With the MINI 2 on an Adriatic tour

Travel report by Ulrich Süß, brand ambassador.

In autumn last year, I went on vacation with my wife and frineds - to be more precise, we went on an adriatic cruise with the Costa Deliziosa. As I wanted to take my BATEC MINI 2 with me on this journey, I'd like to tell you a bit about our trip in the following. Once the luggage was packed, I transferred my BATEC MINI 2 into my car as usual. This worked out very well as always. The buckle on the battery pack is very useful, as the battery - despite not being the lightest - can be removed quickly and easily. It is also very easy to remove my additional bag. This way I can store the MINI 2 in the trunk of my car in a space-saving way. The folding function was one of the features that were very important for me when choosing the right handbike. Of course, it is safer if you also secure the handbike inside the trunk - we used the remaining luggage/bags - so nothing was moving back or forth.

When we arrived at the drop-off point, the MINI 2 was unloaded just as quickly as it was loaded. Just fold out the handlebar, reinsert the battery and bag via the rail and you're done. As no screws have to be fastened and therefore no tools are required, I was ready to go within a minute. Of course, I had all the necessary documents with me when embarking due to the battery. Although there were fewer checks on the ship than on flights, we were still prepared for all kinds of questions.

We received a lot of help when embarking the ship. Although the gangway was very steep, there were always 2-3 Costa employees ready to assist. There was only one section where we had to be very careful, because the ramp to the ship descends very steeply. Here we had to apply some extra energy to the wheelchair, otherwise we would get stuck. There is a high risk of damaging something here - but fortunately nothing happened to me or my BATEC.

Getting around on the ship itself was a bit tight with my wheelchair and handbike, but I was able to get in or through everywhere. We had a balcony cabin and were able to park our mobility aids either on the huge balcony or even in the room (my wife also had her handbike with her). From previous cruises, I can confirm that cabins on cruises often provide plenty of space - this was also the case on cruises with MSC, for example. The fact that I can select different engine levels on my MINI 2 was a great advantage. As almost the entire ship is carpeted, I was able to set the lowest setting to avoid leaving marks when driving.

When we went ashore, we usually went out on our own. Excursions organized by Costa are unfortunately not bookable for wheelchair users - but that's not really necessary (it's expensive anyway 😉). If the city center is a bit more distant, you simply have to call a cab. We did that too. We just looked for a bigger car and then had enough space in a VW Caddy. Of course, there were different levels of wheelchair accessibility in the cities. In most cases, we got around well and saw a lot. But of course, we didn't visit the city walls of Dubrovnik. 😉

By the way, the MINI 2's battery was completely sufficient for our city tours. I didn't even had to recharge it once a day, as there was still capacity left when we got back on the boat. We are already looking forward to our next vacation!