yorkshirephil

7 minutes ago, bobstheboy said:

We've had this debate previously. I have had two cruises since Covid reduce after pre registering and booking early on day one. One dropped in price, 10% discount and 800 OBC and free parking, even after losing my £150 pp deposit I saved £1200. It was an onboard offer.

This same cruise did drop in price and like you we rebooked and made a nice saving, I see that the current price is actually more than our original offering was by booking first day with less OBC. I also noted that there are not many cabins left so don't expect much discounting before the cruise date. 

6 minutes ago, S1971 said:

 

 

Good causes indeed, but can guarantee there will still be moaning and whinging from those who are unsuccessful 🙂.

I am sure you are right, some will complain, I would imagine that some who do get to see him will also complain that he wasn't very good and not worth a tenner even though it was for a good cause. Such is life. 

I would be happy to pay to see someone I liked or a better class of act but if P&O were to put such acts on in the main theatre with a surcharge I am sure there would also be complaints.

Turned out nice again, after a miserable grey day yesterday and a damp and murky start today it turned into a lovely evening. It is so nice to be able to go for a walk after tea now we have some evening light.

I also managed to book a cheeky med cruise for next year on Queen Vic. I keep saying I need to stop booking cruises so far in advance but sometimes something catches your eye and you just have to do it.

1 hour ago, Benno11m said:

Travelling on Arvia mid October taking in Le Harve, Vigo, Lisbon and La Coruna.  Asking if anyone has been on a similar trip at that time of the year and what weather to expect?

 

My wife has lupus and has to stay out of the sun, hence an October trip.  Having looked at a variety of web sites there is very much a mixed message about the weather ranging from 50f - 70f whilst a YouTube stream for October 23 showed it was  decidedly sunny, shorts and tee shirt weather.

 

Any guidance would be most appreciated.

We like to go to the Med in late Sept/Oct and have had everything from hot to wet and windy while travelling up and down the coast of Portugal Spain and France. Last October on Aurora it was lovely and sunny from day one from Southampton until coming back where we had three wet and windy days force 9/10 from Gib. 

3 hours ago, Morgans said:

On last year's QM2 world cruise, it was cheaper for us to book two segments individually  than it was to book as one trip combined.  Check prices first before booking as you can sometimes make a saving.

We have just booked a Med cruise which can be taken as 3 or 4 segments. We have saved approx 45% by booking a package with our TA. Plus we have a night stay before the cruise.

19 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Available from today on Royal Caribbean in Australia.

They are going to use this system for disembarkation in the UK. They are calling it buffet to baggage in 3 seconds.

18 minutes ago, davecttr said:

 

 

Apparently all the handrails etc should be brass because copper has anti bacterial properties. It kills them, apparently something to do with the molecular structure of the metal. Did you know RNA can form spontaneously on volcanic glass given the conditions on the early earth, amazing.

The attributes of copper, brass and tin have a similar effect have been known for several thousand years. One of the reasons that hospital doors had brass or copper contact plates back in the day. I remember a programme where the benefits of copper were highlighted during a Cholera outbreak in France where people who worked the copper mines were unaffected. It is still not fully understood exactly how the process works as it can vary from microbe to microbe and there is no real value in spending money to find out as modern alternatives are cheaper.

Slugs and snails are not keen on copper with some gardeners swearing by copper wire and tape to protect their plants. However as with most things there are arguments against this.

I have noticed we have quite a few snails on our hydrangeas now that the leaves have opened, plus the white and greenfly are hovering around the rose growth. Spring is definitely in the air today with lovely warm sunshine.

24 minutes ago, indiana123 said:

I hope they don't get into my bedroom, it's very close.

 

Any Ants in your Pants thoughts Kalos??????🤣🙃

You will need to be vigilant. 

Lovely warm spring day here. We went to Barnsley for breakfast as usual and picked up the shopping for over Easter weekend. We saw our first swallows of the year which I assume are nesting in the arches of the train wall. We have not seen them so early before up here. 

