TigerB

£50-70? 😯 What the hell are they serving up to ask that much?

Ah yes, not combinable with Military or Groups offers. I went to the cabin to get my credit card and brought back down my Bluelight card, just in case; she said I couldn't have that. Fair enough, but I thought I would try.😉

Thanks Tring, that is helpful.👍 No, we are but lowly Pacific cruisers.🙄

I got that the wrong way around; I meant the former, it's Aurora that has the less appealing cabins for us. Ideally, for such a trip we would like to have a balcony cabin. The only such cabins on Aurora that take our fancy are A152, A154, A155 and A157; the ones on deck 9 are shown as having cut-out balconies, albeit they are one grade higher. We are not adverse to outside cabins, but the ones on deck 6 are below the promenade and public areas; that initially puts us off. We wouldn't consider an inside cabin for such a trip. Arcadia offers better choice of balcony cabins, albeit they're all deluxe ones. Selbourne, I would be grateful if you could, when you have the time to do so, DM me about the accessible cabins on Aurora, and if you have been in such cabins on Arcadia, those too. Also, having initially looked at February or March for such a trip, we were advised that November would be better for a wheelchair user, as less likelihood of snow. Do you have any views on that? Thanks in advance.🙂

So, just to be clear; in September we are on Britannia, having booked direct; if we booked again whilst on that cruise, the new booking would remain as a direct booking, we couldn't nominate a travel agent. Is that correct?

I concur that the menu on Arvia was poor.

Thanks again, Tring.👍 It's the Northern Lights cruise we want to book, and must have an accessible cabin. The ships are likely to be Aurora or Arcadia, and with the latter there are only a couple of cabins that we prefer to the rest. I'll monitor the situation.

I'm not sure they have that information onboard, as we were asked if we had a travel agent we wanted to nominate.

Thanks for that; sounds like she may have given us incorrect information. We are on a cruise in September, so that is an option to book with the low deposit, if they are available then. I'll keep my options open and link in with a travel agent before then. How do I pre-register with P&O direct?

When we were on Arvia in January, we asked about November 2025; there's a particular cruise that we want to do then and we want to secure a suitable cabin early doors. She said they are likely to be published about August time this year; she recommended we ask when we are on Iona this June as they may be able to access them before they are published.

When we were on Arvia in January we booked two cruises; the Canaries on Britannia in September this year, and the repositioning cruise back to Southampton on Arvia next March. We got double OBC for them both, £700 for the first and £1210 for the second; and it was £50pp deposit for each. When we got home I checked the online price and there was no difference in price; obviously less OBC and a bigger deposit for each. I intend to keep an eye on prices and won't pay the remaining balance until to due date; if there is a better deal, and subject to a suitable cabin being available, I will probably take a hit on the £100 deposit if it works in my favour to do so.

Others have had similar experiences with not being able to book ahead. We had no problem for Epicurean, Sindhu, and Green & Co for our recent Arvia cruise. Come to think of it, I was able to book Epicurean for our Baltic cruise on Britannia in September 2022. How very strange!🤔

And it is also 20% cheaper before the Peninsular discount

Ah, I stand corrected. Thanks for that; good to know for our next trip 🙂 I take it, that you can get a good signal from the ship wi-fi whilst in the terminal?

If, by embarkation lounge you mean at the port before you board the ship, you won't be able to use My Holiday and have it charged to your OBC. To register for My Holiday for the first time, you need the last few digits from your cruise card, which you won't get until you go to your cabin. As posted above, you get 20% for booking ahead, plus any Peninsular discount.

20% discount if booked before embarkation; so, £24, plus the Peninsular discount off that

Well, every season we do end up at some point propping up whichever league we are in; so, fair point really.🙄

Nice, but if you want to take your own coasters you need ones that scream 'class', for example... CTID

Is that because it is a nice stroll, or is it a local bylaw? I don't want to get fined if we don't do it?😉

That trip sounds good 🙂 I know the trams in Santa Cruz are wheelchair accessible, as we saw them last month but didn't go on one. How about La Laguna, suitable for a wheelchair user?

This is an interesting thread; we're doing the Canaries in September, with all the same ports. Thanks for the suggestions, folks. 🙂

I was going from what smj777 wrote, who appears to prefer beer mats. Obviously, not as posh as you! 😉

Like this one?

Thanks for your understanding; yes, I totally agree with all you say. Our daughter has hidden disabilities, as does my niece; with the latter those include fibromyalgia. And yes, both have been 'called out' in certain situations, both by able-bodied folk and those with obviously physical disabilities. So, I know exactly what you mean. Even my wife and have been the subject of glares, mainly from elderly people, when we pull into a disabled parking bay; they would see two people in their fifties and probably think that we weren't entitled to park in such a bay. On one occasion in Tesco car park at the back end of last year, an elderly fella actually got out of his car and stood alongside it, staring at our dashboard, no doubt waiting for the the blue badge to go on. Her blue badge is in a metal frame through which a cycle lock is inserted, and that in turn is used to secure her wheelchair in the boot. On seeing this fella, my wife and I chatted for a couple of minutes before I nonchalantly walked to the back of the car, unlocked my wife's wheelchair, and helped her into it, as I wished him a good morning; no response! He was still stood there until I actually put the blue badge on the dashboard. Cruel of us I know, but fun all the same!😉

You appear to have misinterpreted what I have written. At no time have I said that anyone was rude directly towards my wife or other disabled folk. In fact, in the many years that my wife has been a wheelchair user, we have never experienced rudeness directly targeted towards her or any direct and blatant discrimination from an individual. Indirect discrimination from organisations and service providers is a different matter. We have though experienced many situations where folk have been oblivious to, or even shown indifference to the needs of my wife. That is not borne out of rudeness, but more a lack of understanding or awareness, or being unfamiliar with such an encounter. An example of that is if we are in a shop and have an interaction with an assistant; the individual may engage with me rather than my wife or, if my wife asks a question they may answer me and not her. My wife would normally deal with a situation like that by saying that her legs don't work, but her mouth and ears work perfectly well. Over the years, as disability awareness training is taken more seriously by organisations, it happens less frequently, but it still happens with members of the public. When I write about folk sometimes being ignorant of obviously disabled persons when entering lifts, that is something that has always happened; I just posed the question why it appears to be more prevalent on cruise ships. Before my wife became a wheelchair user I was, through my job, somewhat aware of the needs of disabled persons, but actually living as a carer for a disabled person and wheelchair user has really opened my eyes, and made me assess every situation as to how it would affect my wife. Sometimes, as has been the case at lifts, I have had to be vocal in order to make others aware of their surroundings; if, by doing so, I have embarrassed folk then so be it, but I would hope that I have also educated them and provided them with more of an awareness of their surroundings and the needs of disabled folk.