Wheelchair Access & Special Needs
All passengers requiring specific assistance, facilities, or equipment on board must advise Cunard Line at the time of booking, and are requested to complete a questionnaire after booking, to ensure they have all the information needed to cater adequately for your requirements.
If you need to bring a wheelchair or mobility scooter on board with you, it is essential that you let Cunard Line know at the time of booking or as soon as the need is known. Any passengers requiring the use of a wheelchair, mobility scooter, or other aids to mobility must provide their own. For the safety of everyone on board and the ship, all wheelchairs, scooters and other aids to mobility, as is the case with all passenger possessions, must be stored inside your stateroom when not in use. Failure to comply with this important safety rule may mean you are disembarked and refused future travel. Part time wheelchair user traveling in a non-wheelchair accessible stateroom must bring a collapsible wheelchair to ensure it can safely fit through the stateroom door and be accommodated in the stateroom. It is not possible to make structural changes to the stateroom layout. Cunard Line reserves the right to require passengers who have booked this accommodation without legitimate reason to move, at their own expense, if necessary.
Mobility scooters will only be permitted on board if passengers have booked into a wheelchair accessible stateroom, or a suite, as these are the only types of accommodations where mobility scooters can safely be stored. The minimum door width of suites is 53 cm (21 in). The minimum door width of the wheelchair accessible staterooms is 80 cm (31 in). At the time of booking, please let Cunard Line know if you intend on bringing a mobility scooter with you, and they will in turn provide you with a questionnaire for completion to ensure that the accommodation you have booked is appropriate. Please note that wheelchair accessible staterooms are strictly reserved for passengers who are bringing wheelchairs or mobility scooters or who have a requirement for the adapted facilities offered by these staterooms.
A ship is not always the easiest environment for using a wheelchair or mobility scooter. Although the crew is helpful, they are only able to provide limited assistance to help you in moving around the ship. For this reason, and in order to ensure the safety of the passenger, the ship and all others on board, it is recommended that passengers with disabilities, who require personal assistance in the activities of daily living, including pushing a wheelchair or communication support, be accompanied by a personal assistant or traveling companion to provide these services. Blind/Visually Impaired passengers are recommended to travel with a companion who can help you get your bearings and assist you both on board and ashore. The crew can provide limited arm assistance, and information or directions, but cannot provide sustained or long term assistance.
Please note that due to applicable safety requirements, the design of the ship or port infrastructure and equipment, in certain ports of call it may not be possible for Cunard Line to offer a shore excursion program, or shuttle bus service, suitable for passengers who are not able to board a coach via the steps with only the aid of their traveling companion.
Cunard Line reserves the right to refuse passage to any Passenger who has failed to notify Cunard Line of their requirement for special treatment or assistance (including the requirement to use a wheelchair or mobility scooter ). For further information about traveling with disabilities, please contact the specialist Care Access Team at (800)728-6273 (Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm PT) or via email at accessoffice@cunard.com.
Mobility Ashore
When choosing your voyage please bear in mind that it may not be possible for wheelchair users to get ashore at ports of call. At the majority of ports visited by the ships, Cunard Line deploys a short ramped low-level gangway, commonly referred to as the ship’s brow. This is normally due to ports with a large tidal range, where a relatively shallow ramp may unavoidably become too steep to use safely during the course of the day with tidal movements. Some examples of ports with a large tidal range (but not an exhaustive list) are: Bilbão, Brest, La Coruña, Le Havre, La Rochelle, Lisbon, Vigo, Zeebrugge, Canary Island ports, Hamburg, Boston, Halifax, Portland, Québec, Darwin, Lisbon, Mumbai and San Francisco.
At ports where it is not possible to use the ship’s brow, all access to shore will be by a narrow stepped gangway known as the accommodation ladder, that pivots to take account of the tide. When the accommodation ladder is in use, you will need some independent mobility in order to walk down the gangway. Each of the ships carries a wheelchair “stair climbing” machine which, where appropriate, may be used to allow wheelchair users to go ashore provided they transfer between their own wheelchair and the wheelchair that is fitted to the stair climber at the top and bottom of the accommodation ladder. The stair climber cannot be used with electric wheelchairs – these will need to be taken ashore separately.
Service Animals
Cunard is pleased to permit individuals to bring service animals on board. You must provide notice of the time of booking. Local laws or customs may prevent animals from disembarking at particular ports or countries. It is the passenger's responsibility to consult local customs authorities for requirements and to obtain all applicable documents and health certificates. Service animals are kept in staterooms with their owners.
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