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

[gsmt47471015]

Although the post does not involve us it is fantastic to read and appreciate how members can be such a source of help and information and nice to see the boards been used for the benefit of others 😀😀😀😀😀👍👍👍👍👍

[lancashire_cruisers]

Hi Selbourne

 

You might find this website useful for New Orleans: https://www.neworleans.com/plan/accessibility/faqs/#:~:text=Is the French Quarter Wheelchair,can be enjoyed via wheelchair.

 A couple of things we did in NOLA were:

- Coffee and beignets in Cafe du Monde the cafe is open to the street and whilst busy it’s on one level. The staff were very helpful when we went. If it’s too busy for you they also have a stall in the shopping mall on the quayside where you can get your beignets to go.

 

- Wander around the market in the French Quarter

 

- Took a steamboat cruise on the Natchez 

 

We didn’t do Bourbon Street as our daughter was only 10 at the time but NOLA was a real highlight of our cruise and there was loads that we didn’t get to see.

[lancashire_cruisers]

Key West

 

Another link for you: https://fla-keys.com/travelers-with-disabilities/mobility/#:~:text=For getting around the island,provides accessible public bus service.

 

We did a trolley bus tour and got off and on where we fancied. The walk to the most southernly point of the US was flat as I remember.

 

Also key lime pie at Kermit’s is a must!

[TigerB]

Bridgetown, Barbados:

We were here in both 2018 and this year, so our lass has experienced it in both chairs.

The walk/boule from the port to the town is easy enough along the seafront, with generally smooth paths, albeit the surface can be a little rough for a few hundred feet; it will take you about fifteen minutes. Once you get into the town though you can experience problems with dropped kerbs, or the lack of.  There is no consistency. Generally, you will find the dropped kerbs at junctions: an example...

 

But that isn't always the case...

 

Often, when we were gong to turn the corner into a different street, I would leave her be and scout ahead to establish where the dropped kerbs were. So there may be a couple of times when you may find yourselves walking/bouling along a small stretch of the road to get to a dropped kerb on the opposite footpath. That said, we did find the drivers respectful to us when we were on the road.

It's not all bad though; on the waterfront there was a boardwalk, which our lass found really easy to boule along...

 

 

On our most recent visit we did an organised tour on our first day.  It was through P&O, so we paid a pretty penny for it, but it used one of the Blessed Rental minivans, which are wheelchair accessible.  As it happens, there were just us two on it, so it ended up being a private tour.  Our guide was fantastic.  At the end of it we got her private contact details, so we could organise a bespoke tour with her next March, and cut out P&O, but we've since cancelled that cruise. 

[mercury7289]

15 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

 

 

Wow,

What an adventure, my good lady is at the same stage as yours, apart from the every day issues that we have to deal with, my wife is seriously affected by heat and humidity, which rules out a lot of destinations. will be interesting to see how it goes.

Enjoy

[TigerB]

Kingstown, St Vincent And The Grenadines:

As previously written, we were there in 2018, when she used her big chair.

This is the area from the quayside towards where the town starts...

 

 

That, I'm afraid, is about as smooth as it gets.

 

 

Photos from the town...

 

 

 

 

This area next to the market was the most level part in the town, but getting to it was troublesome.

 

 

As I've mentioned previously, Kingstown was the only place that we didn't feel safe.

So, it's up to you, but you may decide it is only worth a walk/boule to the port shop to peruse the tourist tat and get a magnet.

 

 

 

[david05]

Puerto Rico: been a couple of times and felt perfectly safe wandering around on our own. The walk along the front usually has plenty of stalls selling a variety of stuff - some quite interesting.

Antigua: highly recommend taking the local taxi tour available when you leave the port which includes Shirley Heights and Nelson's Dockyard.

Tortola: One of the ports where there is now a big cruise terminal. The town is nothing to shout about. To see the best of the island you really need to do an excursion. Lots of private mini-buses but no idea where they go to or how accessible they are.

Edited October 15, 2023 by david05

[TigerB]

St Johns, Antigua:

We visited here in 2018, and of all the ports we visited on that cruise, this had the best port shopping area; it was really accessible and you could get a fair bit of cheap stuff.  Shops selling knock-off handbags were popular.

 

I can't recall exactly about the town centre, but I seem to recall that the kerbs were high and the dropped kerbs steep.

Here are a couple of photos...

 

That was an armoured cash truck doing a drop off / pick up, with an armed police escort.

 

 

Even if you decide not to go into the town centre, the area around the cruise port will keep you occupied for a while.

