TigerB

The ambulance crew left the ship about forty minutes or so ago with their gurney that had the medical equipment on it. No one was taken off, so hopefully they are okay. The ambulance and port police have since left. We are still tied up and there are still a couple of crew members on the quayside. I haven't seen the stevedores return. Hopefully, the captain will not decide on an overnight in Valencia

Interesting information, thanks. We dock in Lanzarote for the first time next February. It will be on a Saturday for us though. At least, on the way back home we will have an overnight stay in Lisbon.

For the second night running there is an ambulance on the quayside; this time they have come on board with a gurney that has all their medical equipment on.

Ours tonight was almost the same as yours... On the recommended menu though, we didn't have those posh sounding 'chunky chios'; just regular boiled taties... And, of course, only half the choice of after dinner digestifs. Is that because there are more rich old folk on Ventura? 🫢

@Selbourne, as my meeting last night wasn't with the Food and Beverage Manager, I didn't get to the bottom of Preservegate. At breakfast though today though there was no jam or marmalade on any of the tables surrounding us. Either the brass had read your thread, or they are running out. Incidentally, how on earth do you manage to run out of grapefruit juice just six days into a fourteen day cruise?🙄

The so called chunky chips they promise in the MDRs are rarely that! What you get in Epicurean though, now that is a chunky chip. We actually prefer the toast to go cold before buttering it. With thick bread though, that's a different story, but something we would never order on a ship or anywhere else where it takes more than twenty seconds to get from the kitchen to your table. For us, a toasted doorstep has to be buttered, with proper butter mind, as soon as it comes out of the toaster, and eaten straightaway.😋

I could always rely on that as a standby if nowt else took my fancy. Mind you, since they now serve it at breakfast instead of smoked salmon, they probably don't have enough to go around.

I do hope that's not the same menu for us; very uninspiring! Looking at the Chef's recommendation, I am left wondering what a chunky chio is.🤔

I met last night with the Bar Team Leader. Before we got down to it, he got me a pint of Punk IPA.👍 When he returned he had the Assistant Bar Manager with him. Two thoroughly nice chaps, who listened to my concerns. They had already been made aware of the incorrect menus being on My Holiday, and said it is a fleet wide problem and down to the IT team back in the UK. An IT problem with P&O; you don't say? Anyway, the long and short of it is that the overcharges that have already gone through will be adjusted, and there will be chilled bottle of bubbly waiting for us at our next Epicurean reservation.👍 I do hope it's the good stuff that they sell in there!😉 I also found out something during that meeting that I wasn't aware of previously. The 10% tax imposed by Spain whilst docked or in Spanish waters, doesn't apply to all cruise lines; it's down to what can be negotiated. I joked that the Spanish government are making us have it for Brexit. The thing is, there's probably some truth in that!🤔

"Love, love, do not make eye contact; I repeat, do not make eye contact. Oh, bugger!"🤦🏻‍♂️ You should have told her what you are paying for your 65 nighter. 😉 I had this the other night; on here you get two tortillas, but only the saucer sized ones. Of course, I asked for two more!🐷 Lightweights!🙄😂

Thanks for explaining!👍 We can always rely our 'insider' 🙂

They possibly did, but I don't know why they couldn't have still gone across the larger gangway that was still connected to deck 6; they certainly weren't late coming back. It was a good twenty minutes before they assembled the shorter gangway from deck 3/4, delaying the disembarkation of the patient. I suppose though that it was closer to the medical centre and would have been more private for the patient. Anyway, I wish the patient well.

We've been out to deck 8 for the departure from Barcelona, primarily to watch the pier runners. An ambulance arrived about forty minutes ago. One gangway had already been retracted, and the other one was starting to be retracted, but it appeared there were passengers still waiting to board, held back by ship's security. The ambulance moved closer to the ship, and a gangway was extended from deck 3 or 4, forward port side. They brought someone down in a wheelchair and they were placed on the ambulance. The passengers that were held back ate now being allowed back onboard. I do hope the person taken off, whether it be a passenger or crew member, are looked after and get well soon.

Yup! Another hoarder here! I can just imagine the kids clearing the house out when we pop off...🤭

I didn't say they were contaminated, and it didn't look to me that any butter or toast crumbs were present, hence I started my comment with 'if'. The photo was posted by @Selbourne, so I bow to his confirmation as the end-user that there was no evidence of double dipping. However, if he has seen the pots moved from table to table, then the contamination risk to coeliacs still exists.

If those have come from another table, and have previously had buttery knives dipped into them, that is outrageous. Not pleasant for a vegan, with the dairy contamination, but potentially extremely dangerous for a coeliac. For the latter, it doesn't even matter if a knife hasn't been dipped in it; all it takes is a previous table user, who has touched toast or other gluten containing food item, to then touch the outside of the ramekin with the same hand. That small level of contamination is potentially dangerous for a coeliac, more so for one that has high gluten sensitivity like our daughter. Not good at all!😠

Thanks!👍 I'm not sure how it works at sea, but if it were an establishment in the UK I would expect that Trading Standards would be interested. I'll report back later, after my meeting.

Damn straight! #Yorkshire 🤭

Same here, not had it for two days. That appears to support my theory that it is compiled at home and emailed to each ship for printing.

@Selbourne, do me a favour please while you're still on the ship; I expect you will be as you're an hour behind us. Please look at the drink menus on My Holiday, and check at the bottom to establish the date of publication, and reply to me on here. All of ours have a publication date of May, so are showing old prices; there has been a recent price increase of all drinks, which is reflected in the physical menus. Consequently, and as an example, a pint of Punk IPA is now being charged at £5.55 whereas it is still showing as £5.30 on the My Holiday app/non-app. I have asked for an appointment with the Food and Beverage Manager about this issue. Thanks, young man👍

Oh yes, of course!😂

We were speaking with our waiter this morning about this very issue, and he had an input from the perspective of the waiting staff, which matches the view of both you and I. I have asked for an appointment with the Food and Beverage Manager about a totally different issue, that being overcharging in the bars; I will ask about Preservegate also.

Just as I recall, the GF one. Our daughter liked it.

Well, I'm all caught up now. Thanks for the, as always, informative and often amusing reports, Selbourne. I'll check in again when we have data at Barcelona

I've not long come out of his midnight show. Yes, he was funny 👍