Going on a Cruise With a Mobility Scooter

Mobility Scooters For Cruises, What to Expect & How to Prepare For Your Next Cruise

Welcome to MobilityDirect.com, your trusted partner in enhancing your travel experience with top-of-the-line mobility solutions. Planning to embark on a cruise adventure? Taking your mobility scooter on board can significantly enhance your journey, offering unparalleled freedom and independence to explore every corner of the ship and each exciting port of call. Our comprehensive guide provides everything you need to know about bringing your mobility scooter on a cruise, from pre-departure preparations to onboard accessibility. Let us help you navigate your voyage with ease and confidence, ensuring a seamless and enjoyable travel experience.

It is essential to understand that each cruise line offers different levels of accessibility. Therefore, it is important to contact the cruise line you plan to travel with to inquire about the process of bringing a mobility scooter on board and to gather detailed information about their specific accommodations for mobility scooter users. For instance, Royal Caribbean provides accessible staterooms on all their ships, with main room and bathroom doors at least 32 inches wide to accommodate most mobility scooters and wheelchairs. Additionally, Royal Caribbean features amenities such as Whirlpool lifts, pool lifts, low slot machines in the casino, and accessible lowered desks at guest relations. Below is an example of a main door with automatic sensors, a standard feature for all main and bathroom doors on their ships.

Best Mobility Scooters For Cruises

When traveling, it is always best to have a lightweight and compact mobility scooter. If this is not possible, we recommend measuring your scooter’s dimensions and contacting the cruise line to ensure it will fit through all doorways, entrances, and exits. Typically, cruise lines are required to have doorways that are at least 32 inches wide. If your scooter is larger and very long, you might encounter difficulties navigating narrow hallways, elevators, or other tight spaces. Therefore, we suggest choosing a scooter that supports the user’s weight but remains compact. To navigate sharp turns in confined areas, we also recommend selecting a mobility scooter with an excellent turning radius.

The ZeroTurn 8 by Pride Mobility

The ZeroTurn 8 by Pride Mobility is a revolutionary mobility scooter designed for ultimate maneuverability and ease of use, making it perfect for cruising adventures. Featuring Pride’s patented Zero Turn technology, this scooter boasts an impressive turning radius, allowing you to navigate tight corners and narrow hallways with unmatched agility. Its dual motors provide superior traction and control, while the feather-touch disassembly ensures quick and easy transport and storage. With a compact design that does not compromise on comfort or stability, the ZT8 fits seamlessly through standard doorways and small spaces commonly found on cruise ships. Additionally, its comfortable seating, ample foot room, and user-friendly controls make it an ideal companion for exploring every deck and port of call. For a reliable, compact, and highly maneuverable mobility solution, the ZeroTurn 8 is an ideal choice for your cruise.

The i-Go by Pride Mobility

 

The i-Go mobility scooter by Pride Mobility is the epitome of convenience and portability, making it an ideal choice for cruise travel. Engineered for ease of transport, the i-Go features an innovative folding design that allows it to be effortlessly packed away in seconds, fitting easily into compact spaces such as cruise ship cabins and elevators. Despite its lightweight frame, the i-Go does not compromise on performance, offering a comfortable ride with ample legroom and a sturdy build that supports a substantial weight capacity. Its advanced lithium-ion battery ensures long-lasting power, perfect for a day of exploring ports of call. The i-Go’s compact size and agility make it easy to navigate narrow corridors and crowded areas on board. For a mobility scooter that combines portability, comfort, and reliability, the i-Go by Pride Mobility is a great travel companion for your cruise.

The Buzzaround LT by Golden Technologies

The Buzzaround LT mobility scooter by Golden Technologies is a superb choice for cruise travel, combining portability, comfort, and ease of use. This compact scooter is designed with a focus on lightweight convenience, making it easy to disassemble into smaller, manageable pieces for effortless transport and storage in cruise ship cabins. The Buzzaround LT offers a comfortable and stable ride, with a plush, padded seat and ample legroom, ensuring a pleasant journey as you explore the ship and various ports of call. Its user-friendly controls and tight turning radius make navigating narrow hallways, elevators, and crowded areas a breeze. Additionally, the scooter’s reliable battery life ensures you have the power you need for a full day of adventures. For a dependable and compact mobility solution on your cruise, the Buzzaround LT by Golden Technologies is an excellent choice.

The Golden Buzzaround Carry-On

The Buzzaround Carry-On Mobility Scooter by Golden Technologies is the perfect travel companion for your cruise, designed with ultimate portability in mind. This innovative scooter folds down to a compact height of just 12 inches, allowing it to fit conveniently underneath cruise ship cabin beds and in other tight storage spaces. Despite its compact size, the Buzzaround Carry-On does not compromise on comfort or performance. Its lightweight design makes it easy to transport, while the reliable battery ensures you have the power needed to explore the ship and ports of call throughout the day. With its tight turning radius and easy maneuverability, this scooter is ideal for navigating the narrow hallways, elevators, and busy areas typically found on cruise ships. For a dependable, compact, and easy-to-store mobility solution, the Buzzaround Carry-On by Golden Technologies is an excellent choice for your cruising adventures.

Rules, Laws & Standards For The Cruising Industry With Respect to Accommodating Passengers That Rely on Mobility Scooters

Most of the well-known cruise lines offer a wide variety of accessibility features that makes it possible to travel with a mobility scooter.  Like most facilities on land, the major cruise lines, like Royal Caribbean, strive to make sure each ship that sails through US waters is ADA compliant. In 2015, the US DOJ (Department of Justice) reached an iconic settlement agreement with Carnival Cruises. The settlement mandated that Carnival Cruises provide equal access to their accommodations, as they were ruled as public places that need to comply with the ADA. While not all cruise lines have adopted the requirements set forth by the ADA, the settlement certainly has created a standard that all cruise lines are aware of and most likely acting on.

Aside from the ADA, there are other regulatory bodies, agencies, organizations, and memberships dealing with the safety of passengers on cruise ships. In some cases, there are specific requirements for accessibility in order to enter an association, gain licensing to certain membership groups, or to gain certain accreditations. One of the most well-known and respected associations that deal with the cruise industry is the CLIA. The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) was established in 1975 and considered to be the leading authority of the international cruise community. CLIA aims to standardize the way cruises regulate safety and professionalism for the cruise community to have peace of mind while traveling at sea.  To see a list of cruise lines that are members of the CLIA, you can visit the official website by clicking here or by viewing the list below.

The cruise industry as a whole has been proactive when it comes to providing accessibility features for guests with disabilities to travel comfortably. in 1975, the International Maritime Organization and the CLIA worked together to create a fair and effective standardized framework for the cruise and ship industry. This included a section of standards for the design and operation of ships/cruises with regards to the accommodation of passengers that have disabilities. In 2019, the USDOT (Department of Transportation) published a set of regulations that included practices and procedures for transporting individuals with disabilities on cruise lines and ships that enter or cross through US waters. This includes ships that are sailing with foreign flags.

What to Expect When Going on a Cruise With a Mobility Scooter

Royal Caribbean is by far one of the most accommodating cruise lines for passengers that have disabilities. They offer priority boarding to all passengers that have a disability or mobility device. When boarding the ship, you are able to bypass the long lines and get to the security checkpoint faster. In the ship,  all access points have ramps and/or elevators. Doors have buttons to automatically open doors in the event that the sensors do not work. You will also find that there are many desks, kiosks, slot machines, and chairs that are lowered for disability access. The off-boarding process is also just as streamlined. All in all, going on a cruise with a mobility scooter or power wheelchair is pretty easy to do if you are cruising on a Royal Caribbean ship.