Vampire Parrot

We're another hour further up from Sheffield. Honestly, I can't understand his mentality sometimes, I've even looked into taking my own car and driving me and my sister down earlier setting off at 7am but decided that since dad is paying for the basic cruise, he can take the risk if we miss it. We will have appropriate travel insurance with cruise extra added on. I have asked several times if we can leave earlier but he won't have it.

Sheffield to Southampton outskirts is just over 4 hours if everything goes really smoothly. Add another 20 minutes to get to the terminal, depending on traffic... plus an hour as you are north of Sheffield.

Plus ten minutes for a loo stop (you weren't planning to stop and eat on the drive down, I assume?)

So leave at 10, arrive just after 3:30, just after checkin closes.

Ventura is due to sail at 4:30pm on April 25th, and all passengers must be on board one hour before scheduled sail time.

At least you might be in time to watch the ship sail without you :(

Edited to add: insurance won't cover you for missing the ship because you didn't leave enough time to get there.

Are there any cruise ships that don't use roll stabilizers? I'd love to be on a ship that actually rocks and rolls. I'd just like to experience it. I was thinking that perhaps the Cunnard line might, like the QM2.

The Queen Mary 2 has two pairs of stabilizers, which when deployed at optimum speed reduce roll by about 90%.

VP

One other thing: we should remember that a disaster like the Concordia exposes any and all weaknesses in the officers, crew, organisation command structure, anything. The report into the Costa Concordia disaster lays bare the problems that occurred that night. In my sober moments, I wonder just how well a 'British' ship (e.g. a P&O or Cunard ship) would do, if exposed to the same challenges.

The following document describes the P&O Bridge Team Command and Control System.

http://www.cachalots.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/BTCC-and-Arrival-Procedures.pdf

if I remember correctly, the check-in deadline for Ireland flights from Southampton is one hour - so if you are first off the ship at 7:15, you'll be in a taxi and on the road at 7:30, at the airport (if no traffic) by 7:50 so you might just make the 8am deadline. Just. If everything goes perfectly.

Good luck... you'll need it!

VP

I always take the train to/from Rome from Civitavecchia - and plan to be back at Civitavecchia at least 90 minutes before "back on board" time. I always seem meet a few of the ship's crew on the train from Rome so I think I've got the timing about right :o

Being me I always have a plan 'B': I also carry a mobile phone that I know works in Italy, on it are programmed the phone numbers of a few taxi companies, just in case there are problems with the train service. So far the trains are 100% reliable - always about 10 minutes late to Civitavecchia :rolleyes:

VP

Princess . . .

 

I spoke with a senior Captain who was involved in the Star Princess fire enquiry - although a significant number of cabins were destroyed, the sprinkler systems in the cabins and the steel structure of the superstructure meant that there was pretty much no fire or heat damage to the corridors. Good to know!

VP

P & O staff will never go over and above their call of duty

So sorry, but in general I've found P&O crew, from those on their first contract to senior officers, to be extremely helpful and more than willing to go the extra mile. On my last voyage one of the heels of my formal shoes broke off; a ship's fitter whose name I never found out did his best to fix it. He did the work after he'd finished his shift, and sent a note after he'd fixed it to let me know I should leave it for 24 hours for the glue to set.

I could give many examples - I knew a 3rd Officer was going to be posted to Arcadia just before her first refit. I told him I'd be onboard shortly afterwards and could I have copies of his photographs? Two days after I joined the ship I received a CD of photographs.

Another example - my wife and I often request a few extra items to be supplied to our cabin at particular times. Without fail they arrive within 5 mins of the requested time. The cabin steward (Michelle) made sure she was going to do what she'd promised us.

Another example - I requested information about an event in the UK I knew was occurring from one of the entertainment officers as I knew he'd probably be able to find it out for me. That evening he came to my cabin with the info. I'd asked for - and at the time he was on a rest period.

I could continue....

