You have special needs and are worried that a cruise vacation may not be right for you. Well the truth is that every year and increasing number of my clients with special needs discover how much fun a cruise can be!
If you require any type of special assistance or accommodations onboard, make sure you tell your travel agent when making your cruise reservation so they are able to notify the cruise line accordingly.
Cruise lines will provide 
complimentary wheelchair assistance for embarkation and disembarkation only. If you would like to have a wheelchair or scooter during the cruise, you are welcome to bring your own or rent one.
Cruise Ship Assist (a Care Vacation company) is a great place to go if you need any special equipment for your cruise, the cruise lines do not provide wheelchairs, or other assistive devices and technologies.
Nowadays, cruise ships are steadily becoming more accessible and quite easy to maneuver, whether in a wheelchair, scooter, or other device.
However, some of the smaller and older ships are a little more difficult as the accessibility to public areas is a bit limited (ramps are steep and few and far between). If you are traveling with a companion, this might not be an issue, but if traveling by yourself you may want to consider a newer, larger ship that is likely to have more accessible elevators, ramps and doorways.
Also, there are a limited number of accessible staterooms available on each ship, and they tend to fill quickly so it is best to speak with your cruise agent as far in advance as possible and reserve your cabin.
The first thing I do when helping a client with a mobility disability is locate the accessible cabins and determine which cabin category/type they fall under. Not all ships offer handicap accessible staterooms in all categories. Some may only offer them in an oceanview and/or balcony. Once I determine which category they prefer I will make the request with the cruise line, most do not have the accessible cabins available to book online as the number of cabins is so limited.
Confirm with your cruise guide the 
specifications, but the wheelchair accessible staterooms tend to feature a wider door frame(around 30 inches) into the cabin and bathroom, no ‘lip’ into the bathroom, no ‘lip’ into the shower, a raised toilet with bars throughout the bathroom, and a shower chair.
The rooms themselves are much larger to allow for turnaround maneuverability. With that being said most of these cabins are only available for double occupancy.
The cruise line will have a comprehensive listing of areas that are NOT accessible onboard for you to reference before you sail.
One thing I pay close attention to when booking a passenger with mobility disabilities is the ports of call for the cruise they are interested in. If more than one port of call requires tender service to the port (when harbors are too shallow these smaller boats ferry passengers to share), I might suggest a different itinerary.
It might be too difficult for them to enjoy the port if they are having to spend too much time getting on and off the tender. Disembarking by tender is handled differently by each cruise line but most provide assistance carrying your (MANUAL) wheelchair onto the tender. If you are bound to a POWER chair, you will be unable to board the tender ship as the chair is too bulky, weights too much.
If you do require a wheelchair 100% of time, but need it after an abundance of walking (such as on a cruise ship), you are welcome to bring your own collapsible chair and get a standard cabin. The standard doorways are too narrow to roll in, you will need to collapse the chair to enter your cabin. If you still require special amenities in the bathroom, such as, a raised toilet and/or shower chair, these items can be requested with the cruise lines at no additional cost.
Guests with other medical conditions are also accommodated onboard.
Several of my clients require oxygen, not uncommon. Again, we just need to make the cruise line aware of this as policies and procedures for bringing the appropriate equipment onboard vary. For guests that require the use of dialysis, please contact us for more information on policies and procedures.
Also onboard the ships are Braille-coded elevator buttons, room numbers and restaurant menus.
Most cruise lines welcome children with disabilities in their youth programs onboard. Upon request, every efforts will be made to provide reasonable accommodations that will meet the needs of children with disabilities.
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