Wheelchair on cruise

[quamyjim]

I have a teen daughter with cerebral palsy (in a wheelchair and can not transfer out). We went on another cruise line a few years back and it was horrible. We are long time Disney goers and finally decided to take the plunge for a Disney cruise. Things that came up last time, so wondering if it will be an issue with DCL. Is there enough room on the pool decks to park her chair and pick her up into the water? I know the halls will be tight but is there enough seating at shows (or do WC spaces go fast and we will miss out)---yes this happened on "other" cruise! Any other wheeler suggestions greatly appreciated.

 

[Mrsjvb]

far too many variables. the pools can get very crowded and it may not be easy or convenient to do a transfer. however there MIGHT be a WC lift into the pool.. you'd have to double check WRT the specific ship. you will probably need to tuck the chair in an out of the way spot away from the pool itself.

same with shows.. there are a few slots but you cannot guarantee an open one or that there will be any nearby seating for the rest of the family( they tend to have only one chair next to the HA spot)

you WILL need a fully accessible cabin, and those suckers sell out fast..usually within a week of the booking opening up. we also noticed that the lips between the main doors are very high/ difficult to maneuver over even with the 'ramp'

 

[dumbox2]

we just went on a Disney cruise in December on the fantasy. in the theatres to see the shows you will want to be in the top section. the bottom section has an obstructed view from the wc area. get to the show area reasonably early (just 10-15 min) and you shouldn't have issues with seating. in the movie theater there is also enough seating that you wont have issues. the pool deck around the pool is wide enough for the chair to be put next to the pool without problems. depending on when you go, the pool area can get crazy busy. my boys are early risers so we would get breakfast and then hit the pools. early-mid morning they weren't crowded at all and I could circle the pools from my chair without any problems. the pools are also empty on port days if you decide to stay on the ship. castaway cay also has beach wheelchairs you can use. we got there around 11ish and there were still a few left. is she using a power chair or manual? if power, you will probably want a manual one too for shore excursions. and in both my power and manual chair the halls were narrow but passable. i'm happy to answer any other questions you might have.

 

[lanejudy]

I would suggest arriving at the theater early the first night to speak with the CMs. I believe they will allow you to enter a few minutes early to get settled. After the first night, you'll have a better idea of when to arrive and what the procedure will be.

As PP indicate, the deck is wide next to the pools. I don't believe there is a lift or transfer steps, but if you can carry her into the water there is room to park next to the pool. If there is a second adult in your party, you may want to move the chair back once she's in the water so it doesn't get splashed. As a note, the decks get VERY slippery, even with CMs swabbing it constantly, so take caution. I agree with the recommendation to use the pool in the morning or during port stops; sea days are absolutely insane at the pools.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[MVC1225]

We just went on the Disney Dream (April 2014) and we had a manual wheelchair for my girlfriend who can't walk long distances. We were disappointed in several issues we encountered when it came to access.

The issues we had were the following:

1. Most doors are manual doors with no automatic button that you can push to have them open. When you are pushing someone, it is nearly impossible to open a door and push. If a guest was around and held the door for us it was very helpful otherwise she had to walk through doorways several times.

2. The "door stoppers" in the hallways and on the doors to go from inside to the deck areas were very high and I had to literally tilt her chair back a little to go across them. I kept bumping into them and almost tossing her out of the chair.

3. You have no access to the sports deck so we wanted to play miniature golf (she could play a hole and then sit in between as needed) but could not since stairs are difficult for her. I love miniature golf so I was disappointed we could not have access. We have been looking at another cruise line for December that also does not have regular elevator access to the Sports Deck but has a wheelchair lift on that deck so a person with accessibility issues can use that deck.

4. Aquaduck is also not accessible. I understand you would need to transfer to ride it (which in your case is not possible) but why they don't have an elevator or chair lift for use only by those that have mobility issues is beyond me. We were very disappointed in this.

As for the shows, there are places available for wheelchairs on the 4th floor in the back. We arrived about 10-15 minutes before each show and never saw all the spots occupied. The pools, as others have commented, get packed with people so it may be hard to maneuver.

Finally, I recommend avoiding the mid-ship elevators as they are usually full. Use those in the front or back of the ship which should be quicker with less of a wait.

