QponQueen67 Posted April 18, 2011 #1 Share Posted April 18, 2011 We are traveling with my mom and her husband (they are in their 70's). He is semi-handicapped with osteo-arthritis in his knees. He was wondering how far away (by walking) is the shopping in these ports: St Thomas, St Maarten, Nassau. Also, does the ship (Epic) dock at a pier or do we use a tender? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EileenN Posted April 18, 2011 #2 Share Posted April 18, 2011 I have found the shopping in Haversight Mall in St. Thomas is close and well organized. The port of Nassau is a bit of a walk and an open air market is the closest. St. Marteen has a flea market at the port but the main shopping area is a bit of a trip for anyone with walkingidfficulty. I do it with a rollator that allows me to sit any time I need to and enjoy the trip better. I would recommend that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinterSky Posted April 18, 2011 #3 Share Posted April 18, 2011 I haven't been to St. Thomas or St. Martin yet, but I have been to Nassau twice. The first time, I relied solely on my rollator but that really limited me. I just couldn't do the distance. The second time I had rented a power chair and did much, much better. There is only one way to get to the shops in Nassau and it begins with a very long walk along the pier, maybe 10 minutes for a healthy person. That brings you to a small terminal with a few shops. You exit on the other side of the terminal building, cross a small plaza and enter a street lined with shops. If you go to the right, there is a good wide walking area that ends at a bar/restaurant. Anyone who is using a mobility device will do best on the wide sidewalk. Some areas on the opposite side of the street where the shops are have very poor side walks and we did encounter some sidewalks one block over that were at least 12 or 15 inches above the street level... a bit treacherous considering they are extremely narrow. On the first trip, when I was too exhausted to walk back down the pier to the ship, one of the port attendants gave us a drive in her little trolley. I was ever so grateful! The other thing to watch for if traveling in Nassau with someone who has mobility issues is the excursion mini buses. I am not kidding when I say that the seats are literally 2 or 3 inches off the floor. I found it almost impossible to get back to my feet and will never board such a vehicle again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
che5904 Posted April 18, 2011 #4 Share Posted April 18, 2011 Haven't been to the other two, but St. Thomas does have the Haversight Mall right at the end of the dock. So my guess would be about maybe 1000 ft to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fergusonvt Posted April 18, 2011 #5 Share Posted April 18, 2011 Not sure if the Epic always docks in the same place in St. Thomas but when we were there in Jan. on the Sun we didn't dock near the mall. It would have been quite a walk to get to any shopping from where we docked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
che5904 Posted April 18, 2011 #6 Share Posted April 18, 2011 Not sure if the Epic always docks in the same place in St. Thomas but when we were there in Jan. on the Sun we didn't dock near the mall. It would have been quite a walk to get to any shopping from where we docked. Sorry I didn't realize this since I was there on the dawn and it was easy access. Although I did have a mother with total osteoarthritis and depending on how affected he is that walk would have still been too long for my Mom. 1000 ft to an abled body person is great but not for someone with osteoarthritis in the knees. Which is why I gave what I believed to have been the approx footage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fergusonvt Posted April 18, 2011 #7 Share Posted April 18, 2011 Sorry I didn't realize this since I was there on the dawn and it was easy access. Although I did have a mother with total osteoarthritis and depending on how affected he is that walk would have still been too long for my Mom. 1000 ft to an abled body person is great but not for someone with osteoarthritis in the knees. Which is why I gave what I believed to have been the approx footage. We were supposed to dock closer to the shops but the Carnival Splendor beat us there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billys mom Posted April 18, 2011 #8 Share Posted April 18, 2011 You can reserve a scooter before your cruise and use it whenever. My father always does this as he also has limited mobility of his legs and can't get around without a cane, so using a scooter he can keep up with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
che5904 Posted April 18, 2011 #9 Share Posted April 18, 2011 You can reserve a scooter before your cruise and use it whenever. My father always does this as he also has limited mobility of his legs and can't get around without a cane, so using a scooter he can keep up with us. Ow how wonderful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arwenmark Posted April 18, 2011 #10 Share Posted April 18, 2011 Ow how wonderful. Please be advised the post you read was misleading. You CAN in fact rent a scooter for the duration of your cruise but it will be delivered to your cabin and you are renting it from an outside source, each cruisline only deals with certain vendors so you must find which ones for your line and you must have a HC cabin because the scooters you rent will NOT fit into a regular cabin, [unless you disassemble them] The rental cost for a one week cruise is generally in the neighborhood of $300. or so. Also be aware that you probably cannot take the scooter off the ship if you have any tender ports. This varies with the line and is the Captains call. if you want further and better info you could try the Disability forum here, assuming you haven't yet, [i haven't visited it yet today!] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
che5904 Posted April 18, 2011 #11 Share Posted April 18, 2011 Please be advised the post you read was misleading. You CAN in fact rent a scooter for the duration of your cruise but it will be delivered to your cabin and you are renting it from an outside source, each cruisline only deals with certain vendors so you must find which ones for your line and you must have a HC cabin because the scooters you rent will NOT fit into a regular cabin, [unless you disassemble them] The rental cost for a one week cruise is generally in the neighborhood of $300. or so. Also be aware that you probably cannot take the scooter off the ship if you have any tender ports. This varies with the line and is the Captains call. if you want further and better info you could try the Disability forum here, assuming you haven't yet, [i haven't visited it yet today!] My "ow how wonderful" statement was actually that she said her father had one reserved for his time aboard. I personally don't have a need (at least not at this time) for any such item, if you read my post above it said "I did have a mother that...", my mother has now passed on. However the information you post is I'm sure very informative to the OP and anyone who reads this post and is in need of this service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms belp Posted April 18, 2011 #12 Share Posted April 18, 2011 We are traveling with my mom and her husband (they are in their 70's). He is semi-handicapped with osteo-arthritis in his knees. He was wondering how far away (by walking) is the shopping in these ports: St Thomas, St Maarten, Nassau. Also, does the ship (Epic) dock at a pier or do we use a tender? I would not recommend he walk. I ended up in a wheelchair by walking to the shopping areas. Sad, but true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyR. Posted April 19, 2011 #13 Share Posted April 19, 2011 Take a taxi cab into town in St. Thomas. Nassau also has taxi cabs too. St. Marten has a water taxi to take you into town. Plus, look for the tiny open air golf type cars/carts that will take you to the end of the pier for a tip instead of doing the long walk to the end of the pier. I don't like to walk so I always look for those carts or taxi to take me into town. I am willing to pay so I don't have to walk. In some ports I will pay for a taxi to take just a few blocks. I hate walking in the hot sun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QponQueen67 Posted April 19, 2011 Author #14 Share Posted April 19, 2011 Thank you, everyone, for responding. I will send my mom's husband all this info so he can at least be thinking about it before we set sail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuickieGlenn Posted April 19, 2011 #15 Share Posted April 19, 2011 St. Marten has shops right at the pier You can take the sidewalk to town(10 minutes) cut thru the marina parking lot to get to the boardwalk easier. The water taxi will not take a wheelchair unless they can carry you St. Thomas if you dock at havensight there are many shops right at the pier. You need a taxi to get to the town Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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