SeaJane

A horrible day here today - heavy rain all afternoon and gloomy and feeling cold. Where has Spring gone?

Pleased to see you back Andy and to hear that you and Michelle are well.
So sorry to hear that Kalos and Mrs K have both been feeling unwell, but glad to see that Kalos is also back with us.

I don’t post that often, but read the threads every day so like others have missed your contributions. 

5 hours ago, Lily lady said:

Is it just me or is anyone else looking at cruise clothes especially the more formal wear and cocktail dresses etc ,and thinking will i ever wear them again. They are not suitable for most other holidays, we don't socialise much outside holidays.

I’m feeling exactly the same. Although we do socialise at home quite a lot in normal times I almost always wear trousers and smart tops. Cruises are the only times I wear dresses these days so I have lots of those and especially the long glittery ones that are gathering dust in the wardrobe. I’m reluctant to have a clear out at the moment as I’m still hopeful of a return to normality sometime. 

Thank you to Gettingwarmer and Izzywiz for organising this thread and to all of you who have posted your wonderful photos. It’s brought back many happy memories of the places we have visited and given inspiration for more places to hopefully visit in the future.

I played golf this morning - first time for months that we have been able to have competitions. We had a lighthearted one playing in 3s. Weather was dry, but with a cold wind so afterwards we all had a quick cup of coffee outdoors in groups of 6. It was lovely to see everyone again and even better our team was 2nd and we won a bottle of wine each! 

I’m afraid I’m also a member of the fallers club. A few weeks ago everywhere around here was very muddy and twice on our daily walks I slipped over! Very embarrassed and wounded pride definitely, but thankfully apart from some bruises and coming home covered in mud I didn’t suffer any after effects. OH now keeps telling me to be careful and watch where I’m walking which can be quite irritating 🤣🤣

Went for our usual walk this morning and it was already quite windy. It’s strengthened significantly since then, but still no sign of any rain yet.

We’ve just been to the vaccination centre. OH had an appointment at 4pm and although mine was booked for next Friday they were happy to vaccinate me as well today. We’re both really pleased to have now had our second jabs. 

5 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

It looks beautiful, where in Cornwall are you ?

The photo is taken at the mouth of the Camel estuary near Polzeath on the north coast. The scenery is beautiful.

We are half way through our trip to Cornwall and it’s another beautiful day. A long walk this morning followed by lunch outdoors in the sunshine. Bliss!

11 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

Stupid question but where do you get the forecast from ?

It comes from DWP via www.gov.uk. If you google pension forecast it should come up as an option. Alternatively if you are already registered on the HMRC website with a Government gateway access you can view it directly.

2 hours ago, Dermotsgirl said:

I'm thinking you might be in a similar situation to me, where you were in a final salary pension scheme, and therefore were 'contracted out'  of SERPS (State Earnings Related Pension Scheme)

 

This meant that we paid a lower National Insurance Contribution as the workplace pension scheme undertook to pay the SERPS element of our pension.

 

As we paid a lower NIC, it means our State Pension is lower than someone who didn't have our excellent work pension scheme.

 

However, the good news is that, for every year we pay NI after 2016, we increase our state pension up to the amount of the full New State Pension, currently £179.60 pw

 

I was contracted out of SERPS for most of my working life, as I worked in banking and therefore had final salary pension schemes. I stopped working at the end of 2014, so haven't paid NI through employment since then. Since 2016 I've paid voluntary NIC each year to boost my state pension. I now need to pay voluntary NIC for the years 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, and I will reach the full NSP amount. 

 

If you are not working, it may be something you could consider, and payments can be backdated. 

 

If you haven't already done so, it's worth getting a state pension forecast, so you know exactly where you stand 

I was in the same situation as you. I was contracted out all my working life (Civil Service) and retired when I was 57 in 2012. Although I had enough years of NI contributions to qualify for the full basic state pension under the old rules I was able to increase my pension under the new rules by paying voluntary NI. I paid a further 4 years contributions which cost about £2800, but it increased my weekly pension, when I finally qualified for it at just short of my 66th birthday, by over £20 a week. In my view well worth it! Anyone who thinks they maybe affected due to retiring early should certainly apply for a pension forecast to check any shortfalls.

