End of the Road

Day 5

The last day of the cruise was a sea day, which was a well needed rest day. The day was spent resting, eating, reading, eating, packing eating. Did I mention eating? Almost an olympic sport on a cruise! There are enough food choices where you can very well eat very healthy if you so choose, as well as exercise til your hearts content. There is a gym with various equipment and there are classes as well. On one of the upper decks is a walking/running path, and of course swimming pools and hot tubs, although the hot tubs got a lot more use on this trip. For those of us who would like to partake in either, there is at least one lift for a pool and hot tub. Most if not all cruise ships are equipped with lifts.

Like embarkation, you choose a time to disembark the ship, unless you plan to carry your luggage yourself. Otherwise, you put your packed bags outside your cabin prior to going to bed and await your time. Many people like to stay aboard until the very last moment. We chose to carry our own and be one of the first of the ship. After having breakfast, we proceeded to the designated area await the all clear to disembark. Once we started moving it went quite quickly. You scan your card one last time, the ships way of knowing if there are any stowaways, then proceed to customs. I’m not sure if it was because we only went to Canada, but we could verbally declare what we purchased. From the time the line started moving to we got in the car was less than 30 minutes. A great ending to a great trip!

On to the next adventure!

Oh Canada

Day 4

The ride was much calmer for our last stop, St. John, New Brunswick, Canada. We had booked an accessible tour of city but our first stop was right outside at the dock, the recently opened Container Village, a retail, performance and food vender space made from over 60 old shipping containers. What a great way to recycle. Speaking of which, Canada is leaps and bounds above the U.S. when it comes to recycling. In the perfectly accessible bathroom at the port there were several recycling containers. Alovely lady explained to us that pretty much everything was recyclable except toilet paper :)

When it was time for the tour, we loaded on to an accessible bus with a lift. While on the tour we learned about the historical significance of the maritime city. The highlight the tour was the Reversing Falls Rapids, one of very few on earth. This phenomena occurs when the Bay of Funny’s tides, the largest in the world at up to 24 ft, meet the St. John river. At low tide the river empties into the bay, causing rapids and whirlpools, then as the tide rises it slowly reverses the river, again causing rapids and whirlpools.

After the tour it was back to Container Village to purchase some souvenirs !

A Dark and Stormy Night

We caught the tail end of Hurricane Fiona the evening we left Rhode Island. The night was a wee bit rocky to say the least. Lucky for both my cousin and I, we don’t get sea sick. The storm gave way to a beautiful day as we arrived in Portland Maine. One of the best parts of cruising the north east is the amount of light houses you encounter. I have long been a fan of the lighthouse, going as far as being a member of the U.S. Lighthouse Society USLHS.org. Total nerd.

Getting off the ship was a breeze. The gangway ( ship exit) was on deck 4, but the elevator would only take us to deck 6. Once we got to deck 6, there was an attendant guiding able bodied people to the stairs, the rocking elevator reserved for wheelchairs, scooters and baby strollers. After scanning your Seapass card you are on your way. Scanning of the Seapass lets the ship know you are ashore, and when you return. You do not want to miss the all aboard time, you will be left and your transport home will be at your expense. This applies if you break any important rules while aboard. I’ve seen cruisers with their luggage sitting on the pier.

Portland is a beautiful city with great vibe. We tooled around the city for a bit before deciding to get a bite to eat. You can’t come to Maine and not get lobster! We padlocked up the best place for lobster and the place to be was The Porthole. It did not disappoint. I had the best ever clam chowder followed by the freshest, most delicious i’ve ever tasted lobster. I tried to savor it and make the experience, yes it was an experience, last as long as I could, but before long it was over. I might have shed a tear, but we noticed the other item Maine was famous for, blueberries. Homemade blueberry cake with homemade blueberry ice cream to be exact. Simply AMAZING!!!

