Accessibility of West. Carib

Can anyone give me any info. on excursions in Mexico (Cozumel, Costa Maya, Progreso) for someone in a wheelchair? I have heard Mexico is pretty much inaccessible, but has anyone had any luck? Any info. appreciated...

Thanks

[sunnyam]

Hi there. My DH is in a wheelchair and we have traveled to the Western Carib on the Carnival Triumph. From what I recall we had easy access in Cozumel (1st stop). They had a ramp coming off the ship to the dock. There are several places to shop in cozumel in port so we did some looking around there. In order to get away from the port we had to hire a taxi. (Luckily, unlike similiar trips we had several people with us and they were able to lift both my hubby and his electric chair into the taxi.) We took the taxi to the main shopping area and that is how we spent our day.

Our next stop was Grand Cayman...well needless to say at that point Carnival didn't have a wheelchair accessible tenders so we didn't get off at this port.

Our last stop was Ocho Rios and that was also wheelchair accessible by the ramp to the dock. Again, shops were within walking distance.

All this said my husband has a curb climber on his chair which allows him to climb some curbs. We found that Cozumel was okay for accessibility. (Some shops even had accessible ramps for wheelchairs.) However, in Ocho Rios the curbs were very high and at one point my DH's only option was to ride on the side of the sidewalk...which was dangerous plus the shops in Ocho Rios were not as accessible and we were glad he had his curb climber for entry into some of them.

Hope this helps a little.

April

Hey Jim!

My sister is a quad confined to her chair and we have been to Cozumel 5 times, grand cayman twice as well as Jamaica. There are a few great options for you but first is the person in the chair confined? If so, are they fit or feeble? How many in your party that can help with transferring from chair to car seat? What do you like to do? Shopping, sight seeing, beaches, etc........?

I'll try to help if I can.

CruisinD

[KLD]

Check out the archived information on the Caribbean and Mexico on the Disabled Cruisers forum at www.cruisecritic.com

Thanks for the info CruisinD. I can transfer to a car. We like to going sightseeing and to beaches. Any suggestions?

Thank you

We met another ocuple on board our cruise on the Elation and when in Cozumel we were at the taxi area and i saw them going away and I stopped them and asked them what they were doing that day. They said they wanted to go to a beach but didn't know which one would work with the wheelchair - she was not totally confined to it. So we said to go with us to Chankanaab Park as there is a lot of concrete and we got a taxi van - that was big enough for her wheelchair. Worked out great and they had a great time. Of course she had to walk some on the sand but even when going in - they let her in free since she was handicapped otherwise it is $12 per person - she could be in the chair. Debbie