Alternatives to cruise line excursions

[KLG1985]

Hubby and I are due to sail on Independence of the Seas with Royal Caribbean in May next year. There’s very few wheelchair accessible excursions and past experience tells me they are ridiculously expensive and not that great. Wanting to look into other possibilities but not sure where to start. I use a power chair full time and can’t transfer. Does anyone have a similar experience?

[FOPMan]

Sharing where you are sailing would be helpful in members identifying potential alternatives for you.

[KLG1985]

Oops. How embarrassing! 
 

• Bilbao, Spain
• Lisbon, Portugal
• Gran Canaria, Canary Islands
• Tenerife, Canary Islands
• Madeira (Funchal), Portugal
• La Coruna, Spain

[darstamp]

I have been to several of these destinations and they are wonderful.  I know that excursions have become extremely expensive and they are limited for disabled people like us.  You may never get to these places again so please consider the ones that are being offered especially in the Canary Islands, a fabulous place.  In Madeira there is a wonderful chairlift (you could wheel in) that goes up the mountain but coming down is another story.  We slid down in baskets!  So much fun.  However, I recall that we were offered a choice of coming down in the chairlift as well.  It gives you a fabulous view and I would definitely inquire if it is wheelchair accessible.  If it's not do-able, at least purchase some of the wonderful Madeira wine - so enjoyable. There is a beautiful waterfront park in Lisbon that is dedicated to the Portuguese sailors who sailed into the unknown and discovered so much.  If the cruise line isn't offering it as an excursion, perhaps you could find a private one.  Portugal is famous for Fado, a form of music characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics.  We did a private excursion to a restaurant where they entertained with Fado while we ate dinner - at midnight!! If you like it there may be some options there.  I know you will have a wonderful cruise.

Edited April 11 by darstamp

[GeezerCouple]

We've had excellent experiences with private excursions by using Google for "private tours" (or private tour guides, or similar wording) with or without including the word "disability".

Then we email directly with the guides that show up.

How well they communicate by email (timely, completely, etc.) seems to correlate with good experiences.

 

And we also try to customize so we can spend more time at A and less time at B (or skip C entirely), etc.

 

And we make it very clear what special assistance is needed.  Our situation is different from yours, but we make it very clear.

We also ask if the guide has any additional suggestions, given what we've described in terms of what to see/do and also special help needed or whatever.

Sometimes they have excellent ideas once they understand what seems to interest us.

For us, usually it involves using taxis more often rather than lengthy walking, and they make the route "work" for that given they know in advance.

 

One of the best guides we "stumbled across" this way was in Rome. It turned out he had done his Ph.D. research in the private Vatican libraries.  We had two trips with him, one for the "regular tourist sites" and the other for the Vatican.

[Sorry... that was a long time ago, and when we last tried to reach him, it didn't work.  So we can't refer to him specifically, unfortunately.]

 

See how responsive each prospective guide is to your emails, and that should help with a good experience.

(Note:  We've never paid in advance, but IF we did, it would be using a major charge card AND having an email confirmation that shows the cancellation policies very explicitly.)

 

There were a few times where DH was able to join the guide with something more active, while I waited behind, so he didn't miss out just because I couldn't do that particular <thing>.

In one case, the guide took us by taxi to the "end point" of a cable car, left me near some shops with seating, and then they went back to the starting point.  About an hour(?) later, I saw them in a cable car, as they approached the end of the cable car route near me.  He had a big grin on his face.  That worked well!

 

Just make sure that you are very clear what limitations you have or what special assistance you need, to avoid misunderstandings.

Note:  Going private like this may not save much money (that depends, etc.), but at least the money is likely to be well spent! 🙂 

 

GC

[katisdale]

I also use google. I search with he word "accessible" and the name of the city we are planning to visit whether on a cruise or land tour. I have been quite successful using this type of search. This helps me identify where I want to go. Then, I contact tour operators and explicitly describe my problems and the chair I use. I am fortunate that I can transfer to a standard vehicle/van which does open up alternatives.