Bermuda with mobility scooter

[loudoncruiser]

My husband and I will be docking in King's Wharf early September.   He uses a walker for short distances and a mobility scooter for longer distances.   I would appreciate a trip report for Bermuda from someone who has been there with the same challenges.   If we take a taxi tour he can just take his walker but what should we ask to see during the tour?  I think the ferries are scooter accessible but what about once you reach Hamilton or St George?  Any first hand advice would be much appreciated. 

[Scooter girl 58]

I also use a mobile scooter and 3 years ago visited Kings Wharf over 2 days on the Anthem of the seas. The first day there we caught the ferry to Hamilton with no problems. 

On the second day we were going to just get a taxi to take us around, but we’re lucky enough to meet Juanita as we got off the ship. She runs bermudaislandtours.com  and took us on a 5 hour tour of the island on her mini bus. She just put my scooter in the bus and got it out when I needed it. As far as I can remember it was about $50 per person and we’ll worth it.  Hope this is useful 

[loudoncruiser]

Very helpful.  Thanks!  Was Hamilton easy to get around on the scooter?

[Scooter girl 58]

Yes I had no problem getting around in Hamilton. I did prefer St George’s which we visited on our tour, I wish we had had more time there to explore. 3 years ago the ferry to St George’s was not accessible, but things might have changed by now. 

[loudoncruiser]

Thank so for this information.   It really helps with the planning.

[Scooter girl 58]

Your very welcome. Have a great time. In my opinion Bermuda is beautiful, better than the Caribbean 

[loudoncruiser]

We're looking forward to seeing it.

[mamaofami]

We were docked in Hamilton several years ago and had prearranged a tour. Sorry, I just can't recall with who and I know that's not a help. I used the Bermuda board to find a guide, told them I had a scooter, and they met us outside the terminal and put the scooter in the trunk. No problem at all.

[loudoncruiser]

Thanks, we were able to arrange a tour with a guide that specializes in handicapped accessible tours. 

[1threadshort]

On 5/26/2019 at 7:09 PM, loudoncruiser said:

Very helpful.  Thanks!  Was Hamilton easy to get around on the scooter?

no problem getting around anywhere in bermuda or hamilton w/a scooter.

[grandmaR]

I have been to Bermuda 8 times and 4 of those times I was using a mobility scooter.  In three cases I used a blue flag guide with a van, and they just put my little scooter in the back of the van.  But I have a folding travel scooter which is pretty light- it is only 55 lbs. and I can get into the van by myself.  One of those guides has died, but the other one Lewis Foggo (lewis_foggo@hotmail.com) gave us a very nice 5 hour tour in both in October 2018 and June 2019.  I also used a regular taxi driver [Conrad Albouy (441-334-8796)]  and he took us to the Swizzle for lunch an to the BAMZ (Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo)

 

The ferries are pretty easy to use and the Dockyard itself is easy to get around and so is Hamilton.  St. George is also easy although there are steps to get into St. Peters. 

 

I think you could use the bus with the walker (there are handicapped seats) but I have not tried that although we used the buses a  lot on previous visits.

 

[loudoncruiser]

I read the ferry to St George has steps to negotiate after arrival at St George.   Was that your experience? 

[Benthayer Gonbak]

On 5/26/2019 at 7:09 PM, loudoncruiser said:

Very helpful.  Thanks!  Was Hamilton easy to get around on the scooter?

 

I was in Bermuda, both times with a walker, I now have a mobility scooter and had previously pushed more wheelchair where they wouldn’t go that I notice barriers, most of the time.

 

while Hamilton is fairly accessible, not all restaurants are. Some are above the shops.  What I found most annoying was that the ramps are really for access to deliveries so they are only on one end of the strip of stores.  The stores have 3-5 steps on their front which looks like they are to prevent flooding which might happen at the lower level.   The problem is if you want to shop, you must go up the one ramp, some seemed a bit steep, and when you get to the other end return to the same ramp you came up.  For a scooter that just cost you time and battery, for a walker it was energy expended.   I also found several stores that had 1-3 steps in the middle of the store.  

