LIberty of the Seas WestMed Excursions for Wheelchair user

[Kelv_2013]

Hi, I wonder if anybody has experience of the Liberty of the Seas 7-day Western Med cruise; we are travelling in July this year. I am going with my wife and children (18 and 15) and with me being a wheelchair user we are trying to find out as much information as we can about the excursions and what we may or may not be able to do.

 

We arent ones for organised trips and where possible we try to explore independently but recognise that this isnt always possible. I am trying to establish for example whether the train journey from the port at Civitavecchia to Rome (I believe its St Peters Station) is manegable, whether there is ramped/lift access at both stations.

 

My wife and I have trawled through the Available Shore and Land Excursions for each port and its hard knowing which would work for us. If any one has experience of the Shuttle & Private Train to Rome & Vatican City - CV96, Rome On Your Own - CV05 or Florence On Your Own LV07, i would be very pleased to hear from you.

 

Many thanks,

 

Kelv

[LondonTowner]

I can't help you with info regarding Civitavecchia, but we were in Rome last July to attend a wedding. Due to arthritis my mobility is getting worse so we decided to take a wheelchair to Rome with us.

 

IMHO it is the least disabled European capital. The roads are cobblstones which make it dificlt for a wheelchair as the wheels get stuck in the gaps. Many places have non existent pavements and even when they are there many do not have dropped kerbs. Cars park over them making them impossible to navigate.

 

We found the tram easy to use, but buses a bit more dificult. I can actually walk short distances so we managed and also found the local people very helpful.

 

Many museums offer free entrance to disabled visitors and their carers and we found the people working in the places only too willing to make our visit as easy as possible. All info is available on each places indiidual website.

 

As I had been to Rome many times before we knew what we wanted to see and do. However, it still needed research and planning. There is quite a lot of information on Tripavisor that may help you.

 

We have been on a few cruises and never book the ship excursions as we find them too expensive and not suitable to our needs.

[Kelv_2013]

Thank you very much for your advice here. Everything we have read about Rome says, as you have said that it is not great for wheelchair users, but we know how disappointed we would be if we didnt give it a try. This will be only our seond cruise and we chose this one because of the ports of call.

 

I will take a lok at Trip Advisor, thanks for that but if you have any particular recommendations for Rome, which you think might be suitable, Id be pleased to hear of them.

 

As regards the cost of the RCCL excursions, I agree they do seem expensive, and that is why I was enquiring about access at the train stations.

 

We have always preferred to do our own thing as much as possible. None of us relishes the prospect of spending hours on coaches and being led around by a tour guide, which is why we have been looking at those excursions where they only provide the transport and leave you to your own devices when you get there. My only concern is that if we dont at least arrange the transport through them, not for every port but at least for Rome and Florence, we could be left stranded if we cant make our own way there or back because of the wheelchair.

 

Thanks again.