AchileLauro

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.