Alaska cruise...mobility impaired

"Marsha" wrote in message
...
That's funny, Jean. Along the same lines, I collect miniclocks. While in
Vancouver last year, I purchased a few and then completely forgot about
them when going through customs. They probably looked like little bombs
on the x-ray machine. So they took us aside and opened each one up so
they could be thoroughly scanned.

I can understand that, Marsha.g
I have often wondered why they have not questioned and checked my curling
iron or hair dryer. Now that most all the ships have hair dryers, I don't
take mine.

--Jean

"Leo K" wrote in message
...
Thanks for your help so far. We are nearing our cruise date..(just 2
mos.) and a couple of more questions gave popped up.

My wife and I are 50 and 52 years old, but my parents are coming
along. They are in their early seventies and there are a couple of
medical issues.

We are traveling southbound from Seward to Vancouver and here are the
questions:

2) My mom has moderate difficulty getting around due to arthritis. At
home, she would use an electric scooter for any extended activities.
The cruise line, Celebrity, can provide us with a wheelchair, which
would work if no other option. But does anyone know of any companies
that night rent electric scooters that can be returned at a different
site? And could the scooters be used on the ship ....the room
hallways seem narrow on floor plan views.

3) Are tenders easy enough to board for mobility impaired persons?

TIA

I travel in a power wheelchair and do very well. The ships I've been on are
almost 100% accessible. (Princess)
None of the Alaska ports I stopped at required tenders.
If there are steep gangplanks, the crew gives you lots of help.
Get a handicapped cabin for your mother if you can.
There are many accessible excursions off the ship. See Celebrity's web site
or princess.com
Don't miss White Pass RR in Skagway or Mt. Roberts Tram in Juneau.
Have fun

Robert
Happy 4th

Robert wrote:

Don't miss White Pass RR in Skagway or Mt. Roberts Tram in Juneau.
Have fun

Can these be done by someone in an electric wheelchair, if she isn't
able to stand up at all?

sue

Sue and Kevin Mullen wrote:
Jean O'Boyle wrote:

Sue, they never have even opened my carry on bag, so they have not seen our
medications or our labels on them.

They never opened my carry on either, but when you go through airport
security all your belongings are scanned. One time coming back from a
cruise, I saw customs taking apart a woman's luggage and emptying the
contents of her advil or aspirin container to inspect the contents.

Another good reason not to fly

They just once questioned me about my
white noise making machine..It is round and about five inches in diameter
and when I explained what it did, they just nodded and said *ok*. Coming
back from South America, they asked if I had any *horses* in my carry on
bag...I had gotten each of the grandchildren a little brass llama from Chile
and we all broke into laughter when I told them what they were! They didn't
even open the bag to see them! LOL!

This reminds me of the time I bought a crystal and medal(silver?)
Menorah and I had it packed in the bottom of my carryon. After my
belongs went through the scanner I was pulled over and asked what it
was. I told them, but I guess they had never heard of a menorah. I had
to unpack the entire bag and unwrap the menorah to show them.

My daughter and grandson went to Italy, and they took his Geomags in
his carryon.

She wrote:

shortly after we had checked in we were paged. So, I went back to where they x-ray the luggage and they showed me his bag. They put it through the x-ray machine for me to see what they were concerned about - it was the Geomags, which I showed them.
Pretty funny, IMHO that they hadn't seen this Italian toy through their x-ray machines before.

"Sue and Kevin Mullen" wrote in message
...


Robert wrote:

Don't miss White Pass RR in Skagway or Mt. Roberts Tram in Juneau.
Have fun

Can these be done by someone in an electric wheelchair, if she isn't
able to stand up at all?

sue

Yes. White Pass RR starts from the ship and has a lift that puts you into a
car for handicaps.

You can drive your chair onto the tram easily. Nice store, restaurant, view,
and live eagle on top. Ticket is good for all day.

You don't need to stand up for either.
Have fun.

