twotravellersLondon

June 1974 Please & A letter from Ernie As well!

Becoming a more senior member of the "wisdom club' has immense advantages... for a start... you soon stop worrying about what you were looking for... because you can't remember what you lost in the first place.

We've had a SAGA cruise cancelled in the past and we had to be patient for a few days until the alternative offer was finalised. In the event, it was very generous; full refund, large compensation and the offer of a future cruise at a 35% discount... or, if we wanted it, a full refund. We were treated exceedingly well.

Really pleased that you've found a cruise that you like at a price you're happy to pay. We've had many very happy cruises with Fred in the past and hope that you enjoy the Bolette in January.

We suspect that years ago a three-for-two 'offer' was also made shortly after there had been an across-the-board price increase... or dynamic pricing adjustment... as it may be called in the trade. We certainly received three estimates for different cabins on the same cruise and while we were looking at these in detail and in the queue for the future sales desk again... the cabin that we had been looking at and had decided to choose had increase in price by about £1,000. "Dynamic" or "Traumatic" or what! However, Fred Olsen Jun. is not the man who will have decided on whether there should a January 2023 "Price Rise???!!!!" or not. Fred Olsen Jun. has gone: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. He resigned as a director of Fred Olsen Cruise Lines Limited on 4 July 2022. The termination of his appointment as a director was authenticated by the appropriate company officer. The notice of termination of the director appointment of "Olsen Junior, Thomas Fredrik." was received by Companies House for filing in electronic format on 11 July 2022. Fred Jun also resigned as a director of First Olsen (Holdings) Limited, on 4 July 2022. That company acts as a holding company for the Fred. Olsen cruise business... including those companies which lease ships to FOCLs. It's those companies that will have people to change prices and offers. So the recent decisions on pricing and taking the Bolette out of service for two months this autumn or to alter offers and prices in January 2023 is not down to Fred Jun personally but to Fred Olsen Cruise Lines Limited, First Olsen (Holdings) Limited or one of their Norwegian parent companies. It's one of those companies which will have made or expedited these commercial decisions. And so too will be the decision to manipulate the offer by increasing or decreasing cruise prices and adding or removing offers on things like drinks packages... those detailed cruise by cruise decisions most probably came down to the folk at Ipswich who operate, what they call, a "dynamic pricing strategy." (They will play the market to achieve the highest price that they can.) Bonheur, is the Norwegian based "ultimate parent company" and early last year it was optimistic. Early in 2021 Bonheur were reported in the financial press as anticipating that the cruise sector would be back to pre-covid levels by this summer. In January of this year FOCLs were boasting bumper sales. However by the time that the 2Q results, covering April-May-June this year were released, the cruise sector had made a loss in those three months of NOK 108,000,000... about £9.35 million (compared with a profit of NOK 70,000,000... about £6.06 million for the same period in 2019). In addition, this year the cruise sector had a debt of NOK 1,087,000,000... about £94.12 million (No debt in 2019) these are enormous figures considering that the 2019 pre-covid annual profit was about £3.5 million. It will take quite a few hundred quid on an awful lot of cruise sales to make up for that and it's hard to see that it won't impact on prices. However, just to put FOCL's second quarter results into context... Carnival, which controls almost 50% of global cruise capacity, increased revenue by nearly 50% in 2Q compared with the previous three months, Carnival's occupancy levels increased from 54% to 69% across the fleet. These were Carnival's the best quarterly booking volumes since the beginning of the pandemic. (FOCLs stated occupancy rate was 73% for the ships in service... about 52% for the entire fleet) SAGAs cruise bookings for 2022 are above pre-pandemic levels and some cruises are virtually running full. In the second quarter, Royal Caribbean were seeing occupancy levels rise from 59% to over 82% with some cruises at 100%. Norwegian was reporting 65%. So in a cruising world where in July 2022 over 380 cruise ships were back in operation compared to 242 in January, almost 600,000 berths were available compared to only 434,000 in January... it really looks as if FOCLs has a real problem in trying to juggle the price of a cruise with the amount of people it can entice on board. In an ideal world, we want a degree of certainty that the price of the cruise package that we pay when we book won't be undercut by later price reductions or offers that aren't applied to our booking... we have a number of all-inclusive cruises booked... all with the guarantee that we will be compensated if the price is reduced. We also want trust that what we eventually get onboard is of a high standard and is what we consider as value for money. We do not want to return to a much-loved cruise-vessel to find that the kitchen has been deskilled, the menu has been hollowed out, food is delivered luke-warm, poorly cooked or badly presented compared to what we've experienced previously. We don't want to see the same old act, the same old show or some lack-lustre imitation of what we had on a previously cruise. We don't want to find that the prices of excursions have become stratospheric. As we don't drink enough to justify the expense, we never buy a drinks package but we certainly don't want to pay for premium drinks and find that we're served the far inferior house-brands so diluted with iced water that's it's impossible to ascertain if the measure is correct or even if the spirit is the right brand. And we certainly don't want to see our on-board accounts inflated by needlessly petty additions. So, as far as we're concerned, there's far more to be considered that simply whether the cruise price goes up or down or another offer is added or removed. We plan our calendar carefully and so it's a bit of a pain if FOCLs advertises cruises one day and cancels them the next... we may well have missed out on other things that we would have liked to have done. We're willing to cruise less, and to pay more so that we can do what we'll really find exciting, exhilarating and enjoyable. Our personal view of a cruise is that it should be an exceptionally rewarding experience... rather than just another week or two floating around with the odd 'interesting' port to wander into and have a drink by a pavement cafe... although that can be fun and we've enjoyed many such an experience before or after excursions. To quote what may well have been the last public statement of Fred Jun. in his role as Chairman which appeared in the foreword of the "Worldwide Sailings 2023-2024" which we received in May, "For us it's all about the overall experience - the joy of the journey." We fully accept that other people may have different ideas but as far as FOCLs is concerned not even the price changes and offers were enough to attract sufficient people onboard the Bolette to avoid a very significant operating loss in late October, November and early December this year. In common with many other people we fully appreciate that the cost of cruising will increases due to fuel costs, environmental regulations and lots of other things... and as a result many people may cruise less and choose their cruises more carefully. However the days of ships cruising at low occupancy rates and carrying many passengers at less that cost price are, very sadly and as many people already recognise, likely to be over. So anyone who wants to navigate through the FOCLs price rises, price falls, offers, final offers etc and if the ships sail... there's no reason why they shouldn't take advantage of what may be a never-to-be-repeated bargain!

