Alaska Cruises
 

I would like to take my 80-year-old mother on an Alaska cruise. Neither of us has been to Alaska
before. The thing is her mobility is limited,
where she would need a walker and/or wheelchair. And her health is such that she tires out after
a couple hours of activity. So we need a cruise line where it's as easy as possible to get around, and the route is very scenic, so we could just sit on deck watching the view from there.
We were thinking of going sometime during the first half of August; probably no more than 10 days.
I would appreciate any suggestions for the cruise line and itinerary. Thank you!

Princess was very good for your mother's problems. Go to cruises page and pick Princess and that is one of the reasons to pick them is getting around with a wheelchair. I went on a Panama Canal cruise and saw quite a few people in wheelchairs.

Princess has some fabulous Alsaka itineraries. And having just been on the Diamond Princess and seen quite a few people in wheelchairs, I would agree that it's a good option. We really liked the one way itineraries with Princess. We did one that started in Seward and went to College Fjord, Glacier Bay (no getting off the boat is either place - you see the glaciers from the deck of the boat), Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan, then through the Inside Passage (again - lots of great scenary to watch from deck). We went the first week of August and had really good weather, although it can get a bit chilly and rainy further north. I liked going Southbound because the weather got warmer as we went further south!

My mom is visually impaired - Princess has been the best line to work with (compared to Celebrity, RCCL and Carnival). They go out of their way to help my mom.

You may want to look at HAL also. I haven't sailed them but they have a good reputation for older individuals.

Holland America has great staterooms for people with special needs, such as walkers and/or wheelchairs. They are very roomy and it is easy to get into bed.

They have excellent doctors and nurses, mostly North American medical staff. The room stewards and dining stewards are very, very good with people who need some extra care. I suffered a serious knee injury on a Europe cruise at age 29, and it seemed as though an HAL staff member was immediately available to assist me with my food tray, elevators, getting on or off the ship.

Best Regards,
Julia

I escort a lot of groups on HAL and they are excellent with handling special needs. I cannot recommend them highly enough and they are also very experienced in Alaska.

I agree about either HAL or Princess. Do say your mom is w/c dependent to get a handicapped cabin. Good luck. Larry :-)