BOURNE ACCESSIBLE CRUISE SHIP ACCESSIBILITY-REGENT SEVEN SEAS NAVIGATOR

Honoured to have my picture with the captain of the ship.

 

 

This was my first tour of a cruise ship, I was instantly hooked when I went onboard. The people and service aboard Regent’s Seven Seas Navigator was incredible. Everyone from the servers to the captain made you feel like you were their number one guest onboard.

But, this blog is about the ship’s wheelchair accessibility, so let’s delve more into that. I was pretty impressed with the ship overall, however, the gangway down from the pier (in Vancouver’s port at least) was a steep ramp. I had to hold onto my wheels pretty tightly. I would suggest if you don’t have good mobility in your arms or hands, ask for assistance when going down this gangway.

Once onboard the ship, the doorway into the ship has a small ramp that’s not the easiest to get into. But the ramp is there to help seal off the door off in case of a fire, so just ask for help over the ramp. Once inside, the ship is very open and spacious.

This ship has four wheelchair accessible rooms, (room numbers: 929, 928, 833 and 832) but they are very spacious and luxurious. The doorways into the cabins and the cabins’ bathrooms are 37″. I found the beds to be a bit high from the ground at 28”, but their comfort made up for this minor hassle. The side of the room has a sliding glass door (onto your very own private balcony!), and most of the rooms have a chair in front of the sliding door. The staff are happy to remove this for you if it is an obstacle.

The casino on the Navigator was impressive, featuring slots, blackjack and poker tables. Unfortunately, the tables are not easily accessible (most are too high to fit a wheelchair). But all the chairs at the slot machines are removable and easy to wheel up to. So bring lots of quarters for the slots!

The Compass Rose, the ship’s main dinning room, is truly spectacular. The tables are very easy to access and are fairly wide and the chairs are easily removable.

Unfortunately I didn’t have a really in-depth look at Canyon Ranch, the signature spa onboard Regents ships is something to behold, with massage tables and spa treatments I highly recommend checking it out. Some of the treatment tables may not be accessible, but talk to the spa staff and I am sure they will do everything in their power to accommodate you and your wheelchair.

I can’t say enough good things about the Regent Seven Seas Navigator. On your next cruise I would seriously suggest giving them a try.

Overall rating of Regent Seven Seas Navigator:9.0
Accessibility rating of Regent Seven Seas Navigator: 6.9

At the Port in Vancouver, there are two pretty big gangway ramps to get down to the ship, so I would suggest having someone behind you at all times.

The yellow lip is pretty easy to get over, just do a pop-a-wheelie and your fine

This small ramp is a bit steep. But it’s to help the doors seal off, in the small chance of a fire so, it’s worth having that bit of a bump to go over in the end.

This is the Canyon Ranch Spa, which is pretty spacious and easy to wheel around I would recommend checking it out.

There are two small ramps on the entrance and the exit to this balcony

Kind of a smaller elevator, I wouldn’t attempt it in a power chair, but manual chairs would be fine.

This small ramp is located on the entrance and exit to the pool deck and is pretty easy to access.

This wide open, spacious shower has a folding shower bench and a removable shower head.

If a portable shower bench works better for you, this is an option onboard as well.

This patio is fairly easy to get onto, I would have someone remove the chair in the way before attempting this.

Two of the Navigators 4 Wheelchair accessible staterooms are on this deck, stateroom number 933 and stateroom 932

 

 

 

Bourne Accessible Provincial Park Accessibility Review – Speciality review of Agur Lake Camp Society.

Review Summary:

I have heard a lot of pretty awesome things about Agur Lake, but this is the first time I have been up there myself. I was blown away with how amazingly scenic, tranquil and accessible it was.

 

I first met with the founder, staff and board of directors, they are some of the nicest, most accommodating people you will ever meet. I was taken on a tour of the camp on one of the camp’s golf carts. It was on the tour that I was able to watch a bald eagle flying overhead, watching the lake below for fish.

 

There are three main cabins up at Agur Lake, all very accessible. As you walk into every cabin there are two double doors that can accommodate a manual wheelchair, power wheelchair or scooter. All doors in the cabins are very wide and spacious, guests can easily fit their mobility devices through both bedroom and bathroom doors. There are only hospital beds available in each cabin, but really you’re just using it to sleep so it really does not matter.

 

What I was most impressed with was the bathrooms. There are grab bars, both on the side of the toilet and right above the toilet. They is a fully accessible wheel-in shower with a folding shower bench. In cabin #2 there are tracks that go all the way around one of the bedrooms and in the shower, in case guests need to use a sling to transfer in and out of bed and showers.

 

In closing, I would highly recommend Agur Lake. Check them out at: http://www.agurlakecamp.ca/

The welcome to Agur Lake sign.

Information about Agur Lake.

Founder of Agur Lake Bonnar Dowler and Myself

Ramp up to the spectacular public dock.

