Disabled in Caribbean

Hello All,

DW and I are taking a couple (good friends) on their 1st ever cruise in December. We will be booking very soon and could use some advice. The couple is in their early 70's and the man is in a wheelchair. He is a vet, has some limited use of his legs but is very active, an outdoors guy (hunting & fishing) and can do nearly anything that able-bodied folks can do. His wife is a little spitfire and we will have a good time wherever we go.

Due to work & kids; we can only go just before or after Christmas - for up to 7 days. What ship/itinerary/excursions would you recommend? We live near Orlando.

Thanks in advance.

Hello All,

 

DW and I are taking a couple (good friends) on their 1st ever cruise in December. We will be booking very soon and could use some advice. The couple is in their early 70's and the man is in a wheelchair. He is a vet, has some limited use of his legs but is very active, an outdoors guy (hunting & fishing) and can do nearly anything that able-bodied folks can do. His wife is a little spitfire and we will have a good time wherever we go.

 

Due to work & kids; we can only go just before or after Christmas - for up to 7 days. What ship/itinerary/excursions would you recommend? We live near Orlando.

 

Thanks in advance.

I use a wheelchair full time and have done both eastern and western Caribbean itineraries. Others may disagree but I found the eastern Caribbean (St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Jamaica, Nassau) to be slightly more accessible than the western. Be sure to book soon, as handicapped cabins book up QUICKLY and you may have trouble getting a cabin at this late date. I have been on Carnival and RCCL and prefer Royal Caribbean because I find their ships to be much more wheelchair friendly. I'd look at any of the ships in the Radiance/Voyager/Freedom/Oasis families, as in my experience the newer the ship the better it is for a wheelchair. Have fun and make a decision as soon as possible otherwise your friends may have only a non-accessible room which may or may not work for them.

You are pretty late to be finding an accessible cabin...generally they book up very early and we find we have to book at least 6-12 months in advance. If he cannot walk around the cabin, and get up the step into the non-accessible bathroom, it will be a problem booking him a regular cabin, and could be unsafe.

Thanks everyone. We were able to book a handicapped cabin on the Westerdam - Southern Caribbean itinerary and our friends are very excited. Having only cruised with Carnival and RCI; this will be our first cruise w/Holland America and we're looking forward to it as well. Tips would be appreciated.;)

Thanks everyone. We were able to book a handicapped cabin on the Westerdam - Southern Caribbean itinerary and our friends are very excited. Having only cruised with Carnival and RCI; this will be our first cruise w/Holland America and we're looking forward to it as well. Tips would be appreciated.;)

Glad you were able to get a HC cabin.

HAL is a good choice. As I told you on the Carnival Forum, HAL has tenders that are adapted for wheelchair access. If your friend uses an electric wheelchair, it's unlikely that the tour buses will be able to accomodate the wheelchair. The buses generally do not have lifts. Suggest you post your intinerary so you can get some assistance with tour planning. You might have to book some private tours.

Glad you were able to get a HC cabin.

HAL is a good choice. As I told you on the Carnival Forum, HAL has tenders that are adapted for wheelchair access. If your friend uses an electric wheelchair, it's unlikely that the tour buses will be able to accomodate the wheelchair. The buses generally do not have lifts. Suggest you post your intinerary so you can get some assistance with tour planning. You might have to book some private tours.

Good idea (Once again;))

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

Oranjestad, Aruba

Willemstad (Curacao) Antilles

Thanks everyone. We were able to book a handicapped cabin on the Westerdam - Southern Caribbean itinerary and our friends are very excited. Having only cruised with Carnival and RCI; this will be our first cruise w/Holland America and we're looking forward to it as well. Tips would be appreciated.;)

I think you will find the service on Holland America amazing! That is what keeps us returning to them. I use a wheelchair due to a spinal cord injury and the crew goes out of their way to make sure I am taken care of. After three Holland cruises we tried Royal Caribbean in April of this year and it was nice, but my wife and I both felt like something was missing. We came to the conclusion that it was simply the service the Holland crews provide.

We are booked for our fourth Holland cruise in November and can't wait! Holland has a reputation of having an older crowd, but we are in our late thirties and feel Holland is a perfect fit for us. I guess we are just old souls! You can see photos from our cruises at the link below. What ship are you sailing on?

http://www.pbase.com/510picker/cruise_gallery

I think you will find the service on Holland America amazing! That is what keeps us returning to them. I use a wheelchair due to a spinal cord injury and the crew goes out of their way to make sure I am taken care of. After three Holland cruises we tried Royal Caribbean in April of this year and it was nice, but my wife and I both felt like something was missing. We came to the conclusion that it was simply the service the Holland crews provide.

 

We are booked for our fourth Holland cruise in November and can't wait! Holland has a reputation of having an older crowd, but we are in our late thirties and feel Holland is a perfect fit for us. I guess we are just old souls! You can see photos from our cruises at the link below. What ship are you sailing on?

 

http://www.pbase.com/510picker/cruise_gallery

Thank you for replying. We're sailing on the Westerdam in December. We've sailed several times with RCI, a few with CCL and are looking forward to this trip. We're a couple of years older than you and have heard of the 'older' reputation; however we have a good feeling about this cruise. Please offer any advice about the Westerdam and the itinerary.

Thanks again.

Mike

Fishracer - Don't worry about the age thing. Though I'm probably older than you, I started cruising with HAL in my 20's. Always had an outstanding time. Never let age get in the way of a having a good time. Some of the older crowd were actaully more activie than me. HAL's service is outstanding.

