From Carnival Paradise To Key West Florida

By alantvuong on February 15, 2019

I have been on 6 cruises to date and on my latest cruise on the Carnival Paradise last year, one of our Port Of Calls was to Key West in Florida. We started in Miami and had stops in Key West and Cozumel Mexico. This cruise had mostly rainy days but luckily on the day we stopped in Key West, it was actually decent and mostly sunny. This city is on an island in the most Southern part of the US.

ready to visit Key West

Getting Off The Ship

Depending on the depth of the water and how the port is set up, cruise ships either dock right at the pier or anchor offshore and bring people to the pier in small boats called tenders. Lucky this port of call has the ship docked at the pier as tenders are not really wheelchair friendly, since there are steps into the tenders. We simply scan our cruise card when we leave the ship so they can keep track of who is on and who left the ship. Staff basically put a big movable ramp from the ship out to the pier called a gangway. This gangway is a bit tight and has uneven ramps but luckily staff or my travel companions can help push my manual wheelchair out.

tight gangway with ramp to enter/exit ship

Getting To The City

There is a naval base right by the pier we arrive at, so we have to wait for a tourist trolley to shuttle us into town. We were told that there are wheelchair accessible trolleys but not every single one had a wheelchair lift. Thinking that we might have to wait a while, the accessible trolley actually came by really quick. The wheelchair lift was at the very back of the trolley and the driver helped me in and positioned my wheelchair so that he can tie and secure the wheelchair in place. We then proceed to the drop off at Mallory Square seeing the beautiful sights as me move on.

wheelchair lift at the back of the trolley

Accessibilty

We stayed mostly around Mallory Square since that was the waterfront area where there are dozens of shopping, restaurants, museums and theaters. My buddy had no problems pushing my wheelchair around as there were curb cuts on the sidewalks almost everywhere. We noticed a few places were in old fashioned buildings and had a step or two to get in. For example, the Starbucks had a couple steps to get in. Since I was in a manual wheelchair, I could easily been lifted in over each step, but I think it would be difficult for a powerchair to get in.

the sidewalks are pretty accessible downtown

What We Did

We did get to spend a bit of time at Mel Fisher Maritime Museum which is a historical museum. From the front of the building, it looked like there were many stairs to get in, but thank goodness for a small elevator lift on the side of the building that allowed me to get into the museum. Prices were not bad to get in and the lady only charged us 1 ticket for the both of us.

happy there was an elevator lift to get inside the museum

There was even an old style elevator that opens and closes by pulling on the gate door, that took us to the second floor. We spent a bit of time checking out all the artifacts and items in the museum and really enjoyed our time here.

old style elevator

So yes, Key West Florida is definitely accessible and worth checking out as one of your port of calls from a cruise or as a separate stand alone trip. With lots of sun and a cool vibe from this city, there is something fun for everyone to be had.