twotravellersLondon

A very good morning! We have 4˚C, bright skies and a woodpecker tapping away in a tree just outside. Grocery delivery expected any-time soon. Nothing missing and no substitutions... so that's a very good start to the day. It includes the supplies in for this week's "Gala Dinner"... a very retro hark back to the Bernie Inns of half a century ago... complete with prawn cocktail, steak and chips and an indulgent pudding! And the muzak... a brand new CD has just arrived to accompany the experience... the Wurzels... how many folk remember... "I've got a brand new combine harvester?" (If anyone reading this doesn’t know what a CD is... it's just like a portable streaming service but without the subscription costs... and has the advantage that it can easily convert into a hi-teck device to protect new lawn-seed from the wood pigeons.) Off to see the Bob Marley biopic this afternoon... according to the booking plan we have the cinema almost to ourselves... probably a bit too wet and cold today for the usual weekday afternoon cinema audience in Dorking. The only town in Britain where the roundabout at the top of the High Street is adorned by the most gigantic Cockerel! Hope all are well, in good cheer and good spirits!

That's probably because the abolition of the death penalty was only "under consideration" at the time of the trial. In was only in the mid 60s that the death penalty for murder in Britain was suspended. The suspension was only made permanent the late 60s... we think.

There is an answer to that... but... as Mae West said... "It's hard to be funny when you have to be clean!"

Many a true word spoken in jest! James Camb was convicted of killing a British actress, Gay Gibson, on a voyage from Cape Town to Southampton in 1947. He claimed that they were in a relationship and that she had died during a moment of intimacy... he claimed that he had panicked and disposed of her body through the porthole... Camb was tried, found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. The sentence was never enacted as Parliament was in the process of abolishing the death penalty... the rest is history! But not a very interesting history!

Before the pandemic, we joined the Spirit of Adventure at the last minute and accepted a guaranteed cabin. The ship was virtually full, we didn't know where we would be until a day or two before and we were given an adapted cabin on D Deck... D526 from memory It was bigger than the adjacent cabins, had a huge wet room and it was fine.

Oh for a time machine to transport the darlings back to the days of our youth... perhaps just for a week or two's life experience... just what would they make of this? In spring 🙄, summer 🥵, autumn ☹️ & winter? 🥶 In 1960... members of 5,000,000 households in the UK had to get a bit wet on the way to the facilities! Many of the children growing up with the facilities are today's regular cruising stalwarts. A lifetime of hard graft throughout the 70s, 80s, 90s, naughties and twenty-teenies to create a world fit for the the "little darlings." What will the "little darlings" leave as a legacy for the children of the 2070s? 😂🤣

FOCL has just sent an email advertising this cruise, the Wildlife and Culture of the Scenic Scottish Isles, for 7 nights on 7 May 2024 on the Borealis... and this is part of the booking form! As can be seen... it's the same cruise referred to in #9 and the only "balcony cabin" on offer is clearly a terrace Cabin on the Promenade Deck... but these cabins don't have balconies! Now what else should folks check out very, very carefully to save disappointment?

That was certainly the case a little earlier today but if you noticed the web-site seemed to have a few minor glitches. It now seems to be operating normally again. We've just chosen a "Balcony Cabin" on that same cruise. We were directed to a page which stated, "Select your cabin" and offered only "BALCONY CABIN: Terrace Cabin (TC)." Just in case, we've randomly checked out T2426, T2412 and T2404... every description was the same. It really would be best if FOCL desisted this practice and it could well help their sales. The fact is that FOCL are selling terrace cabins as "balcony cabins" although the don't have balconies, they never have had balconies and there are seemingly no plans to give them balconies. (Incidentally many thanks for the well-meaning IT advice. FOCL has no cookies on our equipment. Having asked friends to do a double check via their equipment... they find exactly the same... "BALCONY CABIN: Terrace Cabin (TC)." association on the FOCL site.)

