twotravellersLondon

A brilliant morning of blue skies and 7˚C... at the moment... showers later... but off to Canterbury for the day... tell you the tales later. 😀🤓 Best wishes to all.

We have... a very nice day. It's still only about 11˚C and still overcast but the clouds have changed to a very light cirrocumulus and so the sunshine is streaming through. Today... we're doing a little shopping, making a batch of chilli-free lamb curry (sadly one med. interacts with chilli and the results are... not nice!) We do have a wonderful Indian restaurant a 20 mins walk away in the "village" and they will produce any dish that we want from the menu... still hot and spicy but without chilli... luckily we have a great Chinese restaurant in the other direction that will do the same! Hope everyone has a chance to look forward to the holiday weekend. We'll be continuing a "tradition" dating from as long ago as 2020... of a home based weekend to the Eastern Mediterranean... based on travels almost 25 years ago... when the world was a very different place. We'll begin with a "Greek Stop Over" and do our version of a meal in a lovely quay-side restaurant in Kefalonia. Then we're "off to" the Beirut of 2000 and will have a nostalgic high-end French-style meal at our DIY pop-up "Café d'Orient" (as it was in the days that the city was still "the Paris of the East" and the restaurant was the haunt of the likes of Micky Rooney, Brigette Bardot, Alex Guinness and Omar Sharif... a little before our time there!) 'Tis no more! Even then, it was a case of "where Angels fear to tread!") On Easter Sunday we'll remind ourselves of an English Style Easter in Lebanon... sensational lamb, fresh herbs and just a hint of Harrissa. On Easter Monday, we'll have a meal inspired by "Chez Sami" to remind ourselves of a Maronite Easter we had in Jounieh in the shadow of "Our Lady of Lebanon" that dominates the hills overlooking the Mediterranean. The idea of "Around the world in 80 dinners" was how we kept "travelling and cruising" in the middle of a global pandemic... and it was so successful, so much fun and so entertaining that we've carried it on every Easter since but with different menus. Hope everyone has something special to look forward to.

This is a unpublished pic from our archives of the SAGA Rose making the transit of Prince Christian Sound, Greenland, (from East to West) on the 16th of August 2007. The Rose was SAGA's first Ocean Ship. The ship had been launched in1964. The maiden voyage, as the Sagafijord, was in 1965. She was bought by SAGA in 1997, renamed the SAGA Rose, and served exceptionally well until she was retired in 2010. We think that she still holds the world record for the greatest number of world cruises of any ship. When we took this snap, we were on the Ocean Majesty travelling in the opposite direction. We could see the Rose miles and miles away in the cold, clear air. As we drew opposite there was one almighty cheer from those people lining the decks of the SAGA Rose... it was a tremendously exhilarating experience... one never to be forgotten. If anyone remembers the Rose and especially if anyone who was on that cruise almost 17 years ago... we hope that you enjoy this little bit of nostalgia.

You're really very kind! We're husband and wife and have been for almost half a century. We're independently minded but like to do lots of things together... including sharing this thread. Between us we've clocked up over a century in work and business. We've both had busy, eclectic and successful careers which meant we had to be reasonably careful of our privacy. One of us has a bit of a background in journalism/writing, (mostly very boring corporate/legalistic stuff). So really very pleased if we've been able to give back a little to this thread and create a tiny bit of amusement at times! Begins to make up for all of the times that other folks have cheered us up on a grey day! 🤓 🤓

A late morning to... we hope that every-one is looking forward to the coming holiday. We have a very grey day here at about 11˚C... the only meteorological excitement forecast is that the temperature might rise to 12˚C by mid-afternoon. The nice thing is the family of Robins (generation after generation) that have used the ivy 2' from our lounge window as a aBnB (A Bird Nest Box) for yonks... is midway through their first brood of the season. So we can sit and watch the aerial acrobatics as they avoid the patio chairs, the umbrella and stray bits of vine to reach the ivy, hover and then dart in. When they glide out they have all of poise and grace of an Olympic diver. They've been with us every season since before the millennium. The family have a genetic quirk... one of the leading covert feathers on the right wing is albino... not in every bird... perhaps about 50%. Over the years they've adopted us and seem to look on us as a deterrent against possible predicators.

