Vampire Parrot

On 6/2/2019 at 11:07 PM, tartanexile81 said:

My OH hs a serious health condition which is affected by the air con so we aways book a balcony cabin and leave the door ajar slightly at night. We also have a mini dehumidifier in the cabin which we keep on all day. I have seen messages in the Horizon about keeping the door closed and though I feel guilty that we don't do it, my husband's health is paramount to me.

By having your door ajar slightly at night your air conditioning duct will be putting more air into your cabin than it otherwise would do, with the extra air escaping through the door you have ajar. It won't really affect the humidity or temperature of your room - so it won't be helping your OH's health condition - but it will mean other rooms will suffer with higher temperatures as they have less cool air.

So if the humidity is too high then yes, use a dehumidifier - but opening the balcony door, causing more air to be put into your cabin from the vent - means it won't be effective!

VP

7 hours ago, wowzz said:

I was of the opinion that Arcadia does not have a flat bottom, and hence is particularly suited to round the world cruises, but am happy to be corrected.

Pretty much every large passengers ship built in the last 100+ years has a flat bottom, including "classic" ocean liners such as the RMS Queen Elizabeth, RMS Queen Mary, RMS QE2, RMS Queen Mary 2, and SS France. And also the Arcadia.

Arcadia (and ships of the same class such as Zuiderdam M/V, Queen Victoria, etc) have a large metacentric height, which means she doesn't initially roll much, being very stable, and so can feel a bit "stiff" in heavy seas. I've crossed the Atlantic quite a few times and Arcadia is a nice ship to be on in high seas/strong winds.

The Bay of Biscay (sometimes known to sailors as the "Bag of Biscuits", aka BOB) is like much of the Atlantic Ocean; predicting what it's actually going to be like two weeks ahead is impossible.

I've crossed the Atlantic many times and sailed through the BoB many times. Summer or Winter, both can be as rough as a hedgehogs bristles rubbed the wrong way, or as smooth as a politician's lies. But never have I been worried or felt ill - if the forecast is for rough seas then I'll take whatever anti-seasickness meds I've got and I know I'll be fine. I actually quite like the passage through the BoB; there are often many other ships of various types and classes making the same passage that I like to watch through my binoculars, and usually quite a lot of seabirds of various species as well.

Given that the drinks package doesn't include bottles of wine, it means that anyone wanting wine with dinner who has a drinks package will probably order it by the glass.

And on some recent cruises it has taken rather a long time to actually get the wine with the dinner, even if pre-ordered - on some occasions, it hadn't arrived by time the main course arrived. At which point I quietly wait for the wine to be served, and then say "and as the food on the table is now cold, we'd like it to be replaced with hot food." After a couple of nights, the staff realise we are used to having wine with the meal rather than after it 😞  and drinks service on our table improves enormously.

So if a large number of people did order wine by the glass, the wine waiters in the MDR who are currently overloaded would be totally swamped.

Good game, good game.

All ships have it available for C-paps...no worries.

That's not true for all cruise lines. For example, P&O don't and won't provide distilled water. :(

I understand that Britannia is powered by diesel electric motors, rather the HFO.

MV Britannia has two 12 cylinder and two 14 cylinder diesel engines that usually burn HFO.

Each diesel engine drives a generator.

VP

" The Royal has large tenders."

 

Thank you I've been wondering about how many would be able to go at a time. Visions of 25 people at a time have entered my mind as I wonder if we are going to be able to make our excursion.

I don't know how big the tenders on Royal Princess are, but for certain the tenders will take at least 100 pax at a time and maybe 150 or more when tendering.

Talking of automatic barriers ,we were staying at the new prem -inn in Manchester and someone

meddled with one of the fire alarms ,so they could not reset it .

Within minutes you could hear the emergency services on their way .Everyone was evacuated to the car park.

One of the very first things we always do in a hotel is identify where the nearest two fire escapes are. Back in 1981 I was in a building on fire; getting out through a smoke filled corridor was one of the scariest things I've been through.

So two minutes after we started unpacking, the fire alarm went off. We immediately grabbed our "grab bags" (passport, credit cards), our keys and headed for the fire escape. We met just one other group of people in the corridor, a man with his two children asking what was happening and was it a real fire alarm. I said "I don't know and so we're leaving and you should do the same". He headed towards the elevator, I called him and said "No no, if the power fails you could fry, follow me", and down the fire escape we went.

