DamianG

When we are close enough to Southampton we try to tune the car radio to a local station. I can’t remember the name (and don’t think it’s broadcasting any more) but there used to be a station that always announced which ships were in port that day so we’d listen to the list then cheer when the host said “Oriana” “Aurora” etc. 

These days we follow the protocol for muster, drop our bags in the cabin, take our time over upper tier embarkation lunch, unpack then get out on the balcony or open decks for the sail away. I never tire of looking at all the sights whilst sailing down the Solent. 

1 hour ago, kalos said:

Weather for ducks ? We are dry at the moment only one quick shower early on .

 

Funny how we have our lives revolve around them ,as above with the weather ,

if your rubbish at cricket you can be out for one .

Corrie years ago ,Hilda had them on the wall.  My daughter even has 

one for Christmas lunch .

Folk take plastic ones into baths with them and have even taken to hiding 

the little blighters on cruise ships now. 

A lot of folk love it when duck is on the mdr  menu ( with green beans 😋 )

I honestly think the cruise bosses eventually give cruise punters what they

want ,running tracks ,climbing frames etc .

Do you think ducks could be the future in cruising ?🤔

 

 

As folks in Derbyshire may say, “thanks duck!”

Last day in North Wales so we headed to the seaside town of Barmouth. It was blooming freezing on the beach, sure it was colder than on our last visit in October. No wonder the bloke depicted on the carved head sculpture looks miserable. 

We are looking forward to our first MSC cruise in July. My wife's intrepretation of all the comments on social media is that limitations were only placed on the shorter cruises (up to five nights) and that they were intended to help reduce waiting times. There are also suggestions that it was only the Easy Plus Package that was affected?

A quick visit to Dolgellau this evening to pick up Michelle, her sister & a takeaway. The locals are very friendly. 
 

3 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

None that we saw Damian, although very few passengers on this cruise would be able to run - us included 😂

I disagree, many can suddenly find their inner Linford Christie when the ship is about to pull in the gangplank! 

Thanks for starting & updating this thread @Megabear2 & also to @Selbourne for your regular contributions. Loved the Orkney photos especially and having bands quayside must have made it even more special. The big question though is were there any pier runners? 😉

Today we walked Llwybr Clywedog. My new “waterproof” walking shoes failed, I learned a new skill in herding sheep off the path away from the dogs and we got completely drenched. It was totally worth it, even the walk back up the steep valley wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. 
 

31 minutes ago, zap99 said:

A Coruña.  Do I win a prize?.

You win a lifetime of respect from me for the correct name in Spanish & including the tilde over the “n”. 🇪🇸

On 5/21/2024 at 12:18 AM, Ardennais said:

Thank you so much for the review. We have very fond memories of several cruises on Aurora - our favourite until Iona! 
 

Our next cruise is with Princess and I’ve booked Parking4Cruises for the very first time. We’ve always had extremely efficient service from CPS but as parking wasn’t included, I decided to go for the P4C based on price. I’m a bit nervous about it, but hope it will be OK! 

We've used P4C 5 times without a single problem. We too abandoned CPS after waiting an hour to hand over the keys before boarding Britannia in 2015. On that occasion there were cars being processed before us which had clearly arrived after us (whilst we were in a holding lane).

We are back in Brithdir North Wales for a few days. 

Teddy had a paddle in the Afon Mawddach near the Llanlltyd Bridge at Cymer Abbey. 
 

From there we went to the beach at Fairbourne.

Finally we had lunch at the George III pub beside the Penmaenpool toll bridge over the Mawddach estuary. 
 

12 minutes ago, zap99 said:

A bit like some of the formal wear you see.🤣

Including my tuxedo 😂

6 minutes ago, purplesea said:

Thank you for the summing up of Arcadia.

I have sail on all the ships in the fleet with the exception of Arcadia and Aurora. I have booked a cruise on her for later on in the year, and was wondering what it would be like in comparison with the others. 

We’ve been on all the current P&O ships with our one cruise on Arcadia being a long time ago in winter. As fans of sitting out aft the space there (on Arcadia) is something we always thought we would enjoy on a warmer weather cruise and hopefully we’ll get to try it some day once we are no longer restricted to child friendly ships. 

16 hours ago, ManofTravels said:

Hi, I'm considering doing the same route next year with my son but on the Arcadia. Do you know if that ship is comparable to the Iona? Do you recommend any packages? Thanks.

Arcadia: Entered service 2005, has had a few refits since then but by all accounts looking a bit dated now, especially in some of the cabins. Capacity circa 2000 passengers, very spacious in terms of pax versus the size of ship, especially on the outside decks. Very traditional as you would expect for an older ship. Fewer dining options than the modern ships. The best thing is that it is naturally a more friendly or sociable ship, i.e., you may have a conversation with a fellow passenger then see them again regularly and catch up, something that rarely happens with the larger ships.

Iona: Entered service 2021, capacity circa 5200 but I believe can go up to nearer 6000 if all berths are filled. Has a very modern design which splits opinion, with a focus on the bright and airy atrium which some love for the natural light but others compare to an airport lounge. Lots of dining options including four MDRs and the excellent Quays which are a fantastic altenative to the buffet. Naturally it can get busy in terms of embarkation and disembarkation, including when visiting ports.

I'd happily sail on either again. Choosing between one or the other really depends on which parts of the cruise are more important to you. If you want a more "old school" traditional cruise with a more intimate feel then Arcadia would fit the bill. If you want a big modern ship with lots of dining and entertainment choices then Iona would be the way to go. There are compromises to be made with either choice so bear that in mind and decide accordingly.

Doubtless others may have different opinions and I look forward to comparisons.

