Cunard Cruisers - How are things where you are ?

[vettprincess]

15 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

I caught up with friends yesterday via " House Party", I was on one of the calls when the ISS went over and we (mostly) went outside & saw it from our various gardens. Too cloudy in Yorkshire apparently.

Today we've had Sunday lunch delivered from our local pub. There was enough to last until Tuesday.

Our news is reporting that the roads are quiet and there haven't been any repeats of last Sunday's outings to the beach or National Parks.

The clocks went forward overnight so I'm looking forward to the longer evenings.

I hope everyone has had a good Sunday.

 

Hello:

Greetings from the middle of the USA-Minnesota. Woke up to some snow on the ground but 5 inches in northern Minnesota. It is so nice to read all the postings from across the pond. I have not been out of the house since 3/5. Good thing for computers to connect with near and far. Still hoarding going on here in our big box stores (Target, Walmart, Menards,) and the grocery stores.

I always shop in advance cause of the bad winters here and cannot get out of the garage to go to stores. So am well supplied with most items except fresh greens and now low on beer.

Now the dog wonders why I am always home and not out of the house volunteering and delivering to charities. 

Just had a chat with friends we met on the QM2 via zoom. Now that sure is a positive internet application.

Stay healthy out there.

Forgot to mention. We also get notice when the ISS is visible over Minnesota. We watched it last week 2 nights. Not the best viewing from my house (trees) but could follow it along. So exciting to see it.

Edited March 29, 2020 by vettprincess
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[Vogatrice]

Our lockdown so far has been a race against the virus. We had planned to drive across the U.S. starting late April to get on the May 13 TA,  en route to our new home in Italy. Screeching halt on those plans! The house is sold (BC, thankfully) so we have to be out on time regardless of the state of the world. We've rented a little duplex, accelerated the move by three + weeks and have been in full-on adrenaline go-go-go mode. Almost there! Movers came to put most of our stuff in storage and will come back Wednesday to move the rest to our temp place. Isolating like crazy in hopes we can stay well and they don't call off the move. Looking forward to slowing down and using the extra time to continue decluttering our unneeded stuff. We're rebooked for a December TA, will try again then.

 

However...had a nightmare last night that after making all these alternate plans, the May cruise somehow wasn't cancelled after all. The usual stuff of nightmares...racing through the night to make it onboard, slowed down and diverted at every turn...somehow made it up the ramp and into the dining room. Whereupon I saw a man in an open vest, shirtless, spearing his whole steak with a fork and gnawing off one end. Seriously, I'm not making this up, or at least not consciously. My subconscious is obviously working overtime.

Edited March 29, 2020 by Vogatrice

[Camgirl]

Hi again from the east of England. 

 

We have had a pretty good weekend on the whole. Starting on Friday, when we had an Afternoon Tea by post for my birthday! 😀 It contained everything apart from sandwiches, which I made myself. There was so much, We have just had our second afternoon tea with the left overs! And we still have some left! 

 

Then, last night we supported our local Indian restaurant by using their click and collect option set up since they had to shut for the virus. Delicious! Unfortunately, we will have to diet for the next few weeks now 🙄

 

And we even managed to get out to a supermarket with toilet roll in stock!! One less worry to have to think about!

 

We are still waiting to hear from Cunard about our May cruise. Which I think is the same one Kynance is booked on (fjords, 3rd May). I can't imagine there is anyway it could possibly go ahead 😥 Such a shame. Still, hopefully we will all be back on board in the not too distant future if we can just get through this horrible period together.

 

Stay safe everyone.

[Host Hattie]

I like the idea of afternoon tea by post, where was that from ?

[Camgirl]

Hi Hattie,

 

The one we chose was from www.delimann.co.uk in Devon. I have found several companies that do a similar thing, so I will have to do some comparisons.  😃

 

[Host Hattie]

Sounds like valuable research !

[Camgirl]

I thought so 😁😁😁

[photosg]

Hello Cruise Critic Cunarders!

 

Hello from mostly sunny and very humid Singapore!

 

Thank you Host Hattie for starting this thread and thank you to all who have shared so far.

 

Cruise Critic has been an invaluable resource to me over the years and I have been enjoying reading the message boards without posting very much.

