P&O accessible excursions v Private tour!

Last week I received from P&O's shoremobility a list of the wheelchair accessible excursions for our cruise A615 to the Baltic in June onboard Azura and I have to say that I was very disappointed by the number on offer and the selection but not surprised.  In total there are 11 accessible excursions for the whole cruise compared with 88 standard excursions and I am sure that could be improved. I find it hard to believe that Norway, Denmark. Sweden and even Russia do not have accessible minivans or coaches that can be hired, after all what do their own disabled people do.  One port that I was sure would have excursions was Zeebrugge, Belguim but they only offer a continuous shuttle service
from the pier to Blankenberg and will run with train schedules. 

Ghent, Belgium

The shuttles will drop off at the train station where passengers can then decide to take the accessible train service onto Ghent, Bruges, Brussels or visit the city centre.  
The information regarding accessible shuttle services at other ports is unknown and won't be known until onboard ship.  Sometimes it feels as if disabled people are not wanted on cruise ships; an inconvenience comes to mind.  It really does annoy and frustrate me the way these cruise lines think it is acceptable to charge disabled passengers anything upto 150% plus for accessible excursions that are the same as the standard excursions.  I do understand that it is probably going to be more expensive to hire an accessible vehicle but not hundreds more.  I personally refuse to pay hyped up prices.
For the above reasons we decided to look into a private tour of St Petersburg with Guide Guru and we have been able to tailor the tour to suit my pace and earlier this week we had it confirmed and the day tour goes as follows: 
8:00am - Meet our guide at cruise teminal 
8:30 - 11:30am City tour and visit inside Spilled Blood Church
11:30am - 12:30pm Visit St Issac's Cathedral
12:30 - 1:30 Lunch & free time 
2:00 - 4:00pm The Hermitage & Winter Palace 
4:30 - 5:30pm The General Staff Building to view French Paintings of 19th & 20th Century
5:30pm Shopping before returning to the ship at 6:30pm.   
Being private we have been able to see things that are important to us such as the paintings and leave places like the fountain park for others to enjoy, I have a phobia of fountains.  We consider the price to be fair for what we are getting.  It is far cheaper than a half day private tour that P&O can arrange.  
Being disabled can be challenging at the best of times and being a partial wheelchair user like myself who uses other aids you often feel as if your needs are not taken into consideration.  In the information from P&O it clearly states that accessible minivans hold three wheelchairs and three companions.  Nothing in this literature mentioned walking disabled.  
I glad that we have booked a private tour because I will be able to do things at my pace and not worry about anyone else.

Baltic on P&O's Azura

Azura in Gran Canaria

I can't believe that this week sees the start of spring and it only seems like yesterday that we were celebrating Christmas.  I can't believe that in just three months until we embark on our next cruise to the Baltic.  I am so excited as we are visiting countries that we have not been to before which include Russia, Estonia, Finland and Belguim.  We are also visiting Sweden, Norway and Denmark which I visited many years in my late teens; I think as an adult you appreciate things more so I looking forward to revisting these places.
For us going back on Azura is like visiting an old friend.  I think she is our favourite ship to date and we were able to book our usual cabin which makes it even more special.  I am looking forward to just being able to kick back and chill out for two weeks.
For me a round trip cruise is the perfect holiday, I am able to do as much as I want or do as little as I want.  The ship provides me with everything that I need and much more.  I can choose whether to get off the ship while in port or stay onboard and take advantage of the vast facilities while most passengers are ashore.
With every cruise we do it seems as if we take less to time to organise, prepare and pack.  I suppose in some ways it has become routine and I am not saying I mind at all.  The cruise in June is the first one we have done where we will be doing a lot more sightseeing.  It is unfortunate that the standard cruise excursions are not suitable for me as it seems most are done at some speed.  The accessible excursions are a lot more money and usually only a couple of hours and as we are in St Petersburg for two days it seems a shame to waste the time.  At the suggestion of our cruise agent we have looked around and found a company that does private tours called Guide Guru and the prices are very reasonable.  We are at present in communication with them to arrange something.  We both have places we want to visit and for me a must is the French Painting of 19th - 20th centuries at The Hermitage.
I am looking forward to a memorable cruise.