Megabear2

If they go onboard they apparently mobility aids. Your guess ...

Yes if you take it onboard.

Interesting. The very first box in your screenshot about none of the statements but have medical needs is the one I use for my husband. He owns a walking stick but only once has taken it on a ship, a staycation, when his pain was extreme. There is nowhere on the form to really explain our position as it's mostly tickbox. As a result I was instructed to do a follow up email to an address provided, one at P&O and one at Cunard but it seems to be one Carnival UK address. At the beginning of the new system they used to confirm by email, but since the start of the year zilch. I wonder if they are now innundated and the staff can't deal with the volume which is what may gave caused the OP's problem.

This issue is getting topical across the country. Google feed this morning: https://www.bedfordtoday.co.uk/news/people/i-felt-humiliated-po-cruise-deny-boarding-for-disabled-customer-from-flitwick-over-form-row-4627629

As a matter of interest what is the note where the * appears after the first line? Not having a wheelchair to declare I've never seen this part.

Just so you are under no illusions Queen Anne will also have families onboard and has 3,000 passengers when full. The only one of the three ships under discussion which will have large numbers of families will be Iona. P&O do have adult only smaller ships but they do longer cruises.

Regarding P&O (I note you are on that thread too), Iona doesn't really do the fjords due to her size and is more coastal. They do have Britannia on 7 night fjords and there is a departure on 26 June 2026. Both Britannia and Iona are family ships although Britannia is smaller carrying around 3,000 passengers. She does have more Fjord calls. As Host Hattie says Queen Anne is brand new - I am due to sail on her on 24 May but around the UK rather than Norway - and will happily provide my opinions/comparison between her and Britannia who I know extremely well.

Queen Anne has 7 nights 29 May 2026, would that do?

As is one to one minimum assistance for all types of mobility aids such as a walking stick. If booking direct with P&O they are very hot on stating a walking stick means you must request one to one assistance. I'm unsure what a travel agent does. The problem I have experienced is they talk a good story but your booking can be missing that information. Therefore when completing the form it is advisable to do as instructed and download or print the information you provided on the form. Once it is submitted you cannot access it again, your personaliser just shows the form as having been submitted on X, Y, Z date. This of course means that the OP has overwritten his form submitted in January with the one in April and unfortunately he has no longer any proof he did submit in January.

I'm afraid I cannot see any 7 night offerings in June 2026 on Cunard. Queen Anne has 14 nights departing 21 June 2026, but apart from this Queen Victoria is based in the Med, Queen Elizabeth will be in Alaska and Queen Mary 2 is on her transatlantic schedule. Do you mean Queen Anne's departure on 29th May 2026 calling at Stavanger, Skjolden, Lustrafjorden (Cruise-by), Sognefjord (Cruise-by), Ålesund, Haugesund and Southampton, England, UK?

Thank you.

No doubt he will be back soon. Meantime speculating on his situation seems futile and we should wait to see what he says in his next reply.

Thanks for the info JollyMia. As a matter of interest do you have a screenshot, saved copy or print of the form you submitted in January? Obviously if you do have and it shows clearly that you wish to have a wheelchair onboard it will be your proof that P&O have made the error rather than you,

I think that may be jumping the gun. The OP has returned with further information since then, and has stated that the necessary form has been completed twice, the first time without any acknowledgment. He has been asked if the forms submitted mention the wheelchair requirement. My guess is it did in light of the fact he did the follow up in April at his wife's behest as P&O had not acknowledged the one provided in January and as a result of that second form they have told him no wheelchair slot. He stated he booked his wheelchair a few days after submitting his January form and if it was a case of Mobility notifying P&O he has requested it for Cabin X they would have picked it up earlier I would imagine and not now. We shall wait to hear if my suspicion is correct!

Very busy day here trying to finalise our accounts before going on my wanderings. Sending best wishes to all who are unwell and on the road to recovery. Had very sad news this morning in that my last remaining blood auntie died at the grand old age of 99, only three months off her century. Now I am in a panic as I will miss her funeral on 31st May as I go away on the 24th. My husband has assured me he will attend on our behalves but it's not quite the same. To cheer me up Dutch Decoy is declared to run at York on Thursday. Hopefully he will finally get his head in front for the first time this year.

Interesting take on things. If we are honest in a total emergency any passenger is going to be a risk, regardless of whether they are considered able bodied or not, dependent on their actual fitness levels, how they handle stress so they don't panic and cause a stampede etc. Certainly some of the rather overweight people I have seen on cruises who puff and blow their way around the ships are quite likely to be a hinderance on stairs and I count myself amongst them! Then we have those who may have imbibed heavily, those who are groups with very young children, the self entitled etc etc etc A modicum of commonsense is needed regarding who will need assistance. Those marked for two man assistance probably have a much better worked out plan for their survival than those who are going to be each man to his own!

I did not receive any email as I was one of the first to encounter the declaring a walking stick - I started a thread on the issue at the time and there was a great deal of discussion and a few people then contacted P&O to have it confirmed this was now the situation. That was back mid 2023, I can't recall the exact month but definitely after June 2023 as I booked my next cruise for January 2024 whilst onboard Arvia. That booking was the first time I had been asked about "mobility aids" and subsequently on return I called P&O who confirmed if I did not declare it I would be at risk of denied boarding. Subsequently every cruise I have booked since with P&O and Cunard has involved the question about mobility aids at the time of booking. However of my four bookings where my husband - who is the walking stick user - is named, I have different scenarios of the assistance he requires. As instructed I complete the mobility form the moment the cruise personaliser opens and I am at a loss as to why there is variation in the level of assistance they believe we will need. Further to Selbourne's comment about confirmations I do have two of these after submitting the form, one from P&O and one from Cunard. The other two have gone into the ether however!