 

Singapore spent the best part of a week back in the middle of February as the country with the most number of cases outside of China. (and, er, not counting Diamond Princess.) So we have been dealing with this virus for longer than most.

 

Back in February "Social Distancing" wasn't a well known term yet, but the government advised frequent handwashing and to stay at home and visit a doctor if you were experiencing symptoms. We started to see temperature screening stations at entrances to office buildings and shopping malls. Many restaurants started to collect contact numbers as well to facilitate contact tracing.

 

We went from being discouraged from organising or attending events with more than 250 people (causing many religious services to be halted or scaled down,) to gatherings of 250 or more being banned, (causing theatres to shut down.) For a while cinemas still operated but asked you to leave a blank seat between groups of patrons. Then last week, on March 26 bars and clubs as well as cinemas were all closed. The larger gyms closed within a day or two as groups of more than 10 were banned. Restaurants and retail outlets are still open. Restaurants have to maintain social distancing between patrons and of course no groups of more than 10. Malls now have a restriction on the number of people they can have per unit area so they have reduced the number of entrances and started counting people coming in and out (as well as doing temperature screening.)

 

Schools are still running although starting this week every Thursday will be an e-learning day when students stay at home and have lessons online. (E-learning is not new to Singapore and they have a few e-Learning days every year.)

 

For myself I am mostly retired and volunteer at Church and as the restrictions on church gatherings and meetings have become more and more stringent I have found myself more and more free. (Yes we have "zoom" too, but not many of us like it.) I've been keeping myself busy with cooking (sourdough bread next) and watching opera and ballet online. (It was Wagner week at the Metropolitan Opera!)

 

I live in one of the larger condominiums in Singapore made up of 7 blocks 36 storeys high. There are more than 1,700 units (mostly 3 bedrooms, there are also one bedroom studios and also duplex penthouses each with their own rooftop swimming pool.) I regularly use the gym but all the shared facilities were shut down last week. We also had a clap for healthcare workers tonight and it was quite moving to hear everyone clapping and cheering from the balconies.

 

We were one of the first countries to experience panic buying and at first many of us were embarrassed by the behaviour of our compatriots. But now seeing country after country experience the toilet paper run it is our turn to feel a little smug. There was another run on fresh vegetables and eggs when Malaysia decided to close its land border with us, but we soon found out that goods would still get through and life is back to "normal" again. (Singapore is completely urban so almost all our food is imported.)

 

My first experience of cruising was a TA on QM2 in 2005, and I have been on a cruise every year since 2009. I've tried many other lines so it wasn't until 2014 that I tried Cunard again on the QE. In 2018 I introduced 2 friends to Cunard, sailing on QV to Iceland. They loved it so much we booked QE to Alaska last year. We are (were?) booked on the May 15 QV to the Baltic this year but are sad that we will not be able to see her again so soon. It doesn't look like life is going to be back to "normal" any time soon and even though we liked the look of 2 weeks on QV to the Mediterranean followed by a week to the Fjords in June 2020, we are considering a refund rather than the FCC.

 

I think going forward the days of the mega ships are numbered and even ships like QE and QV with 2,000 passengers may have too many. I wonder if it would be possible to run them profitably with only 1,000 passengers. Anytime dining for everyone? Longer theatre performances? Less buffets and more full service dining options? No more single supplements?

(hmm, no i guess it would have to be higher prices for everyone?)

 

Praying for all this to end sooner rather than later and we can all worry about which shore excursion to choose and what to pack again.

[alc13]

49 minutes ago, photosg said:

We started to see temperature screening stations at entrances to office buildings and shopping malls. Many restaurants started to collect contact numbers as well to facilitate contact tracing.

 

We went from being discouraged from organising or attending events with more than 250 people (causing many religious services to be halted or scaled down,) to gatherings of 250 or more being banned, (causing theatres to shut down.)

Smart, smart, smart.  Effectively staged and well-thought out.

 

I remember those high apartment buildings in Singapore.  I think I recall hearing that ~1 million workers crossed from Malaysia every day to work in Singapore - is that true?  Amazing.

 

Another terrific post.  Thank you.

