Freedom-ask away!

Just off the Carnival freedom 6-day Eastern Carib. putting my notes together for a possible H/C review. Traveled with a manual W/C and a scooter and O2. Ages 4-68. did not have an H/C cabin. Ports were, Key West, Grand cayman, and Ocho Rios. Happy to answer any questions.

Do you recommend any excursions that are scooter friendly in Grand Cayman or Ocho Rios?

Do you recommend any excursions that are scooter friendly in Grand Cayman or Ocho Rios?

In Grand Cayman, we did the Turtle farm, historic tour, hell tour. We were not able to tender the scooter but borrowed a w/c easily from guest services. I recommend you do this right after Key west as they seemed to be in demand. Seas were rough and it was raining so we were at the alternate port. The tour was fully accessible at the turtle farm, hell, rum factory(crowded here) but spent a lot of time on the bus. our 2 w/c's were put on the bus in the aisle but no one seemed to mind. we did not know there were buses to the port shopping and it was still rainy so we went back to ship after tour. In Ocho rios we did not do a tour. we were told the beach right at the pier (sharp left after gates) was accessible but the sand made it almost impossible. we did find a shady spot and rented a couple chairs and let the kids play in the water for a while. wear water shoes and watch for tiny jelly fish here. We then walked about 2 blocks to Margaritaville and had a decent, if slow lunch. If you want to just pick up a cab at port, there are government people who were willing to help us find a cab that could handle the w/c and scooter, but then you have to negotiate the price. we disembarked late so decided to just spend some time walking/shopping and actually enjoyed it. According to the excursion desk onboard, very few tours are truely accessible. We were a group of 10 so the more expensive tours were also not good for us. hope this helps!

We're going on the Freedom in January, but different itinerary. I use a rollator and was wondering how steep the gangway is getting on and off the ship in Port Everglades before and after the cruise. Was it difficult for you to navigate with a manual W/C ?

Thanks in advance for your help.

We're going on the Freedom in January, but different itinerary. I use a rollator and was wondering how steep the gangway is getting on and off the ship in Port Everglades before and after the cruise. Was it difficult for you to navigate with a manual W/C ?

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

Actually you will be glad you asked! the ramp was VERY steep both times. I had my nephew help push my Son up the ramp but he then had to go back and help push my mothers scooter up the ramp. disembarking acutally scared us a little as we both had to anchor the chair and ease down the ramp. I suggest you ask for assistance the moment you arrive outside the terminal. we were escorted to a private check in area, but it was a VERY long walk. you need to ask for a wheelchair. there was a small amount of waiting along the way (security, document checks) and the trip to check in took about 15 min. as you disembark there will be porters waiting with wheelchairs as each group is called. They will escort you all the way to the curb. the wait for passport checks was about 20 min of standing in line. Have a great trip and let me know if you have any other questions!

KRISNME, I have another question for you. At what point did you find out where your muster place was? Did you have to go to the assigned station and then be sent to the special needs place? Or did they give you that information at some point when you were boarding?

KRISNME, I have another question for you. At what point did you find out where your muster place was? Did you have to go to the assigned station and then be sent to the special needs place? Or did they give you that information at some point when you were boarding?

When the announcement was made that gave instructions to start heading for the muster stations, we were unsure what to do, when we arrived at the deck (don't remember what #) many crew members started directing us to the library which is on the same deck.