Cruise line excursions or private

[hyacinth1]

Can anyone advise please. I am travelling with my elderly father to the mediterranean in May. He can walk a few steps but will generally be in a wheelchair for most of the time. We havent booked shore excursions yet as we dont know what is accessible. Carnival have suggested we wait until we are on board and discuss this with staff then. Looking at general comments, there are a lot of people that book direct with private companies. I wondered what would be best. The private companies seem a lot more expensive than the cruise tours. There will be 2 of us on some of the tours or 4 in some cases. Also how easy is it to pick up a cab at the dock ie in Naples & Izmir is it safe? and easy or is it better to do this in advance? the other thing is that dependant on how he feels. We could book in advance & then he doesnt feel up to it. Any suggestions would be gratefully received. Thanks

[katisdale]

I do both ship's and private tours. That said, I am still able to climb the steps up into a bus which is what is provided for the ship's tours. For tours with extensive walking (like in Florence that prohibits buses from their city center and the bus let you off and you have to walk into the town before the tour even starts) I choose private tours. If you have 4 to 6 people on a private tour it usually costs about the same or a little less than the ship's tour. Ship's tours are quoted as a per person price while private tours tend to be quoted as price per car or van. Also on the private tour you get to go where you want to go. In Normandy we did a private tour to the D Day beaches with a superb guide (John Flaherty of Hand Maid tours). The ship's tour went to the US cemetery, museum, and drove by the beaches. We went to the US and British cemeteries, walked the beaches, entered the German fortifications, had lunch at a local cafe and saw several other sites not touched by the ship's tour. It is a lot to decide BUT if he cannot go up the 3 to 5 steps to the bus then you really don't have that as an option.

[hyacinth1]

Thanks for replying. I think he will be all right getting up the bus steps, although it will be slow going. So I will probably research some private trips and see how he gets on, on the coach from the airport. thanks again

[letsgosomewhere]

Hyacinth, I thought about your posting last night. here is the thing.......For me, travel as a gimpy 54 y.o. with a busload of healthy happy anxious-for- you-to-get-moving vacationers is very stressful for me. Subconsiously, I always move faster than I should, or do something else bad for me and regret it later. Think long about this one, I'd hate to see your dad wind up too stressed to enjoy his trip cause he was "carried along" with the other travelers, when he really knew better, you know? For instance, last weekend we went out to lunch, and the waitress said, she would seat us upstairs, my DH looks at me and says, "we are going upstairs", I thought, "Oh, I really don't want to climb those stairs, " but they both had started up , so I followed. And it was a mistake, as I re-injured my injury.......I should have spoken up, but didn't. Vacationing, I always do better when I can control my own excursions. It's like crossing a street or a parking lot when a car will stop and motion me as a pedestrian to cross in front of their car, I shake my head and ask them to go first, cause I will always hurry, if someone is waiting.....it's human nature, I think.

[Reggae Mon]

I found a private operator who has a WC equipped van. He said he can handle 2 WC & 2 AB. He books on a 1st come 1st served basis. Check his site & let me know what you think. His price seems reasonable & he is flexible about the tour. Check the site & let me know what you think. I'm a single PWC user traveling solo.

www.gowithwheelchairs.com

:) Happy Cruising:)