norn iron

You're dead lucky not to travel across the Irish Sea for restaurants like L'Enclume. If you ever make it to Belfast, Eipic is 1* and excellent. Our favourite in Dublin is Patrick Guilbaud which is 2* and definitely worth the journey.

There is an old Chinese proverb I learnt many years, (and I'm addressing your concerns as worries) "if you worry you die, if you don't worry you die, so why worry"

Interesting, but not surprising. I have a rule of thumb when it comes to American Coffee (and Pizza for that matter). Ask yourself one simple question "Would an Italian drink (or eat) this"? Every time I hear the words Starbucks or Domino's mentioned, its time to ask the question.

I agree, The Fat Duck is remarkable and truly memorable. It is genuinely a special journey, especially when we live in Belfast. The sad part is, we have in-laws who wouldn't even entertain 75% of the dishes that are served. If I was adding to my list I couldn't go past Core by Clare Smith, and a real blast from the past The Oak Room Marco Pierre White. Another classic was Azurmendi in Bilbao. Sadly we haven't got to the Manoir yet. There is still time.

I can vouch for the 6 in 1 cable, they’re brilliant.

Thanks Host Jazzbeau. I had been searching with no luck.

Ketjap Manis

Let’s find a good waiter on Onward 11/07

Buffet onboard Azamara on Indian night is pretty special. The MDR is almost empty.

The Fat Duck’s problem was a one off and was it not external if I recall correctly. Was it not a problem with oysters delivered from Whitstable that were poor quality. They closed the restaurant for a couple of days to get to the bottom (excuse the pun) of the problem. The Michelin man didn’t see it as a problem by docking stars etc. It just became headlines because it was the Fat Duck.

Celebrity, when Michel Roux (snr) was consultant chef had great food at sea. I had the misfortune to be on the first cruise after the change to Jacque Van Staden - what a downfall from grace.

Foie de canard.

There is one other consideration to keep in mind, are you sailing east or west? The origins of the word Posh (Port Out Starboard Home) stem from wealthy passengers (who could afford the surcharge) sailing west to east and choosing cabins on the port side to avoid the sun and making the return journey on the starboard side for the same reason. Long before anyone had thought of air conditioning.

That was then this is now. On my first cruise it was MDR or be on starvation diet.

Surely it depends on the cruise line and their food standard.

https://www.azamara.com/about-azamara/contact-us It would appear from the link that all their offices are closed on Sundays, however ‘All other countries not listed above’ does seem to have a Miami number open 9am - 6pm (presumably ET) Is it worth the try?

The Fat Duck in Bray Berkshire UK. Dined there twice, 3* Michelin, it was rather good, but it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea. I also enjoyed The Waterside Inn in Bray (400 yards from the Fat Duck), also 3* Michelin and slightly more conventional.

Scolboa, it does sound very strange. My current booking is clearly visible on Az.com and I have all the confirmation documents from my TA. I did change TA following being messed around during Covid by my previous. So far so good. Did you book with a local TA or a national chain?

they "said" that they had Chandon which we could not locate anywhere. The Chandon on Az is a Californian sparkling wine produced by LVMH, but not actually Champagne.

Phil, I've planned in the short term. I'll drop you an email. OBE that's impressive. You must have been going to Glasgow by ferry.

I was Dublin last Monday, Clifden three weeks ago, and Tullow five weeks ago.

LovetocruiseDublin (I even added a capital D !!) I'm only up the road from ye, so hopefully this works. For the past 20 years or more, we have cruised around the world, especially into areas of high mosquito risk and have never once been bitten by one of the pesky buggers. The best example is, were once in the Costa Rica rainforest and every other person on our coach was bitten to pieces, yet we walked out unscathed. Fifteen minutes back on the bus and we were being hounded for a share of our Neem oil. Easily bought from health food shops, Asian Supermarkets or on Amazon. It is very concentrated, so I thin it down by two-thirds with sunflower and coconut oil, plus it's as cheap as chips. It is oily, so use it sparingly, but it definitely works. The benchmark is, the Neem tree is the only tree a plague of locusts won't go near.

There are 58 pages to this thread and I have refrained from posting, mainly because I have a reasonable grasp of how difficult new e-commerce websites can be. I was also informed by an Az employee that RCL was not being overly co-operative in releasing data etc in the transfer of bookings and all that goes with it. Anyway, this morning I decided to make a dummy booking on the new Az website and I was somewhat shocked by what I saw. Having filled in some details I decided to briefly log out, before recommencing. So I was asked did I want to save my details. I have inserted a screenshot of what appeared. Now my grammar may not be the best, but I'm sorry, a premium cruise line should be ensuring that the spelling and grammar are correct on their website. Please can someone at Azamara change the caption to read Do you want to store the reservation? Rant over.

I would nearly guess Royal Club is supplied FOC to ensure distribution of all the brands Heineken produce.

Totally agree. It’s owned by Heineken as is Royal Club. From my limited experience (Ulster Rugby) they throw money at distribution to buy market share.