Scooters?

[NeverSayNever]

Hi All!

Quick question - We may need to rent a scooter to have on the ship due to mobility issues. Has anyone done so? Would you mind sharing your thoughts/experiences - did you find it difficult to get around etc?

Also, and maybe more importantly, is there a company that you would recommend or say stay away from for the rental? Looking for a company that will deliver and pick up from the ship.

Thanks in advance!

Never Say Never

 

[clten]

I can't recommend a company. But I will tell you I have traveled with parents who have mobility issues -- both can walk but cannot over long distances or up/down stairs. We brought travel size wheelchairs for both of them. It is a challenge to get around the ship with them, I cannot imagine the extra difficulty with a larger scooter. The halls are narrow and made more narrow by the carts for the cabin stewards. Elevators are small and difficult to get to when there is a crowd waiting.

Once we were traveling and the family across the hall had rented a scooter. It was an extra large model -- it was a disaster. The woman who needed it wasn't used to driving the scooter so she had difficulty everywhere and we saw her many times around the ship very frustrated. We have a great deal of sympathy but by the end of the week had completely run out by them parking the massive beast in front of their door and essentially blocking our doors so my mobility challenged parents had to get out of their wheelchairs and basically climb around this thing even though we asked politely many times through out the week for them not to leave it there.

My point with this story is to get the equipment you need to help with the issues but make sure the person using it will be comfortable doing so while facing challenges like cleaning carts, rude people and small elevators. And if you are renting, make sure they know it is for a cruise ship and get a size that serves the purpose but doesn't cause additional issues.

 

[NeverSayNever]

Thank you for the thoughtful reply CLTEN.

I am surprised they were allowed to keep it in the hallway - I believe this is a hazard and not allowed. We have an HA cabin so if and what we rent will be kept in the cabin and not blocking the hallway. I agree, maneuvering can be difficult with necessary obstacles like cleaning carts etc. - we are weighing the pros and cons of a wheelchair over a scooter for some of those exact reasons. We do have experience with the "driving" of such, so this should be ok.

Thanks again and any and all thoughts experiences are welcome.

 

[thumpie's mom]

My daughter is wheelchair bound and we have been on 6 DCL cruises with her, soon to be going on #7. Overall, we don't find it too difficult to get her around. There are a few spots that can be a challenge as noted by clten, the halls are narrow but the cabin hosts are great about moving the cleaning carts out of her way. The elevators are very small and are sometimes difficult to even be able to get into. While there are a lot of nice polite people on the cruise, there are those who don't think twice about cutting us off so they can get into the elevator first. We have had to wait for a considerable amount of time to get one. Having said that, we have also experience the awesome DCL crew that have actually brought up a empty elevator so we could get on when they noticed people cutting us off. There are a few thresholds that are difficult to get her chair over, but it is doable. I'm not sure how it would be with a scooter as she uses a manual WC. I will say I prefer the ship over the parks any day for ease of getting her around. You may want to contact DCL directly and see if they have a rental company they can recommend. Good luck!

 

[jdb in AZ]

I doubt the guests who parked in the hallway were "allowed" to do that -- they just did it, and DCL didn't have the "nerve" to enforce their own rules. Since housekeeping would've been inconvenienced by the "obstacle course," why didn't the stateroom host report it to his/her supervisor? Maybe the host would rather dodge the scooter than risk losing gratuities from the scooter people for the week.

I've seen scooters parked out of the way under stairwells near the elevators, and that's fine. Even better if the disabled guests are able to stay in a handicapped room which can accommodate the scooters. DMIL used her wheel chair on cruises, but also had her walker to get around the room because there wasn't enough maneuverability for a wheel chair, unless she had a handicapped room which was extra roomy and much easier to navigate.

BTW, we didn't do a very good job if keeping track of DMIL's "gear" and her walker was left behind in the cruise terminal when we disembarked. ahem. It did have a luggage tag on it and when we called DCL to report it missing, they were able to identify who it belonged to, and shipped it home free of charge.

 

[jdb in AZ]

One more thing -- when it's time for the muster drill on the first afternoon, make sure you're already on the deck of your assigned muster station before the ship's alarms sound. The elevators will be turned off. In case of an actual emergency, the crew will carry handicapped people to their muster stations, but during the drill it's simpler to avoid the stairs and elevators to begin with. At the muster drill, make sure the crew member in charge of your muster station is aware that your loved one has mobility issues. After the drill the elevators will be jammed with people who think they have more important plans than the disabled passengers, so just plan to hang back or find something to do for a few minutes til the crowds disperse.

