I felt like the first wheelchair user in the Caribbean
A Caribbean cruise and best places in Miami
By Werner Rosenberger
For the first time , I traveled with my wife and my two children ( 8 and 12 years ) over the Christmas holidays to a warmer area , while the winter in Austria is very cold . We wanted to enjoy the warmth and took a Caribbean cruise on MSC Seascape , followed by a lovely few days in the City of Miami , Florida .
We already knew this ship and it is ideal for people in wheelchairs . The new ship of the MSC Shipping Company is very barrier-free and well designed for my needs . Only a few electric door openers are missing , but there is always a helping hand nearby . We can recommend the yacht club , a ship-in-ship concept . The price is higher , but the service is much better , and the rooms are amazing and big enough for wheelchairs . Our destinations of the trip were the Bahamas ,
Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic . In our opinion not many wheelchair users had explored the islands of the northern Caribbean before . We didn ’ t see any wheelchair users during our trip . MSC also did not offer any special excursions for the disabled people in the Caribbean . However , the first stop on the trip , the private island of MSC , Ocean Cay , is very wheelchair accessible . All roads on the island are paved . I could have gone swimming in the sea if the weather had been better that day .
In Puerto Plata we took a taxi and explored the city and the hinterland on our own . In Puerto Rico we wanted to explore the capital San Juan by foot , but due to the bad sidewalks and the steep inclines , we stopped our plan and visited the barrier-free fortress Castillo de San Felipe del Morro — a UNESCO World
Heritage Site . Getting money was a bit difficult . We did not find an ATM on both islands that could have been reached without steps . In Nassau , Bahamas we took a taxi again and visited a beach and enjoyed the Caribbean flair .
After a week at sea , we stayed in Miami for a few more days . We stayed in a great Airbnb downtown . This was fairly well accessible , but the rooms either had a bathtub or a higher step into the shower .
We had a rental car and visited different districts like Midtown , Coral Gables , Coconut Grove , Little Havana and Key Biscayne . Although there are disabled parking spaces throughout the city , we did not find any vacant disabled parking space in five days . Wynwood is highly recommended for art and design lovers . The world-famous graffiti
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