GOQ

Thanks for posting that link Presto2. Looking at the webpage I notice it is an Antiviral, which is just what we need. I believe these alcohol based hand cleaners are only effective against bacteria. Will definitely be buying some of this stuff.. Added Found on the internet: "Why is Norovirus resistant to alcohol-based hand sanitiser? Norovirus is a non-enveloped virus with a protein membrane protecting it, as opposed to the lipid membrane of an enveloped virus. The protein membrane around a norovirus cell is not broken down by hand sanitiser and so it is not effective in protecting against infection. The best way to avoid catching Norovirus is to wash your hands for 20 seconds minimum and scrub underneath your fingernails."

I have done about 30 cruises and this was the first time I have had any gastrointestinal illness, that is 1 in 30, so I suppose that is not bad odds. I frequently come away from a cruise with a few sniffles or a light cold, a few heavy colds and once I needed antibiotics for a chest infection. This time I was a bit unlucky, at least 4 times people sat besides or directly behind me continuously coughing. Just bad luck. And luckily I did have a balcony so I could get some fresh air. I was doing about 5 cruises a year, I have lost a bit of my confidence now I don’t think I will be booking any new cruses for a while.

Thanks for your reply No it's not my first cruise, more like my 30th and my worst. Perhaps it's just because I am getting older and just can't hack it anymore. Oh, and in addition to the illness I was stopped and questioned by the police in Valencia and my homeward flight was delayed by 45mins causing me to miss my bus at Gatwick. Sort of just adds up.

Before embarking on my recent Azura cruise I received an email from P&O informing me there was Norovirus onboard. And there were precautions being taken in the form of the buffet waiters serving food and drinks. Then about two thirds of the way through the cruise they reverted to self service, then I got ill with diarrhea and vomiting. I rang 999 and reported it and was promptly told to self isolate in my cabin, they asked me about my symptoms, phoned me up a few times to check my symptoms and that was it, on my own for 2 days. The only visit I had was from a nurse? Not to ask how I was or if I needed anything, only to deliver a questionnaire and a sample bottle and quickly disappear. I am in my seventies and a solo cruiser, sick and alone in my cabin for 2 days. Throughout the cruise there were many passenger coughing and sneezing, mainly over me I seems. After I started to get through the Norovirus symptoms got these as well, a cough, sore throat and runny nose. I don’t know if I had Norovirus and a heavy cold at the same time, but it’s certainly putting me off cruising.

Thank you all for your advise: @kevcharben for your experience with Emirates. @elmsliebev I will ask a travel agent how and if they can modify any flights P&O might offer. @julymorning for your experience on layover time, transferring between connections is something I had not considered. @terrierjohn and @thejugger booking my own flights would not seem to be an option. Trying to do a dummy booking, when I get to flight options and select opt-out option the response is: “Please note, there will be no change to your holiday price”, so it would seem quite an expensive option to book my own flights.

How did you find Emirates, and was your stopover in Dubai? Yes 23hrs is maybe optimistic, but I am thinking the duration of the stopover will have some impact, a longer journey but more time for a break between flights.

P&O Flights to Australia. I am considering taking a segment of a P&O world cruise from ether Sydney to Hong Kong or from Singapore to Sydney. Only the thought of a 23 hour flight from London to Sydney is a bit scary. I made inquires from my local TA asking for details of the flights for these cruises and all she could tell me was that P&O only release flight details 6 months before the cruise. I then went to the future cruise lady on an Aurora cruise and asked the same question. She told me the same but implied there might be a choice of flights/airlines within a set price range and outside this range there might be a choice for a supplement. How might this work? Would P&O assign me a flight e.g. London Dubai – Dubai Sydney without any choice and that’s final or a list of flight options, maybe some at an additional cost. I have done some googling and found out there are at least 6 airlines doing the route London to Sydney at various stopover points and different flight duration e.g.: Quantas: London Perth 16hr 35min – Perth Sydney 4hr 10min with 2hr 55 min stopover. Emerates: London Dubai 7hrs – Dubai Sydney 13hr 30min with 1hr 20min stopover. Etc. Can anyone with experience of Australia based cruises offer any advise on the Airlines P&O use and, if there is a choice of flights/airline, which might be the best stopover choice. Sorry if I am over-complicating this, but as I wrote 23 hours is a bit scary.

Usually early December.

I downloaded the Stockperks App then entered and verified my email address. I have a Halifax share dealing account so I just did the same as when I used to apply directly to P&O, I printed out a statement of my shareholding deleting my account information, so just containing my name, number of shares, valuation and valuation date then uploaded it to Stockperks. I then received an acknowledgement of my "Manual Brokerage Statement Submission". Then another email to confirm that my ownership had been processed and validated. On a Friday I used the App to apply for two cruises I have booked for March and May. On Monday morning I received emails from Stockperks and P&O to inform me that both cruises had the Shareholder obc applied.

I have been on quite a few Thomson/Marella cruises starting with Destiny, and the obvious benefits are: Fly from your local airport, all inclusive and up until recently good value, a low number of sea days per cruise and Marella do really have a good selection of cruise itineraries (I hope they bring back the USA cruises). However as a Solo cruiser I have a slightly different viewpoint on Marella. The drawbacks for me are: I am limited to a choice of 15 inside or 15 outside cabins in fixed blocks on the lower decks, it gets a bit boring after a few cruises, and no option of a balcony. Limited ship type, either Discovery “Type” or Explorer “Type”, again it gets a bit boring. If I could change the cabin location it would not seem so bad. If I don’t book really early, most of the cruises I would like to book disappear, but they are still there if I put 2 people in the cruise search. It seems once those 15+15 cabins are gone that's it, no Marella cruise for me. The Solo cruise experience is very hit or miss, if you get a good Solos organizer it is great, otherwise it can be a poor experience. So I tend to do more cruises with P&O these days, I can book any cabin I choose, there are much more Solo passengers on P&O and I don’t have to book a year in advance to get a Solo cabin. So my Marella cruises were 3 times a year, then 2, then 1 and now 0. But I am still getting bombarded with mail and emails from Marella trying to sell me a cruise. They can't seem to figure out why I haven't booked any cruise lately.

When you consider in 2018 the per share price was around £40 so a hundred shares would have cost you £4000 but today the cost is about £1100. Maybe they are considering raising the minimum number of shares held, to say 400.

You too, at least you are doing stuff. My little brother died aged 55, my wife at 60 and my father aged 69, I am now in my early seventies and my old body now hurts quite a lot, so I had better just get on with doing some adventure. 😵 On my list are: Panama Canal. Suez Canal (if it's safe). And Australia. Good luck Paul

Thank you very much for your post @dmwnc1959, the Panama canal is on my bucket list, but I am such a scary cat I need to work up the courage to do such things, and your post helps. Thanks

Again sorry to cause any upset, I really know how difficult it can be. Perhaps it would be nice if you could ask your wife to contribute a few sentences to your daily report , so we can all see her point of view. I often find myself crying when I think of my late wife and what she had do go through, it would be so nice to think your wife is getting enjoyment from life.

It is NOT bait, it is a difference of opinion on a single topic, it is definitely not bait so please don't start stirring. I am just as interested in these reports as you are, so please don't start any further accusations.