14 minutes ago, Eddie99 said:

I wonder if that was a one-off or some sort of glitch?

I’ve booked on board, on launch, more than once and never had any problem

We were able to pre-register on board Arcadia in October 2019. We were in Europe and they set up an additional booking area open in the morning in one of the lounges. It was busy, but worked well.

On 4/3/2021 at 10:07 AM, AnnieC said:

Dorsoduro is my favourite part of Venice as well and we've stayed there for a total of about six weeks - good vap links, half decent supermarket, plenty of space, nice bars and restaurants, and the Giudecca Canal for boat watching. Staying in the centre of Venice for more than a few days can become very claustrophobic.

Dorsoduro is also our favourite part of Venice. We have stayed there 3 times in the last few years. We spent our 40th wedding anniversary there with 3 of my “bridesmaids “ and their husbands and had a fabulous time. 

Beautiful day here today, 23° and hardly a cloud in the sky. We played golf this morning and it was great to able to wave and shout hello to some of our friends at the club. I haven’t played since October and although we’ve been walking 3-4 miles every day in lockdown I found golf really tiring and we only did 9 holes. Have had to spend the afternoon sitting in the garden with a bottle of cold rosé! 

OH and I both had the AZ vaccine. Our cards had our names on the top and the date and batch number that we had the jab. OH’s also has the date of his 2nd jab appointment.

Just to mention that on Aurora breakfast is served in the Glass House and on Arcadia in Sindhu (there is no Epicurean on either ship.)

20 hours ago, swjumbo said:

What perks does one get on a P&O cruise in a suite? Is there a different dining room or bar? I can’t find any references anywhere! Thank you.

You can also order lunch or dinner from the MDR menu to be served in your suite and any items ordered from the room service menu come without the usual additional charge.

11 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

It must depend on the local courier, because our Hermes lady is excellent, always on time whatever the weather.

Ours is too.

A local friend of mine who is in her early 50s had a text at 2pm yesterday and was able to have her jab at the mass vaccination centre at 4 pm.

7 hours ago, Splice the mainbrace said:

 

I'm registered with P&O with contact preferences for email and post (just checked again) but I don't seem to get the emails or anything through the post recently. Get loads (2 a day) from the TA that we have used sometimes!!

Same for us we haven’t had any of the emails that others have mentioned recently. We did however get the one about the new insurance requirements so they obviously haven’t lost our email address! 

14 minutes ago, ann141 said:

Thank you.I had forgotten about diverting to Ajaccio from Propiano. We were unable to get back onboard at Civitacchia for several hours- quite exciting!

A couple on our dining table were in the same situation - they were stuck in the terminal building for several hours.

We didn’t mind missing Propriano as we’d visited previously on a land holiday and we really liked Ajaccio.

9 minutes ago, ann141 said:

Was that the cruise on Aurora?

Yes it was. The one that had the “interesting” experience in Civitavecchia! We were confined onboard that day watching the tugs holding her against the dock.

We went to Ajaccio in May 2019. We should have been in Propriano, but the sea was too rough to tender there so we diverted.

It started off dull and cold here, but has been sunny this afternoon. By current standards a busy day for us!

We started with our usual Tuesday coffee over Zoom with 3 other couples - always a good laugh. Then we went for a long walk across the local golf course and this afternoon drove to Homebase to buy batteries for the burglar alarm. I feel quite tired out 🤣🤣

We have never been on Britannia, but have booked suites on other P&O ships. The canapés are generally not great, but as with everything it’s down to personal taste. There are a lot of small pastry tartlets with strange fillings! We do however enjoy the smoked salmon on rye and the chocolate dipped strawberries  - the nicer ones are usually on formal nights! 
Being able to have a peaceful unhurried breakfast in a separate restaurant for us is one of the best suite perks! 

Another lovely sunny day here. OH has been gardening (filling up the brown bin for collection on Wednesday) and I did a bit of housework.

Exciting news! I had a phone call from my hairdresser and have an appointment for April 12th 🤞😀

We also love Valletta and have visited twice. It was a place I had always wanted to see as my Dad was in the Navy in WW2 and was on one of the destroyers  that escorted the convoy that relieved the island from starvation in 1942. All those serving on the ships were awarded a special medal and in 1995 it was presented to him by the Maltese High Commissioner in London.