Suites, mini suites and mobility scooters!!

I suppose this post is continuing on from my last one about disabiity and accessibility on board P&O's fleet.  I have previously mentioned that I had been told that when Carnival reshuffled it was decided that a dedicated disability team was no longer required and that their customer service could answer any disability related questions; I disagree with this decision and can prove it does not work.
I believe it was around the time of the reshuffle that P&O decided that disabled passengers who used a mobility scooter could no longer take then on-board unless they had an accessible cabin or another cabin that was deemed suitable and in most cases these are non adapted suites and mini suites.  The reason for this decision I understand was purely for health and safety.
I am not a fan of the mobility scooter but I feel that it is unfair on passengers who use a scooter to move around and wish to stay loyal to P&O.  I believe that their choice of cabin has been away and has obviously restricted their choice of ship and cruise as many of them cannot afford the price of suites and mini suites.
Arcadia, does not have any accessible accommodation that is suitable for a full-time wheelchair or mobility scooter users as none of their cabins are large enough to manoeuvre around.  However, they do have 51 non adapted cabins that are suites and mini suites. The ship also has 11 partially adapted cabins in grades from suites to larger inside cabins.
Aurora, does have 22 cabins that are suitable for full-time wheelchair and mobility scooter users in grades from balcony cabins to inside cabins.  The ship also offers 30 non adapted cabins that are suitable for mobility scooters in suite and mini suite grades.
Sister ships the Azura and Ventura each offer 31 adapted cabins that are suitable for full-time wheelchair and mobility scooter users in cabin grades from a suite to inside cabins.  Both ships also offer 27 non adapted suites which are suitable for mobility scooter users.
Oriana only has 8 outside cabins that are suitable for full-time wheelchair and mobility scooter users. However, she has 24 non adapted suites and mini suites that are suitable for mobility scooter users.
Oceana offers19 adapted cabins which are suitable for full-time wheelchair and mobility scooter users in grades from a mini suite to inside cabin.  She has 38 non adapted suites and mini suites that are suitable for use by mobility scooters users.
Britannia, P&O's flagship offers 37 adapted cabins that are suitable for both full-time wheelchair and mobility scooter users in grades from suites to inside cabins.  They also offer 44 non adapted suites that are suitable for mobility scooters users.
Any passenger who is disabled knows that adapted cabins sell out very quickly, usually as soon as a cruise goes on sale and as adapted cabns are very limited in number it means that they would have to swallow the cost of higher grade cabins and suites or go with another cruise company. 
When P&O introduced this new rule I was so furious that they were taking away a passengers choice of cabin and I actually moved away from P&O even though I use a manual wheelchair and the new rule did not apply to me. I went and did several cruises with RCI.  RCI do not have any rules regarding the use of scooters and we never found them to be a pest while on board "Indy".

Open wardrobe on Britannia

What does bother me is that this could be the start of a trend; starting with scooters.  At the moment I am able to manage in a standard cabin with a shower and my manual wheelchair folds small enough to fit in the open wardrobe area.  I do not require space to manoeuvre a wheelchair around the cabin.  When booking a cruise I go no higher in grade than a balcony for the simple reason that the higher grades often come with a bathtub and overhead shower.  I am unable to get in and out of a bathtub safely.  So if P&O brought in a rule regarding manual wheelchairs I would not be able to stay loyal to P&O and would not hesitate in going back to RCI or another cruise line.
I know this topic often comes up on boards and forums and I do feel sorry for mobility scooter users especially when some scooters fold up as small as a manual whelchairs and yet they are still not allowed on-board P&O's fleet.  If I was a scooter owner I would want answers as it does seem a little bit unfair.  If they were to say no manual wheelchairs on-board I believe this would be one step too far; something I don't think they can afford to do. 
I am only able to use a manual wheelchair because I have friends who can push me when I get too tired but if I had no one to push me I would have to rely on a mobility scooter and I feel that my choices should not be compromised should I use a scooter in the future.  It would be nice if one day this rule on mobility scooters could be reversed but I doubt that will ever happen.  I have been on four of the ships in the P&O fleet and they all have something different that makes them special and unique and will remain loyal but loyalty is a two way thing. 

Disability Factsheet?

