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Pretty sure... in those far off days "Turkey Suits" were delightful embroidered trousers and waistcoats, white shirts, colourful waist-sashes and really snazzy head dresses! Remember seeing them on the packets of "Turkish Delight" at Christmas... and anyway at four... I wasn't allowed access to the "spirt o' the glens!"

We always avoid turkey... not out of generosity to allow those who like that as a dinner have their fill... we just don't like it. Folk can go into restaurants these days will all manner of dietary requests but try going into someplace at Christmas and asking for some other meat apart from turkey! We've been offered sea-bass, vegetarian stuffed aubergine and vegan nut-cutlets. All very nice but not really what we would count as a celebration meal. When I was about four I was attacked by a "Bubbly Jock." (It's Scots for a Turkey... we don't all speak the Gaelic or the Billy Connolliese!) It ripped me from the forehead to the chin and made quite a mess of my face... all healed very nicely and no scar! At the time my Dadie (grandad) thought that I'd lost an eye... I hadn't... but the right eye is still a bit dodgy a loooooooong time later. The "Bubbly Jock" was totally unscathed! The turkey in question was about 4 foot tall.... it was much taller and heavier than me when I was four... so "poor and little" don't instantly come to my mind!

What a week to get married! In the charts; Woman in Love, I could be so good for you, Never knew love like this before, Super Trouper and What you're proposing! Have a great day and a nice meal!

Age is just the number of years that the world has been enjoying our company and an indication of our level of seniority in the 'wisdom club.' At a certain point we can all sit back with the thought that we've been there, done... it's just that sometimes... we still want to have a little more fun! Playing with our food when we're making breakfast and that sort of thing!