Not knowing if you also saw the above post, it would be interesting to know who you asked.

So, so, so happy... we went to our favourite chippy last night for a take-away. The first time since covid... as we're rather "delicate flowers." Same family still run the place... remembered us, welcomed us and made us fell very special. They had hunkered down in the flat above during lockdowns... survived partly on the stocks in their freezers! Now they're determined to keep the business, that they've built up over the years, going by working even harder and by keeping prices at a value for money rate. So, so happy and pleased to see them again. And how easy to offer a little bit of support to friendly folk when all it means is buying a super meal!

So in short, the 3 Jan cruise 'Winter Warmth Cruse in the Canaries... A cruise that started with a price "from" + drinks of £2,149 last May, went down in price and then increased in price to a "from" price + drinks of £1,949 and is now £1,599 with a free drinks package... so a de facto price reduction of about £550. What a roller-coaster and what a shame for those people who booked early... some of whom must feel that they've been done. But why has the price tumbled? Can't FOCLs sell this cruise on the Bolette? Is the Bolette going to be cancelled after Christmas in the same way as it has been cancelled in most of October/November/December? FOCLs just has to sort out its pricing strategy!

Many thanks for your interesting information. I know Bristol well. I was attached to the Council there in the late 70s... long before the business with Avonmouth... so I'm definitely not to blame! The regional departures were like a well-known yeast extract... loved by some and not by others. They had been introduced, we suspect, to grab a greater market share. In 2012 FOCLs were using Southampton, Dover, Newcastle, Liverpool, Portsmouth, Rosyth, and Greenock. By 2013, Harwich, Belfast and Dublin had been added. By the end of 2014 FOCLs regarded the 10 regional ports as strategically important. But some just didn't generate the income and were soon dropped. That was perhaps because the infrastructure to support cruisers travelling to these ports; coaches, luggage in advance and a taxi service... just wasn't available. To try and understand FOCLs' more recent vison and strategy, it's very interesting to look back at the comments of the FOCLs managing director. In September/October 2020 he was describing the Bolette and the Borealis as "fabulous" and waxing lyrical about what he saw as a 4 to 4½ stars "slightly premium" offer that the company could make using these ships... (clearly he thought they were better than the other ships in the fleet and that FOCLs could sell cruises on them at a higher price.) He was looking at these old HAL ships as a great opportunity to grow the FOCLs business and to attract higher numbers of passengers. There was a hint that prices would be higher for the "premium option of cabins with balconies" and suchlike on the revamped HAL ships... but there was also a suggestion that the increase wouldn't be as much as 20%. Two years later, the reality is that the Braemar has already been out of action for a couple of years. It's possible that FOCLs opted for a "cold-lay-up" to save money. If that was the case, as much of the ship would have been closed down as possible along with most of the mechanical systems... with just the bare essentials left on to preserve the ship. The aircon might have been left on to keep the humidity down or rooms might be sealed. The number of staff on board would have been reduced to a skeleton crew that could deal with an emergency. Getting a ship back from cold-lay-up is expensive and can be quite difficult because the ship and lots of its equipment needs to be recertified and that involves not only FOCLs but also the Bahamas, the UK Maritime Authorities and others. It could take a month or more. For instance the Balmoral returned to cruising in early May but the mobilisation began in Jan/Feb/March. The Bolette is planned to go into a warm-lay-up for two months. It should only take a week or so to have her up and running before the Christmas cruise. However it will cost more per month to lay up than the Balmoral or the Braemar. The Bolette will still have the majority of the crew on board and berthing charges are likely to be greater because they're based on tonnage. In addition, according to the trade press, FOCLs is going to have to pay travel agents the