passengers with disabilities

[glasslass]

My husband and I are booked on the Majesty out of Charleston in November. This will be our first cruise on a large ship although we've done a couple of Windjammer cruises. My husband is an older man who recently had major back surgery and may still be using a wheel chair part time when we depart.

I'd welcome any advice about what to expect in terms of how easy it will be for him to move about the ship, whether the bathrooms are user friendly for someone who is not stable on their feet and anything else someone thinks will help us as we make our plans.

 

[Don Clark]

NCL has a few larger cabins on every ship with hand holds in the water closets and room for wheel chairs to navigate the room. Make sure you tell your travel agent you want one of them. You should be able to get one with no extra charge. Of course you should inform NCL at the time you purchase your tickets your special needs. But note, not every room classification has them.
Almost all the public places on the ships have ramps. He shouldn't have too much difficulty moving about the ship in a chair.
NCL will provide a chair if needed for boarding and unboarding the ship, but it isn't their policy to provide chair for a whole cruise. They prefer you bring your own.
Here's what NCL states specifically about wheel chairs: http://www.ncl.com/more/special_services.htm
Wheelchair Users
Though NCL does have wheelchairs on board for emergency or isolated incidents, guests that require fulltime use of a wheel chair must provide their own. Motorized wheelchairs are welcome as well, however, they must be collapsible, three-wheel "Amigo-type." The chairs must be powered by gel-cell batteries. Due to safety regulations, NCL will not accept any wet-cell or acid battery-powered wheelchairs on board the ships. The wheelchair battery recharger must be adaptable to 110 voltage.
For the safety of all, wheelchairs may not be used to transfer from the ship to a tender.
NCL maintains a limited number of wheelchairs on our private island, Great Stirrup Cay, that are specially designed for use on sand. They are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

My last cruise was on the Majesty, I saw many passengers in wheel chairs having a great time on this ship.

 

[newmexicoNita]

It is very important your TA let NCL know as far in advance as possible if you do need a handicapped cabin as they are limited. No, there will be no extra charge for this. Your hubby should be able to fully enjoy his cruise as many are in wheel chairs and seem to be having a great time. Usually there are places in the back of the showroom for wheelchair passengers. The only draw back is going ashore on tenders. If any of the ports do require tendering in you may have to forego them. What the heck, it will give you a chance to stay on ship and do your own thing without 2000 other passengers everywhere. Have a wonderful cruise and good luck with hubby's recovery. Hopefully he will not need his wheelchair in November or if he does, only for part of the time. NMNita