Sadly "consistent pricing" isn't in the FOCLs lexicon... and there seems to be little or no understanding by the myriad of "managers" in Ipswich HQ that leaving loyalty customers so obviously out of pocket may have a negative impact on potential future sales. FOCLs seem to be besotted with the idea of "dynamic pricing." Enquiries, sales and other things influence decisions to change prices without notice. That can happen several times a day and is made more complicated by all sort of "offers" which may mean that potential cruisers end up paying more that they would have done a few weeks earlier or a few weeks later. FOCLs seems to think that "dynamic pricing" is very, very clever because it allows the company to stay one step ahead of potential cruisers, take advantage of the information that the company has on potential demand and to cash in... in our opinion... it's just gaming on a commercial scale without any awareness of the implications in the real world. For instance... Take FOCLs "White Christmas in Norway T2232" (Prepare to be confused!) This was on sale from; £2,199pp on the 30th of September, from £1,999 on the 4th of October, from £2,199 on the 15th of October and from £1,899 on the 25th of October. I was offered it from; £1,979.10 on the 1st of November, from £1,980 on the 4th of November and from £2,199 on the 6th of November. I've just had a mailing (as a "valued Oceans member") offering this same cruise... at 7.30 am on the 11th of November...I thought that the price was from £1,439 on a "Saver PLUS" fare or £1,709.10 on a Freedom Fare... but I could be wrong... I get so very confused with all of these price changes and offers! But I'm sure... I think... that by 11.00 am that same morning the price was £2,199pp... again... except that, as an Ocean's member, I could have bought the cruise from £1,970.10 pp on a Freedom fare or £1,970.10 pp with a "free" drinks package. So two different prices... one with "free" drinks and one at the same price without "free" drinks... and both in exactly the same grade of cabin on exactly the same cruise!?!? The free drinks package is only available on cruises booked before the 20th of November 2022... so what happens afterwards? Should I wait? Will there be another price rise? Will there be a price reduction? Will there be another offer in addition... to "free drinks"? And what is the answer to "Life the Universe and Everything"? Is there a virtual meerkat available at cruisepricehelpplease.com? What's the significance of the 10p in some of the prices? What a merry-go-round! And none of the multitude of "managers" in FOCLs' Ipswich HQ seem to realise/care that they're mailing this pricing information to "valued Oceans members" some of whom will very soon cotton on to the fact that they're out of pocket. They've lost out... either by booking early on a loyalty day and then seeing others getting the same cabins for less or losing out on significant add-on offers... or both. Even folk who bought the cruise during what FOCLs called a "sale"... may well have significantly lost out. There seems to be very little awareness that that this "dynamic pricing" is such a major turn-off for many people. Or that "dynamic pricing" might just explain why FOCLs cruise sales, occupancy rates and revenues are so much lower now than they were in 2019. Perhaps it's this "dynamic pricing" that's turned a profit in 2019 to and enormous loss in 2022 and placed the company in about £100 million worth of debt. Perhaps that why half the FOCLs fleet is laid up and perhaps that's the real reason why the FOCLs financials have been so affected by "cancellations" in July, August and September of this year. FOCLs is a subsidiary of First Olsen (Holdings) Ltd which continues to act as a holding company for the Fred Olsen cruise businesses. These different businesses own and operate the MV Braemar, MV Balmoral, MV Borealis and the MV Bolette. First Olsen (Holdings) Ltd lost £86 million in 2020 and £64 million in 2021. The Group Annual Report and Financial Statements up to 31 December 2021 is in Companies House and contains the sentence... "Directors believe that it remains appropriate to prepare statements on a going concern basis, however the availability of additional funding needed represents a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the Group's ability to continue as a going concern." First Olsen (Holdings) Ltd or FOCLs seems to have completely missed that "Fred's" Loyalty Club Members are the group's "major stakeholders." They "invested" some £2 billion into the companies in the group the ten years before covid. "Fred's" Loyalty Club Members know exactly what will encourage folk to book cruises and they also know exactly what is that's preventing people, like themselves, from booking now. They might even be able to suggest why a significant number of people have been cancelling their cruises. Many of "Fred's" Loyalty Club Members may now been more circumspect but... companies often need "critical friends" to help them see outside the bubble of their own advertising hype and self-congratulatory social media posts... they need help to see themselves as others now see them. A £150,000,000 lost over 2020 & 2021 just isn’t good... and seems to be way, way out of line with what seems to be happening in other small cruise lines from their published accounts. How about stopping "dynamic-pricing" and respecting once loyal, appreciative clients by giving them transparent pricing and a guarantee that they won't be placed at a disadvantage by later price-cuts, offers or any other suchlike change. Even better, offer every loyalty customer a free upgrade from the basic cabin to an all-inclusive balcony or suite depending on their Loyalty status as a real "welcome back!" Why not? It would cost the company next to nothing... one bottle of inexpensive Fizzy wine... bulk purchased at duty-free, trade prices, enough canapés to make half a sandwich each afternoon and some bits of pretty long to ripen fruit... per cabin per cruise. But the gesture could generate good will and promote future sales! Perhaps that sort of simple idea might just result in a bit of a win-win situation... for FOCLs, for "Fred's" once loyal cruisers, for the group as a whole, the staff in Ipswich, for the crew on the ships and for the UK cruise industry in general?

