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

[SarahHben]

17 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Off to Saundersfoot (near Tenby) tomorrow for a week, stopping off in Malvern to celebrate our wedding anniversary on the way back. Forecast looks pretty miserable for the first few days, but hopefully picking up next week.

Interestingly, the price of our lodge, for the same week next year, has increased by 25% !

 I hope that you have a good week away and get some dry weather 🙂

[wowzz]

10 minutes ago, Ardennais said:

Friends have recommended The Boat House as a good place to eat there.

Thanks - I see that it is opening for indoor dining  from Tuesday, so we'll take a look.

[wowzz]

9 minutes ago, SarahHben said:

 I hope that you have a good week away and get some dry weather 🙂

As long as it doesn't rain the whole time, we'll be fine - just nice to get away! 

[GOQ]

I live in a seaside town, 5 minutes walk to a clifftop, 15 minutes walk to beaches or the town center, but it's so cold, wet, rainy (we have had piles of hailstones recently and it's only about 6 weeks to the solstice) and grey. That's why I so look forward to being on a ship in The Mediterranean or Caribbean with blue skies, blue-green seas sunshine and warmth.

It's usually really nice here in the summer months so I tend to stay home July and August. 

Really looking forward to my cruise ships.

 

😀 

[grapau27]

54 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Off to Saundersfoot (near Tenby) tomorrow for a week, stopping off in Malvern to celebrate our wedding anniversary on the way back. Forecast looks pretty miserable for the first few days, but hopefully picking up next week.

Interestingly, the price of our lodge, for the same week next year, has increased by 25% !

I hope the weather holds for you both and you have a fantastic time.

Very best Wedding anniversary wishes too.

Graham.

[P&O SUE]

Afternoon all, it’s all very miserable here, lots of rain. I nearly put my light on 10 minutes ago as it came over so dark.

Is it my imagination or does everyone sound a little down? This time last year it was much warmer! When John gets home from work we’re going to pay for our carpet, that’s the most exciting thing I’m doing today 😊 Can’t wait for restaurants indoors to be opened, I’ve got one booked for next Thursday as it’s John’s first day off after restrictions are lifted.

[grapau27]

14 minutes ago, GOQ said:

I live in a seaside town, 5 minutes walk to a clifftop, 15 minutes walk to beaches or the town center, but it's so cold, wet, rainy (we have had piles of hailstones recently and it's only about 6 weeks to the solstice) and grey. That's why I so look forward to being on a ship in The Mediterranean or Caribbean with blue skies, blue-green seas sunshine and warmth.

It's usually really nice here in the summer months so I tend to stay home July and August. 

Really looking forward to my cruise ships.

 

😀

Welcome to the Cruise Lovers club.

Graham.

[P&O SUE]

4 hours ago, Angel57 said:

Gosh, I think we are all missing the posts from Kalos as he never fails to cheer up a dreary morning.......

Talking of dreary - it is raining here in West Sussex altho very mild. 
Lunch is outside today at a nearby pub so am hoping the rain stops!

Have a good day everyone.

Gill x

 

Hope your lunch went well, our weather doesn’t allow for outdoor dining does it? We had quite a heavy shower about half an hour ago in Kent, hope you’ve been luckier.

 

I’ve booked a NT jaunt for Sunday, the weather looked good when I booked it, doesn’t look so good now! 🙄

[Dermotsgirl]

For those in the south east, it looks like CMV is rising from the ashes and relaunching as 'Ambassador' cruise lines. There will be one ship, looks like it'll be sailing from Tilbury. The ship is what CMV was going to call Amy Johnson - now to be called 'Ambience' It's going to be for the over 50s

 

I enjoyed my CMV Cruises, but no sure how I feel about this new venture, when, no doubt CMV still owes money. 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2780468-ambassador-cruise-lines-ambience-ex-cmv/

[Angel57]

33 minutes ago, P&O SUE said:

Hope your lunch went well, our weather doesn’t allow for outdoor dining does it? We had quite a heavy shower about half an hour ago in Kent, hope you’ve been luckier.

 

I’ve booked a NT jaunt for Sunday, the weather looked good when I booked it, doesn’t look so good now! 🙄

It stayed dry and the sun came out..... So we were very lucky.

Enjoy your NT day out on Sunday.

x

[yorkshirephil]

5 hours ago, lincslady said:

Thanks for sharing that - could you explain where it was taken?

 

We have lots of bird families at present, and do they take a lot of feeding!  Goldfinches, greenfinches and chaffinches; all kinds of tits which refuse to use the nest boxes, probably because they are new, and of course our bossy robin and all the others.  It is lovely to sit sometimes near the window and watch them at the feeding station.  The occasional sparrowhawk hovering; they find our garden problematic as there are lots of trees to negotiate before they can get at the pigeons.

 

A lovely morning at present in Lincs., but will probably  be getting the sharp showers sometime.

I don't know where it was taken, I would assume North America as it is a Cardinal bird which is native to America albeit they have been known to get blown around and have turned up in the UK. I just thought it was a stunning photo.

