Wheelchair Accessible Cruises

There are loads of awesome ways to see the world, but one of the best by far is by taking a cruise.  The ability to see multiple cities without having to change hotel rooms is unbeatable when you use a wheelchair.

But there can be a lot of questions before booking that wheelchair accessible cruise.  How will I get on the ship?  How accessible will my room be? How accessible are the common areas? Wonder no more because we’ve found four awesome videos that show how accessible they really are.

In our first video, we get to watch how they load a wheelchair-user onto the Dawn Princess, of the Princess Cruise line, while it’s in port at Langakawi (an island off Malaysia) when a gang plank must be used to board; meaning, there are stairs to climb.

They end up using a Stairclimber, an nifty chair that can climb stairs, helping the wheelchair-using passenger get up the i long gang plank.  Watch cruise ship employees help him up

That are hundreds of homemade video tours showing accessible rooms on cruise ships, but this has got to be one of my favorites. It features Angelia McDonald, a sassy wheelchair-user, who just boarded the ship and sees her room for the first time – a perfectly accessible suite with a balcony on the Carnival Dream.

The suite has everything, from both a Jacuzzi and roll-in shower, a ramp to get on the balcony, a dressing area and vanity (which is huge by the way), multiple TVs, a safe, a fridge; you get the idea.  Watch her tour of suite 7270 on the Carnival Dream

If you’ve never been on a cruise ship before, the one thing whenever you go on one is that the ships are always much bigger in person.  To get an idea of how they really are, this video does a bang up job. It’s a full-length tour of the Promenade Deck on the Dawn Princess, recorded completely from the first-person perspective of a power wheelchair user. It’s super fun to watch. Watch the zooming footage

And if you ever watch the Today Show, you may know who Peter Greenberg is, a travel expert who frequently profiles destinations and travel deals.  He also makes videos for the web, including a video giving a fantastic overview of accessible cruises – what to look for, cruise lines that offer accessible tenders (Holland America), planning accessible excursions and which cruise line offers automated doors on all state rooms. Watch his video

Don’t forget, cruises can take you anywhere, from good ‘ol Mexico to Japan, and the ships only keep getting better and better for us wheelers.  If there ever was a time to take a cruise, it definitely is now. Ready for The Rock Boat XIV anyone?

Have you been on a wheelchair accessible cruise?  What was the accessibility like?

Watch the videos about wheelchair accessible cruises!

– Wheelchair-user using the Stairclimber to enter a ship via the gang plank

– Tour of a beautiful wheelchair accessible suite with balcony on the Carnival Dream

– Zippy fast tour of the promenade deck on a Princess cruise boat from the perspective of a power wheelchair

– Overview of cruise ship accessibility from travel expert Peter Greenberg