commission on the cruises that they sold despite those cruises now being cancelled. Traditionally, many cruise lines have made a loss on cruise sales... the goal over recent years has been to aim for market share in a pretty aggressive price comparison market and then turn a profit on onboard sales... that's been the strategy of Carnival that controls 47% of the global cruise market for ages. The pre-covid FOCLs published accounts suggest that, when everything was added together, the company was only making on average a few quid per day per cruiser. The 2019 FOCLs' profit was just over £2 million (the lowest in five years) on a turnover of well over £200 million. With FOCLs the bottom line is always... interesting to try and fathom... the company pays other companies in the same group; for the use of the offices in Ipswich, for the charter of "Fred's" ships and all manner of other things. So even if FOCLs made a paper "loss" the total financial benefit to Bonheur as the "ultimate parent company" via a labyrinth of other associate companies might well be different. However on face value... It looks as if cruiser numbers have dropped, FOCLs may have been increasing left with a higher proportion of pretty savvy cruisers who have a very sharp eye on their spending. Many of these folk make use of offers, take the least expensive cabins, keep their onboard spend on things like drinks, excursions, WIFI and suchlike as low as possible. We have friends who cruise that way. They drink tap-water, explore independently and they also remove gratuities so that they have virtually no additional charges by the end of the cruise. They've tended to cruise at rock bottom prices five or six times a year... at less than it costs FOCLs to provide them with the cruise. Of course, if lots of people book with the same idea... cruise lines can make very big losses. The latest figures published on the Norwegian Stock Exchange show that FOCLs have been making a significant loss in the first half of this year and it may well be that as the FOCLs managing director hinted in his recent statement that the company would lose a significant amount of money if the Bolette was to cruise this autumn. It may cost less to just put the ship into warm-lay-up. It would seem that... Bonheur is not willing to throw good money after bad and will cut FOCLs losses were it can. Now that Fred Jun. has gone, the profoundly important questions are... will "Fred's" traditionally loyal following... who between them we recon, contributed somewhere about £1 billion to the company's coffers in the ten years before covid, now be willing to pay more to cruise on ships that FOCLs rate as between 4 and 4½ stars when, on Cruise Critic review site, hundreds of experienced cruisers, many probably FOCLs loyalty members, have only rated as between 3 and 3½ stars? And... given the delay of the return of the Braemar by a year, with everything that entailed and the cancellation of the Bolette's cruises for a couple of months this autumn, will enough of "Fred's'" traditionally loyal following still have the confidence and the trust to book with FOCLs in the future? We find that it really is sad that Fred's gone and FOCLs has lost the face of the brand. When he left in early July nothing was said, nothing was announced, there was no celebration with champers outside Fred Olsen house in Ipswich and no publicity which might have been used to enhance sales and marketing. Fred was the cruise line in many ways... we remember his famous comment, "It's my name on the door." At the end of last year, once cruising had resumed and while passengers were aboard, Fred Jun was personally supervising the final touches on board one of his ships and showing his family around. Nobody is irreplaceable and people do choose to move on at different life stages... but we really do believe... that to fill those 5,000 berths, make those ships buzz with excitement, offer more competitive prices, improve the food and to enhance the entertainment... FOCLs must, as in the "Good Old Days," make sure that it's ships are cruising full or nearly full. Perhaps a welcoming, charismatic leader... a friendly face of FOCLs to create a new interest and to inspire confidence and trust might be what's urgently needed. The "Good old Days" when hundreds of people on a virtually full ship queued to fill the packed main restaurant for the much-anticipated midnight Gala Buffet... as the staff called with a degree of fun, "Move along now please!"

