9265359

After yesterday’s freezing cold walk out to the aircraft at Gatwick, today is a glorious mid twenties here in Tenerife with a view of the floating tower block that is Iona from my balcony.

I was interested to see the Valiant Lady appearing in Sky Italia's new drama TV series 'Unwanted', about a cruise ship being taken over by shipwrecked refugees. Unwanted: le location della serie tv di Sky tratta dal libro Bilal di Fabrizio Gatti (today.it)

Maybe that was the case in the past but iWeb (www.iweb-sharedealing.co.uk) which I use to hold my investments and is an HBOS company (their systems are identical to the Halifax systems but the charges are far better) was more than happy last November to send me by post a letter confirming ownership of Carnival shares to obtain shareholder benefits.

If you were of that mindset then with the verification method used in the past it would not have been hard to provide the proof without ever needing to own the shares (obviously I am not going to say how), so it is no wonder that Carnival is updating the checks.

Often cheaper to simply hire a car for a few days - Cicar is my recommendation because they are fully inclusive and don't add an additional expensive CDW charge and don't charge any extra for one-way hires between their depots.

The nearest SuperDino is https://maps.app.goo.gl/RiUYBxSmH1LtRwaR8 - stop in on the way back from a stroll to Parque García Sanabria.

Well the last time I went to Butlins was in the 1970's and I am sure much has changed since then, but it certainly isn't like Benidorm, and despite what some people here suggest, neither are Arvia or Iona. What you will be picking up from here is that over the last decade P&O (as a brand within Carnival Corporation) has changed pretty dramatically. Go back a decade and it was more elderly and far more 'middle England'. The changes to the P&O brand were starting to happen before 2020 but the events of 2020 accelerated them, and with a lot of cabins to fill and debts to pay P&O has cut prices and has cut services - much to the dislike of some because now those who could not previously afford a cruise now can with P&O and are doing so - I was recently on Azura and there were plenty of people on board commenting on how they had paid £500 each for a 7 day fly cruise to the Canary Islands - now that is Benidorm money. Britannia as a ship is fine, although personally I find it is slightly dated, but not as much as Azura / Ventura, and I prefer the more modern styling of Iona / Arvia. Food on P&O ships seems to have retreated over the last few years, not so much in quality but in choice, with it retreating back to the rather safe / dull offerings that might have been found in provincial UK restaurants in the 1980s - it certainly isn't anywhere close to the range and variety of food available on any high street in the UK or offered on the other Carnival brand ships such as Costa. Entertainment has also changed, with a higher proportion of X Factor or other TV show singers - but they seem to popular with the people on board. In summary, it isn't Butlins / Benidorm, but it has become a product priced down to a cost aimed to attract a mass market consumer base.

"taking" - were they demanding them from passengers after they had been identified by the x-ray machine / searching bags or simply accepting them if voluntarily handed over, as there is quite a difference.

The £999 cruises are flying into Barbados and flying out of Antigua - hence £745.

Well they aren't now.

I have - pre-Christmas cruises on Azura this year.

The cost of a return flight from Google flights.

They did when I was onboard just before Christmas.

Well that's effectively what they are offering. Currently you can book a 7 night in January for £999 and the cost of the flights there and back on the cheapest scheduled airline would £745 - so the cost of a 7 night cruise is £254.

And they will have a staff member sat at a desk just past where you scan you card as you get onboard to declare and hand over any alcohol - but the staff member will be sat there twiddling their thumbs as nobody has handed over anything at all all day. Even when they have the security xray conducted on the ship and the crew can see bottles in bags nothing is handed over.

Given the cost of scheduled flights they would have to be giving away the cruises for nothing for that to make sense to most people.

You may or may not be lucky as the Stagecoach website says it will run from "30th April until 24th September 2023 (and corresponding dates in subsequent years)" - Visit Orkney with Stagecoach Bus Now the 30th April 2023 was the last Sunday in April, so it depends whether they mean it will run from the last Sunday in April every year or the 30th April every year. Perhaps contacting them directly will give you an answer - Contact us FAQs | Stagecoach (stagecoachbus.com)

They make early morning sweeps of the decks to round up any bags that are put out later than that.

My observation is the vast vast majority of people keep to the scheduled disembarkation so to place the blame for any problems that occur on the trivial number that do not is rather a stretch. In fact I would actually suggest that those few actually reduce the issue by getting out of the way before the problems occur. I would also suggest that the main issues for any problems are that people seem to leave their brains behind when getting on a cruise ship - how long do you need to be onboard before you realise that you need your cruise card at the port gate AND at the bottom of the gangplank AND at the top of the gangplank? And that up arrows mean the lift is going up? And that the even cabins are all on the same side? Etc. Etc.

Santa Cruz, Tenerife at 6.30pm it is still 21c, so nice to sit out on the aft deck of Azura. Unfortunately flying back tomorrow, but then back here again in four weeks for a couple of months.

The only difference between the standard and formal night menu on the cruise I am on Azura at the moment is a small cup of cold spiced tomato soup. There has been nothing impressive about them at all. As a result I have opted out of the majority, choosing the Glass House instead on those nights.

I have never seen queues on stairs or around muster stations, or chaos in the baggage hall. Perhaps it is because I am long gone before that occurs.

Well there seems to be lots of people fooled by all the supermarket’s ‘increase the price to offer a fake discount with a loyalty card’ schemes.

True, but disappointing that P&O has resorted to such deceptive practices, particularly when they are making at least 20% more profit than the High Street.

I noticed today that the webpage for the DUTY FREE prices has some nice ‘weasel wording’ on it “Enjoy a saving of up to 15% on every item compared to its average UK high street price” https://www.pocruises.com/onboard-activities/shopping “Up to” - hmm… so one item could have a 15% discount and everything else 0% and that offer would still be fulfilled. Quite a change from the past when they guaranteed the 20% VAT saving on everything.