pete14

12 hours ago, Adawn47 said:

  Ive just got back from the hospital' Frank was admitted yesterday morning at 5.20am and it's been hectic. After tests he has Pneumonia,and severe anemia.which needed 2 tranfusions.To top it off he probably has a heart murmer too, he's having a heart xray  to see what it is or could be. 

In his 78 years it's the first time he's been in hospital and everything's come at once. Almost 59 years married and the first time we've not not slept in the same bed, it's really strange and I'm not sleeping. Sorry for the late post, but I needed to chat.

I'll try and read though the posts tomorrow.

Avril

So sorry to hear your news Avril. I am sure Frank is in the best place for now and will soon fill his place beside you again.

32 minutes ago, Glitterati said:

According to the other social site….More Maleth flights delayed….

man-bgi delayed 12 hours (although I can’t actually see any Maleth flight out of Man today which is slightly more concerning) and the LGW-ANU delayed 4 hours.

 

It also appears that a group of passengers on Arvia grouped together to complain about flying back on Maleth. Not sure how far they got!  
 

 

Might the delays be caused by the weather? There are numerous weather warnings in force for strong winds. 

Looking at her current position, Iona seems to be on schedule to dock on time tomorrow morning. I think it is highly likely that passengers will board as usual tomorrow and stay on Iona in Southampton overnight until the oncoming storm abates. I am sure that the shoreside staff would not appreciate a late change to their work schedule that a 24 hour delay to boarding would bring and P&O would not have to compensate for a day lost on the cruise. Added to that, hotel bookings, train tickets etc would need to be changed. 

20 minutes ago, mrsgoggins said:

 

+ 1

I especially like the mint ones 😋 but my 'last meal' request (odd concept that!) would include a Lindt Les Grande hazelnut chocolate bar.  If it were to be a last meal, I'd go for the milk version because I wouldn't care how much I ate!  In real life, I usually buy the dark version as I find it easier to not overdose on that 😉

My last meal request would be the entire Lindt factory. Even doing my best, it would take an enormous amount of time and at the end of it, I wouldn’t care one way or the other. 

4 hours ago, david63 said:

I have always gone through the butler but if the butler is not available (apparently they have time off!) then I would just order it and if you are charged then either go to reception and they will cancel it or ask your butler next time you see him to cancel it.

There should be a card in the suite with a number to contact the butler by using the cabin phone. If he / she is not available, a colleague should be available to answer the call and take your order instead, without any charge being levied. The fact that many room service items are now chargeable for all except those in suites can make this a quite valuable extra. When we used the service on Aurora, it worked well and as it was delivered by the butler, the wait time was not long.

2 hours ago, Presto2 said:

We fly on the 13th ... ho ho ho. I'm.not a particularly good flier so the thoguht of 9 hrs on a plane doesn't fill me with joy. The latest incident with the turbulence hasn't filled me with much confidence either so will have to partake of many drinks to help me to cope 😉

My excuse and I'm sticking to it ....

Who needs an excuse?

4 hours ago, Josy1953 said:

Another grey day here.  I decided that trip to Tesco was required to top up on vegetables and a few other bits snd bobs that we needed.  It was quite busy which surprised me.  Now nothing to do unless it suddenly brightens up enough to go for a walk.

I heard on the local radio that over 1000 homes in the north of the city were hit with power cuts last night. I hope that @Presto2 and @Pete14 weren't affected.

Thanks for thinking of us Josy. As far as I know our power stayed on all last night and all is well. I have just driven back to Stoke from Nottingham in torrential rain for the first 20 miles. A bit scary especially on the M1 for about 10 miles. Variable speed limits had not been activated and there were a surprising number of idiots in the outside lane travelling much too fast in such conditions. Mind you, if the speed limit had been reduced, they would probably not have noticed or realised they would be much safer travelling more slowly.

5 hours ago, otbc said:

Quite an eventful night! We had Force 12 winds (captain said over 100 knots, so 110mph+) and the ship was getting thrown about left right and centre at times! I'm not usually scared by this sort of stuff but it was a scary experience!

Clearly it did deteriorate from earlier in the evening. I hope everyone is OK and grateful they were on Aurora because I suspect some other ships may have been even less comfortable (if that seems possible).

45 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Now seems to be heading toward Stavanger.

Cruisemapper shows she has passed Stavanger and is sailing in a South Westerly direction into the North Sea. Wind is 18 m/s, sailing at 17 knots in rough 2.7 metre seas. Not too bad at the moment, hopefully it won’t deteriorate.

On our only cruise this year, the day in November when we sailed towards Alta in the company of countless whales, watching two sea eagles fishing alongside Aurora whilst being mobbed by gulls when we had docked and then sitting watching the Northern Lights to complete the most amazing magical day at sea. 

7 minutes ago, Glitterati said:

From what I’ve read on fb, crew were not checking seat belts or telling people to sit down when the sign was on. 