Perhaps it is one for a taxi ride to farther afield. 

 

 

 

Edited October 15, 2023 by TigerB

[david05]

Hamilton Bermuda: Do you know where you will be docking? I suspect you might dock at one of the terminals in the Royal Naval Dockyard (eg Kings Wharf). This is a 20 minute ferry or taxi ride to Hamilton. However, the dockyard and surrounding buildings are very interesting and from what I recall reasonably easy to walk around and pretty flat!

[bee-ess]

Maybe worth talking to this company to see if any of their tours would be possible.

Caribbean IslandTours.pdf

[Selbourne]

2 hours ago, gsmt47471015 said:

Although the post does not involve us it is fantastic to read and appreciate how members can be such a source of help and information and nice to see the boards been used for the benefit of others 😀😀😀😀😀👍👍👍👍👍

Yes I agree. On the whole, this is a great community and we all try to help each other out by sharing our knowledge and experience. I’ve hopefully helped others out over the years and I am most certainly deriving a huge benefit from everyone who is helping me out now. Dealing with disabilities can be very challenging and requires a lot of pre-planning in order to avoid getting into difficulties. I also like to make every port visit as enjoyable and as stress free for my wife as possible, as she has enough to deal with without me getting us into trouble! 

[Selbourne]

2 hours ago, mercury7289 said:

Wow,

What an adventure, my good lady is at the same stage as yours, apart from the every day issues that we have to deal with, my wife is seriously affected by heat and humidity, which rules out a lot of destinations. will be interesting to see how it goes.

Enjoy

Same issue here with the heat, so our plan is just to spend a few hours ashore to see each place and then revert to the air conditioned environment of the ship! Thankfully, as I do all the pushing my wife doesn’t have to exert any energy, but the lack of accessible toilets in most places tends to be another reason we tend not to be off the ship all day.

[Selbourne]

2 hours ago, TigerB said:

Kingstown, St Vincent And The Grenadines:

As previously written, we were there in 2018, when she used her big chair.

This is the area from the quayside towards where the town starts...

 

 

That, I'm afraid, is about as smooth as it gets.

 

 

Photos from the town...

 

 

 

 

This area next to the market was the most level part in the town, but getting to it was troublesome.

 

 

As I've mentioned previously, Kingstown was the only place that we didn't feel safe.

So, it's up to you, but you may decide it is only worth a walk/boule to the port shop to peruse the tourist tat and get a magnet.

 

 

 

I’m truly appreciating all of this. Many thanks 👍 Can I ask what was it specifically about St Vincent that made you feel unsafe? From the photos that you kindly posted it looks like it might still be worth a wander. We’ve been to worse looking places 😂 

[TigerB]

Basseterre, St Kitts and Nevis:

This was another one from 2018.  The cruise port shopping area was very accessible; you'll have no problems with a wheelchair in this area...

 

 

 

Having looked again at those photos, I think it may have been here that our lass got her knock-off LV bag

 

 

I recalled it hoyed it down just after we got off the ship, and had to take shelter for about ten minutes before venturing into the town area.

This is just as you leave the cruise port area...

 

This is the first street we walked/bouled along...

 

Remember what I wrote earlier, about high kerbs and gullies?...

To the best of my recollection, there was no dropped kerb when we entered that street, so she had to boule along the road for the first part of it.

 

 

Away from the dead centre of town, the footpaths were a little better... 

 

...but dropped kerbs were sometimes missing from where you would expect them to be... 

 

...and you would have to be careful of a sudden change in camber on the footpaths...

 

Independence Square was quite okay for a wheelchair though...

 

 

 

 

I recall sharing the jetty with the Jewel of the Seas, and we were so close you could have a proper good neb in the cabins...

 

 

Of course, there was the obligatory sing-off as they departed.

 

So, very hit and miss in Bassetterre.  As I recall, there were plenty of taxis available for trips, so that may be an option for you. 

 

 

 

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, david05 said:

Hamilton Bermuda: Do you know where you will be docking? I suspect you might dock at one of the terminals in the Royal Naval Dockyard (eg Kings Wharf). This is a 20 minute ferry or taxi ride to Hamilton. However, the dockyard and surrounding buildings are very interesting and from what I recall reasonably easy to walk around and pretty flat!

It just says Hamilton, Bermuda, so I guess it could be there. Would you happen to know if the ferry is accessible or if P&O provide a shuttle bus? If it’s 20 minutes from Hamilton I guess they’d have to and hopefully they might even have accessible shuttles. More chance there than the small Caribbean islands I guess?