I hope everyone has a nice Easter

5 minutes ago, ScotchBoy said:

My understanding of Jet2 is that they permit you to check in your luggage the evening before a flight. We tried this is Birmingham when we were going to Tenerife to board Azura. We were advised that we couldn't check in as we were on a chartered flight. No problem, we took our luggage back across the road to the Hilton and we just checked in the following morning, as per usual. 

This summer we are flying to Malta to join Azura, but travelling on a Jet2 scheduled flight. Does anyone know if we can check our hold luggage in the evening before? We are flying from Bristol and staying at the Hampton, i.e. on site. I don't want to drag my luggage up the hill to the terminal, only to be told that we can't do an early check-in. 

I would contact Jet2. I was under the impression that you could only book the luggage in the evening before if you has booked via Jet2 and had a reference number to access their app. The P&O number that you get for accessing the Jet2 system didn't allow full access but as with lots of things that may have changed.

Started off lovely and sunny here, we decided to have a drive to Junction 32 and have our brekkie there. There seems to be 20% off in most of the shops which was the case at Blacks who stock Peter Storm T shirts which I like, £7.65 a pop so filled my boots.

While we were there I pointed out that there was an item for Mrs YP. I got the look but there wasn't a lot she could say as I didn't actually mention which one.

I hope everyone enjoys the Easter weekend, remember Easter eggs will be half price or less from Tuesday, plus an hour's less rain on Sunday when the clocks go forward. Don't forget to send in you gas and lekkie readings if not on a smart meter as the prices go down on 1st April.

A much better day weather wise today, yesterday was one of those cold grey damp offerings. I am sure we will get a couple of decent walks in today even though Mrs YP is still a bit rickety.

I quite like Tuesdays as it is knit and natter day so get my scone with jam and cream this afternoon. The cafe owner makes his own cakes and is top notch.

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

After two weeks of massive reorganisation and throwing things out, normality has returned to my home, with the return of my husband from his annual ski trip with friends in Austria. Small problem there - no snow!  Ironically he came home Saturday and on Sunday night a large dump of snow finally arrived.

 

Yesterday I finally got round to sorting and booking my cruises that I've been discussing and doing nothing about!  Successfully transferred our Queen Anne September Mediterranean to a three week Queen Mary 2 transatlantic next July taking in Norway, Iceland, Canada and New York and booked the replacement Aurora Scandinavian 16 nights in August.  Whilst talking to Cunard I experienced a rush of blood to the head and booked myself on the May Queen Anne Festival of Britain cruise taking in her naming ceremony. That one is a real leap of faith as I've booked the very cheapest inside forward cabin on  TBA saver, something I've never done on a ship I don't know, but it was ridiculously cheap at under £2,000 for the 14 nights and a chance to hopefully see a bit of history being made.

 

Today is being spent to figure out what to do in Kirkwall, South Queensferry (without going into Edinburgh as I'm going there with my OH for the first time in July and don't wish to spoil that) and Cobh. Unfortunately the archaeological trip in Kirkwall is full, so any ideas for there much appreciated along with Cobh.  I was wondering if getting to the Falkirk Wheel might be an option from South Queensferry?

 

Big irony, never been to Scotland in 68 years and now I'm getting to lots of places in one year!

We have taken a couple of half day tours around Kirkwall with shortish walks included, not with the ship tours. The town is nice to mooch around, the tender usually drops you off next to the town.

Cohb is also nice to mooch around, it is not very big but quaint. We usually get the train into Cork now we have been a few times. 

Nice cheese wheel Gromit

28 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

On our current Iona cruise the biggest change we are noticing is the number of overweight passengers there are on board, and quite a number could described as morbidly obese, some quite young but mainly among the elderly retired. So it appears that the withdrawal of trays might have reduced wastage, but possibly the passengers are now eating it all rather than leaving it!!