Congrats on the win yesterday @Splice the mainbrace

Tactically outplayed us, executed the best chance and thoroughly deserved the win.

Best of luck next season.

Damian

On 5/24/2024 at 11:08 AM, Beckett said:

To all my other dear friends on CCF - just to let you know I'm taking a break. I'll be back soon and in the meanwhile wish you you all well - good health and happiness and excellent cruising. 

 

Jane xx

Best wishes Jane.

On 5/22/2024 at 1:09 PM, Megabear2 said:

Oh happy day!  I've just had an email from Cunard to tell me the icing just went on my cake BIG time!!!!  

 

"We are thrilled to announce the world-renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli will be performing. The maestro will be joined by legendary Liverpudlian TV personality and DJ, Craig Charles who will be teaming up with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra for a unique collaboration. Craig will keep the party going until the grand finale, when Queen Anne sails away as light falls."

 

Can't contain the excitement now, my 80's hero Midge Ure on board and now my ultimate present in Andre Bocelli.  

What a result! We saw Midge Ure at Let's Rock Leeds a while back and he was excellent. Bocelli will be amazing.

48 minutes ago, zap99 said:

Go on Brian's cruise. A single hold all will be fine.🤣

Has your autocorrect changed that from singlet hold all? 😉

12 minutes ago, mrsgoggins said:

Good morning all

 

I watched Eurovision until the start of the voting but, it made me feel very old! I don't much care for all the technological marvels that 'aid' presentation of many of the songs. I like Ollie Alexander and thought the 'Dizzy' was okay, but I wasn't at one with Graham Norton in thinking that the staging of it was magnificent. Too weird for me, as were lots of them. Croatia was also my favourite.

 

I'm having lunch later with the husband of my late best friend (60 years of unbroken friendship), their daughter and grandson. I've been included because I'm alone as DH is in Belgium with our son and grandson at a car event. It will be bitter-sweet because I am helping to plan their holiday to Florida next year, as it was what my friend had wanted to happen and they are keen to carry out her wishes.

 

We have been back from holiday for a week and the pots containing spring bulbs need attention, so a visit to a garden centre to buy geraniums is called for.  They are my favourites because they provide lots of colour for months, are very easy and require minimum attention apart from dead-heading.  'Easy' is definitely my key word when it comes to the garden 😁.  Here's to a pleasant day to all 🥂

We completely agree about the UK entry, good song but the staging spoiled it for us too.

Good morning all, still up early despite a late night (for us anyway) waiting for the Eurovision result. Croatia was my personal favourite but happy for the Swiss win and thought that France were unlucky not to be third at least. Overall I'm just glad that a political public vote didn't win.

On 5/9/2024 at 12:05 PM, brian1 said:

LOL,I realised that too late last week,didn't even bother to research trains from Liverpool st.Plus we only pay from zone 6 having a London freedom pass.We live 2 stops from Upminster in Hornchurch.My OH took her brother to Reading yesterday, just changing at Whitechapel, for a day out.That journey didn't cost a penny.

My boss and a colleague I've known for 17 years also live in Hornchurch. Small world.

Thanks for all the comments, we've been to Sevilla and Jerez before, both really enjoyable and thoroughly recommended. And yes, we did the Tio Pepe tour!

If we ever do plan our adventure to Cadiz there are lots of interesting travel options, such as fly from Leeds to Faro then catch a direct bus!

One day Rodney, one day....

15 minutes ago, SarahHben said:

I think for us it would be a close call between Cadiz and Geiranger for our favourite all of the ports we've been to. Mind you we've only done 2 cruises so far, have 3 more booked though 😁

I understand folks wanting new ports to visit and we do too but we never tire of Cadiz. Despite having a constant flow of cruise ship visitors it retains its Spanish seaside charm without being “touristy”. 
 

We hope to visit for a land based holiday sometime in the future with getting there being part of the adventure (given the lack of direct flights from the UK).

5 hours ago, Eglesbrech said:

A discussion on another thread has reminded me of a bit of nostalgia. Do you remember going to new ports and the welcome you got back when ships were seen as a very welcome addition to the local economy.

 

The first time we went to Cartagena we were given a flower from ladies in costume and there was a band.

 

Frederica we had music, costumes and were given sweets.

One port in Iceland, I can’t remember which, gave us some sort of soused fish. I don’t recall the port but the fish was shall we say unique.

 

Closer to home in the early days Invergorden put on a full pipe band and highland dancers (don’t know if that was the local chamber of commerce or Celebrity).

 

Any memorable “welcomes”

In 2005 Aurora had a gap in the winter schedule due to a refit finishing early (imagine that?). P&O sent us a letter inviting bookings for a new “experimental” cruise heading to Northern Europe in the winter with the intention of visiting several cites with Christmas markets. We booked and it was a fabulous experience right from the start. As we departed we were on the promenade deck in the cold & dark drinking mulled wine & there was a band playing shore side.
 

Every port had something extra to welcome us, from bands of different sizes to a full marching band with majorettes waving us away from Oslo.

Onboard Captain Mark Symonds told the story of how P&O gave him some free reign to plot a course for the extra (non-brochure) cruise & him & his officers decided to go against the grain in winter & head North instead of the usual Canaries or Mediterranean. I really don’t care if he embellished the story a little as it just made the cruise even more magical. We had great table companions at dinner as well & it will always be one of our favourite cruises. 
 

As for the idea of Christmas market cruises, the rest is history!

On 5/9/2024 at 12:42 PM, SarahHben said:

I love Cadiz, my favourite port from our cruise last summer

Our favourite of all the ports we’ve been to!