Cpt Pugwash Posted July 15 #1 Share Posted July 15 Anybody with Limited Mobility booking any shore excursion with P&O double check as much as you can find out on the Internet NOT just what P&O state when advertising these things. I can walk short distances with my Walking Sticks or Rollator and booked a trip from Hellesylt which was stated was run on the Local Ferry service but was NOT informed till i got onboard by P&O that the Ferry was 600 yards away which would be too far for me to try and walk so had to cancel for which they had the check to charge me a late cancellation fee. I now hire a Mobility Scooter to use while Cruising and if they had informed me before about the 600 yard walk i could have checked with the Ferry Company if i could travel with Mobility Scooter before i booked. P.S Please NO sarcastic comments about Me Disabled and travelling alone like i have mentioned before you don't have a clue what your talking about, i'll just stick to the literally Hundreds of Compliments i have had being So Independent from everyone from the Consultant in Hospital ot friends, neighbours even strangers. Just because you are there to accompany a family member does NOT make there situation the same as mine the same as the way i do things may not suit others neither does yours. 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snaefell Posted July 16 #2 Share Posted July 16 We were on Arcadia in Barcelona in May 2023,at the time I was struggling badly with my arthritic knee,we did the P&O excursion showing the highlights of the city,unfortunately it was a Sunday when 5 cruise ships were there,there was some sort of road race on so many roads & areas were closed off meaning the driver couldn't stop in the usual places & was very much making it up as we went along meaning a lot of walking as we played 'hunt the tour bus'! I wasn't the worst mobility wise of the participants by any means,some others were in real distress,the Horizon newspaper carried warnings every day after that telling people to check the activity level of upcoming tours with the Excursion desk. Really sad thing was we overnighted in Barcelona & so had the whole of the next day to explore the city further but we had seen enough of the place!😆😆 After having my knee joint finally replaced I hopefully have better times ahead although I have had 6 months of struggling on crutches & walking sticks where I really found out how many uncaring people there are out there! Keep on cruising! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grapau27 Posted July 16 #3 Share Posted July 16 8 hours ago, Cpt Pugwash said: Anybody with Limited Mobility booking any shore excursion with P&O double check as much as you can find out on the Internet NOT just what P&O state when advertising these things. I can walk short distances with my Walking Sticks or Rollator and booked a trip from Hellesylt which was stated was run on the Local Ferry service but was NOT informed till i got onboard by P&O that the Ferry was 600 yards away which would be too far for me to try and walk so had to cancel for which they had the check to charge me a late cancellation fee. I now hire a Mobility Scooter to use while Cruising and if they had informed me before about the 600 yard walk i could have checked with the Ferry Company if i could travel with Mobility Scooter before i booked. P.S Please NO sarcastic comments about Me Disabled and travelling alone like i have mentioned before you don't have a clue what your talking about, i'll just stick to the literally Hundreds of Compliments i have had being So Independent from everyone from the Consultant in Hospital ot friends, neighbours even strangers. Just because you are there to accompany a family member does NOT make there situation the same as mine the same as the way i do things may not suit others neither does yours. Good advice on checking potential mobility issues on shore excursions. Best wishes. Graham. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grapau27 Posted July 16 #4 Share Posted July 16 1 hour ago, snaefell said: We were on Arcadia in Barcelona in May 2023,at the time I was struggling badly with my arthritic knee,we did the P&O excursion showing the highlights of the city,unfortunately it was a Sunday when 5 cruise ships were there,there was some sort of road race on so many roads & areas were closed off meaning the driver couldn't stop in the usual places & was very much making it up as we went along meaning a lot of walking as we played 'hunt the tour bus'! I wasn't the worst mobility wise of the participants by any means,some others were in real distress,the Horizon newspaper carried warnings every day after that telling people to check the activity level of upcoming tours with the Excursion desk. Really sad thing was we overnighted in Barcelona & so had the whole of the next day to explore the city further but we had seen enough of the place!😆😆 After having my knee joint finally replaced I hopefully have better times ahead although I have had 6 months of struggling on crutches & walking sticks where I really found out how many uncaring people there are out there! Keep on cruising! Sorry to hear you have been struggling after your knee replacement operation and experiencing uncaring people. Best wishes for your future cruising experiences. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Eddie99 Posted July 16 #5 Share Posted July 16 P&O could take a leaf from the Princess tours book. I am always impressed at their detailed description of excursions. Number of steps, distance necessary to walk, terrain, availability of “rest rooms”, specific time at a destination, “gift shop” time, etc Almost like a responsible person has trialled the tour and therefore knows details and any pitfalls 🙄 You know exactly what you are signing up for, and anyone with mobility, or other personal issues, can determine whether they will enjoy the trip 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nosapphire Posted July 16 #6 Share Posted July 16 Not just people with "issues" of any description who would be grateful for the type of detail you say Princess supply. Too many lines rely solely on the information given by their local Port Agnt, who in turn is relying on the information given by the company which offers the tours - who may or may not be the same as the party actually running the tour. Which is why there is such a huge variant in the accuracy of different descriptions. But not making sure that people know how far they will HAVE to walk (as opposed to how far they may choose to walk) is remiss from any tour operator. All cruise ships will have passengers with a degree of mobility problems, whether or not they are considered disabled, and should take that into consideration when giving descriptions. (More than once booked a tour and only discovered when on the tour that the main promoted highlights of the tour were - err - closed).(Thanks, Saga!). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplesea Posted July 16 #7 Share Posted July 16 Another consideration that the tour guides need to take into consideration is the speed they walk. On an excursion in Rome the tour guide we had was walking way to fast, even my father, who was fit and healthy, over 6 foot tall and would long paces when walking had difficulty keeping up with them! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david63 Posted July 16 #8 Share Posted July 16 9 minutes ago, purplesea said: Another consideration that the tour guides need to take into consideration is the speed they walk. On an excursion in Rome the tour guide we had was walking way to fast, even my father, who was fit and healthy, over 6 foot tall and would long paces when walking had difficulty keeping up with them! At one time there was always a member of the ship's crew (shop/casino/entertainment) accompanying every excursion and acting as a "back stop" so that the group stayed together but that started falling off long before Covid. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt Pugwash Posted July 16 Author #9 Share Posted July 16 2 hours ago, snaefell said: We were on Arcadia in Barcelona in May 2023,at the time I was struggling badly with my arthritic knee,we did the P&O excursion showing the highlights of the city,unfortunately it was a Sunday when 5 cruise ships were there,there was some sort of road race on so many roads & areas were closed off meaning the driver couldn't stop in the usual places & was very much making it up as we went along meaning a lot of walking as we played 'hunt the tour bus'! I wasn't the worst mobility wise of the participants by any means,some others were in real distress,the Horizon newspaper carried warnings every day after that telling people to check the activity level of upcoming tours with the Excursion desk. Really sad thing was we overnighted in Barcelona & so had the whole of the next day to explore the city further but we had seen enough of the place!😆😆 After having my knee joint finally replaced I hopefully have better times ahead although I have had 6 months of struggling on crutches & walking sticks where I really found out how many uncaring people there are out there! Keep on cruising! Sorry to hear that but Hey Ho Good Times Ahead. My story has been different so many people offering to help me after having a Leg Amputated in 2019. But it's funny the only time i have had uncaring people was the staff of the first cruise i went after my Op, i can walk short distances with my Rollator but was actually the passengers that helped my trip being a total wash out, offering to carry things for me before i left a Bar or Counter in the Self Service Buffets. Oh was basically a waste of time and money through my own fault but at least the passengers with good hearts who offered me help made it a bit more sufferable than it could have been. Keep on Cruising. 🙂 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nosapphire Posted July 16 #10 Share Posted July 16 2 hours ago, purplesea said: Another consideration that the tour guides need to take into consideration is the speed they walk. On an excursion in Rome the tour guide we had was walking way to fast, even my father, who was fit and healthy, over 6 foot tall and would long paces when walking had difficulty keeping up with them! Total agreement. I wonder if that is a Rome speciality. We did one tour with Fred, with a full coach load. There was only a single exit on the coach, so getting off was never going to be a speedy act. The "guide" never bothered to look to see if everybody was off, simply kept walking - by the time the people at the back were off, the guide and the people from the front had totally vanished and nobody had any idea where they were or what direction we needed to go. Fred did have an escort who had stayed until we were all off - but she didn't know where to go either. We did - after about an hour - manage to find the guide, who was totally oblivious to the fact he only had half the coach with him (and probably wondered why so few gave him a tip). We also thought that many of the people who were with the guide MUST have realised that not everybody was off the coach when they all set off, so why did they not stop him? Certainly, if we are on a tour of any description and we note that somebody is getting left behind through no fault of their own, we'll shout for the leaders to slow down - and then if necessary drop back to assist. