Caribbean Ports - DIY - Ease & Safety - Advice Please!

[Selbourne]

My wife and I have booked the 65 night ‘Aurora’s America & Caribbean Discovery’ departing 3rd Jan. We haven’t been to any of the ports before (other than Miami and Key West, but that wasn’t on a cruise). We try to just look around the ports independently (from the ship or the shuttle drop off point, if there is one) rather than do excursions, as my wife is a wheelchair user and can’t use a coach.
 

I suspect that some ports are good for DIY and are nice places, whereas others may not be. Some places may not even be safe to walk around independently? We’re not beach people, but a promenade is always nice. We mainly like to see the towns and any significant sights that are ideally accessible without the need to travel from the port. However, if the port itself is completely naff, I’d rather know and get some ideas where we might be able to get to easily, perhaps by taxi? Also any ‘must see’ places, but keeping in mind the wheelchair!

 

I realise that this is a big ask and I don’t expect anyone to go through the whole list (although that would be absolutely fantastic if they did 😂), so any and all tips would be sincerely appreciated. The full list of ports is;

 

Hamilton - Bermuda

Nassau - Bahamas

Port Canaveral 

Miami 

Key West - (Possible Tender)

New Orleans 

San Juan - Puerto Rico

St Maarten

Dominica

Kingstown - St Vincent

Bridgetown - Barbados

Fort de France - Martinique

Curaçao

Oranjestad - Aruba

Cartagena - Colombia

Colon - Panama

Panama Canal (Partial Transit)

Puerto Limon - Costa Rica

Roatan - Honduras (Possible Tender)

Belize (Tender)

Costa Maya - Mexico

Cozumel - Mexico (Possible Tender)

Georgetown - Cayman Islands (Tender)

Ocho Rios - Jamaica (Possible Tender)

Tortola - British Virgin Islands

Basseterre- St Kitts & Nevis

Antigua

Praia da Vitoria - Azores

 

 

[Eddie99]

Just to kick off with a couple

 

Kingstown, St Vincent

absolutely no chance of a pleasant stroll with a wheelchair.  It’s not a nice town, the roads are poor, pavements worse, no tourist facilities.  We felt tolerated but not particularly welcome

 

Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

Selbourne - I don’t know if you and Lady Selbourne are nature enthusiasts but we went on a great P&O trip to a nature reserve where we boarded small boats and cruised quietly through mangroves.  Saw birds, snakes, lizards, monkeys and sloths! I mention this because one of the boats was occupied by a young quadplegic man and his mum & dad.  They had the whole boat to themselves, with his hefty chair.  Costa Rica seems a lovely place

 

I’ve been to a few of the other ports but I’ll pause to allow others to fill some gaps.  (Is there a “Cruising in a wheelchair” sub-forum here?)

 

 

[Gettingwarmer]

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

My wife and I have booked the 65 night ‘Aurora’s America & Caribbean Discovery’ departing 3rd Jan. We haven’t been to any of the ports before (other than Miami and Key West, but that wasn’t on a cruise). We try to just look around the ports independently (from the ship or the shuttle drop off point, if there is one) rather than do excursions, as my wife is a wheelchair user and can’t use a coach.
 

I suspect that some ports are good for DIY and are nice places, whereas others may not be. Some places may not even be safe to walk around independently? We’re not beach people, but a promenade is always nice. We mainly like to see the towns and any significant sights that are ideally accessible without the need to travel from the port. However, if the port itself is completely naff, I’d rather know and get some ideas where we might be able to get to easily, perhaps by taxi? Also any ‘must see’ places, but keeping in mind the wheelchair!

