Ports Accessible?

[Tibear]

We are on the Brilliance in March and I am looking for info on how easy it is to navigate these ports. We will be stopping in Aruba, Curacao. (as well as others). My DW uses a scooter for distances and we will have a wheel chair as well. (she is able to walk short distances)

We might want to take a "stroll" into the shopping areas of these two ports and would like to have any info on what to expect when getting off the ship.

 

Tibear

[leoandhugh]

the shopping areas in Aruba (Oranjestad) and Curacao (Willemstad) are both within easy distance of the piers in those cities. However some of the curbs are cored and others are not; we use both a scooter and a wheelchair and found the wheelchair to be the vehicle of choice for both islands. also, should you want to take a short taxi tour, it is much easier to load a folding wheelchair in the trunk rather than a scooter.:)

[shamrockace]

How difficult are the ports in Alaska for someone with a wheelchair?

[DEL67]

Its been a few years since we have been to Aruba and Curacao so perhaps things have changed, but we found both to be reasonably accessible.

 

As LeoandHigh indicated, the shopping area in Aruba is an easy stroll from the pier and mostly accessible perhaps because my husband used his manual chair ashore so any lack of curb cuts were not an issue. My husband could transfer to a taxi or van so on one visit toured the island. Most of the places we stopped were not accessible, but my husband enjoyed the landscape. Note: the tourist bureau told me that the butterfly farm is accessible, but we did not visit it so I can not confirm it.

 

In Curacao, we rented a cab for an island tour and then had the driver drop us off at the aquarium, which was acessible. I have read elsewhere that the downtown shopping area is also pretty accessible, but my husband chose not to go and my memory is that the sidewalks were crowded which would make it difficult for a wheelchair.

[DEL67]

shamrockarse:

 

It depends on what you want to do, but in general, being part of the US Alaska is pretty accessible. Last summer we visited Kecthikan, Juneau and Skagway.

 

In Ketchikan, we docked across from the downtown shopping area which is accessible. We were a larrge group (10) so we rented van for half day to tour the area and most of our stops were accesible.

 

In both Juneau and Skagway, we were docked a long walk from town, but both towns offered accessible transportation into town. Again the shopping areas were accessible. In Juneau we found a private tour company with a bus with a lift and went out to the Medenhall Glacier. There, the path out to the point and the viewing area were both accessible. In Skagway we rented a car and drove out to the Yukon stopping at Emerald Lake and Carcross (?) Crossing. The museum at Carcross Crossing was accessible and the other areas were rough, but passable.

[Splinter]

The Whitehorse Pass railway in Skagway is accessible, and you board right at the pier. They have accessible shuttles into town here too (about every 6th bus) but you need to let the dispatcher know you need one.

 

We got an accessible tour in Juneau through Princess but you have to be VERY specific with them about what you need as far as access. They kept wanting to give us a bus with "just a couple of steps". I had to say "what part of cannot walk or stand at all can you not understand" before they got a clue that we needed a lift van. Once we got that staightened out, we had a good time at the Mendenhall Glacier, the Alaska State Museum, and the salmon hatchery.

 

In Sitka (which is a tender port) we also had a tour (ended up being a private tour just for our party) with a lift van as well.

[LuLaLuvlee]

We had no problems in St Thomas but I wouldn't recommend Old San Juan-- It would likely be ok for a motor chair hill-wise but the sidewalks are very narrow. The streets are brick and in places not very even so if jostling is an issue perhaps a taxi tour might be a better option.

 

We didn't have a problem in Ocho Rios and toured nicely in a large taxi, the seas were too high in the Caymens- the ship never stopped there, but we did make it to Cozumel......which was a nightmare!

 

We asked before we boarded the tender to shore (about a 15 minute ride) as to whether there would be difficulties with our transport wheelchair and were told no. They asked if he could walk the 5 steps from ship to tender and he managed that.

 

We had fun in Cozumel and had only a few shop thresholds that he couldn't wheel into--some of those stores had back doors with access :)

When we arrived back at the pier at 3 pm the tender we had ridden to port was just casting off :( We boarded on the next tender without anyone asking if my husband could manage steps or stairs. I shoved him to the gangway, he got up and walked the 7 steps to board, and they boarded his chair. The ride to the ship was a little rolly and our companions were a bit seasick.