 

[quamyjim]

Thank you so much. This is very helpful. We sailed Norwegian and access was horrible.

 

[quamyjim]

Thank you all. Good info. We do have an accessible cabin (phew). And are doing the double dip at Cay! As ports are always hard to get around in. Any Cay beach hints??

 

[bairdbeth]

We went on the Thanksgiving Fantasy cruise this past Thanksgiving and had a great experience. My son can still walk, but uses a wheelchair for long distance and to conserve energy (he has Duchenne) We did not have an accessible cabin and lesson learned! He had to get out of his chair and walk into the room and I had to fold his chair part way to get it in. We have an accessible cabin booked for our next cruise so that will not be a problem. The doors can be an issue, but most often someone is there and will hold the doors to the decks. For the emergency drill, the cast members dismissed the wheelchairs a few minutes before the rest so we had a head start on the elevators. The elevators mid ship will always be the most crowded and can be difficult to get on regardless of mobility issues or not. For the shows, we met a cast member early the first night and we sat down front. They took us backstage to get there. After the first night our seats were reserved for us Both my son and the other gentleman transferred to the theater seats. We both thought that would leave the center wheelchair spot open for someone who could not transfer. The aquaduck is not accessible; however, the other gentleman that we sat with at the shows told us that he had spoken with guest services and they arranged for him to ride on 2 different mornings 30 minutes before the ride opened. He still had to climb the steps, but could go at his pace with no one in the way and his travel companions could help support him up the steps because no one else was in the way(my son went once with his sister and then decided it was too high up for him after that!) There are free sand beach wheelchairs for use on Castaway Cay on a first come first serve basis. I used a stroller to get my son from the tram(there are wheelchair accessible trams) to the beach and he struggled, but walked through the sand to the water. (my bad as I should have just left the stroller onboard and let him walk the short distance to the sand wheelchairs or to the start of the beach and I could have carried him. There can be an issue with port stops if you have to tender instead of dock at the peer. Water conditions can make it unsafe to board a wheelchair onto the bobbing tender. It is easy on and off when you are docked(athough there can always be environmental conditions that may make things difficult) The Fantasy did have a pool lift and you just had to set up with guest services when you would need it(we did not use this but it was in the guide I had) the cast members in the clubs were great and they will do their best to include all children(but cannot help with bathrooming) I felt that the Disney Fantasy was very accessible and that the cast members do everything possible to make sure EVERYONE enjoys their cruise. We cruise on the Wonder in September, so I am going in with the outlook that the classic ship may not be as easily accessible because it has not had a major overhaul, but know that we will have a great time as the cast members always make sure that there is fun times to be had by all

 

[dumbox2]

the sports deck on the Fantasy is WC accessible. Only 1 or 2 elevators go to that section of deck but I had no problems getting to it and playing mini golf with my kids.

On the fantasy the doors for the most part have automatic door buttons, especially around the pool deck. I will agree that a lot of the door ledges are higher than you want them to be but I thought they were worse on the Princess cruise we took a few years back. I recall being told it had to do with the water or something like that.

 

[Donna3271]

