanks again!

Caroline

[Host Jazzbeau]

Not sure how this would work for you (maybe someone who has done this itinerary will comment), but cruises on the Douro River in Portugal are not allowed to sail at night. That means you would enjoy all the scenic cruising from the ship. Also the shore activities seem to be further away from the dock than on other rivers, so there is always bus transportation (which I assume would be much better than pushing a wheelchair over cobblestones).

[Di Princess]

If you bring a wheelchair, there is no place to keep it on the ship and, therefore, you are dissuaded by the river cruise lines from bringing a wheelchair. Maybe he can use one of those push-chair things that will fit through the cabin door. Most wheelchairs will not fit through the cabin doors.

 

Perhaps an ocean cruise would better suit you because there are many more things to do. Have you tried Googling "Handicapped River Cruises?"

[Di Princess]

http://www.travelsignposts.com/river-cruises/riverboats/river-cruising-for-disabled

 

One river cruise operator, I checked with (Scenic Tours) confirmed that all of their ships feature elevators and have wheelchair-accessible cabins. Note that Scenic Tours have one of the most advanced fleet of river boats which they call “space-ships”. The MS Scenic Ruby, Scenic Diamond, Scenic Emerald and Scenic all feature outside balconies, whereas many of the other river boats would only have French windows, if at all. Scenic Tours say that they will “strive to the extent feasible, to accommodate guests with disabilities and mobility challenges”. This is the advice I received from a representative of Scenic Tours: Scenic has a beautiful Junior Suite (Suite 302 on the Sapphire, Emerald, Diamond, Ruby) with a balcony which has wheelchair facilities for wheelchair- bound passengers. This suite is close to the reception and near the lift.

The doors have been widened to allow access by a standard size wheelchair. The space in the room allows for easy manoeuvring of a wheelchair and there is a power point next to the bed. You can enjoy the view from your private balcony although there is a small lip onto the balcony level.

There is a wheel-in shower and a stool provided for showering as well as a rail on the wall for further assistance.

Lifts – Unlike a lot of river cruising ships the lifts on Scenic’s ships have access to the two main decks and this provides full access on these two decks which have reception, restaurants, shop, bar and lounge. Only the top outside deck, the Moselle deck and the Wellness Centre (including the hairdresser) are not accessible by the lift.

Wheelchairs – Passengers confined to their wheelchairs must provide their own collapsible chair. It should be noted that only standard size wheelchairs can be accommodated on board.

Other River Cruise Operators: AMA Waterways do not have wheelchair-accessible cabins. There are elevators on the MS Amacello, MS Amadagio, MS Amadante, MS Amadolce, MS Amadouro, MS Amalegro, MS Amalyra

 

Avalon/Globus do not have wheelchair-accessible cabins. There are elevators on the Avalon Affinity, Creativity and Scenery only.

 

Viking does not have wheelchair-accessible cabins. Of their huge fleet, only the Viking Danube and Viking Sky have elevators.

 

So if you’re looking for a European river boat with wheelchair-accessible cabins, Scenic Tours are the best equipped to cater for passengers with disabilities and mobility challenges. At least there is now one European river cruise operator who provides for travellers who use wheelchairs.

Things to be Aware of - But before you rush off to make your river cruise booking, there are certain things that you need to be aware of: river cruising involves a fair amount of shore excursions and in the old towns of Europe, most of these walks are along cobbled streets. If participation in the shore excursions is important to you, make sure that you discuss your personal circumstances with the river cruise operator to make sure that there will be no issues with your travel.

in the early days of river cruising when there were less boats plying the rivers of Europe, our riverboat was mostly moored close to the towns that we stopped at. In 2013, when we travelled from Vienna to Paris, our boat was more often than not moored a distance from the historic centres. In Bamberg and Wurzburg, we were moored at the industrial port. There was quite a walk into town at Deggendorf and Wurzburg and at other destinations where it was too far to walk, we were transported in by coach. The moorings close to the centre are still there, but it may be that they are more costly now. If sightseeing is important to you, check with your cruise operator how accessible the towns are to the moorings they will be using.

