When you're choosing a cruise to accommodate a wheelchair, yourbest bet is one of the newer, larger ships.
They're more likely to offer cabins specially designed forwheelchairs, with cabin doorways at least 25 inches wide, grab railsinside the bathroom and no raised sill or step-up into the bathroom.
To make public areas accessible, the ship should have elevatorswith doors wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair, and ramps overthe raised sills leading to the deck area. The ideal cruise shipalso would offer both inside and outside accessible cabins so thereis a choice of prices.
Most cruise ships built before the mid-1980s contain built-inproblems for the mobility-impaired - door sills with raised rims tokeep water from flowing between bathrooms and staterooms or betweendecks and interior halls; no elevator service to some public areassuch as top decks and discos; narrow hallways on lower decks wheremost cabins are located; narrow doorways into cabins and bathrooms;oddly-shaped bathrooms with fixtures close together, and stairsleading into dining rooms and movie theaters.
Common inconveniences include closet hanging racks and elevatorbuttons that are out of reach for a person seated in a wheelchair,very heavy doors leading to the deck and inaccessible swimming pools.
While in general, mobility-impaired travelers should book onlyships that always come alongside in port rather than sometimes takingpassengers ashore in a tender, both Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwayand Cunard's Queen Elizabeth 2 are exceptions, since their bigtenders fit flush with the ship's loading doors rather than requiringthe wheelchair and its occupant to be carried down a long, unsteadygangway to a bobbing launch.
Wheelchair travelers who enjoy spending a lot of time on deckshould steer clear of smaller, older ships, because the deck spacesare often chopped up with steep, narrow flights of stairs. Instead,study deck plans to find ships with unimpeded promenades all the wayaround, as on Holland America's new trio, Statendam, Maasdam andRyndam.
You should consider taking a traveling or sports-sized ; 23-inch; wheelchair instead of a standard ; 35-inch ; one in order to makeaccess easier into narrow doorways.
Most cruise lines expect passengers to provide their ownwheelchairs, since the ship's chairs must be reserved for passengeremergencies. Virtually all lines require that passengers who requirephysical assistance be accompanied by a nondisabled companion, andall require disabled passengers to stipulate in writing when theinitial reservation is made that use of a wheelchair is necessary.
While you're studying the deck plan, look for the elevators.How many are there, and how convenient are they to the importantpublic rooms, such as the show lounge and dining room?
Although the CLIA (Cruise Line International Association) 1994Cruise Manual, which most travel agents use as a reference guide,lists only two ships that do not accept wheelchair passengers -Cunard Sea Goddess I and Sea Goddess II - many of the other ships onthe list are inappropriate for wheelchairs if the passenger wants toparticipate fully in shipboard life. ; Small expedition vessels without elevators from cruise linessuch as Special Expeditions, Alaska Sightseeing; Cruise West,Abercrombie & Kent and Society Expeditions are not feasible forwheelchair passengers.
The primary sightseeing aboard these ships is from smallinflatable rubber landing craft like Zodiacs, which have to beboarded at sea from the foot of the gangway.
Free-lance writers Shirley Slater and Harry Basch regularlywrite about cruises.
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