Wheelchair question

[Its a Princess Thing...]

Looking for information about wheelchairs! Without going into too detail, my sister has been having trouble walking and is currently struggling to walk very long distances with her cane.

She has a wheelchair at home, but we are driving to Vancouver, so car space will be tight...
She called DCL today and was informed they do have wheelchairs available to borrow while on board the ship on a 1st come, 1st serve basis.

She had a couple of other questions and didn't want to stay on hold for another 1/2 an hour to ask...

1. Are the wheelchairs in good condition?
2. Can you take them off the ship at a port (we are cruising to Alaska)?

Any other tips/suggestions would be greatly appreciated! TIA

 

[lanejudy]

I would recommend renting from an off-site vendor. The ones onboard are generally meant to be available for emergency use (i.e., someone sprains an ankle during the cruise, etc.). She would also be assured a wheelchair that is the right size, as some of the onboard ones may be too large, which would get quite uncomfortable using for a full week. I'd try Special Needs at Sea -- I believe they will deliver directly to her stateroom, so you may need to borrow or arrange for one in the port terminal if needed. There may be other vendors who can deliver to Vancouver.

Does she have an accessible stateroom reserved? If not, can she get around the stateroom on her own, or maybe using a cane or other mobility aid? The wheelchair is unlikely to fit through a standard stateroom doorway without collapsing it, and once into the stateroom there is minimal space to move about with a wheelchair. HA rooms are laid out differently allowing space to move about with a mobility device.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[Ravenne]

We didn't use one, we ended up buying a cane from medical, so I don't know what the procedure is to get a wheel chair. Unless you have an accessible room, it won't fit in the cabin, but there is stroller and wheel chair parking midship, deck 6. I did see the wheel chairs used by others on various excursions. They are in good condition, and yes, you can take them off the ship. I saw them being used on excursions in Juneau and Ketchikan, but I agree with lanejudy. If you can get one from a 3rd party vendor, I'd go that route.

 

[Its a Princess Thing...]

She does not have an accessible room. When we booked she was doing well and was not using any mobility aids. Unfortunately, this has changed in the past week or two, so now we are just trying to figure out how to manage. She can still walk using her cane, just not for long distances, so in the room shouldn't be a problem.
I will look at the 3rd party vendor and see what the cost is, just in case her chair won't fit in the car. Thank you!

 

[Ravenne]

I would also ask the excursion operators for help as well. Our knee injury happened on the ship and totally unexpected. We had the Bering Sea Crab Tour booked directly through the operator the very next day. The staff who met us at the end of the gangway called for another staff member to bring a car to drive those with mobility devices to the ship, even though it was just a 5 minute walk away. It was really nice of them to do that.