About me

So to start I want to give you information about me and why this trip was so interesting while also overwhelming and scary. First thing first, I had never left the usa or been on a big boat or anything!! I was TERRIFIED but also so EXCITED! It was probably a once in a life time thing for me! (my bfs family took me so if we stay together I could go on more but if we break up I may never go on another lol). 

Now let’s add that I am autistic and bipolar, meaning travel is hard, change in my life is hard, and getting used to 2 weeks away then coming back home was also hard. Throw in Ehlers Danlos and that I use a wheelchair and crutches then you have a wild trip that is unique to me and an experience you dont hear about a lot. Finally I am trans but that thankfully had no issue on the trip or on my passport. Same with being pagan (though I did not take anything with a pentacle to be safe) 

About the trip planning (plus passport info)

So planning for the trip started about 6 months in advanced, which I enjoyed because I am a planner. With my autism I want control over everything I can. I also already said I was scared of the cruise. So a silly thing to help me was 1 buying a new stuffie to take because I didnt want to lose or ruin my actually comfort toys, and 2 was getting his family to promise if my chair broke or got ruined or god forbid sunk to the bottom of the ocean some how, they would buy me a new one. (This is an over 2k custom chair so the fear was high for me) 

Next was getting my passport. I needed a lot of paper work like my birth certificate and my license (well state id i dont drive) and since I had my name changed I needed the court order too. My gender wasnt an issue since my ID was up to date with male and now my passport is male too. It cost about 200 but some was paying a woman to do the work for me with the paper and his family paid for that too. My bf needed one too and we both got 10 year passports to last us. 

When it came to actually packing I watched a lot of videos on youtube. I over prepare but that is not always bad. I packed for my bf and I so I needed clothes and we had hats and sunglasses and sunscreen. We needed chargers for phones, and headphones for music, books to read because we did not buy the wifi on the ship. It has been a year since the cruise so I dont remember everything I packed sadly. 

We also got the app for the ship Royal Caribbean and we looked into the boat. I watched a tour of the boat a few times to feel like I knew the layout and to be certain it was accessible. (I had never been somewhere so accessible so I didn't think it would be) We also bought a drink package. This package meant we could get any non alcoholic drink any time, soda, juice, red bull, even the starbucks! (Every morning I got starbucks alone while bf and his bro slept) It was maybe like 250 for a 5 day or so cruise? This my bf bought both so it was around 500 for him. I dont want to spill the details cause I didnt pay for the cruise but we had about 12 people and 5 rooms in a row so it was expensive over like 10k all together (I didnt ask the exact but the app gave me estimates sooo yeah it was a lot) They also sell alcoholic packages but we didnt get that so we paid for drinks out of pocket meaning we saved up for that and didnt over drink. 

Another thing I had to do when planning was QUIET WEED!!! I did take up nicotine and took cigs on the ship while bf had a vape but weed is illegal internationally and we didnt want to get in trouble. So we sobered up a month in advance to avoid any withdrawal. 

The airport leaving usa 

I am going to talk about Airports twice in this blog because.. Well.. wow. Going there was wild but coming home was thankfully nice and calm. So first we drove from ohio to michigan because the detroit airport is often easiest and biggest in the area. So first we had to pack up 5 peoples bags in a van and my wheelchair (which does come apart thankfully). Our group was my bf, me, his brother, and his mom and dad. We also went with his grandpa and gf, aunt uncle and 3 kids but we all met at random times and did separate things. 

At the airport first thing first is luggage, then a tag for my wheelchair. (Which why do no planes just strap a chair to the ground like buses and shuttles yet??) We also took photos of the chair because I was really paranoid, airports font often care about chairs and this chair is my legs really. One thing was the same for every plane (except the one we were late for) we were the last off waiting for the chair and often the first taken on the plane too. They would only let my bf go with me though not all 5 of us. 

Now for the “fun” airport. My memory is blurry I believe we went from detroit to canada to germany to spain. (His mom called it France not germany and we didnt let her live it down) but when we landed in Canada we had like delays getting there, BIG ones. So our flight left and they quickly put us on a new one and PERSONALLY ESCORTED US RUNNING ACROSS THE AIRPORT TO THE PLANE. They also made the plane wait for us and it was fully booked so we could not sit even close to each other. This was the start of the longest about like 10 hour or more flight. I did sleep on the plane and most of the time when we would land they had me use my crutches and then wait near the front of the plane or in the walkway chair for them to get it. Most were nice and I dont know which ones were the annoyed like “Do you need it?” type, and some were jokey and kind. We chatted with a lot of different flight attendants in different countries and they were very kind. 