[GOQ]

16 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

For those in the south east, it looks like CMV is rising from the ashes and relaunching as 'Ambassador' cruise lines. There will be one ship, looks like it'll be sailing from Tilbury. The ship is what CMV was going to call Amy Johnson - now to be called 'Ambience' It's going to be for the over 50s

 

I enjoyed my CMV Cruises, but no sure how I feel about this new venture, when, no doubt CMV still owes money. 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2780468-ambassador-cruise-lines-ambience-ex-cmv/

That's interesting, especially as CMV were a bit more flexible and used to cruise from Bristol and Cardiff.

[yorkshirephil]

We went to Junction 32 for our morning coffee, we met some friends we hadn't seen for over 18 months so sat on and around one of the benches chatting for 2 hours in lovely warm sunshine. It started clouding over so we went our separate ways as Mrs YP had her washing out, I said "Don't worry Avril on Cruise critic says its not going to rain" . In the 20 minute drive home it turned into a downpour yet when we got home we hadn't had a drop, within 10 minutes it was pouring down, luckily the washing was in.

[yorkshirephil]

4 minutes ago, GOQ said:

That's interesting, especially as CMV were a bit more flexible and used to cruise from Bristol and Cardiff.

It will be interesting to see their itineraries when they come out. It was a shame about CMV as they had a fleet of smaller ships, most of which have now been scrapped sadly.

[Purdey16]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

Off to Saundersfoot (near Tenby) tomorrow for a week, stopping off in Malvern to celebrate our wedding anniversary on the way back. Forecast looks pretty miserable for the first few days, but hopefully picking up next week.

Interestingly, the price of our lodge, for the same week next year, has increased by 25% !

 

Hope you have a lovely dry time away wowzz and have a lovely wedding Anniversary next week .

[P&O SUE]

36 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

We went to Junction 32 for our morning coffee, we met some friends we hadn't seen for over 18 months so sat on and around one of the benches chatting for 2 hours in lovely warm sunshine. It started clouding over so we went our separate ways as Mrs YP had her washing out, I said "Don't worry Avril on Cruise critic says its not going to rain" . In the 20 minute drive home it turned into a downpour yet when we got home we hadn't had a drop, within 10 minutes it was pouring down, luckily the washing was in.

Fame for Avril 😆

[yorkshirephil]

1 minute ago, P&O SUE said:

Fame for Avril 😆

Yep, the Bill Froggitt of Barnsley. 

[Josy1953]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

Off to Saundersfoot (near Tenby) tomorrow for a week, stopping off in Malvern to celebrate our wedding anniversary on the way back. Forecast looks pretty miserable for the first few days, but hopefully picking up next week.

Interestingly, the price of our lodge, for the same week next year, has increased by 25%!

I hope that the weather picks up quickly while you are there.  Happy anniversary.

[yorkshirephil]

52 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

It will be interesting to see their itineraries when they come out. It was a shame about CMV as they had a fleet of smaller ships, most of which have now been scrapped sadly.

Picked this up from facecloth

A WHOLE NEW AMBIENCE FOR 2022....

It's official; Ambassador Cruises is the newest start up cruise line to enter the UK market. Effective as of April 2022, the line's first dedicated ship-the Ambience- will offer a series of no-fly cruises from the port of Tilbury, ranging in duration from between four to forty-two days. For the most part, the ship will be an adults only vessel, and is aimed at an age group provisionally targeted as being around fifty plus.

Ambience-originally built for P & O Cruises in 1991 as the Regal Princess- comes in at 70,000 tons, and will accommodate approximately 1400 passengers across some 786 cabins and suites. The ship will showcase some five restaurants and a brace of casual cafes, together with nine lounges, a spa, and extensive fitness and leisure facilities.

Ambassador Cruises itself is helmed by Christian Verhounig, formerly of the now defunct Cruise and Maritime Voyages. Other former CMV hands are already on board with the new company, including the UK CCO, Christopher Coates.

While Ambassador Cruises will be a distinctly different kind of product than its forebear, enough synchronicity with the most popular elements of CMV has been carried over to ensure the new product's popularity with its potential new client base.

This comes across mainly in the actual style and duration of cruise schedules to be offered by the Ambience.

The initial season offers some thirty-three cruises, beginning with a four night, inaugural maiden voyage from Tilbury to Hamburg on April 6th, 2022. Highlights to follow include a series of six, seven and eight night forays to the stunning, natural smorgasbord of the fjords of western Norway, and some truly memorable, eleven and fourteen night swings north, to the immense, stunning natural beauty and grandeur of both Iceland and Greenland at the height of the summer season.

For those more enamoured of cruising home waters, the Ambience will offer a series of round Britain cruises to the highlights of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. But, most memorable to my mind is a mouth watering, thirty-four day round trip that takes the ship as far west as Quebec, on Canada's stunning Saint Lawrence Seaway, and then folds in the highlights of both Greenland and Iceland to create one tremendous, truly stunning scenic cruising masterclass.

