Glory 3/26 Western Caribbean Review from Accessibility Perspective

[DEL67]

We sailed on the Carnival Glory last week. Our cabin, 9202, and my sister and brother-in-law's, 6206, were both designated as outside, obstructed view, handicapped cabins. They are in the front of the ship with limited pivacy because other passengers can access the deck outside the window. Initially, both had inadequate turning space; however, this was alleviated by asking the cabin stewards to remove excess furniture and move the beds against the wall. The bathrooms were equipped with a roll-in shower and roll-under sink.

Most of the ship is very accessible. We were assigned a table in the dining room which did not have sufficient space for the wheelchairs, but that was rapidly corrected. The only other issue was the show lounge. There is really only spaces for 4 wheelchairs which is especially inadequate on the four nights when there was only one show.

The itinerary, was somewhat adaptable to wheelchairs, especially since my husband can transfer into a vehicle.

Key West: We had to take "trolleys" into town since we were docked at a military base. There was some confusion about the accessibility of the trolleys. We were initlally told by the Pursers desk that they were accessible and then, about an hour before we docked, were told they were not and that we would have to reserve accessible transportation in advance. My husband was going to try to get in a trolley; however, as soon as an attendant saw us they called for a minibus with a lift. Once downtown, we just strolled around window shopping.

Belize: Carnival and the men on the tender were very good about lifting my 6" 2" husband in his wheelchair on and off the ship. Once we got ashore, we went to the tour desk and arranged for an Altun Ha, Belize City tour in a van. Altun Ha is reasonably accessible. The paths did have some rocks and roots, but I was able to get my husband's wheelchair over them with the help of the van driver.

Cozumel: Having been there before, my husband decided to stay on the ship. However, the shopping area by the ship was accessible and I was pleased to notice that the sidewalks downtown are in a lot better shape than they used to be.

Progreso: My husband likes archaeology so we wanted to visit one of the Mayan ruins. We chose Dzibilchaltun because it was closer and I was nervous about going to one of the bigger sites on our own given their distance from the port and the amount of time we had. We hired a taxi at the dock who drove us to/from the site, about 30 minutes away. There we hired a guide and spent about two hours touring the site. Ironically, the "modern" paths around the museum were very f=diffiuclt for a wheelchair to traverse since they are made of gravel. The paths around the site itself were marginally accessible due to being very rocky, but my husband was able to see most of the site. I also swam in the Ceynote (sinkhole) which was great after pushing the wheelchair around.

I hope this helps anyone who is thinking of doing the itinerary. Please contact me if you would like more information.

Dale

[clyde3]

Dale, Do you happen to have any pictures of cabin 9202?

[daju22]

[size=3][color=darkred][b]Dale,[/b][/color][/size]

[b][size=3][color=#8b0000]Thank you for your post. Am planning to cruise with a companion chair and your experience is very helpful![/color][/size][/b]