Arriving in Germany was interesting because we lost his family and we cant use phones anymore because we arent in america. We all use his moms plan so only she was paying for out of country on her phone. But the airport wifi did let texts come in. One cool thing was a guard took bf and i to the front of the passport line because of the chair. I normally dont want special treatment but with how awful some places are we were glad to be expedited and not wait I will admit. We also bought some pastries and chocolate in germany which was great! Then the flight to Spain I believe was average? We were put on first and then taken off last. 

Spain, Barcelona 

Landing in Barcelona was interesting, I believe it was the one with shuttles and such so it took awhile to get the accessible shuttle and my chair. However spoiler alert no place messed up my chair!! It was fine there and home! We got taxis and went to the apartment areas. We didnt use hotels we did airbnb hotels since we had 5 people in our group. We knew on the cruise my bf and I would share with his brother but off the cruise we tried to make sure he had his own room since he is a tall 20 year old who needed a real bed and some privacy. (BF AND I NEVER DID THE NASTY ON THE TRIP BTW BEFORE YOU THINK IT) 

Now to my surprise, Barcelona was decently accessible at least compared to like Malta! It had brickish roads I believe but it was still okay. I did try to use my crutches more because our apartment did not have an elevator. So we had to use the stairs sadly and I didnt want to be a burden. (Actually his family was much nicer than I expected. They see me walk a lot when I dont want to fight with my chair so I worried they would think I can push myself a lot) 

I am going to bring up food a lot because I am such a picky eater, so travelling is a bit scary with food. So the main thing I remember is the KFC in spain, it was spicier than american but not bad like msot spicy things are to me! I also had a burger once that was okay and I got eggs a lot out of fear. Burgers and chicken are the easiest things to often get but the cheese on the burgers is often weird. I did not try anything traditional from them (well I had churros? Are those from Spain specifically I am not sure.) 

We did meet up with his family and his aunt scheduled us for a morning tour of the Sagrada Familia, a christian church. I went along because they are kind and it was something to do and I did use my wheelchair for this. But I am not Christian like them so it was just a cool looking building to me I guess, I mean it was very pretty and well crafted! I didnt go up the tower because of the chair but I didnt want to lol. 

We were only in Spain a few days before we had an 11 am boarding for the cruise!!!!! 

Boarding the Cruise and Day ONE 

We had to pack up all our luggage into taxis once again and then went to the Port/Dock whatever you wanna call it! I remember that we first went through a building and we had to do metal detectors and put up our luggage to be scanned and checked and delivered to the room. It was a lot like boarding the planes! We also took family photos which are cute and they let bfs brother (Screw it we gonna call him H from now on because he roomed with us and Im not sure how often I will bring him up. We will call the parents mom and dad or parents, grandpa is grandpa, and his girlfriend is G. Then the three cousins will be 1 2 and 3 from 1 being oldest 3 youngest and 2 middle, their parents will be A and U for aunt and uncle) So They let H take a photo alone and he loved it, it was something he said he wanted for some reason. Then they got us to the gangway bridge thingy? And two workers got my wheels over it and pulled me up the steepness in my chair. BF and I felt weird letting others control my chair for sure, I could watch him watch them and I felt out of control and balance since only he pushes me. We then had to get updated photos since we all had changed our hair since posting them on the app. (Oh yeah we had to upload the passports and photos of us on the app so the passport came in in time before of course, but dont wait until a few weeks before for the passport!)

We then were given room card key things with our names on them and if we had the drink package. This was what we used for the room, for getting towels at the pool, for drinks and snacks and such, to get on and off the ship, and really everything! However we did take our passports off the ship always and they tell you too they rarely checked them because we had the keycard. I also bought special lanyards for us three (it was a three pack so H got lucky) and it had a retractable part for the card. 

