HC cabin and scooter rental on VOS 10/21/05

[catmommy]

This board was so helpful to me in planning our trip on the Voyager of the Seas that I wanted to do a post on our experiences.

 

We sailed VOS on 10/21/05 on the Western route. We were scheduled to go to Labadee, Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman and Freeport. We departed from Port Liberty, Bayonne NJ.

 

It was me, my DH and my MIL.

 

We had cabin 9557 which is an HC inside cabin. The cabin has two beds that could be put together and a sofa bed. DH and I slept in the two put together beds and MIL slept in the sofa bed.

 

We rented a scooter from Care Vacations.

 

The trip was for my MIL so I wasn't thrilled with the ports but the ship was supposed to have good accessibilty.

 

It was great!

 

Embarkation we got a wheelchair and the port person took us right up to the desk for us to get our sea passes. I had filled out all the info online so it went very fast.

 

We entered the ship on deck 2 and went to our cabin. The scooter was charged and waiting for us.

 

Almost all parts of the ship were accessible and since we had the scooter my MIL could go off on her own.

 

The waitstaff in the dining room and Johnny Rocket's, her favorite place, were very nice and accomodating of the scooter and making sure that her food was cut up enough for her to eat.

 

The ports were somewhat accessible but we warning that most of the shore excurisons, even the "easy ones," require some walking. Since my MIL can walk a bit it was not an issue but for folks who use a wheelchair full time it might be.

 

The best port for accessiblity to me was Labadee. They have beach wheelchairs there and it was easy to get one and get around.

 

In Ocho Rios we only went to Island Village shopping area and that was ok but we did not do any shore excursions in Jamaica at all.

 

Nassau was not very accessbile because the sidewalks and store entrances were high. There were curb cuts in areas but you kind of had to "plan" how you were going to get from one place to another. We did go through the straw market but the passages were tight and the vendors too pushy. Also most of the stuff I saw was junk and could have been purchased anywhere. My MIL purchased a "bargain" of two magnets for $5 only for us to see the same thing in a store for $2 a piece.

 

We went to Nassua because the port at Grand Cayman had been damaged by high water.

 

Freeport was a very short stop. Again we just went to the shopping area near the port. We wanted to go to Atlantis but we could not figure a way to do that and get the scooter there as well.

 

If you have any questions about the cabin or scooter rental or the ship I would be happy to answer.

 

Calm seas,

Caroline

[sologrip]

This board was so helpful to me in planning our trip on the Voyager of the Seas that I wanted to do a post on our experiences.

 

We wanted to go to Atlantis but we could not figure a way to do that and get the scooter there as well.

 

Calm seas,

Caroline

 

I use a scooter and a Service dog for assistance and once took a water taxi to the Atlantis area as part of the HAL Atlantis excursion. My scooter was lifted on and off but, after I completed my tour of Atlantis, the water taxi refused to return me to the port where the cruise ship (Oosterdam) was waiting. The Paradise Island pier officials finally summoned a taxi van that agreed to take me back to the ship. So, I've learned that there ARE van taxis around Nassau that can hold a folded scooter behind the back seat and that if you use a scooter and ever wanted to move to an island paradise permanently just put yourself at the mercy of a water taxis for pier-to-pier transportation.