In reception all was almost normal - the alarm was going off but no one was reacting. I went to reception and asked if the alarm was real and they said we don't know, two fire sensors have gone off and we are waiting for confirmation (!!!!)

It turns out it was a real fire which was extinguished before it could have spread.

About 18 years ago I got hold of the following document

https://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/fire/reports&notes/HotelFireSafety.rtf

and obtained permission from the LAPD to have it distributed to various airlines (as their staff often stay in hotels) and also the BBC. It's well worth a read.

The problem with providing binoculars "free" in a cabin is that they won't be treated well.

Binoculars are quite delicate optical instruments; it doesn't take much of a knock to put the two optical paths out of alignment, and then anyone trying to use them will either see two separate images or will end up getting a headache as their eyes strain to see one image.

So my wife and eye ;) always bring our own binoculars. I bring two; one is for off-ship use, they are small, lightweight and are fastened to my belt. The others are large rather heavy image-stabilised binoculars for use at sea.

VP

As we're talking about safety - the following is (currently) on www.fws.gov so I hope I'm not breaking any copyright by re-posting it here. I have twice been in a large building on fire and on each case it was the most terrified I've ever been. I have had other events that were -ahem- interesting; I was Captain of a small aircraft with a complete engine failure, I was Captain of a two-deck boat with passengers caught in a storm and had to beach the boat to keep us safe. Being in a building on fire was far worse. Please read. It might just safe your live and the lives of those you love.

Have you ever been in a hotel during a fire? It’s a frightening experience, and you shouldstart thinking about it. For instance,how would you have acted if you had been in one of these fires?

The Thomas Hotel, San Francisco, Ca 20 DEAD

The Gulf Hotel, Houston, Texas 54 DEAD

The La Salle Hotel, Chicago, Ill 61 DEAD

The Wincoff Hotel, Atlanta, Ca 119 DEAD

Of course, there have been hundreds more with thousands of deaths, but Ithink you’re getting the drift. Themajority of those people did not have to die.

My wife has been in the airline industry close to 8 years and whileaccompanying her on a trip recently, I learned how ill-prepared she was for ahotel fire. It’s not her fault: its’ quite common. Hotels, however, have no excuse for beingill-prepared, but believe me, you cannot depend on the staff in case of afire. History has shown some hotelswon’t even call the fire Department. Ihave been a fire-fighter in Los Angeles for over 10 years and have seen manypeople die needlessly in building fires. It’s sad because most could have saved themselves.

What you’re about to read is roughly the same “briefing” I have given mywife on hotel safety. I do not intend to“play down” the aspects of hotel fires or soft soap the language. It’s critical that you remember how to react,and, if I shake you a little, maybe you will.

Contrary to what you have seen on television or in the movies, fire isnot likely to chase you down and burn you to death. It’s the bi-products of fire that will killyou. Super heated fire gases (smoke) andpanic will almost always be the cause of death long before the fire arrives ifit ever does. This is veryimportant. You must know how to avoid smokeand panic to survive a hotel fire. Withthis in mind, here are a few tips:

Where there is smoke, there is not necessarily fire. A smoldering mattress, for instance, willproduce great amounts of smoke. Airconditioning and air exchange systems will sometimes pick up smoke from oneroom and carry it out to other rooms or floors. You should keep that in mind because 70% of the hotel fires are causedby smoking and matches. In any case,your prime objective should be to leave at the first sign of smoke.

Smoke, being warmer, will start accumulating at the ceiling and work itsway down. The first thing you willnotice is THERE ARE NO “EXIT” SIGNS. I’ll talk more about the exits later, just keep in mind when you havesmoke, it’s too late to start looking for “exit” signs.

Another thing about smoke you should be aware of is how irritating it ison the eyes. The problem is your eyeswill only take so much irritation then they close. Try all you want, you won’t be able to openthem if there is still smoke in the area. It’s one of your body’s compensatory mechanisms. Lastly, the fresh air you want to breath isat or near the floor. Get on your handsand knees (or stomach) and STAY THERE as you make you way out. Those who don’t probably won’t get far.

