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.
In my endless quest to take advantage of travel deals, I picked up a mistake fare ticket that took me from Chicago to Lima, Peru, and back home by way of Toronto. I hadn’t been to Toronto before so figured what the hell? And it was less than $300 for main cabin and I got upgraded to first class on the two domestic legs of the flight. As a result, I found myself on a 48-hour journey to Peru jam packed with fun (and transportation!)
For both days, I enlisted the help of Wheel The World to plan everything on the ground, including a half-day tour of Lima followed by an AMAZING day going up to Machu Picchu. (Sofia at WTW was the best!)
I had no problems with the flight into Lima on Delta, as my chair arrived in fine condition. We got in late at night and thankfully I had booked a room at the Wyndham right at the Lima airport. It’s located literally next to the airport, over a short footbridge from the airport’s 2nd level — which has a ton of great restaurants in the airside food court. I highly recommend staying at any airport hotel if you arrive late after a long day or have a very early flight. I did not want to worry about getting a taxi or anything in the middle of the night and trust me, I wasn’t in the mood.
The hotel worked just fine for its purpose — a six hour sleep and a free breakfast — before we had to get up for our tour of Lima. In the morning we were greeted by our tour guide, a van driver, and another helper who was there in case I needed any assistance with my chair. I forgot to take pictures of the bathroom and the van we ended up using but we figured it all out.
The first van, however, was a little too short and since I sit very tall it was obvious that the ride would be uncomfortable. But after a phone call and a brief wait, a much taller van/bus arrived and it was wonderful not to have to crouch down for the day. The ramps were made more for a manual chair, and consisted of a set of two telescoping ramps that assume your back wheels line up perfectly with your front ones. As mine do not, we did our best to guide my chair up and down the ramp for the few times we got in and out of the vehicle.
We spent a lot of the next five hours in traffic, but it was a very nice way to get an overview of the city beneath the “Panza de Burro” or “donkey belly” gray sky. I didn’t mind the slow pace because it was very interesting to observe the people and the place. I even got to see all the treasures people were selling at every stop light — from inflatable kid-sized soccer goals to homemade popcorn.
As I’m more of a “show me as much as you can” kinda traveler, we made only a couple of actual stops to get out and wander around. It was a little chilly and I was still tired so that was fine by me! We spent the most time wandering around the Plaza De Armas De Lima or one of the main squares of the city. It was mostly flat and a lot of the side streets are mostly pedestrian dominated so even when there were not curb cuts I could safely roll in the street.
It had a little bit of everything, from a fountain to tons of students on field trips to protesters to amazing churches and many places to get souvenirs. Often times the souvenirs would come to you in the form of the aforementioned street merchants!
We had great luck to hear the military band play prior to the changing of the guard before hopping back in the van and heading around in a giant circle that led us through Miraflores and some amazing olive tress, but also right past Huaca Pucllana which is a giant pyramid being excavated right in the middle of the city. It was so surreal to see shopping areas and mini-mansions one minute and then this giant mound of old bricks being examined by archaeologists the next.
Our tour brought us back down along the coast where new athletic facilities are being built and it looked to be an up-and-coming place for recreation and relaxation along the water.
After the day of driving we got back to the airport in time to grab a quick bite and hop on or plane to Cusco for the second day of the adventure!
If I were to stay in Lima longer, I’d opt top stay in the Miraflores area as it seemed a bit more wheelchair friendly.
View from the airport hotel
Lots of purple, but French-looking architecture
The main square
Crazy wood entrance on this church.
There’s an accessible bathroom in this church but of course I don’t remember where it was. 😦
Tahiti has always been on my list and for the longest time I thought it would be so wheelchair unfriendly, I’d just get off the plane and be stuck on a beach with my wheelchair all week. Depending on how you look at it, that might not be the worst thing in the world! But Tahiti, and specifically Moorea where we stayed most of the time was almost perfectly accessible for my low key experience.
Having said that, I did not tool around in downtown Papeete at all and have seen that there is a lack of curb cuts there. I wouldn’t expect much in the way of true wheelchair accessibility anywhere, but my experience was barrier free for all the things I wanted to do.
My biggest takeaway from the trip is THE PEOPLE ARE AMAZING there. I don’t agree that French people are particularly rude, but if that’s your experience then you will be happy to know that the people in French Polynesia are perfectly wonderful — including the non-Tahitians.
The Flight to Tahiti
We flew from Chicago to Minneapolis to Los Angeles and finally to Papeete. This sounds like a lot, and it was, but the flight from LA to Papeete was only about eight hours. You could easily spend a day or two in LA to break up the trip. The main reason I chose these tickets was price! It was $550 round trip on Delta and Air France thanks to an alert I got from Scott’s Cheap Flights.
On arrival in Tahiti, I was carried off the plane by helpful flight attendants and crew on the ground. They had an ambulift truck to use since there was no jetway. The international flights to Papeete arrive infrequently so it was a quick breeze thru immigration, to baggage claim and out to my wheelchair accessible(ish) taxi I had booked about a week prior to arriving.
The taxi too us to the Papeete ferry port where we took a ferry to Moorea where we were staying.
Staying on Wheelchair Accessible Moorea
I booked all but one night on Moorea where we stayed at the Sofitel resort. It was amazing. We stayed on the resort the entire time except for one circle-island journey we arranged with the Moorea wheelchair accessible(ish) taxi company.
Accessible things to do in Tahiti/Moorea
On our day tour we drove around and visited the juice/alcohol distillery and picked up some great treats, including bottles of Tahiti Monoi oil which is amazing. We also headed to the Intercontinental resort to see the dolphin center and sea turtles. There are many little restaurants and shops around the island, but we didn’t do much shopping. We made a very nice stop up at Belvedere lookout and had an amazing view of the bay. The island is just beautiful.
Most of all, I just enjoyed relaxing at the resort. There were paved paths everywhere and great service. Breakfast was amazing and being over the water was very relaxing.
Staying one last night at the Tahiti Airport Motel
I don’t like messing around with getting to the airport, and especially when there are few accessible taxi options. Because of this we took the ferry back to Tahiti and stayed our last night at the Tahiti Airport Motel across the street from the airport since the flight was at 8am.
The room at the Tahiti Airport Motel
Very large bathroom at the Tahiti Airport Motel
It’s a very basic place to stay, but it had a HUGE wheelchair accessible bathroom in the PMR room on the first floor. MAKE SURE you request this room beforehand. If you have the taxi drop you off at the door, you won’t have to deal with the steep driveway or hills. But we rolled to the airport the following morning and although it was steep, I could do it in my power chair. There was very little traffic at 5AM so having to roll a little on the streets at the airport was ok. Just be careful. I would definitely not recommend trying to sleep at the airport the night before. It’s all outdoors and HOT.
Why you should go to French Polynesia anyway, even if you use a wheelchair
If you have ever wanted a true tropical experience, this was as close as I have gotten to an imagined island experience and I used to live in Hawaii. Moorea was what I think most people think Hawaii is. And while you can certainly find tropical experiences in Hawaii, the cost is likely more and or the hospitality will be less if you find somewhere affordable.
Even though you’re going to have to sacrifice a little bit in terms of accessibility, if you prefer to relax, watch for deals to Tahiti and just go anyway!
You Should Go Anyway 
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