 

The last time i was there my mil also had a walker!  So we walker from the ferry to the oceanography museum way way down the street as the busses run the other way and we couldn’t imagine a taxi with two walkers!   The museum was nice and pretty accessible. About 1/3 the way back we decided to catch the bus.  The bus driver kept trying to tell us only  one walker as they wouldn’t fit in the bin and we weren’t allowed to just hold one in our laps.  My husband did manage to get them both in the bin, think the airline carryon type area.  The problem was that the walkers, with wheels must be stowed upside down and I had stuff in an open pocket!  Nevertheless we made it.  After that we tried to pay with 3 zone tickets for a 1 zone ride.  It legal just expensive but the tickets were excess to us.  The driver then let us ride for no charge.  And the trip wasn’t bad!   All of this is to say that buses weren’t quite what we expected! 

 

Hth

[grandmaR]

That's good information on the buses - I've never tried a bus with more than a cane.  But I think the big taxis vans would have no problem with two walkers.  I have never actually been able to take the ferry to St. George, so I don't know about steps at the St. George end.  And I haven't actually gotten out in Hamilton for some years, as I'm not a shopper.  I do remember about restaurants that are up stairs, but had forgotten until you reminded me.

 

I don't know what you mean by the Oceanography Museum.  It is very unhandy to get to the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute by bus and I really didn't think it was worth the admission fee.  But the BAMZ (Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo) in the Flats is very accessible and I didn't think it was that far from a bus stop.  

 

On our last trip, we took the Historic Re-enactment and Walking Tour at the Dockyard, and it was fairly accessible, although in the Victualing Yard it was somewhat uncomfortable - I had either to go on the grass or on the stones which are spaced apart.  I am not sure how accessible the National Museum is but the Clocktower Mall is good. 

 

Some of the excursions which look like they would be OK to do with a wheelchair or scooter turn out to actually be impossible, because when you get the ticket it says that you must be able to do stairs.

Edited July 20, 2019 by grandmaR

[Benthayer Gonbak]

On 7/20/2019 at 9:05 AM, grandmaR said:

That's good information on the buses - I've never tried a bus with more than a cane.  But I think the big taxis vans would have no problem with two walkers.  I have never actually been able to take the ferry to St. George, so I don't know about steps at the St. George end.  And I haven't actually gotten out in Hamilton for some years, as I'm not a shopper.  I do remember about restaurants that are up stairs, but had forgotten until you reminded me.

 

I don't know what you mean by the Oceanography Museum.  It is very unhandy to get to the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute by bus and I really didn't think it was worth the admission fee.  But the BAMZ (Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo) in the Flats is very accessible and I didn't think it was that far from a bus stop.  

 

On our last trip, we took the Historic Re-enactment and Walking Tour at the Dockyard, and it was fairly accessible, although in the Victualing Yard it was somewhat uncomfortable - I had either to go on the grass or on the stones which are spaced apart.  I am not sure how accessible the National Museum is but the Clocktower Mall is good. 

 

Some of the excursions which look like they would be OK to do with a wheelchair or scooter turn out to actually be impossible, because when you get the ticket it says that you must be able to do stairs.

 

When we did the Aquarium, we went with 1 walker and 2 people.  We came back by bus.  Stop is just outside the building, or nearly. 

 

I did do St George’s, and I can’t recall whether there were steps either.  We also did the free tour.  We wander around and saw a lladro ship on our way to lunch.  While hubby was trying to get the check I decided to wander to the shop and meet him there. I bounced my water behind me as the full flight of stairs was too steep for me carry it.  When I was done hubby still want around so I sat at the foot of the stairs so he could see me.  The shop people twice offered to help me up the stairs, but I can’t climb that many.  After a bit longer they asked where my husband was and showed me a barrier free way to get there, he was just getting the check.  