Think about this poor man’s predicament for a moment:

He wakes up at 0230 hrs to a smell of smoke. He puts on his trousers and runs into thehallway only to be greeted by heavy smoke. He has no idea where the exit is. He runs to the right. He’scoughing and gagging, his eyes hurt. “Where is it?” “WHERE ISIT?” Panic begins to set in. About the same time he thinks maybe he isgoing the wrong way, his eyes close. Hecan’t find his way back to his room (it wasn’t so bad in there). His chest hurts, he desperately needsoxygen. Total panic sets in as he runsin the other direction. He is completelydisorientated. He cannot hold his breathany longer. We find him at 0250. DEAD

What caused all the smoke? Asmall fire in a room where they store the roll-away beds. Remember, the presence of smoke does notnecessarily mean the hotel is burning down.

Panic (pan ik). A sudden,overpowering terror often afflicting many people at once. Panic is the product of your imaginationrunning wild and it will set in as soon as it dawns on you you’re lost,disorientated, or you don’t know what to do. Panic is almost irreversible: once it sets in, it seems to grow. Panic will make you do things that could kill you. People in a state of panic are rarely able tosave themselves.

If you understand what’s going on, what to do, where to go, and how toget there, panic will not set in. Theman in the example I used would not have died if he had known what to do. For instance, had he known the exit was tothe left and 4 doors down on the left, he could have gotten on his hands andknees where there was fresh air and started counting doorways. Even if he couldn’t keep his eyes open, hecould feel his way as he crawled, counting the doors. 1... 2... 3... BINGO! He would NOT have panicked. He would be alive today, telling of his “greathotel fire” experience.

The elevator drops you at the 12th floor and you start looking for yourroom. “Let’s see ... room 1236 ...here it is”. You open the door anddrop your luggage. AT THAT VERY MOMENT,turn around and go back into the hallway to check your exit. You may NEVER get another chance. Don’t go into the bathroom, open thecurtains, turn on the TV, smarten your appearance, or crash out on thebed. I know you’re tired and you want torelax, but it’s absolutely essential ... no ... CRITICAL that you develop theHABIT of checking for your exit after you drop your luggage. It won’t take 30 seconds, and believe me, youmay NEVER get another chance.

If there are 2 of you sharing a room, BOTH of you locate your exit. Talk it over as you walk towards it. Is it on the left or right ... do you have toturn a corner? Open the exit door ...what do you see ... stairs or another door? (Sometimes there are 2 doors to go through, especially in newerhotels. ) I’d hate to see you crawl intoa broom closet thinking it was the exit! Are you passing any rooms where your friends are staying? If there was a fire, you may want to bang ontheir doors as you go by. Is thereanything in the hallway that would be in your way ... an ice-machinemaybe? As you arrive back at your room,take a look once more. Get a good mentalpicture of what everything looks like. Do you think you could get to the exit with a “blindfold” on?

This procedure takes less than one minute and to be effective, it mustbecome a habit. Those of you who are toolazy or tired to do it consistently are real “riverboat gamblers”. There are over 5,000 hotel fires peryear. The odds are sure to catch up withyou.

Should you have to leave your room during the night, it is important toclose the door behind you. This is veryeffective in keeping out fire and will minimize smoke damage to yourbelongings.

There was a house fire in Los Angeles recently where an entire familydied. It was a 3 bedroom house with aden and family room. That night, theoccupants had left every door in the house open except one, and it had led tothe washrooms where the family dog slept. The house, except for the washroom, was a total loss. When the fire was knocked down, firemenopened the door to find the family dog wagging his tail. Because the door was left shut, the dog androom were in fine shape.

Some doors take hours to burn through. They are excellent “fire stops” so close every door you gothrough. If you find smoke in the exitstairwell, you can bet people are leaving the doors open as they enter.

Always take your key with you. Get into the habit of putting the key in the same place every time youstay in a hotel. Since every hotel hasnight stands, that’s an excellent location. It’s close to the bed so you can grab it when you leave without wastingtime looking for it. It’s important youclose your door as you leave, and it’s equally as important that you don’t lo****urself out. You may find conditions inthe hallway untenable, and want to return to your room. If you’re now in the habit of checking yourexit and leaving the room key on the night stand, you’re pretty well preparedto leave the hotel in case of a fire, so let’s “walk” through it once.

Something will awake you during the night. It could be the telephone, someone banging onthe door, the smell of smoke, or some other disturbance. But, whatever it is, investigate it beforeyou go back to sleep. A popular “Inn”near LAX recently had a fire and one of the guests later said he was awakenedby people screaming but went back to bed thinking it was a party. He dammed near died in bed.

