Today was ones 24th birthday and the plan was to celebrate by visiting the Cheesecake Factory at Dande Land Mall in South Miami. The journey consisted of catching the FREE Metromover and then travelling on the Metrorail.
The Miami Metromover and Metrorail has to be one of the best that I have visited thus far as all the stations have elevators and the rolling stock enables level boarding! One was particularly impressed that they actually inform you in advance when an elevator is out of order.
It is worth noting that the Dande Land Mall has both a North and South station thus it is important to check that you are de-boarding at the correct station. After doing a little shopping and buying presents, The Cheesecake Factory awaited…
Tomorrow, we return to Miami International Airport for the long flight back to Heathrow. The question is, where next?
Today, we docked at our final port of call, Nassau in the Bahamas. As one read on another blog (Curb Free with Cory Lee), that Nassau was pretty accessible, I decided to take Superbunny for a roll around the place. As expected the place was very accessible as opposed to other places on the cruise and a large proportion of shops and restaurants have level access…
After taking a short walk through the centre we headed down to Western Esplande Beach for another dip in the Caribbean Sea. Unfortunately, said beach didn’t have wheelchair access hence needed a little manpower. Whilst on the beach, it was only appropriate to get with the Caribbean culture and sample drinking from a cocoanut…
Tomorrow, one docks back at the Port of Miami (and have to be out of our cabins at 7am!). As it’s also ones 24th birthday, the plan is to head to the Dande Land Mall to visit The Cheesecake Factory (made famous by The Big Bang Theory) which is officially ones favourite place in the world! To get there, we will be using the FREE Metromover and Miami Metrorail system.
Today we docked at Georgetown in the Cayman Islands, one says docked but we actually tendered out at sea and then boarded tender boats to travel to the the main land. One thought it would be best to take the manual wheelchair just to be on the safe side. It was a good job that we did as there would be no way that Superbunny would be able to get on the tender boats! It took 3 strong men to lift oneself and the chair onto the tender boat…
The cruise terminal is located in the heart of George Town making it easy if one wishes to do a spot of shopping. In terms of access, it is worth noting that the pavements, especially outside the centre are not the best for wheelchairs. However, a large proportion of shops in the centre of George Town are wheelchair accessible albeit with temporary ramps…
One of the main draws of the Cayman Islands is its beaches containing crystal blue waters. As one wished to find a quiet spot, we headed out of the centre for around 30 minutes and stumbled across a quaint little beach full of palm trees. This provided the perfect stop to go for a swim in the Caribbean Sea with ones rapid deployment inflatable system! Immersed in clear blue water, one was able to spot an array of marine life whilst bobbing around…
Returning to the cruise terminal, one stopped off at a beach side Caribbean restaurant spotting a few iguanas as we eat!
Tomorrow we head to Cozumel which is located just off the coast of Mexico.
When one thinks of wheelchair accessible countries, Jamaica probably doesn’t spring to mind, however, we docked at our first port of call, Ocho Rios today…
Wishing to explore a little of Jamaica rather than staying in the resort town, one had booked a wheelchair accessible taxi courtesy of Jamaica Wheelchair Taxi to take us sightseeing tour around the local area, through Fern Gulley (which I was led to believe was a rainforest) ending at Dunn Falls. As one was unsure of the accessibility, Superbunny remained on the ship. Our driver arrived on time with a wheelchair accessible minivan which had a tail-lift at the back making it easy for both a manual and electric wheelchair to enter…
We started our tour by heading through Ocho Rios and its main street where it is possible to get a flavour of how poor the country is. Now, when one thinks of rainforests, images of exotic animals and the Brazilian rainforest come to mind, however, the Jamaican version seems to be simply a large amount of fern trees towering above you with a road winding through it! What is interesting is the amount of shacks at the side of the road with people selling trinkets etc. It is always amazing how people can make money in the middle of nowhere with the occasional car…
Next, one drove up to a viewpoint via a very poorly maintained road where it became apparent just how big our cruise ship actually is, towering over half of the town…
On the website for Dunn Falls, it looked fairly wheelchair accessible, however, in turned out that the majority of the site was on a hill with steep slopes making it difficult to roll around, even in a manual wheelchair.
Finally, our driver took us to a local takeaway restaurant to sample some authentic jerk chicken, before returning back to the cruise ship.
Tomorrow, we dock in Georgetown in the Cayman Islands.
Today, one headed down to the Port of Miami to embark on a 11 day MSC cruise around the Caribbean. Although the port is only a 10 minute drive away from the Hilton hotel, the driver of the accessible taxi charged us $40 whereas the other taxi that we booked to take our luggage only cost $15!
We boarded the cruise ship with ease and, of course, one got to skip most of the queues! Our luggage was took by the porters including the manual wheelchair and made its way up to ones cabins. Sitting alongside a cruise ship, it always amazes one how these can stay afloat…
Accessible cabins on MSC ships offer a generous space, perfect for wheelchair users and a fairly big wet room complete with a slightly small shower seat…
One rolled up onto the 16th floor to watch the ship depart from Miami just as the sun set. When one booked the cruise, we didn’t quite realise how posh the evening meal hence we were a bit taken back by it..
Tomorrow, one is at sea all day as we cruise towards our first destination, Ocho Rios in Jamaica.
Lets see what Jamaica has to offer as a wheelchair user!
Today, one headed to Miami Beach. It was simple enough to book an accessible taxi from the Hilton to the Miami Beach area (bar the fact that it cost $70 there and back!).
After promenading along the beachfront, one headed for the beach. Unfortunately, Superbunny became stuck in the sand immediately, however, a guy came over and informed us that you can hire a beach wheelchair. One had seen these online and was expecting to pay a little for it, but was pleasantly surprised that it was FREE. Although it was not possible to drive it personally due to the set up, it was rather exciting rolling along a sandy beach in an electric wheelchair…
We drove said wheelchair down to the waters edge and then, of course, a dip in the Atlantic Ocean was necessary…
With the temperature rising, one retreated to a beachside restaurant where we got a flavour of the Miami Beach atmosphere. One word, CHAOS!
A stroll was necessary to calm ones brain…
Tomorrow, one heads down to the Port of Miami to embark on our 11 day MSC cruise around the Caribbean!
Instead of crossing the pond with Virgin Atlantic as per the adventure in 2014, one opted for British Airways on this occasion albeit still in Premium Economy. In ones opinion, there isn’t much difference between the two airlines except from a lemon!
After a 9 hour flight, one landed at Miami International Airport. As per 2014, Superbunny had to be picked up from baggage reclaim rather than it being brought up to the plane door.
One of the good things about visiting the USA is that wheelchair accessible taxis are almost always available meaning that the trip to the Hilton Miami Downtown was relevantly easy to achieve.
As the Hilton is an international hotel chain, one already knew what to expect from an accessible room, especially in America. Apart from providing a spacious accessible room and wet room, it seemed as if the Hilton predicted the exact view that was wished for…
As one has a full day in Miami tomorrow before embarking on the Caribbean cruise, the plan is to head to the famous Miami Beach for a roll around and hopefully a dip in the Atlantic Ocean!