Then we did the safety drill, which freaked me out. They showed the safety boats and told us what to do and played a siren sound to let us know what it sounded like. They showed the life jackets too. They didnt mention if my chair would be saved in the event of a wreck but I didnt ask either. This was called a muster drill and the app told us where to go for it and had us confirm we did it. THE SHIP CANT LEAVE UNTIL EVERYONE DOES IT! 

Then we explored a bit, we looked at the decks and the pool area, we did not swim but we packed our suits in the carry on so we could while it was empty so life hack! We got complimentary ice cream cones (H ate so many lol) and we got some free drinks like smoothies and red bull but bf bought us both a nice fun drink. (BF IS SOBER FROM DRINKING NOW BUT WE DID HAVE FUN ON THIS CRUISE BEFORE HAND TO SUBSTITUE WEED lol) I had a strawberry daquiri and he had pina coloda which is the main thing he drank (until we found the awesome lounge with a cosmo) 

The rooms were ready after like 2 or 4 pm? Also we had time adjustments we had to deal with in general keep that in mind always. Our bags were at our rooms and we took them in. However our room was set up with 2 single beds so we had to call for it to be fixed. They took down the bunkbed above for H and they pushed our beds together under since we wanted to cuddle. We also had a balcony room which was BEAUTIFUL! The nights out there were perfect. I could add photos if people want! We had a tv but most shows were kids or news or cruise info so it wasnt worth it, instead I played music on my phone often. I have spotify premium and downloaded many playlists to use offline. I also had a charger and mom bought us charging adaptors for the non american outlets.

 I will admit I didnt sleep too much because I think the excitement triggered hypomania but I went on this trip knowing it probably would! So I will not really be talking about sleep. Some nights I read my book on the balcony or I listened to music sitting out there. I also found out I can use google docs offline on ones I had recently used so I worked on my stories at times too. I also explored the ship when I was awake early enough that things were happening, I also got starbucks every morning and the woman remembered my order each time! 

The Cruise! 

Accessibility - First let us talk about how amazing and accessible it was! We did not get a wheelchair room, because we had our rooms in a row (hell if we didnt lock the inside door 1 2 and 3 couldve come in our room they were connected!!) But the room fit the chair, and in the room I was mostly in the bed or on the seats outside so I didnt really need my chair. It did take up room sadly but it was fine and we never left it there without us so the workers never had to deal with it. We did put our bags in the wrong spot? I guess they cant be under the bed?  Now our one issue was the doorway was EXACTLY the side of my chair. So we did scratch it a little here and there but honestly if you only have like 3-4 wheelchair rooms you should make the door ways fit them all. My chair is even a little tiny so I couldnt imagine someone average or bigger than me in a normal room! But the rest of the ship was amazing! There were elevators and they were beautiful and fun like always, and people were mostly kind. (we did run over a kids foot who tried to rush on as we got off but his dad made it a learning moment) The one thing I couldnt reach was like the water slide cause stairs, and the rock climb was on a half level with stairs too. But the bathrooms were nice with some having button doors and such even! And the floor was mostly easy to move on on my own even the carpet areas! 

Dining - The dining was half great for my autistic brain but also nice for BFs adhd brain food wise! The food was different every night with a new menu (however there is a kids menu like grilled cheese and tendies if you dont like whats on it!) but the spot we ate was the same every time!! It was the same table in the same room and seats, and we were seated by a ramp for my chair as well! We sat with H and 1 2 3 while the “adults” (H Bf and I are adults legally but kids by their view) had their own table. The waiters were the same too so when they misgendered me bf corrected them since we would see them every night for like 5-7 nights (really cant remember the exact days we were there) There were other non free restaurants but we didnt eat at them because budget tbh. 

Complimentary Things - There was ice cream and there was pizza as free snacks! There was also a few other snacks that were like premade breakfast sandwiches I think but im too picky to have tried them. We also got to see towel animals in our rooms when they cleaned them! Couldnt keep them but still cute! I also was able to ask for a shower stool that fit their tiny shower thankfully! 

