I am an attendant-propelled wheelchair user and was on the cruise with my mum who had to wheel me around. We wanted to try to see the Northern Lights and spend quality time together. The ship was accessible and staff were very helpful, moving cleaning trollies out of the way if they were around when we needed to get past, taking my wheelchair while I was at dinner as hard to get the chair in at the table, bringing our food to the table in Borough Market if we had trouble managing and generally checking if I needed help without being overbearing or demeaning. All the staff were friendly and would say hello and smile any time they saw a passenger, even when not on dinner greeting duty. Our waiter at dinner was always up for a joke and remembered people's preferences. If anyone has allergies, you are called to a meeting on day 2 to fill in the relevant forms and you get the next day's menus so you can check off which meal you want and any adaptations you need e.g. you could have that meal if they replaced the cream with plant-based cream for dairy allergy or cook it without capsicums etc.
The food was always good , the entertainment was hit and miss with Callum being a standout as "piano man" though marks were lost for the karaoke only being one night, words behind the singer and limited repertoire - just get a Karafun subscription and run it in the Observatory every couple of nights instead of having the band. We weren't impressed by the groups and the big productions were a mix of really good fun, badly mixed or not that good. Everything's subjective though.
We only did 1 excursion, which was good, but most were not accessible as required quite a lot walking and potentially unsuitable terrain, which we couldn't manage. It would have been helpful to know beforehand that courtesy buses were available at most ports and those without were really close to the main town, like 10-15 mins walk for older people. It would also have been good to know that a lot of Norwegian pavements are highly sloped with steep steps to crossings, which makes it hard going for wheelchairs, mobility scooters and people with more limited movement.
It was a mostly older crowd and going into the restaurant in the evening there were lots of mobility scooters, wheelchairs and walking frames lined up around the edge. Evening events ended about midnight or earlier so not for those who want to boogie all night and you need to pick your dinner time according to what you might want to do in the evenings so you don't miss things or have to go to a later showing in the theatre if you like an early night. There was quite a lot to do on sea days and in the evenings, catering for different tastes from craft to lectures to cocktail class to a variety of music and performances but obviously not the same scale as some of the bigger cruises that have full West End shows and huge parties. We didn't go down to the spa to use steam rooms as the hot tubs were on a different floor and didn't have hand rails for me to get in and out and too cold to use the pools, which were also drained when we hit bad weather, so didn't feel it would be as beneficial. If you just want to sit and read your book etc there are plenty of places where you can do that inside and with covered seating outside so you can get some air while you look at the scenery or relax even if it's raining or windy. The Borough Market dining area has free tea and coffee machines so you can grab a hot drink while outside and there is also a paid coffee shop on deck and 1 inside for less basic drinks (free if you have the full drinks package). Drinks prices outside of the packages are generally fair, though soft drinks are cans at pub pint prices.
Our balcony cabin was a decent size for 2 sharing and although you could sit on the balcony with provided chairs, there isn't room for sitting out with a table like some of the bigger ships but in Norway in November we didn't want to do that anyway! The shower is roomy enough and has grab handles in case of more choppy waters and that was ideal for me with my health issues as I didn't want a fully adapted cabin but that extra stability provided by the handles made me a lot safer. The corridors were quite slim in places, especially when cleaning in progress, so sometimes I did have to get out of my wheelchair, partially fold it and walk it past the trollies, and some of the floor joins needed a bit of a run up so the front wheels wouldn't get stuck if they turned sideways and for the impetus to get over a slightly higher threshold e.g. from Borough Market outside. Generally, though, the ship was perfectly fine for wheelchair use and you soon get to know where you need extra oomph to get over a tricky bit.
This company leaves from Tilbury which was ideal for us as trying to get to Southampton with wheelchair and luggage would be a nightmare and neither of us wanted to fly and risk damage to my wheelchair, along with the hassle of trying to get us to the airport etc. There is a drill on first night so you can hear what the alert signal is, where to muster and what to do in case of emergency but you don't need to take belongings and life jacket down with you and wheelchair users can still use the lifts as it's only a drill.
All in all we had a good trip and have booked again for this December doing a slightly different North Europe cruise on the same ship.