This area is right on the lake and is perfect for picnics

This is a pretty neat wood trail down in the marsh area of the lake

The picnic tables in the pavilion are great for people in manual or power chairs

if you make it over the bar on the side this is a great way to get around. I would make sure you have someone with you while transferring into cart

The Gravel needs more packing down so I would only wheel on it, if you have a family member, friend or a free wheel.

This is the view from the front of the cabins…sorry about the quality it was taken on a cell phone

The entrances of all three cabins are flat and easy to get into with no help

The doors open up into a big entrance that can fit a manual chair, power chair or a scooter

The living rooms in all three cabins are very spacious

The adjoining kitchen’s are very big and wide open as well

very wide doorways can fit manual, and power chairs as well as scooters.

The Ceiling tracks in the bathroom of cabin 2 make it easy to get a sling user from the toilet to the shower

Ceiling track goes right up to the shower in cabin #2

All cabins have folding shower benches,

All beds in the bedroom are Hospital style beds, for a regular style bed, the couch can be turned down.

 

Bourne Accessible Provincial park Accessibility review-Mabel Lake Provincial Park

Review Summary:
Two things struck me when I visited Mabel Lake provincial park. How beautiful the scenery is and how inaccessible the park is. In their defense this park is advertised as non wheelchair accessible.

There is one four pit toilets and to be able to get into them you have to go up a concrete lip. The roadways are not paved so the terrain is pretty rough with a few hills. With the unpaved roadways the transition into the campsites is pretty flat. There is a path that intersects and runs through the entire park, but the terrain is pretty uneven, so I would only try and travel it if you are in a group or have a free wheel.

There is basically no way you can access the beach, unless someone is able to carry you down. There is a hill that leads from the gravel parking lot to the park and then onto the beach.

In closing, I would go to this park just for the breathtaking beauty and the idyllic scenery but I would

only camp there if you where with a group of people to assist you.

Welcome to Mabel Lake Provincial Park!….please excuse my camera man in the background.

Basically this sign points out all the rules and regulations of the park

All roads at Mabel Lake are unpaved, so I would advise to be with a group of people or invest in a Free Wheel.

This Camp ground has only one dirt parking lot, so be careful of the rough terrain.

The transition from the roads to the campsites are flat, but rough due to the gravel.

Basically for anyone in a wheelchair, both manual and power it’s almost impossible to get to the beach due to the hill leading down.

There is a small recreational park at Mabel Lake Provincial Park, Hard to get onto the grass though.

No real bathroom facility at Mabel, and there are no accessible showers.

Bourne Accessible Provincial park Accessibility review-Herald Park

Review Summary:

I must admit out of all the campground reviews I’ve done, this one made me the most excited, why? … The memories. I used to go camping up at Herald Provincial Park at least once a summer when I was a kid.

This park boasts stunning scenery and gives you lots of stuff to do from playing catch on the massive recreational park lawn to sitting on the beach reading a good book.  The amazing walk along the Reineceker creek to the awesomely stunning Margaret water falls is a must do!

Herald Provincial Park has three campgrounds in one park: Bastion, Reinecker and Homestead. I would highly recommend Reinecker for those who cannot tolerate a lot of sun, but Bastion and Homestead both have their redeeming qualities as well.

Over all the park is pretty accessible, there are three main parking lots in the day use area which all have wheelchair accessible double wide parking stalls. The terrain is quite “hilly” but the pavement is in good shape. You should have no problems getting around. There are two wheelchair accessible bathrooms. One is a pit toilet in the day park area but the main bathroom is located in the campground itself and has low roll under sinks and low mirrors. The shower stall, which I unfortunately  could not take a picture of due to it being occupied, has benches both at the changing area and by the shower itself, it also has a removable shower head which is always nice.

The park has a few new accessible picnic tables. There is one accessible table located at #60 which is a double campsite, and one at #67,84 and 88 but those sites are reserved sites only, not first come first serve.

In closing this blog entry, as I stated at the beginning of the blog, this is my absolute favourite park in BC and I would strongly recommend checking it out.

Welcome to Herald provincial Park!

Information and a small map of Herald Park

Information on the Herald family

There are a lot of accessible parking stalls in the day use area

There are three parking lots in the day use area, all of them have wheelchair parking stalls.

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The park’s entrance is up this hill, but all of the nice sites are at the bottom of the hill so shouldn’t be a problem.

The Ramp makes for easy access

this is a pit toilet, but if you do need to use it, it has grab bars

These sinks are very easy to roll under and the mirrors are nice and low too

This stall is very spacious and the grab bars make for easy transportation.

This is one of the more accessible sites.

This is a great accessible pathway to the park

This park is an awesome space to play catch or Frisbee or just lay on the lawn

Most sites are smooth and have easy access into

Personally I would use the wheelchair accessible entrance found in the middle of the park

This is the wheelchair accessible entrance to the nature trail between Homestead and Reinecker.

