Feedback from Ventura last week

[terrierjohn]

59 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Part of the problem appears to be everyone wanting "their right" to leave a ship on their terms.  In their anxiety to make sure they meet their schedule people seem to lose all sense of perspective of what a ship's infrastructure can actually support.  So many people with large suitcases wanting to leave in a very limited timeframe inevitably leads to problems.  Many who have long journeys book to self disembark to save time as well but some of these are also stretching their physical abilities to actually do this carrying luggage.  

 

If lifts were labelled as for wheelchairs only someone would still be allocated to be the last off and this too would inevitably lead to complaints - why am I last, I've got an 8 hour drive etc.

 

Depending on how many wheelchair users are on a sailing perhaps allowing them to have breakfast at a set place near the exits could help solve the dilemma with one designated lift to assist in getting them to the venue.  A lot of the problem is caused by the buffet being high on the ships and the exit low.  

 

I must say I've not encountered as many problems on other lines, particularly American ones where organisation seems better.

 

In the end there isn't an ideal solution and maybe the passengers should just be less judgmental of each other and stop the stampede on the last morning.

P&O could learn a lot from how RCI/Celebrity at City Terminal manage both embarcation and disembarcation. 

From parking our car to setting foot on their ships was generally 10-20 minutes. When disembarcing we nearly always found that all our cases were together in the luggage hall, which never happens with P&O.

Unfortunately P&O don't seem to want to learn how to do things better, or how to improve their customer service, which is a shame because they do generally offer quite a good product.

[david63]

Not overbearing at all.

 

If you were to see me on a cruise walking around the ship and going up and down stairs without any problem you would, in all probability, make the assumption that I was "able bodied" but I have two medical conditions that preclude me from carrying a case down stairs.

[zap99]

13 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

I think you missed the irony. I wasn't actually seriously suggesting banning walk off!

We always let P&O deal with our cases the night before, have a leisurely breakfast and are normally off the ship by about 8.30. Are folk really in that much of a rush ?.

[Fionboard]

I can walk up stairs but difficult walking down as I have arthritic knees. But nobody would know. I always give up my place in the lift if necessary as I am never in a hurry!

[GOQ]

2 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

How would you feel to have to keep  explaining your health conditions or problems to other guests if you go to use a lift?  That's what invisible disabilities often lead to as the supposedly able bodied person is embarrassed and made to feel a fraud.  

 

May I ask what is your description of a disabled person who isn't wheelchair bound as this might help people get a better grasp of how you actually know these people had little need to use the lift.

Megabear2 you have hit the nail on the head for me with this comment:

 

I have a number of arthritic problems but when I am not in pain I walk quite well. I usually walk a mile on the prom deck before breakfast each morning and do visit the gym, so might look quite fit.

 

However I do have a balance problem caused by the arthritis and without a walking stick I can fall, stumble and collide with other people and fixed objects. But I can use the exercise bike and rowing machine in the gym because they are sitting down exercises. I do have limited motion in my left arm but I CAN use the rowing machine.

 

So I am acutely aware and feel quite embarrassed that people might think me a fraud if they see me wobbling around the ship on a stick, getting the disabled seating in the theatre, being helped onto the tender and taking the crowded lift for only one floor, after seeing me do a mile around the deck or using the gym.

 

Generally though people are quite helpful. I just hope they don’t think I am drunk. I’ll have to get a Tee Shirt printed "I'm not drunk, just wobbly".

[Angel57]

3 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

I assume that you are therefore only interested in lift availability on the final morning as you are referring to luggage.  How did things pan out through the other days, were the lifts overcrowded with these purported able bodied guests or did you have little problem and no need to observe their fitness?  I'm afraid assumptions on who is fit or able bodied are often wrong and as pointed out elsewhere can be downright rude.  How would you feel to have to keep  explaining your health conditions or problems to other guests if you go to use a lift?  That's what invisible disabilities often lead to as the supposedly able bodied person is embarrassed and made to feel a fraud.  

 

May I ask what is your description of a disabled person who isn't wheelchair bound as this might help people get a better grasp of how you actually know these people had little need to use the lift.

I agree with your post Megabear.

