What to do if no more cruising??

[P&O SUE]

I still can’t think of anything better than a cruise 😞

Hubby and I haven’t flown for years and it’s sad seeing all the news about Spain being open when most of my cancelled cruise was in Spain.

 

We have a week off next week which was to keep us going until our 12 night cruise in October. Weather has got a lot cooler so I hope we can still get some nice days out.

We've booked a week in a gorgeous looking house with sea views in North Devon in October but I know I’m going to be grumpy if it rains everyday!
 

I have been to Warner’s a couple of times, they can be good value off peak for a couple of days but the food is quite unexciting I thought! Not sure how you’d socially distance there either as shows in the evening with lots of people packed together. They have got a Covid guarantee on their website I noticed so that you can change to another break easily.

[P&O SUE]

29 minutes ago, groovechick said:

Thank you P&O Sue. Indeed, although in a strange way lockdown has probably been good for him, in that it has kept him away from the people/things which were/are at the root of many of his problems and given him time to learn to cope.

Every cloud xx

[Solent Richard]

Already planned having this week received an email with video of our favourite Asian hotel...

 

 

 

Just need to secure our Singapore Airline flights and we start holidaying as we did before cruising took over our lives.

[ann141]

4 hours ago, groovechick said:

I've just caught up on this thread and can I say what a wonderful lot you are! Thank you for giving me more laughs than I've had in a very long time. It's been a horrendous few months and not just because of the virus (our teenage son is struggling with depression and anxiety and has made 2 serious suicide attempts). We cruise rarely (every couple of years) so I don't post here much, but I love reading the threads. I would very much be up for joining your cruise withdrawal club Andy. Quite agree about the beauty of the UK. We have holidayed in quite a few places and do lots of days out, but there is so much more to see. 

I don't know if I'm allowed to put this and if not mods please edit, but if anyone fancies glamping in the beautiful Peak District (my home patch), my friend's son lost his job and home in London due to coronavirus and has gone "home" and set up a glamping business with a friend. He's hardworking, enterprising and deserves a bit of luck...

I am sorry to hear of your sons struggle with mental health problems.I hope the counselling he is receiving continues to help and improve things for him.We live in Chesterfield and on a recent trip to Matlock we noticed a new glamping business.I wonder if it is the one your friends son set up?

[groovechick]

29 minutes ago, ann141 said:

I am sorry to hear of your sons struggle with mental health problems.I hope the counselling he is receiving continues to help and improve things for him.We live in Chesterfield and on a recent trip to Matlock we noticed a new glamping business.I wonder if it is the one your friends son set up?

Thank you for your good wishes Ann.

 No, the only info I have is that the business is in Grindleford. My sister and niece live in Wingerworth.

[Adawn47]

6 hours ago, groovechick said:

I've just caught up on this thread and can I say what a wonderful lot you are! Thank you for giving me more laughs than I've had in a very long time. It's been a horrendous few months and not just because of the virus (our teenage son is struggling with depression and anxiety and has made 2 serious suicide attempts). We cruise rarely (every couple of years) so I don't post here much, but I love reading the threads. I would very much be up for joining your cruise withdrawal club Andy. Quite agree about the beauty of the UK. We have holidayed in quite a few places and do lots of days out, but there is so much more to see. 

I don't know if I'm allowed to put this and if not mods please edit, but if anyone fancies glamping in the beautiful Peak District (my home patch), my friend's son lost his job and home in London due to coronavirus and has gone "home" and set up a glamping business with a friend. He's hardworking, enterprising and deserves a bit of luck...

I'm sorry to hear of your son's struggles, but please take heart. I can fully understand how you are feeling right now. When our daughter was just 15 we began to realise there was a problem. We also had to deal with many serious attempted suicides. Since diagnosis, therapy and correct medication she's doing well. Yes, she can still sometimes have what she calls her 'moments' but with our phone chats she comes round. She's now 53, a mother and grandma to 2. So stay strong and always be there for support. A loving mum can sometimes be the best tonic.

Avril 

[AndyMichelle]

10 hours ago, groovechick said:

I've just caught up on this thread and can I say what a wonderful lot you are! Thank you for giving me more laughs than I've had in a very long time. It's been a horrendous few months and not just because of the virus (our teenage son is struggling with depression and anxiety and has made 2 serious suicide attempts). We cruise rarely (every couple of years) so I don't post here much, but I love reading the threads. I would very much be up for joining your cruise withdrawal club Andy. Quite agree about the beauty of the UK. We have holidayed in quite a few places and do lots of days out, but there is so much more to see. 

I don't know if I'm allowed to put this and if not mods please edit, but if anyone fancies glamping in the beautiful Peak District (my home patch), my friend's son lost his job and home in London due to coronavirus and has gone "home" and set up a glamping business with a friend. He's hardworking, enterprising and deserves a bit of luck...

Oh no!! Poor you, that puts our little niggles into perspective. 

Try to stay strong and help him through these horrible times, the poor soul. 

