Demand for special needs equipment on cruises is growing

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As more people with disabilities and special needs opt to take a cruise, businesses are rushing to meet growing demand for ship-board mobility devices. Cruise lines typically only provide a handful of wheelchairs for embarkation and disembarkation purposes or for onboard emergencies. As such their accessibility guidelines advise customers with mobility issues to bring their own equipment or rent them if needed for the entire trip. Video: Woman found critically hurt outside Fort Lauderdale parking garage One Fort Lauderdale business has been making headway in the cruise industry providing motorized scooters, wheelchairs and other equipment to those persons seeking to maintain their independence when traveling. “Our goal is to remove all barriers to travel and to ensure that no one misses an opportunity to see the world or participate in a family vacation because of a physical impairment,” Special Needs Group Founder and Chief Executive Andrew Garnett said. Garnett’s Special Needs at Sea delivers the equipment customers need directly to their cabins before departure and arranges for their pick-up upon return. “It was so easy to rent, there’s almost nothing to it,” said Martin Zafman, 77, of Hallandale Beach, who ordered a motorized scooter from Special Needs in January for use aboard a Royal Caribbean International’s Majesty of the Seas cruise. Zafman – an avid cruiser – has taken about eight world cruises of 100 days or more over the years, but now has difficulty walking. “It [scooter] enables me to be independent and see the world and meet people,” said Zafman recently before departing on a 23-day cruise from San Diego to Central America and the Panama Canal. Some 54 million Americans have a disability and roughly 10 million aged 15 and older use a walking aid such as a cane or walker and 3.3 million, a wheelchair, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Americans with disabilities spent $13.6 billion on travel in 2002 (the latest data available) according to a Harris Interactive Poll conducted for the Chicago-based nonprofit Open Doors Organization. And that spending is likely to keep growing as the population ages. Scootaround Inc. of Orlando, who has partnered with Special Needs Group to provide its customers with scooter and wheelchair rentals, has seen demand grow in its cruise division for mobility devices, spokesman Gerald Adams said. The Go-Go Elite Traveller scooter, among the popularly rented items, costs about $175 for a five-day cruise from Port Canaveral, Adams said. Scootaround and Special Needs also rent mobility equipment to persons vacationing at resorts and theme parks and others attending conventions. The typical customer is someone with a disability or mobility issue due to a bad knee or hip, Special Needs’ Director of Marketing Cheree Liebowitz said. Some customers also need regular access to oxygen. Liebowitz’s outfit also rents oxygen cylinders, patient lifts and hearing impaired kits, among other healthcare aides. It costs $175 to rent a standard scooter and $75 for a standard wheelchair for a seven day cruise out of the Port of Miami or Port Everglades and returning to the same port, Liebowitz said. Travelers can call Special Needs’ staff directly, book online or work through a travel agent to order the equipment needed. Rental prices vary based on the equipment, rental duration and the port of delivery and pick-up.

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