No shore excursions suitable for wheelchair users!?

[JiggeryPokery]

Hi

 

We booked our 3rd Celebrity cruise last year, but,  were only recently told that out of all the shore excursions available, there was not one excursion that was suitable for a wheelchair user!

 

Has anyone else experienced this? Even the ship tours were not suitable!

 

We have been on excursions with them before on previous cruises

 

They have told me they are looking into this, but we leave in May, so I am quite annoyed with them

 

Thanks

Edited March 22, 2023 by JiggeryPokery

[Arizona Wildcat]

Have usually seen tours specifically designed for those with mobility restrictions.  Don't know your itinerary but am aware that Celebrity has needed to find new tour operators and many tours involve lots of hiking or walking.   My DW is not restricted to a wheelchair but is unable to participate in most excursions.

Just looked at two ports on an upcoming cruise and about 2/3 would work for someone in a wheelchair.  4 would not - they involve historical buildings or hiking.  The others might be a challenge but doable.  

[Alakegirl]

23 minutes ago, JiggeryPokery said:

Hi

 

We booked our 3rd Celebrity cruise last year, but,  were only recently told that out of all the shore excursions available, there was not one excursion that was suitable for a wheelchair user!

 

Has anyone else experienced this? Even the ship tours were not suitable!

 

We have been on excursions with them before on previous cruises

 

They have told me they are looking into this, but we leave in May, so I am quite annoyed with them

 

Thanks

Itinerary?

 

[mrgabriel]

The pandemic was just brutal for the many small businesses that operate excursions. Not only did they face months and months with no income, they now have to hire and train new people. It’s tough but hopefully that industry will come back soon. 

[JiggeryPokery]

1 hour ago, Alakegirl said:

Itinerary?

 

Sorry of course!

 

Vigo Spain

Porto (Leixoes) Portugal

La Coruna Spain

Bilbao Spain

Bordeaux(la Rochelle)France

Paris (Le Havre) France

 

Thanks

[mom says]

Unfortunately Celebrity can't manufacture  wheelchair accessible excursions out of thin air. They have to avail themselves of local providers. If those providers no longer exist since the COVID shut down, or the port area lacks the infrastructure to allow for wheelchair accessibility, there's not much the cruiseline can do.

 

You might want to check out the Disabilities forum as well as the Ports of Call boards to see how others research accessible excursions in these areas.

Edited March 23, 2023 by mom says

[Bo1953]

Maybe you will want to look into X Private Journeys as an alternative?

 

I Am sure they will cost more than the published tours, but maybe they can put something together for you.

 

Just a thought.

 

bon voyage

[the penguins]

19 hours ago, JiggeryPokery said:

Hi

 

We booked our 3rd Celebrity cruise last year, but,  were only recently told that out of all the shore excursions available, there was not one excursion that was suitable for a wheelchair user!

 

Has anyone else experienced this? Even the ship tours were not suitable!

 

We have been on excursions with them before on previous cruises

 

They have told me they are looking into this, but we leave in May, so I am quite annoyed with them

 

Thanks

We have never found a Celebrity excursion that has met the needs of our travelling companions (other than the occasional "panoramic" tour) who use wheelchairs. I would suggest you try some of the specialist companies that provide private guides. Our choice is toursbylocals but there are others. Even then there is not a great deal of choice especially when you are booking late - we book a year ahead.

[zgscl]

You may also want to check the third party excursion providers - both Project Expedition and Shore Excursion Group are reputable and may have something the cruise line doesn't offer. Project Expedition in particular has great customer service and if you reach out they may be able to get something set up even if it is not publicly available. 

[NMTraveller]

This is exactly why I went with a different cruise line.  We went with AMA Waterways where they cater to slow walkers.

 

We have a couple in our group.  I inquired with Celebrity and the results were nonsense. 

 

Edited March 26, 2023 by NMTraveller

[NMTraveller]

Also some of the terminals are a far bit aways from the ship.     I have not seen this as an option on Celebrity.

 

How far is the walk from the ship to the nearest street.  Too far IMHO.

Edited March 26, 2023 by NMTraveller

[cruisestitch]

47 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

This is exactly why I went with a different cruise line.  We went with AMA Waterways where they cater to slow walkers.

 

 

Well yes, but that’s a river cruise which is an entirely different kettle of fish.

 

As to wheelchair accessible Cruises, so many of the places that the ships visit have cobblestone streets and steep hills, and they simply aren’t wheelchair friendly.

[NMTraveller]

7 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Well yes, but that’s a river cruise which is an entirely different kettle of fish.

 

As to wheelchair accessible Cruises, so many of the places that the ships visit have cobblestone streets and steep hills, and they simply aren’t wheelchair friendly.

Ah yes.  But it is one where AMA Waterways does a good job at.    AMA Waterways will give you a van/bus that will take you right to the site with a limited amount of walking.

 

For an ocean cruise such at Celebrity crickets ...

 

I asked many of the same questions as the OP.  For many of the Celebrity ports they have a flipping long walk just to get to the nearest street.