Last year after returniing from our cruise on P&O's Britannia I had a few comments and suggestions that I felt P&O needed to hear that could improve accessibility not only on this ship but also other ships in the fleet.
Whilst on our 14 day cruise I wondered at times if I was the only disabled passenger who felt that there was a lack of information regarding accessibility around the ship but after my friend met a struggling visually impaired passenger struggling with the stairs between Deck 17 and Deck 18 apparently not.  This meeting happened nearing the end of the cruise and this passenger was not aware that there was a disabled lift that would take her between these decks and said that it was a shame that noone had told her of this lifts existance at the beginning of the cruise.  This passenger could so easily had fallen down these stairs.

Disabled lift on Deck 17

This lift was not origionally indicated on deck plans for Britannia in 2015 it just showed an empty space.  I only found out about its existance because of my dogged determination.  When I book a cruise I research everything that I can including the ships deck plans and from looking at Britannia's I could see that the lifts stopped at Deck 17 and that access to Deck 18 was via stairs.  I had read somewhere online that she was fully accessible so therefore there must be a way up to Deck 18.  I called P&O's customer service as I thought they would know for sure.  I have to say that they have some of the rudest customer service staff that I have ever come across.  I had to make several calls before someone explained that they have a disabled team who you cannot talk to but they would try and find out if someone knew about access.  The person did come back and explained to me exactly where to locate a lift.  She also told me that they did not want to make it public knowledge because they did not want all and sundry using it.

When I was on Britannia one of the first things we did was to check that the information was correct and that the lift was there.  As you can see from my photographs it does exist.  As you can clearly see it does not look like a lift door and most people mistook it for a crew entrance; that's why we got a few weird looks from fellow passengers.
I have sailed on Azura (2010) and Ventura (2011) and we are sailing again on Azura in June this this year and like Britannia their deck plans do not show that there is a platform lift between Azura's Aqua Deck and Sun Deck and Ventura's Sun Deck and Sports Deck.  I was told by a fellow passenger on Azura in 2010 that there was a small platform lift for the use of disabled guests. 

I unfortunately do not have photographs but this image is representative of what it looks like.  This lift can be found on both ships if you walk around Breakers Bar and round towards the Ivory Suite you will see a small glass lift that is large enough for one wheelchair and one standing person.
As I have previously said on returning home after my cruise on Britannia I contacted P&O with comments and suggestions  about accessibility on the ship and I have to say that I did got pushed from pillar to post with no answers and offered £100 OBC for my next cruise for my trouble.  Unsatisfied with the treatment I received from P&O's customer care I found an email for Christopher Edgington (Marketing Director, P&O) and started communicating with him.  Eventually I was passed onto a person who is a disability advisor for P&O and she has told me herself that she does not have any contact with customers as their customer service people could answer all questions relating to disability and accessibility.  I told her that was an error in judgement because I had tried and they know very little.    Something like knowing the position of disabled lifts on their fleet of ships is not rocket science. 
One suggestion I had was that P&O could produced a factsheet for every ship in their fleet detailing information such as the position of lifts for use by disabled passengers. A factsheet for the ship that a person is sailing on could be emailed to them once they have  submitted a disability questionnaire.  I have to say that I was told that this would be costly?  How much does it cost to produce a word document that details ship information and is them emailed out. Answer is minimal.  It is not as if the information is waiting for you in your cabin when you board.  The only contact I ever get when I am on board is contact from the excursions team trying to sell me an over priced accessible tour.
In conclustion I have to say that when I first started crusing there was a dedicated disability number that you could call and their team was very knowledgable and helpful but as I have been told that when P&O reshuffled several years ago they felt that a dedicated disability team was not required as their customer service could answer disability related questions.  I strongly disagree.  I am very passionate about equality and the more I see that is unjust the more I will complain, I may be disabled and what I may lack in movement I make up for in voice.

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.

Have things improved for disabled people?

Someone asked me the other day "Do you think that things have improved for the better for disabled people?" and even though I try to promote equality I had to think about it.  I think you could ask a hundred disabled people and you would get a different answer every time, I think it depends on a persons circumstances.  