A week or so on... you may already have seen that there are lots of entry level cabins available for May now. We've been looking for a short hop of FOCl. We've just had a quick browse on the FOCL site and the first three cruises departing in May 2024 have cabins at the starter "from price." That works out about £180.00 a pppn on average for two sharing. Of course there's the additional cost of the "gratuities" which are automatically added to the bill and the cost of the compulsory insurance... and travelling to and from the port. That's likely to push the pppn to well over £200. Then there's; the price of the speciality restaurants, Wi-Fi , shuttle busses, excursions and the drinks package at about £25 or £35 pppn. It all adds up. For well over £400 a day for the two of us in a bottom inside cabin... we've settled for a good hotel in Cornwall and included three course dinner in an exceptionally good restaurant with £70 in our pockets to pay for a couple of cocktails and some good wine instead. Good luck. Hope that you enjoy whatever cruise you select.

We'd also a great start to the day with sunshine streaming into the windows... but the sky's now gone a bit... grey... or as Dulux would sell it, "snail trail", "misty mirror" or even "frosted steel." We've just lost our local busses but have new bus routes connecting us to three local village/town centres and to all our local hospitals. The timetables are like something from a devil's cryptic crossword and we spent an age yesterday trying to work out when the busses went through our area. It was as boring as a death watch beetle with a black and decker! Every now and again we came up for air and began to reminisce about how the times of busses was never part of our grand plan for life! Thoughts crystalised over the hot-cross buns for breakfast this morning! We remembered that when we were young... our mentors sang... "Express Yourself!", "Get Ready!", "Life has just begun." We were told "Ain't no Mountain High Enough." We believed them when they repeated "Everything is Beautiful" and that it was "All Right Now!" We all wanted to go to Scarborough Fair, learn to cook with parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. We were the idealists who just wanted to "take a sad song and make it better." We imagined our senses being filled by "a night in the forest, the mountains in springtime, a walk in the rain, a storm in the desert and by a sleepy blue ocean." But... our prophets on the wall foretold our future... and looking back just a couple of years later we realised in retrospect that... "Those were the days. We thought they'd never end. We'd sing and dance forever and a day. We'd live the life we choose. We'd fight and never lose. For we were young and sure to have our way." Before long it was... "take a chance on me," "I do, I do, I do, I do, I do" and we soon realised that with 18½% mortgage rates that "the name of the game" was " gimme, gimme, gimme," "money, money, money" and "the winner takes all," Now, half a century later... it's a case that we "travel the world and the seven seas" and our "sweet dreams are made of this." We're still so delighted by the thought of "a night in the forest, the mountains in springtime, a walk in the rain, a storm in the desert and by a sleepy blue ocean." All of these thoughts brought about by a inconceivably complicated set of bus time tables and a driech grey sky!

It's currently a brilliant 7˚C dry and still... but the forecast assures that it is very windy and overcast! We're looking forward to an Iberian interlude this evening with one of our local symphony orchestras. They should be performing Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez" as well as Bizet's Carmen Suite. Warm thoughts of Spain and Portugal... looking forward to that! Hope that the advance program is better than the weather forecast... bit of a shock to turn up and get the Scandinavian chill of Greig's Peer Gynt and Sibelius' Finlandia!

We're visiting Halifax in he near future and your advice is excellent.Many thanks... much appreciated.

We so much agree with these heartfelt sentiments and many of the similar posts from quality of natural kindness that this thread seems to attract.. We've been in the situation where, one of us was thought to have cancer. It was only discovered that the provisional diagnoses was wrong and there was no cancer on the eve of the first Chemo. We kept the "toings and froings" to hospitals to ourselves so as not to distract our family and friends' attentions from a close relative who did have cancer, was being treated and was making a successful recovery. Out most heartfelt thoughts go out to Kate, William, their children and their wider family and friends... in the same way as they would go out to any family in such a situation... but even more so because when trying to deal with immensely personal issues... that we would certain consider private if it affected us... they've had to do that against a backdrop of the most intensely prying speculation and gossip. Prince Harry has talked openly about the trauma that he experienced over 25 years ago... when he was only 12... because of gossip about his mother. As well as Kate and Wills... our hearts go out to Louis 5, Charlotte 8 and George 10.

