playa del carmen excursion

[tangerine3]

Hi,

 

Our family is taking their first cruise next month. We have a son (23) who is totally wheelchair bound. We are taking the Carnival ship called Inspiration and one of the stops will be "Calica" about 3 miles south of Playa del Carmen. The have a land excursion that is for transportation and shopping/whatever in Playa del Carmen. Does anyone know if they have vans with lifts that take you to Playa del Carmen?

 

Also one of our stops will be Grand Caymen but you have to take a tender over. The disabilities coordinator for Carnival said he cannot go on this tender. But I have heard of privately told stories that the crew on the tender will actually help lift him in his wheelchair onto the tender. She told me that they wouldn't because of safety issues. The tender is owned locally by island people it is their own business. I'm wondering if she is just saying this because she is supposed to. Anyone had any experience with this kind of situation? And can you recommend any land excursion at Grand Caymen?

[darndean]

Hello,

I'm a powerchair using Quad who stumbled across this nature park in Calica. They had a bus with a wheelchair lift that picked us up on the road as we wandered around the shore. There was nothing in the shore excursion guide which mentioned a bus with a lift. Here is a link to the park where you can get more information. I was there in 2000 so you might want to verify that the bus is still available. Great park but the trails are a bit bumpy.:)

http://www.xcaret.com/services/xcaret-transportation.php

[DEL67]

We have been to Grabs Cayman on Carnival and other lines and my husband has been able to go ashore if he wished. In general, if the seas are calm, ship personnel will lift passengers in manual wheelchairs down the tender stais Power chairs are too heavy for them to do so. Power chairs are also more difficult ashore unless there are curb cuts.

 

My husband chose to not go ahore at Playa Del Carmen, but we also noticed that Xcaret was failry accessible.