Megabear2

My temporary accommodation is twice the size of my own one. Very quiet too, well until Captain Camby blared into the room. Clearly a lot of difference in size of small and large balcony cabins! I do now have a very nice letter telling me how they will support me through my confinement... La Coruna on time tomorrow around 11 degrees early morning warming in the afternoon to 22 degrees. Hopefully I can get off for a while once the situation is sorted

I'm told she's fully aware of the "P" and it does actually hold some sway in that I'm a personal contact of someone in high places in head office - something I didn't know so I've learned something new today if nothing else! I assume it must be from my days of fighting the good fight on insurance and offloading but no doubt will never know! Hopefully the 100 people aren't all complaining on this particular voyage, as someone else has already gotten the spares! Anyway you are right about entertainers, she did mention those as bring a solution. Chesney Hawkes and his entourage get off tomorrow but I doubt international superstar rooms will.go to little old me. We shall see. Having spoken to.home if it's not sorted by La Spezia week yesterday I'm going to ask to leave the ship as we have Italian contacts who will look after me and I can also get the train into Austria where I have friends and Munich with its multiple flights is very close by. This is certainly an adventure. Ironically I actually quite like the ship, have met some nice people already and if I can only get some sleep would be quite content. Despite the sleep deprivation it's better than the assault on Britannia at Christmas! Off to track down.my overnight room now with my trusty small bag - good job they found it - then dinner in the police Grove at 6.15 followed hope7by bed.

Thank you. I actually booked direct with P&O on this occasion so can't blame anyone else, much as I'd love to!

I rarely have OBC when I'm travelling alone, but apart from that I would have to pay for all that and a lot more if I was on a land based holiday. I budget for these things as I want/need them. Certainly if I was travelling in the States I'd most likely get charged a "resort fee" even at the.most basic hotels. The only "luxury" amongst that lot is my Wi-Fi. Again travelling alone I budget for excursions mainly for safety reasons. If I book.begore going the prices are lower and I get my discount. I drink very little so my dining and excursions are my luxury. I can't see the point of scrimping to use OBC and missing something I really like or want to do.

I think fly cruises are always better handled at embarkation though regardless of line. The passengers are.normally "controlled" if that's the right word by plane and transfer arrivals. Boarding in a home port such as Southampton people naturally do their own thing particularly because of pressures from external sources such as traffic.

Well it's not gone very well I'm afraid. Heard nothing so went to reception where I was told nothing can be done as there's no free cabins. The guy who came earlier is apparently "watching the situation"! This I'm afraid led to Megabear meltdown not helped when a man turned up next to me to hand in his keys for his change of cabin due to noise issues. He told me quite openly he and his wife came down in their nightclothes at 12.30pm to complain about the situation. Ironically she has an identical hearing/ear problem as me. He was deck 9 above the club as well. Earlier on deck I spoke to a lovely couple on their first cruise celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. They had noise until 2.00am in their deck 5 midship inside as well. I was then taken to an area away from reception by the person in charge of the reception/cabin allocation where we had a very frank discussion about noise issues as a whole across the ship and apparently there are literally a hundred or so cabins in various places and of all grades where complaints have been received at some point from passengers. Having been told nothing can be done unless someone gets off I explained that because of my mental health issues if I remain sleep deprived I would be at risk of an episode. After this discussion the lady left to speak to someone else and also at my suggestion try to at least find me somewhere to rest tonight. As a very special concession I have been given a room elsewhere to sleep in tonight, I understand it's a one off due to my situation. It's actually a crew isolation cabin and I can only have it tonight. I'm told to have breakfast tomorrow and go to see her at around 9.15 after the ship is docked and the manifesto of passengers is amended. Apparently we will get a proper solution tomorrow but I'm not holding my breath. Meantime my port time looks like it's going out of the window while it's all dealt with. I'm too tired and fed up to even care now, in fact I'd happily get off the way I feel at present. I made a number of points about being upgraded when I'd said no, about the whole process of allocating known noisy cabins to people who have files marked as vulnerable and also the lie I'd get moved, the no show of the drvk supervisors and my partially wasted day. Apparently these are all valid complaints but nothing to do with the ship! To compound everything the wonderful app is down ship wide and hosts of people have lost all.of their bookings. I'll bet you evens mine will be one of them!

Hate to say this, but I actually had done just that before leaving home. All my entertainment booked, Wi-Fi in place, transport checked off, dining booked. In fact a bit too regimented for me, no thrill factor. Ahh but hang on, that's probably what the room with added percussion was for! What's not to like? I've got a chair in the sun, drink in hand watching the ocean, and believe it or not its quiet and restful. Someone else is doing the driving, cooking, cleaning, washing up as well. Can't beat it really.

Friends of Bill W meeting today on Arvia wasn't well attended when I looked so don't think AA has the message.