[Host Hattie]

@photosg Lovely to hear from you in Singapore, thank you for posting.

Another busy day working from home, mostly Union representatives duties rather than my actual job. We are starting to discuss furlough, interesting times 🤔.

[Kynance]

On 3/29/2020 at 7:29 PM, Camgirl said:

Hi again from the east of England. 

 

We have had a pretty good weekend on the whole. Starting on Friday, when we had an Afternoon Tea by post for my birthday! 😀 It contained everything apart from sandwiches, which I made myself. There was so much, We have just had our second afternoon tea with the left overs! And we still have some left! 

 

Then, last night we supported our local Indian restaurant by using their click and collect option set up since they had to shut for the virus. Delicious! Unfortunately, we will have to diet for the next few weeks now 🙄

 

And we even managed to get out to a supermarket with toilet roll in stock!! One less worry to have to think about!

 

We are still waiting to hear from Cunard about our May cruise. Which I think is the same one Kynance is booked on (fjords, 3rd May). I can't imagine there is anyway it could possibly go ahead 😥 Such a shame. Still, hopefully we will all be back on board in the not too distant future if we can just get through this horrible period together.

 

Stay safe everyone.

Hi Camgirl - yes, we are booked on QV’s May 3rd trip - at least for the moment -  because Cunard emailed earlier to advise that their pause in operations has now been extended until 15th May. It’s a real shame because the itinerary is fantastic but I had resigned myself to the inevitable some time ago. 
 

I like the idea of the afternoon tea by post which you mentioned - it’s my birthday in a few weeks and I would normally be spending it in Cornwall but perhaps I will nudge my other half to plan a “surprise” for me! 
 

I’m enjoying reading everyone’s posts on here - this is a lovely thread so thanks Hattie for kicking it off and also thanks for everyone else who has been contributing. 👍🏻😃

[photosg]

20 hours ago, alc13 said:

I remember those high apartment buildings in Singapore.  I think I recall hearing that ~1 million workers crossed from Malaysia every day to work in Singapore - is that true?  Amazing

 

Hello Alc13,

 

not quite as many as that. more like 300-400,000. About 8% of our workforce. With the border closed most of them opted to stay in Singapore (and, er, I guess keep their jobs.) Some brought their families with them.

 

8-)

marc

[Host Hattie]

Happy Tuesday everyone, I hope all is well where you are.

All OK here, it's Mr HH's official last day at work, the power station where he works closes down today. He hasn't been in for a while but it's still a sad day. He's trying to make arrangements to collect his tools when he's allowed back on site.

I've had another busy day dealing with questions about furlough, it's been a steep learning curve for us all.

 

 

[Kynance]

3 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Happy Tuesday everyone, I hope all is well where you are.

All OK here, it's Mr HH's official last day at work, the power station where he works closes down today. He hasn't been in for a while but it's still a sad day. He's trying to make arrangements to collect his tools when he's allowed back on site.

I've had another busy day dealing with questions about furlough, it's been a steep learning curve for us all.

 

 

Hi Hattie - wishing Mr HH all the best with his future plans, whatever they may be. 

With everything you have going on,  it’s a wonder you still find the time to post and look after this forum! Thanks again for all your endeavours. 

 

[Host Hattie]

Thank you, he has been applying for jobs but without success. He was hoping to get on with some diy jobs but hadn't planned on a wife who needs him to keep the noise down while she works from home !

 

[vettprincess]

Greetings to all. 

On a positive note I  watched the ISS go over Minneapolis, Minnesota USA last night. From my front steps.

Quite remarkable to see this. Hard to believe they fly over and we are on the ground. So interesting. Hope you all can try and "spot the station" soon.

 TRy the web site and see if going over your area.

[alc13]

Okay, we are healthy here, and when I'm not consuming news about 1) coronavirus statistics (grim), 2) emergence of authoritarianism around the world, or 3) how to sew a face mask, I confess to being restless.  I'm enjoying reading, doing puzzles, and the like.  But what are your secrets, if any, for staying sane?  Are you trying Zoom to stay in touch with friends?  Have you started a new hobby? 

