Parking - meet and greet

Firstly I am sorry if this has already been asked but here goes.

Nearly a month ago I had a heart bypass operation, the recovery is going okay and I think I am doing alright.

The symptoms started last year and as a result we had to cancel a 2 month trip to Australia and New Zealand so I am desperate for a holiday and some sunshine.

I see the surgeon on the 17th July and the cardiac nurse does not see any reason why I can't then book a holiday with an okay from the surgeon.

My friend and I have decided that even if I am allowed to fly maybe a relaxing cruise would be the best holiday to start off with - I am a member of a group insurance scheme so all should be good as long as the surgeon gives the okay (but that is not my question)

I have been warned not to lift anything heavy so the goal is to drive to the ship, park the car where someone will lift the luggage and put it on board and then take the car and park it then do the same on our return..

Is there a service that do that if so can you let me have details please.

Most people use Cruise and Passenger Services as they offer the easiest, zero hassle, service and most people will get their parking with them free from P&O as part of the booking. Luggage is taken by porters. Passengers usually lift cases out of their cars for the porters to take, but they are helpful guys and will happily lift them out of the boot for you, especially if you tip them. C&PS staff drive your car away and when you return you walk a very short distance (approx 100yds) to pick your car up. Again, porters will transport your luggage from the arrivals hall to the car and, again, will load them if needed - again, it's nice to tip them for doing so. Cruising is the least hassle way of holidaying if you are disabled or need assistance. My wife is in a wheelchair and it's the only overseas holiday she will consider, for that very reason. Link to C&PS below

https://www.cruiseparking.co.uk/

We use the CPS you drive up to the terminal, pull up and they will unload your cases and take them and the car off your hands. On the return P&O leave your cases in the baggage hall, you retrieve them and put them on a trolley which you can wheel to your car (it's across the road from the terminal), so there is some lifting but not too much. I don't know if they will help you to put the cases in your boot that doesn't normally happen, but you could call them and ask. https://www.cruiseparking.co.uk

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To clarify, CPS do not handle luggage. That's done by porters, employed by the port authority. On your return, porters are lined up at the entrance to the luggage hall. They will help you find your luggage, carry it all the way to your car (on sack trucks) and, if you ask, will load your car. The service is paid for by P&O and technically free for passengers, but I usually tip £5 or £10 as it makes the whole thing completely hassle free, leaving me to push the wheelchair. I am able to unload and load the car myself, but am convinced that they would happily do both if I couldn't. There is no reason why you should have to lift a case at any stage (other than at home). The cabin stewards will happily lift them on to your bed for you to unpack as well.

Just a big up for the porters at Southampton. I've never found an unhelpful one yet, well done guys.

Thanks all that is a relief to know.

I frequently holiday in the USA (well I used to) so don't have a problem with tipping especially if it makes my life easier.

Thanks again.

To clarify, CPS do not handle luggage. That's done by porters, employed by the port authority. On your return, porters are lined up at the entrance to the luggage hall. They will help you find your luggage, carry it all the way to your car (on sack trucks) and, if you ask, will load your car. The service is paid for by P&O and technically free for passengers, but I usually tip £5 or £10 as it makes the whole thing completely hassle free, leaving me to push the wheelchair. I am able to unload and load the car myself, but am convinced that they would happily do both if I couldn't. There is no reason why you should have to lift a case at any stage (other than at home). The cabin stewards will happily lift them on to your bed for you to unpack as well.

I always use porters, but generally find that they are to be found at the bottom of the escalators or lift area. They are often not at the entrance to the luggage hall.

Another thing the original poster should consider is in addition to using CPS is to contact P&O at Carnival House before travelling and ask about assisted boarding. Certainly on disembarkation, the disembarkation lounge with being pushed ashore in a wheel chair to the porters area seems very useful. You just need to enquire before travel or if it's just disembarkation you need try reception during the cruise to book up.

Regards John

I don't think anyone has so far explained that car parking, with CPS, is often included in a P&O Select Fare. So, it wouldn't cost you other than a tip for the porters either end (and the 'arrival' porters often skedaddle quicker than you can find a £ for them! They don't hang around anticipating/expecting a tip)

Thanks again.