I lost a watch that was a very sentimental pressie from my lovely wife. The last time that I saw it was by her pet parrot's perch in the lounge. It's all so distressing... and now I daren't even mention Polly ticks.

Richard's comment that, " I have no idea what the future for Fred will look like." is very telling because, it might seem... neither does "FOCLs!" It was only in July last year that Bonheur, FOCLs' Norwegian owner was reported in the trade press as expecting that cruise profits would bounce back to pre-covid levels by the summer of his year. They haven't... in the first half of 2022 "Fred's" losses ran in to the tens of millions of pounds. In January/February 2022, Peter Deer, the current FOCLs managing director, was quoted extensively in the travel press as saying that a strong start to 2022 was reflected in new bookings across the 2022/2023 programme." There were also reports that FOCLs had enjoyed a bumper January with sales returning to pre-covid levels...and the company was "looking forward to a successful season of cruising... into the summer months and beyond.” That hasn't happened... in August this year FOCLs cancelled four autumn cruises on the Bolette... one of the reasons was lack of sales. In early November this year, only the Balmoral will be cruising... all of the other three ships will be laid up or in dry dock. It may be that FOCLs lost the plot over ten years ago... long before covid was ever dreamt of. Way back in 2011 FOCLs' published strategy was to obtain above inflation yields and keep costs below the Retail Price Index... in simple terms... to charge more for less. In 2019 it looks like it cost FOCLs about the same amount to run four ships as it had done in 2010. However in the same ten-year period FOCLs had increased his average price by well above inflation. As far as we can see, FOCLs had achieved that by cut after cut and additional charge after additional charge. It's true that a great many people were great fans of the line... we certainly were. Many still are and describe FOCLs in glowing hyperbole and cruise as often as they can. In the past it wasn't unusual to see people queueing at the future cruise desks from the first sea day to secure their next bookings. In many cases, these folks, either hadn't or wouldn't cruise on any other line... and there was the off-repeated, dismissive mantra, delivered by every cruise director, every future sales presenter and many passengers, that other cruise lines ships were unacceptable "blocks of flats". However, perhaps FOCLs underestimated many clients who may have cruised on other lines, chose to buy more expensive cabins and who could compare "Fred's" prices, offering and value for money with other types of holiday. Perhaps those people have been leaving FOCLs for years... in the ten years to 2019, FOCLs occupancy level has fallen by about 20%. Had FOCLs retained those people or replaced then with "new-to-Fred" cruisers... FOCLs would have been making tens of millions in additional profit every single year. So by the latter twenty-teenies, it seems that FOCL's strategic plan was all going terribly wrong. FOCLs' revenues fell in 2016, profits fell in 2017, 2018 and in 2019 and, with less passengers on board, the average cost of carrying a passenger increased. It really looks like FOCLs had already dug the company into a big hole even before covid appeared. By then, FOCLs ships had almost 4,000 berths but, on average, far less that 3,000 were filled. As it was, by the end of 2019, FOCLs was just scraping through. FOCLs might have imagined that the company would have found advantage in the demise of UK based competitors. All Leisure Holidays went bankrupt on 4 January 2017. FOCLs saw an increase of about 23,000 passenger days by the end of 2018 but... by 2019, FOCLs figures seems to have been less than at any time since 2010. As it was... FOCLs spent a great deal of time and effort encouraging a captive onboard audience to cruise again and again and again. On-board discounts, upgrades, sweet-dreams packages, goodie bags, receptions and so on. Up until about 2013, Page and Moy had done the same with the Ocean Majesty and the ALG had done the same with the MV Discovery. In both those cases... it didn't end well. There was also the introduction of ten regional departure ports... the Boudicca first sailed from Avonmouth in April 2014. It wasn't totally successful and there was a big drop in the occupancy level of about 6% between 2014 and 2015. Even in 2030, we know of one group which is being transferred on a round trip of more than 700 miles at no additional cost to take up cabins on a Newcastle departure. And then came covid... many cruise lines ran into an immediate cash-flow problem... CMV went into administration on 20 July 2020 and 3,266 budget berths were removed from the market. In contrast FOCLs increased its capacity by well over 1,000 berths by acquiring the MS Amsterdam and the MS Rotterdam from Holland America to replace the MS Black Watch and the MS Boudicca. At the time, a statement from FOCLs said, "This acquisition forms part of an optimization of the Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ fleet composition and with a high yielding cabin mix and large public spaces, these vessels will enhance Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ earnings capabilities once operations can