you need to make sure that the person you are travelling with is able to help you with all your physical needs like lifting your wheelchair, etc. River cruises generally operate with a smaller crew than the ocean cruises and they do not have staff available to personally attend to passengers with mobility problems. Even though Scenic Cruises told me that they have a suite equipped for physically challenged passengers, when one of our readers rang them, he was told that none of their cruises are suitable for wheelchair dependent travellers because of the limited access on the gang planks.

be aware that river cruising is now a very popular form of travel and when there is more than one boat in port, the boats could be moored alongside each other. If your boat happens to be the one that is moored away from the landing pier, then passengers are required to walk across gang planks through the lobby of the other ship before getting to the landing pier. At one of the ports that we arrived at in July 2013, the ship closest to shore did not allow passengers to walk through their lobby. Instead we had to climb to the top deck and then climb down the other side to get to shore. Be aware that this could happen to you.

[dcsam]

Wow! Great information. Thank goodness my husband isn't wheelchair-bound. And like I mentioned, his isn't a regular sized wheelchair. It's called a Hugo, and I used it to keep my mom traveling. She couldn't have continued to travel without it because she also couldn't walk long distances, and pushing her allowed us to continue on our way. She also used it as a walker around ship. Now, my husband uses it, but very seldom. We've cruised quite a bit with the larger-sized cruise ships. After experiencing a mega-ship cruise aboard the Star Princess, I swore, "Never again!" We enjoy Azamara and HALs smaller ships. River cruising seems like something we'd enjoy. Thanks again for all your feedback. I have some researching to do!

Caroline

[Hydrokitty]

Wow! Great information. Thank goodness my husband isn't wheelchair-bound. And like I mentioned, his isn't a regular sized wheelchair. It's called a Hugo, and I used it to keep my mom traveling. She couldn't have continued to travel without it because she also couldn't walk long distances, and pushing her allowed us to continue on our way. She also used it as a walker around ship. Now, my husband uses it, but very seldom. We've cruised quite a bit with the larger-sized cruise ships. After experiencing a mega-ship cruise aboard the Star Princess, I swore, "Never again!" We enjoy Azamara and HALs smaller ships. River cruising seems like something we'd enjoy. Thanks again for all your feedback. I have some researching to do!

Caroline

 

Caroline, I don't know if this helps you or not, but I have mobility issues that require me using a w/c in airports because I cannot walk or stand for long periods, and I can do stairs one step at a time. I do like excursions though and walking through small villages. I have done 6 trips with Vantage and have 2 this spring and summer....Vantage seems to cater to older passengers and I've never felt unable to participate on walks. I also bought from the Magellan catalog what they call a sports cane. It's very light weight, counts as a medical aid when flying, and has a little seat that pops up for you to sit on while the guide is talking and everyone else is standing. It cost a little over $20 and has 3 legs so it's very stable. Unfortunately Vantage does not have a pool (most river cruises don't) nor do they have full size balconies you can sit on (again most don't although they are beginning to be seen more frequently) but they do have french balconies and you can open the doors and look out or lean out and take pictures.

Edited May 8, 2015 by Hydrokitty

[caviargal]

I suggest an itinerary on the Main and Danube rivers. Smaller towns and extended sailing during several days.

 

Also Castles on the Rhine with AmaWaterways has a nice mix of small towns and mid size cities, with a long afternoon sailing the Rhine Gorge.

 

AMA offers AA+ cabins on their newer vessels which have special features for the mobility impaired as well as gentle walker tours.

 

I would find a knowledgeable TA.

 

[notamermaid]

Hello dcsam,

 

great advice from the previous posters!

 

I tend to agree that the Main is perhaps preferable to the South of France or the Dutch waterways. The Moselle also has small places, you might look into a cruise that combines part of the Rhine and the Moselle. Or even Main, Rhine and Moselle.

 

One issue, for example in Koblenz, is the berths. Most ships dock there on the Moselle, which means two ships next to one another and steps up to the embankment.

 

For full enjoyment in most places you need to be able to manouvre over at least a few steps.

