yorkshirephil

3 hours ago, kalos said:

 

 

So to answer your question ..The best time to book is when YOU are happy with the price.

Absolutely Kalos. You win some you lose some.

We will look at a cruise and weigh up how it fits with schedules and needs. If it is a bucket list cruise that we really want to do we book at release for additional benefits and to ensure our place, this has worked well for us to date. 

If it is a nice to do but no big deal we will watch and wait and pay what we expect to be the best price, if we miss it, no big deal maybe next time. Sometimes we will get an email with a cruise that just takes our fancy at the time. Great when you are retired and you are half packed all the time and no commitments. 

2 hours ago, brian1 said:

Probably our last walk on the beach before 2 days of Italian bureaucracy.

Here's one with Brian stood up

3 hours ago, Junction2 said:

We received an email yesterday from P and O as follows - 

 

Due to berthing conflicts in several ports, it has been necessary to reschedule Arcadia’s calls to Newport RI, New York and Portland.  In addition, we are no longer able to call at Bar Harbor as originally planned.  To ensure that you are able to enjoy your time ashore, we are pleased to advise that we have extended our call in St John, where you will now have an overnight in port.

The overnighter is St.John in New Brunswick not NF and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for what to do on both days. I’ve not been overly impressed with the arranged excursions so far on any of the stops and we were planning on just exploring by ourselves within St. John itself. 

 

We are also now docking in New York a day earlier than planned so will be there Wednesday morning to Friday evening. I’m a member of an online book club whose members are mainly based in North America and at least 4 of my fellow moderators of the club are planning to be in New York to coincide with my time there. I’m really hoping now that no further alterations are made as 2 of my online friends are flying long distances to be there. I’ve known these ladies nearly 12 years and although we Zoom often now, it will be the first time some of us will meet up physically. 

We are visiting St John later in the year. See Toms port guide, may give you inspiration

saint-john-new-brunswick-cruise-port-guide-toms-saint-john-new-brunswick.pdf

I find the staff on the future cruise desks are very knowledgeable and know how to use their system which some onshore staff aren't. We rebooked the same cruise that bobstheboy is on and got 10% plus triple OBC. We expected that we would loose the deposit to rebook but the lady we booked with used that deposit towards another cruise we were booking. Some of the low deposits have been removed from longer cruises and the £50  has been upped to £100 which is still good. There are sometimes flyers that come to your cabin with special deals. 

21 minutes ago, Splice the mainbrace said:

It will be a very busy day in Southampton on embarkation day with 5 cruise ships departing and the first weekend of the boat show.😩

It will indeed, we have actually booked an Intercruise coach for this albeit our usual out of town hotel had rooms available. 

11 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

+1 @Josy1953 🤞

+2 @Josy1953. Good luck

7 minutes ago, P&O SUE said:

Down South, I’ve been commenting on the magnolias round here, lots of front gardens with HUGE trees! I always thought they were a bush 😁 Anyway they all look lovely.

We have some gardens with magnificent trees, ours is quite small and I cut it back every year to keep it in control as they do easily run away. I have noticed the forsythia is also in abundance this year. 

It is quite nice here and very mild, it was 13oC as we were driving to Barnsley for a spot of breakfast.

I decided to start the power washing this morning as we have a fair bit of patio and block paving plus I like to blast the moss off the fence where it has accumulated behind some of the bushes. Got changed set it up and lo and behold water was pouring from inside the machine. As it is a sealed unit there is not much I can do other than get a new one, probably only a washer/seal that has blown. It seems that they are following the path of all electrical gadgets and gizmo's where mending it yourself is not an option. More expense, grrrrrrrr.

A lovely sunny day here, warm enough to sit out in the garden for a couple of hours, our Magnolia  flowers have opened today, this is the earliest it has flowered. 

There is a facility to email them in your profile tab in the app, maybe worth a try.

I sent a photo of my latest share certificate which is dated 2008 and that was approved. They may want a download/photo from the broker site/company that holds your shares that is less than 3 months old as not everyone has a share certificate as that is a bit dated now. 

1 minute ago, Presto2 said:

So are Seajets selling them on or are they going to be the ships they use?

 

There is a list of ships available for sale, mostly the ones bought during covid, it is a mixture of rumour and best guessing as to what the outcome will be. If the ships for sale were smaller I would risk a shilling each way that Ambassador may take one but not sure that they fit the model.

Anyone with a few quid to spare? Seajets have these two old favourites. The company is advertising for staff and word is they could be launching their own cruise line. Watch this spave.

29 minutes ago, purplesea said:

Good Morning,

Hope you're all well.

 

I've just logged into My P&O to book dining and entertainment. The entertainment is very uninspiring. One of evening we have The Sooty Show and on another couple The Kids Party Live!

Is that the kids club?

It is quite dull and damp this morning but mild.

Happy St Patrick's day to all our Irish friends, my granny was 80% Irish, they called her Iris.

