AchileLauro

I should add that from when my foot touches deck from the boarding gangway I'm on holiday, so car keys, wallet and phone are all locked in the safe as soon as possible. Then it's normally just unwind and go with the flow, though sometimes that can be more than a bit hard, especially if it was like our recent Arcadia cruise that I previously detailed.

P.S. And before anyone asks, NO I don't carry my phone with me in the hope that the useless P&O website may be working for me while on board. It hasn't worked for me for the last two cruises so I don't waste my time with it.

Our normal routine is to clock in at the muster station then if possible dump our coats and bags in the cabin and proceed to the buffet for a spot of lunch. It's become almost a tradition with me to have a salad for lunch and to sit outside on the terrace to enjoy it with a soft drink. I was very much looking forward to doing this when we boarded Arcadia two weeks ago.

Unfortunately when we boarded at 2.30 we found the Belvedere buffet absolutely chock a block. Never mind we will go for a drink and come back shortly when it dies down a bit. We then went to the Aquarius bar only to find a long line of people snaking across the deck queuing to get served at the bar. "Oh well, let's try the East bar on deck 11" I says to my wife. Only to find that East bar is closed and remained closed for the duration of the cruise. I know "let's try the Crow's nest". We waited 25 minutes in the crow's nest to get served, (they refused us service at the bar, yet some were being served?). It was then a further 20 minutes after ordering from the waiter until our drinks were brought to us. After our drinks we though it's probably less chaotic in the Belvedere now. Yes it certainly was, it was shut with roller blinds pulled down over all the serving counters.

Not a good start to the cruise!

We took this short cruise to try out Arcadia as we had doubts about her after hearing very mixed reports about the ship. We were seriously considering taking a much longer Med cruise on her but it looks like we made the right decision by playing safe and instead booking on Aurora for our main holiday later in the year.

We are fully aware that these short cruises are atypical and sometimes degenerate into booze cruises such as this one was, but we were still able to make a valid judgement about the ship and the way that it is operated (disappointing).

1 hour ago, Jonathan Meldrum said:

The question whether this is discrimination is governed by s 19(2)(d) of the Equality Act 2010 

Then think jurisdiction and under which flag does the ship sail.

10 hours ago, molecrochip said:

I personally don’t agree their interpretation.

Reluctantly I have to say that on this occasion I have some sympathy with the company here and have to disagree with you. I really don't think that P&O have any option other than to take this line of thought, the problem being carrying out a valid assessment of mobility remotely based solely on a questionnaire and telephone conversations. However I still think that they have dealt with it quite poorly by cancelling so close to the cruise and causing such disappointment.

Having only just come off a short cruise on Arcadia I'm inclined to wonder if the reason for the cancellation may be more related to low crewing levels rather than to the number of evacuation chairs available?

We went through all this last year with mother-in-law. Fair dues to the P&O team they were very thorough on that occasion and a satisfactory needs assessment was made but only after several emails and a couple of telephone calls.  Only for the "sweet old dear" to cancel shortly after the final payment was made.😬

Depending on type and model of the evacuation chair t's normally recommended that a minimum of two persons are required to utilise this piece of evacuation equipment.

It's certainly not discrimination, however it is certainly very bad timing.

Obviously your PEP (personal evacuation plan) is based on an assessment following the completion of your questionnaire and it has been judged that you may require the use of an emergency evacuation chair and there is a limit on available emergency evacuation resources (equipment and personnel). Surely this should have been highlighted at a much earlier stage?

Never say never. While its not logical to have a black tie night on the evening before disembarkation it does sometimes happen. We were caught in this dilemma a few years ago.

I was on one of the first P&O cruises where Noro virus really hit the news, Canberra in 1986.

I was extremely ill with it but it only hit me while travelling home so didn't actually effect my enjoyment of the cruise. It affected my immune system and I seems to go down with every bug known to man for the next 6 months, or so it seemed.

Environmental health officers from Southampton were put on board for a cruise a short time later, my in-laws happily told anyone who would listen that they shared a table in the MDR with them every evening.

We have been on a couple of cruises since then where there have been outbreaks of the virus, even one on Aurora where specialist cleaning teams were flown out to Naples to join the ship. Fortunately I haven't succumbed to the virus as yet for a second time but I live in dread of it. That is why it annoys me so much when passengers (mainly old passengers in my experience) aren't prepared to abide by the most basic of hygiene requirements, these people are so selfish.

It also annoyed me when observing a couple of female members of the crew supposedly washing down handrails and walls in the corridor outside Andersons early one morning were more concerned with carrying on a conversation rather than doing what they were supposed to be doing. This was the very same cruise where specialist cleaners had been flown in. I am an early riser and was sat in the corner of Andersons and watched them for at least five minutes going through the pretense of washing down but did not once wash their cloths out in that time.

