In order to receive the best possible service and advice, please contact our Reservations Centre on 0845 3 555 333, or contact an ABTA registered travel agent or cruise specialist. We require all passengers bringing a wheelchair to travel with a personal assistant / travelling companion in order to assist in any day-to-day tasks and in moving around the ship, as a ship is not always the easiest environment for using a wheelchair.

When booking your cruise, you will be asked if you are bringing a wheelchair. Please note that we are unable to provide wheelchairs for passenger use, as all ship’s wheelchairs are for emergency use only. For this reason, we will require any passengers who will need the use of a wheelchair during the cruise to supply their own. If you require the use of a wheelchair in order to move around your cabin, you will need to book a wheelchair accessible cabin. You can book a non-adapted cabin if you have some independent mobility and do not use your wheelchair full time. Please note that our non-adapted cabins have narrower doorways and raised thresholds to the bathroom/shower room,and are not suitable for full time wheelchair use.

If you have any other special requests or requirements, please notify us at the time of booking and we will do our very best to fulfil them, but please be aware that we may not able to cater for all requests.

If you have advised us that you will be bringing a wheelchair, a mobility questionnaire will automatically be sent to you, which you will be required to complete and return at your earliest convenience. This questionnaire will include questions on your type of wheelchair use along with weights and dimensions of your wheelchair. Once returned, our Mobility Team will check all details to ensure that the cabin booked is suitable for your requirements. Should our Mobility Team find any potential issues that may impact on the enjoyment of your holiday, you will be contacted for further advice.

You will be pleased to know that you can update your immigration information at any time by using our cruise personaliser.

When cruising from Southampton, the effortless experience of your P&O Cruises holiday starts before you have even reached the ship. You can rest assured that all of the cruise terminals used by P&O Cruises in Southampton are fully accessible for passengers using wheelchairs. All Southampton terminals have a dedicated check-in desk and accessible toilet facilities, with the majority of cruise terminals featuring lifts and high-level linked walkways to the ships, including P&O Cruises’ very own Mayflower Terminal.

If you are bringing a wheelchair on board with you, you must notify us at the time of booking. We will then be able to ensure that our dedicated Mobility Assistance Team will be on hand to offer boarding assistance should you require it.

We can also offer assistance for passengers who are not bringing a wheelchair, but may need wheelchair assistance in order to board the ship. If you do require boarding assistance, please call our Reservations Team on 0845 3 555 333 to register you request. This will help us to ensure that we have adequate staff available on the day in order to keep check-in times to a minimum.

If you registered your wheelchair with us, you will automatically be sent a mobility questionnaire requesting details of your wheelchair and any flight requests. Please note that we are unable to allocate any flight seats in advance, although any requests will be taken into consideration. Most UK airports are able to provide assistance from the check-in desk to your flight.

Each of the ships in our fleet has a number of wheelchair accessible cabins. The positions of these cabins are indicated on the deck plans which can be found in the back of our current brochure. All of our wheelchair accessible cabins feature wide doorways into the cabin and bathroom, as well as sufficient floor space for wheelchair manoeuvrability. All wheelchair accessible balcony cabins feature ramped access to the balcony. The bathroom in all of these cabins is a wetroom style shower room with a flush threshold into the cabin and grab rails for shower and toilet.

At the majority of ports visited by our ships, we are able to deploy a short low-level ramped gangway in order to provide all wheelchair users with easy access to shore. At some ports this may not be possible, especially if the port has a large tidal range. At ports where we are unable to deploy a short low-level ramped gangway, all access to the shore will be by a narrow stepped gangway that pivots to take account of the tide. In order to use the stepped gangway you must have some independent mobility, however, where conditions permit we will endeavour to use a ‘stair climbing machine’ that can be found on each of our ships. In order to use the stair climber you must be able to transfer to and from your own wheelchair, which will be taken ashore separately.

At ports where the ship is unable to dock at the quayside and where conditions permit, passengers are taken ashore by the ship’s launches (also known as tenders). Every effort will be made to offer access to the shore by the ship’s launches, but you must have some independent mobility in order to step in and out of the launch. For Health and Safety reasons, our crew are unable to lift passengers into and out of the launches. If no individual part of your wheelchair weighs more than 32kgs when disassembled, our crew will be able to transfer it to the launch as appropriate. You or your travelling companion will be responsible for assembling and disassembling your wheelchair, although if requested, our crew will be able to assist you where safe and practical to do so.

