Cloudyrain

We didn't have this with Princess out of Southampton either. Other lines seem to take the approach of "do you need an evac chair in an emergency?" P&O are taking the approach of "so you might use a walking stick for walking more than a mile, or be a part-time wheelchair user? You MUST have an evac chair!" I actually think it's an incredibly abelest and narrow-minded view. It's increasingly problematic that it's not an automatic or instantaneous process, and filled with loopholes for P&O to benefit and passengers to pay the price. This issue, added on to the new "fines for not attending a booked kids club session" is enough to mean we probably wont be going on another cruise after the one we are already fully-paid up for. Princess are far superior in these regards, and with the added "get one when you want" approach for embarkation and get on in 5 minutes, I can't believe P&O are making such a meal of everything.

In England you have to disclose disabilities constantly to access any kind of assistance or services: and that goes for P&O. They don't give people things just because they claim to have a need. Even for assistance on an airplane or ship you have to contact them before you travel, advise you have a medical need and require assistance. This is then booked in advance and then organised based on the needs. If you have certain medication or medical devices/equipment you also have to disclose this at security etc. also this assistance you seem to think is so marvellous is often very variable and pretty rubbish, and doesn't make things quicker, just slightly more manageable.

But you don't empathise, you look and automatically assume that someone with clearly variable physical presentations is a faker. And unless you have MRI/PET scan vision and access to medical records I really don't know how you can know you have witnessed it numerous times. You might even have seen my Dad and thought that of him, and that's fine - being terminally ill he didn't very much care to be honest and the narrow minded opinions of ignorant onlookers never really bothered him, he had bigger fish to fry. But my mum used to get really upset: and I have had it too with my son where people openly comment that there is "nothing wrong with them" without having any idea of what actually is happening inside a body or people's life.

The evac chair policy only affects people who use mobility aids, even part time, so actually its not going to change attitudes, just make it less accessible for those with variable illness (or those who have degenerative conditions that may deteriorate between booking and boarding). you also dont need to have a mobility aid to get assistance to board or disembark, so all this special wonderful treatment that people seem to think disabled people get (but actually isn't any earlier or quicker, just a slightly different process to try and help people who need it), and will be completely unaffected by the evacuation chair policy. In fact it might just mean that people with variable illness are less able to enjoy their cruise because they cant take fold up wheelchairs or walking poles onboard for use in port now as they could before if there are no evac-places, and those who do only need them part of the time will be faced with a choice of taking a slot of someone who needs it full time and therefore reducing the holiday options with P&O for mobility aid users.

of course it happens, often for a miracle reason - that miracle being prescription strength painkillers and medication. My Dad used to time his pain relief so he was in lower pain levels for disembarking as we generally found the level of assistance at that stage of the journey pretty poor in comparison to the help received at embarking (same goes for the plane as a ship to be honest). Wether he was sat in a wheelchair in agony unable to walk, or dosed up and running along playing with his grandchild without any mobility aid, he still had cancerous tumours in every limb of this body. many conditions are variable (MS, brain damage, neurological, heart problems, diabetes etc) and can change within minutes or hours, and if you haven't personally experienced that (and think anyone who displays those sorts of variable symptoms is faking it) then lucky you. Sadly many people here, and their loved ones, do understand this and that's why it's upsetting to know that despite all this and all the hurdles people go through to get the help and support they need, they still get judged by ignorant people every day just for trying to have some kind of life.

I'm from the UK, I take my son out, I agree that lots of people do, but lots also dont. In my experience less do so at Whitweek: we always do it, but even P&O and MSC have fewer kids after Spring Bank holiday than before Summer or around October Half-Term. May and June is also SATs and GCSE and Alevels Mocks/Exam time so it's a lot less popular for families, especially those with children in different years. Plus October half term is two weeks for some areas, and more heavily staggered than the other half-terms. Also Princess is predominantly American and an older demographic: there were 40 on this cruise. Don't get me wrong I have encountered 1500 kids on P&O at Easter and our term-time on an MSC in October (although the week after whit on P&O last year was very quiet on the kid front) but they are also larger ships and more family oriented than Princess I think.

