You need to know
who require personal assistance in the activities of daily living, including pushing a wheelchair, or communication support, to be accompanied by a personal assistant/travelling companion to provide these services.
For further information about travelling with disabilities, please contact our specialist Disability team on 0845 355 0045 (Monday-Friday 9am- 5.30pm), visit
www.pocruises.com/mobility or email us at
disability@pocruises.com
Mobility ashore When choosing your cruise please bear in mind that it may not be possible for wheelchair users to get ashore at ports of call. At the majority of ports visited by our ships, we deploy a short ramped low-level gangway, commonly referred to as the ship’s brow, to give all wheelchair users easy access to shore. We do our very best to make sure that all passengers get ashore in as many ports as possible, although there will be times when it is not possible to deploy the ship’s brow. This is normally due to ports with a large tidal range. Some examples of ports with a large tidal range (but not an exhaustive list) are Bilbao, Brest, La Coruna, Le Havre, La Rochelle, Lisbon, Vigo, Zeebrugge, Canary Island ports, Hamburg, Boston, Halifax, Portland, Quebec, Darwin, Lisbon, Mumbai and San Francisco. At ports where it is not possible to use the ship’s brow, all access to shore will be by a narrow stepped gangway that pivots to take account of the tide, known as the accommodation ladder. When the accommodation ladder is in use, you will need some independent mobility in order to walk down the gangway. Each of our ships carries a wheelchair ‘stair climbing’ machine which where appropriate may be used to allow wheelchair users to go ashore provided they transfer between their own wheelchair and the wheelchair that is fi tted to the stair climber at the top and bottom of the accommodation ladder. The stair climber cannot be used with electric wheelchairs – these will need to be taken ashore separately.
When the ship is anchored away from the quayside, indicated by the symbol, and where conditions permit, passengers are taken ashore by the ship’s launches (or ‘tenders’). There is a possibility, in exceptional circumstances, that launches will also be
used to get passengers ashore at ports featuring the symbol. Every effort will be made to offer access ashore via the tenders but you must have some independent mobility in order to step into and out of the tenders. Please note that for health & safety reasons, the crew are unable to lift passengers. We will transfer wheelchairs into the tender or onto the quayside as appropriate, provided no individual part of the wheelchair weighs more than 23kg when disassembled. You or your travelling companion will be responsible for assembling and disassembling your wheelchair, but the crew will endeavour to assist where practical and safe to do so. Our shore excursion descriptions set out to offer practical advice based upon our operating experience. We would strongly advise you to read the excursion descriptions to make sure that your chosen excursion is suitable for your individual personal requirements. We use our best efforts to obtain appropriate transport although it is not always possible for us
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to secure fully accessible vehicles. Please note that due to local conditions, in certain ports of call it may not be possible for us to offer a shore excursion programme that is suitable for passengers who are not able to board a coach via the steps with only the aid of their travelling companion. Please note that taxis are usually available for hire close to the ship’s berth should passengers wish to travel independently. For further information please visit our website at
www.pocruises.co.uk/mobility
Health & safety
For your own safety and wellbeing, you must be fi t and healthy to travel with us and to undertake all associated fl ights and tours. Naturally there is a well-equipped Medical Centre on every P&O Cruises ship, but our medical facilities aren’t designed for extensive or continuing treatment of pre-existing conditions. So if you have a medical condition that necessitates the use of oxygen, will be taking an oxygen concentrator or cylinders with you, will be bringing electrical medical equipment or medical sharps, or if you require peritoneal kidney dialysis, you must let us know when you make your booking. For the safety of all passengers we are unable to carry any passengers suffering from a contagious disease (for example measles, chickenpox etc.). In order to ensure the safety of the passenger, the ship and all others on board passengers who normally require assistance in the activities of daily living are advised that they must be accompanied by a fi t and able-bodied travelling companion. We regret that we cannot carry passengers who have entered their 24th week of pregnancy, or beyond, at any point in their cruise. All pregnant women are required to produce a doctor’s or midwife’s letter stating that mother and baby are in good health, fi t to travel and the pregnancy is not high-risk. The letter must also include the estimated date of delivery (EDD) calculated from both Last Menstrual Period (LMP) and ultrasound (if performed).
In the unlikely event that you or your child requires emergency medical assistance, all our ships have well-equipped Medical Centres on board, supported by qualifi ed doctors. All of our Medical Centres hold the distinction of being the fi rst and only facilities in the industry to be accredited by the prestigious United Kingdom Health Quality Services and certifi ed to ISO9001:2000. Children must be aged one year for Aurora cruises R202, R214, R219 & R221, Azura cruises A224, Oceana cruises E201 & E301 and Ventura cruises N227/A, N304A & N305 due to the remote itineraries and number of consecutive days at sea.
If your health condition as declared at the time of booking changes, you must inform P&O Cruises immediately. Please note that if, in our opinion, you have failed to inform us of any condition which we consider may be harmful either to yourself or any other passenger during the course of your holiday we shall refuse boarding. In addition, failure to disclose any medical conditions may result in your insurance being invalidated.
Smoking on board For the safety, comfort and enjoyment of all of our passengers, and in view of the UK legislation banning smoking in public spaces, we have reviewed and amended our policy on smoking on board our ships.
For all holidays featured in this brochure, smoking is not permitted in cabins or public rooms, but will be permitted on balconies and designated areas of the open deck.
Alcohol on board We have a policy on the responsible serving of alcohol and we reserve the right to confi scate alcohol at the gangway should the need arise. It is not our intention to invoke this policy as a matter of course and we will implement it only on occasions where we consider it is likely that the health, comfort, safety and enjoyment of passengers may otherwise be compromised. Passengers under the age of 18 will not be served alcoholic beverages on board and must not be in possession of alcohol. Passengers may be asked to verify their age. It is prohibited to attempt to purchase alcohol for those under 18 in the bars and shops on board, 16 and 17 year olds may be bought beer, cider or wine to drink with a meal in the restaurants when accompanied by an adult. Alcohol purchased ashore by those under 18 will be confi scated at the gangway.
Booking alterations
If you wish to transfer to another cruise, this will generally be treated as a cancellation under clause 38 of the Booking Conditions. P&O Cruises, at its discretion, may allow the transfer without treating it as a cancellation if the P&O Cruises holiday to which the transfer is to be made departs within 12 months (within 6 months in the case of transfer from a world cruise) of the original and is for a higher price. Agreement to transfer a cruise would also be conditional upon such a request being made more than 90 days before the original scheduled departure date; there being availability; and the payment of both an administration charge of £100 and any expenses (such as airline and/or hotel charges) incurred by P&O Cruises as a result. Such a transfer would only be allowed on one occasion. We reserve the right to change the criteria for allowing transfers at any time without notice.
Cancellations
If you have to cancel your cruise for any reason and have made your cruise booking via a travel agent, then you must ask your agent to call or write to us immediately to confi rm cancellation and return any deposit confi rmations or tickets you have received. If you have booked your holiday direct with P&O Cruises then you will need to contact us direct. The cancellation charges which will then apply are shown on page 264 in clause 38 of our Booking Conditions. Depending on the reason for cancellation, you may be able to recover the cancellation charges from your travel insurer.
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