 

I realise that this is a big ask and I don’t expect anyone to go through the whole list (although that would be absolutely fantastic if they did 😂), so any and all tips would be sincerely appreciated. The full list of ports is;

 

Hamilton - Bermuda

Nassau - Bahamas Walk from ship

Port Canaveral Not much at port

Miami Not easy at all to walk from port

Key West - (Possible Tender) If only one ship docked in town - ok right on streets. Sometimes in Navy yard with shuttle

New Orleans Walk along river into town

San Juan - Puerto Rico

St Maarten Can walk into town

Dominica

Kingstown - St Vincent

Bridgetown - Barbados Terminal is good for shopping and can walk as far as you want to go

Fort de France - Martinique Not much at port

Curaçao Easy to walk at port

Oranjestad - Aruba Easy to walk at port

Cartagena - Colombia Don’t think it was easy at port

Colon - Panama

Panama Canal (Partial Transit)

Puerto Limon - Costa Rica

Roatan - Honduras (Possible Tender)

Belize (Tender)

Costa Maya - Mexico

Cozumel - Mexico (Possible Tender)

There are bars at the port

Georgetown - Cayman Islands (Tender) Easy once off tender

Ocho Rios - Jamaica (Possible Tender) Best stay on ship rather than walk

Tortola - British Virgin Islands

Basseterre- St Kitts & Nevis Easy to walk off ship

Antigua Easy to walk off ship

Praia da Vitoria - Azores Not much at port. Shuttle to town. 

 

 

 

[TigerB]

We first visited the Caribbean islands in 2018 on Britannia, and again this year on Arvia.  I'll try and cover those that I can remember, most likely from this year. My recollection of the trip in 2018 is a little more hazy; I've slept since then!  I'm probably going to have to look at photos from that trip to remind me, and I'll come back at a later time to cover those.

 

What you need to have in the back of your mind is that most of the islands are dirt poor, and thus the road infrastructure is poorly maintained, and the footpaths, if they exist, worse still.

 

As a generalisation when describing the footpaths for most but not all of the islands, is that the kerbs are generally high, the dropped kerbs are sporadic and sometimes steep, most roads have wide and/or deep drainage gullies running alongside the footpaths, and sometimes large storm drains (the kind you see in the US).

In 2018 our lass used a real beast of a power chair, which alone weighed 100kg. It has big chunky wheels, and could go some. It was generally fine with most of the obstacles described above, but still did struggle sometimes.

This year she was using her new travel chair, a KWK foldable one with lithium batteries, which only weighs 30kg.  The front wheels are smaller than her previous chair and, even in the UK, usually has to go down dropped kerbs backwards.

Be prepared that, with you pushing your good lady, you are often going to struggle getting around some of the islands.

 

As far as accessible transport is concerned, generally there isn't any. Back in 2018, for the islands we visited, only Barbados had accessible taxis. The company is called Blessed Rentals, and they are used by P&O for the transport between the airport and the ship, and for shore excursions. Back then we were driven back to the airport by the owner, I think he was called Michael, and he was talking about getting a licence for one of the other islands, although I can't remember which one. I don't know if that came off, what with Covid and the problems it caused to tourism.

I would have thought there would be some kind of accessible transport in Antigua at least, as P&O fly into there. And for our (now) cancelled cruise next March we had booked a shore excursion in St Lucia, so they must now have accessible transport; perhaps Blessed Rentals.

Back to Barbados, we were told on our last trip that a few of the public buses are now wheelchair accessible, but we didn't see any.

 

I can't remember if you've said before about Mrs S being able to transfer to a car; if she can, and with her having a manual foldable chair, your options for using regular taxis would be much better than ours.

 

 

I'll post again with some island specific comments on the ones on your list that we have visited.

For now, I can concur with the views of Eddie99 about Kingstown in St Vincent. During our 2018 cruise that was probably the worst of the islands for a wheelchair user. Our lass, even in her beast of a chair, had to mainly boule along the road, with me along side her to wave traffic away. Not a good experience!  Consequently, we only spent about an hour ashore.

[Selbourne]

8 hours ago, TigerB said:

We first visited the Caribbean islands in 2018 on Britannia, and again this year on Arvia.  I'll try and cover those that I can remember, most likely from this year. My recollection of the trip in 2018 is a little more hazy; I've slept since then!  I'm probably going to have to look at photos from that trip to remind me, and I'll come back at a later time to cover those.

 

What you need to have in the back of your mind is that most of the islands are dirt poor, and thus the road infrastructure is poorly maintained, and the footpaths, if they exist, worse still.