If I need additional help closer to the date I will contact P & O and speak to them but am hopeful that I will be okay apart from not lifting anything due to the chest bone repairing.

I know my friend will help where she can can like most people I want to cause as little problems as possible.

I just can't wait to book, excited already and haven't booked anything yet.

I always use porters, but generally find that they are to be found at the bottom of the escalators or lift area. They are often not at the entrance to the luggage hall.

 

Another thing the original poster should consider is in addition to using CPS is to contact P&O at Carnival House before travelling and ask about assisted boarding. Certainly on disembarkation, the disembarkation lounge with being pushed ashore in a wheel chair to the porters area seems very useful. You just need to enquire before travel or if it's just disembarkation you need try reception during the cruise to book up.

 

Regards John

Yes, there is that facility, but I believe that the OP's issue is lifting heavy cases, rather than walking. On our recent Aurora cruise, it was patently clear that assisted boarding and disembarkation is abused by passengers who are quite capable of walking on and off the ship (and did so, with ease, for the 16 days of our cruise, around the ship, on and off in ports etc) but suddenly need a wheelchair for the 100yds to get on or off the ship when there is a perceived advantage in doing so. This was further compounded by a number of very vocal passengers in the assisted disembarkation lounge who had the most creative reasons as to why they should be the first to disembark. In the end, myself and two other passenger, all of us with partners who are genuine wheelchair users, pushed our other halves off ourselves in order to avoid further and unnecessary delay whilst those with the loudest voices received the attention of the P&O staff and the first wheelchair pushers. I feel for P&O in these circumstances as it is very difficult for them, but when genuine and permanently disabled people, for whom the service is designed, are pushed to the back, something has gone wrong.

I don't think anyone has so far explained that car parking, with CPS, is often included in a P&O Select Fare. So, it wouldn't cost you other than a tip for the porters either end (and the 'arrival' porters often skedaddle quicker than you can find a £ for them! They don't hang around anticipating/expecting a tip)

I did mention this in my first post.

So you did - apologies.

Skim reading failed again!

Yes, there is that facility, but I believe that the OP's issue is lifting heavy cases, rather than walking. On our recent Aurora cruise, it was patently clear that assisted boarding and disembarkation is abused by passengers who are quite capable of walking on and off the ship (and did so, with ease, for the 16 days of our cruise, around the ship, on and off in ports etc) but suddenly need a wheelchair for the 100yds to get on or off the ship when there is a perceived advantage in doing so. This was further compounded by a number of very vocal passengers in the assisted disembarkation lounge who had the most creative reasons as to why they should be the first to disembark. In the end, myself and two other passenger, all of us with partners who are genuine wheelchair users, pushed our other halves off ourselves in order to avoid further and unnecessary delay whilst those with the loudest voices received the attention of the P&O staff and the first wheelchair pushers. I feel for P&O in these circumstances as it is very difficult for them, but when genuine and permanently disabled people, for whom the service is designed, are pushed to the back, something has gone wrong.

OMG I just hate people doing that I see it a lot when I fly, as my niece would say 'would they take the disability so quickly'. I can assure you that I think the only problem I will have will be lifting as I start my exercise physio in the next few weeks and am able to walk short distances already.

but when genuine and permanently disabled people, for whom the service is designed, are pushed to the back, something has gone wrong.

I have given this a lot of thought today (being housebound is boring) and as I said earlier I completely agree with you re people abusing the service for those needing it. However I am not sure what the word 'permanently' means, While the bypass I had was life saving in the long run I am hopeful that my issue is not permanent but it makes it no less serious.

Maybe I have the wrong end of the stick but in my mind if a disability is real it shouldn't matter or be less valid whether it is permanent or not.

Maybe I have misunderstood?

To clarify, CPS do not handle luggage. That's done by porters, employed by the port authority. On your return, porters are lined up at the entrance to the luggage hall. They will help you find your luggage, carry it all the way to your car (on sack trucks) and, if you ask, will load your car. The service is paid for by P&O and technically free for passengers, but I usually tip £5 or £10 as it makes the whole thing completely hassle free, leaving me to push the wheelchair. I am able to unload and load the car myself, but am convinced that they would happily do both if I couldn't. There is no reason why you should have to lift a case at any stage (other than at home). The cabin stewards will happily lift them on to your bed for you to unpack as well.

