Question for Queenie 2

Hi Candy,

I've seem to have misplaced my copy of Emerging Horizons that had the info on St Thomas in it. We are sailing on the Zenith 11/21/04 out of Jacksonville and St Thomas is one of our stops. I just found out that we will be docked at Crown Bay. My husband is wheelchair bound and I'm curious what there is at Crown Bay vs Havensight. Also wondering about transportation from Crown Bay to Havensight. Thanks for any info you can supply. I just had my copy a few day ago and now its disappeared. If you want you can email me at cbear153@aol.com.

Carol

Sorry, I've been cruising in Hawaii and I just saw your message today.

Crown Bay is a pretty new facility and the USVI Port Authority is agressively trying to encourage cruise ships to use it. To be honest they are still working on parts of it, but I guess they have ships docking in the finished parts. There is (going to be) a retail complex there, not as big as Havensight, but it will be *right there*. The bad news is that according to my last report it won't be opened until December and they only have it 40% leased right now. I expect that will change if more ships decide to dock there.

Accessible transportation is pretty slim on the island. The folks at Accessible Adventures will pick you up (for a tour) at the ship, but depending on the cruise line you have to book through the shore excursion department (you can't book directly because of exclusivity clauses in some contracts). Their website is http://www.accessvi.com

The only other option (accessible transportation wise) is St. Thomas Dial-A-Ride. They provide accessible transportation in lift-equipped vans. Visitors pay a one time registration fee of $25, which includes a round trip transfer to any St. Thomas property. After that, St. Thomas Dial-A-Ride fares are equivalent to local taxi fares. St. Thomas Dial-A-Ride also offers accessible day tours of the island. Tours must be booked one month in advance (I highly recommend Coral World -- I really loved it), and transportation arrangements must be made at least 24 hours in advance. You can give them a try and see if they are available, but they do have that kind of "caribbean slow paced attitude". Their number is (340)776-1277. Here is a link to a short "in the news" piece on Corla World http://emerginghorizons.com/topical/coralWorld.html

I'd be interested in hearing about the progress of the construction at Crown Bay (if you have time when you get back) as I haven't had a first-hand update in over a month.

Have a great cruise!!

Candy Harrington

Candy,

Thank you so much for the info. I will try to contract the St Thomas dial a ride. If that doesn't work out my husband is able to transfer into a taxi but from what I've read they are far and few between at Crown Bay. I'm hoping to be able to see some of St Thomas as this will be our first time there. I'll give you an update in early Dec. Thanks again.

Carol

Hi Candy,

Sorry it's taken so long to give you an update on Crown Bay, we've been busy since we got back with the holidays. Here goes:

There is no activity that I could see at Crown Bay, just a concrete pier where the ship docked but nothing else (no buildings or construction of buildings). Basically we were off loaded onto the pier where a line of taxi's (none accessible) were waiting. We took a mini van (my husband sat upfront next to the driver and his chair was stowed in the back) into town and reversed this scenario on our return.

We basically wandered around town, did some shopping and then returned to the ship (we were there Thanksgiving day). We had considered going to Magens Bay but not sure if it was accessible. Friends onboard did take a taxi to Magens Bay and told us that we could have went without any problems. We'll be back in the fall so we'll go there then. We were advised by Celebrity and at the Information Booth in town that because of the holiday most stores and taxis would close by 3pm. We enjoyed our day and had no problems getting around (although some of the shops weren't accessible, most were).

On Dominica there is a small straw market with local crafts inside a large industrial building at the pier (again we weren't docked at the downtown pier ). The usual local tour vendors were waiting at the dock along with a group of elementary age children playing steel drums. The children had been bused to the terminal and were playing for tips. They were very good and seemed to be enjoying it. Just outside the pier we again took a van type taxi into town about a 10min ride. We were there on a Sat and that's the day they have a local market which sells only produce (many of which I have never seen before or heard of) which was interesting. The street downtown opposite the main pier had numerous local vendors selling all types of souvenior items. I found the people to be very friendly and helpful and a joy to interact with. There is only 1 hotel downtown and that's where the "ship recommended" shops are located, it's also has armed police located at the entrance to the hotel and shops. We wandered around town for a couple of hours and friends of ours walked to the gardens which are up on a mountain amid the rain forest. My only complaint was that every school age child we encountered was trying to sell cinnamon sticks or handmade bracelets which they claimed the money they received would be spent to buy their schoolbooks (not sure if this is true but it became trying after the fifth time). This island is just starting to build up it's tourism but I hope that they still manage to keep the wonderful look and feel of their beautiful island and not become like most other commericalized islands.

We arrived in Barbados on a Sunday (their law states that no business is to be conducted on Sunday) so with the exception of the shops in the new pier building Barbados was a ghost town. We took a taxi to the Boatyard (which is well known to cruise crew) and had a wonderful beach day. The cost was $12 per person which included a beach umbrella, lounge chair, all non motorized sports and $5 worth of tokens to be used towards drink or food. They had full facilities including showers and my husband was able to use the mens room even though it wasn't truly accessilbe. The women's facilities were upstairs and not accessible. The men's shower's however were accessible. My husband was able to navigate with the help of Boatyard staff onto the beach with very little difficulty. The area has ramps throughout so that you can get to the bar, shop and restaurant. The restaurant had outside seating and you could also get your food to go (which we did and ate it on the beach). The food was wonderful and portions were very large. There was music playing at all times and in the evenings they have a live band with dancing. The staff all wore boatyard crew shirts and were very good about policing the area keeping it clean and being generally friendly and helpful and making sure that when you were away from your lounge that no one touched any of your belongings. There were the usual local vendors selling their crafts but these people were very friendly and if you said no politely wished you a good day and never bothered you again. The day we spent here was one of the highlights of our cruise and we can't wait to visit again.