Yes early June is a week school holiday in Britain, but taking children out the extra week would often result in a fine (in England, I don't think the other countries actually fine) so lots of English families wont book then. I'm glad I could help: any kid-questions about the ship or ports let me know 😊 The craft activities and games did look good, but my son isn't in to crafts or games so I am sure your children will have a better experience than my son did 😊

1. i would suggest they take their own travel cot and deliver it with the suitcases. I appreciate this isn't ideal and I would complain, but to get around the issue it is better than using the sofa bed and the safey bars given the age of the child and safe sleep recommendations. i also always took my own matress and sheets due to SIDs risks on all holidays when our son was under 2. 2. I always used cold water sterilising tablets (from Boots) and took my own sterilising bowl (which was actually a large lunchbox, but it was the perfect size and handy to pack in the suitcase and put the drying mat, cloths, tablets etc). It works really well and is very quick and easy. I never used ships baby food: I preferred to take our own so I know that our son would like it and wouldn't have allergic reactions etc (which are common at that age). Also the MDR will blend/mash food if asked, and provide things off menu, like a bowl of peas and carrots etc, if they are baby led weaning. 3. All the party can just board together: either at the earlier or later time. Linked bookings only apply to dining, not boarding. However, on the days they check boarding passes they only check one in my experience so just show them the earlier time one. I appreciate it's annoying that the food and equipment hasn't been ordered, but it's really not worth ruining the holiday for. Edited to add: I also know from experience that MANY passengers take babies onboard and don't order anything in advance and they still get them provided, but it will be what's available, rather than what's requested.

My son had a lunch box in 2019 since then it's always been blue/navy hoodies.

We have booked Portside Meet and Greet via Holiday Extras and they have been great and a good price: there are several dodgy companies with similar names, so it's worth using a bigger name or going through someone like Holiday Extras. CPS is good but pricey and often booked out early. You can also park at the airport or a hotel and get a taxi.

Honestly I would recommend looking at Princess: I have found they are much better at dealing with accessibility and medical issues etc. I know the number of cruises is more limited from Southampton, but they really were great and once we factored everything in, it wasn't really any different in price for a more premium product (and a lot less stress!)

Interestingly I have had it confirmed (at last) that children under 12 are to be carried by a parent. If they can't be carried by a parent then they need to be allocated an evac chair. But (and this will probably surprise no one) the online form isn't able to actually address this, and therefore we just need to fill the form in and say we need a chair (because we can't select that we don't need one, or qualify for one) and then we have to email separately with details so they can manually manage the request... Well done P&O for spending thousands developing a new protocol that is so much less user-friendly than the system they replaced 🤯

Hello! Our son lasted 20 minutes... He is 7 and the top age for his group (and quite an "old" 7) and he said they put on Cocomelon and that the place was for "babies". It didn't help that the only children at his session were 3 girls aged 3/4 who were playing games which were not really in his area of interest. He refused to try again, although we did go down a few times and there was often only 1 or 2 children in the room, or sometimes they merged two groups in to one room. The room itself was good, and the facilities were varied, but there were very few children actually in it. Your children will be in seperate age groups so different rooms, but it's worth talking to the staff and checking what sessions have combined age groups. What date are you travelling: school holidays start in Britain around mid-July (earlier in Scotland, later in England and Wales) so I would expect more children in August. Although on our sailing it was mostly American and Canadian customers. I have attached the kids club itinerary for you. There weren't any specific family activities, but most events were family friendly, and kids were made very welcome around the ship. There were a good selection of childrens films in the room on demand, and they did sometimes put films on in Vista or at the pool that were child-friendly (although not necessarily aimed at children). The only caveat about the ship to be aware of is that they show films on the screen in the day over the pool that aren't always very child friendly! We tried to avoid being around the pool when things like The Hunger Games was on due to the fact I have seen it and know it's violent!

Regal Princess had a decent library: probably mostly left by previous passengers, but still a variety and quite a lot to choose from.

Is your sailing docking at Ringaskiddy? Not all of them do. It was 15/20 mins: but that doesn't include time filling up the seats etc.