Jennizor

I have never seen such bad bunions as Kath had. Every pair of shoes she wore were completely ruined after a short time. On the plus side, she is very much looking forward to buying lots of new shoes when she is fully recovered from this painful ordeal. Her husband just raises his eyes when she mentions it.

When we went on a Med cruise last year we had two missed ports. We had letters from P&O, when it came to filling in the claim form we had the same problem as you. We rang the insurance company and they told us which section to complete and we received £300 each quite quickly We would never have managed it ourselves as it didn’t seem to relate to ‘missed ports’ at all. I may be being cynical but we did wonder if this was done deliberately to put people off claiming.

My friend, who loves cruising, has not done any since It restarted after COVID restrictions allowed. She had terrible bunions and after years of waiting she finally had one sorted earlier this year. The second one, which was the worst, was done about 6 weeks ago. She was so relieved she booked an Azamara cruise for next March. She then fell whilst getting out of a chair and broke her ankle in two places, one quite badly. Needless to say that cruise is now cancelled and they are looking at next July. She is quite down about the whole thing and I feel really bad as just before this accident we were talking about our three booked cruises for next year. She is a brilliant friend and looks after our cat when we go away but I feel really sad for her.

As I understand it, Arvia will have the same dress code as Iona with one formal night per week. We have done several Caribbean cruises on most of the other ships and the formal nights were the same as for any other destinations, i.e. 2 per week. Times do change though, is there nothing in the information from P&O that answers your question?

Michelle, like everyone else, I wish you all the best for tomorrow. I’m sure you will be well looked after. We all will be looking for your report back.

It was raining heavily here in Bolton until half an hour ago. We have now got some blue sky but not expecting it to last more than a couple of hours as more rain forecasted for later. Next dry day is forecast for Friday which I hope is accurate as I am going into Manchester to meet former works colleagues for our pre-Christmas lunch. 12 years on and we still enjoy our get together.

If you really want a specific excursion, I would advise booking before you cruise. We have booked the Seville excursion on our February Iona cruise as we have wanted to go there for quite a while. I wouldn’t risk missing out by delaying booking.

These days I only make Christmas cakes. One for my sister, one that I cut in half for me and my daughter-law and up to this year one for my granddaughter who lives in Australia. I sent her cake last year in December, it was never delivered and returned to me in July. We don’t know what happened but Jessica never got the usual note to go to the parcel office to pick it up. As you can imagine the cake was in a terrible state after travelling round the world and back and spending months in a sorting office. All the chocolates I sent with it were in a dreadful state too.it cost nearly £30 to send it. I have told her to come home for her next one (I miss her so much).

Once tried, never returned.

I have just come in from planting (rather belatedly) some of my spring bulbs. I am right aren’t I, it’s the 14th of November today? Here’s a fuchsia I planted in early summer that didn’t do very much until now. At least it cheers the patio up.

I will be very happy to hear how the cruise goes. We have been on several P&O Caribbean cruises starting on Boxing Day but not done Christmas Day. We are booked on Azura for Christmas 2023 in the Canaries so look forward to your reports. I hope you have a great time this year.

So sorry Michelle, I hope it heals quickly. It’s amazing how one missed step can have such painful consequences. Hope you get lots of talc. Xx

We only book the Limelight Club and that’s only bookable two weeks in advance. Just need to put a date in my calendar as it soon gets booked up.

Managed to get out in the garden for a while earlier, before the rain came back, to empty some pots for next spring’s daffodils and tulip bulbs. Two deer gave me a little assistance eating some remaining summer flowers heads. They were more confident than earlier in the year and stood their ground for a while before jumping back over the fence into the woods. Goodness knows what will happen when Peel Holdings start work on the land. I don’t think this will be for a couple of years yet though. They have to give the farmer sufficient notice to move or sell his cows. There will be loads of sad children when they do. The farmer’s wife and daughters make their own ice cream, which is very popular. Too rich for me though.

I thought it was just me not being able to post. My seven month old iPad stopped charging so I had run out of charge on Sunday. We went to the Apple Store at the Trafford Centre yesterday. They just gave me a new charger so now fully charged. I could read posts but not post anything, glad it’s now sorted. Michelle, your photos are gorgeous, glad you had a lovely day. Things will be now very quiet for you after all the build up to the wedding. Lots of happy memories for you though.

The worst I have seen on a formal night was a lady, probably in her twenties wearing a see through white lace dress that just about covered in her underwear, which was also mostly see through. She and her partner sat on stools at the bar. After a lot of staring by lots of people someone went to the bar and complained. As more people complained (not us by the way) she was eventually asked to leave the bar. She burst into tears and her partner put his coat round her and they left. This was several years ago, I’m not sure whether people would complain in current times.

I totally agree wowzz. On our September cruise on Azura the 4 formal nights were very well adhered to. It was a delight for me to sit in the Blue Bar around 6.00 -6.30 and see all the beautiful dresses worn by all age groups, the men too looked great. We were on second sitting and again there were lots in formal dress.

Have a lovely weekend Michelle, I hope the weather is kind. Jennizor

Thanks Michelle, it will be what it will be. I’m sure it will be a long time before anything happens. We also know that the narrow wood between our garden and the land will never be built on as the water feed from Ullswater is there. One other possible plus is that the deer may move on and my garden will be untouched. As much as I love to see them, this year I have lost so many plants. Hey ho, it’s nature.

Disappointing news for us today. Bolton Council have given Peel Holdings permission to build a Ryder Cup golf course and 1036 houses on the the Hulton Estate at the bottom of our garden. Most of the land is currently farmland and we have lovely views of the the cattle and sheep in the fields. It will be sometime before building starts as the farmer will have to find somewhere else to go, or give up farming. I still don’t believe that we will get a Ryder Cup golf course in Bolton. As much as I love my home town, I suspect the the golf course will never happen here and it will just be more houses. We haven’t got the infrastructure for all this. We will just enjoy what we have for now.

My thoughts entirely, plus over the years I have spent quite a lot on sparkly dresses. My earlier ones were strappy and not really suitable as I got older. I want to get my money’s worth out of the ones I wear now.

We were on Azura 15th to 29th September and there were wine waiters in the MDR every lunchtime and evening.

Thank you both. All I need is some time to speak to our TA, hopefully tomorrow.

Thanks for your reply, it’s much appreciated.

There have been more occasions when we had a land view coming into port from even numbered cabins. The best off all when we sailed into New York and watched from the balcony as the Statue of Liberty came into view. It was brilliant.