Europe Disabled Travel Advice, Accessible Tours Hotels, Accessible Holidays, Disabled Guided Tours By www.sagetraveling.com. Europe disabled cruises are much easier and much more enjoyable if you know what you’re doing. Sage Traveling provides list of 13 Travel Tips. These 13 Tips for Disabled Cruisers in Europe will help you navigate a few of the challenges that disabled cruise passengers encounter.

1. 13 Tips for Disabled Cruisers in Europe
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2. Europe disabled cruises are much easier and much more enjoyable if
you know what you’re doing.
These 13 Tips for Disabled Cruisers in Europe will help you navigate a
few of the challenges that disabled cruise passengers encounter.
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3. Sage Travel Tip: With so many
Sage Travel Tip: With so many
accessible European ports to choose
accessible European ports to choose
from, there’s no need to choose a
from, there’s no need to choose a
cruise itinerary that includes ports
cruise itinerary that includes ports
that are not accessible.
that are not accessible.
1 Research port accessibility before booking your cruise
Not doing this is a common mistake that disabled cruisers make. After
they book their cruise, they start looking into accessibility of the ports only
to find out that they are going to have to miss out on a few ports
completely because they’re not accessible.
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4. 2 Explore the ship on your first day
You’re going to be living on the ocean for a while. Why not find out
everything the floating city has to offer? Pools, casinos, restaurants, and
shopping are just a few of the common features on modern ships.
While exploring, you should also look into the Europe cruise ship disabled
access features. Cruise ships often have multiple pools, and some (like the
pool shown below on the left) may be more difficult than others for
wheelchair users to enter. Some parts of the sun deck may have lounge
chairs too close together for a wheelchair to fit, and you may want to
know about these areas while the chairs are still empty and can be moved
out of your way.
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5. Explore the ship on your first day
If you’re down on the promenade deck (shown below on the right), you
may want to know where the automated doors are located….when it gets
windy, the manual doors can be tough to open!
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6. 3 Larger groups are cheaper per person
Most excursions provided by the cruise lines use motor coaches that don’t
have wheelchair lifts. Consequently, at least some of your Europe disabled
cruise days will be spent with private tour guides. If you can split the cost
of the tour four or six ways, each person will pay less. After you book your
accessible excursion, create a post on www.cruisecritic.com to see if there
are any other disabled passengers who would like to split the cost with
you.
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7. 4 Find out about tender vs. dock
In each port, cruise ships will either pull up to the dock, or they will shuttle
passengers to shore using small boats called tenders. Tender wheelchair
access is much poorer than using the docks. Check the cruise itinerary to
see which ports on your Europe disabled accessible cruise will be docked
and which ones will use tenders.
In many ports, the first ships to arrive in the morning will get the dock and
the later ones will use tenders….confirm with the cruise line whether
docking is a possibility or a certainty.
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8. 5 Be skeptical of accessibility information you find on travel forums
Everyone who participates has the best of intentions. Unfortunately, there
is a ton of incorrect Europe disabled cruise information passed along as
fact and it’s difficult to tell who are the expert posters are and who are the
posters who just sound like experts.
Confirm accessibility information that you get from travel forums with
multiple sources. Also make sure that the information you are reading is
not out of date.
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9. 6 All accessible cruise cabins (even interior ones) will be large enough
for wheelchair users
Each cruise ship has a certain number of accessible cabins. These cabins
have larger bathrooms (typically with roll-in showers) and can sometimes
be 50% bigger than normal cabins.
Unfortunately, some passengers know this and take advantage of it.
Accessible cabins should only be used by wheelchair users who can not fit
through the standard bathroom door width.
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10. 7 Factor in accessible driving tours into your budget
Many ports aren’t actually that close to the attractions. If you arrive in
Warnemünde, you’ll find that accessible Berlin is 3 hours away (each way).
From the Livorno cruise port, you have many Tuscan options (Pisa, Lucca,
Florence, etc…), but they are spread out.
Rome is an hour and a half away from Civitavecchia port. Expect to spend
more money on tours that involve driving. Also expect that a good accessible
driving tour (such as one that explores the Tuscan countryside) will be one of
your favorite excursions.
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11. 8 Verify which of your ports require taking a shuttle bus to exit the
port
Some ports combine commercial docks with passenger docks and don’t
allow anyone to walk or roll out of the port due to safety reason. Before
you put down a cruise deposit, confirm with the cruise line whether or not
a shuttle is required to exit the port. Also verify whether or not these
buses have wheelchair ramps (example of the accessible Athens port
shuttle is shown on the right).
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12. 9 Maximize the limited amount of time you have to see a city
Cruise ships will arrive in port as early as 6 am. While you certainly don’t
want to get an early start every day of your trip, you may want to prepare
for a long day on occasion. This is especially true of large cities like Rome
where you can’t even visit half of the city’s wonders in a day.
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13. 10 Spend some time sightseeing before and after your cruise
If you choose interesting embarkation and debarkation ports, it will be
easy (and worthwhile) to spend a few days sightseeing at a slower pace
before or after your cruise. It’s easy to spend 4 days in Rome, 3 days in
Venice, or 5 days in London before or after your Europe accessible cruise!
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14. Venice and London make great pre-/post-cruise destinations.
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15. 11 Visit multiple continents
Is there any easier way to visit multiple continents than a cruise? You
could start your Europe disabled cruise in Venice, dock in Kusadasi to visit
Asia, and spend a day in Africa in the port of Tunis….all without ever
having to unpack your suitcase!
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16. 12 Choose a cruise with a day at sea (or two)
Spending a full day in a great port can make for a tiring day. Particularly
when you’re visiting cities back to back to back (like the very popular
Naples-Rome-Florence trifecta). You will enjoy your vacation more if you
have some time to rest and relax. Pick a Europe disabled cruise with a day
or two “at sea” to get a great mix of sightseeing and relaxation.
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17. Sage Travel Tip: Be sure to explore the
Sage Travel Tip: Be sure to explore the
attractions that are off-the-beaten
attractions that are off-the-beaten
path to feel like more of a local!
path to feel like more of a local!
13 Get more off the beaten path on your second time in a city
Ports such as Rome, Naples, Livorno, Athens, and French Riviera, etc…
have much more to see and do than is possible in a single one-day visit.
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18. We look forward to making your accessible dream vacation a reality!
Call Us: 1-888-645-7920
Contact us at info@sagetraveling.com
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