The second stop on my 8-day Carnival Horizon cruise is La Romana, Dominican Republic. Originally an oil island, there appeared to be a large refinery or maybe a power plant burning something as we pulled in. There were several large estates around the port and many residential buildings in the distance. Aside from the cruise center, however, there’s nothing to do in the port itself.
I did have a nice view from my balcony room. The waves crashed up against the shore in front of an estate that had a helicopter pad, a pool, and even a golf hole. There wasn’t much else to see and it rained on and off the entire day. It was a relaxing stop, but not an eventful one.
There isn’t too much to say about the Grand Turk port on this stop. While the water is beautiful and there is a beach here, there isn’t much to do beyond the cruise activities and the cruise center itself. Note that there are no specifically wheelchair accessible activities provided here.
We only had about five hours on Grand Turk, which should indicate the lack of fascinating exploration to be done but again, it was a very nice place to dock and hang out for a few hours.
I’m taking an eight-day cruise from Miami on one of the newer Carnival boats, Carnival Horizon. Having cruised on the older Victory I’ve been happy to see many different things on this larger ship to keep myself occupied.
There are many technological upgrades that make it easer for someone like me who has mobility and upper arm difficulty. For example, I love that my cabin door opens and closes by pushing a button from the inside or tapping my key on the outside.
The “smart” elevator system was a little annoying at first because I couldn’t figure out how to use the accessibility features of the floor selection. However after two days, I’m really liking this feature because I only have to push one button. Once you are told which elevator to go to, you get in the elevator and it goes.
There are also many eating options not found on older ships. For example, yesterday I ate at the site down Japanese restaurant and today I had BBQ Buffet at the Guy Fieri restaurant.
A new addition to the fun is an IMAX theater which shows current movies as well as more IMAX-friendly features. There is popcorn and soda as well, and it doesn’t cost a fortune!
My cabin is 6207 — a wheelchair accessible balcony. It’s at the front of the ship and while it’s very quiet as far as other passengers goes, there seems to be a lot more noise coming from the outside in the form of howling through my balcony door. In addition, and likely because of being so close to the front, there’s the occasional slamming sound of the boat crashing down on the water. It seems like rougher water than other cruises I’ve been on so that’s understandable.
This is not my exact cabin but it is the exact same layout and this guy does a much better job showing it off than I could!
The bathroom is plenty big and has a roll-in shower and grab bars. The bed is pretty standard and the frame is heavy so it doesn’t move around when transferring, which is nice. The height is about 20 inches and there is clearance under the bed.
After spending a night in the Fort Lauderdale airport, I can confidently say that it’s better to fly into Miami for cruises departing from either Miami or Fort Lauderdale.
I’ve flown into Miami International for a cruise previously and there are many hotels near the airport that are both cheaper and more convenient, especially for wheelchair users. For example, at MIA there is actually a hotel in the airport itself and several very close to the rental car / train / bus station.
Personally, I’d opt for that convenience because it saves the hassle of having to find wheelchair accessible transportation to a hotel. In addition, it makes the task of getting to the port on a cruise shuttle easier as well because you can catch it from the airport nearby.
Once my wheelchair is taken from me at the airplane door, there’s not much I can do to guide how it is handled. It’s frustrating but if you are able to do what you can to provide notes, it can only be helpful.
I decided the best way to do this is create a one page document, print it, and annotate it in order to communicate the important things about my chair. Then I tape it to the seat so that it’s under my cushion. After I’m transferred off my chair and take my cushion, the instructions are right there.
Here’s a scan of my document:
I’ve received positive feedback from cargo teams who say they couldn’t have figured out how to manually push the chair. Every little bit helps!
You Should Go Anyway 
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