Liberty of the Seas - 7 night Western Med - Just returned home

[Kelv_2013]

We have just returned home from our first ever RCI cruise and only our third cruise altogether. In brief, we had a fantastic time aboard the Liberty of the Seas and at the French and Italian ports of call. As a wheelchair user myself we had plenty of questions ahead of our cruise and if anybody here has any, I would be happy to help out if I can.

 

To all those of you are counting down to your own cruise, my wife and I are incredibly jealous and if friends or loved ones drop out at the last minute we can be ready to step in at very short notice. :) Enjoy!!

[katrina915]

Kelv,

How was Vatican museum, St. Peters and Colliseum (if you ended up going)? I believe you were going to have guide for Vatican. Thanks.

[Kelv_2013]

Kelv,

How was Vatican museum, St. Peters and Colliseum (if you ended up going)? I believe you were going to have guide for Vatican. Thanks.

Hi Katrina,

 

I hadn't forgotten about you. I posted some brief messages this morning and was planning on sitting down and going back through my earlier ones and following up on them a little later.

 

We had a fantastic time and if, in November you find that there is some spare room in your suitcase, remember I asked first. Serenade of the Seas, yes?

 

In Rome, we did go to all three and we all four agree that it was the best day of all. RomeinLimo were superb and Rome and its cobblestones wasn't nearly as difficult to negotiate as we feared. I'm mindful though that I self propel whereas I imagine you'll be pushing your Dad in his wheellchair. We definitely did the right thing arranging a private tour and adding in the Vatican tour guide too. The driver was superb and knew where to take us for the best views, best access etc.

 

We made our own way around the Coliseum. I went with a ticket for our 18 yo daughter, having had email confirmation that none was needed for my wife, me or our 15 yo son. We were bounced back and forth a little at first but the Ticket Desk then gave us the four tickets we needed to get past the gate attendant and we bypassed the queues. I only paid for our daughter. The Coliseum was the place I was looking forward to seeing most of all and it didn't disappoint. You will have to route in and out a little to negotiate the wheelchair accessible paths, but its perfectly manageable and there is a lift for wheelchair users only which took us so far up. We didn't figure out how to get to the higher level where people were taking photos from up above but we were conscious of the limited time we had there and you may have more luck. In hindsight a tour guide there too may have helped but that said none of us feels as though we missed out. We were blown away by the place.

 

Our RIL guide gave us a 2 hour tour of the Vatican Museums, St Peters and she (the tour) was worth every cent. Apart from being an absolutely wonderful person, very friendly, knowledgeable, she (Paola) knew all the short cuts and we were able to use entrances and exits which weren't available to the fully mobile. I can just about speak a few words in Italian (translate dove il baigno and you may smile like Paolo did) but not nearly enough to get around by ourselves. She took all the pressure off us and it meant we were able to focus on having a good time and not worrying about how to get from A to B and back. I was right in buying tickets for our son and daughter, as my wife and I didn't have to pay. The only mistake I made was in leaving proof of my ID on the ship. so when asked at the ticket office I couldn't produce it. The guide stepped in and they accepted hers. I suggest you take something with you.

 

I know you are going to have a fantastic time there Katrina, we did. Feel free to ask me anything. We sailed on the Liberty of the Seas, not the Serenade but there may be some things I could help with if you have any concerns or questions.

[katrina915]

Kelv,

Yes we are going on Serenade, but have been on Radiance size ship before so don't anticipate any surprises there.

 

We have private tour in Rome and vatican guide and it sounds from your trip that is definitely the way to go. I am only going to take Dad out of the car for Colliseum and Vatican, so I am not too worried about cobblestones.

 

When at St. Peter's did you wait in same security line as everyone else or not? We are going in Nov but on day of papal audience so crowds will probably be somewhat large.

 

I got an email from Vatican museum saying that my and Dad's ticket would be free and that we would be ushered in and get tixs at "special permits" desk . Is this what you did? I also keep hearing about disabled route in Vatican museum is "going against the crowd". Did this happen and how bad was it?

 

Thanks for all the info. Glad to hear you had a great time.

[Kelv_2013]

At St Peters, Katrina, the guide took us through a side entrance and we bypassed all the queues. At the Vatican, yes, she took us to the Special Permits desk and that's where I was asked for my ID to match with the email. I had left it on the ship but the tour guide took care of it and there was no delay at all. You should be given a free ticket for your Dad and one for yourself. As for going against the crowd, no I didn't get that impression at all. We had stairlifts and shortcuts if I remember to make things easier but at no point did it appear as though we were going in the opposite direction to everyone else. It was all very smooth.

[katrina915]

Thanks, Kelv.

 

I see in another post that you took private tour from Cannes. We are not planning anything so we can rest from long flight a few days earlier. Were there any issues on using the tender with the wheelchair in Cannes?

[Kelv_2013]

Not Cannes,Katrina (Im on iPod right now and not sure what post that was) That would have been at Villefranche (Nice). There was no problem in getting on and off the tender whatsoever. It was pretty level, no rocking or movements between two. I'm fortunate in being able to self propel but for safety reasons the guys there insisted on helping. At Toulon (Provence) we took the small boat service from the pier into town and that too was fine, no problems whatsover.

[katrina915]

I think I was wrong on the port.

 

Thanks for the info on the id for Vatican. I have email stating US handicap driving placard is okay for free entry, but there's no picture on it so I will make a note to bring his license since I believe the placard has the license number on it.

 

Thanks again.