Our voyage on the beautiful Pearl - part one

[pictonite]

Here's my account of our trip on the Pearl, from October 19 - 26. I will try to include as many items as possible to help others who plan to sail on the Pearl, and with this itinerary.

About us: We are four Canadians, from Ontario. We were on this trip to celebrate our mother's 85th. birthday. She is a world traveller, and, despite being confined to a wheelchair, she still has a desire to see new parts of the world. All of the ports on this cruise were new to her - and it was our second trip on the Pearl.

Pre-trip: I had searched the cruise boards for information about the ports of call, and the shore excursions. I was disappointed to find that no ship excursions were wheelchair accessible. I was able to book private excursions in both Roatan and Belize that were accessible, and I found out that there were accessible cabs in Cozumel. We booked a mini suite on the Pearl - the only accessible cabin that would accommodate four persons. We would have liked to book a full suite, but that option was not available to us.

We spent a week prior to the cruise in Myrtle Beach, and then drove down to Miami. We had booked the Holiday Inn, Port of Miami, because of its closeness to the ship. We parked overnight in their lot for $12., and had dinner at Bubba Gumps in the Bayside Market - fun! Sunday morning we had a leisurely breakfast, and drove to the pier, where we could see the Pearl waiting for us! We had been in contact with Greg Elden, who is the Customer Service Advocate for the Port of Miami. Greg had told us where to park, and had sent us a form that we completed, to allow us to park free - a courtesy that is extended to those with parking permits for the handicapped. (Please be aware, though, that the person allocated the permit must be in the vehicle, and provide extra photo ID in order to benefit from this wonderful perk!) We parked, and were ready to board the Pearl.

Embarkation: We were quite early, and were directed to the area where special needs passengers were being registered. However, there was a big glitch with this service, and all other lines were moving very quickly while we waited, - and waited. We finally took it upon ourselves to join another line - much faster, and we were then given our number for boarding.

At Last! We boarded the ship around noon - a much lengthier process than we had encountered on our last trip. However, we were greeted with glasses of bubbly, and looked after by a charming young man who insisted that we go to deck 12, to divest ourselves of our carry on luggage. This turned out to be a good idea, since we still had glasses in our hands , a wheelchair to push, and a desire to go to deck 6 where we knew a pleasant lunch awaited us in the Summer Palace. We made our way down to the restaurant, were seated immediately , and enjoyed a leisurely meal.

After lunch we made our way to Guest Services, where we had our mother's card swiped to allow us to use the priority service of the middle elevator in the aft bank. This service is available to those with special needs - it enables you to go directly to deck 6, where those in wheelchairs can access the Summer Palace. It, too, is a great perk! After conducting our business, we retrieved our luggage, and made our way to our stateroom.

The Cabin: Mini suite 11654 is an accessible stateroom aft of the ship. It is a comfortable cabin for four passengers, with lots of space to move a wheelchair. There is a good sized balcony, and a really useful bathroom. We wondered about the pull out bed - but, surprise! - it was quite comfortable. When this bed was down it did not detract from the balcony - there was plenty of room. The queen sized bed, however, was quite a challenge for our mother. She felt a little like a character in a fairy tale - the pull-out was too low, and the queen bed was too high! But - with lots of pulling and pushing every night we managed to get her into bed, and she slept well. Our stewards were terrific - so helpful, and very sympathetic and helpful the day that Mom felt a little queasy and rested in the cabin. Our only complaint - and it was minor and didn't spoil our vacation- was that we heard some noise in the early morning from the Great Outdoors - the cafe directly above us. It sounded like crew members were cleaning, and moving tables and chairs .

[AerynSun_JohnCrighton]

wonderful!

 

Can't wait to read move... we will be on her in 3 weeks, and have a mini-suite not too far from that one...

 

mom was hoping the 'extra room' would allow me to sleep in and them (mom and dad) to get on the balcony w/ out tripping over 'my bed'.

 

Sounds like it is possible!

[pictonite]

wonderful!

 

Can't wait to read move... we will be on her in 3 weeks, and have a mini-suite not too far from that one...

 

mom was hoping the 'extra room' would allow me to sleep in and them (mom and dad) to get on the balcony w/ out tripping over 'my bed'.

 

Sounds like it is possible!

 

You will enjoy the Pearl. It is such a friendly ship. You may have a little more difficulty getting past the pull-out bed because the regular mini suite is quite a bit smaller than the special needs cabin. You'll still find a way to get to the balcony. Have fun!