Not on the FOCL website... The Terrace cabins are advertised as "Balcony Cabins." It's easy to check on the website... Pick a cruise, any cruise (as long as it's with FOCL on one of the two old HAL ships... the Bolette or the Borealis). Select "Book Now." You will now have the opportunity to select from inside, outside, balcony or suite. Select "balcony" which the site will assure you is "Best for scenic views" and also advises that you may "Take in the scenery and sea air from a private outdoor space in one of our Balcony cabins." Select "Balcony" and you will have only one grade to chose from... "Terrace Cabin"... But... despite being listed and advertised as "balcony cabins" these terrace cabins don't have balconies and they never have had balconies. That's one of the things that undermines the creditability of FOCL... and it would be so easy to change... just don't list/advertise terrace cabins as balcony cabins on the website. And it would be good to make the change... Some people may not feel there is a problem of credibility but others may well do so. This is especially the case when FOCL is keen to attract new cruisers... who wants to pay extra to book a balcony and find that the cabin just doesn’t have one! People who do realise the situation may well being to wonder just what else might not be as advertised... it's a barrier to booking... and, at the moment, it would seem that FOCL can ill-afford to have any real or perceived barriers to booking.... every purchase matters. FOCL is currently hiring staff to be based in the Ipswich HQ with a remit to improve catering drinks and retailing on board the remaining three ships. This is essential in our opinion. FOCL is a company that's in challenging circumstances. The last quarter results from 2023 were released only a few days ago. The occupancy rate has fallen from 76% to 71%. Operating revenues have fallen from about NOK 921 million to NOK 856 million. Net ticket income per passenger has fallen from about £189 to £161. The net return has fallen from about NOK 146 million to only NOK 48 million. And the company has a NOK 1,473 million debt... (that's almost £112,000,000!) Now FOCL knows all of this... the company supplied the figures quoted above... Bonheur... the ultimate parent company have just appointed a turn-around CEO to run FOCL... times seem to be "a changing." There is many a true word spoken in jest... and in the fantasy world of cruise-line CEO... the suggestion that the world "balcony" should not be associated with terrace cabins on the FOCL website... (because they don't have balconies) might be worth thousands to the company... if that small change had a positive effect on company creditability and engendered just a few more sales.

And the answer is... wait for it... Knocked out by a coconut or two 🥥🥥... filled with rum punch. 🍹🍹 They always say that the best parties are those that folk can't remember. 🥴 In this case Selbourne seems to have had a very good time and good luck to both Mr & Mrs S... 😃😃 This thread is one of the best ever of it's type🍹... honest, detailed, informative, well illustrated and just fascinating and enjoyable to read. 👌

We like these ideas and we would like then even more if... 1, Some of the advertising was made a tad more creditable. Terrace cabins might be advertised as "promenade cabins"... rather than "balcony cabins"... they don't have balconies... they never have had balconies... and... advertising them as "balcony cabins" stretches the company's creditability to breaking point... it just seems silly to many. 2, The ships itineraries might be a bit more transparent. Expected arrival and departure times in ports were advertised in advance... just like most other cruise companies do. Otherwise it seems that the company is trying to entrap people into taking expensive ship-booked excursions rather than allowing them to make their own arrangements

A very good morning afternoon to everyone. We have a late morning today after a very late night celebrating Valentines' yesterday... great night with dinner, a 14 piece big band and three vocalists. The first time that we've been able to enjoy the band since the "Great Pandemic"... so good to hear them again! the music was great! A real feeling that life's back on track! We were totally unaware that outside a light drizzle had metamorphosised in to a yellow warning of rain and the roads all the way home were filling up with water in places. Had to watch out just in case some old geezer with a long beard was trying to launch a home-made wooden boat down his drive! The advanced warning was the pair of deer wandering along the road... two by two like. 🦌🦌 It's now bright and sunny day. We're busy sorting out photos and trying to leave the robins building a nest about six inches away from our French windows with a little peace. They seem to like us! and will sit and watch us from only inches away... we think that it's the same Robin family that's used the same nest sight for over 30 years. Just shows how much fun a person can have for nought... except some bird seed and a bird bath.