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel57 Posted July 16 #11 Share Posted July 16 2 hours ago, purplesea said: Another consideration that the tour guides need to take into consideration is the speed they walk. On an excursion in Rome the tour guide we had was walking way to fast, even my father, who was fit and healthy, over 6 foot tall and would long paces when walking had difficulty keeping up with them! I totally agree that some guides go at a ridiculous pace especially in crowded places (I can think of Rome and Pompeii as examples). However on the flip side I have also been on tours where the activity level is advertised as “high” and then a few people have booked onto the tour with poor mobility and can only proceed slowly and so therefore we don’t get to see and do everything that was advertised as we have had to keep stopping…… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Eddie99 Posted July 16 #12 Share Posted July 16 Probably a dozen years ago, on a Cunard excursion in St Petersburg, we were all kitted out with wireless earpieces (sort of wireless. There was a wire between the bit in your ear and the small box of tricks you hung round your neck). This was such a good arrangement and I’m really surprised I haven’t seen it anywhere else since. It allowed our excellent walking guide to move at a decent pace whilst everyone in the group was able to hear what she was saying without having to cram together around her. When she was ready to move on she simply raised her voice to get everyone’s attention and it was up to us to keep up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsmt47471015 Posted July 16 #13 Share Posted July 16 Tbh that has now become the norm , more so on crowded city tours , and have to say very welcome 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snaefell Posted July 16 #14 Share Posted July 16 3 hours ago, Eddie99 said: Probably a dozen years ago, on a Cunard excursion in St Petersburg, we were all kitted out with wireless earpieces (sort of wireless. There was a wire between the bit in your ear and the small box of tricks you hung round your neck). This was such a good arrangement and I’m really surprised I haven’t seen it anywhere else since. It allowed our excellent walking guide to move at a decent pace whilst everyone in the group was able to hear what she was saying without having to cram together around her. When she was ready to move on she simply raised her voice to get everyone’s attention and it was up to us to keep up We had something similar in Genoa,unfortunately not everyone is into new technology even at that level,we lost the first hour while the guide tried to figure out why half of them weren't working,having asked a number of times if everybody had switched them on & being assured they had she went through the coach only to find that those that weren't working were not switched on! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ardennais Posted July 16 #15 Share Posted July 16 5 hours ago, Eddie99 said: Probably a dozen years ago, on a Cunard excursion in St Petersburg, we were all kitted out with wireless earpieces (sort of wireless. There was a wire between the bit in your ear and the small box of tricks you hung round your neck). This was such a good arrangement and I’m really surprised I haven’t seen it anywhere else since. It allowed our excellent walking guide to move at a decent pace whilst everyone in the group was able to hear what she was saying without having to cram together around her. When she was ready to move on she simply raised her voice to get everyone’s attention and it was up to us to keep up We’ve had those earpieces several times, and found them to be very good. I noticed a group had them in the Royal Palace in Stockholm last week. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FangedRose Posted July 17 #16 Share Posted July 17 On 7/16/2024 at 10:14 AM, david63 said: At one time there was always a member of the ship's crew (shop/casino/entertainment) accompanying every excursion and acting as a "back stop" so that the group stayed together but that started falling off long before Covid. We had them on my last cruise in April/May. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FangedRose Posted July 17 #17 Share Posted July 17 On 7/16/2024 at 4:15 PM, Eddie99 said: Probably a dozen years ago, on a Cunard excursion in St Petersburg, we were all kitted out with wireless earpieces (sort of wireless. There was a wire between the bit in your ear and the small box of tricks you hung round your neck). This was such a good arrangement and I’m really surprised I haven’t seen it anywhere else since. It allowed our excellent walking guide to move at a decent pace whilst everyone in the group was able to hear what she was saying without having to cram together around her. When she was ready to move on she simply raised her voice to get everyone’s attention and it was up to us to keep up Had them on every single tour I've been on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Eddie99 Posted July 17 #18 Share Posted July 17 This is good to hear I’m obviously behind the times (or maybe don’t do many cruise line excursions?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsmt47471015 Posted July 19 #19 Share Posted July 19 On 7/17/2024 at 4:21 PM, Eddie99 said: This is good to hear I’m obviously behind the times (or maybe don’t do many cruise line excursions?) Good to hear, no pun intended🤣🤣🤣🤣 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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