Given the different time that the seasons change up and down the country that makes the most perfect sense.

We go to Denbies quite often... Just decided to add our tuppence worth (How language ages us!). We were there "High dining" yesterday lunchtime... well the restaurant is on the 3rd floor. It being Surrey, the Chef does cater for those who like to say that they had a light salad for lunch... even if it is on the starter, main and the ice-cream... bet that doesn’t happen in most parts of the country! Try wandering into an ice-cream shop in Whitby and asking for a salad cress topping on the 99 cone! And... Never mind the "skinny latte"... just look at those carrots! And don't raise your hopes... the stuff below the excellent lamb... wasn't a hash brown. For those who don't instantly recognise the last pudding it was... of course... a deconstructed Banoffee pie... honest! It was! Anyway we really enjoyed the meal! It was a "celebration" of sorts. We were celebrating being fit and well enough to pop out on a Thursday and enjoy a good lunch! And we were celebrating having arranging two ocean cruises and one river cruise for 2025 and... more importantly... celebrating having obtained insurance for all of them at a reasonable price! Hope all are well and looking forward to the joys to come.

Perfect identification... we often have a short break and a snack on that part of the walk.

Up and about sprightly this morning... light, light grey skies, 9˚C going up to 14˚C and little chance of rain... and welcome rays of sunshine... so, having also seen the forecast for tomorrow, best for us to appreciate today! It's been an eclectic week so far... theatre twice... once for an evening with Rick Stein and last night John Bishop's show. Both were great in their different ways. We felt that with Rick we were some of the youngest there and with John Bishop... ermh! We're fans of fringe theatre and stand-up and have seen many of the "greats" over the years... in fact... 50 years ago we were totally captivated by a very young Scottish actor/comedian being wheeled in a pram onto the "stage" of the 100 "seater" Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh's Grassmarket very, very late one night... this spark of brilliant comic power, pathos and captivating charisma... was... the then the unknown Robbie Coltrane. Then there was another bloke... a folk singer in the Student Union in Aberdeen doing a gig in the early 1970s... small audience... few dozen... he wasn't a great vocalist but he won the room over with his repartee and wise-cracks... he was the talent that the world would learn to love as Billy Connelly! We would really rate John Bishop... somehow his theme of a 57 year old coping with a mid-life crisis was invigorating... especially as neither one of us will ever have to do that... again! (True what they say... look back and laugh!) Today... off to our local vineyard for lunch. 🍷 🍷 Hope all are well and ready to make the most of the day.

In a word... SAGA. 10-15 years ago they were twice the price of "Fred" for a like for like balcony cabin... but FOCL have now lost the price advantage. When we select any cruise, we run the cost through a little spread sheet to find the real bottom line against competitors. These days FOCL loses out every time.

It's good to know that you're on the mend and great to be able to look forward to a cruise with the determination to make the best of things. Very much hope that you enjoy the holiday.

Brightish and pleasantish this morning,,, it is a wonderful time of the year when everything is springing back into life. A stop on one of our favourite walks over the Surrey Hills with the trees in bud... just magical.. even on a day like today,

Excellent news Josy. You really deserve to have a relaxing and well-deserved holiday!