Money, Money, Money Fred Olsen Cruise Line's fourth quarter 2023 financial figures (for October, November & December 2023) have just been released as part of the parent company, Bonheur's, quarterly report on the Oslo Stock Exchange. (Currently 1 NOK = 0.075 GBP.) At a glance this quick snapshot of FOCL's performance in the last three months of 2023 makes very interesting reading... especially in the light of two important facts... The number of cruise days in 4Q 2023 was 276 compared to 204 days in 4Q 2022 (at one time in 2022 the company only had one ship in service)... and... the Braemar was sold during the 4Q for USD 13 million. The Braemar is expected to be delivered to the new owners by end of February 2024. The gain on sale of the Braemar was NOK 86 million. This gain of NOK 86 million included in EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation'... It's a measure of profitability) The occupancy rate. on cruises (an indication of passengers numbers) has fallen 76% in 3Q 2023 to 71% in the 4Q... FOCL carried less passengers. Operating revenues (an indication of sales) has fallen from about NOK 921 million in 3Q 2023 (July, August & September) to NOK 856 million in the 4Q... FOCL took in less money. Net ticket income per passenger has fallen from about £189 in 3Q 2023 (July, August & September) to £161 in the 4Q. Folks are paying out less on cruising and the various add-ons. The net return revenues (an indication of profits) has risen from about NOK 146 million in 3Q 2023 to only NOK 48 million in the 4Q... FOCL made less profit. Had it not been that NOK 86 million from the sale of Braemar had been added... the company is likely to have made a loss in the 4Q of NOK 38 million. FOCLs isn't out of stormy waters as yet. However FOCL's debt has decreased from about NOK 1,483 million in 3Q 2023 to only NOK 1,473 million in the 4Q. Had it not been for the sale of the Braemar, the debt may well have increased to NOK 1,559 million. Taking the greater number of cruising days and the sale of the Braemar into account, the signs are that FOCL carried less passengers, took in less money and made less profit in October, November & December 2023 than it did in July, August & September of 2023. That was not the plan! On 14 July 2021 Bonheur chairman Fred Olsen appeared in the global shipping news source, "Tradewinds" with his daughter, Anette Olsen, the company's managing director, above the headline that "Fred Olsen expects cruise profit to bounce back beyond pre-Covid levels in the following year." However the good news for the UK cruise industry and for those of us who believe that a competitive UK cruise market in in our best interests is that FOCL's management is being restructured. Peter(Pete) Deer who was Managing Director and is Finance qualified, with many years of experience in cruise and shipping has become Chief Financial Officer. The role of Managing Director has been replaced by a Chief Executive Officer to take the company forward... and turn-around specialist Samantha Stimpson is now in post. New positions to oversee restaurants and food, drinks and bars and retailing across the fleet have been advertised. Fred Jun. may now have long gone as FOCL's Chairman... but with the advice of Fred Sen and the management expertise of Anette Olsen... (we suspect that Fred Jun may have a hand in appointing crew). Is now perhaps the time to look for signs of a renaissance in FOCL's fortunes? Incidentally... (Recent reports are that the Braemar will be moved to Belfast in cooperation with Harland & Wolff in early March 2024. The plan is that a 10-week transformation the ship will be completed and she will transfer to Southampton on 12 May and will set sail from there on 15 May 2024.) 👋👋

We've not strayed into a discussion on the insurance/underwriting business because this is a travel site and this forum is about SAGA Ocean Cruises. The SAGA Board and the company chairman, Sir Roger de Haan, see the cruise sector as an entity. Waiting for the annual report strikes us as the best idea... that will certainly cut through the ill-informed speculation of many of the cruise-line knockers who pop up on all sorts of sites like mole hills on a golf green. The suggestion of "wait and see" is a very wise one. Like you, we look forward to good news and also hope to be able to enjoy many years of sailing with SAGA. Best Wishes.

That's not the case. Best to see the latest SAGA report to the Stock Market of a few days ago which we paraphrased in our post.

Some of the comments about SAGA... especially from folk on various cyberspace portals who've never had a good word to say about the company in the past... are a bit speculative, doomy and gloomy... even bearish. But the facts are that for 2023/24 SAGA is on track to deliver significant growth for the full year with an underlying profit more than double that of the prior year. SAGA's Cruise and Travel businesses have had an outstanding year and as a result, these businesses will return to profitability, in line with expectations. Bookings for the new seasons in Cruise and Travel are robust, showing good overall progress. That will drive long-term sustainable growth, and allow SAGA to unlock value through optimising the core businesses Some folk speak about debt in isolation... virtually all of the UK based cruise lines are in deep debt. (At the last report Fred Olsen owed over £100 million.) However... Saga... will, as expected, repay a £150m bond due in May 2024! The outlook for 2023/24 is that SAGA is expected is growth of between 10-15% with an Underlying Profit Before Tax more than double that of the prior year. Far from the anonymous rumours spread around the far corners of the darkest recesses of cyberspace... SAGA is an upmarket cruise line successfully filling its ships in a very competitive market and attracting more and more passengers each years despite the raising prices. SAGA's Ocean Cruise revenue growth is expected to be around 30% year-on-year, delivered through a load factor of 87% and per diem of £331, both significantly ahead of the 75% and £318 in the previous year. It's highly likely that SAGA will exceed its target of £40.0m Ocean Cruise Trading EBITDA (Excluding Overheads) per ship. Given the ongoing momentum in Ocean Cruise, the business is now approaching optimum capacity. The SAGA Board are exploring opportunities to optimise the business and enhance long-term returns for shareholders. Management? Well... that's significantly changed in recent years and things have certainly changed have certainly since 2020. Some of that may sound a tad corporate and techno speak but... these are some of the key facts.