It's very worrying the Bonheur ASA accounts mention that many people were cancelling cruises with FOCLs at the last minute because of "guest concerns with rising cases of covid in the UK" when, in fact, all of the UK covid indicators fell throughout July, August and most of September. When the facts don't seem to support the claim... it can damage creditability. That's especially true when other cruise lines were running at higher occupancy rate and some ships were virtually full. The FOCLs published occupancy rate of 73% is actually much lower when the Braemar is taken into account. Although FOCLs blame everything from a difficult market situation, to exchange rates, to fuel costs, to operational expenses, to the Ukraine... every cruise-line is facing exactly the same challenges but it's FOCLs that are in a far worse situation in 2022 than they were in 2019. Unless my trusty slide-rule and my scribbling on the back on an old envelope are wrong... The number of FOCLs passenger days are well down compared to three years ago and the average spend per day by cruisers is also lower than it was in 2019. FOCLs revenues for the July-September quarter of 2022 would also seem to be well down on what they were in 2019... a reasonable profit of about £8 million in the three months of the summer quarter of 2019, when Fred Jun was in charge, is now a loss of about £47 million in the same quarter of 2022 and the company is left with the accountants. It really looks like FOCLs is losing money hand over fist: It's carrying the vast majority of cruisers at less than cost price. FOCLs is losing sack-fulls of cash. Result? Under Fred Jun. in Q3 2019 the company had no debt. Now in Q3 2022 with no Chairman FOCLs owes about £100,000,000. Many other cruise-companies face the same challenges but seem to be weathering the storm far more successfully. They are keeping most of their loyal customers on board... both metaphorically and literally. But FOCLs has chosen to paddle on without a Chairman... it's like expecting a cruise-ship to weather mountainous seas and hurricane-force winds without a captain! Perhaps the management in Ipswich, the holding company in London, the holding company's holding company in Norway, the ultimate owners in Oslo or any of the other companies in the labyrinthine Olsen chain need to face the reality... that the "Olsen Way" has been a turn-off for customers, a disaster for the business and that FOCLs is rapidly losing the trust, confidence and patience of many who still have fond memories of what once was. What FOCLs needs to do is exactly the same as Fred Jun used to do... to provide good-value cruises with good food and great entertainment to fill his ships on an honest, value-for money rate without all of these additional charges. When "Fred" did that, all of his ships were in operation, they sailed full, customers were happy, future cruise sales boomed, the company had a great reputation and it didn't make huge losses. Fred's Happy Cruisers in the Good Old days...

The photo seems a little bit shaky so have the celebrations already started with a glass of two of sherbet... or is it just the eager anticipation of lots of good things to come? Have a good time!

We had a light drizzle instead of the expected heavy rain that arrived late and fell overnight. The "witch" is an effigy of Guy Faulks which is paraded through the village on a cart by folks in Elizabethan dress. He's taken to the bonfire followed by hundreds of torch bearers... anyone can join on the night. The Guy is carried to the top and then the torch bearers form a huge circle and all throw their torches into the base of the bonfire on a given signal. It's the biggest bonfire in Britain. The earliest photo dates way back to at least 1888 but the bonfire and probably began in the early 1600s... which is when our family were active in the area... brewers and had a pub! Over the last few years the Bonfire Society has raised almost £ half a million for good causes. It's difficult to fully imaging just what that amount of love and kindness from just one tiny village means to so many people in the surrounding community. Individual Fireworks are often sponsored and dedicated to people who've departed recently... what a way to be remembered!

At last a sensible answer to keep warm this winter... the Brockham Bonfire parade! A chance to huddle around the bonfire... Roast a pig or two... For those who like the squibs... the biggest display in the UK... and the rain held off! And for all those who appreciate their food... dinner in the local pub.

What happens when they light the candles?

Lovely... candle lit dinners and the turkey toasted over the flame like we used to do with marshmallows in the power cuts in the 'good old days'... performers singling acapella or only with acoustic instruments... so evocative.... and the show-lounge lit by hundreds of phone-torches... just breath-taking.... in the frosty air! But seriously... no need to worry they all have emergency power supplies and so hope you have a great break... we did the last time we visited.

Woken this morning... my body clock's still on the old time... 8˚C outside and 20˚C inside without the heating on and so the cunning plans seem to be working. The prep comes from having been brought up in the north of Scotland and remembering the 20' snow drifts, the days without power and the weeks without being able to go to school. This winter, we're being a bit more planned than usual. We ensured that we always have a digital powerpack fully charged so that we can access info via our phone, aim to maintain a minimum inside temp of 18˚C, have insulated the outside walls next to the boiler, sealed any gaps around pipework leaving the house, have a small stock of essential food that we can have ready in minutes and we have two dodgy double-glazed windows being fixed next week. However in the event of all else failing... we have the ultimate preppers' survival kit... guaranteed to provide emergency rations including fruit, carbohydrates and proteins for one adult for four days and to supply essential vitamins, fluids and an inner warmth... indeed... instant hippieness. And if we don't need that extra Christmas cake and the wine box as emergency rations... don't think that they'll go to waste!

