Megabear2

This is to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and a good New Year. I am leaving for my airport hotel very shortly and then off tomorrow to Fort Lauderdale to see my friends before boarding our Celebrity cruise on the 22nd. It will be into the New Year before we return and then a week at home before flying off to Barbados on the 13th to join Britannia. Special thoughts and wishes to those of you who have had some very sad and tragic family events lately. I hope you enjoy a restful and peaceful time and can recall happy memories and take comfort from them. To those who are currently unwell or in pain I hope you start to feel better and get relief soon. Life takes some funny turns. I learned yesterday that my cousin lost his wife to cancer a couple of months back and chose to tell no one but his best friend and then to compound it I learned one of my immediate family is receiving church handouts for their children this year as they are in dire financial straits. I guess the reason I say this is we should count our blessings, be kind to people and never be afraid to share if we have troubles. Christmas is hopefully a time for reflection. Have a great one all.

There is a card as I mentioned above, the clip at the bottom is to hold the card. Various disability organisations also offer a registration card, one notable one being the bowel associations as it is extremely common for people to be challenged on use of disabled toilets. The access card is available for use in public entertainment venues etc. It was intended as a small step to people being challenged or tutted at if they are slow. The lanyard in itself isn't intended to ensure or ask for assistance. It is worn to indicate the person may have a special need which if they require it could require help. Basically it is there to stop scenarios of people challenging someone's need. P&O along with the other cruise lines recognise the sunflower logo and lanyard. They are fully conversant with its use and application and to my certain knowledge encourage its use - when I was recovering from an accident earlier this year and had difficulty standing for periods they suggested the wearing of one to assist me and identify myself to staff without needing to go into detail. The question of lift etiquette, be it on disembarkation or other periods is really an individual issue be it for someone on a large mobility scooter, a wheelchair, a stick or just I'm using the lift because I'm perfectly entitled to. Unfortunately the judging by individuals and the downright rudeness with filthy looks and comments towards people perceived in the seconds a lift door opens are the upsetting factors. I do not intend to say any more on the subject but hope that perhaps a few who might spot a sunflower may in the future note it and understand its relevance. Ironically we travel to the airport today to fly tomorrow, no assistance requested but we have had a note from the airport (they provided a lanyard when ours was mislaid on one trip) to say people are on hand and aware we may need unexpected help so please ensure your lanyard is on view.

Thank you for your polite reply and for taking the time to read the link, which I very much appreciate. Just to clear up, at absolutely no point was I suggesting that members of the public should give priority to those wearing a sunflower lanyard for boarding a lift, I simply asked people who made flippant jokes about not seeing hidden disabilities if they ignored anyone wearing the lanyard. The replies indicate they had no idea of its existence so now they are aware and hopefully a few less people to be ignoring the handful or so I see wearing them on ships. People can be incredibly rude for example to anyone trying to enter a lift just because they perceive a person to be able bodied or for someone using a disabled lavatory as they immediately think queue jumper. The wearing of one is to try to prevent individual's embarrassment, a subtle sign to others. The lanyard was introduced for exactly that: a person is in need for whatever reason of more time or has a need that other individuals cannot see. It is intended to help individuals be saved the acute embarrassment of having to enter conversations with other individuals about what that condition may be and its expanded use worldwide is a sign that it was very much needed. People being challenged as to their motives should be unnecessary with awareness. It was as you say introduced originally to assist with airports and other transport hubs, a job it has done very well, as you will have seen from the website I posted a link to. The scheme was widely advertised and spoken about prior to the pandemic. It was never intended to give priority to the wearer, it was intended to assist with the rudeness and impatience shown by very large numbers to people who have often life threatening unseen conditions. I see comments in the thread that they read of people buying them to jump queues in the pandemic, ironically they don’t have the purpose of jumping queues and as so many stated they didn’t know they existed these sad individuals presumably didn’t jump many queues. Finally you mention the case I quote - I assume you mean my husband's. At no point did I say he needs priority, that's the assumption every single person who has launched their attack has made. What I did say was he needs lift access as it can be dangerous to his health for him to use stairs, particularly to walk up and when they are extremely busy - before any smart comments come back we are fully aware he would use them In an emergency and have completed the necessary forms with the cruise lines over the years to advise of this. The irony of all this has proven exactly the reason the lanyard was introduced: Joe Public is very sceptical and thinks everyone is trying to con the world and unless he can see physical evidence someone is disadvantaged will say tough luck. Thank you to those who have said they will now be more aware.

I'm so glad it's funny.

You clip your access card or the card from the organisation to it. I recall Vampiress mentioning she has the access card, she could therefore use the lanyard although it's a choice. The lanyard is acknowledged worldwide. Obviously they are not printed as they represent dozens of illnesses and disabilities. One use for instance is access to disability lavatories for people with bowel issues to save embarrassing confrontations. https://hdsunflower.com/uk/

It's been in existence since 2016 when Gatwick first adopted it. It is extremely well advertised particularly on transport. P&O apparently issue it and support its wearing. Not new or badly advertised, in a lot of cases (not yours) assumed to be irrelevant.