Swimming - So swimming was normal I would say, we took my chair with a waterproof cloth to the seats and we swam a bit then sat on reclining chairs until I transferred to my chair to leave. Now the real thing that made me want to talk about it was this was my very first time Taped in public. I was shirtless with skin colored tape holding my chest down. His family showed a bit of discomfort but I think it is because they see me as a girl and know me personally, but no strangers stared or asked or seemed to care. Kids and adults didnt care. (Hell like 3 different paresnt had their little kids like aged 3-10 running around naked so if they worried they should worry about a public place having a naked kid, like dude thats weirder than me having tape! Rant over)
Room Service - So H ordered a grilled cheese to be delivered and the flat rate fee of 14 is for every delivery to the room no matter what you get. It was a 3 later crust cut off grilled cheese he fell in love with and ordered often especially when he skipped the dinner dining (Even though he could get it there too he wanted to lay down, he bought wifi so he had youtube lol) but one day we paid the fee for 3 sandwiches, mine was just peanut butter also 3 layer no crust (We didnt ask for that part they just did it that was cool) and bf got pb and j! It also had fruit and drinks! 

Shows - There were shows on the ship!! We saw ice skating that even had tarot in it which I was surprised by but enjoyed. We saw a magician as well and some bigger ships do broadway plays even which I would love to see! We were put in the back because of the chair but we could still see unlike some places. They were very cool and nice and interesting and I wanted to see more but most didnt interest us personally. 

Docking/Ports/Tendering - When we docked we had the same as boarding of two people moving my chair for me and freaking us out. The real scary thing for me though was the tendering which is when a small boat took us from the cruise to the docks. I was scared of sinking and we wiggle waggled on the water a lot. I couldnt sit in my chair either cause I was so scared of movement so we held onto it next to us most times but I did sit in the chair some times. I think we tendered twice maybe? Normal docking and ports were better since we just had the gangway ramp. We also had to be back in time or they said they would leave us which scared me so I made sure to be on time. 

Malta 

The first port country we visited was Matla. This one we went to a war fort place thing from history for dad. Im not big on history but he loved it so it was worth it. However the ground was very brick and steep and the chair was extremely hard to work with but since we didnt have a room or anything off the ship we had to take the chair since  I didnt want to leave it on the boat. We also didnt know how the country would be of course.

Turkey 

The second port I remember for sure was Turkey, (couldve been a greek island my order could be wrong). For Turkey we booked excursions meaning guided things put on by the boat. Malta we winged it and did our own thing. Mom and Dad and H went on their own tour I think with walking and buses while bf and I went on one our selves that was mostly on a bus. We still took the chair and they packed it under the bus but we also had the crutches for small stops on the tour. We saw some shops and I got my evil eye and hamsa hand bracelet there and he got a fake gucci bag cause he loves fake stuff like that, hes so cute. We also got to see a rug store with 65k rugs that they let us feel barefoot, which was interesting and so cool. They also let us try coffee which was very strong and I hate coffee but I had to tell my coffee loving grandma I had real turkish coffee in turkey. And we tried ruckus an alcoholic drink that was kind of black licorice tasting. The bus also showed us historical sites and had a nice guide. According to H though, him and mom and dad had a way funnier and cool tour guide. 

Greece 

- Santorini - So for Greece we went to three different parts but I dont remember the order with turkey. We may have gone to Santorini then turkey then the next two below. I remember this was also an excursion his parents booked another tour for them and a beach day for bf and I!! Oh boy I could go on for a whole post about this day!! Well maybe not but it was amazing and I got a lot to say! First we took the wheelchair and got on another bus. Then weirdly the helper lady (not like a tour guide just a worker to round us up I guess?) let my bf hit her vape!!! That was so silly but cute, she barely spoke english but was nice to us and chatted and helped with the wheelchair, and she was drop dead gorgeous! Then I was picking at the skin by my nail on my thumb and ripped it open! It hurt but didnt bleed and the kind woman got me a bandaid. Then the bus took us and I believe this one had a lot of mountains and cliff sides that freaked me out. 99% certain of that because I also bought a painting on the beach of the town (probably not hand painted and a scam my bf says but I want to have hope!) Then we got to the beach which was a beautiful black sand beach from volcanic ash. We rented a lounge area with two seats and an umbrella for only 15 euros and we ordered food and drinks with the button as well. I got a burger (but they messed it up and it wasnt plain, more on that at the end!) and my bf got a gyro to try with a sauce we couldn't pronounce that he enjoyed and some real lamb I believe. (BF tried new things like escargot and other stuff on the cruise and in new countries, hew way more adventurous than me) I also swam shirtless here with tape and no one cared (THOUGH ANOTHER PERSON LET THEIR KID BE NAKED THATS WHY I SAID IT HAPPENED TOO MANY TIMES ON THIS TRIP LOL) and we had like 2 drinks each and tried new things. The water was the salty sea so that new ripped booboo on my hand?? Yeah, burned like hell. Do not recommend that part but we kept swimming and had fun. It was cold but refreshing and we had our drinks waiting for us. When it was time to leave we paid and the person working asked why I didnt eat my burger. I admitted it had toppings I didnt ask for and he gave us the money back. We insisted it was fine cause it happens all the time here in the usa but he also insisted so we took back the 12 or so euro then boarded the bus and left. Oh and took cute photos on a swing with flowers! But that was our mostly perfect beach day, we also took some sand home in a container that sits in the living room! 

