Scooters on Board

[gator287]

Hello, My dad is cruising with us in May 2004. He uses an electric scooter to get around because of breathing problems. I have been told the width of the stateroom doors are 23 inches wide. His chair is exactly 23 inches across. Do you think it will fit inside the room? Do you have any experiences with a scooter on board like getting in the staterooms and getting around the ship? I know he will be able to do a little walking but would like this to be a good experience for him.

By the way, I know there are handicapp rooms with wider doors but we booked a Cat 2 room to accomodate the 6 of us and they are not handicapp accessible.

Thanks for your imput.
Suzy

 

[flexsmom]

Have you considered booking one of the handicapped Cat 3s along with the Cat 4 right next door? I know they aren't connecting, but at least you would be assured of being able to get the scooter into the room, given the risk of not fitting it into a 23" opening!

 

[aprilgail2]

I am not sure about a catagory 2 but in the other catagories unless you have a handicapped room there is not much room to get around and there is also a sill on the bathrooms of the regular cabins that you have to go over to get into them where a handicap room has very large bathrooms that have nothing to trip over and the shower is level with the floor, no tub to get in and out of. I would book a handicap cabin and then one right next to it just for the saftey of the handicap shower, it was great for my mom, I didn't have to worry about her tripping getting in the tub.

 

[Michigander]

I went with a friend last year who had a scooter. We shared a handicapped cabin and I can't imagine having a scooter or electric wheelchair in a regular cabin. The handicapped cabin was very large with plenty of room to park the scooter and walk around it.

My friend was quite disappointed with her cruise experience with a scooter. There just is not a lot of room to manuever around. There are door sills almost everywhere going out on deck. She was unable to go over them and had to leave the scooter and walk out on deck. The elevators are very small and very busy. The scooter took up most of the elevator with room for about 4 people around it. The worst problem was when it was busy. We waited for 20 minutes sometimes because the elevators would be full every time the doors opened and she was not able to get on. Very frustrating after several minutes.

One bad thing was when we returned from Castaway Cay. There was a problem and the elevators were not working. There was no way to carry the scooter up the stairs so we had to sit and wait for the problem to be fixed. There is no bathroom down there so this could have been a big problem. She is unable to walk up stairs at all.

I'm not trying to discourage you because I'd rather go with a scooter than NOT go at all. It's a "must do" experience. Just be aware there are a lot of limitations. I would never think of going without having the handicapped cabin though. It's of utmost importance for someone with a motorized vehicle and limitations.

Michigander