I decided to use a porter after our latest cruise for the first time, and wonder why I have never done so before. I have proudly, or is that stupidly, pushed a wheelchair with one hand and a trolley with the other, frantically trying to keep them moving in unison. Never again, in future I will seek out a porter and let them handle the luggage while I concentrate on the wheelchair, the best value £10 that I spent on holiday.

I decided to use a porter after our latest cruise for the first time, and wonder why I have never done so before. I have proudly, or is that stupidly, pushed a wheelchair with one hand and a trolley with the other, frantically trying to keep them moving in unison. Never again, in future I will seek out a porter and let them handle the luggage while I concentrate on the wheelchair, the best value £10 that I spent on holiday.

:D:D

I have done that a couple of times with my mother in a wheelchair and our luggage on a trolley when I look back I must have looked so funny as they both seemed to go in opposite directions! :o

I have given this a lot of thought today (being housebound is boring) and as I said earlier I completely agree with you re people abusing the service for those needing it. However I am not sure what the word 'permanently' means, While the bypass I had was life saving in the long run I am hopeful that my issue is not permanent but it makes it no less serious.

 

Maybe I have the wrong end of the stick but in my mind if a disability is real it shouldn't matter or be less valid whether it is permanent or not.

 

Maybe I have misunderstood?

You are quite correct. Reading it again, I should have just said genuinely disabled. I'm fully supportive of the service being available to anyone in genuine need, whether that be due to a permanent disability or a temporary issue, such as post operative challenges. I am also fully aware that not all disabilities are immediately visible to others. The point I was trying to make was that assisted embarkation and Disembarkation service is definitely abused by certain passengers who do not need a wheelchair or assistance from an additional person to walk around the ship day and night, to disembark and rejoin the ship during ports of call etc, yet as soon as there is the opportunity to gain some sort of perceived advantage of boarding or disembarking quicker at the start or end of the cruise, bypassing queues, they suddenly claim that they need a wheelchair and a pusher. For example, being elderly does not, in itself, entitle people to use the assistance service unless the person has genuine difficulty walking the short distance on or off the ship safely without the assistance of a wheelchair and pusher. The additional point I was trying to make was that due to these selfish people, who also happened to be very 'mouthy' and demanding that they had to be first off the ship, at least 3 couples with permanently disabled partners (ourselves included) gave up waiting whilst these individuals were given priority and took ourselves off and paid for a porter to assist us. So people such as us, who are in genuine need of assistance, get displaced even though P&O would have initially introduced this service in the first place with people like us in mind. It's important to note that people who need help with luggage as they cannot carry it or push it in a trolley themselves do not need to use the assistance service. They simply need to walk off the ship themselves and then ask for assistance from one of the porters who are lined up waiting to assist passengers just before the luggage hall. That's an entirely different service.

Be warned by my experience. In the small print P&O state that you must book your "free" parking with CPS at least 38 days before you sail. There is nothing to indicate this in the cruise peronaliser. I missed this deadline and now have to pay £190 for parking!

Be warned by my experience. In the small print P&O state that you must book your "free" parking with CPS at least 38 days before you sail. There is nothing to indicate this in the cruise peronaliser. I missed this deadline and now have to pay £190 for parking!

Thanks for the heads up, I will make sure we do this as soon as we book the cruise.

As another recent bypassee, could I comment on some of your posts.

Do not assume that your travel insurance company will welcome you with open arms, unless they can extort a large extra premium from you. Your rehab nurse will have lists of insurance companies sympathetic to clients whose plumbing has been "fixed" -- I found Explorer Travel and All Clear Travel helpful and uncomplicated. Quite inexpensive, compared to several others.

You will enjoy rehab physio. You WILL! Or else! Actually, after a few visits, I found myself looking forward to my friendly rowing machine, bicycle and step, but hated the nasty cross-trainer! I even now attend our local gym, with lots of machines to play with, joining the silver seventies with six-packs and Speedos!