P&O crew aren't (quite!) mindreaders. But in general they will, and do, go far out of their way to give passengers the best holiday they can. And the same is probably true of most cruise lines - I certainly know it's true of Holland America.

VP

He might be fit enough to return to work with P&O in some capacity but would he be able to get a license to be Captain of a ship again? I very much doubt it.

It all depends on his recovery. I know one ship's Master who had to navigate a desk for many years after a near-fatal injury whilst a 1st Officer on a Tall Ship but after a while he came back to sea, and I was fortunate enough to be on board on his first voyage as Master.

I've never met Captain Turnbull but as far as I know if he makes a full recovery there is nothing to stop him regaining his Category 1 medical certificate. ("Fit for sea with no restrictions"). I would guess he was Category 3 ("Temporarily unfit for sea service.")

VP

I spend rather too much time on P&O cruise ships and the smoking policy is strictly enforced. No smoking on balconies/cabins/inside, smoking only permitted on a section of the midships starboard side prom deck and part of the port side aft top passenger deck. I'm hypersensitive to cigarette smoke and never have a problem.

I'm not a vegetarian but I'll often pick the vegetarian option on the menu at dinner as they are usually delicious and very varied. Damnit, the thought of a P&O vegetarian Wellington is making me hungry.... :)

VP

I'm probably going to hell for sure, but I once told a Jehovas's Witness who rang my doorbell that I was a witch.

My favourite trick with Jehovas Witnesses who won't go away is to make the sign of the goat with my left hand and start muttering at them in Latin.

VP

How about Holland America?.

There are no cruises from/to Southampton to the Canary Islands on HAL.

VP

Many years ago I was in a queue, standing behind a woman who was in her 20s who had a very young child in a pushchair with her.

An older woman, in her 70s or 80s, very roughly pushed in front of the young woman, and as she did so said "Oh, I didn't see you there. You don't mind, do you?"

I replied with a smile, "No, we don't mind at all. We have much longer to live than you do."

VP

If you find that the taste/smell of chlorine in ship's water is unpleasant then what you can do is to put a bottle or jug of ship's water in your cabin fridge (if you have one) with the cap removed. After a day it will be nice and cold, and the taste/smell of chlorine is gone.

Whenever I'm asked what kind of water I would like in the speciality restaurants, i.e. "still or sparkling" (at additional cost!) I have been known to reply "ship's water please. I know it's been passed by the Chief Engineer". :rolleyes:

VP

Do Oriana cabins have Euro-sockets? If so, take a Euro-UK adapter, by plugging it in "upside down" you can then use an iPad/cellphone charger.

VP

I lost my (air) pilot's medical certificate 11 years ago due to occasional vertigo attacks. My wife tells me that for the following year or so I was like a bad-tempted grizzly bear with a terrific hangover... I loved being in command of an aircraft and that was taken from me. :mad:

Vertigo hasn't stopped me travelling by ship - even when the seas are high and the wind is storm force or stronger I'm absolutely fine. Vertigo caused by a medical condition has, at least where I am concerned, no effect on my ability to cope with rough seas.

VP

I don't have a problem with people pushing onto the elevator preventing me from getting off. That's because I'm usually within reach of the control panel, and I just keep my finger on the "door open" button.

When asked what I'm doing, I very politely, with a gentle smile, point out that as I'm leaving the elevator on this floor, I will keep the door open until I can leave.

It's amazing how many people actually blush and apologies profusely when they realise just how rude they have been.... :)

VP

A friend of mine who works for an airline came to stay with me in the UK for a holiday, he was due to go home after 2 weeks, travelling home on a standby ticket.

Six weeks after he arrived, he was still waiting for a seat on a flight home.... and he wasn't bothered, because his contract of employment specifically said that if he was travelling on a standby ticket to get back to work and a seat wasn't available, he would keep his job and still get paid :D

In the end the airline booked/paid for a full-fare flight home for him...

The lesson is that on some routes, standby seats might not be available for weeks at a time.

