Barrier Free Travels

I've been getting a lot of first hand reports from travelers, regarding Princess Cruise Line's policy towards tendering wheelchair-users. As you may recall, tendering is at the discretion of the captain. In other words, he can decide if it's safe for a wheelchair-user to use the tender. Actually he can decide if it's safe for anyone to tender, as sometimes weather affects the process.

As 2009 draws to an end, it's time again for a look back at the bests and worsts in accessible travel. Or as I like to call lovingly call this annual list, the good, the bad and the downright stupid!

It appears that flying easyJet isn't exactly that easy, especially if you're a wheelchair-user. This same UK airline that stranded a wheeler in Lourdes earlier this year, once again earned the ire of disability advocates for denying a Paralympian passage last week.

If you're thinking of going to Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier, then make sure and sign up for their "Twific Tweets" contest  on Twitter. It's free, easy, and it could save you a few bucks on your next visit to this beachside amusement park.

With the Paralympic Games just around the corner, Whistler is putting the finishing touches on their access upgrades, and Vancouver is bracing for an influx of disabled visitors. And the province of British Columbia is looking for a few good Paralympic torchbearers -- 200 to be exact. If you live in Canada and are at least 13 years old, it could be you.

On the heals of the controversial conclusion to Ault v. Walt Disney World Co., it seems the mouse is now taking on another Dean Kamen invention -- the IBOT. And this one looks like it might get ugly.

If you live in New York City, and used (or tried to use) a disabled voting machine in this past election, your vote might not have been counted. Call it a glitch or a fluke or just a horrible mistake, but that's exactly what happened to Noreen, the Director of Publications at my publishing house.

In an effort to investigate four separate complaints from people with severe allergies, The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) may very well expand the legal definition of "disability". The issue on the table will be if allowing pets to ride in airline passenger compartments represents an undue obstacle for people who have severe pet allergies. And if medical evidence proves it does, then the CTA may classify "severe allergies" as a disability.