There are quite a few tree roots on the nature trail but it’s well worth it at the end

These two trees are pretty tough to get through, so I would advise hiking in a party of two or three people or having a Free Wheel

Even though the nature trail is pretty rough, the falls at the end are well worth it

Bourne Accessible Provincial park Accessiblity review-Okanagan Lake Provincial park North.

Review Summary

 

Lake Okanagan Provincial Park-North Campground is small with only 80 campsites, but it is very pretty  with amazing views of Lake Okanagan from each campsite. Even though there are no designated sites specially designed for wheelchair users, all the campsites in this provincial park are wheelchair accessible. Due to this camp’s topography (it is built on a mountain side), it is pretty difficult to wheel around the park alone unless you’re in a power wheelchair or have a family member, friend, or a support person.

There are two washroom facilities, one of which has a washroom specifically designated as a “disabled washroom”. This washroom has a very roomy change room with a bench. The shower stall is very large, also has a bench. Both bathroom #1 and #2 have counters and sinks low enough to fit a regular sized manual chair under.

There is no real park, or recreational areas, but each campsite has its own grassy area in between neighboring campsites. Also, there is a great hard packed gravel trail from the North to the South campground, with a dog park at the end of the trail There is a dip going down into the grassy area, so I would suggest having someone with you to get onto the grass. In closing, I would highly recommend checking out this park.

Welcome to Okanagan lake provincial park-North!

 

The roadway to recreational park area transition is smooth and fairly flat

The transition onto the campsites from both manual and power chair is pretty easy

The beach access isn’t the greatest so make sure you always have a friend or family member with you.

This small hill is pretty easy to get up to get to the accessible bathroom

The sinks are low and very easy to roll under

This toilet stall is very spacious with lots of room to turn around, and a grab bar on the side for ease of transfer from both manual and power wheelchair

Overall i’d give this park a rating of 3.5 on the accessibility scale.

Bourne Accessible Provincial park Accessiblity review-Ellison Provincial Park

Review summary

 

Ellison Provincial Park is one of my favourite, and most beautiful parks I have been too so far it’s nestled in a mountainside forest, with a lot of squirrels, birds and even deer running around. OK yes the paved roads are old and cracking, and there are quite a few potholes and cracks, and its terrain is very uneven (a lot of hills), but there are pathways to get everywhere in the parks, from the bathrooms to the recreational park areas. Bathroom #1 is just a toilet and a sink, but it does have a newly paved pathway going from the road up into the bathroom facility.

Transition from the roadways onto the campsites are not the greatest due to the uneven pavement, but once you’re in your campsite they are all pretty flat and smooth gavel surfaces. The nature trails are not the greatest, so I would only attempt them if you have a Family member, Friend or support worker with you, or a Free Wheel, wheelchair attachments.

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Be mindful when walking on the pathways as potholes like this can pop up at anytime

 

The terrain In pretty uneven at Ellison, so make sure you always have someone with you.

Campsite #54 is easily one of the most accessible sites

The nature trails at Ellison are really narrow so always hike in a group of people in case you get stuck

This path leads to the Ampithetre

 

This steep hill leads down to a 4 stall parking lot for wheelchair access

The Transition from the Roadways to the campsite is really easy

This private wheelchair accessible bathroom is very easy to get into

The grab bars by the toilet and shower make it easy to transfer from power or manual chairs.

Bourne Accessible Reviews-Fintry Provincial Park

Review Summary:

Fintry Provincial Park is one of the better parks I have seen as far as topography, it’s pretty much flat throughout the entire park. There is a hill to go down to the beach access, but it’s paved. There is quite a lot of history at Fintry Provincial Park. With an octagonal dairy barn, an old estate house, there are a lot of interesting historical sights to check out while camping.

The bathrooms at the park are pretty good, there is a designated wheelchair accessible bathroom with a roll-in shower and grab bars. The toilet stall in the accessible bathroom is spacious and easily accessible. Accessing the parks recreational area may be a bit challenging for someone with reduced upper body mobility, so I would recommend having a family member, friend or a support worker with you, or investing in a free wheel. The nature trail is packed gravel but very narrow, with some steep areas, so I wouldn’t advise this hike unless you go with a group. But if you do manage to hike the nature trail, there is a great water fall waiting for you at the end.

Welcome to Fintry provincial park!

Information sign about the history of the park.

This is a tough narrow path, I would only advise it if you are hiking with a group of people to help you.

This gravel nature trail is not the most accessible, but if your with a group of people it might not but that big of an issue.

This horse shoe pit and recreational area is pretty accessible with a bit of help

This sink is easily accessible, to do your dishes. It is right behind the main bathroom

This wheelchair accessible bathroom is spacious and wide enough for any manual or power chair.

Wheelchair accessible shower with grab bars.

The sink in the wheelchair accessible bathroom is low and be easily be wheeled right up to.

This snack shack is easily accessed on a hard packed gravel pathway and sells more then just ice cream sandwiches and popsicles.

This beach access is a little steep but can be done if you have a Family member, Friend or Support worker with you.

My overall rating of this park would be a 4.0