accessible cabin hell

[lethaljoe]

Last year, I made arrangements for a cruise holiday which will depart in a few weeks. During the booking process over the phone, I made it clear that my mother required an accessible room due to her limited mobility. We completed all necessary paperwork and forms regarding her special needs. However, upon receiving our boarding information and room number recently, I decided to search online for a picture of the room. To my surprise, I discovered a forum post mentioning that the room was only partially accessible, a detail that had not been communicated to us at any point. Despite numerous phone calls to P&O over the months, during which my mother asked many questions and expressed her concerns, this critical information was never disclosed. I would have expected it to be brought up in some form of communication, even if it was just an email notifying us that the room was only partially accessible.   This morning, I contacted a member of the customer service team who confirmed that indeed, the cabin is only partially accessible. It appears that there may not be enough space to manoeuvre a wheelchair around the room comfortably. The reason given for assigning this room was because the form indicated my mother was a part-time wheelchair user. While this information is accurate—she can walk short distances without her chair—the fact that she uses it part-time does not mean she can navigate tight spaces within a room. We booked an accessible cabin and were provided with a "partially accessible" one instead. How is such a practice deemed acceptable? A room should either be accessible or not at all. There is no in-between being disabled. We selected it because my mother needs a wheelchair to be in the cabin and requires space to move around freely.

Edited February 28 by lethaljoe
remove blak bacground in text

[Megabear2]

21 minutes ago, lethaljoe said:

Last year, I made arrangements for a cruise holiday which will depart in a few weeks. During the booking process over the phone, I made it clear that my mother required an accessible room due to her limited mobility. We completed all necessary paperwork and forms regarding her special needs. However, upon receiving our boarding information and room number recently, I decided to search online for a picture of the room. To my surprise, I discovered a forum post mentioning that the room was only partially accessible, a detail that had not been communicated to us at any point. Despite numerous phone calls to P&O over the months, during which my mother asked many questions and expressed her concerns, this critical information was never disclosed. I would have expected it to be brought up in some form of communication, even if it was just an email notifying us that the room was only partially accessible.   This morning, I contacted a member of the customer service team who confirmed that indeed, the cabin is only partially accessible. It appears that there may not be enough space to manoeuvre a wheelchair around the room comfortably. The reason given for assigning this room was because the form indicated my mother was a part-time wheelchair user. While this information is accurate—she can walk short distances without her chair—the fact that she uses it part-time does not mean she can navigate tight spaces within a room. We booked an accessible cabin and were provided with a "partially accessible" one instead. How is such a practice deemed acceptable? A room should either be accessible or not at all. There is no in-between being disabled. We selected it because my mother needs a wheelchair to be in the cabin and requires space to move around freely.

Might I suggest you pop over to TigerB's current thread from Iona as he and his wife use these cabins with her a full time wheelchair user.  He has measurements etc for these types of cabin and can direct you to photos etc on threads he has made. Lots of useful information and if i need info I'd consider him extremely reliable.

 

I hope that will help you.  He is excellent on detail.

Edited February 28 by Megabear2

[sandancer]

I’m sorry to hear that you have not been assigned the cabin you require. I have just completed an assistance form for hubbie. We can’t even get a partially adapted cabin and I know we will struggle to cope with both a wheelchair and a Rollator. Did you not choose a cabin when you booked. You should have been made aware at that point that the cabin you had chosen was not fully accessible. 

[Megabear2]

34 minutes ago, lethaljoe said:

Last year, I made arrangements for a cruise holiday which will depart in a few weeks. During the booking process over the phone, I made it clear that my mother required an accessible room due to her limited mobility. We completed all necessary paperwork and forms regarding her special needs. However, upon receiving our boarding information and room number recently, I decided to search online for a picture of the room. To my surprise, I discovered a forum post mentioning that the room was only partially accessible, a detail that had not been communicated to us at any point. Despite numerous phone calls to P&O over the months, during which my mother asked many questions and expressed her concerns, this critical information was never disclosed. I would have expected it to be brought up in some form of communication, even if it was just an email notifying us that the room was only partially accessible.   This morning, I contacted a member of the customer service team who confirmed that indeed, the cabin is only partially accessible. It appears that there may not be enough space to manoeuvre a wheelchair around the room comfortably. The reason given for assigning this room was because the form indicated my mother was a part-time wheelchair user. While this information is accurate—she can walk short distances without her chair—the fact that she uses it part-time does not mean she can navigate tight spaces within a room. We booked an accessible cabin and were provided with a "partially accessible" one instead. How is such a practice deemed acceptable? A room should either be accessible or not at all. There is no in-between being disabled. We selected it because my mother needs a wheelchair to be in the cabin and requires space to move around freely.

Joe, I've just checked Tiger's thread  and post number 5 shows photographs and details on his current cabin.  For some reason my link won't work but you'll find it here:

 

TigerB (not at all) live from Iona (G404 - Portugal, Spain, and Canaries)

[lethaljoe]

17 minutes ago, sandancer said:

I’m sorry to hear that you have not been assigned the cabin you require. I have just completed an assistance form for hubbie. We can’t even get a partially adapted cabin and I know we will struggle to cope with both a wheelchair and a Rollator. Did you not choose a cabin when you booked. You should have been made aware at that point that the cabin you had chosen was not fully accessible. 