59 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

We are trying desperately.to shed some weight and only treat ourselves at weekends with a pizza and chips. How do you lot each so much and not resemble.Big Daddy. Graham am thinking of you as the main one we envy 😉

We are also trying to shed a few pounds in readiness for the next cruise, however we have fallen and have just finished a big bag of BBQ beef teriyaki sensations, washed down with a large rum and coke. Oh well, diet tomorrow.

We have just finished watching Masters of the air directed by Spielberg and Hanks, this has been an excellent series based on a true story, there is also a documentary film out "The Bloody Hundredth" which we will watch.

26 minutes ago, happy v said:

Selbourne could you say how it has been returning home. Usually after 14/21 day cruise things are normal after a couple of days and you forget you have been away. I was just wondering if such a long cruise has been different 

I cannot speak for Selbourne but we find it no different whether it is 14 days or 40 days and whether it is a cruise or a land holiday. We recently returned from a 6 week land holiday and albeit we have the memories life just falls back into a routine. We then start planning for the next one.

52 minutes ago, Peanut006 said:

 

 

Hubby had his haircut last week and they asked if he wanted his nostrils doing, “yes” he said but was unaware they were going to wax it using cotton buds!!! He said he thought his brains were going to get pulled out!! Wish I had been there to see his face!!

 

 

 

Michelle

I pulled out a nose hair this morning to see if it hurt.

By the look on the blokes face sat next to me on the bus it does

22 hours ago, yorkshirephil said:

Good news Bob as we are on the cruise after you so mine may get approved soon. I was wondering whether they were applying the 90 day rule at Princess.

I just got the email from stocksperk that my OBC was added to September cruise.

2 minutes ago, bobstheboy said:

At last ! Applied on 3rd March for September Princess cruise, approved this afternoon. Some are 24 hours, others 11 days.

Good news Bob as we are on the cruise after you so mine may get approved soon. I was wondering whether they were applying the 90 day rule at Princess.

51 minutes ago, P&O SUE said:

I see there’s 2 new cruises for Iona now for March 2025. A 5 night and a two week Canaries cruise.

I have received a couple of emails from TA's, one of them at £824 for the 14 night cruise which isn't bad for 2025.

4 minutes ago, LifeonMars said:

A very quick system using stockperks,  24hours from booking cruise to receiving notification obc had been applied to a Cunard Cruise. 

When is the cruise you have got the OBC for please?

Nice start here but rain forecast, we have friends visiting today who we met on a cruise many moons ago.

Happy Birthday Pauline. have a good one,

24 minutes ago, davecttr said:

The email is from North Face and I have no intention to email their help line. My anti virus software is current but I have not clicked any links. I will delete cookies and history.

I find a lot of help lines very rude, you should have heard the suggestion I got from the suppository help line.

45 minutes ago, cuatbar58 said:

In TigerB’s excellent recent report he mentioned speaking to a manager who informed him there would be price increases in May or June. I was wondering if they might be pushing the limits a bit. I am not bothered because the more they put things up the less we tend to spend. I am sure we can afford another increase but certain things might no longer be worth paying for. It seems the more people that don’t spend means the cruise companies try to get the missing profit from the rest.

I don't really see it as any different to life ashore, prices have risen considerably in general over the last few years. A lot soaked up by wage increase price of oil, raw materials etc. I still think cruising is a bargain compared to other holiday options. Some people will likely cut back or purchase cheaper brands or maybe just do without some of the things they are used to, but I think it will be business as usual. For some of us the OBC takes care of the onboard costs. 

8 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Applied to stockperks late Friday for a september cruise, e-mail yesterday saying it had been sent to P&O, and one today saying my OBC has been applied to the cruise.

I think I like this new system, but I have no idea how stockperks will be able to guarantee that I will still hold the shares in September, but I guess that will be P&O's problem.

It doesn't matter whether you own the shares in September, you have had the OBC applied. This was a discussion many moons ago on here as to what was to stop you buying shares then having OBC applies to several cruises throughout the year then selling the shares. This is why I was surprised that I got mine applied to a cruise at the end of December as it looked like they were reverting back to only applying the OBC around 90 days prior to a cruise.

Cold wet and generally miserable weather here today. We had a run out to Junction 32 for our breakfast, which was surprisingly busy considering the foul weather. Mrs YP saved £35 by buying a top in the sale, I can't get through to her that she is £15 worse off😁.

Happy Mothers day to all you lovely Mums out there and a thought to all those who are no longer with us and sadly missed.

4 minutes ago, bobstheboy said:

Still waiting for confirmation. Some are getting very quick notification, others, mine submitted Monday, not so quick. They acknowledged my holding on Wednesday. Got to be patient !

The email system worked the same way for whatever reason, sometimes within hours other times days. When I applied for my Dec P&O OBC it was back in no time yet my Sept Princess cruise is still pending. As long as I get it I am happy. It would be interesting to know why there is so much difference in timescales and whether the rate determining factor is the app or the cruise line. Another shilling each way on it being the cruise line.