New York - Here We Come by David Tucker

My wife has always wanted to go to New York, we have been to Florida but never the Big Apple.

We discussed our holidays and thought lets go for it. I have never taken a wheelchair on a plane before, but I booked my power chair on and away we went. I booked business class, and was worried about getting out of the seats. My condition is a weakening of the thighs and arms so it is difficult to rise from a sitting position. I have an up easy seat assist which I put in my power chair and I used this on the aircraft seat. It was a bit uncomfortable but I managed the 7hr journey ok.
On arrival at JFK I was met with my chair and assisted through homeland security. We had booked an adapted transfer vehicle for me and my chair, and taken to our hotel in Times Square. We were amazed at Times Square, the lights, noise etc . The accessible room in the Hilton, where we were staying was nothing special, only 1 pull down grab rail at the side of the toilet, disappointing, but I managed with my wife’s help.

The following morning we went across to the local Diner, for breakfast, wow more like
breakfast, lunch and tea all on one plate.  We signed up for an open top bus tour 3 days for the price of 2. On checking this I found that most of the Buses had an automatic ramp that came out of the bus entrance for wheelchairs prams etc. This made life easy and we visited the Rockefeller Centre, Grand Central Station, and Central Park. We visited the John Lennon Memorial Strawberry Fields in Central Park, which was very moving. The tour also took us to the Empire State Building and we enjoyed the views from the top. I was advised to book the trip to the Statue Of Liberty and Ellis Island in the UK which I did and it was a good job i did as the queues for the Ferry went on for ever.

Another  visit was to the Ground Zero memorial and this is a must for anyone visiting New York. We also managed to take in 3 Broadway Shows courtesy of reduced ticket prices via the half price ticket booth on Times Square. We were told to go to the front of the queue which we did and so had first pick of the shows.

We both fully enjoyed the trip, the locals were very respectful of me in my power chair and always insisted I went to the front of the “Line” as they call the queue. The only disappointment for me was that they didn’t have separate disabled toilets. They had disabled toilets, sure but these were either in the men’s or ladies, and this was a problem when I needed assistance from my wife, we had to get a security guard to stand in front of the main door and not let anyone in until we had come out.

We thoroughly enjoyed the week, the October weather was kind to us and apart from the traffic chaos everything went well despite our previous concerns and we can recommend the trip.

Where next to you might add, well we have booked a 2 week cruise in the Baltic ending up in St Petersburg in July so watch this space.

Sailing Away on a Caribbean Cruise by Mark Chapman

I’ve recently just got back from a Caribbean cruise, it was fantastic. I went with my mum and dad and we all thoroughly enjoyed it.

It was such a good experience and a holiday I’ll never forget. We’ve been on a number of cruises now, sailing from Southampton back to Southampton. We find it really easy because we take all the equipment we need, ventilator, cough assist, hoist and shower chair in our van and then when we get down there the porters get all your luggage and equipment and put it straight in your cabin for you. So no need to worry, you can just relax and enjoy the holiday. The ship is highly accessible so you can get all over it without a problem, and getting on and off the ship is no problem as there are plenty of porters to help.

The disabled cabins are brilliant. They are twice the size of normal cabins so there is plenty of space for your wheelchair and all your equipment. The en-suite bathroom also has plenty of space. We had a balcony cabin for this cruise and like the cabin, the balcony is twice the size, so you can get out in your wheelchair and have a look out at the sea.

The best thing about cruising though is waking up in a different location everyday and getting the chance to explore a number of different places. This cruise was for 28 days and toured the West Indies and Caribbean, also stopping at Madeira and the Azores. My favourite places were Barbados where we walked to the beach and got some sun beds near a bar, which was perfect. Then Tortola where we got in the only wheelchair accessible taxi on the island and it took us to the other side of the island to a beach. It was picturesque just as you’d imagine of the Caribbean. When we got in the taxi the driver put loads of clamps on my chair and we thought “blimey he’s very safety conscious” and on the way we knew why. He was like Lewis Hamilton, driving up the steepest of hills at full speed he overtook a van and a taxi on a hairpin bend. It was bonkers, who needs a rollercoaster. It was a bit hairy but I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

But my most favourite place has to be Saint Maarten because it was a 10-minute walk to the beach and you can go on the beach with your wheelchair, as the sand is very firm. On a previous cruise a few years back we had been to Saint Maarten and the sun bed guy looked after us really well, with good deals on drinks and brought me 2 buckets filled with sea water to put my feet in because I couldn’t get to the sea. When we were leaving he said “next time you come to Saint Maarten come and find me I’ll be right here”! So when we got to the beach we went to find him and he was there, he came running over “Mark, Mark!!!” He remembered us, it made our holiday, we couldn’t have asked for a better way to end our time in the Caribbean! If anyone is thinking about going on a cruise but aren’t sure, just go for it you’ll love it.