River cruises for the mobility inpaired

Tips for the mobility impaired on AMA waterways or other river cruises. (And yes, I have some mobility limitations) I’ve addressed AMA specifically because that was the line I was on, and their staff tried so hard to meet guest’s needs 1) AMA Waterways does a great job with their gentle versions of excursions. But not all excursions can be made into gentle options, so if something is a must see, verify that there is a gentle option available before booking. If not, you might be able to arrange a private tour through an outside vendor. 2) How much of a problem are stairs? There is a very nice elevator onboard, but because of the ship layout, one still has to do a handful of stairs on each level, at least in the Ama Lucia. Also, the elevator does not go to the sun deck. Because of docking constraints, we had to climb the stairs to the sun deck to cross over the other boats to start several of our excursions. If this will be a problem for you, talk to the ship staff, they might be able to get you a special dispensation to go through the lobbies of the other ships to avoid the stairs. 3) if you can do the regular excursions as long as there are handrails on the stairs, speak up even though it might be embarrassing and ask if there’s an alternative option if you’re confronted with stairs sans handrails. Europe has a surprising amount of stairs without handrails. Fortunately, most have a wall on one side that one can use for support. 4) while I have heard that ama has hosted wheelchair users on their ships, I suspect it’s partially mobile wheelchair users who can do a few steps without the chair. ( I have been corrected on this. On at least some ama cruises, full-time wheelchair users have been accommodated and helped to get on and off the ship for gentle walk tours. If you are a wheelchair users, please ask lots of questions before booking as some routes/ships may be better suited for your needs than others.) On the beautiful ama Lucia, the hallways are very narrow, and the entry to the bathroom would be difficult to navigate in a chair. However, the new larger ship, Ama magna, might be more accommodating because of its larger size.. And the largest suites on the Ama Lucia might be more conducive to wheelchair users. I was in a bb unit. 5) if you have difficulty standing, particularly on hard surfaces, you may want to borrow a walker with seat for some tours. One example is the chocolate making tour on the tulip time cruise. It was one of my favorite tours, but a couple of the guests were struggling with standing so long on concrete. The chocolateier had a couple of stools so we were able to accommodate them, but it’s something to be aware of. I hope this helps. My best advice: ask lots of specific questions. Most people without mobility issues aren’t aware of potential pitfalls. You know what you need, so ask the questions to find out if there will be a problem. Ama is great about helping guests meet their needs, but they have to know what you need. Happy travels.