Well I'm moving! No idea where to, I'm to be given suggestions later today. I'm promised it will be quiet which is all I care about! I'm going out now and apparently will have a message from reception on my return. A big relief, I don't mind if I go back inside or where as long as I can sleep.

No I wasn't asked and when I booked there was no choice about upgrading because all cabins were guarantee in an area rather than being able to pick. I've just returned after eating - I couldn't wait for the guy any longer - and apparently he is returning in 15 minutes as he'd missed me. Interestingly when I first went out my steward was outside and asked if I'd slept well - I think the bags under the eyes and red eye probably told the sorry tale. Anyway started chatting and he told me every cruise without fail someone in this little bank of cabins makes a complaint they can't sleep properly for noise issues. Away from the complaint I joined a queue for the Diner brunch as no virtual queue in place. Waited 10 minutes and then in to a very nice table next to the window. Service was very good and the food was hot and tasty. Definitely a good choice if you miss breakfast elsewhere. Talking to a couple sitting next to me they told me that all entertainment this evening is fully booked and has been so most of the.morning. Checking The app they are correct, only the escape room thing has availability. The good news is my Wi-Fi and app are working splendidly and my phone thinks I'm in France and has connected via my EE free roaming. So now I wait, I hope Godot is coming soon.

Yes and also avoid middle deck 5 as under 710 Club where there's a show starting 12.15am every night so I was advised which was why I booked forward originally.

No, the joys of an upgrade from inside to balcony. I had booked a select inside but couldn't choose a cabin only area. I chose front, they moved me to aft small balcony. I could not change it back when I found out where it was as the ship is purportedly full. We shall see, I'm awaiting my visitor who's on his way apparently.

Thanks for letting me know about the mix and match, I will definitely give it a go. Hope your body clock adjusts to normal quickly. The clocks changed last night so it's now 7.30am on here and I'm fit for nothing after 4 hours or so sleep. At 1.15am ship time I conceded defeat and rang reception to ask when the music would stop and was told another 30 minutes. I was surprised the phone was answered so quickly. Anyway the outcome was a very surprising would you like another room and the deck supervisor is now visiting me at 9.00am to discuss options. This will be an interesting one, I must confess I was extremely surprised at how quickly this was offered and the sceptic in me says they know certain rooms are likely to usher in a complaint (apparently I've made one although I never actually used the word). Unfortunately I am almost deaf in my left ear and my right ear over compensates as a result. I also get regular infections in my ear so try to avoid putting anything in it to prevent flare ups. The side effect of the bad ear is that although I cannot hear normal levels low and high pitch sounds are acutely exacerbated and the thump and grind of the drum and bass guitar I experienced last night were such that even with my head good ear down deep in the pillow the sound was vibrating and reverberated through my left ear. I was quite surprised how loud the noise was, rarely can I not obliterate noise by turning my deaf ear up. Anyways I'll keep the deck 15 information in mind in case they try to move me there. I must confess I'm.absolutely shattered so hope they person is on time as I'm planning to try to get some more sleep when they've gone. Apart from the tiredness it's ironically super quiet this morning with no noise anywhere from my neighbours. In light of my unexpected visitor being due I'm going to try for breakfast brunch at 6th Street Diner at when it opens at 10.00am, assuming of course I'm not trundling around the ship with bags and a suitcase! Apart from that all is good, the Horizon looks full of things to do and I'm planning to visit the spa later to arrange a couple of treats.

It did have a label thankfully and was here when I got back a short time ago with a nice little note apologising for it's delay which was a nice surprise. Been a good evening wandering around. I had the theatre at 8.30pm for Rock On! which I thoroughly enjoyed. The queue formed at 8.00pm, stretching back a long way. I wandered in around 8.15pm and got a nice central seat, had to give cabin number on entry. The show was apparently full but I had no one sitting next to me and there were quite a few spare seats when I looked around. People seemed reluctant to fill every seat in a row leaving odd seats as gaps. I thought that was quite poor but there you go. The show was very good, loud with special effects which were extremely impressive. Earlier I sat in the atrium area and watched the acrobatic show. It was impossible to get a drink at that point, I waited 30 minutes before giving up when the ladies finished on their trapeze. I was very uncomfortable with the act as they had no safety harness and as someone not keen on heights I found it rather scary. I ate in the Quays, the black bean thingie very pleasant. A roaring trade in Yorkshire puds was occurring and it was quite busy. Wandering round after I encountered the Meridian restaurant dining queue which was quite long. A quick look at the app showed 75 people in the virtual queue at 7.55pm and 63 for Zenith. I'm very glad I booked all my meals etc in advance, I wouldn't be happy with the queues. After the show I sat in the Amber Lounge having a drink and chatted to another solo traveller, a lady who'd come by coach from the Wirral. She confirmed they arrived at 1.30pm and were held for an hour at the Queen Elizabeth Terminal. Apparently blue numbers were issued to them and this bypassed the queues outside the terminal. She was using the app nothing booked before boarding and it had taken an hour for her to be called to Zenith at 7.00pm after entering the queue at 6.00pm - she didn't realise dining started at 5.30pm on this ship. Overall been a pleasant first day, I'm now attempting to try to sleep.but the bass from below is very loud! Soundproofing clearly isn't Arvia's strong point. I have a feeling I'm not going to be very happy with the noise, but will give it a try and see what time it ends. The clocks go forward tonight so it could be 2.00am or later apparently. Apart from the noise issues the room is clean and tidy. I can confirm I have glasses in the bathroom and a pile of sanitary bags. On investigation the under bed box has 4 more glasses and nothing else. My cabin steward tells me there is no conditioner or body lotion available - I didn't actually ask but clearly others had. Tomorrow is meant to be a pleasant day sea and weather wise.