safely resume." FOCLs capacity had been increased by 27% from 3,879 berths to 4,959 berths. FOCLs clearly thought that the company could buck the global trend. In early 2020, at the beginning of the global pandemic, we were really put off FOCLs when the company made it such an unpleasant pain to have a cruise deposit refunded... and we found it difficult to trust FOCLs with our hard-earned cash again. In addition, we just didn't like the old HAL ships when we studied them in detail. We thought that it was disturbing to sell terrace cabins as balcony cabins when they didn't have a balcony... that damaged our trust in FOCLs and made us really question the company's every statement and claim. We were astonished that a "Welcome Back" cruise would have cost us more on a like-for-like per day basis for a sail around Scotland than it had done for a fly-cruise to the Caribbean a couple of years earlier. We lived in hope... but we really disliked the fact that if we bought a cruise on the "special members' day" that, weeks or months later, others would be able to have the same cruise in a like-for-like cabin cheaper (with all sorts of offers). Our loyalty seemed to count for nothing... we felt as if we were being taken advantage of! Over recent years we've cruised with over ten different cruise lines, travelled extensively on land holidays throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia and bits of Africa and the Americas... and we enjoy good restaurants in London, the UK and abroad. We're lucky enough to frequently be able to enjoy the best in British theatre in Chichester, Stratford-upon-Avon and in London. In our opinion FOCLs offering isn't bad but it's certainly not; "first class", "wonderful", "five star", "excellent", "amazing", "fantastic" or "fabulous"... when we compared what we could do on other cruise lines and on land-based holidays for the same price. Put quite simply... for the same daily cost, or less, this summer on a FOCLs balcony cabin crossing a chilly, grey North Atlantic, we enjoyed a really fabulous new ship with fantastic entertainment, excellent food and stunning public areas. Alternatively, for the same amount as FOCLs was changing per day on a cruise, we could have paid for a fabulous historic hotel in central London, an excellent lunch, a wonderful pre-theatre dinner in an iconic fine-dining central London restaurant, a couple of glasses of real Champagne and top seats for an amazing West End blockbuster and still had more than enough to have a nightcap somewhere fantastically swanky... paid for by the additional £24 a day that FOCLs would've fleeced us just for the use of WIFI. We fully accept that if we took the cheapest cabin on board, refused to pay gratuities, gave up alcohol and drank tap-water, left our phones switched off and so on... we might have been able to do the FOCLs' trip for about half that amount per day... so the alternative would be a good quality budget hotel but still in central London and a sandwich for lunch. That would leave about £100 for a really good meal for two in Chinatown or in Covent-Garden and another £120 for two modestly priced West-End theatre seats. We fully realise that time has moved on and prices will be higher. But... we don't want to pay FOCLs' alarmingly uncompetitive prices for what seems to us to now be an inferior product. (One cruise we went on in 2019 has more than doubled in price for the cabin we had!) We can pay less for much better on other cruise-lines. Or, if we chose to, we could have a first class, wonderful, five star, excellent, amazing, fantastic and fabulous time for the same price per day in one of the most exciting cities on earth that attracts over 30 million tourists a year. In the year or so prior to the outbreak of covid we did six cruises, three with "Fred" and spent almost two months on board the more expensive cabins on his fleet. The fact is that now in the year since we've decided that it's safer for us to return to the high seas... we've booked four cruises, amounting to over four months on FOCLs competitors... but none with "Fred." While we'll retain fond memories of "Fred" in the past and we'll live in hope, scrutinise the brochures, look at the offers... unless there is a real change that means that we can trust FOCLs with our hard-earned savings and be sure that FOCLs will provide a worthwhile experience at a competitive value-for-money price, we doubt that we'll book again in the foreseeable future. Fred's gone. So what will happen to FOCLs? Goodness only knows... the figures don't look good... the inability to attract and retain passengers has been a long-term problem for over a decade. We really don't think that a tweak here and there will make any real difference. on top of everything else... company reports show that there had been an increase in cancellations ... in addition to some other concerns... in the early summer. However, the parent company, Bonheur, owns/controls a dozen very significant windfarms in the UK supplying hundreds of thousand of home with electricity that's sells for more and more... so there are big pockets there. Fred Jun has left us and many other people with some very happy memories over the years. We very much hope that Fred is now looking forward to celebrating his forthcoming 64th birthday and we also hope that he enjoys a long and very happy retirement.