Yes I told the woman on the phone on the booking we will require a accessible cabin. We have a so called "partially accessible room" which will not be fit for purpose. During the booking the term partially was never given. I feel like I may have been misadvised by the employee that day

[lethaljoe]

24 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Might I suggest you pop over to TigerB's current thread from Iona as he and his wife use these cabins with her a full time wheelchair user.  He has measurements etc for these types of cabin and can direct you to photos etc on threads he has made. Lots of useful information and if i need info I'd consider him extremely reliable.

 

I hope that will help you.  He is excellent on detail.

Could you provide a link to this thread that would be appreciated 

[Gettingwarmer]

35 minutes ago, lethaljoe said:

Could you provide a link to this thread that would be appreciated 

See post number 5

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2993201-tigerb-not-at-all-live-from-iona-g404-portugal-spain-and-canaries/#comments

 

[sandancer]

37 minutes ago, lethaljoe said:

Yes I told the woman on the phone on the booking we will require a accessible cabin. We have a so called "partially accessible room" which will not be fit for purpose. During the booking the term partially was never given. I feel like I may have been misadvised by the employee that day

Did you book a Saver fare where you don’t choose your cabin and are allocated one near to the sail date. I read somewhere that fully accessible cabins are reserved for full time wheelchair users so that could be the difficultly. 

[Megabear2]

42 minutes ago, lethaljoe said:

Could you provide a link to this thread that would be appreciated 

I see Gettingwarmer beat me to it.  Could you also give us details of the cruise, ie ship date etc and also the cabin number ?

 

[terrierjohn]

56 minutes ago, lethaljoe said:

Yes I told the woman on the phone on the booking we will require a accessible cabin. We have a so called "partially accessible room" which will not be fit for purpose. During the booking the term partially was never given. I feel like I may have been misadvised by the employee that day

There have been a number of comments about the inside cabins having been re-categorised as partially accessible, and the consensus is that the floor space could be a bit tight for motorized wheelchairs and scooters, but for standard manual wheelchairs they are more than adequate.

So perhaps your worries will be unfounded.

[amajaa]

1 hour ago, lethaljoe said:

Yes I told the woman on the phone on the booking we will require a accessible cabin. We have a so called "partially accessible room" which will not be fit for purpose. During the booking the term partially was never given. I feel like I may have been misadvised by the employee that day

 

Did you book direct with P & O or though a Travel Agent? 

[lethaljoe]

20 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

 

Hi Yes my concerns seem unfounded. I've had a look at  TigerB's post and see that we will be in a similar inside cabin on the same ship.  The pictures he shared seem more than adequate, there appears to be plenty of space Infront of the beds for the wheelchair to be stored.  I really wouldn't call the partially accessible at all. They are more than fine. I suppose P&O are just being overly cautionary.

 

Thanks or all the advise everyone panic over. 

Edited February 28 by lethaljoe

[sandancer]

  Very pleased to hear that your mind has been put at rest. Now you can get on with the anticipation of a great cruise. 

[kalos]

23 minutes ago, lethaljoe said:

Thanks or all the advise everyone panic over. 

 

Hi @lethaljoe Welcome to the Cruise Critic Boards 🙂

 

Great to see the posters could help and reassure you and hope you have a great time .

 

Hopefully on your return you can let the good folk know how you got on with your 

cabin , which in turn helps others .

 

In the meantime hope to see you posts should you feel like it .  Take care 😃

[mickyc123]

We have also  stayed in a partial accessible cabin last year

 

plenty of room to be honest 

 

this was ARVIA 15326

 

have a great cruise your mum will be fine

[Windsurfboy]

Glad all OK.  If it wasn't then the best course of action demand a transcript of the call,  which is your right under data protection. If agent promised accessible not partial accessible then you have a firm contract with P&O

[TigerB]

Welcome to the boards, @lethaljoe

 

You don't state which ship you will be on, but from your response to viewing my photos and descriptions, I expect it is either Arvia or Iona. I expect you would have wanted an inside cabin for your mother and told the TA or P&O advisor of your mother's mobility needs.  As you have since discovered, all inside accessible cabins on those two ships have been reclassified as partially accessible, and the blurb states that they are only suitable for those with non-motorised mobility aids. As you have since discovered, that is not accurate.  You should have been advised at the start that the insides are partially accessible.  In hindsight, perhaps it is a good thing that you wasn't because you may have then decided to go with a more expensive outside or balcony cabin, which would have been unnecessary.

 

Huge thanks to @Megabear2 and @Gettingwarmer for pointing you in the direction of my posts. I would have done so myself but have been otherwise engaged.

I don't want to blow my own trumpet (but I will), but Megabear is correct in stating that my information is reliable and I provide excellent detail, where I'm able to do so. When trip planning I always want to find out as much information as I can about accessibility, but sometimes it's difficult to obtain things like measurements.  Therefore, when I review accessible rooms or facilities I always provide photos and measurements where I can. 

 

Back to the subject in hand, I really don't think your mother will have a problem with the floor space and manoeuvrability of her chair in an inside partially accessible cabin on Arvia or Iona. The space between the bed and wardrobe or desk isn't much different to the fully accessible outside or balcony cabins, and the bathrooms are exactly the same.  One thing though, the measurements I give for either side of the bed is for the queen configuration. My wife's chair is 62cm wide and she has no problem.  If your mother chooses the twin bed configuration she will have a smaller gap at the sides of the beds, and may not get her chair down at least one side.

 

If you need any further information just come back to me.