If warm weather winter escapes are more your thing, the Ambience offers a magnificent, forty-two night magnum opus in January of 2023. Sailing from Tilbury, the ship touches the face of Africa with a call at Agadir in Morocco, before setting out for a string of sizzling Caribbean highlights such as Santiago De Cuba, Havana, Antigua and Tortola, with a return journey via Ponta Delgada, in the Azores.

The Ambiance will also shape a course for the most beautiful and popular ports of the summertime Baltic. Come autumn and winter, the ship will make for waters as warm and widely diverse as Cape Verde, the Canary Islands, and even Cuba.

The previously hugely popular, five day festive Christmas Markets cruises make a very welcome return. In all, the Ambience will call at no less than eighty-eight different ports of call during her inaugural season.

But, if there is quite a bit of fondly remembered familiarity in terms of popular, proven itineraries, then certain aspects of the ship herself will mark her out as totally different to her forebears.

The old days of printed menus, single use straws and other, paper-centric paraphernalia are being thrown overboard, supplanted by simple, easy to use technology that will raise the entire on board experience to a more user friendly focus.

In terms of environmental impact, the Ambience will be compliant with all new stipulations regarding on board emissions up to 2025. And the fitting on board of the most up to date ballast and sewage treatment systems will permit the ship to operate in any waters.

In terms of the actual product delivery on board, Ambassador Cruises is aimed firmly at fostering a more intimate, elegant style of classic, British accented cruise experience. The overall emphasis is on delivering a product that the line identifies as 'premium value'.

While the first out of the blocks Ambience is intended to make waves, Ambassador Cruises has plans to expand judiciously, subject to being able to acquire complementary, classically styled second hand tonnage at the right price. Right now, thanks to the far sighted acquisition of several ships made prematurely redundant thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, companies such as the Greek owned Seajets may well be in a good position to further that ambition. Time will tell on that front, but Ambassador Cruises is clearly intent on expanding beyond the status of a one ship, start up brand.

While Tilbury is the designated initial home port for the Ambience, Ambassador Cruises has a stated intent to sail the ship from ports such as Liverpool and Newcastle's Port of Tyne after the conclusion of the inaugural season in May of 2023.

A new product with a raft of seasoned managerial experience, married to some tried and tested itineraries and a new, more friendly environmental focus, Ambassador Cruises is a welcome addition to the options available for passengers cruising from the United Kingdom. Bookings for all cruises aboard the Ambience open this June.

As ever, stay tuned for updates.

[batholiver]

4 hours ago, Eddie99 said:

Yes

i read an article implying that the word might actually be a deliberate red herring, planted just to see if people (journalists/commentators etc) could be taken in and basically make fools of themselves in attempting to be *down with the kids* (I’m sure that’s not a current expression )

Think Chris Morris and “cake”

Spot on Eddie. It's a recently manufactured word with a claimed history of a few years that doesn't actually exist. The only people using the word cheugy are the Press and its readers!

 

Sort of a late April Fool!

[ann141]

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

Off to Saundersfoot (near Tenby) tomorrow for a week, stopping off in Malvern to celebrate our wedding anniversary on the way back. Forecast looks pretty miserable for the first few days, but hopefully picking up next week.

Interestingly, the price of our lodge, for the same week next year, has increased by 25% !

Enjoy Saundersfoot- a lovely part of the world.Hopefully you will have less rain than we have had during our week in Devon ( We have still had an enjoyable time

[pete14]

2 minutes ago, batholiver said:

Spot on Eddie. It's a recently manufactured word with a claimed history of a few years that doesn't actually exist. The only people using the word cheugy are the Press and its readers!

 

Sort of a late April Fool!

You may be right but you can be sure that, just like other recently manufactured words, it is likely to widely used amongst a certain demographic of people. It certainly exists now and is likely to included in dictionaries in the near future. The cheugy cork is now very much out of the cheugy bottle.

[Josy1953]

More proof that life is getting nearer to normal.  I just got this WhatsApp msg from one of my bowling friends, it's  not quite the ladies Thursday quiz night out but Wednesday will do at a pinch.  I just hope that she manages to get a table booking.

 

Hi Jo
Hoping to go to the Milehouse on the 26th May are you ok for then I know there's a match x

[Eglesbrech]

4 hours ago, gadabout60 said:

I’m meeting a friend for dinner this evening indoors but under Scotland’s very strange rules we are meeting at 5 as restaurant has to close by 8.  Also not allowed alcohol so no civilised glass of wine.

if we were prepared to sit outside in the cold and damp we could stay until 10 and drink alcohol. The logic defies me

There is no logic to it, some of it appears just silly.
 

There are so many holes in it for example from Monday a father can hug his daughter (but only in a private residence or garden, not a public space or park) but he can’t walk her down the isle at her wedding as that has to be physically distanced.

 

A pub can be 1 metre distanced but if someone picks up a fiddle to play it becomes a performance venue and 2 metre distance is required.

 

You couldn’t make some of it up.

[wowzz]

25 minutes ago, ann141 said:

Enjoy Saundersfoot- a lovely part of the world.Hopefully you will have less rain than we have had during our week in Devon ( We have still had an enjoyable time

Thanks. Planning on a visit to Dale, to visit the church where my uncle was the vicar,  back jn the 40s/50s