Let’s suppose you wake up to smoke in your room. Grab you key off the night stand, roll offthe bed and head for the door on you hands and knees. Even if you could tolerate the smoke bystanding, DON’T. You’ll want to save youreyes and lungs for as long as possible. BEFORE you open the door, feel it with the palm of your hand. If the door or knob is quite hot, don’t openit. The fire could be just outside. We’ll talk about that later. With the palm of your hand still on the door(in case you need to slam it shut), slowly open the door and peek into thehallway to “assess conditions”.

As you make your way to the exit, stay against the wall on the sidewhere the exit is. It is very easy toget lost or disorientated in a smoky atmosphere. If you’re on the wrong side of the hallway,you might crawl right on by the exit. Ifyou’re in the middle of the hall, people who are running will trip over you. Stay on the same side as the exit, countdoors as you go.

When you reach the exit and begin to descend it is very important thatyou WALK down and hang onto the handrail as you go. Don’t take this point lightly. The people who will be running will knock youdown and you might not be able to get up. Just hang on and stay out of everyone’s way. All you have to do now is leave the building,cross the street and watch the action. When the fire is out and the smoke clears, you will be allowed tore-enter the building. If you closedyour room door when you left, you belongings should be in pretty good shape.

Smoke will sometimes get into the exit stairway. It it’s a tall building, this smoke may notrise very high before it cools and becomes heavy. This is called “stacking”. If your room is on the 20th floor, forinstance, you could enter the stairway and find it clear. As you descend you could encounter smoke thathas “stacked”. Do not try to “run through it” -people die that way. Turn around andwalk up. Now you must really hang ontothe handrail. The people running downwill probably be glassy-eyed and in a panic and will knock you right out ofyour socks!

They will run over anything in their way, including a fireman. You’ll feel as though you’re going upstreamagainst the Chicago Bears, but hang on and keep heading up towards theroof. If for some reason you try one ofthe doors to an upper floor and find it locked, that’s normal, don’t worryabout it. Exit stairwells are designedso that you cannot enter from the street or roof. Once inside, however, you may exit at thestreet or roof but cannot go from floor to floor; this is done for securitypurposes. When you reach the roof, propthe door with something. This is the ONLYtime you will leave a door open. Anysmoke in the stairwell may now vent itself to the atmosphere and you won’t belocked out. Now find the windward sideof the building (the wet finger method is quite reliable), have a seat and waituntil they find you. Roofs have provedto be a safe secondary exit and refuge area. Stay put. Firemen will alwaysmake a thorough search of the building looking for bodies. Live ones are nice to find.

After you check your exit and drop the key on the night stand, there isone more thing for you to do. Becomefamiliar with your room. See if yourbathroom has a vent; all do, but some have electric motors. Should you decide to remain in your room,turn it on to help remove the smoke. Take a good look at the window in your room. Does it open? Does it have a latch, a lock? Does it slide? Now open thewindow (if it works) and look outside. What do you see? A sign,ledges? How high up are you? Get a good mental picture of what’s outside,it may come in handy. It’s important youknow how to OPEN your window, you may have to close it again.

Should you wake up to smoke in your room and the door is too hot to openor the hallway is completely charged with smoke, don’t panic. Many people have defended themselves quitenicely in their room and so can you. Oneof the first things you’ll want to do is open the window to vent thesmoke. I hope you learned how to open itwhen you checked in. It could be darkand smoking in the room. Those who don’twill probably throw a chair through the window. If there is smoke outside and you have no window to close, it will enteryour room and you will be trapped. Thebroken glass from the window will cut like a surgeon’s scalpel. At the Ramada Inn fire, an airline captain ona layover threw a chair through the window and cut himself seriously. Don’t compound your problems. Besides, if you break out your window with achair, you could hit a fireman on the street below.

If there is fresh air outside, leave the window open, but keep an eye onit. At this point, most people wouldstay at the window, waving frantically, while their room continues to fill withsmoke, if the fire burns through. Thisprocedure is not conducive to longevity. You must be aggressive and fight back. Here are some things you can do in any order you choose ... if the roomphone works, let someone know you’re in there. Flip on the bathroom vent. Fillthe bath with water. (Don’t get intoit - it’s for fire fighting. You’d besurprised how many people try to save themselves by getting into a tub of water- that’s how you cook lobsters and crabs, so you know what happens!) Wet some sheets or towels, and stuff thecracks of your door to keep out the smoke. With your ice-bucket, bail the water from the bath onto the door to keepit cool. Feel the walls - if they arehot, bail water onto them too. You canput your mattress up against the door and block it in place with thedresser. Keep it wet - keep everythingwet. Who cares about the mess. A wet towel tied around your nose and mouthis an effective filter if your fold it in a triangle and put the corner in yourmouth. If you swing a wet towel aroundthe room, it will help clear the smoke. If there is a fire outside the window, pull down the curtains and moveeverything combustible away from the window. Bail water all around the window. Use your imagination and you may come up with some tricks of you own. The point is, there shouldn’t be any reasonto panic - keep fighting until reinforcements arrive. It won’t be long.