[Eddie99]

For myself I’d say that cruise passengers are a pita for the local population in Kingstown.  One disembarks, walks across the dock, through the security gates and into the taxi-driver crush.  They’re all offering a wonderful tour and I expect they deliver - I believe St Vincent is a fascinating, nature-rich island.

If one choses not to take a tour and walks on, one is immediately into an area of cramped streets and local markets. Local markets for local people. No craft items, no tourist tat - it’s the stuff they need to get on with their lives - corn cobs, bars of pink Lifebuoy soap, bags of different-looking sweeties, screwdrivers, whatever.  The pavements are cramped.  There are stalls, on the pavement and in the road.

We didn’t feel unsafe but we didn’t feel welcome.  We were in the way and our presence did nothing to improve their lives - at first glance anyway.  Maybe at a deeper level through the whole island.

 

There is a lovely pub/hotel/destination called, I think, Cobblestones.  Its bar/restaurant is, unfortunately, upstairs.  No lift, afaik

 

There is a lovely cathedral which was behind scaffolding and screens when we were there.  I think you could check out whether you can get there.  It’s not terribly far - just awkward wrt roads, pavements,  kerbs, open sewers (yes, there was one 🤢)

 

These are all pre-C memories.  Things may have improved.  Research further.  Don’t be discouraged 

 

[TigerB]

23 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Same issue here with the heat, so our plan is just to spend a few hours ashore to see each place and then revert to the air conditioned environment of the ship! Thankfully, as I do all the pushing my wife doesn’t have to exert any energy, but the lack of accessible toilets in most places tends to be another reason we tend not to be off the ship all day.

 

Apart from the cruise port areas, you can pretty much write off accessible toilets elsewhere. Even in the cruise port areas, we have found them to be inside either of the gender specific blocks, rather than a unisex one; that creates additional problems in itself, as I have to assist our lass.

She has a catheter, so that is a pressure taken away.  But on an occasion where she would need a sit-down do, and that is usually with very little notice, it can be troublesome.  When we were in St Maarten, she needed to go urgently, and she only had the option of a block with a row of cubicle in it; there was no accessible one, and I had to assist her with that cubicle door open.  Luckily, the attendant on duty was sympathetic to her plight, and she blocked the main door to bar entry to anyone else.

[TigerB]

35 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I’m truly appreciating all of this. Many thanks 👍 Can I ask what was it specifically about St Vincent that made you feel unsafe? From the photos that you kindly posted it looks like it might still be worth a wander. We’ve been to worse looking places 😂 

 

3 minutes ago, Eddie99 said:

For myself I’d say that cruise passengers are a pita for the local population in Kingstown.  One disembarks, walks across the dock, through the security gates and into the taxi-driver crush.  They’re all offering a wonderful tour and I expect they deliver - I believe St Vincent is a fascinating, nature-rich island.

If one choses not to take a tour and walks on, one is immediately into an area of cramped streets and local markets. Local markets for local people. No craft items, no tourist tat - it’s the stuff they need to get on with their lives - corn cobs, bars of pink Lifebuoy soap, bags of different-looking sweeties, screwdrivers, whatever.  The pavements are cramped.  There are stalls, on the pavement and in the road.

We didn’t feel unsafe but we didn’t feel welcome.  We were in the way and our presence did nothing to improve their lives - at first glance anyway.  Maybe at a deeper level through the whole island.

 

To be clear, we didn't venture any farther than the town, so I cannot comment on the rest of the island.  I do mirror what Eddie writes; we saw all of that, and we certainly got that, "Are you local"? vibe.  But, going on further from that, in amongst the stalls selling all sorts of things (more akin to a car boot sale), I did see drugs exchange hands, and I was very conscious of the eyes on us from groups of boys of a certain age. I am not generalising or labelling here, but I do recognise a tea leaf when I see one.  After that, we made our way back to the ship.

Even after witnessing the armed police screeching to a halt in Antigua, and jumping from the back of a pick-up, we didn't feel as unsafe there as we did in that particular part of Kingstown.

 

 

[Bod53]

Selbourne, we are on the same cruise. Regarding Bermuda the consensus on a Facebook cruise group is that we will be docking in Hamilton itself. That said I know nothing is for certain, what's in port/hamilton has a link to the ferry service that states it is wheel chair accessible. 