I don’t think anyone should judge or comment on a person’s reason for using a lift (unless it’s children mucking about). I can sympathise about the issues on embarkation and disembarkation days,  but most of us know what it’s like and just have to put up with it and if at all possible walk up/down.

Personally I would always get out of the lift to allow a wheelchair in as it must be utterly frustrating at times.

[Megabear2]

3 hours ago, Fionboard said:

I can walk up stairs but difficult walking down as I have arthritic knees. But nobody would know. I always give up my place in the lift if necessary as I am never in a hurry!

Thankfully I'm not disabled or have any serious health conditions so am able to not use the lifts and give way to those more needing (well apart from my own self induced problems with weight!)  However for years my frail mother on a stick was constantly embarrassed at using a lift when a wheelchair was waiting when doors opened.  I used to get out and leave her there but her mobility was so poor it was only a year before she was the one on the wheelchair yet she still apologised when getting in the lifts.

[zap99]

If we are on a low deck and want to go to a higher deck we will get in the lift if we feel like it. If somebody in a wheelchair arrives......After you. If going up the lift stops, we will get out and let any wheelchair user in . We are just as entitled to use the lift as anyone else. They are not exclusively for the use of disabled folk. Priority, yes, exclusive use, no. If I get tut. tutted, expect a response.

[terrierjohn]

21 minutes ago, zap99 said:

If we are on a low deck and want to go to a higher deck we will get in the lift if we feel like it. If somebody in a wheelchair arrives......After you. If going up the lift stops, we will get out and let any wheelchair user in . We are just as entitled to use the lift as anyone else. They are not exclusively for the use of disabled folk. Priority, yes, exclusive use, no. If I get tut. tutted, expect a response.

As a wheelchair user (well pusher actually) I try to be as sympathetic to any other lift user. If first in, I do try to ensure that we are as close to the side wall as I can get, to ensure the maximum can also fit in.  However knowing that in nearly all P&O lifts there is only enough depth for the chair and myself behind it, I do have to ask the back wall huggers to move to the side to enable us to get in, which does seem to annoy quite a few of our fellow passengers.

[zap99]

16 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

As a wheelchair user (well pusher actually) I try to be as sympathetic to any other lift user. If first in, I do try to ensure that we are as close to the side wall as I can get, to ensure the maximum can also fit in.  However knowing that in nearly all P&O lifts there is only enough depth for the chair and myself behind it, I do have to ask the back wall huggers to move to the side to enable us to get in, which does seem to annoy quite a few of our fellow passengers.

No problem with that, none at all. This thread does seem to have turned into an able bodied lift user bashing diatribe. Disabled folk using the lift should get priority, absolutely. 

[JDB78]

On 9/21/2022 at 10:36 PM, zap99 said:

We always let P&O deal with our cases the night before, have a leisurely breakfast and are normally off the ship by about 8.30. Are folk really in that much of a rush ?.

Everyone's situation is different isn't it. We live in the North West of England and both my wife and I still work. So getting back home, getting back to normal asap is very much a priority. I'm always surprised how many people from Scotland travel down to Southampton. I'm sure one passenger said they were on the coach for about 12 hours. Sure it would be nice to just take our time, maybe stay in Southampton another night if we felt like it. Unfortunately, kids, dogs, work etc means I'm thinking about Monday morning from a few days before the end of the cruise.

 

Taking all things into consideration, being held up for 10-15 mins waiting for a lift on the last day isn't the end of the world and probably very little anyone can do about it. Maybe an announcement or 2 about trying to avoid using lifts before their allocated time but it would probably have next to no effect. It is what it is, think its just a few people's attitude that makes an already stressful situation that bit worse.

[Cruisemeister2002]

Adding to the debate on embarkation I always feel that this part of the cruise is the worst. Not only is your lovely holiday over (we hope it is) but you have this hanging about on the ship and when called it's worse than Jumanji with the charge to the gangway. Then there's the long and winding road that leads you, not to your door, but to an escalator or lift down to the luggage hall and then the cresta run to get a trolley and the find my luggage somewhere, anywhere before sneaking through the "Nothing to declare" section and finally onto the path and roads leading to our coach all the time hoping half the cases don't fall off the overloaded trolley. If only all cruise lines could just try to make this part of a cruise a bit more enjoyable rather than feeling " Well, that's that lot out of the way"