a couple of questions

[CruizeDragon]

Hi everyone,
My wife had a spinal fusion about 15 years ago and has always had a bad back, made worse by owning an ice cream store with her ex for 18 years. Over the years her back has gotten worse, in fact on our last vacation we found a cane that turned into a chair because she can't stand in one place for any period of time. She also has other medical problems such as Fibromyalgia and Arthritis among other things.

Over the past 2 or 3 years her back has gotten progressively worse. Over the last few months we have found out that she has a herniated disc and also has other problems on every level of her spine.

She never needed a wheel chair until recently when we went to 2 conventions back to back weekends last month.

She has used a cane for years when her back is really bad and we have found that most people are really nice when we are traveling if she has her cane.

Since last month was the first time we used a wheel I have limited experience regarding treatment while in wheelchairs. That said at these conventions, crowded elevators are always an issue even for AB people and we found that even though people didn't lose their spot in line or the elevator they tended to be very nice and respected that she was in a wheel chair.

Since her back is as bad as it is we have started to talk about buying a wheel chair so we always have one when needed, We have found that not all hotels have them to lend out.

I have 2 questions:

1- Since my wife can walk, do we necessarily need a HC Cabin or can we deal with a regular cabin and fold up the chair when we need to.

2- With Security at the airports and Ports being what it is is it more or less difficult to get though Security in a wheelchair?

[azimma]

My daughter uses both manual and power chairs and does not walk. I measured the doors of the regular cabins on the Monarch of the Seas a couple of weeks ago and we could get her chair through the door if we removed one wheel, (easy thing to do) we could get the chair into the cabin.
We have traveled around the country with a kids wheelchair basketball team and got to the gate with as many as 25 kids with 40 wheelchairs. The airline staff there were above and beyound...dont worry about it.

If not an accessable cabin...make sure that you get close to the elevs....enjoy...az

[cruisequeen]

If you are able to use a fold up wheel chair, a handicapped cabin is not something you will NEED. They are difficult to acquire at times, even when there is the need. If you have a motorized chair, you can leav it in the hall way with no problem at night or ask that it be put somewhere for you during the night. We have done this with a scooter with no problems.

Using a wheel chair in the air port is an advantage in some ways. A lot of times, you get through the line quicker then most people because they let you go ahead in line. That's because your wheel chair enters a different "door" at security. Since she can walk, she can go through the regular screener while the chair goes through another door and gets wanded and sometimes tested for explosives.

We have used both a wheel chair and a mobility scooter on flights and cruises. If you have any questions, you can also email or PM me.