dleahy4444 Posted March 31, 2023 #1 Share Posted March 31, 2023 My sister is cruising with us for the first time, in her own inside stateroom. She has an electric scooter at home for her mobility issues. Can she bring it onboard or must she rent one through the cruise line? If she can bring it onboard can she drive it from the port onto the ship or does she need to make other arrangements? Any tips or suggestions from cruisers on this board who use scooters or have mobility concerns? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherdqueen Posted March 31, 2023 #2 Share Posted March 31, 2023 I have my own scooter and I took it on a cruise for the first time in November. I drove it onboard myself. No problems at all. We always book a handicapped stateroom so there was room to drive it into our cabin. If you go to the Disabilities boards you can get some other feedback as well. On that board I did read that your Stateroom attendant can store and charge your scooter at night if you do not have an accessible room, but I do not know how true that is. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dleahy4444 Posted March 31, 2023 Author #3 Share Posted March 31, 2023 41 minutes ago, shepherdqueen said: I have my own scooter and I took it on a cruise for the first time in November. I drove it onboard myself. No problems at all. We always book a handicapped stateroom so there was room to drive it into our cabin. If you go to the Disabilities boards you can get some other feedback as well. On that board I did read that your Stateroom attendant can store and charge your scooter at night if you do not have an accessible room, but I do not know how true that is. Thank you. I didnt realize there was a disability board on cc. I’ll definitely check it out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine3601 Posted March 31, 2023 #4 Share Posted March 31, 2023 If she has a standard cabin the scooter cannot be any wider than 21 inches to fit thru the cabin door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJustice Posted March 31, 2023 #5 Share Posted March 31, 2023 We used one last year with a standard (balcony) room and it was fine. We DID move the "coffee table" out onto the balcony (at the advice of the stateroom attendant) so we'd have room to do a 180 in the room. It's WAY easier to go forward through the door coming and going. We had room for one of us to sit on the loveseat with the scooter out of the way. You can reach out to special_needs@rccl,com and they can help you with specifics for the ship/room she'll be in. We rented from Scootaround and their "standard" scooter is 21" wide and fits just fine in NON-Accessible rooms. If she has assistance opening the door, etc, she can probably get by with a standard room. Accessible rooms (may?) have electric openers and be laid out with more room to navigate, especially the bathrooom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerif Posted March 31, 2023 #6 Share Posted March 31, 2023 You also need to make sure that the bed is NOT near the door - otherwise there is no way the scooter can get into the room. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BirdTravels Posted April 1, 2023 #7 Share Posted April 1, 2023 12 hours ago, dleahy4444 said: My sister is cruising with us for the first time, in her own inside stateroom. She has an electric scooter at home for her mobility issues. Can she bring it onboard or must she rent one through the cruise line? If she can bring it onboard can she drive it from the port onto the ship or does she need to make other arrangements? Any tips or suggestions from cruisers on this board who use scooters or have mobility concerns? Thanks The biggest tip is that you should try to get her into an accessible room so that the scooter will fit with her. Personally, I would rent a scooter to avoid the potential of getting my personal scooter trashed during transport to the port and while on the cruise. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodgem Posted April 1, 2023 #8 Share Posted April 1, 2023 13 hours ago, dleahy4444 said: Thank you. I didnt realize there was a disability board on cc. I’ll definitely check it out Here a link to make easier t find the disability thread: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/114-disabled-cruise-travel/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare brillohead Posted April 1, 2023 #9 Share Posted April 1, 2023 9 hours ago, gerif said: You also need to make sure that the bed is NOT near the door - otherwise there is no way the scooter can get into the room. This is NOT a concern, as she stated that the SIL has an inside room -- those don't come with the bed by the door. To the OP: I'm assuming that your SIL has problems walking longer distances, but is able to ambulate short distances? In that case, she will be fine in a regular inside room. There won't be a lot of spare room for walking around, but a scooter will fit in the room. If there is an accessible room available for your sailing, she could switch to that room, but it's not a necessity. She can also