 

As a generalisation when describing the footpaths for most but not all of the islands, is that the kerbs are generally high, the dropped kerbs are sporadic and sometimes steep, most roads have wide and/or deep drainage gullies running alongside the footpaths, and sometimes large storm drains (the kind you see in the US).

In 2018 our lass used a real beast of a power chair, which alone weighed 100kg. It has big chunky wheels, and could go some. It was generally fine with most of the obstacles described above, but still did struggle sometimes.

This year she was using her new travel chair, a KWK foldable one with lithium batteries, which only weighs 30kg.  The front wheels are smaller than her previous chair and, even in the UK, usually has to go down dropped kerbs backwards.

Be prepared that, with you pushing your good lady, you are often going to struggle getting around some of the islands.

 

As far as accessible transport is concerned, generally there isn't any. Back in 2018, for the islands we visited, only Barbados had accessible taxis. The company is called Blessed Rentals, and they are used by P&O for the transport between the airport and the ship, and for shore excursions. Back then we were driven back to the airport by the owner, I think he was called Michael, and he was talking about getting a licence for one of the other islands, although I can't remember which one. I don't know if that came off, what with Covid and the problems it caused to tourism.

I would have thought there would be some kind of accessible transport in Antigua at least, as P&O fly into there. And for our (now) cancelled cruise next March we had booked a shore excursion in St Lucia, so they must now have accessible transport; perhaps Blessed Rentals.

Back to Barbados, we were told on our last trip that a few of the public buses are now wheelchair accessible, but we didn't see any.

 

I can't remember if you've said before about Mrs S being able to transfer to a car; if she can, and with her having a manual foldable chair, your options for using regular taxis would be much better than ours.

 

 

I'll post again with some island specific comments on the ones on your list that we have visited.

For now, I can concur with the views of Eddie99 about Kingstown in St Vincent. During our 2018 cruise that was probably the worst of the islands for a wheelchair user. Our lass, even in her beast of a chair, had to mainly boule along the road, with me along side her to wave traffic away. Not a good experience!  Consequently, we only spent about an hour ashore.

Thanks. This isn’t sounding very good. I hope that we haven’t made a very expensive mistake by booking this cruise 😱. Your explanation probably explains why there are so few ‘accessible’ excursions on offer and all but one of them are ‘sold out’ (we’ve booked the one that wasn’t - in St Kitts).
 

The one glimmer of hope is that my wife can transfer to and from a taxi with my assistance, so we might be able to do some ‘taxi tours’ (assuming that these are available in certain places and safe to do so). They sound like the sort of places where hiring a car may not be easy or wise (even if they do exist). 
 

Hopefully someone will be able to reassure me that there will be some places where we can just wander around from the ship with me pushing the chair and at least feel that we have ‘been there’?

[Ilovemygarden]

I’ve cruised in the Caribbean many times and have visited most, if not all of your ports.  I have no experience of wheelchairs though but will mention the ports I remember as easy to walk round. I agree about Kingston and would stay on board that day.  Aruba, Curaçao, Antigua, St Lucia (if you get the right berth), St Kitts, Bermuda and Nassau I remember as easy to walk round. Also Key West  if you berth is pretty flat and you should be ok in Miami. Barbados, Costa Rica and Tortola I’d investigate the possibility of transport as there are interesting things to see.  Sounds like a wonderful trip - I had a look at it myself yesterday as the solo price is now pretty good too but exercised restraint! 

[Peanut006]

Cozumel - was there in 2017, no tender which was good.
 

We got a taxi to Nachi Cocom a private beach resort with also a pool area and lunch was included in the price. I had a collapsible wheelchair with me and I remember was using it around the resort.

 

There are also quite a number of shops around Cozumel port area

 

Michelle

 

 

[Ilovemygarden]

10 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Thanks. This isn’t sounding very good. I hope that we haven’t made a very expensive mistake by booking this cruise 😱. Your explanation probably explains why there are so few ‘accessible’ excursions on offer and all but one of them are ‘sold out’ (we’ve booked the one that wasn’t - in St Kitts).
 

