Anyone do DCL with cast and wheelchair?

[maggie blossom]

So we are scheduled for our first cruise on the Magic in just over a month.
I fell and broke leg bones, tibia and fibula, and had surgery to put plates and screws. I have a boot, can do very little walking and need crutches.

I really do not want to re-schedule this trip.

We can rent a wheelchair since the ship will likely be too big for me to manage all the walking.

Any other suggestions? Anyone done this and still had fun??

thanks

 

[Magic Family]

I severely sprained my ankle the first morning of our 7-day cruise on the Magic. They put me in a wheelchair...crutches, they said, were too dangerous and they didn't want me taking another spill. It was no problem getting around. We had a special entrance for dining. There was space for wheelchairs in the theatre.

We had a balcony stateroom and we needed to collapse the chair in the stateroom because it got crowded. If you're worried about that, I would imagine you could request a handicap-accessible room if one is available.

Bottom line, you won't have any difficulty. Enjoy, and I hope you heal quickly.

 

[maggie blossom]

good to know things are easily accessible to wheelchair.

Thanks so much for sharing your story.

 

[MTmomma]

Some places rent "knee walkers" (same principal as wheelchair rental) where you roll along on a modified walker. This is the first company that I came up with using google. https://www.rentakneewalker.com/?KW=2&gclid=CNzIh__8y6cCFQ12gwod4WUqFA
Obviously check with your DR first about this because you are putting weight on your knee, and your lower leg is resting on the pad. Some insurance companies cover durable medical equipment like this, only with a perscription. Average cost that I am seeing online is $300 for purchase, wich is why I supplied the rental link.

 

[LAWalz23]

No broken legs but my mom uses a wheelchair because she can't walk for long. DCL is very accessible and the crew are very nice about helping especially with the gangways. It is one of the reasons we cruise DCL, another cruise line was extremely unhelpful.

 

[maggie blossom]

Thanks so much for sharing your experience and thoughts

 

[kcashner]

No history with broken leg, but I did a cruise with a friend who uses braces and crutches/canes at home and a chair for long distances. I enlisted her adult daughters to inform her that the ship would be with the chair!

No problems. Because she needed the HA cabin, dining already had us in seats on the aisles in all dining rooms (easy to get the chair in and transfer). There was only one time we had an accessibility issue, and that was because a passageway was locked off; the detour was not wheelchair friendly until a couple of maintenance men lifted her, chair and all, over the "hump" that I couldn't negotiate.

I really wouldn't suggest trying crutches on the ship. One wrong motion and you could be on the floor.

 

[mellers]

So we are scheduled for our first cruise on the Magic in just over a month.
I fell and broke leg bones, tibia and fibula, and had surgery to put plates and screws. I have a boot, can do very little walking and need crutches.

I really do not want to re-schedule this trip.

We can rent a wheelchair since the ship will likely be too big for me to manage all the walking.

Any other suggestions? Anyone done this and still had fun??

thanks

Unfortunately, due to a work accident, I am in an ECV a good part of the time, so if I couldn't have fun in a wheelchair, I would be in big trouble

Seriously, though. I specifically picked Disney for my first cruise because they have such good disabled access. I'm sure you'l have a wonderful time--wheelchair or no wheelchair.

 

[colmom]

We are leaving on Sunday for the Mexican Riviera cruise and have a 12-yr-old with the exact same broken bones as you! She is in a cast and crutches after a month in a wheelchair. I emailed DCL and let them know; I noticed now on our reservation it says that we will have a wheelchair available to us onboard. We are not bringing our wheelchair, just her crutches and assuming she can use the onboard wheelchair if she needs it. Reading these posts, I realize crutches may be a little dangerous!

We thought about canceling the cruise back when this happened (January) but our daughter begged us not to. She is missing so much more in her life (dance, sports, etc) that she wanted something to look forward to.

I will let you know how it goes when we get back! Crossing my fingers

 

[colmom]

I just called the DCL Disabilities line and was told that the ship only has wheelchairs for emergencies, so they are NOT providing one for us. We would need to bring our own for my daughter's broken leg. She just wants to gut it out on her crutches so we aren't bringing our wheelchair, but you may want to consider taking one.

 

[lisaradz]

So we are scheduled for our first cruise on the Magic in just over a month.
I fell and broke leg bones, tibia and fibula, and had surgery to put plates and screws. I have a boot, can do very little walking and need crutches.

I really do not want to re-schedule this trip.

We can rent a wheelchair since the ship will likely be too big for me to manage all the walking.

Any other suggestions? Anyone done this and still had fun??

thanks

They do have some wheelchairs on board. They are first come first serve and not in the best of condition. Since you know in advance that you will need one, it would be better to rent a nice one and bring it with you. We got lucky and were able to borrow one onboard, but the foot rest was broken. On CC, they also have wheelchairs, they have some really cool ones with huge wheels that you can go out on the sand with. If there is availability, maybe they can switch you to a handicapped room. They are bigger and the bathrooms are wheelchair accessible (no bathtub though) There is also more room to store the chair. You will still have a great time.