VP

Note how the up and down movement is far worse right forrard or aft - that is where the late payers will be as they are just allocated a cabin and those will be the last booked

I have to book my vacations many months and sometimes over a year in advance. My wife and I book a cabin as far aft as we can get.... one reason is because we quite enjoy the ride... although on occasions, not falling off the bed when the seas are high has been a challenge!

VP

So can they handle a Sheet of those Moist Toilet wipes ? or is there an alternate "disposal" Option.

Please do not put a moist toilet wipe down the toilet as it can block it.

Only human waste & ship-supplied toilet paper should go down the toilet. The ship's toilet paper is designed to fall apart after a few minute's immersion in water so that it can then be pumped through the narrow pipes.

VP

In the aviation industry, pax are sometimes referred to as SLF.

SLF = Self Loading Freight.

The following snippet of conversation took place earlier this year.

French coastal station: "Persons on board?"

Officer of the Watch: "560 crew, 1812 passengers"

French coastal station: "Any dangerous cargo?"

Officer of the Watch: "Only the passengers"

VP

I'm afraid that my wife and I both have a wicked sense of humour.... on one cruise, one of the other tablemates complained about many things, usually ending his sentence with "and well, it's not the Oriana" (sister ship in the P&O fleet).

I couldn't help it - on the second evening, he yet again complained and finished with "and well, it's not the Oriana". I said "Yes, I noticed that as well." He said "So, what is it that you noticed?"

Keeping my face straight I said "Just before I boarded, I looked at the hull. Up on the bow is the word 'Arcadia' ".

VP

If the sea is a bit lumpy then you'll feel the movement of the ship more in forward (and aft) cabins. The forward cabins are a bit further to the restaurant and buffet.... but closer to the theatre, Crows Nest & the Rising Sun bar (all of which I spend far too much time in).

Midship cabins next to the glass lifts are fine, it's unlikely you'll hear the lifts as they are quiet. Little ship movement even when the sea is quite lumpy. If you have a balcony next to the glass lifts then you can be seen which may or may not bother you. I guess it depends on what you are doing ;)

As far as door width... perhaps Dai will answer that?

VP

Not a cruise story - but it does involve travel.

Many years ago I was flying home from a business trip on a 747-200, from San Francisco to London Heathrow.

I looked out over the port wing just as the sun was setting.... a very beautiful sight at 33,000 feet... and fuel started pouring out of the dump pipe on the end of the wing. "That's interesting", I thought, "I don't see that very often".

So I pressed the call button, the flight attendant came over and I asked him why were we dumping fuel. "Ha ha, we aren't" he said, I pointed at the wing, he looked at it, went pale, and walked fairly quickly to the flight deck. A few minutes later he came back and asked me to follow him.

The flight engineer told me we were dumping fuel to get down to max landing weight (285 tons) as we had a medical emergency, a passenger was having a suspected heart attack. A short time later an announcement was made that we were diverting.

We landed at Winnipeg airport and the passenger was taken off in a stretcher, and it looked like there were several other passengers attending him. He was loaded onto an ambulance which quickly left with emergency lights on.

We took off about 90 minutes later - we had to refuel and let the brakes cool first. Stopping a 285-ton 747-200 really heats up the brakes, even if full reverse thrust is used!

On the way back I went up to the flight deck again and chatted with the crew.... it turned out that we had about 20 cardiac surgeons and specialists with us, on their way back from a medical conference in San Francisco. Also, many of them had medical equipment with them being taken as hand luggage, stowed in an adjacent seat (in a similar way that some musicians take their instruments as hand luggage).

So the patient had got the best possible care available onboard a civilian airliner... and about an hour before we landed at Heathrow, the Captain told me that he'd just been talking on the company frequency, and the patient was in a stable condition and expected to make a good recovery.

VP

"To be legal, all ship's drinking water has to be passed by the Chief Engineer". (So I've been told)

My parrot's favourite food is "Fresh Finger of Teasing Stranger".