The one glimmer of hope is that my wife can transfer to and from a taxi with my assistance, so we might be able to do some ‘taxi tours’ (assuming that these are available in certain places and safe to do so). They sound like the sort of places where hiring a car may not be easy or wise (even if they do exist). 
 

Hopefully someone will be able to reassure me that there will be some places where we can just wander around from the ship with me pushing the chair and at least feel that we have ‘been there’?

There are many taxis in every port plying for trade and car hire is fine too although the only place we ever pre booked that  was in Barbados.  Particularly easy for us as on so many of the islands they drive on the left. 

[Peanut006]

St Martaan - we walked(wheelchair)through the port area, lots of tourist shops bars and on the road/pavement into the town. Lots of shops and bars and a beach directly in front of the shops on a paved walkway.

 

Aruba - in the morning walked(wheelchair)into the town, had a look around some nice shops. In the afternoon we took a taxi to Palm Beach. There were wooden walkways on the beach, they found sun beds for us directly next to the walkway 

 

Michelle

[Eddie99]

16 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Thanks. This isn’t sounding very good. I hope that we haven’t made a very expensive mistake by booking this cruise 😱. Your explanation probably explains why there are so few ‘accessible’ excursions on offer and all but one of them are ‘sold out’ (we’ve booked the one that wasn’t - in St Kitts).
 

The one glimmer of hope is that my wife can transfer to and from a taxi with my assistance, so we might be able to do some ‘taxi tours’ (assuming that these are available in certain places and safe to do so). They sound like the sort of places where hiring a car may not be easy or wise (even if they do exist). 
 

Hopefully someone will be able to reassure me that there will be some places where we can just wander around from the ship with me pushing the chair and at least feel that we have ‘been there’?

No - you’ll be fine

Here’s what I know/remember

 

Hamilton - Bermuda

Nassau - Bahamas

Port Canaveral 

Miami 

Key West - (Possible Tender)

New Orleans 

San Juan - Puerto Rico

St Maarten - long promenade/boardwalk

Dominica

Kingstown - St Vincent

Bridgetown - Barbados - flat easy walk to centre

Fort de France - Martinique - boardwalk from ship to centre.  V French. Lovely 

Curaçao - beautiful. Flat easy walk

Oranjestad - Aruba - can’t remember but suspect it was flat &c easy.  V American 

Cartagena - Colombia - fascinating but town is not walkable from dock..  Extremely hot 40C+

Colon - Panama - port area not nice

Panama Canal (Partial Transit) - you’ll be aboard ship!  Enjoy!

Puerto Limon - Costa Rica

Roatan - Honduras (Possible Tender)

Belize (Tender)

Costa Maya - Mexico

Cozumel - Mexico (Possible Tender)

Georgetown - Cayman Islands (Tender)

Ocho Rios - Jamaica (Possible Tender)

Tortola - British Virgin Islands - poor roads near dock

Basseterre- St Kitts & Nevis - you’re sorted 

Antigua  - lovely island ? taxi tour

Praia da Vitoria - Azores. lovely.  Like Portugal.  Tiled prom 

 

Look at other providers (Cruising Excursions etc) for more inspiration 

 

[Peanut006]

Nassau - we walked ( wheelchair )through the port area with lots of shops to browse through. Turned right out of the port are and followed the road for about 15 minutes to Junkanoo Beach. Got a couple of sun beds drinks included. Toilet facilities available.

 

San Juan - docked close to town centre. Walked(wheelchair) up to the castle and then cdd and me back through the town. Pavements are not the best but we managed ok.

 

Antigua - picked up a taxi at the port and did a tour of the Island. Lots of taxis available 

 

Michelle

[terrierjohn]

Do not worry @Selbourne, we have visited many of the ports on your list and although we have occasionally had to double back to find a dropped kerb we have always managed. 

Many of the ports have shopping areas in the port area, and these are always wheelchair friendly.

TBH we have only taken a private taxi in Guadeloupe, but I am fairly certain they are available in many ports.

