Back from Eastern Caribbean with 2 great tours

[cjh]

We were on the Feb 25th sailing of the Caribbean Princess with stops in St. Thomas and St. Marrten and did a tour in each place that was accessible for my family.

 

My daughters are both L1 paras and are able to transfer into a car or van but not able to stand or walk.

 

In St. Thomas we booked the accessible tour from Accessible Adventure. They have 2 accessible vehicles one is shaped like a trolly and the other is a small bus. We were on the trolly one. There are 2 spots for tie downs we used both since their chairs are rigid but there is also 2 spots they can put chairs that fold.

 

In St. Marrten we did a tour of the island and I mean the entire island with Joyce Prince. She is recommended by almost everyone on the St. Maarten board. She has a Chevy Venture mini van and if you can transfer onto a seat in the mini van you can do her tour as long as you only have 4 people. She puts her back seat down and the chairs fit in the back.

 

I told her that she should look into starting an accessible tour with an accessible vehicle and she said she was going to look into it since no one else offers it.

 

If you have any questions let me know.

 

Cindy

[Macy2]

Cindy,

What did you think of your tour with Accessible Adventures? We have a resv. with them in April w/ my MIL who is a para. We are hoping for the trolley as it sounds more fun for our young children.

[QuickieGlenn]

I am going to both St. Thomas & St. Martin next week on the Dawn. Did you book the trips thru the ship or on your own? I am a Para and I am happy to here you had a good time

 

Thanks

[cjh]

I booked the St. Thomas one through Princess but you can book it yourself. The name of the company is Accessible Adventures they have a web page with info on it. The tour was good with 2 stops along the way for pictures.

 

I booked Joyce Prince in St. Maarten direct and met her at the pier she folded the rear seat down and both of my girls rigid chairs fit in the back.

 

Cindy

[montgomeryfamily]

Could you provide some more information about your tour with Joyce please? How long was it? What all did you do/see? How much did it cost? Was it a per person cost or what? If you are uncomfortable posting any of this information, I would appreciate it if you would email me at kacruiser@ev1.net. We had been thinking of contacting Joyce, but was unsure of exactly what the tour would be--her web site doesn't really provide any information about what is involved in the tour or what pricing is.

[cjh]

Could you provide some more information about your tour with Joyce please? How long was it? What all did you do/see? How much did it cost? Was it a per person cost or what? If you are uncomfortable posting any of this information, I would appreciate it if you would email me at kacruiser@ev1.net. We had been thinking of contacting Joyce, but was unsure of exactly what the tour would be--her web site doesn't really provide any information about what is involved in the tour or what pricing is.

 

We met her at the pier at 9:00 and returned to the ship at 12:30. She took us all over the island first we stopped to do a little shopping and my youngest wanted her hair braided so Joyce did that while I went into a few shops. Next she drove us all around the island with stops at beaches on both the Dutch and French side for pictures. Basically she will do what ever you want.

 

She charges per person there were 4 of us the total cost was $140 and that included the braids. When you book with her she will get your credit card incase you don't show up but she takes cash once you do the tour.

 

I would highly recommend her to anyone who can get their chair or scooter in the back of a mini van. However because she has to fold the seat down you can't have more then 4 people.

 

Cindy

[montgomeryfamily]

CJH, thanks for the info. What did you see/do that you consider "must do"? Also, were any of the beaches you stopped at accessible?

[cjh]

None of the beaches are accessible so I just got out and left the girls in the van and took pictures. Trust me by the time you are done you will know everything about the island. Joyce starts out by saying no question is to personal so ask anything you want. One interesting fact is that on the Dutch side all their phone, electric and water bills are due on the 1st of the month and they have to go wait in line to pay them they can't just mail the bill like we do in the US. I was also very shocked at how many catcus they have.

[Queenie2]

There is one beach in ST. Maarten that is accessible. Can't recall the name right now. They recommend it at the visitors center and a fewe people from the Board here have visited it. Anyone remember it?

 

Candy

[montgomeryfamily]

Thanks Cjh, for the tour information. I'm going to contact Joyce and see if she is available.

 

If anyone remembers the name of the accessible beach, please post it here. I did a search of the board and couldn't find any info on it.

 

Also, Cjh, I have a question about your staterooms. I saw in your review that your family stayed in C301 and C303. It appears from the deck plans that C303 is in front of the elevators and doesn't have anything except a wall in front of it. But C301 is more unclear. Do either of these rooms have anything across from them or nearby that could be noisy, like the crew service elevator or crew station areas? Thanks.

[cjh]

The only thing accross from both cabins is the elevators and stairs. We have never been bothered by noise I think because the bed is on the other side of the bathroom if there is any noise it doesn't make it to where the bed is.

[montgomeryfamily]

Do you know if the elevators are strictly the passenger ones, or are there also the crew elevators back behind the passenger ones? I know that there are crew elevators that they use for handling the luggage and also room service. But I wasn't sure if the crew elevators were midship or if they were aft or forward. I just couldn't remember.

[cjh]

The crew elevators are to the left of these cabins and about 9 cabins down. These are passenger elevators if you look at a deck plan you will see these are the ones that go to the front of the Princess Theater and are also one of the two banks they used for going ashore.

 

Cindy

[montgomeryfamily]

Thanks Cindy. I had looked at the deck plan and saw the unmarked (on the deck plan) space between the elevators and the laundromat. Since this unmarked space backed up to the passeger elevators, I was concerned there might be some crew elevators here. I'm glad to know that the crew elevators are further down.