 

[AbsyBabsy]

I just called the DCL Disabilities line and was told that the ship only has wheelchairs for emergencies, so they are NOT providing one for us. We would need to bring our own for my daughter's broken leg. She just wants to gut it out on her crutches so we aren't bringing our wheelchair, but you may want to consider taking one.

I would recommend bringing the wheelchair. If she does not need it - great - but if she is having problems - she will be happier not having to be in pain. I speak from experience with a child with fracture complications for 9 months!

 

[maggie blossom]

I will rent a wheelchair near port when we arrive.

If you want to look into renting for your daughter there are some recommended vendors on the DISabilities board.

Thanks so much for all the wonderful feedback

 

[ppiew]

oh boy do i sympathize. i have a broken ankle and face surgery tomorrow and hopefully a cruise on 3/27. IF i am permitted to go, i will rent a scooter, if not i will be more disappointed than you know! Family coming from Spain and US and hoped for a family vacation until this horrible accident. I thought it would be a treat for everyone and then I am the party pooper! hope i don't have to sacrifice the $$ and the experience - if I can go i will rent a scooter and suggest you do the same. they are such accommodating companies!!

 

[colmom]

I would recommend bringing the wheelchair. If she does not need it - great - but if she is having problems - she will be happier not having to be in pain. I speak from experience with a child with fracture complications for 9 months!

Thanks! I called the company that has provided DD's current wheelchair and they will deliver a travel wheelchair to us in California at my sister's house where we are staying before the cruise! It was so easy to arrange. I feel much better knowing we will have the wheelchair with us on the cruise now.
Thanks for the feedback.

 

[maggie blossom]

ppiew good luck with your surgery and best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Colmom, enjoy your cruise and please report back and let me know how it went!

 

[colmom]

Maggie Blossom:
We just got back from our DCL Mexican Riviera cruise with our 12-yr-old daughter in a non-weight bearing leg cast (broken fibula and tibia). We had a wheelchair delivered by our health company to CA before the cruise. Thank god we took that and the crutches! When the ship was rocking, we insisted our DD be in her wheelchair; otherwise, she did a lot of crutching.

Everything was accessible. The biggest challenge was other people not paying attention. It was amazing how many able-bodied kids and adults would bolt in front of my daughter to get in the elevator! We usually never take the elevators but were forced to because of her condition. With a sold out ship, it was crowded and we sometimes had to wait a while for room on an elevator.

The staff was amazing! They would carry her tray at the buffet, help her with transferring from her wheelchair to a chair and generally looked out for her.
She is very shy and doesn't like extra attention, but accepted that she would need help at times.

My only recommendation to you is don't take a small tender boat if your cruise has to tender in port. We had a very scary experience trying to transfer DD from a rocking tender boat in Cabo on rough water to the Wonder, then she had to get up 15 stairs to get onto the ship. Even the staff was having heart palpitations when she finally got to the top of the stairs. My husband had to lift her from the tender boat to the DCL platform with a 2-3 foot differential of height between the two boats. We had checked multiple times BEFORE going on the tender about the safety for our DD and were assured it could be done. Leaving the boat was fine because there was a big tender catamaran available with a ramp to get on it. We thought that same tender would be there when we returned to the boat, only to find out at the pier that they wouldn't be using that boat for return trips!!

Overall, we had a great cruise...different, but great. My daughter made the best of her situation and seemed to enjoy herself as well. The DCL staff was amazing, as usual. Just watch out for the other cruisers! I hope you don't have a crowded ship!

Good luck and have a great trip. If you need a waterproof cast cover, we found a great one by DriCorp.

 

[maggie blossom]

Thank you so much for coming back to share your, and your daughter's, experience. I was wondering how it turned out for her.

I believe we will be on a crowded ship. It is spring break for schools in the northeast the week we are going so I am expecting a full ship. I am not surprised that people are not always considerate when dealing with someone on crutches or in a wheelchair.

How did she manage in the shower? I called and tried to get an accessible room but there is none available. So I am wondering about handling the shower.

I will have to think about the tender to port issue. The ship will tender to Grand Cayman and I was really looking forward to getting off there. I may ask the boards about how it works in Grand Cayman

Thanks again for coming back to post. I really appreaciate it!

 

[colmom]

Maggie Blossom,

Regarding showering on the ship...

We didn't have an accessible room either. I took my DD to the spa and used their showers once. That worked out great because the showers are bigger, but there isn't any place to hang on. She just leaned on wall for support. After that, we figured out that she could use room shower by sitting on side of tub and lowering herself down to sit in tub (she is the size of an adult and very strong in her upper body). Since the room shower has an adjustable hand held shower head, it actually worked really well and allowed my DD to lay in the tub and not have to worry about falling. She preferred it to the spa shower.

We used Dry Pro waterproof leg protector (www.DryCorp.com) which kept her cast absolutely dry. If you don't have enough time to order it online (we got it in 2 days), Walgreens has cast sleeves that we have also used.

I hope your tendering process is easier than ours. Best wishes for a wonderful cruise!