Learning Curve

Day 2

Rhode Island was our first stop, which happened to be a tender port. Many cruise ship ports must use tender, or small boats, to get to the shoreline either because of shallow water or rocky coastline. I’m going to assume Rhode Island is a combination of both. In order to use tender if you use a mobility device, it must weigh 100lbs or less, and you must be able to walk a couple of steps with assistance. Unfortunately for me, my scooter weighs well over the weight limit. I wasn’t to upset as I had recently visited Newport, RI and its a relatively short distance from home. We used the time to explore the ship in relative quiet as many cruisers went ashore. While checking out one of our favorite pastimes while cruising, eating and what’ for dinner, we ran into someone in a type of wheelchair I was unfamiliar with. She explained it was collapsible, powered, and most intriguing to me, it weighed less than 50 lbs! If she so desired, she would have been able to use the tender to go ashore. The price point for the chair was right around $2k, a sizable amount, but much less than a full sized power chair. All sorts of opportunities began running through my head. I took down the name of the chair with plans to do dome research once I got home. why not aboard the ship you say? Internet aboard the ships incredibly expensive as well as extremely slow. Definitely not worth the money. A quick tip: If you are able to go ashore, many places have free wifi. You might have to purchase something, but you might be pleasantly surprised as I was in Jamaica, where I found the best gelato this side of Florence, Italy!

Improvise, Adapt, Overcome

Day 1

Ok so its not Bermuda, but it is still a cruise. We head to the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, 711 12th Ave, NY, NY. A relatively easy ride. You can park at the pier for $40 per day. I’m told there are cheaper options nearby, but we went with the convenience. If you chose to park somewhere else, you can drop your luggage off at the terminal first. When parking at the terminal, its a quick elevator ride to check in where you show your cruise documents and passport and head through security. If you use a wheelchair or scooter you go through an expedited line to check in where you get your keycard and head aboard. It took about 30 minutes total from parking to being aboard.

The first thing you do once you board, a least on Norwegian, is to go to your muster station and check in. This a much easier process than prior cruises where everyone shows up at once with your life jacket. This way you know where to go (its identified on your key card) they scan your card proving you complied, and your vacation begins!

Next stop is to check out the room. I was lucky and was able to book an aft balcony wheelchair accessible room on short notice. Accessible rooms usually go rather quickly so it is recommended you book further in advance than the two weeks I did for this trip. The first thing you notice is the door is wider to accommodate wheelchairs. To access the room, you tapped your key card on the reader and the door automatically opened, with ample time to maneuver to get inside. What I liked best about this I could come and go by myself if necessary. The bathroom was first thing as you enter. In many non accessible cabins there is a small step to enter the bathroom but there was a light ramp and I was easily able to roll in. There were grab bars around the elevated toilet and a bench seat for the shower. The actual shower was easily adjustable so you could either stand or sit. The room itself was wide enough for a wheel chair to turn around in with ease. The closet had a pull down rack to hang your clothes and there were tons of accessible storage options.

I do have to say my absolute favorite part of the room was the balcony. Like the bathroom, there was a slight ramp to easily access the balcony. It was big enough to be able fully turn around and enjoy the ocean breeze.

The next stop was dinner. We elected to dine at one of the ships specialty restaurants. Normally, there is an extra charge but our booking came with 3 free. We dined at Moderno Churrascaria, a Brazilian steakhouse where you get a coaster, red on one side and green on the other. If ts flipped to green servers come to your table with skewers of various meats until you flip to red.

At the end of the day, while a bit disappointed, we were still on a cruise and would make the best of it. Tomorrow is our first port, Newport Rhode Island!

Best Laid Plans

Everything is packed and ready to go. My cousin and I had booked an impromptu cruise to Bermuda after being land locked for the past few years due to the COVID pandemic. I went to sleep with visions of pink sand beaches and turquoise waters only to be awakened by my daughter. My cousin had gotten a text notifying us we were being diverted due to hurricane Fiona…to Canada! So much for pink sand. Needless to say, the night was spent repacking for cooler weather.

Adjusting Your Sails

Let me tell you my story. I retired from the USAF in 2006 at age 42 thinking I had all the time I needed to adventure and travel to my hearts content. I started a second career as a civilian employee at USMA. Fast forward 3 years and a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis stopped me in my tracks. I immediately thought the worst and life as I knew it was over. I had to go through a whole battery of testing. To say it was frightening is an understatement. With the help of family and great doctors, it was explained that I diagnosis wasn’t necessarily the end of life. To quote Josh Shipp, “ You either get bitter or you get better”. I chose to get better. Now, there is no cure for Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and not everyone progresses. I didn’t for a long time, but unfortunately I have. I’m still not letting it stop me though and want to share that just because you have a disability, doesn’t mean you have to stop traveling and making memories. I hope you can get something from reading about my travels and get out and have some adventures. Being disabled doesn’t mean you have to sit home and watch the world go by, you just have to adjust your sails and roll with the waves.