This will make more sense if "months" is inserted at the beginning of the last line.🤣

We find that FOCLs prices are some of the most confusing and opaque in the industry. We find that checking them out is like being on a mad roller-coaster. However, in this case, like the boy who called 'wolf' FOCLs may have done themselves in! For instance... the 3 Jan cruise 'Winter Warmth Cruse in the Canaries' which is now listed with a starting price of £1,599, started at £1,799 for a saver fare last May. It's true that the saver fare has gone... but the freedom fare is now £200 less than the saver fare had been. The saver fare with its onerous restrictions seems to have been ditched. The original price has been very heavily discounted. And the 17 January cruise "Mediterranean Islands with Cyprus" is now selling at from £2,099 compared with from £2,399 last May. Again... the freedom fare is now £300 less than the saver fare had been and the saver fare with its onerous restrictions seems to have been ditched. The original price has been very heavily discounted. All of the long cruises seem to start at the same price. Currently FOCLs is having to take the Bolette out of service for two months because it can't afford to run it with so few bookings, in early November this year the only FOCLs, ship cruising with be the Balmoral, the Company has a shed-load of debt, no Chairman and has made a considerable loss over the first six months of this year. It may be that FOCLs are now discounting but their pricing policy and 'offers' over the years has confused so many people for so long that, it's become difficult to see when prices are lowered. Goodness know what FOCLs prices will do in the next few weeks or months... perhaps that's why the company is having to spend millions on taking the Bolette out of service for a couple of because it can sell enough cruises to economically sail.

We've just gone down to the pond tonight, and we've had a big surprise We've just gone down to the pond tonight, and we've can't believe our eyes For little Froggie, he was there With a little friend nearby because Tonight's the night the Froggies have their picnic

I suppose that it really depends on just how vigorously you flap your arms to "hover". Predictive text does make life more fun... but seriously... We run a pretty complex house hold budget spreadsheet... and have done for the last 42 years... it started off on paper and has moved with the times from one computer system to another. It's on a cloud called "I" at the moment... I think. What we do know is that our total energy use in the last year up to 31 August 2022 rose by only 10% and was comparable with what we paid in the same period in 2016-2017. There's been no great changes, just minor modifications and in fact the 2016-2017 figure is a little lower that it could be because we were off on a number of cruises that year... including on the the Ventura. Yes... our thermostats are a degree or two lower, we close curtains earlier on cold evenings and, as part of the house faces due south, we encourage the 'greenhouse effect' in bright weather. The wall of our study that takes the southern light is painted to absorb the heat and it acts as a heat source... although a very minor one. We keep our freezer full to reduce the running cost. We adjust our fridge temperature with the changing weather. And so on... And just like most people, we make sure that things are switched off, thermostats are down etc, etc when we're away or on holiday. These things aren't "life hacks" they're just habits that we've got used to and now take for granted. Individually, most save just a tiny amount of energy and money but together they've helped our budget over the last year... by hundreds of pounds. And over the last ten years, our energy/power bill has increased by significantly less than the 37.3% goods and services inflation rate over that period. We're all taking steps... and as my old grannie was Scottish perhaps another of her sayings, "Mony a mickle macks a muckle"... a loose English version is "Many little savings makes a big difference."

Waste heat from the motor is released into the house and helps to raise the ambient temperature of the room... every little helps. Keep the outside windows and door closed and about half of the energy used to power the hover will negate the need for the same amount of energy to be used to power the central heating. It's a tiddling amount but as my old gran used to say... "Waste not, want not." 😀

This may sound a bit like the algebra puzzles that we all did at school.... you know the ones bath, taps on, plug out so how long does it take to fill the bath? With any conventional cooker or hob about half of the energy used is lost to the surrounding air and surfaces in the kitchen. In the middle of really hot weather that's waste... pure and simple. When the weather turns cooler that "waste heat" warms the kitchen and the house and replaces the need for central heating... in many cases thermostats will cut the central heating in areas that are affected. The same's true of all appliances. So rather than look at them in isolation and worry about how much energy is used by any one... look at the total consumption and where possible keep warm air in the house... for instance; many cooker-hoods have reusable carbon filters and can recycle air so that expensive heat isn't pumped outside. A basin full of used hot water in the sink warms the surrounding air if left to go cool before being disposed of. Hovering on a cool day contributes to warming the house. And... lots of people will have other ideas and suggestions.

Many thanks. We've recently given a little "thank-you" to two different drivers for SAGA and one seemed to be delighted while the other seemed to be a little embarrassed... so that left us a bit uncertain. I've just checked the Aug 2022 - June 2023 SAGA No-Fly Boutique Cruise Brochure that arrived earlier this month and it states on page 2; "Your driver will ."load and unload your luggage... With gratuities included, you don't have to worry about tipping either." Different people have different views on tips and so really it's a personal choice to give a little extra or not if it seems that the driver would be happy to receive it!

