Scooter & Wheelchair???

[TerReuv]

We will be cruising in October on the Carnival Horizon. Our ports are Aruba, Curacao, La Romana & Amber Cove. We are going with my BIL & SIL (first cruise) and my BIL will have a scooter.  He can walk some w/a cane, just not long distances. I am wondering if it wouldn't be smart to also take a collapsible wheelchair.  We want to do some tours of the islands as they are all new for us, but am concerned that with the scooter we would be limited. Was looking at several bus/jeep/UTV tours, but they don't look very scooter compatible, but could be wheelchair compatible.

 

Any thoughts or suggestions would be great and much appreciated.

[kokopelli-az]

We always have a wheelchair and rent a scooter.    We use the wheelchair on the plane and hotel and the scooter is waiting in our stateroom when we board.

You didn't say whether you would be renting or bringing the devices from home.   If you're bringing both from home two people will be needed.   The scooter person and someone to push the wheelchair.    

And yes, scooters cannot go on all tours but a collapsible wheelchair can go on a lot more.  Having both gives you more choices.

[DRS/NC]

Scooters work very well on the ship, but not so well on tours (unless you're on the big bus -- scooter goes into the luggage area).  Many sidewalks/streets are not scooter-friendly.  

As long as you have someone willing to push the chair, it will probably work better in ports.

 

I always rent a scooter, but still take my rollator/walker since I often travel solo.  I can also take it on tenders when needed.

 

ENJOY!

[dcsam]

Although my husband has both a Travelscoot and transfer chair, we find bringing just the transfer chair best suited for us while cruising.  When we do land trips, we bring both. 

[mexico8]

I have brought my Travelscoot on numerous cruises.   I even bring it onto the tender boats when we need to use one.   My husband car lift it for me or the cruise personnel put it in the tender. 

 

 Some of the ships are so long that it comes in handy to get around the ship as well.   I also have not had any issues with having  my Travelscoot on a  tour bus (we put my Travelscoot underneath in the luggage compartment) when we go on excursions.

 

I have never used a wheelchair so I can't advise on that aspect

[Algebralovr]

If you have a wheelchair, it is a good idea to bring it.  First, when you first arrive at the port to board, if you have your own, you can just open it up and use it.  You check your bags, deal with your carry on, and go.  Having your own WC means you do not need to wait while they get a ship chair and pusher.   It is not unusual to have extra people around who can push you, but chairs are often at a premium.  When you are through check in and ready to board, there are typically more pushers than chairs go board and go up the long ramp to board.  

 

A lot of the islands are NOT WC friendly at all, and often getting off on the scooter is worse.  As long as you have a good manual WC, you will typically find it easier to get off the ship and to an excursion.  It is less limiting on the excursion you choose, as well.  While you can store the scooter under the big busses for excursions, you have MANY more options if you have a regular WC too.

 

At disembarkation, they always tell you to meet at a specific place if you need WC assistance to disembarkation.  Again, there are plenty of pushers, but actual WCs?  Not nearly enough.  And you have to wait your turn.  On one cruise, because I had my own WC, we got to bypass the LONG line of people waiting for a WC assist off.  Then we got to the elevator on shore, and they were getting people out of the ship chairs and into seats to wait to go down the elevator.  We were told to expect a 30 minute wait in the shore side seats before a shore side WC was available.  I looked at the shoreside person and asked why I needed to wait, as I was in my own WC.  Was there enough capacity in the elevators?  Turns out there was PLENTY of capacity in the elevator, just that they only had 10 WC assigned to go from that location through immigration and to the curb for transport.  Since I had my OWN WC, I just went down and we left.  No need to wait for THEIR chair.  

 

Note that while we did accept their assistance getting off the ship, I was able to self-propel my own chair with my arms.  If I had needed someone to push me from the elevator through immigration, I'm not sure we would have gone ahead.  We did hire a porter to handle the bags, but I could do my own chair.  

 

So, if you think you may need it, it never hurts to have a WC.  Having your own in the airport is always helpful as well. 

 

[LondonTowner]

On 3/24/2022 at 4:22 PM, TerReuv said:

We will be cruising in October on the Carnival Horizon. Our ports are Aruba, Curacao, La Romana & Amber Cove. We are going with my BIL & SIL (first cruise) and my BIL will have a scooter.  He can walk some w/a cane, just not long distances. I am wondering if it wouldn't be smart to also take a collapsible wheelchair.  We want to do some tours of the islands as they are all new for us, but am concerned that with the scooter we would be limited. Was looking at several bus/jeep/UTV tours, but they don't look very scooter compatible, but could be wheelchair compatible.

 

Any thoughts or suggestions would be great and much appreciated.

I use a small mobility scooter, but when we have been to the Caribbean have taken my wheelchair. The mini buses that they tend to use are not suitable for scooters as they have no place to store them. Although mine breaks down into 5 parts it still wouldn’t fit, so take my collapsible wheelchairs.

[Firepath]

On 3/24/2022 at 10:22 AM, TerReuv said:

We will be cruising in October on the Carnival Horizon. Our ports are Aruba, Curacao, La Romana & Amber Cove. We are going with my BIL & SIL (first cruise) and my BIL will have a scooter.  He can walk some w/a cane, just not long distances. I am wondering if it wouldn't be smart to also take a collapsible wheelchair.  We want to do some tours of the islands as they are all new for us, but am concerned that with the scooter we would be limited. Was looking at several bus/jeep/UTV tours, but they don't look very scooter compatible, but could be wheelchair compatible.

 

Any thoughts or suggestions would be great and much appreciated.

We brought a walker and a wheelchair on our cruise in January and will do so again in June. No problem at all. I can’t say about a scooter though. Excursions should be accessible or be prepared to push on rough ground or possibly not be able to fit the scooter or wheelchair on the bus.

[GoHuskies!]

Depends on what your capabilities are.  I use a cane (my wife abhors that term--prefers "walking stick"), but I'm really slow with it, not too confident in places, and can't do distances at all.  So I use a rollator, which allows me to walk distances and at normal walking speed so we can walk together.  It has made a big difference in my life.  This is the second rollator I have used--the VA gave me one a few years ago but it folded front to back with unequal legs, so that it became stupidly unusable when walking through a narrow spot.  I replaced it with a Drive rollator which folds left to right by pulling up on a handle in the middle of the seat, and is still maneuverable on all four wheels.  I love this thing!  You can even steer it when walking sidehill by using brakes lightly.  Rough pathways are a piece of cake.  I recommend it highly.

[GoHuskies!]

BTW, those supports at the front wheels that look like fat wires have been replaced by a much more robust structural frame.