French Polynesia

Ok so I have booked Solstice again for Tahiti Treasures Cruise April 2016 and my question is to wheelchair users (my wife is 100% WCHR bound) or others if they have noticed.

If we are able to get off via Tender in Moorea & Bora Bora (I know this depends on the weather & the skipper) what are the road/footpath surfaces like to wheel around. Are they sand,gravel,cement,tar and what if any tours would be available with a WCHR lift.

Any help would be appreciated

Also if anyone has any pics of Cabin 7139 that would be handy.

Ok so I have booked Solstice again for Tahiti Treasures Cruise April 2016 and my question is to wheelchair users (my wife is 100% WCHR bound) or others if they have noticed.

 

If we are able to get off via Tender in Moorea & Bora Bora (I know this depends on the weather & the skipper) what are the road/footpath surfaces like to wheel around. Are they sand,gravel,cement,tar and what if any tours would be available with a WCHR lift.

 

Any help would be appreciated

 

Also if anyone has any pics of Cabin 7139 that would be handy.

Tendering for a wheelchair bound individual does not just depend on the weather & the skipper. It also depends on whether or not the tender has roll-on capabilities.

Though the Solstice Class ships have an accessible route to the tenders, The Solstice Ship may not have tenders with roll-on capabilities. Believe Holland America is the only cruise line that has one roll-on tender per ship with the exception of the Prinsendam. Additionally it states on Celebrity's website : While our staff will provide assistance, they are not permitted to lift guests and this may preclude tendering for some of our guests.

If the Ports do not provide tenders with roll-on capabilities ( as is sometimes provided at various ports) tendering for a wheelchair bound individual may not be allowed. Suggest you speak directly with Celebrity's Special Needs Dept. as they may have more insight into this matter.

With this said I do hope that your wife will be able to get off the ship in the tendered ports.

I was on Solstice in Bora Bora and Moorea last spring and tendered ashore on Bora Bora. I have posted on this forum before but the gist is that the seas were so calm it was no problem. I was using a four wheel rollator so was very aware of conditions. The roads at the tender port were largely gravel, with just a track of paving. The tours were in the backs of trucks with bench seating, not an option for me, so I walked around the few streets and looked in some shops, several of which had street level entrances. Then I returned to the ship.

As to Moorea, my husband went snorkeling there also and said the roads there were paved more extensively and he walked along them to the snorkeling beach.

It is so gorgeous there that I was happy with the views and pictures from the balcony.

Have a wonderful trip!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Ok so I have booked Solstice again for Tahiti Treasures Cruise April 2016 and my question is to wheelchair users (my wife is 100% WCHR bound) or others if they have noticed.

 

If we are able to get off via Tender in Moorea & Bora Bora (I know this depends on the weather & the skipper) what are the road/footpath surfaces like to wheel around. Are they sand,gravel,cement,tar and what if any tours would be available with a WCHR lift.

 

Any help would be appreciated

 

Also if anyone has any pics of Cabin 7139 that would be handy.

I just cruised this area on another line. Moorea is pretty much inaccessible. The port is a small dock area with a few vendors in grass/gravel. There really isn't anything within walking distance and even if there was, there aren't sidewalks, just road shoulder with loose gravel/dirt.

Bora Bora isn't much different.

We had poor experiences with private tour operators telling us one thing and the experience being very different, or them trying to book us into a different tour at the last minute, so beware. I wouldn't trust the word of any of them. (We are able bodied.)

Papaetee is an urbanized area and there are sidewalks with some curb cuts, although parking isn't well enforced and we often saw cars blocking the curb cut access.