request a shower chair in a regular room, if that would be helpful. One thing I do to make an inside room more "walkable" is have the bed split into two twin beds. This allows the beds to be pushed against the wall on each side of the room, making a "center aisle" for walking instead of a narrow space on either side of the big bed. Here's a "before" and "after" comparison of an inside room on Navigator: Alternately, you can ask them to push the bed up against one wall and move the other nightstand to sit by its mate... this gives you a bigger walkway on one side of the bed, but you don't get the larger walkway all the way from the nightstands to the door -- you still have to navigate around the vanity or the loveseat at the corner of the bed. You might want to recommend that she get a simple doorstopper and attach a long string or ribbon to it. She can prop the door open, then drive through, and yank on the string to pull the doorstopper back out as she leaves. In my experience, other than maybe on the very newest of ships, the accessible rooms do NOT have electric door openers. (I often travel with friends in regular wheelchairs who need accessible rooms.) I hope this helps. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVS33 Posted April 1, 2023 #10 Share Posted April 1, 2023 My friend is a first time cruiser. Can she rent a scooter on board the ship or does she have to rent at the terminal? Mariner of the Seas, Port Orlando. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodgem Posted April 1, 2023 #11 Share Posted April 1, 2023 27 minutes ago, CVS33 said: My friend is a first time cruiser. Can she rent a scooter on board the ship or does she have to rent at the terminal? Mariner of the Seas, Port Orlando. You cannot rent a scooter on board ship. Your friend will have to hire one before sailing either from Scootaround or Special Needs at Sea. If you head over to the disability thread you can find out more about hiring a scooter. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/114-disabled-cruise-travel/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare brillohead Posted April 1, 2023 #12 Share Posted April 1, 2023 1 hour ago, CVS33 said: My friend is a first time cruiser. Can she rent a scooter on board the ship or does she have to rent at the terminal? Mariner of the Seas, Port Orlando. As stated above, the rental must be set up in advance of the cruise, through one of the rental companies mentioned above. If she has her own scooter, she can bring that along instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJustice Posted April 1, 2023 #13 Share Posted April 1, 2023 3 hours ago, brillohead said: I'm assuming that your SIL has problems walking longer distances, but is able to ambulate short distances? IF she can ambulate from the parking/shuttle area to the terminal, you might want to consider renting a scooter on-board. She can get wheelchair assistance from the terminal onto the ship, get the scooter from her room and leave it there when she disembarks. Just a thought 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BirdTravels Posted April 1, 2023 #14 Share Posted April 1, 2023 4 hours ago, CVS33 said: My friend is a first time cruiser. Can she rent a scooter on board the ship or does she have to rent at the terminal? Mariner of the Seas, Port Orlando. You have to pre-order mobility devices. And the vendor will drop it off at the terminal. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/wheelchair-motor-vehicle-guest-assistance 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dleahy4444 Posted April 1, 2023 Author #15 Share Posted April 1, 2023 18 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said: If she has a standard cabin the scooter cannot be any wider than 21 inches to fit thru the cabin door. Good to know, thank you. I will pass that information on to her before she plans to take it onboard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dleahy4444 Posted April 1, 2023 Author #16 Share Posted April 1, 2023 16 hours ago, GJustice said: We used one last year with a standard (balcony) room and it was fine. We DID move the "coffee table" out onto the balcony (at the advice of the stateroom attendant) so we'd have room to do a 180 in the room. It's WAY easier to go forward through the door coming and going. We had room for one of us to sit on the loveseat with the scooter out of the way. You can reach out to special_needs@rccl,com and they can help you with specifics for the ship/room she'll be in. We rented from Scootaround and their "standard" scooter is 21" wide and fits just fine in NON-Accessible rooms. If she has assistance opening the door, etc, she can probably get by with a standard room. Accessible rooms (may?) have electric openers and be laid out with more room to navigate, especially the bathrooom. Thank you this is very helpful. She made the booking on her own so I don’t know the specifics. I hope that she thought to ask for an accessible room, the sailing is now sold out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dleahy4444 Posted April 1, 2023 Author #17 Share Posted April 1, 2023 15 hours ago, gerif said: You also need to make sure that the bed is NOT near the door - otherwise there is no way the scooter can get into the room. Great point! I’ll ask her what room she is in. Maybe we can figure that out before hand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clovis8 Posted April 1, 2023 #18 Share Posted April 1, 2023 We just rented a scooter from this place for our cruise in May. https://scootaround.com/en they deliver it to your room and at end of cruise you drive it off and leave it at port. was $450 for a 10 day cruise. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dleahy4444 Posted April 1, 2023 Author #19 Share Posted April 1, 2023 These are wonderful tips, thanks so much for posting this. I’ll be sure to tell her! I’m not on the same floor with her so I’ve been concerned about her getting in and out of the room on her own. Those doors are heavy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dleahy4444 Posted April 1, 2023 Author #20 Share Posted April 1, 2023 5 hours ago, brillohead said: This is NOT a concern, as she stated that the SIL has an inside room -- those don't come with the bed by the door. To the OP: I'm assuming that your SIL has problems walking longer distances, but is able to ambulate short distances? In that case, she will be fine in a regular inside room. There won't be a lot of spare room for walking around, but a scooter will fit in the room. If there is an accessible room available for your sailing, she could switch to that room, but it's not a necessity. She can also request a shower chair in a regular room, if that would be helpful. One thing I do to make an inside room more "walkable" is have the bed split into two twin beds. This allows the beds to be pushed against the wall on each side of the room, making a "center aisle" for walking instead of a narrow space on either side of the big bed. Here's a "before" and "after" comparison of an inside room on Navigator: Alternately, you can ask them to push the bed up against one wall and move the other nightstand to sit by its mate... this gives you a bigger walkway on one side of the bed, but you don't get the larger walkway all the way from the nightstands to the door -- you still have to navigate around the vanity or the loveseat at the corner of the bed. You might want to recommend that she get a simple doorstopper and attach a long string or ribbon to it. She can prop the door open, then drive through, and yank on the string to pull the doorstopper back out as she leaves. In my experience, other than maybe on the very newest of ships, the accessible rooms do NOT have electric door openers. (I often travel with friends in regular wheelchairs who need accessible rooms.) I hope this helps. This is incredibly helpful thanks so much 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fair-winds39 Posted April 1, 2023 #21 Share Posted April 1, 2023 I use my scooter all the time when we’re on a cruise. We just came off Anthem three weeks ago. We had a standard balcony cabin, bed near the balcony and I drove in and out of cabin with no problem. If it’s not in her cabin, she should ask steward for a doorstop if she is able to step off and open the door. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruising twosome Posted April 1, 2023 #22 Share Posted April 1, 2023 We bring our scooter on every cruise, removing the armrest gives you a few more inches of clearance if needed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msakmom Posted April 2, 2023 #23 Share Posted April 2, 2023 Can you rent scooters onboard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gluecksbaer Posted April 3, 2023 #24 Share Posted April 3, 2023 2 hours ago, msakmom said: Can you rent scooters onboard? Asked and answered (multiple times) above: On 4/1/2023 at 2:57 AM, Bloodgem said: You cannot rent a scooter on board ship. Your friend will have to hire one before sailing either from Scootaround or Special Needs at Sea. If you head over to the disability thread you can find out more about hiring a scooter. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/114-disabled-cruise-travel/ On 4/1/2023 at 3:39 AM, brillohead said: As stated above, the rental must be set up in advance of the cruise, through one of the rental companies mentioned above. If she has her own scooter, she can bring that along instead. On 4/1/2023 at 6:25 AM, BirdTravels said: You have to pre-order mobility devices. And the vendor will drop it off at the terminal. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/wheelchair-motor-vehicle-guest-assistance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeASUGirl Posted April 3, 2023 #25 Share Posted April 3, 2023 We've rented through Cloud of Goods for our cruises. They work with smaller local scooter rental places and let you know if your bid is accepted. It's always come in less than Special Needs at Sea or Scootaround, and have been happy with the service. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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