We went on the Thanksgiving Fantasy cruise this past Thanksgiving and had a great experience. My son can still walk, but uses a wheelchair for long distance and to conserve energy (he has Duchenne) We did not have an accessible cabin and lesson learned! He had to get out of his chair and walk into the room and I had to fold his chair part way to get it in. We have an accessible cabin booked for our next cruise so that will not be a problem. The doors can be an issue, but most often someone is there and will hold the doors to the decks. For the emergency drill, the cast members dismissed the wheelchairs a few minutes before the rest so we had a head start on the elevators. The elevators mid ship will always be the most crowded and can be difficult to get on regardless of mobility issues or not. For the shows, we met a cast member early the first night and we sat down front. They took us backstage to get there. After the first night our seats were reserved for us Both my son and the other gentleman transferred to the theater seats. We both thought that would leave the center wheelchair spot open for someone who could not transfer. The aquaduck is not accessible; however, the other gentleman that we sat with at the shows told us that he had spoken with guest services and they arranged for him to ride on 2 different mornings 30 minutes before the ride opened. He still had to climb the steps, but could go at his pace with no one in the way and his travel companions could help support him up the steps because no one else was in the way(my son went once with his sister and then decided it was too high up for him after that!) There are free sand beach wheelchairs for use on Castaway Cay on a first come first serve basis. I used a stroller to get my son from the tram(there are wheelchair accessible trams) to the beach and he struggled, but walked through the sand to the water. (my bad as I should have just left the stroller onboard and let him walk the short distance to the sand wheelchairs or to the start of the beach and I could have carried him. There can be an issue with port stops if you have to tender instead of dock at the peer. Water conditions can make it unsafe to board a wheelchair onto the bobbing tender. It is easy on and off when you are docked(athough there can always be environmental conditions that may make things difficult) The Fantasy did have a pool lift and you just had to set up with guest services when you would need it(we did not use this but it was in the guide I had) the cast members in the clubs were great and they will do their best to include all children(but cannot help with bathrooming) I felt that the Disney Fantasy was very accessible and that the cast members do everything possible to make sure EVERYONE enjoys their cruise. We cruise on the Wonder in September, so I am going in with the outlook that the classic ship may not be as easily accessible because it has not had a major overhaul, but know that we will have a great time as the cast members always make sure that there is fun times to be had by all

Hi,
Thank you for your post!!! We have been on 7 Disney cruises, but are now going with my nephew who has Duchenne. He is 18, and we are all traveling for his high school graduation. I am so happy you had a great experience. I convinced my sister-in-law that Disney was the best cruise line for us (we have sailed on NCL, which I did not like). We are going to do the castaway cay 5k with him.

The classics are great too! We travelled on the Wonder in Sept (Alaska), and Magic (Miami) in Nov, and I BELIEVE they just changed the beds to make them higher.

p.s we run the Disney Marathon every January for Run for Our Sons… God Bless… WE ARE GETTING THERE!!!!

 

[Donna3271]

We went on the Thanksgiving Fantasy cruise this past Thanksgiving and had a great experience. My son can still walk, but uses a wheelchair for long distance and to conserve energy (he has Duchenne) We did not have an accessible cabin and lesson learned! He had to get out of his chair and walk into the room and I had to fold his chair part way to get it in. We have an accessible cabin booked for our next cruise so that will not be a problem. The doors can be an issue, but most often someone is there and will hold the doors to the decks. For the emergency drill, the cast members dismissed the wheelchairs a few minutes before the rest so we had a head start on the elevators. The elevators mid ship will always be the most crowded and can be difficult to get on regardless of mobility issues or not. For the shows, we met a cast member early the first night and we sat down front. They took us backstage to get there. After the first night our seats were reserved for us Both my son and the other gentleman transferred to the theater seats. We both thought that would leave the center wheelchair spot open for someone who could not transfer. The aquaduck is not accessible; however, the other gentleman that we sat with at the shows told us that he had spoken with guest services and they arranged for him to ride on 2 different mornings 30 minutes before the ride opened. He still had to climb the steps, but could go at his pace with no one in the way and his travel companions could help support him up the steps because no one else was in the way(my son went once with his sister and then decided it was too high up for him after that!) There are free sand beach wheelchairs for use on Castaway Cay on a first come first serve basis. I used a stroller to get my son from the tram(there are wheelchair accessible trams) to the beach and he struggled, but walked through the sand to the water. (my bad as I should have just left the stroller onboard and let him walk the short distance to the sand wheelchairs or to the start of the beach and I could have carried him. There can be an issue with port stops if you have to tender instead of dock at the peer. Water conditions can make it unsafe to board a wheelchair onto the bobbing tender. It is easy on and off when you are docked(athough there can always be environmental conditions that may make things difficult) The Fantasy did have a pool lift and you just had to set up with guest services when you would need it(we did not use this but it was in the guide I had) the cast members in the clubs were great and they will do their best to include all children(but cannot help with bathrooming) I felt that the Disney Fantasy was very accessible and that the cast members do everything possible to make sure EVERYONE enjoys their cruise. We cruise on the Wonder in September, so I am going in with the outlook that the classic ship may not be as easily accessible because it has not had a major overhaul, but know that we will have a great time as the cast members always make sure that there is fun times to be had by all

Hi,
Thank you for your post!!! We have been on 7 Disney cruises, but are now going with my nephew who has Duchenne. He is 18, and we are all traveling for his high school graduation. I am so happy you had a great experience. I convinced my sister-in-law that Disney was the best cruise line for us (we have sailed on NCL, which I did not like). We are going to do the castaway cay 5k with him.