Edited March 26, 2023 by NMTraveller

[cruisestitch]

AMA also has just a few hundred guests at a time.  They are able to personalize more than a cruise ship can.  Apples and oranges.

[Sigyn]

I want to ring in and say that this is awful. I'm so sorry you're not finding excursions that are suitable. My mom must use a wheelchair for any activity that requires walking more than 20-30 feet (she uses a walker otherwise) and so this is near and dear to my heart. It's not appropriate to not have a full range of excursions available. Perhaps it is due to the excursion providers, but regardless, I'm sure if Celebrity pushed for it, they would provide it.

 

I am cruising on both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity in the next few months, and I see several excursions for Royal Caribbean that say they are for people with mobility issues but I don't see any with that notation for my Celebrity cruise to Alaska. With Celebrity, when I filter for those activities with only mild exertion required, it often says that "full participation" will require walking over cobblestones, etc. It makes me wonder if there is an alternative to full participation. It should say that, however, if it is an option.

Edited March 26, 2023 by njsmom

[terrydtx]

On 3/22/2023 at 7:19 PM, JiggeryPokery said:

Sorry of course!

 

Vigo Spain

Porto (Leixoes) Portugal

La Coruna Spain

Bilbao Spain

Bordeaux(la Rochelle)France

Paris (Le Havre) France

 

Thanks

We are on the Apex in September from Amsterdam to Athens and share several of your ports. Most of the excursions I have seen that have a wheelchair exclusion are at the tendered ports because of transferring to the tenders on and off the ship. No one in our party have any mobility issues but I did see the exclusions listed.  BTW we no longer book any shore excursions from Celebrity and now use various 3rd party private excursions. We have all of our Apex excursions already booked as one of our roll call members has organized private small group (less than 14 people) excursions for all of our ports. Have you joined your roll call and asked if anyone is organizing any private excursions? 

Edited March 26, 2023 by terrydtx

[marys350]

Try doing a Google search using terms like " accessibility travel tours and excursions" or "wheelchair accessible travel" and include specific destinations in your search.

 

Did you check Cruise Critic "Disabled Cruise Travel" board under the special interest section?

 

This website may have helpful information:

https://wheelchairtravel.org

Edited March 26, 2023 by marys350

[chemmo]

I have cruised using a wheelchair and/or crutches a few times pre and post surgery. Definitely hit and miss when it comes to ports and available tours. If I am perfectly honest we have tended to book seeing the ship as our ‘destination’ on the occasions my mobility has been compromised. Trips off the ship we have chosen for ease of access.
 

Lisbon can be inaccessible because of tidal levels. Wheelchair and scooter users were not allowed to disembark on one of our cruises until 2pm owing to the ramp angle. This may apply to several ports.

 

We had problems accessing many of the tours on our Fjords cruise as all guests needed to be able to board a standard coach which many wheelchair users can’t do. If your companion can get out of the chair and climb the three/four steps they will store the wheelchair and the first seats on entry are reserved for limited mobility guests. If your wheelchair user can’t do this then all coach tours  are pretty well out. At Flam you couldn’t book a wheelchair spot on the train through Celebrity but independently you could privately on line and it was cheaper! 

 

Re what I know about your ports…

 

Vigo…The town is fine for a walk around, perhaps you could search a local tapas bar and do a simple walk on your own. Google and plan your route to avoid cobblestones. That is what we did. We did know someone else with limited mobility who did a cooking/dining experience there but do not have the details.

 

Porto…Suggest you look for a private tour to one of the vineyards checking on the accessibility of the site. This isn’t always clear. Make sure you get email confirmation that it is wheelchair accessible transportation and access to the vineyard. Local area around the port, if I remember correctly, had lots of cobblestones. It is years since we cruised from there and mobility wasn’t an issue for me at the time.

 

Bilboa, I seem to remember we researched a private accessible wine tour but it was expensive, we decided not to do it and enjoy a ‘ship day’. I seem to remember it was nearly triple the price of a standard coach tour to the same vineyards.

 

Can’t comment on the other ports as we haven’t visited.

 

Two further comments I would add…

 

Firstly, you can find something you fancy doing close to the ship in each port (museum, art gallery, bars and restaurants) you can get a taste of the region without the hassle of getting in and out of transport.

 

Secondly, consider a scooter as pushing a wheelchair is hard work. Even on the ship my husband struggled to push me on the carpeted areas….

 

Sincere best wishes for a wonderful cruise!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JiggeryPokery]

17 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

This is exactly why I went with a different cruise line.  We went with AMA Waterways where they cater to slow walkers.

 

We have a couple in our group.  I inquired with Celebrity and the results were nonsense. 

 

I agree, they have had me waiting for months for their email response, and they just keep saying they are working away at it

 

Edited March 26, 2023 by JiggeryPokery

[NMTraveller]

1 minute ago, JiggeryPokery said:

I agree, they have had me waiting for months for their email response, and they just keep saying they are working away at it

 

 

Which cruise line did you find better?