Controlling the virus on a ship depends on both the adherence of basic hygiene precautions by passengers and conscientious cleaning staff.

These blobbers vary from the very good to the absolute cringe worthy who I would run a mile to avoid (rather difficult on a ship).

I certainly wouldn't call any of them influencers, well they certainly wouldn't influence me to buy anything, in fact absolutely quite the opposite.

Emma cruises is by a long stretch one of the better ones. If only she would slow down a bit when speaking, then I would forgive her strange diet. 😀

19 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

Captain has tried very hard to restrict the travel of the virus but some passengers have been very abusive to crew when asked to maintain standards. I believe a couple of people may have also been disembarked because of it.

Disembarked because of illness or because of abuse to crew. If the later then a jolly good thing.

Rather disappointed to read this as I just printed off our boarding passes for an upcoming Arcadia cruise this morning

That's interesting and I realise that tastes vary  but we sailed last on Aurora last November and apart from one poor meal we were satisfied with the standard of the food in the main dining room, maybe not quite as good as it was previously but still good.

On the other hand our experience of the food on MSC Bellissima left us very unimpressed, so much so that we don't think that we will ever be cruising with them again. In fact the whole dining experience was very poor and my wife even snapped a tooth eating one meal.

4 hours ago, 9265359 said:

 

Jainism certainly is, and it is promoted within Hinduism and Buddhism and I am not sure that P&O would want to argue in court that it is not a requirement of a particular religion.

 

 

Take a read of the Equality Act 2010 and then see if the courts would agree with that view.

 

But irrespective of whether P&O are required to do this, it would be a pretty stupid business that would deliberately exclude a section of the population that want to give it money.

Which courts would you be referring to?

Are you forgetting that not all but many of the P&O fleet sail under flags of convenience making the question of jurisdiction a rather interesting one. 

8 hours ago, indiana123 said:

I apologise but think I may be misunderstanding here.    How will the gentleman manage on board.  I didn't think you could use the on board assistance ones.  When I needed one it cost me £200 to hire (motorised)

I too was wondering how they would manage on board if they are expressing concern about their abilities to get from the coach to check-in without assistance, especially so if the cruise is on one of the larger ships.

6 hours ago, daiB said:

Pennib, Assistance does not start until you get inside the terminal, at Ocean It’s on the left as you go in and at Mayflower it is to the right before you go up the ramp. If assistance is needed from coach to the terminal I would suggest you need to have your own chair.

I'm not sure if it is entirely correct to say that assistance only starts once you get inside the terminal. Twice in recent years, once with P&O (last year) and once with Celebrity, we have travelled with mother in law and on both occasions she was wheeled from the car park drop off point by porters via check-in and onto the ship.

She should have been travelling with us again last November on Aurora, but changed her mind after paying the final balance having decided that her mobility had deteriorated to such an extent that she wouldn't be able to enjoy her cruise. 

I should add that they provided the wheelchair.

1 hour ago, Peter Lanky said:

This is similar to what I previously referred to as the Lourdes Effect on aircraft.

I encountered a woman in Johannesburg who was brazen enough to say that the had requested wheelchair assistance because her hand luggage was too heavy (and therein lies a whole new subject). Shen then demanded from random airport staff that she was thirsty, and needed somebody to bring a drink, and then later something to eat. Like 75% of the other passengers on this flight who had requested assistance, she left the aircraft immediately, not wanting (or needing) to wait for the assistance staff, after landing.

Unfortunately the unreasonable entitled characteristic is not entirely restricted to fully able bodied persons it also extends to some disabled persons too. So does claiming discrimination when others are not in total agreement with them. That's simply human nature as unpleasant as it may be at times.

1 hour ago, Peter Lanky said:

In the same way that I am attempting, both to raise awareness among people in general, and lobbying the cruise lines themselves, you could do the same and attempt to get more bathrooms with shower and toilet facilities more favourable for larger people. This would be a far simpler process than that required to make a cabin accessible.

 

The cruise industry needs to move forward, and the only way to do this is to highlight the different problems that people have in both using cabin facilities, and those in public areas. The people sat pushing buttons sat at desks in HQ have no comprehension of any of these issues unless somebody tells them.

 

Regarding your last sentence, you would be able to use a standard cabin, albeit with some discomfort. A wheelchair user would not be able to go on the cruise.

When talking about "larger people" are you talking about clinically obese which is regarded as a disability, or are you simply talking about people who are simply larger in frame?

I have some experience of regulating safety and evacuation processes in land based premises including hospitals and other care environments, and while I am unfamiliar with maritime legislation I am of the opinion that with regard to vulnerable persons the safety legislation and requirements would be broadly inline with shore based legislation in most developed countries.

Cruise lines may not of got this very difficult subject entirely correct in the past but in light of events in fairly recent times are working hard to address issues.

