PETERtheK

My wife and I are taking a cruise of Italy which will visit Florence, Rome, Naples and Palermo among others. We both need the use of electric scooters. We are advised by the cruise line that the shore excursions available do not have the ability to transport our scooters to the various sites. Does anyone know of any tours, or tour operators, geared to individuals with disabilities? They would need to pick-up and drop off at the dock. Does anyone know of any private transport one can hire that have vans or buses with lifts or ramps? Any and all responses would be greatly appreiated. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, we would glady act on them. Thank you,

Peter

janeygirl

I'm not able to answer your questions myself but you might find some help on flyertalk.com.

They have a Disabled Travel forum (from the home page, click Forums in the menu at the top and scroll down to Special Interest Travel. The Disabled Travel forum is in that section.

nytraveler

I would think the cruise line would have a list of contacts they can give you (even if they don;t want to be involved in organizing it). You would need to rent the scooters and a private van to carry both of them.

Steve_James

Hi Peter - You may find these links useful for arranging tours for Rome and Florence:

http://www.accessibleitaly.com/tours-in-rome.html

http://www.accessibleitaly.com/

They would hopefully be able to advise for Naples and Palermo too.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

frank10b

check out RADAR the UK disabled group they have lots of disabled travels to italy.

flyer talk disabled forum is kinda dead

Ranker

Hi Peter,
for what concerns disable travelers,having our parents 88 and 91 years old, we took a Rome tour from the ship with www.rome-tours.org and Filippo was so helpful to us in every situation. (Note that my parents can walk but just for very little distances). If I had to recommend him.....well,I do.

Steve_James

ttt

kenderina

Are you sure the cruise line is not saying that they cannot transport your scooters out of the boat ? I mean, I have a walking disability too and I've never done a cruise but a friend of mine owns a travel agency and she advised me against doing it because in most cruises at the Mediterranean the ships doesn't get to the docks..but transport people from the boat on little ships (sorry, I just don't know the exact name in english !)to the dock and maybe it was not comfortable for me..maybe that's why they cannot take your scooters (but then..no one can do it).

Julie_Hurst

Hi Peter. Will your scooters fold & fit in a trunk? Or, are they liteweight enough for a driver to place them in the back of a van? If not, the cruiseline will probably let you use one of their folding wheelchairs, which will fit in the trunk or in a van. I've often seen those borrowed for shore trips. Call the cruiseline & don't talk with the front-line people. Get to the specialists who handle such issues.

Best advice - go to cruisecritic.com. I'm sure you will find options there.

Even if you "tender" to the dock (take a small boat from the anchored ship), the staff is able to load & haul wheelchairs. I have seen the staff load wheelchairs with the people still in the wheelchairs - as long as the water is not too rough. But definitely if you can transfer out of the wheelchair for a few steps, getting the wheel chairs to shore should not be a problem, unless this is a small cruiseline.

Then, find a private tour company that can accomodate - size of vehicle plus driver & one other person to push each of you if your scooters won't work & you use the cruiseline's folding wheelchair. If the cruiseline will not guarantee you folding wheelchairs, a tour company may offer these. I'm sure it will cost more for the extra person or a larger vehicle for your scooters, but at least you will get to experience more of your trip. But then again, as expensive as the ship tours are - it may not cost you more!

Good luck & have a great cruise.

Julie