AMA Waterways has a gentle walking group which minimizes the distance required to walk by taking you in a small van/bus as close as possible to the attractions.  We have a 14 day cruise with them this summer.  They also have high and medium activity excursions.  It is a river cruise.

 

On our last Celebrity cruise (Edge Eastern Med) we checked with the excursions desk and they had zero, zip, nada excursions available for slow/gentle  walkers.  Therefore we did not book the cruise with Celebrity.

 

 

[JiggeryPokery]

9 hours ago, njsmom said:

I want to ring in and say that this is awful. I'm so sorry you're not finding excursions that are suitable. My mom must use a wheelchair for any activity that requires walking more than 20-30 feet (she uses a walker otherwise) and so this is near and dear to my heart. It's not appropriate to not have a full range of excursions available. Perhaps it is due to the excursion providers, but regardless, I'm sure if Celebrity pushed for it, they would provide it.

 

I am cruising on both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity in the next few months, and I see several excursions for Royal Caribbean that say they are for people with mobility issues but I don't see any with that notation for my Celebrity cruise to Alaska. With Celebrity, when I filter for those activities with only mild exertion required, it often says that "full participation" will require walking over cobblestones, etc. It makes me wonder if there is an alternative to full participation. It should say that, however, if it is an option.

When we went to the Baltics in 2015, there were quite a few tours/excursions including onboard tours that were suitable for us. Recently, I was really surprised that the ship tour they offered was not suitable. It is a ship tour, couldn't they include a lift as qwell as stairs ? That tour is surely operated by Celebrity isnt it?! They boast that cruising is "An Unrivaled Cruise Vacation for Each and Every Guest", well, I'm afraid that just isnt the case, as this time there is a lack of wheelchair excursions, onboard and offboard!

[cruise4mom]

Look at her your guide, viator, and trip advisor. Allow google excursions for wheelchair user in (insert the city). 

[JiggeryPokery]

7 hours ago, chemmo said:

I have cruised using a wheelchair and/or crutches a few times pre and post surgery. Definitely hit and miss when it comes to ports and available tours. If I am perfectly honest we have tended to book seeing the ship as our ‘destination’ on the occasions my mobility has been compromised. Trips off the ship we have chosen for ease of access.
 

Lisbon can be inaccessible because of tidal levels. Wheelchair and scooter users were not allowed to disembark on one of our cruises until 2pm owing to the ramp angle. This may apply to several ports.

 

We had problems accessing many of the tours on our Fjords cruise as all guests needed to be able to board a standard coach which many wheelchair users can’t do. If your companion can get out of the chair and climb the three/four steps they will store the wheelchair and the first seats on entry are reserved for limited mobility guests. If your wheelchair user can’t do this then all coach tours  are pretty well out. At Flam you couldn’t book a wheelchair spot on the train through Celebrity but independently you could privately on line and it was cheaper! 

 

Re what I know about your ports…

 

Vigo…The town is fine for a walk around, perhaps you could search a local tapas bar and do a simple walk on your own. Google and plan your route to avoid cobblestones. That is what we did. We did know someone else with limited mobility who did a cooking/dining experience there but do not have the details.

 

Porto…Suggest you look for a private tour to one of the vineyards checking on the accessibility of the site. This isn’t always clear. Make sure you get email confirmation that it is wheelchair accessible transportation and access to the vineyard. Local area around the port, if I remember correctly, had lots of cobblestones. It is years since we cruised from there and mobility wasn’t an issue for me at the time.

 

Bilboa, I seem to remember we researched a private accessible wine tour but it was expensive, we decided not to do it and enjoy a ‘ship day’. I seem to remember it was nearly triple the price of a standard coach tour to the same vineyards.

 

Can’t comment on the other ports as we haven’t visited.

 

Two further comments I would add…

 

Firstly, you can find something you fancy doing close to the ship in each port (museum, art gallery, bars and restaurants) you can get a taste of the region without the hassle of getting in and out of transport.

 

Secondly, consider a scooter as pushing a wheelchair is hard work. Even on the ship my husband struggled to push me on the carpeted areas….

 

Sincere best wishes for a wonderful cruise!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the invaluable info. We have always stayed close to the port as it is always our first time to that specific area. Normally a cafe is fine or a short tour. When there is a long tour with much talking, after half an hour I feel ever so sleepy!

 

We went to the Norwegian Fjords too and managed to bok a Rib ride which was great

 

This time we are taking an electric wheelchair with wobbly front wheels, as against in the past we have taken a scooter which is quite different but not as manoeuvrable

 

[RD64]

On 3/22/2023 at 8:19 PM, JiggeryPokery said:

Sorry of course!

 

Vigo Spain

Porto (Leixoes) Portugal

La Coruna Spain

Bilbao Spain

Bordeaux(la Rochelle)France

Paris (Le Havre) France

 

Thanks

Many countries in Europe are not exactly the most wheel chair friendly - not just for shore excursions, but for their actual citizens.

[jwlane]

1 hour ago, JiggeryPokery said:

It is a ship tour, couldn't they include a lift as qwell as stairs ?

Should theater backstage and/or kitchen areas be accessible?