W/C Accessible St. Thomas Island Tour & Shopping?

[Beth Y]

Hi,

 

I contacted Princess Access Compliance and was told that the only wheelchair accessible shore excursion on our 2/8/09 Crown Princess cruise is the St. Thomas Island Tour & Shopping, and that we should contact the Shore Excursion desk onboard to reserve the bus with the wheelchair lift. Has anyone taken this tour, and if so, was it worthwhile? Thanks!

 

Beth

[leoandhugh]

If you need a vehicle with a wheelchair lift, can I assume that you can't get out of the chair? One of the problems with shopping in Charlotte Amalie is that the sidewalks are narrow, often crowded and some are without cut curbs. In addition, several of the stores in town have a step or two up in order to enter. The shops at Havensight adjacent to the cruise pier are generally more managable and less crowded than those downtown.

[DisneyKidsDad]

We took this St. Thomas tour a few years ago. We booked it on our own. The day we docked, we had a choice of an open air trolly or an air conditioned bus. We chose the bus. Both had a wheelchair lift. The tour was about 2.5 hours long. It was a very nice tour. We shopped by the dock and had no trouble getting around with the wheelchair.

 

http://www.accessvi.com/index.html

[Beth Y]

Thanks for the replies. My husband is the wheelchair user, and he is not a shopper (he'll find a shady spot to read while I shop) so no problem if the shops aren't accessible. As long as the bus has a wheelchair lift, this tour should be fine. We were last in St. Thomas 32 years ago on our honeymoon cruise, and we're looking forward to doing the island tour once again!

 

Beth

[Arlened236]

We took this tour in St Thomas...and it was great. I am in a wheelchair for distances and my husband is not a shopper (where do you find one that is?) and he enjoyed it very much...there were 4 of us in scooters or wheelchairs, plus family's on the bus. We saw a lot of the island and the driver was full of information and good humor. There is a lift for the w/c or scooters and any one that wanted to get off it was not problem...just took a few minutes. There were also stops for the bathroom (which was accessible)

We booked the tour thru Princess...but the bus stops near where the ships dock, so many people booked on their own.

Enjoy your trip

Arlene

[Travel Wiz]

Hi,

 

My husband is a C5 in an electric wheelchair and we have been to the island twice and are headed there for our third time in March.

 

There are a couple of wheelchair accessible transportation options available in Charlotte Amalie. When we visited in 2006, Chilly’s taxi service offered a full-size van complete with electric lift. Chilly’s dropped us off in the center of Charlotte Amalie (shopping area) and picked us up several hours later in town right on schedule. There are pictures of his wheelchair accessible taxi (which is a large, white van) on a website called AbilityTrip.

 

 

 

An accessible tour trolley is also available, however, we used this company for a tour, not for shopping, and we did not book through Princess. The sightseeing tour we used was called Accessible Adventures and there are also pictures on the AbilityTrip website of the vehicle and ramp. On this particular trip, we more interested in seeing the island, so you should email the company or call to find out exactly where the trolly goes. I'm pretty sure they will take you where ever you want if you book ahead.

 

 

 

Both of these options worked out great for us, espeicially Chilly's taxi service because he has air conditioning and it gets pretty hot on the island. I can't remember if Accessible Adventures had air or not.

 

 

I hope this helps! Have a great cruise!!

 

 

:)

[sdaniel105]

Has anyone found an equivalent to AccessVI on St Maarten?

 

Sean

[DisneyKidsDad]

Hi,

 

My husband is a C5 in an electric wheelchair and we have been to the island twice and are headed there for our third time in March.

 

There are a couple of wheelchair accessible transportation options available in Charlotte Amalie. When we visited in 2006, Chilly’s taxi service offered a full-size van complete with electric lift. Chilly’s dropped us off in the center of Charlotte Amalie (shopping area) and picked us up several hours later in town right on schedule. There are pictures of his wheelchair accessible taxi (which is a large, white van) on a website called AbilityTrip.

 

 

 

An accessible tour trolley is also available, however, we used this company for a tour, not for shopping, and we did not book through Princess. The sightseeing tour we used was called Accessible Adventures and there are also pictures on the AbilityTrip website of the vehicle and ramp. On this particular trip, we more interested in seeing the island, so you should email the company or call to find out exactly where the trolly goes. I'm pretty sure they will take you where ever you want if you book ahead.

 

 

 

Both of these options worked out great for us, espeicially Chilly's taxi service because he has air conditioning and it gets pretty hot on the island. I can't remember if Accessible Adventures had air or not.

 

 

I hope this helps! Have a great cruise!!

 

 

:)

 

I did a search for Chilly's taxi service and came up empty. The only one I could find was Dial-a-ride. Has anyone used them or does anyone have contact info for Chilly's?

[Travel Wiz]

Hi, We did not book Chilly online... when we arrived at the cruise terminal there was an information building on the left. We went inside and asked about wheelchair accessible transportation, and about 15 minutes later a white wheelchair accessible van showed up. I hope he's not out of business... the only thing I could suggest is call the St. Thomas Taxi Commission at 340/776-8294 and ask about accessible transportation. You could probably even give them the license plate number. We have a picture of the van, and the license plate reads: St. Thomas Taxi 0187 (on the back LP of the van) inside the van he had some kind of plate on the window: D2474. It should be easy to track down if you call the taxi commission. I wish we still had his card... If you figure it out, please post!

[DisneyKidsDad]

Hi, We did not book Chilly online... when we arrived at the cruise terminal there was an information building on the left. We went inside and asked about wheelchair accessible transportation, and about 15 minutes later a white wheelchair accessible van showed up. I hope he's not out of business... the only thing I could suggest is call the St. Thomas Taxi Commission at 340/776-8294 and ask about accessible transportation. You could probably even give them the license plate number. We have a picture of the van, and the license plate reads: St. Thomas Taxi 0187 (on the back LP of the van) inside the van he had some kind of plate on the window: D2474. It should be easy to track down if you call the taxi commission. I wish we still had his card... If you figure it out, please post!

 

Thanks for the info. I never thought of there being someplace at the dock. All we plan to do is go to Coral World. After that, my wife and daughter will be hitting all the jewelery stores. I'll get a "T" shirt and have a beer while I wait for them. :rolleyes:

[paml]

We have never had luck for accessible vans at the port. We did opt for the Accessible Adventures in St Thomas and loved it. The overlook over Megans bay is beautiful. We had a very informative tour guide. Very courteous with my son, who is in a wheelchair. In St Maarten, we did not find an accessible van ahead of time or at the port. We hiked over to Phillipsburg, which for me was a hot and sweaty hike coming back since we were booking it trying to make the ship! The boardwalk area was very accessible and beautiful as well as most of the town. That was the first place we had ever seen the stand up people movers. They also have bikes and scooters for the non-handicap.