Robert

Thanks, WRD

Based on your post we re-contacted the airline, and this time the
person we talked to agreed with what you said. The first time we
called the airline and asked, the rep we got said it could be carried
by the airline, but with a hefty fee for luggage overage. We then
were looking at shipping options, rentals, etc.



On Sun, 2 Jul 2006 11:48:05 -0700, "WRD" wrote:

Your last

"We are looking into that option as well, both in terms of transporting
it on the plane, or having it shipped. We live in PA and what we have
found up to this point are fairly expensive options. I'll have to
check with her as to whether or not it can easily be broken down"

There is no cost involved in having the airline transport the scooter. I
ride mine right up to the plane door and airline personnel take it there.
They also deliver it to the plane on arrival. It also does not have to break
down in to parts either. The only cost would be for transport to and from
the airport and the ship. If you have cruise ship transfers they will also
provide transport for the scooter. (You have to notify them in advance)
Note, that this assumes that she has a physical handicap that requires the
use of a WC or scooter.


"Leo K" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 02 Jul 2006 17:48:23 GMT, "Jean O'Boyle"
wrote:

(snipped)
Is there any reason your Mom cannot bring her own scooter? Is it one that
you can take apart in two pieces making it easier to bring along?...We
have
very good friends with whom we cruise often and she has a scooter that she
takes on the plane
and onboard the ship.. I'm hoping Barb or Tobie will jump in here and help
me out with more information. Or Nonnymous and Mrs. Nonnymous?

We are looking into that option as well, both in terms of transporting
it on the plane, or having it shipped. We live in PA and what we have
found up to this point are fairly expensive options. I'll have to
check with her as to whether or not it can easily be broken down.



Celebrity, as most lines has wheelchairs...as to whether you can keep one
after she boards is not always a definite..but I have seen it done. You
can
request one before boarding to make that process easier. They have a
special line for wheelchair passengers and also when disembarking, they
will
provide you with one if you make an early request for one at the purser's
desk.


3) Are tenders easy enough to board for mobility impaired persons?

I believe that the answer there is yes and no...depends on the physical
abilities of the passenger and the weather that day.
Sometimes the seas are so rough, that the tender *bobs* about making it
is
difficult for even a person in good physical condition to maintain good
balance.

Will you be staying at the fairly new Holiday Inn in Seward? We had a
room
facing the marina and the next morning awakened to see our ship, the
Ryndam,
docked and looking beautiful with the snow capped mountains in the
background!

Enjoy your cruise!
--Jean






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Robert wrote:
"Sue and Kevin Mullen" wrote in message
...


Robert wrote:


Don't miss White Pass RR in Skagway or Mt. Roberts Tram in Juneau.
Have fun

Can these be done by someone in an electric wheelchair, if she isn't
able to stand up at all?

sue


Yes. White Pass RR starts from the ship and has a lift that puts you into a
car for handicaps.

You can drive your chair onto the tram easily. Nice store, restaurant, view,
and live eagle on top. Ticket is good for all day.

You don't need to stand up for either.
Have fun.

Thanks Robert! I have a very close friend who is a parapeligic and
before this happened we had talked about cruising to Alaska together.
Unfortunately with all the work they have been doing to make their
house accessable for her, they don't have the money for cruising right
now. I hope one day we will do an Alaskan cruise with them. In the
meantime I am going to send her this information, I know she will be
very happy to hear this and have something to look forward to.

sue

On 2 Jul 2006 11:38:02 -0500, Leo K wrote:

2) My mom has moderate difficulty getting around due to arthritis. At
home, she would use an electric scooter for any extended activities.

The scooter can be taken on the airplane (as cargo) from the US, no charge.
It will require specific types of batteries, or special cases for
spillable batteries.

Here are a couple of starting places: http://dlrp.org/html/guide_to/acaa.html
http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/publi...s/horizons.htm

Friends who use power chairs and travel on airlines tend to keep a copy
of the pertainent law handy for the airport.