 

Most people have offered to help when i’m Even just moving a freewheeling scooter into a cabin, or messing with a door that pulls, it just looks awful!   

 

I did turn a scooter over on NCLs handicap bathroom threshold, near a restaurant!  It had and automatic door, but who puts a 2 inch threshold on a handicap anything?  For my scooter, if you’ve applied power and are hung on something even if you have released the power there is still some to the rear wheels, it simply doesn’t stop immediately!  That means if you try to lift the front wheel it’s going to begin to take off!  I now turn the key off when it gets hung up, when I remember😱

Edited July 22, 2019 by Benthayer Gonbak

[grandmaR]

My scooter is set up so that you apply power with your thumbs when you have your hand on the handles.  That means that if the scooter is getting away from you, your automatic reaction is to grab the handles harder and that makes the scooter go faster.  This is also a problem for people who park the scooter for me after I have sat in a chair at the table.  If they do not sit on the scooter, it is apt to take off with them and at least once they knocked over a tray of glasses in the dining room.

 

I tend to get hung up on the thresholds going out on deck (for the safety briefing or just to see what is going on).  I have been in some handicapped bathrooms (on a ship in Honolulu which I was on for an excursion) where I could not open the door by myself. 

 

The cruise excursion (Famous Homes and Hideaway Cruise) that I had booked which says on the tickets (but not on the information for booking) that the passengers have to be able to walk and climb steps. This excursion was one that I thought I would really be able to do, but apparently not. So the excursion guy said we could switch the tickets for the trolley tour of the dockyard. So my sister went up and switched the tickets and even though the only tour on the schedule was 2 pm, she got tickets for 9:15. 

Because we had a tour in the red train which was to meet on the dock at 9:15 and they said it would not take the scooter on it, we had to figure out a place to leave the scooter. (Actually if we folded the scooter up, it would have gone on the train just fine.) On a previous trip when we had a horse and carriage tour of the Dockyard area, Bob just folded up the scooter and left it on the grass. But I wanted to avoid having my sister stress her wrist by folding it and the scooter does not have a key, so I can't lock it. It is quite light (weighing only 58 lbs) so it would be easy for someone to pick up and take.  

 I decided that I would leave the scooter on the ship on deck 1. They offered me a wheelchair so I took it to the end of the ship where there was a little tent with seats and we sat there. We were WAY early. The meeting time for the train was to be 9:15 and it was to be a hour tour. And 9:15 came and went and we did not see the little red train. (The Scenic West End Trolley) The lady that said she would come and get us when the time came, did not come and get us and when I finally saw the train out about 400 yards from me she had already gone past.  So with great difficulty, I walked, stopping at each bollard to rest, and finally got to the street where the train was. It came around the corner to us so I could get on.

Then instead of taking us back to the ship, he let us off at the Clocktower Mall - I could not walk all the way back to the ship. They said that I could get the little free train that runs around the dockyard, but I could not stand and wait for it.    Eventually I flagged down a taxi and asked him how much he would charge to take us to the Aquarium and he took me back to the ship and my sister got the scooter.

 

[Benthayer Gonbak]

Your scooter sounds like mine! And I don’t have a governor, a rabbit turtle switch.  Maitre’d on last cruise asked me to not allow staff to drive it, they nearly knocked over a glasses cart!😂

 

and yes the walking to the ships is too far.   We got quite good with the walkers in the handicap car of the free train.  One has a severely bent step.  I lifted a gentleman’s walker while my husband helped him aboard.  On a different trip the driver got a bit too close to the hedge!  When I was getting off he seemed perturbed about handling the walker.  I told him the person that was helping me was standing behind him and we’d be fine ......... if he’d get out of the way!  Left off the last part of course.  There were too many in the car so hubby often sits in another car as h knows I can maneuver, or could with a walker, reasonably well.