Scooter questions, any tips from experienced cruisers?

[dleahy4444]

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

[shepherdqueen]

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.  

[dleahy4444]

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

[Sunshine3601]

If she has a standard cabin the scooter cannot be any wider than 21 inches to fit thru the cabin door.  

[GJustice]

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.

[gerif]

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. 

[BirdTravels]

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. 

[Bloodgem]

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/

[brillohead]

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. 
 

[CVS33]

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.

[Bloodgem]

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/

[brillohead]

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.

[GJustice]

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

[BirdTravels]

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

 

[dleahy4444]

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 

[dleahy4444]

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

[dleahy4444]

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

[Clovis8]

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. 
 

 

[dleahy4444]

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! 

[dleahy4444]

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

[fair-winds39]

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. 

[cruising twosome]

We bring our scooter on every cruise, removing the armrest gives you a few more inches of clearance if needed.

[msakmom]

Can you rent scooters onboard?

[gluecksbaer]

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

 

 

 

[DukeASUGirl]

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.