P&O Cruisers - What are things like where YOU are?

[P&O SUE]

Afternoon, John is off today (he was working all weekend) I was hoping for a trip out somewhere but we couldn’t decide where to go so we popped to Mum and Dad’s and did a few things for them then just went to a local pub and had some lunch. Nice food but a very long wait. It was very dark inside and there was a garden but the sun was going in and out. We decided to take our coffee outside as the sun was out and that was very pleasant.

Edited August 28, 2023 by P&O SUE

[Ardennais]

10 minutes ago, P&O SUE said:

Where are you actually staying? Bowness is the main town on Windermere so I don’t think it matters which route you take really. We travelled from Lakeside as our apartment was near there and Bowness itself was hard to park in some days. This was July though and most people were holidaying in the UK so it hopefully won’t be  so busy  when you go. We were so lucky with the weather and it was my favourite day of the week.

 

 

Lovely photos. We will be travelling from Morecambe. September should be less busy so will probably head to Bowness. 

[kalos]

22 minutes ago, Ardennais said:

Never been to Wales!! Then again, I don’t think I’ve been to Essex either - not to stay, might have driven through. 
 

I remember the Dartford Crossing, now that was a mission! 

 

I've been to both of them ,the Yorkshire one isn't as pretty as yours but handy for nipping over to Meadowhall (Meadow -Hell )

[Presto2]

Have had a reply back from my email to PO re our cruise in January and credit where it is due got an email back from a 

Senior Guest Support Representative, Office of Paul Ludlow. 

It will be interesting to see what we get back as a response. 

To be fair, at the moment am guessing they have a lot to be dealing with with regards to Britannia so expect that takes priority. 

[grapau27]

22 hours ago, Ardennais said:

Lovely photos. Is that Lake Windemere by any chance? Will be visiting the area soon and we’re keen to do a lake cruise. Trying to work out the best route. Any recommendations anyone? Thanks. 

There are several cruises available on Lake Windermere which run regularly during the day primarily  from Bowness with a few from Ambleside which is quieter.

There are lots of hotels and guest houses in the Bowness area.

The Laura Ashley Bellsfield hotel is on a hill with fabulous lake views and sometimes include a lake cruise in your stay.

Edited August 28, 2023 by grapau27

[yorkshirephil]

We visited friends in Burnley today and had a run out to Lancaster via the Trough of Bowland, a very pretty area, the views were amazing being able to see the mountains around the lake district, Morecambe  Bay and Blackpool tower from the same place, friend says you can also see the Isle of Man on a clearer day.

[indiana123]

HELP ... going round Britain then down to France, Belgium and Holland (last 3 whistle stop),  with NCL.  Temperatures are going to vary greatly so am packing, and packing and packing.,, I cant stop!!!!

 

Up to 19  tops and not finished yet, then saw a half price top in Morrisons. Well you have to don't you🤣  Only up to about 10 trousers so far.  Then it might rain up at Stornaway so need rain jacket, and jersey jacket and... and ... then theirs my four walking sticks, two gold for the evening and two others, then theres.........

 

Good job I booked the Baggage people. They come on Wednesday.  He makes me laugh as when we hand them over he usually says "Say goodbye to them, you'll probably never see them again"

 

Anyway I will go back and try to cut down the stack of stuff still to be packed.  I wish I had more willpower over things.

[kalos]

Morning ,hope everyone's ok 🙂

Sat reading the papers, thinking what shall I have for breakfast today ?

Then I read ,that what we eat most of it is bad for us ,which we already knew.

General rule of thumb ..If it tastes nice it's bad for you 🙃

What got me is all the papers quote "even our ready sliced bread !"  What if  I was to buy 

uncut bread ,is that any safer or better still ask the shop to slice it for me ,would that help ?

 

What about  shortbread , I heard they wont make it any longer😉

 

Have a nice day /breakfast  everyone 🙂

[lincslady]

It seems we should make our own bread, as almost all shop bought bread has emulsifiers in, which are bad for you.  I do sometimes buy ready meals, especially Indian ones which I love, which are obviously highly 'processed'. but looking at all the ingredients in all of them carefully, everything quoted is a normal foodstuff you could have at home, and no preservatives.  I suppose they are sort of pasteurised in some way, and do have a fairly short shelf life.  I really can't see how these can be bad for you?

 

I guess it may be a hard job to get the people who disembarked Britannia home, with the knock on effect of the air traffic control problem.  All they, and P and O, need.

 

 

[kalos]

21 minutes ago, lincslady said:

It seems we should make our own bread,

 

In an ideal world yes , but with prices rising and energy costs , there will be people out there

who struggle to buy a loaf to feed their families .Food banks and all that ,shame really .

 

Where we can though we should make our own food from scratch .

I am going to attempt to make my own fish cakes covered in breadcrumbs !

Feeling a little nervous as I have never been covered in breadcrumbs before 🙃😉

[twotravellersLondon]

On 8/27/2023 at 9:40 PM, yorkshirephil said:

Some people really do look like their pets

 And the dog is driving!

[grapau27]

Good morning.

It is 16°C and partly cloudy here.

All of this talk about safe food this is my last snack on Saturday before coming home from the Lake District 😋.

[Presto2]

2 hours ago, kalos said:

Morning ,hope everyone's ok 🙂

Sat reading the papers, thinking what shall I have for breakfast today ?

Then I read ,that what we eat most of it is bad for us ,which we already knew.