I know in recent years people with disabilities have become the targets and victims of physical and verbal attacks in public and I consider myself very fortunate that I have never been a victim of such behaviour.
My parents removed me from Charlton Park school at the age of nine and from that day I never looked back.  My parents were never overprotective and they encouraged and taught me that I could be anything in life I wanted to be.  Because of my parents I have lived an active and fulfilling life and I have done so many things that others dream of.  I have met some amazing disabled people along the way who have succeeded against the odds.  While others I knew from my childhood who I have caught up with in recent years through social media have just stagnated.
If you want change (equality) to happen you have to want to do something about it.  Too many people just sit back on their laurels and watch others do the hard work to try and make change happen and that makes me fed up to the back teeth that it is always the same few.  It annoys me when I hear someone moaning about lack of accessibility and then does nothing about it.
It is only in the last year or two that I have found a passion for disability awareness and equality because of increasing frustration at the shoddy way people with disabilities are treated by society and I want make a difference; no matter how small my contribution.  For a long time I never gave accessibility a second thought but as I have deteriorated it has become more prevalent to do so.
Having spent a considerable number of nights in both standard and accessible hotel guestrooms over the last two years I discovered they are not always equal in facilities but I was expected to pay the same rate.  Typically you will find that a sofa, comfy chairs and coffee table are often removed from the accessible guestroom; giving an illusion of space.  Hotel chain Premier Inn state on their websites that their older hotels sometimes have smaller rooms it has been necessary to replace a king size bed for a double, I find this unacceptable and again you would be expected to pay the same room rate.
At many hotels a discerning disabled guest is not offered a choice of guestroom grades; accessible guestrooms more often than not are standard.  As a rule disabled guests are unable to stay in executive rooms or suites that give them extra facilities, comfort and access to private facilities that are reserved for the higher grade rooms. So where is the equality there?
My own research shows there is a lack of accessible guestrooms especially somewhere like London were hotels have between 0.60% and 3% of their guest accommodation is accessible.  The Building Regulations state it should be 5%.  One hotel the Crowne

Crowne Plaza Birmingham NE

Plaza Birmingham NEC have the correct number of accessible rooms but offer only bathtub facilities which is no use to someone like myself who needs a wet room.  When I recently enquired if they had any guest accommodation with a shower cubicle they informed me they hadn't and they considered a reasonable adjustment to be for a disabled guest to use their on site gym facilities where there was an accessible shower facilities.  The Building Regulations state that disabled guests should be given the choice of bathroom with a bathtub or wet room facility.  This hotel had 12 accessible rooms most hotels offer just a couple if your lucky, but again I have been denied this as a hotel to use because they do not have wet rooms. 
Am I equal to my friends I would honestly say that I do not feel equal.  It seems that when I am with other people I get ignored as if I have been taken along for the ride.  The thing that annoys me the most is people see my disability suddenly slow their speech as if I will understand them better.  I don't why they do it but I have seen it happen it and experienced it all my life.  A couple of weeks ago I went into a branch of WH Smith and the first floor was not accessible and spoke to a female assistant who said that she would get anything I wanted.  I was just so annoyed that I felt like giving her a list of 50 items!  This happens all the time places are not accessible and these businesses do not realise what disabled people can bring to their businesses.  
Being disabled means a part of us does not work properly so some of us use wheelchairs while others use sticks or crutches but it does not stop us having a voice.  My answer is yes things have improved in parts but there is still a long way to go.

Great Cruise P&O - But improvements need to be made!!

After we returned from our recent P&O cruise I felt that somethings on board could be improved so I wrote a quite lengthy email to their customer service.  The main issues were:  

•  Not enough room in the accommodation corridors to manoeuvre a wheelchair or walker around housekeeping trolleys without scrapping wheels along walls or damaging your knuckles.  To ask a cabin steward to move his trolley into an alcove was like talking to a brick wall, apart from one or two that were extremely helpful. 
• Lack of information for passengers who had registered a disability with regard to gangways at ports, emergency procedures and access to the sports deck via a lift on deck 17.  
• The Cookery Club is not accessible to anyone who is disabled as they do not have an adapted workspace.     