There isn’t an elevator made that can be used as a “safe” exit. In all states, elevators by law, cannot be considered an “exit”. They are complicated devices with a mind oftheir own. The problem is people onlyknow one way out of a building - the way they came in, and if that was theelevator, they are in trouble. Elevatorshafts and machinery extends through all floors of a building, and besides,with the shaft filling with smoke, there are hundreds of other things thatcould go wrong and probably will. Everyone tries to get on the elevator in an emergency. Fights break out and people get seriouslyinjured. Smoke, heat and fire do funnythings to elevator call buttons, controls and other complicated parts. Case in point:

Hotel guests in a New Orleans hotel were called on their room phones andnotified of a fire on the upper floors. They were in no danger, but asked to evacuate the hotel as aprecaution. Five of the guests decidedto use the elevator. It was discoveredlater that the elevator only went down about three floors and then for somereason started going up. It did not stopuntil it reached the fire floor. Thedoors came open and were held open by smoke obscuring the photo cell lightbeam. Besides the five guests in theelevator who died of suffocation, firemen noticed that every button had beenpushed, probably in a frantic attempt to stop the elevator.

Fires have killed many people, including firemen. Several New York firemen recently used anelevator when responding to a fire up on the 20th floor. They pushed 18, but the elevator went righton by the 18th floor. The doors cameopen on the 20th floor to an inferno and remained open long enough to kill allthe firemen. The doors then closed andthe elevator returned to the lobby. Handoperated elevators are not exempt. Someelevator operators have been beaten by people fighting over the controls. If you have any idea that there might besmoke or fire in your hotel, avoid the elevator like the plague.

It’s important I say something about jumping because so many people doit. Most are killed or injured in theprocess. I cannot tell you whether ornot you should jump. Every fire,although similar, is different. I cantell you, however, what usually happens to “jumpers”.

If you’re on the 1st floor, you could just OPEN the window and climbout. From the second floor you couldprobably make it with a sprained ankle, but you must jump out far enough toclear the building. Many people hitwindow sills and ledges on the way down, and they go into cartwheels. If they don’t land on their head and killthemselves, they’re injured seriously. If you’re any higher than the 3rd, the chances are you won’t survive thefall. You would probably be better offfighting the fire. Nearby buildings seemcloser than they really are and many have died trying to jump to a buildingthat looked 5 feet away, but was actually 15 feet away.

Panic is what causes most people to jump. There was a fire in Brazil a few years ago where40 people jumped from windows and all 40 died. Ironically, 36 of those jumped after the fire was out. Many people have survived by staying putwhilst those around them jumped to their death. If you can resist panic and think clearly, you can use your own bestjudgment.

Believe it or not, most hotels will not call the fire department untilthey verify whether or not there really is a fire and try to put it outthemselves. Should you call thereception to report a fire, they will always send the bellhop, security guard,or anyone else that’s not busy to investigate. Hotels are very reluctant to “disturb” their guests and fireengines in the streets are quite embarrassing and tend to draw crowds.

In the New Orleans hotel fire, records show that the fire departmentreceived only one call, from a guest in one of the rooms. The desk had been notified of fire 20 minutesearlier and had sent a security guard to investigate. His body was later found on the 12th floorabout 10 feet from the elevator.

Should you want to report a fire or smell of smoke, ask the hoteloperator for an outside line for a local call. Call the fire department and tell them your room number in case you needto be rescued. You need not feelembarrassed, that’s what we’re here for. We would much rather come to a small fire or smoking electrical motelthat you smelled than be called 20 minutes later after 6 people have died. Don’t let hotel “policy” intimidateyou into doing otherwise. The hotel maybe a little upset with you, but really ... who gives a damn. The fire department will be glad you called:you may have saved many lives. Besides,it’s a great way for us to meet people!

Well, the rest is up to you. Onlyyou can condition yourself to react in a hotel emergency. You can be well prepared by developing thehabits we’ve talked about.

