Stashing my power chair on Celebrity Equinox

[finny2]

Does anybody know if there is a safe place to leave my power chair near the boarding area when I go ashore? I can walk short distances, so there are tours I can take that I would not bring my chair for, but to both walk from my cabin to the aft elevators and then all the way down the pier would exhaust me. If I can leave the chair near the boarding area it would be a lot more doable.

 

 I know I can ask the special needs people, but my experience is they do not always have a lot of knowledge about how things work on the ship.

[kokopelli-az]

I would be surprised if there was a place to leave your chair near the boarding area.   

 

When are you going and on which ship?    Maybe someone on this board who is cruising soon can check for you with the people in charge of the boarding area.   

[VirginiaIsForCruisers]

I can't speak to the Equinox or Celebrity, but when I was on an NCL ship that stopped at Grand Cayman, I couldn't take my scooter on the tender, but needed it to get to and from the tender area. I asked crew manning Guest Services and Shore Excursions, neither of whom were helpful. I went down and talked to the crew who were running the debarkation area and asked if they could help me. They found a little area about 10 feet from the ramp where I could park out of the way of traffic and kept an eye on it for me. It made the day doable for me. I have found that most of the crew really seem to want to help.

[kokopelli-az]

We will be on the Equinox August 8 2021.   I downloaded their app and in reviewing their Need to Know section, it says:

 

"Where do I get a wheelchair or scooter?

Wheelchairs should be reserved before your cruise as we only have a limited number available onboard.  If you were unable to reserve a scooter or wheelchair before boarding, you can visit Guest Relations to inquire about availability."

 

I'm mentioning this because you might be able to get a wheelchair to use while on shore and then you wouldn't have to worry about being able to stow your power chair near the boarding area.   And a wheelchair would fit in many non-accessible shore excursion vehicles (especially a tour bus).   You can also check with Celebrity's Accessible Shore Excursion department about wheelchair friendly shore excursions for your cruise.  Here's their email:  shorexaccess@celebrity.com   (If your cruise is too far away, they won't have all their tours lined up yet.)  

 

In any event, if you decide to try and get a wheelchair from the ship to use on shore, I would definitely contact their Access Department (special_needs@celebrity.com) and see if you could get it reserved ahead of time instead of waiting to go to Guest Relations after you're on board.   You could keep it folded up in your stateroom when you're not using it.

 

Will someone be with you on the cruise who can push you in a wheelchair?

[Benthayer Gonbak]

On 6/27/2021 at 6:22 PM, finny2 said:

 

Does anybody know if there is a safe place to leave my power chair near the boarding area when I go ashore? I can walk short distances, so there are tours I can take that I would not bring my chair for, but to both walk from my cabin to the aft elevators and then all the way down the pier would exhaust me. If I can leave the chair near the boarding area it would be a lot more doable.

 

 I know I can ask the special needs people, but my experience is they do not always have a lot of knowledge about how things work on the ship.

your question is more complex than it sounds.  Depending upon the port the tides can change enough that the boarding deck is different from when you got off.  I also remember, at times the Equinox separated the ramps for off and on, seems like as far as midship and aft.   Several ports have wheelchair service, or shuttles to get you down the pier but not always.   
 

nevertheless, with a bit of checking you may be able to find a way to leave you chair near where you will need it when you return.  You’d be surprised about how much the room stewards can tell you if they’ve been going to that port recently.  The problem is that COVID has kept them from gaining that information and storing something that isn’t sanitized may also have a raft of rules no one knoe how to handle, yet.  
 

I do wish you luck. I now have a scooter, but I remember getting frustrated with my rollator that I needed to walk to the other end of the ship to get back on, in some ports.  Remember Celebrity in the afternoon sets up a covered area with chairs, cold water and cold towels.  Assuming they are trying too much distancing you should be able to sit and rest for several minutes (15-30) before boarding perhaps giving you enough energy to get back to your cabin.   The getting off still remains though as the sitting area isn’t there just after you get off.  And tours are notorious of meeting in the theater and then getting off at the other end, or so it seems!