It was mostly gray, gross, and rainy on the day we stopped in St. Maarten and the island itself is still rebuilding from the 2017 Hurricane Irma but you could still tell there’s a lot of beauty there.
I was lucky to book a last minute wheelchair accessible St. Maarten tour through the Carnival excursions and my friends and I hopped the accessible bus for a journey around the island. We visited both the Dutch and the French part of the island and our driver kept us very entertained and informed for the entire route.
The island has a lot to see, including many amazing beaches. I didn’t get to see people get blown off the beach by the airport runway but certainly if I ever go back, that would be the plan.
The port area itself was accessible enough to hang around in, but you’ll need transportation of some sort to get to any of the beaches on your own.
The first stop on my 7-Day Southern Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Fascination took us to St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. There was an accessible excursion available through Carnival so I booked a wheelchair space for myself. Unfortunately, the non-wheelchair spaces were all booked and my friends had to take a different excursion but that’s my fault because we booked it so late.
It was a beautiful day and I met the tour outside the port. The driver loaded me up on the lift to the van and we were on our way for an island tour with a few stops at scenic locations.
Our driver had a great sense of humor and was very accommodating to my needs. A few times I just wanted to stay on the bus while the others stepped off and he was happy to chat.
I did get off at the last stop though which was a beautiful overlook down onto some beaches and islands. I was also able to go souvenir shopping and the store was very accessible — bathroom and everything.
It was a short excursion, but just enough time for me. The island is hilly and the roads were bumpy. Two-and-a-half hours was plenty.
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.
You Should Go Anyway 