A fantasy cruise-line CEO sound good fun! Now that would be great to play around a dinner table one evening. More seriously... we very much agree with most of what you've suggested! We very much agree about the retailing aspect... a lot of stuff on FOCLs has never really appealed to us. We've bought cards to write a thankyou note for our stewardess, the odd little "souvenir" for people looking out for our house and garden while we're away but that's about it. Even when Fred was in charge the company never really monetised the Grill experienced. We spent entire cruises in pleasant weather and it was never open. On other cruises it was only us and a captain's table... that was in the heart of Seville in the middle of the summer! We like your idea of "pop-up" restaurants... once upon a time... Fred just to have a bookings only curry night in the Cafe once a week that was very popular. We would really like a fish restaurant, or an Italian one that did a bit more that pizza. We'd certainly be attracted to a cruise that had a pop-up French Bistro in France, a Greek Taverna in Greece and something similar for other countries. When "Fred" really was Fred Jun, the dining wasn't as fixed... the first sitting started later and people could arrive 10 or twenty minutes after the dining room opened... it made for a more relaxed service and it worked... probably because there was more staff on the floor and in the kitchen. FOCL do need to grasp the nettle and go down the "Freedom" route... but the real problem is that the Balmoral especially has too little space in the bard, lounges and theatre to accommodate everyone at once... SAGA have designed out that problem by having two venues... the Playhouse Theatre and the Britannia Show Lounge. The last time we had afternoon tea on FOCLs... it really was the case of quantity over quantity... a far superior experience could be created with less food and more delight... and rather than a set price... a menu really high quality add-ons could be really good. Your ideas about the wine and beer are great... something like a taste of the region that the ship was visiting would really enhance a cruise for us. Most of all... your ideas about the current problems with pricing policy are spot on as far as we're concerned. Then years ago Fred Jun had a policy of refunding the difference if cruises were later sold at a discount... in those days he achiever a 92% capacity and many cruises were full. FOCL seems to have been playing the game of trying to pull people in at the last minute with offers that make the company's cruises seem as cheap as chips... until of course, insurance, drinks, Wi-Fi. gratuities, excursions, speciality dining, travel to the port and everything else is added on as well. That's still may-be a reasonable deal compared to a rock-bottom coach trip but... move outwards and upwards to ocean-view cabins and balconies and FOCL has some of the most eye-watering comparative differentials in the industry. Yet, for the additional price, the cruise is the same, the food is the same, the excursions are the same and the entertainment is the same. FOCL need to move on. It's interesting that many of the problems... passenger numbers well below expectation, high debt levels and the loss of bookings by a significant number of FOCL loyalty members (who are now cruising with other companies)... have been under the watch of those who (supposedly) actually knew their business. Fresh Eye Thinking, someone with far wider experience of the holiday market than simply one cruise company and a history of achievement in numerous companies in the holiday sector may just be the shot in the arm that FOCL seems to so desperately needs... Let's hope the appointment of a CEO is successful... for the clients as well as the company.

That's precisely why one of those individuals on this forum has been encouraged to share that information... and also because... Currently.... FOCLs are still advertising Emirates To The Med Via The Suez Canal S2406. on the Borealis on 26 Mar 2024 and promising that folk will, "Visit incredible destinations across Arabia, the Middle East and Med, See the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and the contrasting highlights of Oman, Discover the ‘Lost City’ of Petra and sail Egypt’s Suez Canal." Our post did make it perfectly clear that we were waiting for confirmation... and we still are! "Led to believe." is an important caveat. It would be interesting for all to know where and by whom it was reported that, "Samantha is in post now and reportedly has had been in involved in those decisions." Her arrival in Ipswich HQ doesn't seem to have been announced by FOCL. How FOCL deals with and looks after clients in cases where their cruises are disrupted, for whatever reason, is of special interest to many who are members of these forums. The ocean-cruise market hasn't, as yet, recovered from the effects of the pandemic, yet alone, reached the dizzying heights last predicted in 2019. Cruising is more expensive than it was and so many of us are more interested than ever in comparing the market, what's on offer and trying to find the deals that suits us best. The fact that so many people so kindly and generously share information on cruising and cruise-lines on these public forums is a great asset. It would be really interesting and helpful for so many people to see a copy of the letter from FOCL to clients on the Borealis posted here and also a copy of the report that the new FOCL CEO, Samantha Stimpson, has had been in involved in those decisions.