 

 

[Host Hattie]

I've been keeping in touch with people via the " House Party" app, I spoke to more people last weekend than I normally would.

Our village book club is planning to use Zoom for their meeting this evening. I don't have Zoom and I haven't read the book so I'll give it a miss.

I'm using Skype for business and Teams to keep in touch with colleagues and work meetings.

Not much time for new hobbies but I keep thinking I should sort out my travel photographs & videos.

I'm back on site tomorrow, we had an email yesterday to say they were going to start temperature checks at the entrance to the works. Apparently they had to give up this morning as the queues were so long ! More successfully the company has donated some PPE to our local health service.

Mr HH has taken over cooking duties now he's between jobs, not sure what it is but it smells good !

[Camgirl]

Host Hattie, I hope your dinner was as good as it smelled. 

We are not big on tech but our son set up Skype for us just before the lockdown came. We have used it a couple of times now. And our dance class is going to get together on zoom this evening, if we can set it up in time!

I have been sorting the travel photos. I have started creating photo books from our cruises. It is lovely having them all on the computer, but I do like something physical in my hand. So I am trying to create a book from each cruise we have been on.

I have also got out some stitching to do. I used to do cross stitch but haven't done any for ages. So I thought I would try to do some again. I do need to use a massive magnifying glass now though!

Has anyone else found new (or old) things to take up in these strange times?

[Kynance]

I have a lovely brand new car sitting on my drive which I picked up just as we were being locked down - my new hobby is to read the manual and understand how all the gadgets work! I can only do the basics like switch on the air con & heated seats at the moment. It’s a shame it won’t be driven any further than our local Waitrose for the foreseeable future. 🙁

 

I too have Skype for Business - but we are not very keen on using the video aspect! We find the audio drops out for 20 or 30 seconds at a time though, which is frustrating, although when it works, the sound quality is much better than our teleconference facilities. 
 

I work full time, but compress my hours over 4 days, Monday to Thursday, so Friday is my non-working day. My plans for tomorrow are 1) queue outside Waitrose to shop for our “basic necessities” 2) phone my aunt in the afternoon 3) have a nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc in the evening. Life on the edge!! 😆

[alc13]

1 hour ago, Kynance said:

I have a lovely brand new car sitting on my drive which I picked up just as we were being locked down - my new hobby is to read the manual and understand how all the gadgets work! I can only do the basics like switch on the air con & heated seats at the moment. It’s a shame it won’t be driven any further than our local Waitrose for the foreseeable future. 🙁

 

I too have Skype for Business - but we are not very keen on using the video aspect! We find the audio drops out for 20 or 30 seconds at a time though, which is frustrating, although when it works, the sound quality is much better than our teleconference facilities. 
 

I work full time, but compress my hours over 4 days, Monday to Thursday, so Friday is my non-working day. My plans for tomorrow are 1) queue outside Waitrose to shop for our “basic necessities” 2) phone my aunt in the afternoon 3) have a nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc in the evening. Life on the edge!! 😆

Heated seats are the best. Enjoy your new car!

 

My favorite place for grocery shopping is the natural food store near where we live.  As much as possible they sell things that are locally grown or raised.  It is pretty small, but nearly always has - er, had - what I need.  And hurray, because they've reopened for pickup orders.  I'm sure it helps them emotionally as well as financially to stay open, even in a limited way.

 

Wouldn't mind a Waitrose near me, however.

[erniebernie]

Hello to you all from Kirwee  in Christchurch New Zealand like most people we to are in lockdown supposidly till 23rd April? So far we are managing as the weather is good and we are allowed out for excersice/walks as long as we dont pat ramdom dogs and stay more than 2mtr away from everyone. Our only shops open are supermarkets,chemist,gas station and liquor outlets!!!  No takeaway food outlets open even for delivery. Like most other people on CC we have a cruise booked for September Vancouver -Japan  cant see it happening this year. We live in a smallish town so the neighbours have been having a coffee hour where we all stand on one corner of cross roads  and have a chat/yell to each other. Kids ride their bikes in crocodile formation 2mtrs apart great fun for now but im sure that will soon wear off. We have just had a couple of majors stores open for "essential" items  ie washing machines,warm clothing,baby items and.....nail polish remover??? Someone got that wrong. Oh well if thats all we have to grumble out lifes not that bad😃 Off now to supermarket for eggs,milk, bread and friut,we have had a few issues here with some shops hiking up prices $13.00 for a cauliflower!! but PM soon jumped on them and told them to stop. I must say i think our Prime Minister has done a good job in a tuff situation  (i didnt vote for her) . Stay well everyone  and keep up the comments. Allison

[Lakesregion]

Maybe a bit of lock down humor is in order.