 

When we arrived at the ship, we were discouraged. The entryway to the ship was much higher than we were. I explored after the other passengers left and saw that to get to that higher level my DH would have to go up 11 stairs- an impossible task:( We waited and finally an officer approached and told us we had to get off. I wondered how that was possible as my husband could not do stairs. He said well you will just have to ride to shore and get on another tender. I asked for some water for us all as we were parched. He said sure. The water never came and the next we knew lines were cast off and the tender was chugging back to shore in the increasingly churning seas.

 

When we got to shore, men moved DH in his chair off the low level and proceeded to shove DH up a very steep gangway to the upper level -bang bang bang all the way up. It took a few minutes to load on the rest of the passengers and finally we were off again.

 

The sun was now beginning to set and the seas were increasingly worse as the daylight left. People were getting cold and complaining loudly. Princess had sent a very junior officer along with us because my husband looked so bad. However, they didn't equip the junior with a radio and he didn't speak Spanish so he was unable to communicate with the tender's operators. We sat and waited after getting near the ship well over 45 minutes before finally tying up to the ship. The poor junior was very seasick and was leant over the rail for a good bit. I felt sorry for him. He did make sure we were the first off.

 

It had taken us more than 3 1/4 hours from shore to re-boarding the ship. My DH was in severe pain from the jostling and because he was 2 hours late taking his meds. He had a supply in his pocket but he cannot take them w/o water. They offloaded him ( bang bang bang as the chair hit the stops in the gangway) and suggested the infirmary but all he wanted was to reach our cabin.

 

The complaint I made to the Purser was this: 1) Princess' crew and officers on the dock in Cozumel should have enquired if my DH could manage stairs before assisting him to board the tender. We did not have the knowledge of the height of the ship entry vs tender. 2) The officer we asked for water from the ship SHOULD have supplied it. 3) The very junior officer should have been supplied with a radio.

 

Many of the areas on the ship are difficult for a transport chair because of the angles (entryway to the theatre is the worst); the ramp for the assigned seating elevator isn't much better; the handicap area in the theatre is the last row in the back and there are no screens to bring the action on the stage closer so it is very visually limited ( to see the cooking demo my DH used his camera and his telephoto lens );frequently the passageways were jammed and often I had to clear the carts so we could get past; service excluding breakfast in the dining room was quite poor-often some glasses would get refills while my DH's non alcohol one was left unfilled even after 4 trips to the table! However, the tender incident was the last straw for us.

 

We won't be sailing that line again. We won't book a route with many tender ports. We will ALWAYS carry some water for the emergency meds supply.

[Splinter]

This is one reason that I NEVER recommend so-called "transport" chairs. A real wheelchair with big wheels in the back is much more comfortable to ride in and much safer and easier to use in rough terrain or up/down steps. In addition, the person using it is totally dependent upon the pusher and cannot even turn it around by themselves.

[MissKise]

We are also on the Brillance in March and will be visiting Aruba, Willenstad Curacoa, Costa Rica and Haiti.......

 

My Dad has a scooter that he is taking and I was hoping to find some excursions that he can take. He could also bring a wheelchair if needed, since he walks short distances with a cane.

 

I would love to hear recommened excursions or tours.

[Sarahsmom85]

I am doing research now for a trip a yr from now. we too will be going to these ports.

 

I HAD THE same experience as LULA. My DH uses an electric wheelchair so it was even worse. When we came back to the ship they wanted to carry him up the stairs in his power chair. If it had not started pouring as we waited for the tender and when not soaked (I mean ring water out of our clothing) we too should have went back to the port also.

We where lucky that a young man who used a manual chair let us use his chair to carry my DH up the stairs, then they carried his power chair up the stairs and let me tell you they had a rough time, can't imagine what it would have been like if they took him plus the chair.

Next triip to Cozamel we dock, so much better. Except there was no way to get across the street. there was esculater up to a over the road bridge but no elevator. There was a driveway so he could get down off the sidewalk but there was an island with high curbs that ran the whole lenght of the street. We could have gone down a few blocks to the traffic light but they where doing construction and had equipment blocking the sidewalk. What we had to do was send the others over and have them send a WC van to our side to pick us up.

 

NO ADA act there.