We only usually spend an hour or 2 ashore, and although some places can feel intimidating we have generally found the locals to be very friendly, maybe it's the wheelchair that makes them sympathetic to us.

I feel sure you will have a fantastic holiday.

[Gettingwarmer]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Thanks. This isn’t sounding very good. I hope that we haven’t made a very expensive mistake by booking this cruise 😱. Your explanation probably explains why there are so few ‘accessible’ excursions on offer and all but one of them are ‘sold out’ (we’ve booked the one that wasn’t - in St Kitts).

As per my post there are lots of places where you can walk from ship and get a taste of the area especially Curaçao and Aruba. 

[Selbourne]

This is invaluable info folks. Sincere thanks. Please keep them coming. I’m making copious notes!
 

As it sounds as though any shuttles may not be accessible, I’d really appreciate some clarity on which ports use shuttles (where we might definitely have to use a taxi to get anywhere decent) and those where a shuttle or taxi would not be necessary and the ‘nice’ areas are an easy walk from the ship. My wife’s wheelchair is a manual one and I push her. We can therefore cope without dropped kerbs, as long as the kerbs aren’t too high.

[terrierjohn]

2 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

This is invaluable info folks. Sincere thanks. Please keep them coming. I’m making copious notes!
 

As it sounds as though any shuttles may not be accessible, I’d really appreciate some clarity on which ports use shuttles (where we might definitely have to use a taxi to get anywhere decent) and those where a shuttle or taxi would not be necessary and the ‘nice’ areas are an easy walk from the ship. My wife’s wheelchair is a manual one and I push her. We can therefore cope without dropped kerbs, as long as the kerbs aren’t too high.

I cannot think of any Caribbean port that required a shuttle, however Fort Lauderdale and Port Canaveral felt far too intimidating to DIY, and by that time in the cruise we were more than happy to have a relaxing day on board.

[GOQ]

12 hours ago, Selbourne said:

My wife and I have booked the 65 night ‘Aurora’s America & Caribbean Discovery’ departing 3rd Jan. We haven’t been to any of the ports before (other than Miami and Key West, but that wasn’t on a cruise). We try to just look around the ports independently (from the ship or the shuttle drop off point, if there is one) rather than do excursions, as my wife is a wheelchair user and can’t use a coach.
 

I suspect that some ports are good for DIY and are nice places, whereas others may not be. Some places may not even be safe to walk around independently? We’re not beach people, but a promenade is always nice. We mainly like to see the towns and any significant sights that are ideally accessible without the need to travel from the port. However, if the port itself is completely naff, I’d rather know and get some ideas where we might be able to get to easily, perhaps by taxi? Also any ‘must see’ places, but keeping in mind the wheelchair!

 

I realise that this is a big ask and I don’t expect anyone to go through the whole list (although that would be absolutely fantastic if they did 😂), so any and all tips would be sincerely appreciated. The full list of ports is;

 

Hamilton - Bermuda

Nassau - Bahamas

Port Canaveral 

Miami 

Key West - (Possible Tender)

New Orleans 

San Juan - Puerto Rico

St Maarten

Dominica

Kingstown - St Vincent

Bridgetown - Barbados

Fort de France - Martinique

Curaçao

Oranjestad - Aruba

Cartagena - Colombia

Colon - Panama

Panama Canal (Partial Transit)

Puerto Limon - Costa Rica

Roatan - Honduras (Possible Tender)

Belize (Tender)

Costa Maya - Mexico

Cozumel - Mexico (Possible Tender)

Georgetown - Cayman Islands (Tender)

Ocho Rios - Jamaica (Possible Tender)

Tortola - British Virgin Islands

Basseterre- St Kitts & Nevis

Antigua

Praia da Vitoria - Azores

 

 

Nassau - The town is accessible from the ship, mostly flat with the local beach about 30 minutes walk away.

Port  Canaveral - Everything is quite away from the port, you will really need an Uber, Taxi or take a coach trip. If the coaches have wheelchair facilities I would recommend the Kennedy Space Centre, it's flat and everywhere is accessible, the transfer busses to the Saturn 5 Rocket has wheel chair spaces.