The Westerdam is a beautiful ship. I was on her fourth sailing a few years back. In fact I was MS. Westerdam. HAL selects a passenger at random to be MS or MR Westerdam for that cruise The indentity of this person is not disclosed. In order to get people to meet each other through the cruise you go up and ask if they are MS or MR Westerdam. MS or MR Westerdam has to indentify themselves to the first person to ask. The first person to find MS or MR Westerdam gets some prizes ... all ship logo sourvenuirs ... a photo frame, mug etc. I was found while standing in line for the Captain's cocktail party. The person that found me talked how she was asking everyone on the ship for days and she had just finaly given up asking. Than Twenty minutes into the conversation she finally said : "What the heck are you MS Westerdam I know you're not ?" She almost fainted when I told her yes .

Good idea (Once again;))

 

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

Oranjestad, Aruba

Willemstad (Curacao) Antilles

Half Moon Cay is HAL's private beach. This is a tendered stop. But as previously stated HAL's tenders will accomodate a wheelchair. Once at the beach HAL also has some Beach Wheelchair chairs. LArge wheels to make pushing in the sand easier. Not certain how you go about reserving one for your friend. YOu should check with the shore excursions desk once on board ship.

Hope others can give you insight to the other ports . It's been years since I've been in those ports. The important thing to remember is that ADA Law does not apply outside the USA. Therefore you'll find very few curb cut-outs making using a wheelchair difficult. I beleive all other ports will be docked at the pier making getting a wheelchair off the ship a little easier as long as it's not a steep incline.

Thank you again for your thoughtful insight. You're right about the age-thing as our friends are more than 20 years older than us and we have a great time. DW and I are very much looking forward to this cruise and I'm sure we'll have a great time. The MS Westerdam sounds like it was a lot of fun and is a clever idea. It will be interesting to see if they still do the same now.

I've been able to get a little info about Aruba & HMC - but nothing about Curacao. Will keep looking though.

Also; we ended up with a SZ category/stateroom which I believe is a suite; and will be another 1st for us. I'm still not exactly sure how the 'guarantee' procedure works as we've always just booked a cabin with the other cruiselines, but I'm sure it will all work out fine.

Mike

Thank you again for your thoughtful insight. You're right about the age-thing as our friends are more than 20 years older than us and we have a great time. DW and I are very much looking forward to this cruise and I'm sure we'll have a great time. The MS Westerdam sounds like it was a lot of fun and is a clever idea. It will be interesting to see if they still do the same now.

 

I've been able to get a little info about Aruba & HMC - but nothing about Curacao. Will keep looking though.

 

Also; we ended up with a SZ category/stateroom which I believe is a suite; and will be another 1st for us. I'm still not exactly sure how the 'guarantee' procedure works as we've always just booked a cabin with the other cruiselines, but I'm sure it will all work out fine.

 

Mike

Do you know how to search the forums threads ? Suggest you do a serach for each port, specifically on the Disabled Forum, for any past tips posted.

RE: Gauranteed cabins. The way if works you book the class of cabin that you would have no problem if you actually get it. In many cases , particularly on HAL, you might even be upgraded. It's not a given but it seems that gauranteed bookings often get the most free upgrades. What catagory did you book for your gaurantee because it definitely sounds as though you were upgraded ?

SZ is a Superior Veranda Suite ( Link to photo and floor plan http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise-vacation-onboard/Westerdam;jsessionid=529B3B320B296DF8563CC4CB274F470D#superior )

2 lower beds convertible to 1 queen-size bed, bathroom with dual sink vanity, full-size whirlpool bath, shower and additional shower stall, large sitting area, private verandah, 1 sofa bed for 1 person, floor-to-ceiling windows. Approximately 389 sq. ft. with verandah

Include all the stateroom amenities, plus:

• A variety of firm, medium and soft pillows
  
• No-host mini-bar for easy entertaining
  
• Personalized cruise stationery
  
• Oversized bath towels
  

• One-touch telephone concierge service
  
• Fresh flowers
  
• Complimentary DVD library
  

Fishracer

Assisted you and did a search for each port on the disabled forum. Did not read through it ,only posting the links for you to do as you please.

Aruba http://boards.cruisecritic.com/search.php?searchid=17922530

Curacao http://boards.cruisecritic.com/search.php?searchid=17922561

Bahamas http://boards.cruisecritic.com/search.php?searchid=17922578

Antilles - http://boards.cruisecritic.com/search.php?searchid=17922591

Fishracer

 

Assisted you and did a search for each port on the disabled forum. Did not read through it ,only posting the links for you to do as you please.

 

Aruba http://boards.cruisecritic.com/search.php?searchid=17922530

 

Curacao http://boards.cruisecritic.com/search.php?searchid=17922561

 

Bahamas http://boards.cruisecritic.com/search.php?searchid=17922578

 

Antilles - http://boards.cruisecritic.com/search.php?searchid=17922591

Thanks again xxoo:

The links that you provided would not work for me; however I did spend a little time looking at the 'ports of calls" for the Caribbean. We are going to get together with our friends, share a common computer, go over the options and decide what tours to take. This is their 1st cruise (and 50th anniversary) so I'm sure they will enjoy whatever we do.

Concerning our cabin: We called HAL & spoke to a woman about our situation - that we'd like to be near our friend's cabin in order to help with the WC, etc. She made a note on each of our accounts that we are traveling together and suggested SR 5001 or 5002 for our friends and for us to do a guarantee SZ. Like you say; she feels that we will probably be upgraded to a suite near our friends due to the fact that we are traveling together. The way the $$ worked out; it was only $100 more to book the guaranteed suite over a verandah (with unobstructed view) so we splurged. However it works out; we're happy about it.