Article by Laura Lanier
Most of the newer ships provide wheelchair assessable state rooms and can offer dining room seating arrangements to avoid stairs and raised areas. Simply be certain your travel agent informs the cruise line of your wheelchair usage and any other special needs before sailing when making your cruise vacation reservations. Cruise travelers with physical challenges should check with the onboard tour office to make sure that all pre-reserve tours can accommodate their needs.
Cruise travel may be the perfect vacation for an individual using a wheelchair, because it provides the opportunity to go to numerous locations in a relatively short time. A cruise vacation offers effortless travel between locations without the inconvenience of packing and unpacking. You will appreciate the choice of experiencing the ship’s destinations or relaxing and savoring the comfort of being pampered at a “resort at sea”.
It’s important that if one of your party uses a wheelchair, you want to ask the following questions:* How many wheelchair accessible cabins on the cruise ship?* Are the doors to the rooms and elevators wide enough to accommodate a regular wheelchair?* Can I get my wheelchair out on deck and into the public rooms during my cruise vacation?* Will I be able to access the dining areas?
In a few ports of call, where the ship must anchor, access via wheelchair may not be possible.
Ships generally stock a limited number of wheelchairs but you should be aware they should be pre-reserved at the time of your booking.
Due to S.O.L.A.S. (Safety of Live At Sea) Regulations, physically challenged passengers must have partial mobility, and a traveling companion who can assist them, if an emergency comes up.
You will realize that the newer, larger cruise ships happen to be built with the goal of full-accessibility. A new ship will have wider corridors, more spacious cabins, more, and larger, elevators and ramps where needed.
Additionally, the designated “accessible” cabins on newer ships are fitted with numerous of the following features that will make your cruise vacation a more comfortable experience:
* Stateroom and cabin doorways wide enough for wheelchairs (at least 30″)* Stateroom dimensions and floor space for maneuverability and bathroom dimensions adequate for maneuvering * No “lips” or sills into bathrooms * Sink positioned so wheelchair can roll under it * Roll-in shower wit a fold-down stool in shower with detachable showerhead * Bathroom walls with handrails * Raised toilet seat, at least 17″ inches high
In some ports, ships should anchor offshore because of size of the port or due to intense weather (if the weather is too extreme, they will not stop at that port at all). They “tender” guests to shore with small boats that might not be accessible to guests in wheelchairs.
A few of the Princess cruise line ships have hoists by the pool so a physically challenged guest can have fun with the pool. Some of Holland American ships have the ability to tender wheelchairs into ports where they do not dock. Ask your travel agent to make inquiries with those lines to locate the ship that’s suitable for you.
There’s no reason that anyone who is physically challenged ought to steer clear of a cruise vacation.
Simply keep in mind when you’re looking into cruise travel that you have your travel agent locate the cruise ship that suits your needs.
Now that you realize that a cruise vacation may be perfect for you, contact your travel agent and start packing.
Happy Cruising!
About the Author
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