Why is, what used to be known as "Fred" by long-time Loyal supporters now so expensive compared with other lines... even those considered as on the "pricy side?" We were hoping to cruise in the eastern Mediterranean for about a month in the Autumn of 2025. We'd been attracted by the "Exploring the Dalmatian Coast and Greek Islands with Turkey" on the Balmoral. We had two cruise-lines on our back of the envelope "short list." One was "Fred." The other was one of FOCL's main competitors for the higher end of "Fred's" market. Today we received the advanced registration call from that other cruise-line, made a provisional booking and will have two weeks to look at the offer in more detail before it becomes a firm contract. We want a balcony cabin, access to Wi-Fi, a couple of speciality dining experiences and perhaps one "posh" afternoon tea each week and we do enjoy a cocktail and wine with meals in moderation. On top of that we'll have to consider the cost of getting to the port, parking and insurance for the holiday. FOCL's ancient Balmoral (1988) is currently working out as much more expensive that the alternative upmarket line. The alternative cruise-line has new ships, offers a three speciality dining restaurants as well as "pop-ups," a glorious afternoon tea available every day, all-inclusive wines, premium branded spirits, cocktails, draught beers and lagers, non-alcoholic cocktails, all mixers and soft drinks. But... the alternative also offers us a private chauffeur limo to and from the ship, covers the cost of our insurance, gratuities and... in our experience, provides a better quality and variety of food, entertainment, far superior accommodation, a better ambiance (not a cryptic clue to the line!) and lots of excursions/ transfers that we can choose to use if we're so inclined. We're so fortunate to still be able to enjoy cruises after so many years but like the vast majority of folk we need to look very carefully at value for money. If FOCL can't compete on price on a like-for like basis... we have no real option except to give "Exploring the Dalmatian Coast and Greek Islands with Turkey" a miss. We just can't pay: won't pay more for less on FOCL. And... with the alternative cruise line... if the price drops closer to the sail-by date... we have a guaranteed price promise that we will be compensated! If FOCL drops the price or adds some sort of "come-ons" we'd lose out!

Had the call! 🙃 😊 Two cruises booked. One at 35% discount and the other at 25% discount but a grade higher that we would've normally taken but at the same price as a lower grade (we don't understand either... but the bottom line makes sense.) So well pleased! 😀 😃 Now... where's that old piggy bank! 💰 🍹🍹

These are some pics that we took in Alta (at the golf club) and on the way back south on a not too promising night several years back... Hope that you're all lucky!

We stayed in the Premier Inn, ate in the Royal Quays pub next door in the evening, had a late breakfast the next day and then wandered around the Newcastle Quays retail Park before checking in. It worked for us.

We've been stuck in these waters in mid-winter on Hurtigruten and been forced to abandon the quay in Honningsvåg... so we've an inkling of what it may be like. We see from the AIS sites that the ship has gone about 30 miles out to sea and is currently doing about 8 knots due east... towards the Russian border... so that won't continue for long! Looks as if the Captain may be pointing the ship into the wind. It currently "Feels like" -11˚C on deck! When we got stuck in bad weather (on our way the Russian border) the ship eventually had to give up and the only port that we could get into was Alta. The weather at the moment isn't as bad as we experienced at that time and so the idea of the sheltered port of Alta with the occasional fall of fresh new snow sounds a really exciting prospect... especially as there will be a real possibility of seeing the Northern Lights in the gaps through the clouds. Best of luck to the folks on board.

We've never had to wait outside the terminal in the course of 25-30 cruises with FOCL. Can't remember a time that there wasn't drinks and snacks available, enough seating for everybody and facilities on hand. On most occasions there's been a chance to have a photo taken, book spa treatments and even book white-glove afternoon teas. Probably worth noting that FOCL disembarks all members of groups and people travelling home on the same coach at the same time... regardless of where individuals had been accommodated on the ship... folks from suites and lower deck insides will be called at the same time... if they're travelling home in the same group... so that complicates things just a little. Also these group disembarkations are usually scheduled throughout the disembarkation procedure so as to mitigate problems of overcrowding in the ship's foyer and shore side. Friends who travelled as part of a group a few months ago found that they were some of the first to disembark. FOCL has been doing it this way for well over a decade before the pandemic. Hope that you enjoy the cruise... it would be interesting to see a review once you're back.

Padstow for us later this year. Lucky enough to always book a hidden little place in the centre of the village just a few yards away from the harbour... nice garden, reserved car parking and views out across the estuary... and close to all the restaurants for a meal in the evening. Good also for the ferry to Rock and the chance to do a bit of bird-watching on the dunes.