First Time Cruising While Disabled in Italy, France and Spain.

I have a few questions. I use a wheelchair, and crutches. Cruising to Italy, France and Spain on NCL Epic coming August 29th. I am concerned about how accessible some of these ports are, mainly Pompei and Amalfi Coast. I can walk up and down stairs using 1 crutch, but not too many.

How is Florence/Pisa for handicapped?

Barcelona?

Cannes/Monte Carlo?

I'm not disabled, but I think Pompeii would be very rough. Big cobblestones, narrow sidewalks, no curb cuts...

Florence would be easier, but it's still a lot of walking...

EM

Never been on a NCL cruise but I have cruised on RCI with my wheelchair confined son. We always email RCL shore excursions and ask for a brochure for wheelchair excursions. We have done a wheelchair friendly excursion to Pisa, booked through RCI. For Pompei we left my wheelchair confined son onboard the ship as RCI told told use Pompei was not suitable for wheelchairs.

Not sure how much this will help you but I assume NCL must have a department that deals with wheelchair passengers and their requirements.

I have a few questions. I use a wheelchair, and crutches. Cruising to Italy, France and Spain on NCL Epic coming August 29th. I am concerned about how accessible some of these ports are, mainly Pompei and Amalfi Coast. I can walk up and down stairs using 1 crutch, but not too many.

 

How is Florence/Pisa for handicapped?

 

Barcelona?

 

Cannes/Monte Carlo?

Contact NCL's Special Needs department.

They'll help you however they can, at the least with information, but probably boarding assistance/etc., also.

GC

I’m not familiar with these ports - but depending on your situation, it might be worth looking at a “Freewheel” device, or something similar - they clip on the front of your chair (directly if you’ve a rigid frame chair with fixed foot plate, via an adaptor bar if you’ve got a folding chair), and lift your front castors off the ground so they don’t bog or catch on rough or soft ground...instead you’ve got a pneumatic tyre on a wheel that’s maybe 8” diameter.

I say “depending on your situation” as they’re fairly expensive, and unless you can hire one, probably not worthwhile unless you use your chair most/all of the time and are a fairly active chair user - but if you’d likely get enough use out of it at home and future travel, they’re brilliant. I’ve got around a fair chunk of the South Pacific, NZ, Australia and the UK with mine (including rough cobbles similar to those in the pics EM posted).

You might want to independently research options. There are companies who specialize in accessible tours. I follow a young man on FaceBook who uses a wheelchair and travels all over the world. He’s even been to Macchu Pichu on a wheelchair tour.

You can Google him to find his web site. I think it’s called Travels with Cory.

Italy is not the most disabled friendly country in Europe, but it can be done. In Pompeii they are putting in a ramp to make it more accessible. You could send an email and ask if it is completed.

Barcelona is very easy for disabled visitors. Very easy to get around on public transport or HOHO.

Remember that in most museums/attractions you will get free entrance for your companion.

You need to do research of the actual places you wish to visit. The websites all have details on accessibility. You could also look on SageTraveling.

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I have a few questions. I use a wheelchair, and crutches. Cruising to Italy, France and Spain on NCL Epic coming August 29th. I am concerned about how accessible some of these ports are, mainly Pompei and Amalfi Coast. I can walk up and down stairs using 1 crutch, but not too many.

 

How is Florence/Pisa for handicapped?

 

Barcelona?

 

Cannes/Monte Carlo?

Check out Sage Travel. They specialize in disabled travel and we are using them for our shore excursions in Spain, France and Italy this October on Holland America Konigsdam. The owner is actually full time in a wheelchair so they have great info regarding accessibility. They have city guides for the cities you reference. FYI, Herculaneum is more accessible than Pompeii. I found that out from Sage. Barcelona is supposed to be one of the best for accessibility.

We took a private tour to Florence and our driver was able to drive us up to most of the places we wanted to see. I think companies need a special license to do this. They were also able to put my husband’s folding mobility scooter in the back of the van. We were able to see everything without a lot of walking which made it a pleasant day. I can give you the name of the company if you wish. There’s a link to my email in my signature.

As others have said, Barcelona is very accessible. We didn’t try public transportation, opting to take taxis. We haven’t been to Monte Carlo so I can’t comment on that. Enjoy!

Kate

Hi,

Have you tried emailing each of the Tourist Information office of each place you want to visit, explain the disabilities that you have and they can usually provide you with accessible information brochures via PDF.

The ones I have asked for sometimes have maps with the best routes for wheelchair/scooter use.

Hope this helps

Pete

We did Pompei with my mother in a manual wheelchair. Not easy, but with 3 AB people to assist, we made it happen. Most of Pompei my mother was tilted back in her chair in a wheelie, and towed by us (so she saw it backwards!!!). The entrance is up a long ramp with several individual steps we had to bump up. Be sure to leave through the entrance, NOT the marked exit, which had 3 flights of stairs!!!

Pompei is very difficult if you have any mobility issues. Naples has a wonderful archeological museum with great artifacts from Pompei. Also, handicapp accessible.

Florence has some areas with narrow sidewalks & large curved cobblestones. Hubby was using a cane then & it would slip on the stones. Sidewalks were crowded, so hard to maneuver.

Amalfi coast is very hilly, so very hard to go around.

Sorry to be a downer, but best to be prepared.

Are any of your ports tendered? Amalfi normally is and trying to walk on to a tender using crutches while carrying a chair is not easy. And the entire Amalfi Drive is steep streets. Same with Cannes and Monte Carlo. If they are tendered will Norwegian let you tender if you cannot walk on and off yourself?

Definitely contact NCL's special needs dept. ASAP.

https://www.ncl.com/about/accessible-cruising

Barcelona is one of the most wheelchair friendly towns in Europe.

Barcelona is very accessible, with excellent access to pretty much everywhere. The hop-on-hop-off buses have ramps. Many locations also offer discounted access.

Florence is pretty hard to get around. The shuttle from the port drops you off a ways from city center. It can be crowded.