If you haven't been instructed in how to put on a life jacket, e.g. if the video show it is not visible, then the muster drill does not conform as it is a SOLAS requirement that instruction on putting on a lifejacket is given during the muster drill. If the video isn't visible then instruction obviously hasn't been given.

If that happened on a cruise ship I was on I would talk to reception about the issue, and also write a letter addressed to the Safety Officer (A senior Deck Officer).

VP

Carnival are quoted on the London stock exchange so you don't need to use a U.S. broker. Currently, 100 shares will cost about £4,900.

There are many excellent U.K. online stock brokers who you can use to buy and sell shares. Everything is managed using their online website so you won't get stock certificates, which is good - stock certificates are a royal pain when it comes to buying and selling.... Instead you'll have an "online share dealing account." Carnival (Princess, P&O etc) are happy to accept a screenshot showing your holdings as proof that you own the shares. I've been doing that for at least 10 years....

To find an online broker, go to http://www.londonstockexchange.com/find-a-broker and search for execution-only brokers. The two brokers I use are both listed.

Things to watch out for: some stockbrokers charge a yearly or quarterly fee, and as you're not a regular investor they are best avoided, instead select a stockbroker that doesn't charge holding fees. Also compare the fees charged by stockbrokers; the ones I use each charge less than £10 whenever I buy I or sell shares. The only other fee is Stamp Duty Reserve Tax charged by HMRC, which is 0.5%.

Buying and selling shares with an online broker is easier than buying books from amazon.co.uk :)

The linked-in page shows him with the bars of a Staff (Deputy) Captain whilst wearing a senior officer's P&O hat. So the original poster could try asking their question on the P&O forum....

VP

According to several medics I've spoken to, unfortunately, having fingers or a thumb mangled in a door isn't that rare an event.

The cause is almost always the same - the bathroom door. Although on many ships they are held open with a magnetic catch, it's not that strong. So if someone puts their hand in the door jamb and the ship moves then the door can suddenly close. Ouch. Also people close the door using the edge of the door instead of the handle, again if the ship moves then the door could move rather more quickly than expected and again, ouch.

So folks, please *never* put your hand where a door can close on it, and always use the handles....

VP

It's extremely easy to buy shares in the UK - all you need is an online stock broker.

https://www.money.co.uk/share-dealing.htm lists some online stock brokers, there are many others. Just google for them. Whichever you use, make sure they are a member of the London Stock Exchange and are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

If you aren't planning on becoming an active stock trader then find an online stock broker that has no ongoing or transfer fees. That means once you've bought them it costs nothing to keep them. Banks typically charge an annual fee :mad: so I have *never* traded shares using a high street bank.

Carnival in the UK (which includes P&O and Cunard) are happy to accept a screenshot in an email showing your stock holdings. Very easy to do. See https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/before-you-sail/shareholder_use

I've held Carnival shares for about ten years now; the onboard credit I've received has more than covered their cost - the dividends have been useful - and the shares have more than doubled in value :cool:

I was going down the stairs while a man was coming up the stairs. I had my right hand on the railing, he had his left hand on the railing. He was NOT going to give way, so I did. As I was passing him the ship lurched left and I nearly fell flat. I was in 5" heels, no less. It was probably the closest I've ever come to staircase disaster. I feel for anyone who takes a fall on a staircase.

I've worked at some fairly dangerous places - e.g. a weapons research establishment; I also worked in the nuclear power industry and visited nuclear power stations under construction. The rules regarding hazardous stairways was always the same : the right hand is *always* on the railing, not the left hand.

The reason it's the right hand is that most people are right handed, and the strong hand should be on the railing. That's also the same reason why on escalators on the London underground the rule is "stand on the right".

Aurora is very stable being an old fashioned liner design with a pointed bottom instead of a flat one; I've been on her in a force 10 and she was fine.

Aurora is a modern design with a flat bottomed hull. Her hull is pointed from the bulbous bow to the shoulder; from the shoulder aft her hull has a flat bottom. Below is a picture of Oriana in dry dock; she's very similar to Aurora.

This is typical of passenger ships built since the early 1900s and earlier. The Olympic-class ships (Olympic, Brittanic and most famous Titanic) all were flat bottomed. So was the first ship I crossed the Atlantic on, Cunard's RMS Queen Elizabeth (launched in 1938).