And there in a nutshell is my point. Not many lanyards with cruise cards are like these, which are officially recognised throughout the country. Sadly many say they don't know they exist.

????

So you ignore the lanyards then?

You try getting the ignorant people to move their suitcases because I can assure you they don't. In fact they are more likely to rudely announce there's stairs over there mate. I can't speak for others but standing in a cramped crowded space with lifts stopping at every floor isn't actually a good thing with what can be chronic low blood pressure early morning. I do have a lot of sympathy for the wheelchair user (I've said before my mother used one) but at least it is visible to all. As I said we no longer go for breakfast as the problems cause too much anguish.

My husband wears a lanyard and also carries a card. Basically he has two valves fused in his heart. He has an extremely strong heart muscle but a restricted blood flow meaning his heartbeat and blood pressure can at certain times of the day be very poor. Walking up and down stairs restricts the blood flow leading to a high chance of collapse. However other strenuous activities have no effect. Basically three rules: don't get cold, don't carry weight and avoid stairs unless a matter of emergency.

It is very difficult. Obviously you can see a wheelchair/mobility scooter but in my husband's case you can't exactly show your two missing heart valves. Everyone unfortunately is very judgmental and unfortunately nowadays it's all too easy to cause hurt and embarrassment. I cannot walk upstairs but I always walk down. The truth is lifts are for everyone and when large numbers are moving around such as at disembarkation it is inevitable there will be problems. The large suitcases take up an awful lot of room and often the people in control of them just park them to gain maximum space. Personally I'd like to see the self disembark period ending 30 minutes before cabin release time but no doubt those who use the facility would say that's unfair. It's a very contentious matter but I agree the amount of people who do not believe someone has a hidden disability has grown in recent times.

Well there are apparently over 100 on Arvia so you never know you might find out. If the ship is full no one can move, you're stuck with it. During my fiasco the cabin steward and deck manager didn't need telling of the problems. They knew already from the previous cruises and were actually waiting for me when I came out if my cabin. They could do nothing with the best will in world. If the ship is full, that's it.

I totally agree. Never able to access lifts on disembarkation day due to every lift being rammed with people with large suitcases. We encounter the "you should walk" brigade on every P&O cruise which is nigh on impossible for a man with fibromyalgia, ME and a myocardial bridge! The hidden disabilities lanyard holds no sway with these guys, so goodness knows how a wheelchair user gets on. We used to try to go up for breakfast in the buffet but the strain over getting two lifts quite simply became too much. Now we skip breakfast, full stop. I simply do not believe Jean has never encountered lifts where they see wheelchair users etc unable to get in.

I'm sure you'll enjoy yourselves, in fact I think even if you absolutely hated aspects of it you'd have a wonderful time. I wasn't suggesting you won't merely pointing out that on a 35 night cruise the whole affair will be a different vibe. The long cruises are calmer, more laid back. To give you an idea there are a large number of contributors to this forum on that cruise so a lot of them are the very people you're banishing!

Well I cannot think of anything worse than being forced to only travel on adults only ships and as a 68 year old assume you are telling me that's where I belong! There's also the cost, not every pensioner has pots of disposable cash but with your thinking they aren't going to be catered for on non adult only ships - entertainment etc. You tell me constantly your very budget conscious is that now only exclusive to your age group and below then? Iona and Arvia are multi generational. They need entertainment for all age groups. You seem to be living some pipe dream that your younger generation are going to fill these ships on their own which is complete garbage. If you actually make it to Iona for 35 nights you just might be in for a shock.

One swallow doesn't make a summer though ... the problem seems to be you overthink everything when it comes to cruising. That lady's had her experiences but they aren’t reflective of everyone else who may have sailed those two ships. Everyone is different, every crowd is different, every group of passengers is different ... you can't put people in pigeon holes because it simply isn't possible. Age, like everything is not relevant. If you try to stop overthinking what your fellow guests are experiencing you might actually find it is quite simple. Everyone wants FUN but in their own way.

Is this Arvia Caribbean? If so which date.

I believe it's to try to prevent partisan arguments. We had a lot on our last Britannia cruise which coincided with the World Cup final and the boxing day fixtures. Unfortunately some very inebriated people in the face of others (me included) and picking arguments. I am a very passionate football fan but most of the pubs and bars I frequent in central London away from the immediate ground areas have a ban on football shirts just for that reason.

The problem is they also say further down the page. Talk about confusing Evening Dining dress codes For our non-formal evenings, we have an Evening Casual dress code. Smart-casual is best - we recommend dark denim, trousers, skirts, shirts, or dresses. No tracksuits, football shirts or trainers please.

Yes, she's on Britannia.

My friend sails on 30 December and still nothing there either!

There's usually a list in the main menu but I always ask the sommelier and he/she produces tye correct page. Generally they are at the back, never had a cruise on Cunard where there hasn't been any.

The bin ends are always good value too. We have had some superb wines that way.

I was indeed above the club house. It was an upgrade despite my stating jo upgrades and I was told take it or leave it.