 

[rubberbootbunny]

I used my scooter on my last cruise and it was a life saver. I would recommend leaving yourselves a little extra time to compensate for elevator waits and letting the crowds thin out a bit before leaving places. The HA room was a must! (we suffered a flooded HA room and had to be moved to a normal room and that meant having to leave the scooter 8 flights down to charge over night - NOT FUN) you need the HA for the wider doors, mine is small and could not even get through the regular door.
I would definitely make sure that I was using a smaller scooter (I was using my gogo) and any thing bigger could have been tricky to manuver (sp?) in the hallways.

 

[mylittlebuttercup]

I can't recommend a company. But I will tell you I have traveled with parents who have mobility issues -- both can walk but cannot over long distances or up/down stairs. We brought travel size wheelchairs for both of them. It is a challenge to get around the ship with them, I cannot imagine the extra difficulty with a larger scooter. The halls are narrow and made more narrow by the carts for the cabin stewards. Elevators are small and difficult to get to when there is a crowd waiting.

Once we were traveling and the family across the hall had rented a scooter. It was an extra large model -- it was a disaster. The woman who needed it wasn't used to driving the scooter so she had difficulty everywhere and we saw her many times around the ship very frustrated. We have a great deal of sympathy but by the end of the week had completely run out by them parking the massive beast in front of their door and essentially blocking our doors so my mobility challenged parents had to get out of their wheelchairs and basically climb around this thing even though we asked politely many times through out the week for them not to leave it there.

My point with this story is to get the equipment you need to help with the issues but make sure the person using it will be comfortable doing so while facing challenges like cleaning carts, rude people and small elevators. And if you are renting, make sure they know it is for a cruise ship and get a size that serves the purpose but doesn't cause additional issues.

Did you report them to guest services after they ignored you the first time? Disney is very specific on their website that these must be stored either in your stateroom or in the designated parking areas on Deck 6 on the classic ships or Deck 2 on the new ships, not in the hallway outside the stateroom.

 

[Wish I lived in Fl]

My mother had only rented scooters for visiting the orlando Theme parks. When we went on the Disney Dream she rented a scooter delivered to the ship. It was so bulky that she ended up not using it at all. By our next trip She had a much smaller scooter of her own- The travelscoot-and that has worked well for cruises and ports. She still looks longingly at the foldable scooters such as the Luggie or Tzora but I can lift the travelscoot into a car trunk (in pieces) . I can't lift a one piece scooter.
She travels with a cane and 4 wheel rollator also so she can use what is needed but still get as much exercise walking as comfortable for her.

 

[dcassetta]

I do not have a recommendation for a scooter company, but I do recommend that you read some of the trip reports by FranandAJ such as http://www.disboards.com/threads/sh...caribbean-cruise-bonus-posts-wrap-up.3343364/

Their trip reports always have great information about traveling with a scooter.

 

[clten]

Did you report them to guest services after they ignored you the first time? Disney is very specific on their website that these must be stored either in your stateroom or in the designated parking areas on Deck 6 on the classic ships or Deck 2 on the new ships, not in the hallway outside the stateroom.

I did speak to guest services and I spoke to our stateroom host (who was also their stateroom host -- didn't want to get him in between but wanted him to speak to his supervisor). We were told most of the time that they "only stopped in to their room for a short time and were just leaving" and that they were given information on where they could leave the scooter. On two occasions the cabin steward did move the scooter down to the elevator lobby area when he was around and saw us coming up the hallway. But their "just stopping in to get something" was always a couple hours long.

Throughout the ship, you get very helpful people and very rude people. It was just surprising to us that someone who faced the same challenges we did with finding space to move around the ship would cause the same issues knowing they had neighbors who were trying to juggle two elderly people with wheelchairs. I was just using this to point out to the OP that all scooters aren't created equal so if they decided to rent to be sure not to get the "Rolls Royce" scooter (with a roof!) as it may create as many problems as it solves.

 

[argomANIA]

I highly reccomend renting a scooter. I use www.specialneedsatsea.com they deliver and pick up from the ship. Make sure you get the GoGo or Go Go Elite. They're the small portable ones.

On the Dream the only issues I had was the small elevators being crowded with people. On the Wonder I had huge issues getting around on it. The door thresholds are very high and the scooter would bottom out. Couldn't get through most doorways on my own. Plus non of the doors have automatic push buttons. And the two that do, have it in an awkward spot where the door opens at you and hits you.

 

[MickeyEarrings]

Not sure if I can mention them here without being banned so I will PM with the name of a company we are using for a manual wheelchair rental. They also have scooters and are widely used at WDW as well. They deliver to the ship.

 

[NeverSayNever]

Thank you everyone! Feeling a bit overwhelmed by this scooter/wheelchair rental but I guess I'll make a decision at some point.

Thanks again and keep the thoughts coming please!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Thank you everyone! Feeling a bit overwhelmed by this scooter/wheelchair rental but I guess I'll make a decision at some point.

Thanks again and keep the thoughts coming please!

I've read many reports from people who've rented through Brevard:
http://www.brevardmedicalequip.com/