No solar power... no extra leecy or hot water in summer or winter. Solar power....about twice as much leecy and hot water in Norway compared to Scotland in summer. So that's a bit of a win. In summer, many modern Norwegian homes can run totally independent of the grid and have the capacity to use battery storage if it's a bit dull for a few hours. Problems? Average house in Norway... would probably take 15-20 years to recover the investment of solar panels. But... fit the panels and the house price will instantly increase by the same amount as it cost to install the panels. Advantages? Fit the panels using a Government subsidy... the house price still rises by the same amount and the Government subsidy is as good as money in the bank... more so if the homeowner is planning to sell. For a Norwegian home owner it's a win-win situation. On top of that, it proclaims that the homeowner has cash to splash on being very, very green.

Lots possible if the country was about 1,000 km further north and could take advantage of the midnight sun and the 24 hours daylight in summer?

Been in 7035 for a trip up the Amazon. We personally found the noise from above to be minimal. It was mostly at those times of day when the deck crew were rearranging furniture. Very little during the rest of the day except when there was a deck party and, of course, we were above contributing to that! However there were times during the day that we could just detect water being pumped into and out of the swimming pool. It was no problem for us but we were aware. The noise of folks in native canoes greeting us as we sailed up the river and the screech of macaws over the trees rather drew our attention in other directions. Can't remember any noise from the cabins either side or the corridor. If we were to book onto the Braemar again, the possibility of noise in 7035 wouldn't concern us for one moment.

Although not in darkest Lincolnshre.... We have a whole set of remote control battery operated candles dotted through the house... they act as "nightlights" if the power goes off (two mini-blackouts in the last week or so) The will be pretty at Christmas. We have a camping stove that we use as a summer BBQ type thing. It's allocated now for emergency cooking and we have a small stock of one pot meal type of thingies in cans... casseroles and suchlike that we can throw dumplings into. We have a whole stack of candles that we normally use for the odd romantic dinner... and have matches on hand. (I say, "romantic" but never had dinner in Rome... so perhaps it a "Sorrentic" dinner... just not the same ring.) The main thing is that we've just spent just under £20 on a USB camping light that we can hang up so that we can see to cook etc.... no batteries... 100w of light.... 10 hours. If need be its batteries will power up our mobiles. Failing all else it will be refocused as a DIY work lamp. And we already have a £20 power pack that will charge up our phones etc... or indeed it will power the above mentioned lamp. And... we have three corkscrews on hand in different places so that we can always find one in the dark! The emergency support services looking for vulnerable old folks to befriend during the power cuts will find us with ease.... just follow the sound of.... "Glug! Glug! Glug!"

The various sites are eerily quiet. In the 20-naughties "Fred" built up a loyal customer base, put on a superb offer and gave an enormous number a people great holidays. He had ship-loads of very happy people and enjoyed a wonderful reputation and. Now... FOCLs are giving travel agents £20 shopping vouchers to shift hard-to-sell cruises, giving all and sundry entry into a prize draw if they vote for the FOCLs in national awards and our inbox is filling up with FOCLs offer after offer on cruises over Christmas. FOCLs has four ships available... but at times this autumn the company only has one cruise ship carrying passengers due to lack of business. We're the eternal optimists. We hope that FOCLs finds a dynamic new Chairman... someone with charisma, drive, dedication and the ability to understand exactly where the cruise line is, exactly what people think about it and what people want from the price that they're willing to pay. In the good old days.... "Fred" was this good... Every photo was taken on one of Fred ships in the days that every cruise featured . starters to whet the appetite, beef Wellington, rack of lamb, duck and lobster... and desserts to die for... those were the days and some people, like ourselves, thought that they would never end... We live in hope because in our hearts the dream is still the same but we're older and wiser and we now cruise with companies that share that same dream.

It's a wonderfully glorious day here: a bright clear 12˚C with the sun filling the main bedroom and the study with lovely warm light... really stunning as that usually doesn’t happen until about 9.30 am. Curtains open... greenhouse effect activated... inside is 10˚C warmer than out despite the fact that we've no heating on and we've used 10% less energy this October than we did in the same period last year! So for the rest of the winter we're running "British Sunny Time"... up with the sun, enjoy the birds on the feeders, early breakfast, out for a walk, tidy the garden and enjoy the weather come rain, hail, snow, frost, wind, glorious sunrises or amazing sun-sets over the Downs. Life's just far too short to be slaves to the clock! By the way... the car clock is showing the "correct time" for the first time in six months! ☀️

Spot on! There's no telling what the problems might be if a house gets too cold!