Nice people are welcome on our jaunts and glamping in the Peaks sounds amazing, but my guess is he will be very busy without our help... 

Just off to say a prayer for your family, stay strong. 

Andy 

[groovechick]

23 hours ago, Adawn47 said:

I'm sorry to hear of your son's struggles, but please take heart. I can fully understand how you are feeling right now. When our daughter was just 15 we began to realise there was a problem. We also had to deal with many serious attempted suicides. Since diagnosis, therapy and correct medication she's doing well. Yes, she can still sometimes have what she calls her 'moments' but with our phone chats she comes round. She's now 53, a mother and grandma to 2. So stay strong and always be there for support. A loving mum can sometimes be the best tonic.

Avril 

 

Thank you Avril. He has had a really rough few years - a high performance swimmer tipped for the top by a former Olympic coach, then diagnosed with a serious heart condition caused by an autonomic nervous system malfunction which has made competing and training really hard and impacted his GCSEs and A levels. This and other issues led to his mental health problems; he made it to uni and the high performance swimming team he'd been accepted on to kicked him out because of his depression. The final straw was finding out his girlfriend of 3 years had been two-timing him for some time. I'm lucky that we have a very close relationship and I've been able to do as much as possible to help him. The counselling is definitely starting to help - he had to drop out of his first year at uni, but he is determined to return in September. It is so good and encouraging to hear of people who have come out the other side. Best wishes to you and your daughter.

[groovechick]

19 hours ago, AndyMichelle said:

Oh no!! Poor you, that puts our little niggles into perspective. 

Try to stay strong and help him through these horrible times, the poor soul. 

Nice people are welcome on our jaunts and glamping in the Peaks sounds amazing, but my guess is he will be very busy without our help... 

Just off to say a prayer for your family, stay strong. 

Andy 

Thank you Andy. I do hope Christian (my friend's son) is successful, but there's a lot of competition in that market. I've never tried camping or been keen on the idea, but if it drums up a bit of business for him I'll give it a try. Couldn't be worse than an awful B&B I was accommdated in many years ago, when working in Germany...

You like cruise stories? We've got a humdinger about our 2nd ever cruise, it was eventful to put it mildly - ran out of water, nearly ran out of food, desert crashes, punch ups, missed ports...

[Ilovemygarden]

1 hour ago, groovechick said:

Thank you Andy. I do hope Christian (my friend's son) is successful, but there's a lot of competition in that market. I've never tried camping or been keen on the idea, but if it drums up a bit of business for him I'll give it a try. Couldn't be worse than an awful B&B I was accommdated in many years ago, when working in Germany...

You like cruise stories? We've got a humdinger about our 2nd ever cruise, it was eventful to put it mildly - ran out of water, nearly ran out of food, desert crashes, punch ups, missed ports...

Now that sounds like a story - would you like to tell us about it? 

[AndyMichelle]

4 hours ago, groovechick said:

Thank you Andy. I do hope Christian (my friend's son) is successful, but there's a lot of competition in that market. I've never tried camping or been keen on the idea, but if it drums up a bit of business for him I'll give it a try. Couldn't be worse than an awful B&B I was accommdated in many years ago, when working in Germany...

You like cruise stories? We've got a humdinger about our 2nd ever cruise, it was eventful to put it mildly - ran out of water, nearly ran out of food, desert crashes, punch ups, missed ports...

I love a cruise story, please share.. 

Andy 

[grapau27]

On 6/29/2020 at 9:33 AM, groovechick said:

I've just caught up on this thread and can I say what a wonderful lot you are! Thank you for giving me more laughs than I've had in a very long time. It's been a horrendous few months and not just because of the virus (our teenage son is struggling with depression and anxiety and has made 2 serious suicide attempts). We cruise rarely (every couple of years) so I don't post here much, but I love reading the threads. I would very much be up for joining your cruise withdrawal club Andy. Quite agree about the beauty of the UK. We have holidayed in quite a few places and do lots of days out, but there is so much more to see. 

I don't know if I'm allowed to put this and if not mods please edit, but if anyone fancies glamping in the beautiful Peak District (my home patch), my friend's son lost his job and home in London due to coronavirus and has gone "home" and set up a glamping business with a friend. He's hardworking, enterprising and deserves a bit of luck...

I am so sorry to hear of your son's mental issues and his suicide attempts which are sometimes a cry for help and hopefully you can help him through it.

Good luck to his friend with his new venture which your son might get involved with and might help his depression.

Graham.

 

[grapau27]

On 6/29/2020 at 11:40 AM, kalos said:

 

Last time I went camping it was a nightmare .No campervans allowed ,they said !

What turns up at 2.30 am? A camper van and a family with dogs in tow about six corgis.

All night long all you could hear is "Phil,..Phil wheres the gin ? I cannot find the gin ! "

Andrew,Andrew !  GET OFF THAT WEBSITE NOW ,YOU MUCKY GIT !"