[Eddie99]

We were due to take the ferry to Bequia from Kingstown last trip (early 2020).  Weather disrupted Ventura’s schedule, so we never got to mingle with the First Division 🙂.  It goes St Vincent, Bequia, Mustique.  Who knows who you might see!

.

It’s possible to DIY but that may be an adventure too far?

https://www.bequiatourism.com/gethere.htm

[Megabear2]

You may find this helpful, my friend Sarah who has MS and she and her husband travel the Caribbean regularly.  She said that this helped with their planning.

 

https://www.accessiblecaribbeanvacations.com/port-accessibility-reviews

[david05]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

It just says Hamilton, Bermuda, so I guess it could be there. Would you happen to know if the ferry is accessible or if P&O provide a shuttle bus? If it’s 20 minutes from Hamilton I guess they’d have to and hopefully they might even have accessible shuttles. More chance there than the small Caribbean islands I guess?

As has been said above by Bod23 the ferry is wheelchair accessible. I don't think any cruise line operates a shuttle as most get the ferry at least one-way and, time permitting, the other way on the local bus to see some of the scenery. Only smaller ships can dock in Hamilton itself but I don't know what counts as small!

Edited October 15, 2023 by david05

[TigerB]

Philipsburg, St Maarten:

We visited here for the first time in January; it was our first port after crossing the Atlantic, so everyone and their dog I reckon got off the ship.

As with other ports, the port shops were reasonably accessible, but they were nothing to write home about.

We did notice the boat that ferried folk from the quayside to the jetty at Great Bay beach, as mentioned by other in this thread. There was a massive queue for it.  It certainly wasn't accessible for a full time wheelchair user. It was no good for our lass either as, although she was in her folding chair, and can manage a few steps on a level surface with assistance, she simply cannot, even with assistance, manage a step up or down or more than a few inches. If your good lady can manage more than that, then it could be okay for you. 

 

 

Sorry, I don't have any photos that show the surface area near the port or in the town area, other than these...

 

 

 

 

If you choose to walk/boule to the main part of town, you turn left when you leave the secure port area and travel for about 700 metres along Juancho Yrausquin Boulevard, until you come to a petrol station; you can then cross to the back of tha,t and cross over a small pedestrian bridge that leads you to a group of shops.  That will take you about ten minutes and, although the footpath along the road is generally level, it is narrow and has seen better days.  At some points it is difficult for two wheelchairs/scooters to pass. And it is heaving with folk going from and back to the port area.  Our lass did claim a few ankles of folk who simply do not look where they are going, and certainly don't look below chest level. I think the final score was Lady In Wheelchair 4 - 0 Daft Pedestrians 😂

From the described shopping area, it is not far, and quite level to the boardwalk that runs along the main beach. The boardwalk is very accessible for wheelchairs, and there are plenty of cafés and bars along it, each with a differing degree of accessibility. 

 

Here's a couple of Google images of the boardwalk...

 

 

 

...and one of a cut through to the main shopping street, Front Street...

 

 

Front Street, where the tourist and boutique shops are, is also quite good for wheelchairs.  At some points the footpaths are quite wide and, although at one or two places dropped kerbs are missing from where you would expect them, for the most part the kerbs themselves are not that high, and at some points level to the road.  Also, although it is not a pedestrianised area, traffic was light when we were there and, when we were on the road, drivers were respectful towards us.

Here are a few Google images of Front Street...

 

 

We had to go onto the road to negotiate this obstacle

 

 

So, I would say that Philipsburg is totally okay for you and your good lady to visit.  If you can't get on the boat, the footpath should be okay for you, but please make sure that you take out a few ankles of daft and 'blind' tourists!😉

 

 

 

 

 

[Denarius]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

I’m truly appreciating all of this. Many thanks 👍 Can I ask what was it specifically about St Vincent that made you feel unsafe? From the photos that you kindly posted it looks like it might still be worth a wander. We’ve been to worse looking places 😂 

Nothing made me feel unsafe, and I have been there several times over the years. But you have to accept it for what it is, a working port which makes little or no concessions to tourism as few stay there; St Vincent has no tourist beaches so most  visitors are just passing through to nearby islands which do. If you can get there, the Catholic church at the far end of the centre is worth a visit (very unusual architecture, and does a lot of good work for the local poor), as is the Anglican one nearby.

[TigerB]

47 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

You may find this helpful, my friend Sarah who has MS and she and her husband travel the Caribbean regularly.  She said that this helped with their planning.

 

https://www.accessiblecaribbeanvacations.com/port-accessibility-reviews

 

That's a good resource! 👍