Many Happy Returns Graham... may all of the happiness and joy that you've shared come back to make your day special! Let's say it in food! Happy Birthday!

In July, fires in a storage room and also in one of the cabins. They caused over £50,000 worth of damage. Then at the beginning of September in the pool equipment room. The ship was evacuated. The fire went on for a couple of hours. At the time it was said that there were no injuries, that construction work would continue and that the fire wouldn't delay the delivery date.

Ah yes! The joy of afternoon teas... I remember it well. The finger sandwiches, the sultana scones, the clotted cream, the strawberry jam, the pot of tea... Ah yes! I remember it well. The little cakes, the icing tops, the sweet taste... Ah yes I remember them well. The sparkling wine, the delicate mousse, the gentle bouquet and fresh taste... Ah yes! I remember it well. We indulged at four... or was it five... just one cake... or two... perhaps three... perhaps just one glass... or perhaps more... I remember it less well. But seriously, I worked hard so that I could retire early and make the most of every joy that life can bring. Afternoon tea... once on a while, a beer on occasions, good food, good wine, good company, great restaurants, world class entertainment and travel to my heart’s content now that the world is opening up again. But to do that, I had to lose four stone, have a healthy diet of fish, seafood, lean meat, fresh vegetables and fruit. I enjoy great iconic beers and fine wines... and craft gins but all in delightful moderation. Result... three trouser sizes smaller, enjoying walking up to six miles a day, a heart condition, kicked into submission and other potential health problems beaten. Now that my time's my own... I can go places, do things, experience things and contribute to things that I've not been able to do for years. I'm enjoying a whole new lease of life. The life that I would have liked to have the money and time to enjoy twenty years ago. 'Cos... why live a little when you can live a lot? So each to his or her own. Nothing wrong with an afternoon tea, nor a glass of fizz nor a G&T... and a decent "Full English" can be truly phenomenal... it's just that sometimes... it may be that these things are better and more enjoyable and easier to fully appreciate as part of a wider "diet" of life experiences. Just enjoy!

That's just so true! We've just had another email from FOCL's trying to offload unsold cruises Christmas over on the Balmoral, Bolette and the Borealis. Out of curiosity, I selected the Borealis' "Christmas Celebrations in the Canaries." It was £10,998 for the two of us after a £400 discount but the drinks package added an extra £699.72. The price didn't include WIFI and a whole host of other things. I was automatically offered any one of five immediately adjacent portside midship balcony suites on Highland Deck and two adjacent starboard side midship balcony suites on the other side of the ship. It just struck us that sailing on a Christmas cruise with so many adjacent cabins still empty at this stage seemed all a bit lonely and just a little spooky. Christmas cruises used to be so popular. Maybe FOCLs is changing too much. We went on a very similar cruise with Fred to Norway a few years ago for half the price! The ship was full! So another blast from the past... a very cold evening on the golf-course at Alta with Fred not long before Covid... a similar cruise and a similar cabin at half the price of the current "offer." Now those were the days!

Quintessentially British? My mother's ancestors were fisher folk, merchant navy and Royal Navy, ship builders and lifeboat men in the North Sea... I don't think that a having a scone with the cream on first or second ever crossed their minds. My father's folk were farmers, crofters, miners, and coach owners in the Highlands and they helped to build harbours, railways, roads and to plant forests. I've never heard of them taking a breather in the mid afternoon for a cucumber finger sandwich or a angle cake. I think that we've got to look at the 1930s landed gentry with the time and resources to indulge in Lapsang Souchong or Earl Grey mid afternoon while cook busied herself taking the cake from the oven ready for the maids to take up to the drawing room.... A visit to the Dowager Duchess of Grantham at Downton Abbey... here we come! We will leave the sou-westers and the hobnails at the tradesmen's entrance if we may! Now that may just possibly give na insight into why P&O probably serve more beer and burgers than tea and scones.