Carnival Pride stateroom wheelchair access

[Virginia]

I have a friend who is going on the Carnival Pride May 2004. They booked a gaurantee catagory 4. My friend is a quadraplegic and it is a must that the room is large enough to turn his wheelchair around. It doesn't matter if the bathroom is accessable or not.
Are there Handicaped rooms available in this catagory? or is a regular stateroom lage enough for a electric wheelchair to get through the door and manuver around in the room. or should I advise them to upgrade to a catagory that has handicapped staterooms?
Another question I have is are the tenders able to take a wheelchairs ashore in Cabo San Lucas. My friend was told by his TA that he would be able to go ashore at all three stops in the Mexican Riviera.

[Gramma Ann]

You will need an accessable cabin. The doors on regular cabins are only about 23 or 24 inches wide. Some of the accessable cabins will have 27in doors, and some will have the 30in doors (some of the newer or remodeled may have the 32 - 36 in doors, just not really sure. Your TA can get this information for you. you can also contact the special needs desk. Look under the Carnival website for the number or e-mail address.

[CruiseKing]

Virginia,

Gramma is right. Don't even consider a regular stateroom. A wheelchair will NOT go through the door. A handicapped accessible room is an ABSOLUTE NECESSITY!

I can't advise you on the tenders. Post this question on the Chit Chat board.

Glenn

[KLD]

While you can go ashore at a tender port IF it is not rough (the cruise line has the right to deny this if weather is rough) they will NOT lift a power wheelchair. He needs to plan to take both a manual folding chair and his power chair. Use the power chair on the ship, and the manual chair for all shore trips. Even those with a dock often are too steep to be safe with a power chair, and you will not find curb cuts or ramps in these ports.

He MUST have an accessible cabin. There is no way that someone who cannot walk can get in/out of a standard room. He should have checked on this prior to booking. Accessible cabins often go first, and may already all be booked. They are available only in limited numbers and not in all categories.

If he is going to Puerto Vallarta, there is an accessible tour company there. We used them in November and were very happy with our tour:

http://www.accesiblemexico.com/frmenaboutus.htm

There are none in Mazatlan or Cabo, so he will need to plan on either transferring to cabs (another reason to take only a manual chair ashore) or just see sights around the area of the ship. In Mazatlan the ship docks in an industrial area with little to see. In Cabo it is about 1/2 mile to the main part of town from the dock area.