Need my charger for the app though, typically hardly any charge left as I've been telling the world where I've been! I'm sure it will get here eventually, just annoying they took it off my case before I could. It's always the little things you miss when they aren't there.

We are sailing at 6.00pm apparently. My steward has brought ice and biscuits but my small bag is currently lost!! That means no toiletries, no kindle, no books and no electrical chargers amongst other essential items! There's something about me and small bags with luggage... Been for a scout around but only on deck 16 where I saw the lesser spotted football shirts of Aston Villa and Tottenham encouraging their offspring to splash the water put of the infinity pool. Hopefully the trough will do it's job. Apart from panicking about my bag I've settled in and unpacked. The wardrobe seemed quite compact, but I never travel without the kitchen sink so it might be me. Definitely wouldn't be anywhere for my OH or a travelling companion to put stuff on the shelves though. I've successfully gotten lost on two occasions so am about to venture into the big wide world of decks 6, 7 and 8 ... it may be sometime before I return.

Collected and on-board in room by 3.40pm. Still.big queues outside when I boarded. Assistance man told me today had been a "good one", not sure what a bad one will be like!! Cabin found and very pleased with it although it does seem small after Britannia and QM2. Have 2 pairs of slippers, a sail away drink voucher and a letter saying no cocktail parties (although I have another one telling me I'll get an invite)! My WiFi logged straight in, no huffing about at reception like on Britannia and so far seems quite responsive. Ship looks like it's already very busy big queues for the lifts, glad I could use the stairs as the baggage guys took my small bag as well as my case. General observation from boarding queue: much younger demographic than I normally see at this time of year. Lots of babies, all very friendly and smiling. I liked the boarding gates being divided by muster station, straight on checked in and free to wander. Very impressive. App is behaving so far - would it dare not to with me! My tea/coffee drawer is broken, pulled it out, everything fell on the floor and it wouldn't go back in. Took me ages to get it back in. Big news: NO BISCUITS .... Please send those hobnobs urgently. Off for a wander and to find a g&t to recover from the trauma of this situation!

There's actually two queues. The shorter one is those on time waiting to go in. The longer one goes round the corner and is early arrivals. The queue to go in is stretching up the escalator. As I say, glad I'm not in it!

Arrived a bit earlier than intended as absolutely no traffic between Salisbury and Southampton. Luggage went in the hole, but a bit chaotic with coaches still arriving at 15.05. Big queues outside but seem to be being managed okay and doesn't look too bad at all. Reported to assistance and a lovely man took me through the side door and seated me. He offered to help me go through early but I've declined as seemed very unfair with hundreds outside. Just before 4.00pm he's coming to get me. I've made good use of my time waiting. Logged in to the ship and booked a couple of extra meals and shows and have the illusive 710 Club 8.45 performances for several nights as well. I'm all set and looking forward to getting on board. Decided to cancel my 6.00pm dinner for tonight as enjoyed lunch at home with the OH before leaving for Southampton. All looking good at present, I'm chilling watching the queue, couldn't be doing with the standing outside though!

The booking you switch to has to cost more than the one you are moving from.

The legal team no doubt breathed a sigh of relief, particularly as I'm boarding in a few hours!

And unfortunately he now has to declare higher than normal cholesterol when buying travel insurance and the question states has your cholesterol EVER been raised so even if he gets it back down to a good level naturally he will be rated and charged more. Sometimes these health checks don't help at all when it comes to travel insurance.

I just know it's bloomin' expensive now!

Interesting insurance story here. The end paragraph about possible new rules is rather intriguing. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/older-holidaymakers-face-prohibitive-travel-29948156

Great bargain. Just about to press the button. I looked at the Canada one later on as well. Also no supplements. I think Faroes went because of the animal rights issue with whales if I remember rightly.