babs135

Not any ships I've been on, but maybe you're talking from personal experience?! 🤣🤣

Thanks John, some excellent ideas that I'll discuss with DH. Suspect that the D-Day Museum will be his first choice.

We have a car. Hotel is the Marriott

We have elected to stay overnight in Portsmouth before travelling to Southampton the following day. As we're in the northwest of the UK and unless we set off at the crack of dawn, we won't get to the hotel much before 1.30 pm (rough estimate). I would assume that it is not worth visiting the Dockyards at such a late arrival time; so my question is simple; What else is there to do and see in the area?

For those of you who have multiple cruises booked; how do you do it? The most we've had advanced booked is 2. As you may have seen on another of my threads on this forum, I'd like to book a cruise for 2026 but DH is resistant. Many reasons why, but we haven't even got anything booked for 2025! All frustrating.

Cruise travel insurance in the UK is mandatory if you're travelling with Cunard or P&O (not sure about other lines, but suspect it is the same). This gives you an idea of what is expected. We do not have ' cancel for any reason' in the UK. When we fill in our personal details after booking we have to fill in the name of the insurance company and their emergency telephone number. Travel Insurance - Cunard cruises Banks and Building Societies offer insurance to their members, but based on our own experience I wouldn't touch them at all.

Firstly we do have the full cover necessary but this is a question someone asked on another site. So, is cruise travel insurance mandatory?

I'm sure I've seen a comparison table based on whether or not it's worth taking either of the two packages but I can't find it. Maybe I imagined it, but if not, I'd be grateful if someone could repost it. Thank you.

Regarding FCC, the cruise line is Princess. Don't know if they do them.

Thanks for your comments. I did look to see if the cruise was available in 2025, but it isn't. However, financial constraints mean that 2026 is better as it's longer for us to save! Decided to take the more pragmatic approach and do nothing until nearer the time, after all the price may drop!! With family living abroad with our first grandchild, visits to them will almost certainly take priority in the future. In the meantime we look forward to our cruise on Queen Anne in August.

Just need to vent a little to make myself feel better so please be kind to me! I've seen a cruise which really appeals to me and even DH's eyes lit up when I showed him it BUT it's not until February 2026. The genuine concern is that we are senior citizens with multiple health issues which sadly will not improve in the 601 days to the cruise (yes, I checked how far ahead it is) and neither of us is prepared to book so far ahead. We are in the UK so refundable deposits are very few and far between. I will make a note of it and (much) nearer the time should be able to make a decision re booking. Curious as to what other older folk do in a situation like this? Do they throw caution to the wind and book or are they sensible and just wait?

Yes, last time we cruised with Cunard if there wasn't anything that appealed to DH he just asked the waiter for a plain steak . He was satisfied with this.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/dark-secrets-of-cruise-ships-the-operators-don-t-want-you-to-know/ss-BB1j7o6d?ocid=socialshare&pc=U531&cvid=64a5e4dce5db42ac842908ab2cf154a7&ei=25

Captain Fasting would appear to have had quite an illustrious career. He was Master of the Caronia and Captain of the Queen Mary and the Elizabeth. The only photo I can find of him is the one below. He is 2nd left.

I posted the article elsewhere and was 'challenged' as to whether it was correct. This was based on the fact that the origin of the story is Reddit. As no ship is mentioned in the article, posting it on this forum seemed the only logical way to find out if anyone knew anything.

It makes for an interesting story, but is it the whole truth? Teenager leaves family behind on island after they miss cruise departure (msn.com)