 

On the first day of home schooling more than one parent was wondering how they might get that child removed from their class room.

 

or after fives days of lock down the dog is looking at me thinking "now you know why I chew the furniture".

 

or - the year is 2054 and Billie is holding a celebration party as he opens the very last roll of toilet paper that his grand parents bought in the 2020 virus panic.

 

And finally, there is a wonderful -U-tube sketch going around. At first it appears to be a local drive-by drug deal going down but as you watch it, you begin to sense the humor as it turns out to be not a drug deal but  a major buy of toilet tissue.

[Host Hattie]

@Kynance Enjoy the Waitrose trips in your new car. I was quite proud of myself when I managed to change the time in mine at the first attempt yesterday !

@Camgirl it was cottage pie with some stilton sprinkled on top. It was very good.

 

Mr HH braved the supermarket yesterday, there was a bit of a queue to get in but he managed to get everything he wanted apart from tinned tomatoes and Cravendale milk.

 

We had another #clapforcarers for all key workers. Because of the time change it was daylight so we could see our neighbours as well as hear them.

 

I've had my temperature checked on the way in for 2 days now, I'm not sure how effective it is but I suppose it makes somebody feel safer.

 

We've been asked not to use the video on Skype which is a great relief to most of us !

 

Stay safe everyone and Happy Friday

[fionaanne1]

Well, goodness me!  Einstein's theory is beginning to make sense now; time goes relatively slowly when I am catching up with some of the more unpalatable jobs around the house and relatively quickly when I realise that a whole week has passed since my last note to this thread. 🤣

 

A busy week on the whole, still able to get out and about to do bits of essential shopping for my household and others. The supplies in the supermarkets seem to be almost back to normal, apart from loo rolls 🤷‍♀️ Why???

Had a polite discussion with the manager of my local supermarket as they had imposed (using handy yellow tape markers on the floor) the advised 2m distance rules at the checkouts. All well and good but, because there were only two of the six available checkouts open, the queues stretched back along the aisles where other shoppers were trying to select items from the shelves. To his credit he opened all the checkouts.

 

My daughter's friend's online quiz happened again last night. He had a lot of publicity from last weeks and even more people joined in. He has also raised over £45,000 for NHS charity through his efforts. 

 

I found a really interesting youtube piece on how to fold bags-for-life into neat little triangles for easy and compact storage so, I spent a strangely compelling half hour doing plastic bag origami🙄😵😵😵 

 

Which brings me neatly to my next bit of news...

 

A week and a half ago, in order to try and fill my days and stave off boredom, I applied to be one of the new NHS volunteers and found out on Tuesday that I have been accepted. Yay!!!

Since then.... nothing... I have been like a coiled spring ready to leap into action. 😁 

My working life was spent within the NHS so I ought to have realised that these things take time. I imagine that in the cities there will be more call on volunteers than up here in smaller towns. I even gave my car, which was full of general detritus, a cursory wash and vac out in case I was refused permission to carry anything important, on the grounds of infection control. 🙄

 

Friends have been (laughingly) asking what sort of 'important stuff' I expect to do. As my bedside manner is less Florence Nightingale and more Hattie Jacques (Carry on Matron for our non UK members), I expect to be deployed ferrying equipment, supplies or food around.

Whatever, I will be happy to be involved. I turned down the opportunity to be a telephone chat person because with my hearing, the vulnerable person on the other end of the line doesn't need adding to their troubles by me saying 'eh? say again', and 'I heard that, pardon.'

 

The weather here has cooled down a bit so not much going on in the garden apart from the gardener turning up with a van full of plants which need nursing back to health. That I am good at.

Stay safe and well all.

Fiona x