The classics are great too! We travelled on the Wonder in Sept (Alaska), and Magic (Miami) in Nov, and I BELIEVE they just changed the beds to make them higher.

p.s we run the Disney Marathon every January for Run for Our Sons… God Bless… WE ARE GETTING THERE!!!!

 

[Quicklabs]

They are great and happy to help. The biggest problem is the other guests rushing the elevators as soon as they arrive. There were any number of occasions on which I was the first one there in my chair, and people arriving later flew right past me to get a spot. (People can be so rude.)

Theater seating was always easy. The ramp from the ship to the pier can be a bit of a challenge depending on sea conditions (somewhat steep).

Have a great time.\

 

[ali in wonderland]

We are sailing on the Dream next July. My adult brother is in power wheelchair. We have an accessible room. Can some one tell me if there is a lift for the pool on the Dream? Also what are the sleeping arrangement set ups in the WCA rooms on the Dream. Their family consists of him, his wife and 2 yr old son. Just wondering if the setup is similar to a standard room.

 

[SchneiderFam]

When we've sailed in the Dream, our WC room was set up similar to a regular room. We too are a party of three, myself, DH and our son Nathan, the one in the WC. We had a king sized bed and he slept on the couch, made up into a bed. The cabin attendant also provide a bed rail for him. It might depend on what category room he has, but I would swear that our room was set up to include two more passengers. There seemed to be a Murphy bed and the bunk that pulls down from the ceiling as we'll. Hope this helps!!

 

[lanejudy]

All staterooms on the Dream have one queen-sized bed (not king and it cannot be split), and a sofa that converts to a twin-size bed. SOME rooms sleep more than 3 passengers, and will have either a pull-down bunk (comes out of the ceiling) and/or a murphy bed (pulls out of the wall) -- both twin-size. Not all rooms in a category will sleep the maximum number of passengers, so if you require 3 (or 4) separate sleeping spaces, make sure you have booked a room that includes either the bunk or murphy bed. Several of the W/C accessible rooms on the Dream are more of a "squarish" shape rather than the traditional narrow stateroom. You may be able to check your specific stateroom in the stateroom reports on the cruiseline section using the links at the top of the page (or using this link: http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-cruise-line/disney-dream-room-reports.cfm).

I do not believe there is a lift at any pool onboard; also the AquaDuck is only accessible by stairs.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[Michigan]

I have 2 daughters with spina bifida that are full time wheelchair users. I haven't cruised with Disney for fear that there are strollers everywhere and my girls wouldn't be able to get on the elevators. We cruise on Princess and have never had accessibility issues.

 

[ali in wonderland]

I have 2 daughters with spina bifida that are full time wheelchair users. I haven't cruised with Disney for fear that there are strollers everywhere and my girls wouldn't be able to get on the elevators. We cruise on Princess and have never had accessibility issues.

I have traveled on three disney cruises and I can say that you will not be over run by strollers.

 

[lanejudy]

I have 2 daughters with spina bifida that are full time wheelchair users. I haven't cruised with Disney for fear that there are strollers everywhere and my girls wouldn't be able to get on the elevators. We cruise on Princess and have never had accessibility issues.

Elevators are a challenge, particularly mid-ship, but I wouldn't say it's due to strollers. There are some strollers, but not a particularly overabundance of them. The hallways can be narrow and hard to maneuver strollers, so I think a lot of people let little ones walk or carry them since most distances aren't all that far onboard. If you get a stateroom near the forward or aft elevators, those tend to be easier to get on than mid-ship.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[shoes99]

Thank you all. Good info. We do have an accessible cabin (phew). And are doing the double dip at Cay! As ports are always hard to get around in. Any Cay beach hints??

If her WC can fold up, ask for a golf cart assistance ride to the family beach. You have to request the help before you go thru security. We got a ride all the way to the Pelican Point beach. There are sand wc available but we didn't use them. Hardest part would be pushing the wc up a hill to get to the trams.
Ask for the golf cart help.