mobility question

Just booked on QE2 for a short cruise May 2006 and we are taking my elderly mother. She can walk a little but we will be also taking a collapsible wheelchair for her as a backup. We were on the ship in June this year and although we noticed people with chairs and/or sticks etc, just wondered if anyone had first hand experience of getting about with difficulty.

I am now worried about the muster station drill - can we use the lifts for her on that occasion?

Really excited about the cruise and I am sure all will be fine but I just want to make sure that her first cruise experience is wonderful.

on our recent cruises on the qe2 and the qm2 i was impressed by the number of people that had the fortitude tomake them selves mobile either by a cane, or a walker or a wheel chair. also many motorized wheel chairs. I undestand these items can be rented for the cruise period. the only restriction that i noticed was if the ship tendered in to port it would be very difficult if not impossible for many of these people to get on or off the tender. if the ship docked at the terminals no problem getting on or off the ship. the qm2 offer handicapped accessible rooms also.(wider doorways etc) I hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we did it was magnificent!!bon voyage jim ford

[Marc Thompson]

Last Septmeber, I marveled at how the crew and staff assisted passengers in wheelchairs on and off the tenders! It was so smotth that you really didn't know anything was up until you realized that a person in a wheelchair just crossed over the bay with you and is up on the pier where the tender docked. Amazingly smooth.

Thank you for your reassurances. I am sure she will be OK and that we will enjoy the cruise. We were on QE2 this year for a few days and loved it.

I don't think the tenders are a problem, unless the seas are very rough. I noticed on my last Princess cruise (and on HAL) they have a special procedure for getting folks in wheelchairs on the tenders. After all the able-bodied passengers are on, they slide a board across from the deck to the tender, and wheel the passengers right onboard. The wheelchair pax are then secured right in that entryway area, the board is rolled away, and off the tender goes.

I think the only time they will request that wheelchair pax not tender into port is if the seas are so rough as to make using the board too dangerous.

Of course, I'm just describing this procedure from a layman's point of view. I am sure someone else can offer more insight into how they do it.

Blue skies ...

--rita