Miami - Again, Everything is quite away from the port, you will really need an Uber, Taxi or take a coach trip.

St Maarten - I bit of a walk to the town, but there is a footpath along side the road, but it gets busy.

Dominica - A bit scruffy with potholes in the pavements.

Bridgetown - A good walk into town but quite nice and accessible.

Fort de France - This was quite a time ago, but I don't recall having any problems, I walk with a stick.

Curacao - Flat everything nearby.

Oranjestad - Flat everything nearby.

Roatan - an enclosed Tourist facility near the ship with a beach, if you want to go outside the port you will need a coach trip or taxi.

Belize - As Roatan, the town itself is walkable but a bit scruffy with heavy traffic. Really need a coach trip.

Basseterre - Town nearby, walkable.

Antigua - Town nearby, walkable.

 

Hope this helps

 

Paul

 

 

[bee-ess]

To add to Gettingwarmer's list we have been to San Juan and just looked back on the photos and that looks Ok to walk around with a wheelchair.

 

Dominica - Roseau town is a bit run down and I imagine would be difficult with the state of the kerbs and pavements. It is a nice island if you can get out of town, there is a good botanical gardens not far out of town that overlooks the port that is good if you can get a taxi to take you up there.

 

St Maarten - it is about 15-20 mins walk into town. There is also a boat that runs from the ship to town but not sure how practical that would be.

 

Willemstad Curacao - As Gettingwarmer says this would be a good one to just walk around the port, easy walk into the town with pretty coloured buildings. 

 

Ochos Rios - echo what Gettingwarmer says, even if you can dock it is not a very nice place to walk around.

 

If you can use taxis - In most of the Caribbean ports there will be taxi drivers who will take you around for a tour, they usually tout for business as soon as you are off the ship.  

[Peanut006]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

This is invaluable info folks. Sincere thanks. Please keep them coming. I’m making copious notes!
 

As it sounds as though any shuttles may not be accessible, I’d really appreciate some clarity on which ports use shuttles (where we might definitely have to use a taxi to get anywhere decent) and those where a shuttle or taxi would not be necessary and the ‘nice’ areas are an easy walk from the ship. My wife’s wheelchair is a manual one and I push her. We can therefore cope without dropped kerbs, as long as the kerbs aren’t too high.

I am sure you both will be absolutely fine and will have a wonderful holiday. NB my wheelchair is a manual one too 

 

Michelle

[TigerB]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Thanks. This isn’t sounding very good. I hope that we haven’t made a very expensive mistake by booking this cruise 😱. Your explanation probably explains why there are so few ‘accessible’ excursions on offer and all but one of them are ‘sold out’ (we’ve booked the one that wasn’t - in St Kitts).
 

The one glimmer of hope is that my wife can transfer to and from a taxi with my assistance, so we might be able to do some ‘taxi tours’ (assuming that these are available in certain places and safe to do so). They sound like the sort of places where hiring a car may not be easy or wise (even if they do exist). 
 

Hopefully someone will be able to reassure me that there will be some places where we can just wander around from the ship with me pushing the chair and at least feel that we have ‘been there’?

 

Sorry, I didn't mean to rain on your parade, and don't let me either!  You need to know what to expect, and I will tell it how it is.

You though are in a slightly different position to us; you are pushing a lightweight chair so will likely find it easier to gently drop it down from awkward kerbs, and lift the front wheels so she can get into shops where there is a very small step.  Your good lady can transfer to cars, and you can fold the chair easily enough.  In 2018 our lass couldn't experience any of those things; her chair was far too heavy for me to assist, and obviously, no vehicle could carry it.  I do remember a funny encounter on one of the islands though.  You will find that as soon as you leave the secure port area there are loads of 'taxi' drivers begging for trade. One guy, obviously not licenced, was offering us a tour; I responded that it was impossible, and gestured to our lass.  With that, he gestured to his mate and then to his flat bed pick-up truck, then said that they could lift her and her wheelchair onto the back of it.  That's a wheelchair of 100kg alone, plus our lass. I looked at him and just said, "No, it ain't happening mate", and we went on our way.  He wasn't deterred though, trying to gather assistance from more pals as we walked/bouled away. 

