Cruise from San Diego

[sueart46]

Next year I'll be taking a cruise which embarks from San Diego. We would like to fly in a couple of days before we sail and do some sightseeing. I use a power w/c and cannot transfer to a vehicle. Does anyone have any suggestions for hotels, transportation and places to visit? Thanks.

[Splinter]

Cloud 9 Shuttle is the only one that has reliable lift van accessible shuttle service for the airport and port. There are no wheelchair accessible cabs in San Diego at this time. Bus service is nearly universally accessible in urban areas. The San Diego Trolley (light rail system) is accessible. http://www.sdcommute.com/

 

If you want to take the Old Town Trolley http://www.trolleytours.com/San-Diego/ (private on/off tours to most popular areas of San Diego) you need to make reservations at least 24 hours in advance. They try to discourage you from getting on/off much with their lift, but it is available.

 

I would recommend staying downtown or in the Gaslamp at one of the newer hotels. Most of these hotels offer shuttle service, and must of course (under the ADA) provide accessible service too if that is requested. You can find out about accessible hotels and features at http://www.accessandiego.com/ They also have a lot of information about what to see and accessible features of tourist areas.

 

At the San Diego Zoo they will shuttle you to different parts of the Zoo for free, but you must request this service when you enter the Zoo. I recommend taking the bus tour (a small extra fee or available in the ticket package), then using their shuttle to go back to places you want to see in more depth. There are steep canyons in the zoo, and moving sidewalks out of the canyon are not accessible, so the shuttle service is a great deal. Balboa Park and the museums there are accessible.

 

You didn't say when you would be visiting, but Petco Park (San Diego Padres baseball) is beautiful, right downtown in the Gaslamp, and has great accessible seating.

 

Of course if you want to rent a wheelchair accessible van, there are several companies available, but be prepared to pay at least $100/day plus delivery charges.

[sueart46]

Thanks for all the great information!

[katgar]

I agree about the Cloud 9 Shuttle service, we used them when we went on the Carnival Spirit last March out of San Diego.

My sweetie needs a w/c for distances and our friend is an amputee who has a power chair. Our friends rented an accessible van (ramp from side door) for the four of us, as we flew in a few days early. I don't know what company he used. We stayed at one of the many Holiday Inns in the area. (be sure you get directions!)

At the zoo, the guys got in for free because of their handicap, and us girls at a reduced price as their caretakers/companions! We were told at the entrance which areas were not accessible.

Cloud 9 picked us up at our hotel the day of the cruise with a lift van, and our friends at the port on our return. We stayed an extra few days post cruise and just got our hotel shuttle after the cruise, and when we flew out.

The memorable things at the port were that on arrival, we were pointed to a special area for paperwork (it had lower counters), and then an area for priority boarding. I think we were given a special card so the workers recognized our special status and got us in the right area. After the cruise, the porters were especially attentive to the disabled. I had a bag on my sweeties lap, and a couple on my shoulder after I found them. One of the porters came right up and offered his help. He took over pushing the chair, and called another porter to grab the bags. Both of these gentlemen refused taking a tip, saying they were happy to help us. I don't know if this would have happened if Gary were not in the w/c.

[Micmac]

An option for a hotel is the Sheraton at the Marina. It is minutes from the airport - and overlooks the ships in harbor as well. If there is a ship that will be coming in/going out - it is great because they come right past the hotel - there are rooms where the balcony is eye to eye with the balconies on the ship! That will definitely get you into the mood...

 

Have a great trip!

[Sundagger]

At the advice of several people, I booked the Holiday Inn - San Diego - By The Bay. It is directly across the street from the cruise terminal - I can walk across the street with my luggage.

[KL&KR]

Hi--if you don't mind roughing it a little, there is a tour in the back of a truck through the San Diego Wildlife Park (quite a distance north of town). They are set up to load wheelchairs/scooters in the truck (a ramp up to the loading platform) and take you on a "safari" through the back stretches of the park. GREAT photography opportunities and a chance to feed leaves to giraffes and get slobbered on. The road is rough, though; make sure your tie-downs are secure!

 

Kristen and Kathy

[sueart46]

Hi--if you don't mind roughing it a little, there is a tour in the back of a truck through the San Diego Wildlife Park (quite a distance north of town). They are set up to load wheelchairs/scooters in the truck (a ramp up to the loading platform) and take you on a "safari" through the back stretches of the park. GREAT photography opportunities and a chance to feed leaves to giraffes and get slobbered on. The road is rough, though; make sure your tie-downs are secure!

