Ports in Southern Caribbean for shopping

Can anyone tell me how the close or far shopping would be for any of the following ports from where the ship docks. I will be bringing both a powerchair, and a manual chair.

St. Thomas, USVI

Dominica

Barbados

St. Lucia, WI

St. Kitts, WI

St. Maarten, NA

San Juan, PR

I will be on the Carnival Victory in October and since none of the ports are tendered, I would like to get off the ship and look around. This trip was a last minute thing and I really did not budget for too many excursions.. just happy to get away for a while. I thought if there was shopping or markets closeby or within "rolling" distance that would work fine for me to pick up a few souvenirs or whatnot. I know that I can book private tours too, but would rather not if there is something to do closeby the ship. I would rather look at tours in the ports where there is nothing to do near the dock.

Any suggestions are very much appreciated.

St. Thomas has loads of shopping very close to the dock. There is even a butterfly farm that you can walk/roll to. We took our daughter through last year and it was very easy with her wheelchair. I'm having trouble trying to remember St. Maartin. I think they had a ferry that took you to town for shopping. We did a bus tour and the driver carried out daughter on and off the bus. Can't help with the other ports...sorry.

In Dominica there is a market practically right across the street from the dock. The streets are not very good - no sidewalks, potholes, hilly. The market is almost entirely booths with awnings over them. They are somewhat crowded so you may not be able to access all of them. If you are familiar with Nassau's straw market, the area is similar.

Barbados has very little close to the port. There is a small terminal with 8-10 shops. Your best bet is to take a cab into Bridgetown. It should be less than $10 for cab fare each way. It's probably a 1/4 mile walk to where the cab stand is located after you leave the terminal. I'd recommend bringing your manual wheelchair since most of the cabs were cars. They can fold it up and put it in the trunk. Your ship may offer shuttle buses into Bridgetown for a nominal fee but they might not be wheelchair accessable. Bridgetown is fairly congested and doesn't have the best sidewalks. I don't remember very many curb-cuts. Many of the shops will have a step or two to get into them. Bridgetown has cleaned up considerably since the first time I visited in 2000. They actually had raw sewage flowing down the street then and it stank. I didn't think I would ever want to go back after that first visit.

St. Lucia has a small shopping area at the pier - maybe 15 shops. There is a market not too far from the dock that offers local goods. It's also like a straw market - crowded with booths. I think there were curb-cuts for crossing the street to get there but am not positive. If you can take an excursion, St. Lucia would be my recommendation. The area south of Castries with the Pitons is beautiful. It's very green and mountainous.

St. Maarten has some shops (about 20) that are just outside the port security gate. These are all very modern and easy to get into. They also have a wheelchair accessible restroom close by. There are several other shops along Front Street. Normally there is a path that leads from the pier area to the Front Street shops that is at most 1/2 mile. When I was there in January, they had construction around the pier and the path was closed. They were directing passengers across a field. My mom's wheelchair is not designed for off-road use so we weren't able to get there. I don't know if they have the path opened again or not. I saw some posts from August saying that it was still closed. Front Street has many shops and there are sidewalks that mostly have curb-cuts. The problem may be getting into the shops. Most have 1-2 steps up. If the path is closed, a car taxi can take you to Front St. I saw a post that St. Maarten has a wheelchair accessible water taxi now. I asked the OP to provide more information but s/he didn't follow-up on it. I haven't been able to find anything else about it. In January all the water taxis were not wheelchair accessible.

St. Kitts had a few shops also close to the dock, just outside the pier security gates. I would guess no more than 50 yards from ship's debarkation ramp to the security gate. If I am remembering correctly, the area is fairly modern with good sidewalks and ramps into most of the stores. I think there were a couple areas with curb-cuts to get up on the sidewalks.

San Juan (Old Town) has many shops, restaurants, etc. that are close to the pier. My mom and I toured the two forts (San Cristobal & El Morro while we were there. I think it was $10 for both forts. The sidewalk from San Cristobal to El Morro is wide and very nice but uphill! There is a lovely view of the ocean. Within Old Town, the sidewalks are narrow but most of them have curb-cuts. In some places, the sidewalk was only a few inches wider than Mom's wheelchair. Several of the shops have a step up to get inside. There is supposedly a wheelchair-accessible trolley that goes around Old Town. However, the lift was not working when we were there so I can't provide any information.

thank you both... this info is very helpful to me!