In some circumstances, her current chair is better, in that it can be put into neutral and is light enough for me to assist her up and down awkward dropped kerbs, and it can fold so we can use certain vehicles.

 

None of the Caribbean islands we have visited had shuttles; generally, the ports and right next to the main town.

 

As you do, we also just have a walk/boule around the town for an hour or two, just to soak up the atmosphere, and maybe get some local items or tourist tat.   You will certainly be able to do that at most of the islands we have visited.  The only one we ever felt unsafe in was Kingstown, St Vincent.

 

 

Footnote:

So as not to confuse you and others, up here in the Hull area, 'boule' means 'to wheel'; as in, "I saw her boule the tansad (pram) up Hessle Road".

[terrierjohn]

St Maarten--I wonder if anyone knows if the shuttle ferries are wheelchair accessible, that would certainly be much quicker than the walk into town.

Ocho Rios - there is a Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville outdoor shopping centre just outside the port entrance, with cafe bar and a rather nice ice cream stall.

Bridgetown Barbados- the boardwalk alongside the inlet is a good place to spot the odd turtle.

Martinique -- being on a smaller ship you could be berthed right in the town centre, being on Ventura we were berthed about a 20 minute into the town.

[Eddie99]

My previous post was done in a rush, as I wanted to get out with the dog whilst it was nice & sunny.  So, I’ll expand on a couple of places

 

St Maarten - the resort is quite big, with a long, flat, promenade - sea one side, shops and bars on the other.  You will like it.

It’s a boring hot walk to get there, on a busy road.  You will feel safe though.

Investigate the “passenger ferry” which cuts out the road.  It’s a slick operation and I suspect it will be roll on/roll off.  Cheap enough, and quick

 

Cartagena - if you research and feel you can’t face the heat and a taxi, then the port area is charming.  There is a sizeable aviary/bird park, which you go inside and watch the goings-on.  Snacks and drinks.  We had the biggest, fiercest G&Ts ever, and a fish cerviche snack which was glorious. Get a coffee! It’s sooooo good.

 

Colon - pronounced like we say Cologne, rather than a bowel part!

 

Puerto Limon - there is a sizeable indoor/covered craft market at the dock, with nice things, not tourist tat

 

… and that’s me probably “memoried out”.  I’ll come back if anything jogs my memory

 

Have you looked at the Ports of Call section here?  There’s probably some decent info on some of the less (P&O) visited ports

You will have a great time!

 

Edited October 15, 2023 by Eddie99

[TigerB]

Right, now to the ports on your list that we have visited:

 

Willemstad, Curacao:

We visited in 2018; our lass had no problems in her big chair, and neither will you with a manual chair.  As I recall, the walk from the quayside was quite level; you cross the water on this pontoon bridge:

 

The town centre generally has wide pavements, and the dropped kerbs were fine; there were one or two pedestrianised areas, and they have a European style pavement café culture.

Here are some photos to illustrate...

 

 

 

I can reassure you that you won't have any problems here🙂

[Eddie99]

Selbourne - I searched the water taxi issue and found this website 

Looks like it might be handy for you for the whole trip? 
Nice, encouraging pics there, and from TigerB, above 

 

https://spintheglobe.net/dir/2019/10/02/cruise-port-of-call-wheelchair-accessibility-review-philipsburg-sint-maarten-st-martin/

 

[TigerB]

Oranjestad, Aruba:

We were also here in 2018, and like Willemstad, with its western European colonial history, the road and footpath infrastructure is similar.  Even footpaths, decent dropped kerbs, and pedestrianised areas.  There are trams running through the centre, but they are not wheelchair accessible.

Our lass didn't encounter any real problems, and neither will you.

Some photos to illustrate:

 

 

 

 

 

[Selbourne]

12 hours ago, Gettingwarmer said:

 

@Gettingwarmer I cannot see your post?

 

Edit - apologies. Just noticed you have put comments alongside my post. Sincere thanks 👍

Edited October 15, 2023 by Selbourne