On several occasions, my wife and I have been unable to leave an elevator due to the passengers pushing in before anyone could get off.

On each occasion I was standing next to the control panel - so I just held the "door open" button.

When asked why I was doing so by one of the pushers, I smiled and said "because there are a number of people on this elevator who want to get off on this deck. Perhaps you'd kindly let them do so?"

VP

Things are indeed very different in the UK. Deposits are not refundable; if the price falls then "tough luck", etc.

And as prices change so quickly I (almost) always book cruises directly with the cruise line. The price difference or additional onboard credit etc. that travel agents offer is usually something between zero and zero; it's now quite rare that a travel agent can offer a better price.

To the OP: your travel agent knows that prices can change quickly; the fact that you didn't get the booking at the quoted price is in my opinion their fault for not completing the booking before the agent went for lunch. The agent didn't "work hard", if they had done so you'd have got the cruise at the quoted price.

VP

Nice to see Cunard are not going up in size:

 

The vessel will be built in Monfalcone, Italy, and will join Cunard’s fleet in 2022. The as-yet-unnamed cruise liner will join Queen Victoria, Queen Mary 2, and Queen Elizabeth as the fourth member of the Cunard fleet, marking the first time since 1998 when the cruise company had four ships in service. With a gross tonnage of 113,000 and the capacity of 3,000 passengers, the new vessel will be the 249th ship to fly the Cunard flag.

The new ship isn't going up in size but it could be significantly more crowded.

Space/pax ratio on the new ship is 113000 GT /3000 pax which is about 37.

Space/pax ratio on the QM2 is 149215 GT /2695 pax which is about 55.

(Note that tonnage isn't the ship's weight, it's a measure of the internal volume).

I think I'll give the new Cunard ship a miss....

VP

It's fairly common for a blockage to occur sometime after about 11pm on a formal night, and the type of item causing the blockage is often the same.

Let me explain.....

On a formal night, people tend to have a drink or two, or sometimes three or four more than they usually would.

Unfortunately some people have rather more than that and......... well, let's just say that the item causing the blockage is often false teeth.

:eek:

You definitely can leave books in the library, there is almost always a pax swap area. I've picked up some brilliant books & given quite a few that disappeared very quickly.

But if it's something slightly unusual but extremely good... e.g. Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko (truly superb, very Russian, very dark), you might want to talk to your cabin steward and ask if there are any crew who (e.g. in this case) like Harry Potter books but want to try something a bit darker... and then pass them off to her/him.

VP

The steward will provide both decaf and caffeinated coffee refills. Neither my wife or I like decaf so we ask the steward to just provide high-octane :) coffee and that's what we get.

The stewards (and indeed, every crew member I've known) will do what they can for us... but they aren't (quite!) mind-readers. So a few polite requests to the steward, wine-waiter, waiter, etc. on the first few days can make all the difference to our cruise.... and also to their tips (y)

VP

My wife and I always pick a cabin towards the stern of the ship..... we like to feel the motion especially when the weather is interesting, we know we're at sea :) An upgrade would probably mean a midships cabin which move less.... so we always tick "no upgrades." as midships cabins are considered an upgrade from those towards the bow or stern.

Edited to add: Deck 8 (Australia Deck) on Arcadia can be noisy in the morning esp. towards the stern as the Lido buffet is open, and the crew will be putting out loungers on the aft deck for sunseakers on deck 9.Expected noises don't wake me so I don't have a problem, but light sleepers will rightly complain that from about 6am (so I'm told) it can be noisy in a cabin on deck 8 aft.

And cabins on higher decks are considered an upgrade from those lower down....

VP

Most cruise ships only have a few cabins where the bunks are atwartship and those are the cabins we always pick, most of the time it means a great nights sleep.

But in a heavy sea with decent pitching those cabins can be interesting... there have been a few nights where my wife and I have had trouble staying on the bunk and have considered sleeping on the floor. Decent pitching with little roll... e.g. westward passage across the Atlantic in winter :)

Some cruise ship classes have a high GM even for a cruise ship - Spirit class (Carnival) and Vista class (Holland-America, P&O, Cunard) in particular are quite stiff. Which to me is uncomfortable to start with, but after a few hours I actually prefer the ship saying to me "I want to be UPRIGHT!!!"

But the abrupt change of motion from rolling to not rolling (scientifically,it's called "jerk", it's the rate of change of acceleration) can catch people out especially if they are on a staircase and not holding the rail... :(

VP