Some questions to ask when booking a cruise.

Cruising is a great vacation if you do the homework, and ask the right questions of your travel agent. Big questions that you want to make sure and ask are as follows:

That they have a disabled accessible cabin available. These cabins are larger and have the grab bars, and shower bench. Plus it offers a clear path  for a wheelchair or walker.

Does the ship dock, or do you have to take a boat to get to the port? It is important because the cruise line will not assist you onto the tender. If you will be upset if you don't get to disembark at each port, then you will need to really get an answer to this.

Are there any accessible excursions? You must realize that most of the ports you will be visiting are in developing nations and are not bound by the ADA. If you are pretty active and can get into a full size van you should be OK, otherwise you might want to go with some people who can You HAVE to have a passport. They will not let you on board if you don't have one (you may be able to get a passport card but you need something to prove your citizenship). If you show up without one they will forfeit your payment and you will be out of luck.

lift you in and fold your walker/wheelchair/or other mobility vehicle.

Is this a REALLY a kid friendly ship? You don't want to take a trip if the kids in your group won't have any fun. Again do your research. 

Bring scope patches even if you don't think you will get sea sick. You just cannot tell how you will respond on a different cruise. It will save you in the end if you have it (better safe than sorry).

Cushion your trip with a day on both ends for jet lag. Several hours of time difference can really affect you and possibly wreck your trip.

If you can take short cruises, do so. It gives you a chance to relax without costing a fortune and you can book longer cruises on the ship and get a discount.

Be prepared to roll around like Jack Sparrow. I was in the eastern Caribbean and could not roll a straight line if I tried. You are on a ship and everything moves. Just get used to it.

There is something about taking a cruise that puts you back in touch with yourself. It is a primitive experience that has you out literally in the middle of nowhere. Today's cruises are luxurious by past standards but are part of a link from our past. Every civilization had at least one person that said "I am hopping in that boat and going to see what I can find". More later.

One week from travel.

Usually about a week before we travel we have several things that we like to complete. We verify that there will be a vehicle with hand controls with the car rental agency (see previous post on renting vehicles with hand controls). We do a pre-pack, this might seem unnecessary but trust me it is much better than being in line and being told that your bags are to heavy or won't fit in the machine. Plus it gives us an ideal if we are missing anything (sun block, specific clothing, and the like). Sure you can buy it there, but if you are going to check a bag any way might as well bring stuff you already have. We also make sure to contact our bank, and credit card company to let them know we will be traveling. They will put a travel alert on the card so that you do not have to worry about your card getting refused (plus it is nice to know if my card is used somewhere I am not traveling it will trip the travel warning).

I also like to bone up on the travel books. Also plug travel sites like Frommer's, or Lonely Planet or download APPS into my smart phone. This will save you in the long run if there is a specific place you wanted to go, without you looking like a total tourist (which you are).

I get really excited (and stressed) about this point so these steps are nice to be able to focus on and it keeps me from missing things. Now the count down is really on.

We Now Return. . . .

After a very long pause in my blogging status, I have returned to chat about accessible travel with a twist. While I was away I had some major life events happen. After several years we finalized our adoption of a beautiful baby boy. This led to me revamping my travels to kid friendly day trips, zoos, children's museums, and the like, that I didn't think would be that interesting. I needed to wrap my head around what this blog was going to become. I decided that I want to continue to focus on travels that are accessible, but also that are adult and family friendly. Now a year after my wife returned with our son we have decided to do a trip and teach our son the wonders of traveling. We are taking our boy to Hawaii.

We decided that we could all use a return to the beautiful island of Kauai. We have both been there before and really loved it. We started scouring the internet, talking to our travel agents, and talking to people who had stayed there before with kids. This is something new for us. We have always had to think about wheelchair friendly, but now we need kid friendly, and easy going too.

My wife who sparked this wonderful idea works with a woman who turned us onto the website Vacation Rental by Owners. It is a global network of home and condo owners who, as the website states, rent their properties out. We plugged in our requirements: wheelchair friendly (their term), kid friendly, and multi-room. There were many returns for our query. You have to be careful when going through them. You must know the measurements of your chair, what you are physically capable of doing, and most important look at the area. Figure out what is important to be around (i.e. grocery stores, resorts, beaches, or trails). Then start your search.

We were able to find several condos, and finally settled on a wheelchair friendly 3 bedroom home which sets us back a whole $175.00 per night. It is in a nice neighborhood, has a gas BBQ, beach toys and is 5 minutes from the beach. All for less than you can get a hotel in most cities.

We are less than 2 months from our trip and I will tell more soon about some very cool family friendly and accesssible tips as we find them.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Travel Agent

So you have seen all of the travel commercials and you believe that you can accessibly travel without an agent. Well you sure can. However you will not just be logging on to the travel sites and punching in your price and viola. You my dear traveler will be calling the 800 number located on the site and talking to their travel experts (just a warning, its not Shatner). Plus you will probably not be saving much if anything. The major problem is that we the disabled are a captive audience. We pay more for LOTS of things, you just have to get that through your head.

That being said, there are deals out there with discount travel agencies. I myself have been a member of AAA for their travel deals (although I hear Costco is good too). I went into my local AAA office and met with 2 very nice and extremely helpful ladies (Mary and Theresa). I explained my limitations, needs, and wants with my various vacations. I have booked Disney packages IE:resort stays and cruises, boutique hotels, and other air+hotel+transportation all while getting the AAA discount AND that doesn't count the many times I have used them for auto stuff. My opinion get a membership, but I have gone on a tangent.

Mary and Theresa have many contacts within the travel world that we (the public) do not have. They also have the luxury of being able to surf websites, talk to booking companies, and have (through their AAA purchasing power) purchased blocks of rooms and tickets that I as one person do not. They also have clients like myself who if questions should arise, they can call. They also travel extensively themselves so they may be more attune accessibility outside the United States.

Sure you CAN book a vacation without an agent. You can also fix your car and plumbing without a mechanic or plumber. Why place yourself in the position of many phone calls and emails with someone who may or may not know exactly what you need when there are trained professionals that can advocate for you so you can enjoy your vacation without being exhausted.