Stingrays and Dolphin Swim

[LuckyBird]

I will be on the Carnival Conquest in Sept. and I have booked both the Dolphins Swim at Dunn's River Falls and the Stingray swim. I was wondering about the accessability of these two excursions for someone who is mobile but uses a scooter for distance. I have CP (cerebral Palsy) and am able to walk without assistance, and climb stairs and ladders with hand rails but was wondering about the other parts of the tours. Would it be possible to take the scooter on the tour bus for the shopping and hiking portions of the Dunn's River falls tour, and the turtle farm in Grand Cayman? Is there somewhere to leave the scooter that is safe while I am in the water? If there is anyone who has taken these tours I would very much appreciate your input. Sorry for the long post.

[ndsumfun]

hello Lucky

I do not know about Grand Cayman but I have been to Dunns River.

There is a small area at the top of the falls that you could probably leave your chair. My only concern is the walk down to the falls. There are SEVERAL steps down to the area that you "start" the climb of the falls. Also, the falls are a big "challenge" very deep steps etc. I don't recall there being a handrail to the steps down the falls.

My dh is confined to a wheelchair & was not able to go down to see the falls at all.

[Queenie2]

At Dunn's river Falls you actually climb up the falls on ledges and rock outcroppings -- it's not like there are stairs going up the falls. There are no railings of any kind and the tour guides do help folks over the really rough or steep parts and lend a hand over the wide places. So I would say that if you need any type of a railing or support then you will not be able to climb the falls. It's pretty slippery too as the water is flowing over the rocks you are trying to climb. In a few places you kind of have to scramble up the rocks.

And IMHO, it's turned into a huge tourist trap. More tour buses than you can imagine in the parking lot and lots of vendors hawking their wares. I just wouldn't recommend it because of that. It's a zoo.

Candy

[LuckyBird]

We really were not planning on climbing the falls, in addition to my problems, there are some other health issues in the group that would keep that from happening. We just wanted to see them and maybe swim at the bottom if there was time. We have booked the Dolphin Swim there also. Does anyone know if the steps down the the bottom have a railing? If not there are 6 other people in the group who could help me, railings are just nice. I just wondered if there was any point in taking the scooter or if there is really no way to use it at this site. Thanks.

[d&a Delaware]

I was on a Celebrity Century cruise which stopped in Ocho Rios and Georgetown Grand Caymans this past April. I use a cane and have a short left leg brace, with endurance and stability issues. In Jamaica, I stayed on board and was happy I did. In Grand Caymans, I went on a 3 stop stingray city and snorkeling excursion, which we arranged independently of the cruise line. We bussed from the excursion office (about 2 blocks from the cruise pier) to a large catamaran for the excursion. No problem managing that part at all. On the catamaran, I found a seat & took off my brace, so I didn't move around on that boat until we were anchored at stingray city. Then I could (using rigging and boat cabin roof for stability) get to the ladder and into the water -- lots of fun, and not too difficult getting back up the ladder using mostly upper body strength. Same thing for one of the snorkeling stops, but I didn't do both of those. All in all, worked out fine except I should have used more sunscreen. No place on the shuttle bus or the catamaran that I saw for a scooter, though one could have been left easilly enough at the excursion office. If you want, I will try to look up the excursion vendor we used. Hope this is helpful.

David