Cruising in a Wheelchair

 Cruising in a wheelchair, or a scooter, or any wheeled device can be the best way to get out and see the world! Yes, there will be challenges, but is there anywhere that is totally challenge free in a wheelchair? Ok, Disney doesn't count. That's a magical place! Anyways, cruise ships, especially those from the major players (Norwegian, Carnival, Holland America, Royal Caribbean, Disney, etc), especially the newer ones are specially designed to accommodate handicapped travelers. A significant portion of their customer base requires some sort of mobility aid, so they are very aware of the needs of travelers and do their best to make your vacation wonderful. As I mentioned, though, there will be challenges and today's post seeks to help you be aware of and find your way around them.

 

 Cruise ships are getting bigger and bigger all the time, with more and more decks. The ship I sailed on last month had 20 decks and I've seen some coming out later this year with as many as 22 decks! That's a lot of stairs, but when you're using wheels instead of legs, stairs are not recommended. Welcome to the crazy world of elevator conveyance. It seems simple, you just push a button to call the elevator, roll on, and head to your floor, right?  Well you would be right if you were the only person on the ship, but when you're sharing the elevators with your 3,000 new friends, sometimes it gets hard. Trick #1 - many elevator banks are controlled by more than one button. What I mean is, you can push the down arrow, but only half of the down arrows light up. That means there are two banks of elevators in that section. Go push a down arrow that isn't lit up yet. More elevators = more chances. When the elevators keep opening up and you find them full try trick #2 - go the other way. If everyone is trying to go down, try going up. Remember, what goes up must come down eventually and you might be more likely to find an empty elevator going in the opposite direction. When you are in port, trick #3 - choose your elevators wisely. If the ship is disembarking from the forward end of the ship, try using the aft elevators instead. If it's noon and everyone is heading to the buffet, use the elevator at the opposite end of the ship. Finally, we should use the wisdom and common sense that we have, but the BEST way to get on the right elevator is to pray. I would recommend that it as your first step instead of a last-ditch effort too. When I approach an elevator bank in a wheelchair, I pray. I ask God to put me on the right elevator. Maybe He wants me to talk to someone. Maybe I'm supposed to make a new friend. Maybe someone else needs help and I can be there for them. Maybe something is going to go wrong on one of them and I don't want to be on it. I trust Him to put things together perfectly and I've had some incredible interactions because of it! I met my first cruise friends in an elevator bank in fact!

 Many ports the ship will visit will have a dock that you pull up to and they just put a ramp up to the ship and you roll right off. Every once in a while, you'll come across what they call a "tender port" though. Every cruise line approaches these differently, and your mileage may vary. This involves a much smaller ship coming alongside the cruise ship, latching onto it, and then connecting a makeshift ramp between them. This can be a very rocky scenario as you have two different ships bobbing up and down in the water at different rates. Typically your best bet, if you can, is to walk onto the tender and let someone else roll your wheelchair on, even if you're not that great at walking. It is so much more dangerous to wheel aboard. Sometimes they will not allow you to wheel onto the tender and if you are unable to walk, you will have to miss the port. It sucks, but it's so much better to know ahead of time so make sure to find out if your cruise has tender ports and what their tender policies are ahead of time. Pro tip, if you're going on a tender, even if you haven't had any other sea sickness issues, take a couple of Bonine about an hour before. Trust me, those things can get wild!

 Many cruise ships have very narrow hallways and that used to annoy me, until I took my first Carnival cruise on the Radiance. She's an older ship, but she has super wide hallways! I thought it was great - at first. Then I realized that where there is space people congregate, any time, day or night. People would sit in the hall outside our room and have multi-hour conversations. The spot with the least noise buffering is your room door, so we heard everything. The 2am drunken ramblings of old friends is not the easiest thing to sleep through. So now, I am thankful for narrow hallways! The challenge you'll run into with them though is when they add something into them like luggage or a housekeeping cart. Unfortunately, the hall is not typically wide enough to fit a cart and a wheelchair. So what do you do? In an ideal situation, you have someone with you that can relocate them into a cut out so you can get around. If you're alone, just call out, "Hello! Can I get some help please!" and a friendly housekeeping staff member will likely appear from a room and scoot things out of the way for you. Here's my pro tip on this one - choose your room wisely. Your ideal room will be within a few rooms of an elevator bank. Maybe not right across from them as you'll get a lot of traffic noise that way, but pretty close so you have the least amount of hallways to navigate.

 Speaking of rooms, and doors to rooms, that can be another challenge. Again, your mileage may vary, but I've been on several ships now where my wheelchair does not fit through the door of my room with me in it. Occasionally they do, but more often they don't, so you have to plan accordingly. If you must be in your wheelchair while going through the door, then you should book an accessible room. These fill up fast, so you'll need to book your cruise as early as possible, ideally 2-years out. Every once in a while, you can find an accessible room closer to the sail date, but I wouldn't count on it if I were you. You can check for these during the checkout process. When you are choosing your room type there should be an option for "I need an accessible room" or something to that effect. Sadly, it will often say that they are available and then as you're going through the process they change the message to say there are none available, so try to be patient and just keep searching. 

 Cruise ships have come a long way in becoming accessible and inclusive, which is one of the main reasons I love them, but they can't do much about the ports they visit. You'll likely encounter things like cobblestone streets, narrow, broken sidewalks, and stairs everywhere. We've made our way through some of the most ancient, least accessible cities and managed to have a good time doing it. The keys are patience and flexibility. When you get to a point where you can't get to the next place from, back up and try a different way. When confronted with stairs, search around for a ramp, often in the least likely of places. Get creative! Sometimes my husband has had to tilt my chair up on its back wheels to get me through something. Sometimes I have to hop out and lean against a post or wall while he moves my chair down off a curb and then helps me into it. Sometimes we've had to change our plans and just enjoy a little cafe or park instead of doing a lot of touring. 

Here's the Thing: Pretty much anything in a wheelchair can be tricky, but when the chair is the best, safest way for you to get around, you need to learn how to do it with grace. Grace for the situation. Grace for people who don't get it. Grace for your companion who is doing their best even when they crash you into things. Grace for yourself because you're doing your best too! Travel with grace and have fun!