We understood that drivers' gratuities were included in their fee paid to drivers by SAGA although like many others we have decided on a bit extra depending on the circumstances. So it would be interesting to know where the information that, "Drivers do not receive tips from Saga." can be found. It could encourage us and others to be even more generous in the future!

Jimbo.... that's a really telling comment about a fresh perspective on the "Fred" brand... but as Richard writes... " It hasn't always been like this." There's a lot of mythology surrounding "Fred"... millions of conversations to the music of clinking tea-cups, the munching of finger sandwiches and the snaffling of tea-time fancies in the lounges over the years have seen to that... some of the rumours even have an element of truth about them. Fred Olsen Cruise Lines really began life in 1993 and Thomas Fredrik Olsen, a 33-year-oldish Norwegian 'shipowner' of Hamilton Bermuda was listed as a director. (None other than Fred. Olsen Jun... "Fred" perhaps to be associated with his highly respected father) The intention was that the company would be in the commercial management of a cruise ship and by late 1994 it was receiving an annual fee for doing so. In 1997 the company chartered the cruise vessels, the MV Black Prince and the MV Black Watch. By August 2001 the MV Braemar was the third vessel to be added to the fleet. The Boudicca was added to the fleet in 2005 and the Balmoral joined in 2007. "Fred," as the company soon became to be known as, even did a 78-night Round Africa cruise in 2006... so the tradition continues even 18 years later! For people like us who have been with "Fred" for so long we probably have a rose-tinted view of the line but those early years... really were happy, heady days. The ships were often full. Captain's Welcome Parties were really fun... there were great cheers for passengers who'd come from Australia, New Zealand, European countries the USA and Canada. The was a very positive atmosphere on the ships and everybody, including officers and entertainers, mixed and mingled, chatted and socialised.... and the main topic of conversation was the extraordinary things that we had done that day, the amazing sights that we'd seen and the unbelievable things that we'd discovered. The entertainment was always different and far better than we could see in our local theatre. The food was fabulous... lobster, beef wellington and rack of lamb on virtually every cruise. The exceptionally well attended midnight buffet was groaning with irresistible goodies. The accommodation was better than a holiday camp or a seaside guest house. There was a great sense of camaraderie on the smaller ships. Even a storm-force 10 in the dreaded Bay of Biscay could be fun! Many of the destinations felt exotic, exciting and exhilarating. We drank large glasses of Scotch on the rocks (broken from glacial ice... and delivered by Santa Clause who had borrowed a tender) on the ship's deck in Prince Christian Sund, watched Walrus in now off-limits Magdalena Fjord, scraped a foot of fresh snow off a table by the Lido to eat breakfast and we were even distracted from watching the midnight sun off the North Cape by a Fin Whale emerging from the waves. When on one Balmoral cruise the retiring show company appeared at the end of the show in the most fabulous Venetian Masked Ball costumes and slowly created the most magnificent crescendo as they moved to the edge of the stage singing "Time to say goodbye" it was an immensely emotional and moving moment for us all. We just didn't want to go home... never ever! Age was never a problem. There were usually about a couple of dozen kids and youngsters on board during the school holidays and they added to the fun and enjoyment. One, "Captain Jack"' had completed over 50 cruises with his grandparents and had been awarded a white officer's dinner jacket for use in formal evenings. Those were the days.... when the flags were flying when we joined the ship, when we were all invited to meet the Captain up on the bridge and when any minor inconvenience, like a late arrival, would result in drinks all round with the complements of the Captain at dinner that evening... there was an overwhelming feeling of warmth and generosity. But... as Richard so clearly explains sometimes in the twenty-teenies seems to have gone very, very wrong. FOCLs decided to milk their loyal passengers by offering the same product at my higher prices. In 2011 FOCLs' published strategy was to obtain above inflation yields and keep costs below the Retail Price Index... in simple terms... to charge more for less... and that's exactly what the company did for ten years. The "the magic" really has gone. We well remember the gasp of horror in the Neptune lounge at the end of one cruise, where many people had expressed dismay at the food offering, when the 'cruise-director' announce that the "good news was that the food costs were down". We also remember the groan of disappointment at a future cruise presentation when it was announced that the ship we were on would have no departures from English ports in the following season because FOCLs was introducing 10 regional departure ports. Add to that that the drinks package has increased by between 500% and 700% since it was introduced. And prices... we did the Corinth Canal cruise in 2019.... if we were to do a virtually identical cruise in the same cabin in 2024... the cost would be 100% more. And the offering? Shows were becoming highly repetitive; the same comedian, the same script the same punch lines again and again and again. Different show companies, doing the same show in the same costumes and singing the same songs but not as well as previous companies. Menus were the same for years and began to compare really badly with either our local gastro-pub down the road or with our local 'high-end' restaurant. What's the real cost to FOCLs? In the 10 years before the pandemic the occupancy levels on the ships declined from over 90% to almost 70%. And that's the real problem with FOCLs it can't retain many once loyal frequent cruisers like ourselves and it, seeming, can't compensate for that loss by recruiting new to FOCLs cruisers in sufficient numbers to compensate. The line still has some very loyal fans... some of whom would never dream of cruising with a different company and haven’t done so for years or, in some cases, ever. Many reviews on the FOCL's site comment on how; 'excellent', 'perfect', 'wonderful', 'brilliant', 'fabulous', 'amazing', 'fantastic', 'awesome' and 'superb' the line is and some people describe it as; 'first class', 'five star' while others write that they would never travel with any other line. But there again, passengers on certain FOCLs cruises are not invited to contribute. However, FOCLs remaining loyal fan base is clearly not sufficient to keep even three of the FOCLs ships cruising for two months this winter and currently it seems that the plan is to only have the Balmoral cruising in early November... and she would seem to be far from full. It may also be that these reviews, which are only posted by about 2% of the passengers on any cruise and are so full of hyperbole, may actually deter new cruisers from booking with company. Like Richard, we wish someone in a leadership position at FOCLs in Ipswich was reading this forum and considering just how the company can succeed in the future. "The Olsen Way" may mean that FOCLs are proud to do things differently and to sail its own course but that just doesn’t seem to be working.

