sgmn

Mmmm, when is a Guarentee  not a Guarentee .....

We've got a cruise ex Singapore in a few months with a guarentee. Won't be too happy if we fly half way round the world to get bumped at the port 

5 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

I assume the prices would be different for each segment, depending on the length of that segment and the itinerary? We’re on 2 segments in a spacious balcony on deck 9 and both together don’t add up to that amount

 

 

It's 16 nights, but almost full. The price was considerably less when the mini segments were first released 

3 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

I was shocked that so few cabins are only available in July/August 24 and at such high rates. Why do you expect a ship should be sold out for next summer now? All other Royal ships have significantly more availability in that months.  

Agree BCN to SOU on Serenade has very little left, only guarantees for inside and OV and 12 balconies left. At least that's all they are showing on their website. 

11 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Thank you Sue.

We drove down to Southampton and cruised from there.

We were on P&O Iona.

Have you ever taken P@Os Barbados winter cruises ? 

Several friends have taken Saga cruises which they all rave about. They are very expensive but everything seems to be included, including chauffeur transfers from home to port 

14 hours ago, NHProud said:

  You’ll be able to read about J’s adventures on that other social media platform. He intends to post frequently according to L . You can register with a nom de plume .  Just inform of your screen name or use it . 

Thank you, I may have to sign up. Is it a closed group or would I just 'friend' him 🤔 

16 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Good afternoon.

We have just got home after our 14 night cruise visiting.

Tenerife.

Gran canaria.

Lanzarote.

Madeira.

Lisbon.

La Corunna.

I'm sorry I couldn't say anything before we got home.

Welcome home,

P&O? Did you fly to the Canaries first or cruise from SOU ? 

8 hours ago, kernow said:

How long is that for? 

 

IMO a balcony on this ship is not worth that kind of money wherever it's going.

16 nights, so £337 pppn, standard balcony. BCN to SOU segment, there's some nice ports not normally available in their standard med cruise. There's only a handful of balconies left now, hence the high cost.

We were on her for 12 nights last autumn so we know what we're in for. On Med cruises it's all about the ports. Think there's only three sea days. 

It was a LOT cheaper when we booked

1 hour ago, RFerrington said:

That’s interesting.  I thought I had read, some time ago, that there was nothing but interiors and a few OV remaining available for the full sailing.  Maybe I’m misremembering.

When the mini segments first came out, most just had inside and OV, don't know about the quarter segments or full world cruise.   Ours had nothing above OV , but now they are selling balconies on the minis though not many left and no suites 

4 hours ago, island lady said:

Interesting observation for WC cruisers....the ship is definitely not sold out.  

 

Could not find anything at all at JS and above...but wow....the inside, outside, and even a whole lot of balcony cabins are still up for grabs.   😮 

The mini segments have increased in cost since they were first released.  A balcony cabin on my segment is over £10,800 now (for two without gratuities).

13 hours ago, grapau27 said:

It was -1°C and frosty this morning and got up to 6°C and sunny this afternoon.

I hope you had a wonderful thanksgiving.

I hope everyone is safe and well.

 

Similar down here in the South, a little warmer today, but forecast to get around 6c/1c day/night next week with ❄️ in a few days. 

Gary really feels the cold due to his meds and its a constant battle with him turning up the heating and me turning it down. 

A couple of days ago we had a day trip to Bournemouth for a walk on the beach and lunch in our fav doggy friendly cafe

You can just see the Isle of Wight which you pass sailing from Southampton 

heres a close up

molly enjoying the beach as the sun begins to go down

18 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

I just weighed the latest block for Odyssey from our cruise last month.

It’s the colored one. It’s  34.95 Oz.  Just a bit over 2 lbs.

Same as the old style. I was surprised when I received it how small they are, roughly 4"x3" .

17 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Well when it rains it pours. Seems like there is always something going on with Linda and I’s physical ailments.

 

So Linda just got her MRI back on her shoulder that’s been hurting ever since after her hand surgery. She has a torn rotator cuff and a torn labrum tear. Most likely from using her non dominant arm after the surgery and doing some heavy lifting. If she has surgery right after Christmas it might take a good 6 months to rehab and would mean we might  have to cancel our April 1st Celebrity Beyond sailing.

 

Then my surgical knee is doing well but I now gave numbness and a burning sensation in my non surgical leg in the thigh area. At first I thought it might be due to the spinal block they did but now it’s been 3 weeks and I’m still having issues with it.

 

To make matters worse my groin pain is not any better and I see my doctor on Monday but now I suspect that I have a inguinal hernia. Which would be another surgery to correct that. Hopefully we can schedule everything without minimal interruption to our cruising but I’m now worried we might have to cancel Beyond.

So sorry to hear Greg about all Linda's and yours medical issues. Hope the Dr's can come up with a plan to get you both fighting fit soon 💪 

18 hours ago, BonTexasNY said:

 

Sue, I hit the wrong key and the space for me to respond to your post went in cyber space.  What I wanted to post was that I do use my air fryer on occasion for burgers, chicken, fries. I use my slow cooker for stews, casseroles.

