sandancer

Exactly my thoughts. I asked her why this has never been brought up before as we have completed assistance forms for all 3 cruises. I thought maybe it only applied to motorised wheelchairs but my husband was sitting right in front of her in his folding wheelchair. We told her that he can move around the cabin without the chair. The chair or rollator (we bring both) are essential for moving around the ship.

Just been told by the future cruise desk on Iona that if you are bringing a wheelchair with you, you can only book an adapted cabin in future. I explained that we have a further 3 cruises booked and her response was to tell us to contact our TA as we would be refused boarding. Apparently it’s now Maritime Law and comes into force this April. We are stunned to say the least. Anyone else heard anything about this.?

Yes, the tea was lovely. Definitely one for the memory box. The taxi was the only one waiting outside of the ship. We’ve been to Funchal several times and have never had any reason to complain so maybe a little complacent.

Travelled twice with Intercruises from Washington Services (nearest to Newcastle). Left at 5.30am with 2 45min breaks. No other pick ups. Arrived Southampton 1pm. Leg room depends on the coach. So far have had 3 different coaches.

It was highway robbery Jean. It was pouring rain and we had the wheelchair - he just took advantage.

Today we took a taxi from Iona to Reid’s Palace. The driver charged us €20 which we thought was a bit steep. I asked the concierge if that was right and he was appalled. He called a taxi for us after tea and it was €6.80 back to the ship. Our fault for not checking but I somehow didn’t expect to be overcharged in Funchal. Don’t know why. So, buyer beware, if you get a taxi here, ask in advance or make sure it’s on the meter.

On Iona at the moment. The Horizon newsletter has info on contacting the ship: Tel 44(0)2380 655000 option 3 then option 1 Credit card required

We sent the cheese back at the Chefs Table. It was disgraceful. Our lovely waiter Marcus went to the buffet and made up a replacement with decent cheese.

We’re on Tiger. Had a little luggage panic as we boarded at 12.45 and bags arrived with us by 17.15. We’ve got a lovely aft de luxe balcony. Off to the Beach House now for steak and prawns. Unfortunately there is no chance of me continuing with your blog. I don’t have the flair for it like you. I’ve really enjoyed reading your posts and you made the anticipation of the cruise way better than usual. Thanks again.

My holding is through Hargreaves Lansdown and they apply (if requested) direct to Carnival. I wonder if they will continue if they now have to deal with Stockperks. Next cruise not until August so I’ll call nearer the time to ask. Maybe someone might also deal throuGh HL and know the answer.

Can’t wait.

No. It’s 14/15 days before the cruise. Same time as dining and entertainment is available. You can see who will be performing then.

Yes, the luggage is collected outside the room. I’m trying to remember what happened the next morning and I’m fairly sure we had to collect the bags and take them to the coach for the transfer to the airport.

We had to collect ours and take it to the bus. This was a Jet2 flight but I would assume the procedure would be the same regardless of airline.

Very pleased to hear that your mind has been put at rest. Now you can get on with the anticipation of a great cruise.

Did you book a Saver fare where you don’t choose your cabin and are allocated one near to the sail date. I read somewhere that fully accessible cabins are reserved for full time wheelchair users so that could be the difficultly.

I’m sorry to hear that you have not been assigned the cabin you require. I have just completed an assistance form for hubbie. We can’t even get a partially adapted cabin and I know we will struggle to cope with both a wheelchair and a Rollator. Did you not choose a cabin when you booked. You should have been made aware at that point that the cabin you had chosen was not fully accessible.

You have made my day Tiger. We board on this coming Saturday and have booked the Beach House for the first night. On the website Beach House menu there is no mention of the lava steak but you have confirmed that it is still being served. Thanks for that. Your comments on pickpockets in Tenerife duly noted and extra care will be taken.

Well last NYE on Iona there were many, many DJ’s on show and it’s a wonder the ship didn’t sink due to the weight of the sequins (including mine).

Thank you Phil. I contacted our TA and they had P&O add the 10% with no loss of OBC. We have a saying up here in the frozen North - “shy bairns get nowt”. I wouldn’t have even asked without the input of the very helpful folks here on CC.

As are we. Here is the info I found: If any of your family or friends need to contact you while you are on board, they can do so by phoning: 0800 917 1584 (from the UK only) – they will need to provide their credit card details. They will then be prompted to provide the ship name, as well as your name and cabin number. Their call will then be directed to your cabin. Only upon connection with the ship will charges commence. Calls are a standard £3.00 per minute. If calling from outside of the UK, they should dial 001 732 3353264 (the same procedure will apply). There will be an American call charge for this number in addition to the £3.00 per minute call charge. If you are not in your cabin at the time of the call, a message will be taken and delivered to your cabin.

That sounds like a total nightmare. However, we were on the NYE cruise and I think that was still school Christmas hols and we didn’t experience any of those things. I must say though that we didn’t eat in the MDR other than on NYE so may have missed all that bad behavior.

Has anyone taken this P&O tour? I’m told that there is a walk between the bus and boat and that there are no facilities for a wheelchair on the boat. This was booked before a wheelchair was needed so I’m thinking maybe if the distance is not too far I could run back to the bus and stow the wheelchair. Or is this impractical.

The first cruise was transferred from another booking. I don’t know if that would make a difference. The 35 night one was booked onboard Azura and the agent was made aware that we were already booked on the NYE cruise as we tried (without success) to get the same cabin. Maybe I should ask our TA to look into it.

No 10% for us. We didn’t book them as a B2B. There were months between the two bookings. We added the 35 night when we were on Azura last October. No mention of a B2B discount.