Megabear2

Ahh but my cruise cost less than £2,000 for solo so I can splash out ... last time I looked at a Grill Suite a Queens one, on the 21 night transatlantic we are doing next year, it was a mere £23,500pp starting price so based on my QA voyage I could have 11.75 more cruises for my money.

Avril it really isn't so bad. Basically err on the side of caution and fill in the form. Frank takes his walking poles, just tick the box for a stick. You are one of the lucky ones, you know about the pitfalls from these boards. There's lots on here who'd guide you through the form and we want it to be easy and right for you. Just book your cruise with your normal travel agent and they'll help too.

I cannot see the problem with your suggestion. Everyone used to fill in the medical questionnaire so why couldn't they do the mobility one?

It seems to be different every time. My husband didn't even take his walking stick on Britannia as he was in a good period. Lo and behold they marked him for one man assistance.

I'm not rich enough for the Grills though. Strictly down in the bilges for me!

Then don't accept the guy's booking, have a lengthy email chain with him, confirm his form was completed correctly and speak in depth to him and his travel agent, all of which he had proof of to hand. Or more importantly have the decency to discuss his ability in private, not in a crowded departure hall and turn him into a sideshow going up and down the stairs like a trained chimpanzee. Tender tests are generally conducted in private, why couldn't he be treated the same.

Yes, I took your comments onboard and bit the bullet, thank you! I worked it out based on the costs of a couple of glasses of wine with lunch and dinner, an aperitif and a g&t or cocktail plus all my teas, coffees etc and came out just about equal once I took into account the 15%. It came in around £800 for the two weeks. Incidentally P&O's classic (very restricted) package would cost me £560 on my next cruise with them and an upgrade to the deluxe would be another £120 or so. The Cunard offering is far superior, no contest really.

Not at all. However he had completed his form and they'd accepted him - he had an email stating so. He was a very fit man who was a competitive wheelchair athlete but he did not have it with him. The check in clerk was very rude, told him he'd need a chair for emergency assistance and no two men available. After remonstrating they called the medical officer who decided he should prove he could get up and down the stairs by actually doing it several times. He obliged, did it extremely easily as well. All this took place in front of other passengers and I thought it was humiliating and embarrassing for him. After all this he was allowed to board it was last boarding by this point and I was a 4.00pm time. We boarded together and he told me the only reason he had kept calm was because he couldn't go home to Cornwall as his house was bring ripped to pieces to adapt it and he was taking the cruise simply because his house was uninhabitable.

Having done a bit of research the people having difficulty are those that take medical aids for use ashore, ie fold up wheelchairs, small fold up scooters, poles etc. Seems that the "semi" able bodied are the ones falling foul most often. I'll never forget my one legged man on Arvia last year who was forced through humiliating displays of going up and down stairs for the medical officer with and without his crutch. Took them 40 minutes to decide he could board after refusing to let him on. He whizzed up and down stairs while I crawled.

There is no check anymore

Since mid 2023. The form is in your cruise personaliser.

If they go onboard they apparently mobility aids. Your guess ...

Yes if you take it onboard.

Interesting. The very first box in your screenshot about none of the statements but have medical needs is the one I use for my husband. He owns a walking stick but only once has taken it on a ship, a staycation, when his pain was extreme. There is nowhere on the form to really explain our position as it's mostly tickbox. As a result I was instructed to do a follow up email to an address provided, one at P&O and one at Cunard but it seems to be one Carnival UK address. At the beginning of the new system they used to confirm by email, but since the start of the year zilch. I wonder if they are now innundated and the staff can't deal with the volume which is what may gave caused the OP's problem.

This issue is getting topical across the country. Google feed this morning: https://www.bedfordtoday.co.uk/news/people/i-felt-humiliated-po-cruise-deny-boarding-for-disabled-customer-from-flitwick-over-form-row-4627629

As a matter of interest what is the note where the * appears after the first line? Not having a wheelchair to declare I've never seen this part.

Just so you are under no illusions Queen Anne will also have families onboard and has 3,000 passengers when full. The only one of the three ships under discussion which will have large numbers of families will be Iona. P&O do have adult only smaller ships but they do longer cruises.

Regarding P&O (I note you are on that thread too), Iona doesn't really do the fjords due to her size and is more coastal. They do have Britannia on 7 night fjords and there is a departure on 26 June 2026. Both Britannia and Iona are family ships although Britannia is smaller carrying around 3,000 passengers. She does have more Fjord calls. As Host Hattie says Queen Anne is brand new - I am due to sail on her on 24 May but around the UK rather than Norway - and will happily provide my opinions/comparison between her and Britannia who I know extremely well.

Queen Anne has 7 nights 29 May 2026, would that do?

As is one to one minimum assistance for all types of mobility aids such as a walking stick. If booking direct with P&O they are very hot on stating a walking stick means you must request one to one assistance. I'm unsure what a travel agent does. The problem I have experienced is they talk a good story but your booking can be missing that information. Therefore when completing the form it is advisable to do as instructed and download or print the information you provided on the form. Once it is submitted you cannot access it again, your personaliser just shows the form as having been submitted on X, Y, Z date. This of course means that the OP has overwritten his form submitted in January with the one in April and unfortunately he has no longer any proof he did submit in January.

I'm afraid I cannot see any 7 night offerings in June 2026 on Cunard. Queen Anne has 14 nights departing 21 June 2026, but apart from this Queen Victoria is based in the Med, Queen Elizabeth will be in Alaska and Queen Mary 2 is on her transatlantic schedule. Do you mean Queen Anne's departure on 29th May 2026 calling at Stavanger, Skjolden, Lustrafjorden (Cruise-by), Sognefjord (Cruise-by), Ålesund, Haugesund and Southampton, England, UK?

Thank you.

No doubt he will be back soon. Meantime speculating on his situation seems futile and we should wait to see what he says in his next reply.

Thanks for the info JollyMia. As a matter of interest do you have a screenshot, saved copy or print of the form you submitted in January? Obviously if you do have and it shows clearly that you wish to have a wheelchair onboard it will be your proof that P&O have made the error rather than you,

I think that may be jumping the gun. The OP has returned with further information since then, and has stated that the necessary form has been completed twice, the first time without any acknowledgment. He has been asked if the forms submitted mention the wheelchair requirement. My guess is it did in light of the fact he did the follow up in April at his wife's behest as P&O had not acknowledged the one provided in January and as a result of that second form they have told him no wheelchair slot. He stated he booked his wheelchair a few days after submitting his January form and if it was a case of Mobility notifying P&O he has requested it for Cabin X they would have picked it up earlier I would imagine and not now. We shall wait to hear if my suspicion is correct!