154 | YOU NEED TO KNOW You need to know


at the time of booking and are required to complete a questionnaire after booking, to ensure we have all the information we need to cater adequately for your requirements.


P&O Cruises welcomes recognised Assistance Dogs on board each of its ships, subject to national and international regulations. In line with DEFRA regulations, Assistance Dogs may be unable to disembark in certain ports of call. Passengers travelling with Assistance Dogs must notify us at the time of booking of their intention. For further information, please contact us.


You will be pleased to know that all our ships cater for passengers bringing wheelchairs or mobility scooters. With lifts and wheelchair accessible routes to all public rooms and the vast majority of deck areas, as well as a number of cabins adapted for wheelchair users, we aim to make your stay as relaxing and comfortable as possible.


If you need to bring a wheelchair or mobility scooter on board with you, it is essential that you let us know at the time of booking or as soon as the need is known.


Any passengers requiring the use of a wheelchair, mobility scooter, or other aids to mobility must provide their own. For the safety of the ship and everyone on board, all wheelchairs, scooters and other aids to mobility must be stored inside your cabin when not in use. Failure to comply with this important safety rule may mean you are disembarked and refused future travel. Part time wheelchair users travelling in non wheelchair accessible cabins must bring a collapsible wheelchair to ensure it can safely fit through their cabin door and be accommodated in their cabin.


Mobility scooters will only be permitted on board if passengers have booked into a wheelchair accessible cabin, or selected suites or mini suites, as these are the only types of accommodation where mobility scooters can safely be stored. The minimum door width of suites and mini suites is 53 cm. At the time of booking, please let us know if you intend bringing a mobility scooter with you, and we will in turn provide you with a questionnaire for completion to ensure that the accommodation you have booked is appropriate.


We are unable to accommodate mobility scooters in any other cabin due to the safety risks posed by storing these items in a small space, which may hinder easy access in to and out of the cabin.


Please note that our wheelchair accessible cabins are strictly reserved for passengers who are bringing mobility scooters or who have a requirement for the adapted facilities offered by these cabins. P&O Cruises reserves the right to require passengers who have booked this accommodation without legitimate reason, to move, at their own expense if necessary, to make room for other passengers who require these facilities. Our wheelchair accessible cabins are built to ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) standards and it is not possible to make any structural changes to these cabins or significant changes to the cabin layout for specific passengers. The minimum door width for these cabins will be 80cm.


A ship is not always the easiest environment for using a wheelchair or mobility scooter. Although our crew are always very helpful they are only able to provide limited assistance to you in moving around the ship. For this reason, and in order to ensure the safety of the passenger, the ship and all others on board, we recommend that passengers with disabilities, who require personal assistance in the activities of daily living, including pushing a wheelchair or communication support, be accompanied by a personal assistant/travelling companion to provide these services. Blind/Visually Impaired passengers are required to travel with a companion who can help you get your bearings


and assist you both on board and ashore. Our crew can provide limited arm assistance and information or directions, but we cannot provide sustained or long term assistance.


If you travel alone but it becomes clear that you are unable to cope on board, you may be required to discuss the situation with a member of the ship’s company and in extreme circumstances, you may be asked to disembark the ship at your own expense.


P&O Cruises reserves the right to refuse passage to any passenger who has failed to notify P&O Cruises of their requirement for special treatment or assistance or of reduced mobility or disabilities (including the requirement to use a wheelchair or mobility scooter).


For further information about travelling with disabilities, please call our Customer Contact Centre on 0843 374 0111 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, where a relatively shallow ramp may unavoidably become too steep to use safely during the course of the day with tidal movements. 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 and Quebec. At ports where it is not possible to use the ship’s brow, access to shore will be either by a long straight shore gangway fitted with self levelling steps to take into account the tidal conditions or in some cases wooden batons for foot grips, dependent on tidal conditions the baton type can be quite steep at times, or the ship will use its own narrow stepped gangway that also has self levelling steps 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 fitted 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 h 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 t 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, and navigate a small flight of steps in some instances. 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 20kg 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 to secure fully accessible vehicles. Please note that due to applicable safety requirements, the design of the ship or port infrastructure and equipment, in certain ports of call it may not be possible for us to offer a shore excursion programme, or shuttle bus service, 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 fit and healthy to travel with us and to undertake all associated flights 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 fit 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, fit 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 qualified doctors. All of our Medical Centres hold the distinction of being the first and only facilities in the industry to be accredited by the prestigious United Kingdom Health Quality Services and certified to ISO9001:2000. Children must be aged one year for our exotic fly-cruises and Azura cruises A428 & A428A, Oceana cruises E501, E503 and Ventura cruises N406P, N406B, N406C, N406D, N421C, N421D, N422N & N422A 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 to your insurer 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


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