Paralympians, listen up: whether or not you cruise to gold in Canada at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, you can always cruise Canada when the Games are done.  

Boat trips can be a good travel bet for people with disabilities. In general, the bigger the boat, the easier the travel, but some small-cruise alternatives await in Canada. Here’s how to roll onto the high seas in 2010:

• Vancouver, BC to Alaska, USA aboard the Radiance of the Seas: Royal Caribbean consistently gets high marks from disabled travellers, and this ship tops the list with extra-wide corridors, strobe-light door knockers and vibrating alarm clocks for the hearing impaired, and Braille menus.
• Vancouver, BC to Alaska aboard the ms Zuiderdam: Holland America’s ship features accessibility extras such as blinking doorbell lights, closed-caption TV, and TTD-teletex communication between some staterooms and the front office.
• Port Hardy, BC to Prince Rupert, BC aboard the M/V Northern Adventure: This BC Ferries route offers the same great coastal Inside Passage scenery you’d find on the larger cruise ships, but at a lower price-point. All BC Ferries’ ships are disabled-friendly on both inside and outside decks; the Adventure also has accessible staterooms.
• Great Lakes (ON) cruise aboard the Pearl Mist: This excursion out of Toronto, ON squires guests to Chicago via Niagara Falls in European-style luxury—and has a staff attentive to individual needs.
• “Self-propelled” cruising in rural Nova Scotia: We’re talking canoeing and kayaking here—in style. Mersey River Chalets and Nature Retreat, a secluded four-season wilderness resort by and for those with physical disabilities, has specially designed wharfs for boating and swimming, as well as completely accessible chalets and Sioux-style tipis.
• Halifax-Dartmouth harbour ferry, NS: This short, fully accessible transit link—the oldest, continuous saltwater passenger-ferry service in North America—opens up road excursions through some of Canada’s most beautifully rugged maritime landscapes.

It’s not enough that a cruise ship is accessible: there also needs to be human support available. Those with complicated needs and requirements might want to turn the cruise planning over to a group like Access Holidays Canada, an Ontario-based specialty tour company that can customize day-cruise tours and extended excursions departing from various locations in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.