Overview

Our holiday was a Western Mediterranean Cruise on board the fantastic P&O Britannia. Leaving from Southampton we visited Gibraltar, Cartagena, Barcelona, Cadiz, Palma and Lisbon. Before leaving, to make life easier for ourselves we got our luggage uplifted a few days prior to our cruise by the Baggage Handling Company (I would really recommend this service) who transported our baggage to Southampton and the next time we saw it was on board. We done this so all we had to carry was hand luggage as I also got them to take my manual chair just in case it was needed as I didn't know how accessible places would be for my powered chair. The cruise terminal at Southampton had parking directly outside the terminal but we arrived by accessible taxi which dropped us off at the door. Inside was very accessible for wheelchairs with good toilets and ramped access all the way onto the Ship. The staff were very helpful. Onboard the ship was very accessible but my only negative is the lifts. You can at times wait a while. This is more down to people who don't really need them using them all the time with no consideration to others. The accessible cabins were very spacious and the accessible public toilets were also a good size. Overall, all areas onboard were accessible in the wheelchair. One of the pools on deck even had a hoist chair to transfer you in and out of the pool. Staff everywhere onboard were exceptional always very attentive and making sure everything was OK. Getting off at each port was a worry for me, but it needn't have been. There are limited amount of accessible excursions you can book either onboard or before you go, although a cheaper way to do it is by doing your own thing. Other cruises I have been on, if you're not booked on an excursion, you have just got to hope the terminal is within walking distance of the city centre, or there are accessible taxis you can get as there have never been accessible shuttle buses taking you into the centre. but at each port, apart from the ones where the port is right in the city centre, they laid on accessible shuttle buses to take you to a central drop off and pickup point throughout the day. Once there we generally took a sightseeing tour bus which in each of the cities we visited were accessible and gave you the opportunity to get to know the city and took you to the main attractions at a fraction of the cost of the cruise excursions. Gibraltar - to be honest I didn't rate Gibraltar too much. I tried looking for an accessible public toilet and found one, only to find that the door opens inward and once in, you can't actually close the door. Cartagena - a beautiful little place that is quite accessible. The roman theatre museum is a great place to go. The museum itself is accessible then there is the ramp that takes you out to the top of the amphitheater looking down. The first time I've ever had the chance to see such a thing! The city has Lots of places to eat and drink that you can access either by the table service on the pavements or inside. Again everyone was very helpful and friendly. Cadiz - another stunning place worth a visit, probably my favourite place of the trip. Found restaurants and hotels handy for accessible toilets. When we got off the ship in Cadiz we were handed a map of the centre and it had walking routes , one of which was wheelchair accessible. Palma - lots of interesting places but just wandered around the cathedral area of the city and found accessible hotel for a lovely tapas. Barcelona was fantastic and the bus tour was great. A place I would love to go back to for longer. We also used the underground there as most stations are accessible. A handy tip is the first carriage and last carriage of the train are the accessible carriages so it's best to wait at either end of the platform. I think it is marked on the platform where to wait for wheelchairs. Lisbon was a nice city to visit, again with an accessible tour bus. We just went on the tour then came back after having a coffee. Everything seemed so much more spread out in this city compared to the others.

Transport & Parking

Difficult to judge parking facilities at the terminal in Southampton as we came by accessible taxi, but there was parking directly outside the terminal building. Not sure how close by the bus service is.

Access

The Access onboard the ship was excellent apart from lots of people using the lifts all the time. Though it did get better as the week wend on. The gangway for getting off the boat differed from port to port but there was always plenty of assistance to help you on and off the ship. There was always one gangway used for wheelchairs. The steepness of the ramp would also be dependent on the tides at each port.

Toilets

There were plenty accessible toilets onboard. Some were automatic sliding doors that you had to push the button to open/close/lock them, the others were just the normal manual doors. There was good space in each of them.

Staff

OUTSTANDING!! Don't think I can add anymore.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

I've provided a link to my first ever attempt at a video to give a bit of an idea how things are onboard for a wheelchair user (so apologies in advance as I'm certainly no film maker!)

Photos

Video