The two dates you need to be aware of are a) six weeks and b) twelve weeks. At six weeks, you can do a lot of things that don't involve straining the sternum, but you should be able to drive (a car, not golf, as a driver comes at twelve weeks), do housework (tee hee!) and answer the insurance questions about the time since your operation. At twelve weeks, you are cured, they say, and you can do what you like, within reason.and this will last for years and years and years. Certainly, cruises will be no problem at all.

Just remember, as my NHS daughter keeps reminding me, a lot of people put a lot of effort and a lot of money into fixing you, so don't waste it. Enjoy it. You're better now than ever.

I Feel GRRRREAT!

You are quite correct. Reading it again, I should have just said genuinely disabled. I'm fully supportive of the service being available to anyone in genuine need, whether that be due to a permanent disability or a temporary issue, such as post operative challenges. I am also fully aware that not all disabilities are immediately visible to others. The point I was trying to make was that assisted embarkation and Disembarkation service is definitely abused by certain passengers who do not need a wheelchair or assistance from an additional person to walk around the ship day and night, to disembark and rejoin the ship during ports of call etc, yet as soon as there is the opportunity to gain some sort of perceived advantage of boarding or disembarking quicker at the start or end of the cruise, bypassing queues, they suddenly claim that they need a wheelchair and a pusher. For example, being elderly does not, in itself, entitle people to use the assistance service unless the person has genuine difficulty walking the short distance on or off the ship safely without the assistance of a wheelchair and pusher. The additional point I was trying to make was that due to these selfish people, who also happened to be very 'mouthy' and demanding that they had to be first off the ship, at least 3 couples with permanently disabled partners (ourselves included) gave up waiting whilst these individuals were given priority and took ourselves off and paid for a porter to assist us. So people such as us, who are in genuine need of assistance, get displaced even though P&O would have initially introduced this service in the first place with people like us in mind. It's important to note that people who need help with luggage as they cannot carry it or push it in a trolley themselves do not need to use the assistance service. They simply need to walk off the ship themselves and then ask for assistance from one of the porters who are lined up waiting to assist passengers just before the luggage hall. That's an entirely different service.

100 % agree!!

As another recent bypassee, could I comment on some of your posts.

 

Do not assume that your travel insurance company will welcome you with open arms, unless they can extort a large extra premium from you. Your rehab nurse will have lists of insurance companies sympathetic to clients whose plumbing has been "fixed" -- I found Explorer Travel and All Clear Travel helpful and uncomplicated. Quite inexpensive, compared to several others.

 

You will enjoy rehab physio. You WILL! Or else! Actually, after a few visits, I found myself looking forward to my friendly rowing machine, bicycle and step, but hated the nasty cross-trainer! I even now attend our local gym, with lots of machines to play with, joining the silver seventies with six-packs and Speedos!

 

The two dates you need to be aware of are a) six weeks and b) twelve weeks. At six weeks, you can do a lot of things that don't involve straining the sternum, but you should be able to drive (a car, not golf, as a driver comes at twelve weeks), do housework (tee hee!) and answer the insurance questions about the time since your operation. At twelve weeks, you are cured, they say, and you can do what you like, within reason.and this will last for years and years and years. Certainly, cruises will be no problem at all.

 

Just remember, as my NHS daughter keeps reminding me, a lot of people put a lot of effort and a lot of money into fixing you, so don't waste it. Enjoy it. You're better now than ever.

 

I Feel GRRRREAT!

Thank you. I am only at the 4 week mark (4 weeks today) so still not driving - car or golf club. Having good days and bad days still so thought of holidays are keeping me going.

I will check with my insurance co but I pay into a monthly 'group scheme' which includes many things including travel insurance, the only times they won't cover an individual is if: Advised not to travel by a DR, Terminally ill or travelling to receive medical treatment. I am not covered as an individual but as a member of a group. Of course I will check this out before I book though as I want to ensure I am covered when I travel.

I am glad you feel so much better, I look forward to the day I can say the same.