Bringing oxygen onboard

[waterbound]

Me and DF are getting married in April.. We are taking our parents on a cruise since my parents, nor his dad and stepmom have ever cruised.. My question is that DF's stepmom must have oxygen with her at all times.. Would she be allowed to bring her oxygen onboard? This is a concern for DF's dad

[hdawson]

Oxygen equipment can be ordered ahead of time from an approved supplier in the port city. I don't think you can take your own for security reasons.

[rburns44]

IT does have to be ordered ahead of time from a supplier. Carevacations is very good. Talk to the special needs department of the ship you're going on. Carevacations will have everything ready in her room. She will also need a doctors note and a prescription for the O2. My advice is to start contacting places now. It's not too early.

 

Becky

[waterbound]

great advice.. Thanks again.. I will pass it on

[momof4boys]

Thanks for asking that question. I thought about it for my mom.

 

I do know that if you have a c-pap machine (?) for sleep apnea, bring your own extension cord or be prepared to make a $25 deposit which will be returned to you at the end of your cruise.

[luv2cruiseny]

my first cruise was on the victory to canada in 2004. My mom has chronic emphysema and uses oxygen.

 

First, you must notify Carnival that you will be bringing your own oxygen on board. You will need a prescription for it and a doctors note advising that the person is allowed to travel. Carnival had us fax these documents to them prior to the cruise. There was no extra charges by the cruise line.

 

my mother uses an oxygen concentrator (it's electric) and we brought our own extension cord. She also brought (2) portable oxygen tanks (the cylinder on wheels). You must be able to supply enough of your oxygen for the entire length of the cruise. They do not carry oxygen on the ship. She also uses a helios machine to fill the small tank to carry with her - this she got through her oxygen supply company and was delivered right to the ship. They also picked it up from the terminal when the cruise was over.

 

Cruising was very easy compared to what the airlines put you through to get on a plane with your own oxygen.

 

It might sound like it's difficult to arrange, but it was really very simple - the problem was my nervous nilly mother.

 

If you have any other questions or if I can be of any help, please don't hesitate to ask.

[clgcrusier]

I'm so grateful for this information-my mother has emphysema along with a type of blood cancer that complicates things even more for her. I know she would love to go on a cruise, and I have been hesitant because it seems like it would be so complicated to get all that stuff on the ship. Maybe it will be possible after all, if her health holds out.

 

Can anyone tell me what is needed for the airlines concerning patients on oxygen? I was tolf before that it can be quite difficult.

[rburns44]

We did this for my husband in 2002. Notified the airlines and had to fax prescription to them alone with a doctor note. I checked and rechecked with the airlines that the O3 would be there. You can not take your own with you. Of couse when we got to the airport no one know anything but in 5 minuites put go it rounded up. We had to pay cash for each leg of the trip. I think then it was $60 per leg. We made arrangements with Carevactions to have O2 delivered to the airport terminal in Miami upon arrival. They had it there along with extra tanks for our hotel pre-cruise. We were able to leave the extra tanks at the hotel for post-cruise. Also had a wheelchair and a scooter rented from Carevactions. When we go to the ship everything was in our room and ready to go. Big replenishing tank and scooter and helios. My husband had gone on the Helios prior to the trip to make it easier. So he just carried a small portable unit around the the ship and on excursions. Everything worked out beautifully. He was able to zip around all over the ship and replenish the O2 when needed. Carevacations just ask us to make sure that the scooter was left in the room and was charged up so they could remove it from the ship.

 

After the cruise and post-cruise was over Carevactions met us at the airport and picked up the extra tanks and wheelchair. Bought the airlines O2 to get home. Well worth it.

 

Becky

[clgcrusier]

Thank you very much for all the information! My sisters and I will definitely look into this for my mother! We just weren't quite sure where to check. The carevacation place sounds like a great place to start:) .

[MOONMOUNTAIN]

If you have not flown recently with oxygen I suggest very strongly that you call the airline you want to purchase air from. My father was recently put on oxygen and was in Nevada at the time. We live in New York, there was

NO airline from Reno to Buffalo that would allow him to fly with oxygen as one

leg of the flight was on a commuter and you cannot take your own oxygen on

a commuter flight. I beleive United Airlines would have allowed us to rent their oxygen tanks but again we would have had to take a computer and that

was out of the question. Start making your calls now to the various airlines

We ended up driving him home. I know that Southwest does not allow it no

matter what. There was I beleive two that would allow oxygen but cannot

remember now what they were... Go into the web for the airlines and

send an e-mail to the airline asking their oxygen policies, they were all very

good about e-mailing back, a couple of them took over a week but I did get

a response. Good Luck and I hope it works out for you.

[luv2cruiseny]

Flying with oxygen can be a nightmare to arrange. We live in NY and my brother lives in Florida - due to my mothers health condition - we have driven that long boring ride. Delta now allows passengers who use oxygen to fly - so this will make a slight bit easier.

[clgcrusier]

Thanks again for info-it's good to know that there's people out there who have delt with this, as anyone with a family member or are themselves in this situation know how difficult it can be sometimes!:o

[bama911gal]

Hey

 

My mother cruised with us last year on the Glory and she was also on O2. We have also flown several times with her.

As for flying she is not able to take her own oxygen on the aircraft for safety reasons...start checking now if you are to use an airline because there are very few out there that still offer this service. Delta is one that you can still order O2 from for a charge...the last time we flew with her it was $50 per tank. This can be paid for at the counter on the day of flight, she was able to use her own until we got on the plane. CareVacations is a good company and works with many airports nationwide to provide O2 at airports.

 

As for the ship, if you drive you can bring your own tanks and concentrator. If you do bring your own tanks, make sure you have more than enough because the ships DO NOT have extra for you. The tanks are then stored by your steward and the purser and are available at any time you need them, you just make a call to either one and they will have them to you in a timely manner. Make sure they are marked well with LAST NAME AND CABIN # as you will check in the O2 at the same time they take your luggage prior to boarding.

 

The best thing we did was rent a scooter for Mom, it was delivered to the ship (left at the pursers desk) and picked up from the ship. Every night when Mom went to bed we took it down to the pursers desk to charge and picked it up in the morning for her to start her days. These scooters are allowed off ship in the ports also. If you have a port where you will tender it gets tricky but it is doable...and if worse comes to worse Carnival does have wheelchairs they will let you use to take in the ports. They are limited and they are first come first serve...they can not be reserved nor kept for the entire cruise.

 

In the event that you have to use the infirmary, they were wonderful with my mother. We had to use them on the last night and debarkation morning of the cruise as mom became very ill (due to her disease) and passed away later that day at the hospital but I couldn't have asked for better treatment or urgency from the ship staff than we received. It far exceeded my expectations (the group we were travelling with were all paramedics or somehow in the EMS/911 field)

 

Anyhow, if you need any further information please feel free to email me and I will try to help you.

 

I sure hope that y'all have a great cruise!!

Carnival was great...just make sure that you speak with Guest Services at least one week prior to leaving so that they are aware of what special services are. If you have spoken with them, I would still advise a follow up call to confirm everything prior to leaving home. Also, do not forget your power strip for the concentrator!!