Mediterranean Wheel Chair Excursions

Hi

My Husband is a paraplegic, we are sailing on the Breeze on July 9th, stoping in France, Rome, Venice, and Naples. Can anyone recommend a reliable tour operator who knowhow to address disabled issues?

Thank you :)

I am sorry that no one has replied to your question.

You may have more luck posting this question on Tripadvisor's cruise forum.

Good luck

Can your DH transfer to a standard car? If yes, I can make some suggestions for sighseeing tours. Does he use an electric or manual chair? It is easier to arrange transport with a collapsible manual chair. I have had good luck doing a google search for accessible "city name". Doing that for Venice I found a route that allowed me to see many sights (from the outside) without needing to go over steps. Europe is a challenge and I know I had it easier since I can still walk just a bit. I try to avoid the ship's tours as I have found them inaccessible as they use large buses. Although they may have less walking it is not helpful if you have to climb steps up into a bus.

For Marseilles, we found a lovely lady to transport us. We made contact with a Mrs. Mattei. She has a medical van that will accommodate a couple wheelchairs or scooters and other passengers. Mrs. Mattei does not speak or write English.

I wrote my request in English and then used Babel Fish and Google to translate into French. Then I would translate it back into English to determine which translation was the closest to what I originally wrote. I also used both to translate whatever she sent to me. NOTE: Her responses were always at the end of my email instead of the beginning where we normally expect to find them.

For our first trip, in the morning she picked us up at the Cruise Terminal and dropped off at Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde. Then in the afternoon she picked us up at the Tourist Information Booth at Vieux Port and transported back to the Cruise Terminal. We toured the town on our own. She showed us the exact pick-up spot on our way to the cathedral.

Depending on your capabilities and nerves, I might not recommend coming down the hill from Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde. We both use mobility scooters and will ride in the streets with caution. I believe Mrs. Mattei would wait if you wanted to tour the cathedral and ride back down the hill with her. Oh, there is an elevator that goes up in the cathedral.

Mrs. Mattei's email address is: allauchhanditaxi@free.fr

This trip was in October 2010 and we were sailing on the Concordia.

Hope this helps.

Betty