When you contact P&O customer service you have to give them up to 28 days to reply and I just knew that they would take that time to get back to me especially as I had requested that I spoke with someone.  As I foretold their customer service contacted me on 27th day.  The chap that I spoke with was very polite and we discussed my issues to which he has given me proposals of how the issues will be tackled.  
The issue of cabin stewards not manoeuvring their housekeeping trolleys so that people can pass is going to be addressed by giving the stewards some awareness training.  I was a bit astounded to be told they are the only crew members who do not receive this.  Being as they are the ones who have day to day contact with passengers I found this a bit odd? 
Lack of information for passengers who have registered a disability will be looked into and the proposal is that P&O will produce a pre-cruise information pack for passengers.  
The issues with The Cookery Club were still being looked into so this was not really discussed but was happy to leave that there for the moment.  
The main surprise was that as the call was ending the chap said that he would like to give me some on board credit which would be added to my next cruise and I accepted the £100 credit.  I was promised that a confirmation email would be sent detailing our conversation and I was more than happy to leave it there. That was on 16th June and by the 20th June I had still not received a confirmation email and so I sent an email asking in a polite but firm manner for confirmation of the OBC offer and details of what we had discussed.  I did receive an email on the 26th June as promised and some more information regarding TheT

The Cookery Club

Cookery Club, my comments and concerns have been passed onto the Disability and Mobility Management Team for further investigation as P&O who are fully committed to providing all their passengers with equal facilities and opportunities.  The email states that they will be able to take action with regard to this.  
On so many occasions I am told something will change and it never does, but with this I am determined to get it changed.  I have the chaps direct email and will be contacting him again shortly if I don't receive an undate.  For far too long disabled people have been happy with their lot but I am not and I will continue to fight for equality.

Just 2% (37) of Cabins on Britannia are Accessible

In 2008 cruising became a lifeline for me to have a holiday in the sun when I could no longer fly and cruising has been my chosen holiday of choice since.  All my P&O cruises have been in standard cabins as I can manage with a shower and my wheelchair (folded) fits inside my cabin.
A couple of years ago for reasons of health and safety P&O changed their policy regarding which cabins could be booked if you are an electric wheelchair or mobility scooter user.  Cabins that can be booked are accessible cabins and selected mini suites and suites.

Disabled cabin on Britannia

On Britannia there are 1,837 cabins of which 37 are accessible cabins that is just 2%.  If someone uses a folding manual or electric wheelchair and it fits their weight and size restrictions then they can book a standard cabin.
I am not a fan of mobility scooters because of the beeping, honking and the swearing I have suffered while being followed along a pavement and witnessed at other times.  Some of these scooters can do up to 8mph.  I have witnessed a lady in 3 inch heels get off her scooter and dance the night away but used her mobility scooter when it suited her.  I do have friends who genuinely have a need to use one and that is fine with me but the misuse by people who are just too lazy to walk and see a scooter as an alternative form of transport need shooting. 

The policy that was introduced by P&O and I believe it is not a blanket policy that covers other cruise lines.  Last October I was on RCI's Independence of the Seas and it was obvious that there were scooter users booked into standard cabins.  At times it was very difficult to walk down a corridor with my walker because of scooters left outside cabins which meant it was difficult to pass without closing my walker.  I was also aware that house keeping also found it difficult to manoeuvre around the scooters.
I can understand why P&O do not want scooters parked in corridors because they are a hazard to other people.  However, my opinion is that if a scooter fits the height and weight restrictions that have been set my P&O for electric and manual folding wheelchairs then I can't see why they cannot be included enabling users to book a standard cabin.
The other solution is that P&O should have more accessible cabins on their ships.  I do not know the percentage of people with mobility problems or disabilities that cruise but I would imagine it is fairly high.  I would have hoped that P&O would have considered this when building Britannia.

Accessible cabins on Britannia:
Suites:
B626 & B627

Superior Deluxe Balcony:
B426 & B427

Balcony Cabins (without sofa):
B429, B430, C440, C441, C446 & C447 (HA grade)
C301, C302, C303, C304, D301, D302, D303, D304 (HB grade)
B709, B719, C720, C726, D732, D733, F724, F725 (HD grade)
A110 (HF grade)

Inside Cabins:
C514, C515, D314, D315, D320, D321 (PB grade)
C723, C729, D730, D731 (PD grade)

A Couple of New Additions

Picture made of cotton reels

Over the last few days I have been updating my page "Cruising-A Alternative Way To Travel".  It is based on my personal experiences and knowledge that I have gained since I started cruising in 2008.  I have stayed in both adapted and non-adapted cabins and I hope that my ramblings maybe of some use to someone.
I have also added a new page "Accessibility Around Cruise Ships" this based on my personal experiences I have had.  The page also contains facts about different cruise ships that I feel maybe of use.  These facts are the sort of things I like to know before I book my cruises.  If there is something that you think maybe of interest to other disabled cruisers please contact me.