My first clue to Royal Caribbean International's attentiveness to accessibility came when I inserted my cabin key into the slot outside my room on Radiance of the Seas. Almost magically, the door swung open, providing an ample 20 seconds for me to get inside before closing again. What a convenience for a disabled passenger. Already impressed, I decided to explore the ship to see if there were any other accessibility enhancements.

What I discovered was that Royal Caribbean managed to come up with some delightful surprises. One can only hope that electronic door openers in public restrooms, hydraulic lifts into one pool and Jacuzzi, lowered casino blackjack tables, and voice recognition software at the Internet cafe, become an industry standard. Best of all, however, was the ship's wheelchair tender lift.

Hearing that our first port of call would require a tender had me disappointed. Traditionally, having to descend a flight of stairs to reach the tender meant that I would be spending the day aboard ship. Not so this time. As I rolled my chair out of the second deck portal to the top of the staircase, instead of finding an impassable obstacle, I was greeted with a mechanical lift. My chair rolled easily onto the lift's platform, and the ride down was smooth and stable. Getting from the landing below to the tender itself took some assistance, but lifting my chair six inches is quite a different task from carrying it up or down stairs. With these new tender lifts, the age-old bane of mobility-impaired cruisers has been all but eliminated.

Even better for disabled passengers is sailing a Radiance-class ship in Alaska. Coming under the jurisdiction of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Alaska, at least in my mind, offers disabled cruisers the best accessible shore excursions. The most difficult part was choosing between the multiple options availbe at each port.

Imagine the exhilaration of peering out a helicopter window as you soar above the jutting mountain peaks of the Juneau Icefield, then landing atop a glacier so remote that you cane see nothing else as far as the horizon. Now, imagine what that is like for those who spend their days in wheelchairs.

"I do not have the words to describe how breathtaking it was," Jean Rosenthal, a paraplegic, told me. "This was truly a once in a lifetime experience. I felt like I was on top of the world." And, inddeed she was, thanks to lift-equipped helicopters. Previously unthinkable shore excursions are now a reality for the disabled, thanks to the progressive attitudes of Royal Caribbean and shoreside tour operators in Alaska.