No Mobility Scooters Allowed

This week I was looking for an accessible cabin for some new customers who are first time cruises and really wanted to be impressed, unfortunately it started off well only to take a turn for the worse  to then go back to okay. I use the word ‘okay’ as my customers were disappointed with P&O’s ruling on taking scooters on board. Apparently their T’s and C’s changed recently unbeknown to myself with taking mobility scooters. The long and short is you have to be booked into an accessible cabin to be allowed to bring a mobility scooter with you. In all other cabins a fold up wheel chair is acceptable. The argument my customers have is the scooter they were wanting to bring is easily taken apart, fits through door frames and is very light weight. Not one of these large one’s you see people hurtling down the road on. To say my customer was disappointed was an understatement as they were looking forward to their breakaway. I gave the customers P&O’s number direct to see if speaking to them directly they would be a bit more lenient, and they weren’t. When I spoke to P&O they said the reason for the blanket refusal is a while a go a passenger collapsed in the cabin and the scooter was blocking the door and the members of staff were unable to get in to help. Okay fair enough but this could also have been a 20 stone person blocking the door so I’m not sure where you can draw the line.

Luckily my story has a happy ending and my customers are still going on their cruise but bringing their own collapsible wheelchair which I may point out are allowed in all cabin grades. My customer said her husband will get a holiday but she won’t as she will be pushing everywhere, I said she will come home with arms like Popeye which she chuckled at. Interestingly the same day I spoke to Royal Caribbean for another customer and their policy is completely different. They will accept a mobility scooter in all cabins as long as it fits through the door. So perhaps if my customers enjoy their first cruise this will be something to bare in mind.