That sound like a very enthusiastic description of the contents of the crockery! Enjoy yourself... 🤣 😂

The originally question is about the Emirates to Mediterranean part of this world cruise... We're so sorry for so many people who were booked on it... there is very little doubt that has already been abandoned due to the problems in the Middle East. It would have probably been helpful to many people to have sight of the "letter" which seems to have been posted... as there have now been multiple changes to the cruise... and there may well be more. Posts from "Elsewhere" are often subjective, sometime misinformed can be contradictory and, very sadly, sometimes tend to "spin" a particular line. We've seen one claim that, FOCL have kept passengers in "the dark." Even news from the outside world seems to be limited on the Borealis due to problems with the in-cabin plasma screens. For instance, rather than "a future cruise credit of 30% of the fare paid for the whole world cruise, we've heard that FOCLs have offered some people "the paltry sum of £1,000 pp compensation in FO vouchers to be used within a year" depending on how much the trip cost in the first place. We've also heard that FOCLs have credited the value to excursions bought on the ship to onboard spend account... that's not gone down well in some cases! On the "world cruise" some ports were lost due to a late itinerary change before the ship left, others have been missed on the way, facilities at some ports have been closed on arrival or shore time has been very limited... there are even hints of problems at the last couple of planned ports. If we were in the position of having missed out on the Emirates to Mediterranean part of this world cruise, we would be watching with great interest exactly how FOCLs deals with the immense disappointment that must be felt by many passengers currently on-board and how the company compensates them and looks after them... before we committed to allowing FOCLs to hold onto our hard-earned cash. According to FOCL, Samantha Stimpson, the company's newly appointed CEO was due to have taken up the post "no later than February 1st 2024." So it will be good to see how she deals with such a truly upsetting situating for many passengers already on board and waiting to join. Perhaps a more comprehensive picture will emerge in weeks to come. (Many people travelling with FOCLs are very reluctant to use the ship's Wi-Fi at £12 a day... even buying it in blocks of 14 days at a time, FOCLs would charge almost £1,000 for limited Wi-Fi access during this "world cruise.") Please let us all know the full details of what's happening when you hear from FOCL. Real information from a reliable source will help so many people to make informed choices about future cruise decisions. And... good luck with your future plans.

We were very sorry to hear that the Emirates to Mediterranean part of this world cruise on the Borealis world cruise seems to have been abandoned. We understand that passengers on-board the Borealis have been informed that when ship reaches Plunket in Thailand it will then miss out the entire Indian and Middle Eastern sections (Cochin Goa, Mumbai, Dubai, Khasab, Muscat) as well as Aqaba in Jordan, the Suze Canal, and the Mediterranean ports of Limassol, Rhodes, Heraklion, Valletta and Cartagena. Instead the Borealis will sail directly from Plunket in Thailand to Cape Town in South Africa. However, we're led to believe that the ship will have a short stop in Tenerife on the way back to the UK. We're currently waiting for confirmation.

But the stock market is about SAGA... the whole company.... not just the tiny cruise sector... the underwriting arm is a major problem... SAGA have been trying to off-load it... it was a major mistake under previous ownership... the cruise sector is in pretty good shape. If you pick your comparison dates...SAGA shares are higher now than in early October 2023. And by comparison... look at the FT Share index over that last couple of weeks... not for the faint hearted! It's dropped.

Not if you lived in the part of Scotland where I was brought up and went to school! I was once unable to reach school for two weeks... 20' snowdrifts. My sports day in June was abandoned one year... we couldn't see the finishing line through the blizzard. Ahhh... those were the days! 🥶

Lido opening depends on the weather... which will often depend on the cruise. This was the situation last February in Norway... bit of a Brrrr and pretty slippery underfoot!

A veggie/vegan heavy menu is always a bit of a worry for us. Like an lots of other people we've reached that stage of life and accumulated so many rare and unusual aliments (many that we never knew existed) that, apart from having to pack a load of medications for every cruise, we also have to be very mindful of the advice of our specialist NHS dietitian. We used to occasionally try veggie options and they were often really enjoyable but we're now strongly advised to include protein with every meal and to make sure it's accompanied by a reasonable amount of fruit and vegetables. We do know that some nuts and beans contain protein but we just don't know how much protein will appear on a plate. Breakfast would be no problems... lots of eggs. At lunchtime we would have been very severely limited. On the dinner menu we could chose only one starter and the chef's recommendation, only four of the seven mains and the chef's recommendation. Veggie options are great for those who are willing and able to choose them, brilliant for the ship's catering budget but do make life harder for mere mortals who need to spread protein intake throughout the day. So we do hope that someone from P&O is reading these comments.