 

Kristen and Kathy

 

That sounds like something I would love to do!! Any idea how we could get there without our own van? Thanks.

[sueart46]

Our friends rented an accessible van (ramp from side door) for the four of us, as we flew in a few days early. I don't know what company he used. .

 

Thanks for the information. Could you possibly find out what company your friends used to rent the van? Thanks again.

[Hebe]

We are also looking for a hotel to book in San Diego. We are coming into Ensenada so location to port is not important. We figured we would stay for two days before we fly back home. We have never been to San Diego before so have no idea where to stay. I would like to see the zoo, take the trolley tour which told me it is wheelchair assessable and maybe Seaworld.

 

Should we try to book a rental car?

 

Thanks for all the tips

Deb

[Splinter]

You can do all of that without a car, but if you can easily transfer to a car, it would probably be easier to rent a car. Use the Accessible San Diego website above to find an accessible hotel room. If you have a car, Hotel Circle/Mission

Valley is a good area. If not, I would stick to Old Town/Downtown/Gaslamp Quarter so you can easily get to the San Diego Trolley and bus transfers.

[sueart46]

I would recommend staying downtown or in the Gaslamp at one of the newer hotels. Most of these hotels offer shuttle service, and must of course (under the ADA) provide accessible service too if that is requested. You can find out about accessible hotels and features at http://www.accessandiego.com/ They also have a lot of information about what to see and accessible features of tourist areas.

 

I've contacted several hotels but none will provide a w/c accessible shuttle. They don't care about the ADA!!! I encountered the same problem in LA. I'm in the process of filing a DOJ complaint there. I'm getting tired of having to fight these battles.

 

Does anyone know a specific hotel that can accommodate us?

 

Thanks

[Splinter]

I would recommend that you contact Accessible San Diego. They can help you with this. http://www.accessandiego.org/. Call them as you will get better service than if you e-mail them. Try to talk to Wes Johnson directly.

 

There are a number of hotels that just contract with Cloud 9 shuttle for their airport shuttles, and they do have accessible shuttles. When contacting the hotel, you MUST speak to the manager, and if they are not responsive, you call their corporate headquarters. The clerk at the desk will be clueless.

 

Also, Orange Cab now has accessible cab service. The only problem is that they don't have an airport permit, so they can't pick you up there, but they can take you to the airport, and anyplace else in San Diego as well.

[Starr Mtn]

It's been a few years since we flew in/out of San Diego.

At that time I was able, with great difficulty, using

the stairs to board the airplane. I was told we were

at the "commuter center".

 

However, not able to do stairs anymore. How do

we manage now at the San Diego airport? The last

time when we were flying home I asked for assistance

and was denied and told they would give me extra time

to pre-board. It was so difficult and I couldn't do

it again.

 

Thanks for your help...........

[Splinter]

If you are on a small plane (less than 32 seats) such as those that use the commuter terminal, they are not required to carry you aboard. The rest of San Dieto airport has jetways, so that should not be a problem if you come on a full-sized jet. This is true of all airports, not just San Diego. Always check to see what type of plane is scheduled for your flight.

 

(KLD)

[scooterfood]

The Embassy suites are close to ships, Sea port village and not far from down town Gas Lamp area Im a c-6 quad in a power chair and I have buzzed around all those places. You might try the Ability center they rent vans 800 242 4111.:)

[norcalal]

We just used a Van from the Port to Sea World. My daughter has CP and uses a power chair. I was "flying by the seat of my pants" when we got off the Monarch of the Seas to go to Sea World so my daughter could do a Dolphin encounter. ( the only accessible venue in the Western Hemisphere that I could find !!) We met Brenda in the port transit area and she had a lift on her van. She also picked us up and was 10 minutes early for the return. Her card reads Access Shuttle SD..619-454-5480 Not only reliable but a real nice gal to boot.

[ndsumfun]

I've contacted several hotels but none will provide a w/c accessible shuttle. They don't care about the ADA!!! I encountered the same problem in LA. I'm in the process of filing a DOJ complaint there. I'm getting tired of having to fight these battles.

 

Does anyone know a specific hotel that can accommodate us?

 

Thanks

 

 

We are cruising end of April. DH is confined to wc. The hotel we booked is The Dana. They do not have a wc accessible shuttle but they said they would provide one via Cloud 9 for us FREE. To/from airport, seaport, & surrounding areas within close proximity. They were very nice & seem willing to do what it took to be sure we had everything we needed for our stay.