- Mykonos - This one was another do our own thing port day and i dont know if it was after turkey or santorini but it was the second to last stop I believe! It was a bit hilly here and there but the roads were flatter and nicer. We mostly shopped around and wandered, I got shot glasses for my grandma (Which I did in every single stop and country even germany cause she collects them) and I think I got something for me? Cant remember what though? I know in Turkey at the rug shop I got a hamsa to hang at my altar and athens I got a gaia statue but mykonos I cant remember what I got… Oh I know, a ring which I have since lost so I assume it served its purpose (it was also the evil eye and one of the few times a ring fit me so well, and yes Im typing this as I think, no I wont edit out me forgetting what I got I do what I want!) We also watched dad and BF stand by water standing the same and doing the same pose it was adorable even if he “doesnt wanna be his dad” there are worse people he could be too. Recently his brother did the same and we teased him too. And we saw a dog like mine and I got home sick, and an old lady had blue hair like mine and complimented me. 

- Athens - The last stop was Athens, and we got off the boat and went to another air bnb apartment place. This one did have an elevator but it was so small bf couldnt even go in it with me and the chair and I had to stand and take apart the chair to fit. But no stairs so yay. However this one also had bad plumbing and we couldnt flush toilet paper which was hard to remember when half asleep. We also got KFC at one point and it was very good and normal but mom got cheese curds she loved that america didnt have. When it came to food H is like me and picky so we often got italian to either have pizza for him or pasta, and we got chicken or burgers for me if needed. I think I also tried Taco bell once but which country it was in I cant remember. I do know in Athens we also climbed up to the top of the Acropolis, which was not open for wheelchairs that day so I took my crutches but I made it! It took us a long time and Mom did bail and sit near the top waiting for us, but I made it!! We took photos as well to prove it and I was so tired and sore after. We also rode buses for fun and looked around the city and I got my Gaia statue for my altar that I pray to often. 

Airport when returning home 

After all the fun it was time to return home. We got lucky that there was no airport issues this time but we did still take photos of the chair in case with the tags. I think we had a mostly straight shot? Or maybe we stopped in germany again?? I cant remember for sure but I know it was much calmer than going, besides it felt like we had all the time in the world to get home now since no one worked for a few more days. We often got seated in the back thankfully and I do believe heading home they once made me use a transfer chair and wouldnt let me walk to my seat, which felt weird but it wasnt bad. Now onto one weird controversial part, I never like to fakeclaim anyone for anything but a family of like 6 adults and 5 kids ALL each neede their own wheelchair PROVIDED by the airport, none brought one. It made a line for the elevator because each one wanted the workers to push them and had no one to push them in these. However when they saw bf was pushing me they sent us ahead because we didnt need to wait for one of the only two workers who were pushing. Then when we got to the passport part, a different lady in a wheelchair cut in front of us in hers and said something like “Im in a chair I need to go first” as if I wasnt in my own in front of her, but we ignored it. Finally at the baggage claim after that the family that needed over 10 chairs or so, ALL STOOD UP AND LEFT THE CHAIRS, not a single one stayed seated and they carried many bags and left. It just felt annoying that we fight so hard to be seen and get help in our chair and others are using the resources someone might have really needed??  Anyways we got back in america and drove on home and that was the end of our amazing adventure!!! 

If you have any questions I didnt cover or anything you want to know dont be afraid to comment and ask!!