It saddens me that a plane full of adults need to have their seat belts checked and be told to sit down when the seat belts on sign is lit. If the situation is potentially so hazardous that seat belts are required, once they have done their other safety duties (stowing the trolleys etc), it is only reasonable for crew to be allowed to sit with their belts on rather than go down the aisle to tell adults to sit down and belt up.

26 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

Was it the carpet that gave it away ?  I  sure that the Glasshouse on Britannia had that carpet.  I could be wrong because I haven't been in Miller and Carter in years.

They do serve the garlic the other way up though so I am not sure. 

41 minutes ago, zap99 said:

Lunch out for us. We had a break from all the faff this year, but still have more food than morrisons.

Zaps Christmas quiz. Which pic is the Britannia Glasshouse and which is Miller and Carter.

 

My considered opinion is that the Glasshouse is picture 2.

Pete junior has returned from his ‘park run’, presents opened and Alexa has just turned on the tree lights.

Merry Christmas to all ‘virtual friends’ on here (and a couple of actual ones) wherever you are and especially to those who are not well. Loin of pork for dinner today and turkey tomorrow when we have at least the immediate family all together. I hope whatever you do and whoever you do it with, everybody has a wonderful time, even if it has to be slightly delayed. 
Cue loads of pictures of turkeys and the trimmings in a few hours time, but please, no Costa, MacDonalds, Greggs etc today.🎅🏼🥳

23 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

+1

+2

I would happily pay more because Lisbon is one of my favourite ports. For such a small amount, I am fairly sure P&O would absorb it as an extra cost, at least until the cruises for summer 2026 become available.

12 hours ago, Pickalily, Wilts said:

 If I sail Arcadia in May, will she have had remedial work following her RtW trip?

I can’t see why any work would be needed. As Moley says, ships are maintained daily and the distance travelled on a world cruise can’t be much different from 100 days of shorter cruises. The ships don’t normally have any rest with the quick turnarounds in Southampton. Last month I went to Arctic Norway on Aurora. She had just returned from a trans Atlantic cruise, and when we returned, she did a short Northern Europe followed by the Canaries and back. 

31 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

Both ships are due dry docks across the next 18 months. Aside from the usual engineering works, P&O have already announced significant investment on the hotel side, so rooms, lounges, passenger facilities etc. in monetary terms even if not the detail.

 

This is on top of the new furniture delivered this year.

 

Looking ahead, the spend is focused on keeping the ships with P&O until they are 30+. Due to the pandemic, we can expect the ships to hang around longer than maybe they previously wood have.

 

Please also bear in mind that Arcadia is only 3 years older than Ventura, and no one is writing her off yet!

 

Finally, my overarching caveat, ANY ship could be sold at ANY time if someone offered the right price.

But let us not let the facts as you have so helpfully provided get in the way of another ‘scare story’ based on no evidence apart from their age. Aurora last month was excellent, comfortable and a pleasure to sail on.

32 minutes ago, Host Sharon said:

I wish you all a happy, healthy and peaceful Christmas. After another month in hospital with pneumonia, Christmas and cruising are cancelled for the time being. Just appreciate everything one has and take nothing for granted.

So sorry to hear of another long hospital stay. Hopefully you are now back at home and on the mend. Have a great Christmas and thanks for your efforts at keeping us in order again this year. 

1 hour ago, amurray88 said:

Agreed... the rest is mainly compensation for unfortunate events that on the whole, are first world problems. These 2 are absolutely imperative.

I agree that those are imperative, just check that the financial level of cover meets P&Os requirements. I presume it will, but best to make sure. I mentioned the extras that cruise cover provides because I know some get disappointed when they fail to get cover for things like missed ports because they do not take out this extra cover.

4 minutes ago, zap99 said:

DW said ' can you see if you can get a Christmas radio times when you go up the shop ?.  £4.99😡. 2 days later it was free in the paper....Next year..Bah.Humbug.

For Christmas Day, you could probably use last year’s copy because it rarely changes year from year. I expect it will include Eastenders, Coronation Street, Dr Who, Call the Midwife, a couple of ‘celebrity’ game shows and a spin off from Strictly Come Dancing.

Covering cruises and cruise cover can be different things. Covering cruises can be interpreted as meaning they will cover a cruise in the same way as any other package  holiday. Cruise cover is likely to cover extras such as missed port cover along with the more basic things.

21 minutes ago, kalos said:

 I just sent five minutes looking on the t -pilot site and apart from the silly 5*reviews that any insurer gets with "they took my money with no fuss " as they would .

Others read I was stuck and no one to talk to, no help ,everything online .

As we are not allowed to advertise I will say this a few weeks ago when my Mrs took ill

onboard a ship we were landed a 2K plus bill but no worries .

As once home they contacted us with a human who sorted us out with what was required 

and could talk to them anytime . More important they paid out no stalling .

 

My advice if they don't have a UK call centre and are mega cheap I would steer clear .

When things go wrong and your heads all over the place , you will be glad of a reassuring voice and not texts and e-mail chats from your insurer .

Another thing to find out is whether they provide the minimum level of cover that P&O require. 

I hope you enjoy your cruise and manage to see the lights as we did.