We will send you a shore excursion brochure around 8-10 weeks before your cruise departure date. The brochure descriptions set out to offer practical advice based on our operating experience. We strongly recommend that you read the brochure descriptions in order to make sure that your chosen excursions are suitable for your individual personal requirements.

If you have registered with us that you are a full time wheelchair user, you will also be sent a separate guide detailing access at the various ports of call, as well as information regarding fully accessible vehicles where available. If you are a full time wheelchair user and require further information about going ashore, please contact our Shore Mobility Advisor.

As a ship is not always the easiest environment for using a wheelchair, we require all passengers who are bringing a wheelchair on board to travel with a personal assistant / travelling companion. Although our crew are always happy to help, they are unable to assist you in moving around the ship, or in any other day-to-day tasks.

We have a number of wheelchairs on board each of our ships, however, these are for medical emergency use only and can not be allocated to passengers for day-to-day use.

Our non-adapted cabins are not suitable for full time wheelchair users due to their narrow doorways and raised bathroom threshold. If you are do not use your wheelchair full time and are able to negotiate the cabin without it, you will be able to travel in one of our non-adapted cabins, but please note that you will need to bring a collapsible wheelchair which must be stored in your cabin when not in use.

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide storage for wheelchairs and other mobility aids. These must be stored in your cabin when not in use.

You will be pleased to know that all of the ships in our fleet cater for passengers bringing wheelchairs or mobility scooters (referred to collectively in this section as wheelchairs). With lifts and wheelchair accessible routes to the vast majority of public areas on board, as well as a number of staterooms adapted for wheelchair users, including wide doorways and bathrooms featuring wheel-in showers, we aim to make your stay as relaxing and comfortable as possible. If you are planning to bring a wheelchair on board with you, it is essential that you let us know at the time of booking. We will then contact you to obtain further information.

Please note that on board we are unable to provide wheelchairs, walking frames, or other mobility aids for passenger use. Before making a booking, please familiarise yourself with clause 9 of the Booking Conditions. Please be aware that a ship is not always the easiest environment for using a wheelchair. Although our crew are always very helpful, they are unable to assist in moving you around the ship, or in any personal day-to-day tasks. For this reason, we require passengers who use a wheelchair to be accompanied by a personal assistant/travelling companion to provide these services.

Standard staterooms (i.e. not adapted) are not accessible for full-time wheelchair users because their doorways are not wide enough for most wheelchairs to pass through and the bathrooms have raised thresholds. Part-time wheelchair users who wish to travel in a standard stateroom must bring a collapsible wheelchair and negotiate the stateroom without assistance from the ship’s crew. For the safety of the ship and everyone on board, all wheelchairs and other aids to mobility must be stored inside your stateroom at night and when you are not actually using them.

Going 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. Some examples of ports with a large tidal range (but not an exhaustive list) are Hamburg, Zeebrugge, Atlantic ports (such as La Rochelle, Vigo and Bilbao) and most Canary Island ports.
At ports where it is not possible to use the ship’s brow, all access to shore will be by a narrow stepped gangway that pivots 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 allows 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.
At ports where the ship is unable to dock at the quayside, and where conditions permit, passengers are taken ashore by the ship’s launches (or “tenders”).

Every effort will be made to offer access ashore via the “tenders” but you must have some independent mobility in order to step into the tenders and out of them on the shore side. Please note that for Health and Safety reasons, the crew are unable to lift passengers into and out of tenders. For passengers who use a wheelchair part-time and have sufficient independent mobility to step into and out of the tender, we will transfer wheelchairs into the tender or onto the quayside as appropriate, provided no individual part of the wheelchair weighs more than 32kgs when disassembled. You or your travelling companion will be responsible for assembling and disassembling your wheelchair, although if requested, we will endeavour to assist where practical and safe to do so.

Occasionally, at certain terminals at which the ship berths there are specific access issues and we aim to provide information wherever possible in advance of the cruise.