Are these at the bar or set to one side?

Did hear a hint from the bar staff on the Spirit of Discovery in July that there was a feeling that these bar stools should not be put back.

So pleased that the pilot is safe and that the plane was landed without harm to anything or anyone. This was members of the same team at the Folkestone Air Display only a couple of weeks ago.

We've done a number of 3 for 2 offers and at first they were really excellent. However, the last time that we looked at one, the offer seemed to have been made shortly after the cruise prices had increased. It was really difficult to work out what the prices had been a couple of months before and it may be that we just got it wrong but we couldn't see any financial advantage... we would have wanted to be able to check real figures so that we could trust that an offer really was an offer. The point that you make really hits the nail on the head... for the last few years FOCLs' pricing strategy has been really difficult for prospective cruisers to fathom. Even Black Friday deals... last time that we looked the offers seemed to be wonderful... but when we looked closer... the offers only applied to one or two grades of cabin on certain cruises... everything else was the same price as it had been before. And... we weren't just weren't interested in the grades of cabin on offer. However...FOCLs really did dramatically reduce the price for cabins with balconies on an Iceland/Greenland cruise that they did this summer... shortly before sailing. Some people who booked in the weeks before departure would have been able save thousands. So you may well be onto a winner by waiting. We did a very similar cruise to Iceland and Greenland with another more up-market cruise-line at about the same time... and FOCLs last-minute reduced prices almost matched the daily rate of what we'd paid... once all of FOCLS' additional charges were included.

We're in the same position but find it so sad that folks like us are not unusual. In the last quarter of 2019, Fred had a capacity over the four ships with a total of about 3,879 passenger berths and he carried, on average about, 2,533 cruisers a day... an occupancy of about 65% at a time of the year that ships have been traditionally hard to fill. In late October and the beginning of November this year FOCLs' will only have one ship out of the four in the fleet cruising. The Braemar will still be mothballed, the Borealis will be in dry dock and the Bolette will have been taken out of service for about two months due to lack of sales. So for a small part of the last quarter of this year, FOCLs will be operating only one ship, the Balmoral, which may well struggle to attract 1,000 passengers and she currently seems to be far from full. We had fancied the Balmoral's Northern Lights cruise but if we buy it now; the price will most probably drop or offers will be added before the Balmoral sails and we'll be left out of pocket. The current £100 "come-on" offer is so small as to be insignificant. We can have a like-for-like cabin on a far newer, smaller ship with a real theatre, a superb cabaret lounge, better entertainment, far better food, premium drinks, speciality restaurants, 24 hr room service, travel to and from the port, insurance and WIFI all included. Even Arctic parkas and ice grips are included in the price! In addition, we now know what excursions will be available, exactly when the ship is due to arrive and leave every port, have a guarantee that if the price drops we'll be fully refunded and... will be compensated by 20% of the full cost of the cruise if it's cancelled. In addition we'll have a full refund of any money we've paid and a generous discount off any future cruise. We can also help ourselves to free bottles of water anytime that we leave the ship! Fred changes... even those people with included drinks packages! And that's why, in these hard times, we've booked with one of FOCLs competitors.