JollyMia has had a post removed along with my reply - he mentioned his agent's name unfortunately, although I did not so I have no idea why my reply went which is a bit frustrating. He did book through a travel agent, has had 3 cruises with P&O booked through the same agent in the past two years. They apparently took his details and he filled in the form a day or two after booking and then booked his wheelchair with Mobility at Sea.

I understood from previous discussions on these new rules that they allow a certain percentage of passengers with limited or severe mobility issues to be onboard- certainly I have been told by all the cruise lines I book with to complete the form immediately as there are limited numbers to offer assistance. That being the case should not the computer advise the booker of the cruise (be it an individual or t/a) immediately if the available help is full? In fact I'd be very interested to know what this percentage is, as on some of my cruises the volume of walking sticks, rollators, mobility scooters and wheelchairs looks extremely high. It does seem extremely strange it can take months as in this case.

You are correct, you would be told your minimum requirement is one to one. My husband doesn't even always travel with a stick as he only uses it if his fibromyalgia flares up, thankfully only a couple of times a year, however we are made to declare him as one to one requirement. He is also having to undergo tender tests on both P&O and Cunard going forward. Depending how and who you book via the information can be very hit and miss. When considering a booking via a very well known specialist travel agent the information was not very thoroughly explained but luckily I personally am very upto date on the issue. Others less aware may fail to grasp the situation regarding in particular walking sticks and frames. Booking direct with Pz&O by telephone for two cruises on the same call the agent spent 15 minutes on the issue before allowing me to book the first one and yet the second booking has completely different details on both my reservation and my cruise personaliser. Same agent, same call, same passengers.

JollyMia, I'm sorry you have this situation. May I ask you for some further information as follows: 1. Did you book via a travel agent or direct with P&O? If the latter was it by telephone or on the website? 2. From your post you appear to have sailed with P&O before and that being the case when did you last travel with them and use the wheelchair you hire? The rules changed during 2023 and you should have been made aware of the new requirement at booking. 3. I note you completed the mobility assistance form. Did you indicate on it you would be bringing/using a wheelchair intermittently whilst onboard? The form is very clear on what constitutes a mobility aid so what information did you actually provide? 4. Have P&O acknowledged your submitted form at any point? 5. Have P&O actually cancelled your entire cruise, and if so are they refunding your money or saying it is at your own expense? 6. If they have not cancelled your cruise but are just saying you can't have a wheelchair what level of assistance are they offering you in an emergency, ie are they saying they will offer one to one (as you stated you have some albeit poor mobility) or what other solution. Currently even a walking stick user is required to book the one to one. No doubt it's very distressing for you but provision of this information might help to understand what exactly has happened here. Thank you.

Rereading the OP's post he does not say P&O have cancelled his cruise. He says that they have refused him the right to have a wheelchair hire. He also states he completed the required form shortly after booking and submitted it. Completion of that form presumably meant he filled it out to say he would be using a wheelchair onboard and gave details of his illness. As it reads he has followed the correct procedure back in January. Further information and explanation is clearly required from the OP before he is judged by posters as having mistakenly done something wrong. All we currently know is a booking was made in January, filled in his form and now nearly 4 months later has been contacted by P&O. Something has clearly gone awry, but what needs more information from the OP.

Of 4 bookings across P&O and Cunard I have one on each line stating my husband will need one to one evacuation assistance for possibly having a walking stick with him. Two of these bookings were made on the same telephone call with P&O, the first 16 nights direct from Southampton on Aurora carries this requirement, the second a 14 night Caribbean fly cruise on Britannia does not. I have completed the form for both cruises identically stressing that the walking stick may not be being used on either voyage, to date receiving an acknowledgement for the Britannia cruise but nothing for the Aurora one. I have the identical situation with Cunard, a 35 night Caribbean cruise acknowledged the form submission and details whilst a 21 night transatlantic via Norway/Iceland which is clearly marked one to one assistance for passenger 2 has not been acknowledged. I get the distinct impression that whoever deals with the original booking makes the decision to mark the bookings one way or the other. It is extremely worrying that such a short notice decision has been taken for the OP as this seems to indicate that permission to board with a device isn't clear cut at all and following the instructions complete and submit the form immediately after booking isn't guaranteeing your permission to board,

Your booking confirmation will show on it whether they have marked you for one to one assistance (the lowest they offer, even for walking sticks) or evacuation chair. Assumedly when you booked you were asked for details of your mobility. Did you mention the chair at that point, if so your booking should reflect that. Unfortunately these new rules are leading to confusion for all. It may be a good idea to call the mobility team to discuss. I hope it is resolved for you soon.

The rain has just arrived here. The forecast is bleak for today and although not as wet as today the rest of the week is forecasting rain every day. I guess for now the Spring is over! Just been looking at the advance forecast for my Queen Anne cruise and it's looking pretty bad weather wise. I have a distinct feeling I'm going to need three suitcases of clothes to cope with all that nature is planning!