 

Carefully check the info of the ships as a lot of sundecks only have access via stairs.

 

I think it is best for you to contact a very good TA, as already advised by caviargal. Or address your specific needs directly with a cruise line you consider.

 

August is nice, often very warm indeed, in Germany. September is nice for wine festivals in Germany.

 

I would shy away from the cruises spending a lot of time in Vienna and Budapest in your situation.

 

The Gironde I would regards as a no-go as cruising time is short.

 

Any special interest that could tip the scales in favour of a country, perhaps?

 

A minor detail which cannot be ruled out though: August sometimes has low water issues. Usually this affects a cruise only for a few hours but can mean you might have to stay longer in a port than planned. Just be aware of the possibility.

 

Have fun planning.

 

notamermaid

[Mark_T]

A good TA would be a great start as there is a lot of very outdated information floating around the web, the link further up this thread is around 4 years old and not particularly 'current' now.

 

If you really don't want to do any excursions it does make river cruising a little expensive as the excursions are included in the price on most of the cruise lines so you are going to have to factor that in.

 

Also consider that river cruises tend to get full a long time in advance, so it is very late to be looking for August/September this year.

 

On the other-hand if you are very flexible in your availability you may get lucky with late availability a bit closer to August.

Edited May 8, 2015 by Mark_T

[Got2Cruise]

Europe, especially the small towns, is not ADA compliant. There are no curb cuts or ramps, and cobblestone streets. The Rhine Gorge is a very scenic day on the Rhine but the other sailing is done at night. Don't forget to consider rafting. There might be a port where you are tied up side by side with another River ship and you won't be able to utilize your balcony at all.

 

I know that there are specialized tour agencies that specialize in mobility impaired. For example we went to Aruba and there was a group of quadriplegics on a tour. So it can be done with the right planning.

[CarlyDawwg's Ma]

As to which cruise lines, also give a look at Emerald Waterways. They're a division of Scenic, I believe. All their ships are new and have a swimming pool that converts to a theater at night. Most of their higher end rooms have true balconies or "open air" systems, which is sort of like a balcony, but not quite. They tend to be a little more affordable than AMAWaterways, Uniworld and Scenic. We're cruising with them in 2016. As someone posted above, given the late date in your planning, you may have some trouble finding an ideal cruise. The good news is, you should be able to find some discounts if you do find one.

[cole]

Not sure how this would work for you (maybe someone who has done this itinerary will comment), but cruises on the Douro River in Portugal are not allowed to sail at night. That means you would enjoy all the scenic cruising from the ship. Also the shore activities seem to be further away from the dock than on other rivers, so there is always bus transportation (which I assume would be much better than pushing a wheelchair over cobblestones).

 

This is an excellent river cruise for those of us who enjoy, not only the beautiful village visits but wonderful scenery between ports. The Rhine with the castles would also be an excellent choice. From our observations on Avalon, Uniworld and Vantage - they are very accommodating for all levels of activities and abilities.

Cole

[pontac]

"Of their huge fleet, only the Viking Danube and Viking Sky have elevators."

 

 

May be out of dat einfo, but that is not true. I was on Viking Forsetti this year and a passenger was using a wheelchair which was stored folded next to the elevator. Since Forsetti is one of Vikings new fleet I would assume all the longships are the same, I don't use on-board elevators so they haven't made much impact on me but I have been on another Viking boat which also did have an elevator.

 

There was a recent thread here about wheelchairs on river cruises -- see http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2194359

 

Suggest you look for a river you fancy and then contact the companies that cruise them to quiz on specific of wheelchair access.

[rcaruso]

The Viking Long ships all have elevators from 2nd to 3rd decks. We never used them but others did.

[Mark_T]

"Of their huge fleet, only the Viking Danube and Viking Sky have elevators." May be out of date info, but that is not true.

 

The link that came from was written in 2010 before the first longships were launched.

 

I wish that it was easier to spot the date on links like that as the information looks likely to be helpful then you realize it is too old to be accurate.

 

Only way to date that one was by the earliest comments at the bottom.