John Heald, Carnival’s Brand Ambassador posted the following to his Facebook page recently:
I would like to chat please with those of you who use a mobility scooter when you cruise with us. It is obvious of course the challenges of life you face that have meant that you need to use a mobility scooter and I do wish you nothing but healthy and happy days.
However, we do need to try hard now to not allow anyone to leave their mobility scooter outside I the guest corridors at any time. We are testing this on one of the ships as we speak with guests sailing being sent emails with all the implications and rules ahead of time. The embarkation team will check if the cabin of any guest that comes with a scooter can accommodate the scooter meaning if it is one of the extra large ones then they will not be allowed to board the ship.
We will offer guests a chance to rent a new mobility scooter from Scootaround (our preferred vendor) who will have collapsible scooters available at the pier for guests to rent at their cost if needed.
There will be much more on this in the days ahead but we really are going to be working to make sure that for the safety of everyone on the ship that scooters must be kept in the cabins and never in the corridors.
Again, I realize the challenges that mobility scooter users face, I really do but I am sure most will understand and comply with our requests for which I am truly thankful.
Cheers
John.
Some guests booked on Carnival cruises who rely on mobility scooters have started receiving the following letter:
If you’ve cruised before, you know how narrow the stateroom corridors are. Scooters parked outside cabins in these corridors present a serious safety problem should the ship ever need to be evacuated quickly and are a major obstacle for those trying to pass by pushing wheelchairs, strollers, and crew cleaning carts. OR for other mobility scooters! OR for those trying to suck in their cruise babies (bellies) while balancing four plates of food!
As with all cruise policies, how effectively it is actually enforced remains to be seen, but John Heald insisted that once the policy is fully phased in, there will be procedures in place fleet-wide to ensure that it is enforced and emphasized that no passenger will be allowed to board with a mobility scooter that doesn’t fit inside their booked cabin.
An approved mobility scooter rented from scootaround.com will run you roughly $250-$300 for a 7-night cruise. They can be reserved in advance or rented on the day of your cruise.
Carnival cruisers are anxiously waiting to see if anything will follow this new policy such as enforced speed limits for scooter users and bans on drunk idiots passed out in stateroom corridors (kidding, kidding).
And with that…
Cruise (and scoot) on and Class Dismissed!
Homework (10 points): Share to the comments what you think of these new policy changes at Carnival. What has your experience with mobility scooters been on cruises?
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View Comments
It is a very good policy. I rented one on a cruise to Alaska and never thought of leaving it outside in the hallways.
I do have one compliant and that is allowing children to play in elevators and running races in the hallways, especially after 10PM .
I think a lot (LOT) of people would agree with you on that one!
I believe that if Carnival is requiring those with mobility devices to rent from them, then (1) they should be free or included in the cost of the trip; (2) or priced reasonably. These people have enough disadvantages without being overcharged for something that is out of their control.
It is a separate company.
I agree that they should be more affordable to rent because us people that need them and are on disability or social security don’t have the extra $300 or whatever the price may be we are doing good to try to enjoy life on the budget we are on I for one has 33 years of work behind me and want to still enjoy life but I truly agree with the size on the scooter some are just too big and some of the affordable rooms are too small and the hallways are a good size but not with the scooters left outside the room
So basically Carnival does not want people with disabilities on their ships. I think you need to rephrase or point. If you have reserved a handicap accessible cabin you can keep your scooter in your room. It is the people that have reserved a regular room and their scooters will not fit in the room. Those are the people that seem to be the causing a lot of the peoples. We had several people leave their scooters in the hallway near us and that was because they only had a regular room. Those red flags are the ones that they can catch at the port before boarding by knowing they don’t have the right room