Shore Excursions for Wheelchairs

[serene56]

You are observant -- but info will be there for the next inquiring person! :)

 

 

I am inquiring for Apr 2016 and have no clue how cruises work with a person in a wheel chair. St Marten, St Thomas and Coco Cay

[xxoocruiser]

I am inquiring for Apr 2016 and have no clue how cruises work with a person in a wheel chair. St Marten, St Thomas and Coco Cay

 

Hope this information helps you.

 

St. Maarten - refer to this link http://www.accessiblecaribbeanvacations.com/st-maarten-disabled-access

 

St. Thomas - refer to this link http://www.accessiblecaribbeanvacations.com/st-thomas-usvi-disabled-access

 

Coco Cay - this will be a tendered port. Luckily the tender used is permanently docked at Coco Cay and does have roll-on capabilities will not be one of the ships tenders as normally used for this purpose. However it's still dependent on the Captain's decision if wheelchair and mobility scooters will be allowed onto the tender the day you're in port as water/weather conditions may pose a safety risk. Once you exit the tender onto Coco Cay there will be limited number Beach wheelchairs available for free and are offered only on a first served first come basis.

 

Please advise if you have any other specific questions regarding your April 2016 cruise. Hopefully you were able to book an accessible cabin.

Edited August 14, 2015 by xxoocruiser

[serene56]

. Hopefully you were able to book an accessible cabin.

 

 

only 2 inside cabins were available. Friends are traveling. He has no legs. he uses a regular wheel chair and needs that type of cabin- hard to believe only 2 is available at this early of date

[xxoocruiser]

only 2 inside cabins were available. Friends are traveling. He has no legs. he uses a regular wheel chair and needs that type of cabin- hard to believe only 2 is available at this early of date

 

Not surprising at all. In fact your friend is actually lucky to have been able to book an accessible cabin. Reason being there a so few accessible cabins vs. the total of standard cabins. As a result those of us that need accessible cabins tend to book minimum of 1 year out. If it's a popular itinerary and or if it's a smaller ship with even less accessible cabins many who need an accessible cabin will book the minute the Cruise opens for bookings or at least 1 1/2 years out.

[iuki]

I just came back from a 4 day trip on Majesty of the Seas. The tender to the private island was completely accessible and the island has beach wheel chairs.

 

I keep seeing posts stating categorically that no tenders are accessible. While this might be true in bad weather, I have to say that I have never had a problem with my scooter, and I have been on several different cruise lines and many different ships. Some tenders were more difficult than others and I understand that we all have different abilities, but to say that if a port is tendered it won't work at all is not accurate and unfair to the poster.

 

Just my humble opinion.

 

Kate

 

You are correct. I was preparing for the fact that I would not get a chance to see Grand Cayman. However, RCCL did allow me to board on the tender. I was also allowed to tender to Coco Cay.

[serene56]

Not surprising at all. In fact your friend is actually lucky to have been able to book an accessible cabin. Reason being there a so few accessible cabins vs. the total of standard cabins. As a result those of us that need accessible cabins tend to book minimum of 1 year out. If it's a popular itinerary and or if it's a smaller ship with even less accessible cabins many who need an accessible cabin will book the minute the Cruise opens for bookings or at least 1 1/2 years out.

 

what really surprised me is that EVERYtime we had to fill out a form with wheel chair dimensions. When i sailed with my mom, or a friend of my honeys. EVERY time.

 

but I can say that we bumped an able bodied person on the Liberty one year-- and my honeys friend was able to sail. The person never even checked his documents because all this bags came to our room. He was booked into an inside obstructed view on empress deck but got put down to the main deck-- so he got an upgrade but lower on the ship

This was done about 6 months before time

Edited August 15, 2015 by serene56

[Denise&Paul STL]

Another note about Coco Cay.

 

I try to take my motorized scooter and manual wheelchair both. I can walk a few steps and can take all tenders, which is where the manual comes in handy. Also, in those countries where we need to cab, we can dump the chair in the trunk and go. Much handier if possible for you.

 

Coco Cay. It is mostly sandy and as I recall, not a solid path anywhere near where the tender docks. Several of us have requested they fix that, and hopefully one day they will, but in the meantime, it is not wheelchair friendly. If you can manage to get your manual wheelchair around, there are some paths that go off in a couple directions you can take, but I have not done those and don't know how far you can get.