Having recently been through the process when booking a cruise for my disabled mother-in-law I can say that I was impressed by the way that P&O dealt with it. I would say that they were endeavoring to develop a PEP (Personal Evacuation Plan). I appreciated that its especially difficult to carry out an assessment of disability needs remotely and to make a valid judgement as to what assistance would be required in an emergency.

As a slightly related aside, my wife and I were on a cruise on Oriana some years ago and would daily see a family of four moving around the ship. Three of the four were always seen in mobility scooters, often barging their way through other passengers.  We excused their bad manners because we were obviously sympathetic to the fact that a family should be so affected as to necessitate the need for these scooters.

That was until a sail away party when the three in scooters got up to dance. Two of them standing on tables and one standing on a chair. They were quite rowdy and my wife and I looked at each other in disbelief. We weren't quite so sympathetic after that.

1 hour ago, molecrochip said:

There is a limit on the number of fully accessible cabins based on evacuation requirements.

 

 

Something the majority of people have very little understanding of.

Yes you certainly could argue that the brand has gone down market but then again you could just argue that things have simply changed.

In my opinion all the ships have a different particular character to them, and to get the most enjoyment out of your cruise you need to select the right ship for you.

We have sailed on most of the fleet and will be trying a ship that we have never sailed on before in a month's time. We weren't prepared to risk booking our main holiday on it because of mixed reports from people whose judgement we trust. So we are only taking a short cruise, and if it suits us we shall consider it for a future longer cruise. If it doesn't then we will bear with it for a few days, but I dare say that we will enjoy the break.

From past cruises we have identified several of the fleet that we have found not at all to our liking and have vowed never to sail on them again, even if we were to win a free cruise in a competition or prize draw. To us the ship is all important, even more so than the ports of call.

1 hour ago, sandancer said:

Right now on Iona I have not seen either a buggy or a wheelchair left outside the cabin. However when we were on in January someone 3 doors down from us left an electric wheelchair outside all the time. 

It should have been reported to the safety officer.

Mobility scooters left in corridors are not only an obstruction but also a potential fire hazard. 

On one cruise I was on a passenger was not just leaving their scooter in the corridor but was actually charging it in the corridor. I therefore brought it to the attention of the safety officer.

Storing mobility scooters on escape routes is an absolute no no on land, and an even bigger no no at sea. As for charging on an escape route!

It does raise the question as to why this was allowed to occur in the first place. What sort of fire awareness training is provided to the crew and how are corridor escape routes monitored.

1 hour ago, daiB said:

I book on day one as i have to to get a cabin. The quality of the food I have had has been good to excellent. 

Of the many cruises that we have taken with P&O starting in 1986 I can only think of two meals taken in the main dining room that either my wife or I have been totally dissatisfied with.

That's not to say that they can't improve, indeed P&O really need to take some lessons from Marella and Fred Olson both of which seem to us to be of a higher standard.

However, we can't be that disappointed with P&O as we currently have two future cruises booked with them.

1 hour ago, mercury7289 said:

The food presentation in the MDR, on Aurora, is dia, in MHO, the home delivered farm food advertised enterprises, look more appetising. Aurora canteen quality at best.This is my opinion from our December 2023 cruise

As has already been said food tastes are subjective as we too were on Aurora in December 2023 and enjoyed nearly every meal with the exception of dinner on the first night. That night it was roast pork with apricot stuffing. The pork had obviously been kept warm for far too long as it had dried out. My wife and I were at the point of sending it back but salvaged the meal by asking for additional gravy. That made it just about O.K. but not good. 

All other meals were reasonable but it certainly is noticeable that standards and indeed choice have declined somewhat.

Do they still offer free child places?

Not that I've been looking but haven't noticed them for quite some time.

We had the same on Iona, four cabins all linked and four different check in times. Five of the seven (in three cabins) were travelling together.

We would have thought that as the bookings were linked the check in times would all be the same.

15 hours ago, john watson said:

Logically they should post one to you.  Do you have local travel agents that have them on the shelf? That would be my plan B.

 

Regards John

You'll be lucky to pick one up off the shelf. I too like having a paper version, the internet never seems to be that easy to follow.

I went into three different travel agents last week looking for a copy. All said that they didn't have copies other than one who had a dog eared copy kept for reference and written on. The comment I got was - that they are rare.

The problem is that for years members of this site have been saying "just turn up when you like" regardless of allocated boarding times. P&O are now quite strict on boarding times and are holding people back and not allowing access to the departure halls if they arrive too early.

Last November we arrived 10 minutes before our allotted time and noticed a large crowd outside Mayflower terminal. We were directed straight inside and straight to the desk, all the while some outside were arguing to be let inside, one chap very vociferously to the point that I thought he may even be denied boarding.