We were docked at St Maarteen even though we were supposed to be tendered. The area around the dock is very accessible even the restrooms and shops. However the water taxi over to the center of town is not accessible unless you can walk up and down 3 steps. My husband and I took the new walkway from the pier into town. It became a bit touchy at Bobby's Marina where the walkway stops but once we realized that you continue thru the Marina we had no problem. They have recently complete a new "boardwalk" (this is actually a large concrete promenade which extends from the dock in town to Bobby's Marina. Since completion of the boardwalk they now charge to use the beach and for use of lounge chairs, I'm not sure but I think it's somewhere around $10 per person for the day. We found that we enjoyed the area nearest Bobby's Marina and that the prices and congestion got worse the closer we got to downtown. I found the people at the local straw market to be very rude and pushy and made a hasty departure. We enjoyed St Maarteen and will do an island tour this fall when we are there.

This was our 2nd visit to St Kitts and as it was raining upon our arrival we started talking to one of the taxi drivers and ended taking a island tour. I specificly wanted to go to the Caribe Batik Shop. We ended up having almost a 5 hr tour which included the Caribe Batik and Frigate Bay area. Our taxi driver was excellent and we took one of his cards so that if we ever go there again we'll pre-arrange something with him. The total cost for the 2 of us was $40.

This was our first time during a "Southern Caribbean" cruise and since I had had neck surgery 6 wks before our cruise we didn't try to book any type of tours not knowing how I would be. On our next cruise in Oct we will book and island tour of St Maarten and spend the day at Magen's Bay in St Thomas. Although we basically went by the seat of our pants on this cruise we enjoyed every port with a minimal amount of accessible problems and are looking forward to returning to most of these islands again.

Carol

ps My husband asked that I comment on the fact that at every port Celebrity had 1-2 steps at the end of the ramp and no personnel to assist in bumping him up or down these steps. I did the honors of getting him up and down and had a problem in Barbados. The ramp was on a steep angle and when I was pulling him up I ended up sitting down on the ramp with my husband and his wheelchair laying on top of me. After yelling for help the security people came and helped upright us both. I went directly to Customer Relations and related the incident. I received a phone call later that evening from the Head of Guest Relations inquiring if I or my husband were hurt and assuring me that there would be adequate personnel for the rest of the cruise. She also informed me that there were supposed to be 2 personnel to assist passenger on and off the gang plank at all times. We didn't notice any improvement or required personnel for the remainder of our cruise and I continued to help my husband on and off when necessary. We did however receive a bottle of champagne and fruit basket sent to our room for our trouble. We would have preferred to have the personnel and assistance instead. I might add that the Zenith was the only ship that we noticed that consistently used steps at the gang plank while in ports.

Thanks for the comments Carol. That's what I thought about Crown Bay. They may be *thinking* about the future, but right now it's pretty barren.

Glad you had a good time. Sorry to hear about your ordeal falling/assisting your husband. You are lucky you weren't hurt.

Candy

Are most taxi's vans? Is you husband's chair a rigid chair or does it fold?

I really want to take my kids to Coral World after we do the accessible tour of St. Thomas but if Dial a Ride is the only option and you have to call them 24 hours in advance and they charge $25.00 per person plus fair we won't go. However, if they can put my kids chairs in the back of a van, neither chair folds both are rigid then the oldest one can crawl up into a van and I can lift the youngest one in.

The taxis are both regular cars and minivans, also they have open air vans with steps up into them. My husband has a manual chair which folds and fits behind the last passenger seat and he is able to transfer on his own in and out of the front seat of a van. I don't know of any accessible transportation that will accommodate chairs unable to fold. St Thomas is typical of most isalnds in regards to wheelchair lift vans , usually non-exsistent or if available very pricey. It's unfortunate that those people who try to operate wheelchair lift vans have 2 strikes against them. First making the public aware of their service (we all know the cruiselines won't help and even when they have info they ingnore it). Second is the cost to purchase and maintain the vehicles for people who are trying to provide a needed service and still make a living while doing so. ADA was a milestone but even after all these years compliance is nil or non-exsitent. This not only applies to the continental US but to Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands. If these islands disregard ADA you can't expect the Caribbean and Mexico and all the other ports of call to abide by it. I will say however that we have seen a SLOW improvement in some ports and at the same time ports that were previously okay and not so now. Unfortunately it's a hit and miss problem and I can't say enough about doing your homework and researching all avenues as everything seems to change daily. We travel knowing that there are somethings we just can't do and yet are always pleasantly surprised at how much we are able to do and usually have a wonderful time. That's not to say it's all smooth sailing but we try to keep a positive attitude. Good luck and I'm sure your family will enjoy St Thomas regardless of what you end up doing, after all it's wonderful to visit new places.

Carol

When we were in Barbados trying to get a taxi to take us to the boatyard there was a handicapped lift van sitting at the curb. We asked to be taken to the boatyard and he refused to do so as he would only take passengers looking to do a tour of the island and required to fill the van completely. As we were leaving in our minivan taxi he was finally filling his van and not one person was disabled. It's unfortunate that this occured and we were not aware prior to arrival that Barbados had any type of lift van. The Barbados police stood by and watched and nothing was said. In fact it was a police officer who secured us a minivan taxi after the owner of the liftvan refused to take us. Unfortunately this is par for the course.

Carol