Thank you Bonnie. I did marinated salmon yesterday with potato chunks and veg. It was fine, though the potatoes weren't quite as good as in the oven. The sugar snap peas weren't quite cooked. May need to up the cooking temperature. Learning curve I guess 

Trying roast chicken and roast potatoes and veg tonight 

We received the old style on Serenade in September 

Very Happy Thanksgiving for yesterday to everyone on Dani's thread. I hope you all had a lovely day whatever you did.  I think it's a lovely idea to have a day to be thankful for all our blessings.

Hope everyone enjoys their leftovers today 😋 

16 hours ago, ValerieJo said:

 I actually cooked it in the air fryer and it was delicious.  I would definitely cook it that way again.  

Ive just bought an air  fryer

 I have no idea how to use it  I'm so out of my comfort zone with it.

Anyone use it for stew/casserole/pies with mash? Or is it just for pices of meat like Chops, steak, chicken etc 

17 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Anyone cooking a turkey today ever "Spatchcock their Turkey" ?

 

 

I did years ago with a chicken, it was ok, never done again , not sure why

21 hours ago, brillohead said:

 

Man, that first trimester fatigue is nothing to mess with... I used to have to get up in the morning, eat breakfast, go back to bed and nap, then get up to go to work, then nap on my office floor during lunch, then nap after work, make dinner, then go to bed.  I don't know how women with other kids survive it -- I only had to keep me and the dog alive, and he could feed himself!  

 

With my second, I was working full time up to two weeks before ( he came early, was due on 24th Dec). I did shifts (airline) and remember picking up my 2 year old at 2pm after an early shift and desperate for him to nap so I could, but he was growing out of naps by then or had one at his childminders. I had to take him for a walk, otherwise I would of fallen asleep with a lively two year loose in the house. 

On 11/22/2023 at 10:21 PM, Luckynana said:

  Am I the only one who just puts up one, fresh Christmas tree just a few days before Christmas?

We always do.

When my children were small it use to after my youngsters mid December birthday  but now we're aiming for the 7th. 

It does seem to get earlier each year. A few houses in our road have their outdoor lights up already .

I'm enjoying seeing everyone's fabulous trees 

On 11/3/2023 at 10:55 PM, marci22 said:

We consistently tipped bartenders $2-$5 cash per round and we didn't notice any better service. Maybe my service would have been horrible otherwise?

Agree, it's never made a difference to us, though we always tip for Diamond drinks (plus do the auto tips ).

We're not USA based so no tipping mentality here, though we do try to follow the 'when in Rome rules' 

Hubby still talks about when he was waiting patiently in line at a bar to be served and the barman served the guy at the back of the queue,  presumably because he tipped well (bribed).

Doesn't sit well with our sense of fairness 

On 11/2/2023 at 1:51 PM, LobsterStalker said:

Sad thing is , by raising grats again , upfront customer facing staff , (who I believe deserve the tip) , 

Are actually going to get way less by my estimation . With the amount of the increase ,we could estimate that the steward gets maybe an extra .50c-.60c per day .So a buck a day per cabin .

If this leads more people to stop tipping them extra , they could be hauling in maybe an avg. of $5 a day from that loss. Haven't decided to do either yet , still auto gratting and tipping extra , but Makes me feel , removing autograts , and tipping accordingly may be the better option , rather than leaving them on and not tipping extra.

...Good job RCI

 

Cheers

If raising grats twice in two years and cutting service on top of sky high prices leads to more people refusing to pay the (optional) grats, then the rises seem self defeating. There will come a tipping point (no pun intended), when the rises are unsustainable because of more and more opting out.

20 minutes ago, sgmn said:

 

I really strugle to lose even half pound when following a strict weight loss programme and I exercise quite a lot. So it's something I'm quite interested in.

 

Will be interested to hear @brilloheadhow you get on with it.

 

Typical diet for me is one weetabix with a little milk, berries and plain yoghurt for breakfast, home made veggie soup for lunch and a calorie counted homemade dinner in the evening. 

Maybe a couple of glasses of wine a week and a small sweet treat in the evening with my herb tea

 

Meant to say half pound a week (not in total )

16 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

My granddog who had a successful cancer surgery last Tuesday has another malignant tumor.My daughter and her were told this last night.

Sorry to hear Len

17 hours ago, Luckynana said:

Okay, my breaks over!   Time to get up and start baking my oatmeal cookies.  

That's what I feel about walking the dog.  I read Dani's thread over morning coffee whilst Molly is waiting for her walk

18 hours ago, h20skibum said:

 

I had to look up that drug, after reading about it here.   Yikes, almost 20k a year for it when I put it in the Medicare search for a drug plan. 

It's £200-300 per month through Boots Chemist online over here. Think you have to do an online consultation first. 

Through the NHS (free) you would have to get a referral through your GP to a specialist weight management service. I don't know anyone who's done it so I don't know much about it. I would think you would have to have a very high BMI to qualify under NHS.

I really strugle to lose even half pound when following a strict weight loss programme and I exercise quite a lot. So it's something I'm quite interested in.

Will be interested to hear @brilloheadhow you get on with it.

Typical diet for me is one weetabix with a little milk, berries and plain yoghurt for breakfast, home made veggie soup for lunch and a calorie counted homemade dinner in the evening. 

Maybe a couple of glasses of wine a week and a small sweet treat in the evening with my herb tea