My husband and I are returning to Italy this fall w/my 85 year old mother in law and our 2 year old. Mother in law will be using a wheel chair to do most site seeing. She is not handicap however she moves rather slowly. In the past we've stayed in a hotel and used the train. This time we are considering a cruise. Wondering if anyone has advice on best way to travel with wheelchair and stroller. We would like to see Rome, Florence, Positano/Capri, and possibly Venice. There are cruise lines that leave from Rome. We were thinking a cruise might be more "handicap" friendly then the train but not sure. Looking for any and all tips, advice, suggestions. Thanks
Posted by
Vicenza, Italy
319 posts
In your situation a cruise may be the way to go. There are crusies that stop in the places you want to see. My grandparents took a cruise with MSC here in Europe. They loved it. I took a cruise with Costa round trip from Venice to Greece. I liked being on a European cruise line because we/English speakers were in the minority. It added another aspect to the European experiance. I think taking the boats shore excursions would be a good plan too. Italy isn't wheel chair friendly at all. Trains would be a nightmare. Renting a car is an option, but with a stroller and a wheel chair you would basically have to rent a VW van rather than a car. (oh FYI: just looked at the websited for the mentioned cruise companies, 7 day trips this fall start at $599 per person)
Posted by
Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA
606 posts
I second that notion that Italy isn't especially wheelchair friendly. Your mother-in-law might have a good time anyway, but there would be many things that just wouldn't be worth the effort to get to. Picture cobblestones and steps rather than smooth concrete ramps.
We've traveled with my mother on several trips (she's 86 now) and we found cruise ships MUCH easier for her than trains. As in your case, she's able to walk but it's slow going, and always the fear of a fall on the cobblestones. So we take a wheelchair for her.
The ships put out wheelchair ramps and the staff will usually handle pushing her onto and off the ship. Ships also have much more room to get around than on a train.
We use a collapsible travel wheelchair like this one. It has 4 small wheels rather than two large ones in back, and the handles fold down so you can easily get it into a car trunk.
Posted by
Albert Lea
67 posts
Having manuvered my mother in a wheel chair in malls, streets, and having been on both a cruise and to Italy, I agree that the cruise will be much more comfortable for her. That way she can also choose to just stay on the ship if she needs to rest while you can also do what you want. My mom had a lot of trouble seeing things normally at eye level from her wheel chair. Many times she was trying to look over or under railings or between people. Cobblestone will also be more difficult to push a wheel chair. A tour of Tuscany by car would be fun also.
Posted by
Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA
606 posts
"She is not handicap however she moves rather slowly."
As you probably know, when they get in that wheelchair they (and we) sometimes forget that they can still stand and walk if they really need to. We've often gone to all kinds of trouble to get my mom, in the wheelchair, to places that we later realized she could easily have walked to!
The chair is great, and necessary, for moving great distances quickly with old folks, but be sure to remember that it doesn't stop healthy legs from working.
As Denise mentions above, travel by car can be good for sightseeing with older folks. We're taking my mom with us to England/Ireland next summer and we fully expect to be doing a lot of sightseeing from the car, just driving her as close as we can get.
On the other hand, we expect in some cases we'll be "parking" her on a bench somewhere while we go do the more tiring things without her. She's fine with this, and prefers it to wearing herself out trying to keep up with us, or the opposite: causing us to miss things just because she doesn't want to go.
Posted by
Columbus, OH, USA
2084 posts
I have traveled a lot with my elderly dad and cruises are great for us. The ships often had wheelchairs available, but because Dad didn't always need one, I wouldn't know how truly available they are (did wonder if we could take their chairs off the ship, but it never came down to that). One big advatage to the ship was that there were times when dad just didn't feel up to a rigorous day, and I was happy to know that he could hang on the ship and be safe and comfortable while we ran all over the place. It contributed to his contentment too, knowing that he wasn't putting a kibosh on our plans if he was tired. We took our last cruise when he was 94 and looking at another for his 97th. Have a great time.
Posted by
Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA
606 posts
One more thing on the wheelchairs. They're wonderful to have at airports! Not only for traversing the huge parking lots and terminals, but also because when we push mom up to the security check in the wheelchair, they usually motion us past the long line, give us special handling, and we're past the lines in no time!