General rule of thumb ..If it tastes nice it's bad for you 🙃

What got me is all the papers quote "even our ready sliced bread !"  What if  I was to buy 

uncut bread ,is that any safer or better still ask the shop to slice it for me ,would that help ?

 

What about  shortbread , I heard they wont make it any longer😉

 

Have a nice day /breakfast  everyone 🙂

The advert selling toothpaste that you need because people are eating too much  acid fruit now always makes us chuckle. We think the real reason is wine consumption !

Edited August 29, 2023 by Presto2

[yorkshirephil]

1 hour ago, twotravellersLondon said:

 And the dog is driving!

That is understandable😁

[pete14]

1 hour ago, Presto2 said:

The advert selling toothpaste that you need because people are eating too much  acid fruit now always makes us chuckle. We think the real reason is wine consumption !

Speak for yourself 🥴

[Megabear2]

Well after the airport IT fiasco I can now report the Great British Train one!  Just walked a fruitless one and a half miles to the railway station to be told that due to IT problems all ticket offices have been unable to accept card payments since start of trains this morning.  On enquiring if I can buy a ticket for travel tomorrow I was told the machines are also affected although I could buy a ticket with cash.  Us being a near cashless society I never carry much, currently having a tenner in my purse.  The tickets though are £88.40 each (only into London) so I'm stuck. No says the nice man, there's a cash machine outside in the alcove.  Off I go to look ... sorry out of cash and awaiting a refill.  

 

So no train tickets, no idea when they'll be back on sale and a three mile roundtrip walk for nothing.  You couldn't make it up could you.

[Bin man]

For exercise for exercise might be the quote!

[kalos]

8 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

So no train tickets, no idea when they'll be back on sale and a three mile roundtrip walk for nothing.  You couldn't make it up could you.

 

You could make it up but these days we would think this is the norm .😉

 

Can you not buy tickets online via Trainline or the like ? 

[Megabear2]

Just now, kalos said:

 

You could make it up but these days we would think this is the norm .😉

 

Can you not buy tickets online via Trainline or the like ? 

I can most likely but the admin charge is £5.00 and I'm mean!!!  Seriously though I'm more cross they haven't put the information on their website which I checked for ticket types before going to the station.  It was quite confusing with the different fare types and I'm pretty good on train tickets. Heaven help us when they shut the ticket offices too.

[kalos]

11 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

I can most likely but the admin charge is £5.00 and I'm mean!!! 

 

Wow I'd be mopping my brow with my "Red spotted Hanky "  or looking at the train op, things like LNER  say they do not charge booking fee's either ,depends on who your train company is .

[Megabear2]

11 minutes ago, kalos said:

 

Wow I'd be mopping my brow with my "Red spotted Hanky "  or looking at the train op, things like LNER  say they do not charge booking fee's either ,depends on who your train company is .

No actual train company charges but Trainline make a living out of their supposed "cheap tickets" by adding on their booking fee.  All these train ticket sales websites are computer driven search engines with access to multiple train timetables, they don't actually have something to sell.  In fact if you choose a paper ticket you go to your station to collect it from a ticket machine there.

 

I do use Trainline for tickets abroad and for that the fee is well worthwhile as you get access to the cheapest tickets.  European train companies have very simple ticketing options which start low and rise as seats sell.  Here in the UK there are literally thousands of options.  A simple search for a train to London at around 8.30am tomorrow produced a choice of 12 different ticket types! Whatever happened to a single or return I ask! Interestingly two advance purchase bargain singles had a fare almost double the cost of an off peak return and yet is proudly shown with the cheaper ticket options hidden.

[Son of Anarchy]

Where I used to work our IT was provided by a company called CGI.  They provided IT for a lot of government departments and public sector companies.  They were a nightmare.  I wonder whether they are the provider/maintainers for the ATC people and some of the rail IT stuff at a national level.  Whilst I was still working, at one point my employer used a no cost get out clause to get out of the contract with CGI.  

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

Well after the airport IT fiasco I can now report the Great British Train one!  Just walked a fruitless one and a half miles to the railway station to be told that due to IT problems all ticket offices have been unable to accept card payments since start of trains this morning.  On enquiring if I can buy a ticket for travel tomorrow I was told the machines are also affected although I could buy a ticket with cash.  Us being a near cashless society I never carry much, currently having a tenner in my purse.  The tickets though are £88.40 each (only into London) so I'm stuck. No says the nice man, there's a cash machine outside in the alcove.  Off I go to look ... sorry out of cash and awaiting a refill.  

 

So no train tickets, no idea when they'll be back on sale and a three mile roundtrip walk for nothing.  You couldn't make it up could you.

Can you not book online?

[Megabear2]

8 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Can you not book online?

Apparently not as they have no wifi and cannot therefore issue tickets via their machines or distribute them to telephone apps.  It's all becoming a bit comical now, I'm holding for National Rail who tell me they should be able to complete a telephone sale with an electronic ticket. Apparently they guy is in an Indian call  centre so is checking with the UK via email.  You really couldn't make it up.  No train company can sell a ticket over the telephone, only National Rail is allowed to do this, apparently it's a streamlined service!

 

Edited August 29, 2023 by Megabear2

[Josy1953]

I stayed in to avoid the rain this morning but about 2:30 the sky cleared  and the rain stopped so I foolishly decided to go for my walk. Half way round the heavens opened and I got a good soaking.  The only good thing is that  my fitbit says that I have managed 18523 steps. 

Where is summer this year ?