The age range of all passengers goes from very young families right up to the very elderly, so no significant noticeable change in the age demographic for a 14 nt winter sun cruise.

The more you eat the better value the cruise.😁

Cracking start to the day here, it is unusual for us to be up so early but the sun is streaming into the house and the birds are singing. Mrs YP is putting the bedding in the washer as we speak as it looks like a good drying day. Enjoy your day whatever you do.

29 minutes ago, brian1 said:

How dare they,they wouldn't have a pint of Cobra and a Vindaloo every friday night.Bloody lightweights.

You need more than a pint to wash a vindaloo down Brian.

5 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

On board Iona at present and thought we would try Sindhu again to see if it had improved, sadly IMO it's not changed. We tried to select dishes that sounded like something we would enjoy, but unfortunately they did not live up to our expectations. Not that they were bad or poor, just lacking in flavour and we were glad when they were finished. Probably it's that they don't suit our tastes, but we both much prefer  Sainsbury or M&S Indian ready meals which have more flavour.

However the day after in the MDR I had singapore satay chicken as a starter and salmon fillet as a main, and the whole meal was 10 out 10 compared to the 5 we would have given to Sindhu. And so far we both feel that the MDR quality has improved, although still too many green beans!!

I haven't been impressed with Sindhu for quite a few years, like you keep trying, it is far too bland for us, we have asked what meals were deemed the spiciest and asked for it to be spiced up but to no avail. I have had better curries in the MDR. 

We are also having a four seasons in one day weather event. Better day forecast for us tomorrow. Enjoy the weekend everyone.

At least the clocks go forward an hour next weekend so we get a day with an hour less rain.

As a regular cruiser before and after covid I would agree that P&O has gone downmarket (I looked up the definition of downmarket) so as to try and not sound pretentious. In my experience this was happening well before covid. However the costs have also fallen which IMHO still makes a P&O cruise good value.

We have also cruised on several other lines and are seeing similar trends. Clearly we are all different and have our opinions based on experiences and likes. All I would say is give it a go and then decide for yourself whether P&O still meet your needs.

1 hour ago, yorkshirephil said:

 no chance of putting big coits away yet. 

4 minutes ago, twotravellersLondon said:

 

Given the different time that the seasons change up and down the country that makes the most perfect sense.

I think that is why this is the most widely used interpretation, as with most old sayings there is no written evidence as to their origins. I like this site albeit there are usually contradictions elsewhere. 

https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/till-may-is-out.html

It has been a fair day her with plenty of sun but a bitter wind. I had another stint with the new power washer and my little pinkies were frozen, no chance of putting big coits away yet. 

16 minutes ago, Bill Y said:

Aurora is an all weather ship capable of long voyages, have not personally sailed on Oceania but have heard it said that Oceania was built for Princess for warm weather cruising so plenty of space outside but not so good when everybody was confined inside. @molecrochip may be able to shed some light on the decision.

Quite possibly, we have done two 35 night Caribbean cruises on Oceana and didn't perceive any inside space issues during the cold and wet days. I would imagine money was one of the main factors.

12 minutes ago, Bill Y said:

Interesting, Stockperks did not seem aware of that, just said that they were going to bring out a desktop version. Do you need an Android emulator or similar to archive this? Most banks etc offer online access (PC) and mobile access (Apps) so there is not a problem, but some banks like Atom require an app and an attempt to access it via Google play from my laptop is met with “This app is not available for your device”.

 

I am genuinely interested in being able to do this.

I have the Stocksperk app on my laptop. I have a Chromebook. I do have some apps on my tablet simply because they will not load on my laptop as I get the same app not available message.

39 minutes ago, Lee Jones Jnr said:

 

Do you know why Aurora was kept alive and Oceana was killed? I don’t but I’d be interested to know what influenced that decision.

 

I wondered why they kept Aurora as they are both similar in size and were built around the same time. I have cruised on both and would have been hard pressed to pick between them.

Maybe it is because Aurora is so popular with P&O customers, but that is only a guess.