She had a right mouth on her ,moaning that  she thought their house was much better .

I packed up and came home ,the way they acted you would have thought they were royalty !!  

 

PS None of the above is true but ...  

 

 

Your jokes are a tonic for us all Kalos.

[groovechick]

(Abbreviated) cruise story. 19 November-3 December 1994, Sea Princess, captain Colin Campbell, cruise from Jordan to Egypt, Israel, Turkey, Crete, Rhodes, Cyprus, Greece . We were seated on the Purser's table so info we got was from a reliable source. It was the first time Sea Princess was based in a foreign port (i.e. not returning to Southampton at the end of each cruise), they were trialling it, so having teething problems. 

Flight out to Aqaba delayed IIRC, so arrived on board very late and had a very early start next morning for our tour. Jordan was uneventful, Petra was stunning.

 

We were supposed to dock at a port for tours to St Catherine's monastery, Sinai, but couldn't because of strong winds and a dust storm which reduced visibility to nearly zero.

 

In the months running up to the holiday there had been a lot of terrorist activity in Egypt, with bombings and shootings of tourists (my mum didn't want me to go). We were docked at Safaga, a mainly industrial port right on the southern tip, so all tours started really early as it was a 3 hour or more drive to get to the main sights.  

We had to be on the dock at about 5 am to be escorted by the Egyptian Army across the desert, there we were, all sitting on the coaches, waiting 2 hours for the army to to turn up! Escorted across the desert by jeeps with machine guns mounted on them. Our tour to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings was uneventful, but the tour to Cairo the next day was another matter. Our tour guide tried to persuade the whole coach to divert to his cousin's jewellery shop somewhere in the Cairo back streets and it took some very forceful refusals before he got the message, which caused him to sulk and pretty much give up his guiding duties. There was a pre-arranged point for the coaches to meet in a square and form up in convoy for the return journey, but for some reason, once we'd boarded, our driver decided to drive to a patch of waste ground and sit there, where we were sitting duck targets for any terrorists, with our army escort nowhere to be seen!  Eventually the other coaches and the jeeps turned up and we set off. Our driver had been seen having an altercation outside a café with one of the other drivers whilst we were sightseeing. Unfortunately they decided to continue this on the drive home, with the other driver racing his coach up behind ours, nearly ramming us, and blinding our driver with his lights. Our driver would then speed to get away, or make erratic swerving manoeuvres. At the time we were driving along a narrow road, with a sheer rock face one side and a steep drop to the valley floor on the other. At one point the coach tilted so we were on one set of wheels only, then rocked back! All this in the pitch black, late at night. We finally got back to the ship, exhausted, and not just from the long day. Our nerves were somewhat shredded!

 

The ship started to run out of water because water we had been due to take on in one of the ports (presumably there was no on-board desalination plant) was not fit for consumption/use, so we had to sail on to another port. As a result drinking and bathing water was restricted and we were encouraged to drink other beverages, with the result that Sea Princess also started to run out of beer, wine etc., because she couldn't restock in the same way as when based in S'oton. 

 

She also started to run out of food because they had not received the provisions they expected. Produce such as salad and fruit had been ordered, they were supplied with turnips. As I said, it was the first time Sea Princess was based elsewhere other than Southampton and local suppliers tended to supply what they had, not what was requested. There was nearly a riot when they were down to the last wheel of Stilton (I'm not joking!). The purser was a lovely guy, called Ian I think, who lived in my home area of the Peak District, so we had quite a bit in common. It seems quite ironic that both he and Captain Turnbull live just about as far from the sea as you can get!

 

In Israel we went on a tour to Jerusalem, but were delayed getting there because of major road works on the way from Haifa. Our tour guide thought it would be a good idea to take a short cut through the Muslim quarter, just when all the worshippers were leaving the mosques after Friday midday prayers. There was an absolute stampede of people through the narrow streets and unfortunately they took every opportunity to steal cameras, watches, jewellery, bags, etc. I got badly crushed, which was rather worrying as I was three months pregnant with our daughter and had to be checked over when we got back to the ship, but no harm done apart from some rather nasty bruises (daughter's just had her 25th birthday). It took the shine off the tour though because I was worried and suffering stomach pain, so I couldn't fully enjoy visiting the Dome of the Rock, Church of the Nativity, etc.

 

From Heraklion we were supposed to sail to Piraeus and have a day in Athens but we couldn't get out of the harbour due to strong winds and snow (the ship was smashed into the dock a couple of times), so our cruise was cut short and we were flown home from Heraklion - absoluty no mention of compensation, OBC for future cruises or anything of the kind.

 

I'm sure there are other little bits I've forgotten, but those were the "highlights". We just accepted that it was part and parcel of the holiday and looked on it as an adventure, if not the relaxing holiday we had planned!

 

[groovechick]

On 6/30/2020 at 9:35 PM, grapau27 said:

I am so sorry to hear of your son's mental issues and his suicide attempts which are sometimes a cry for help and hopefully you can help him through it.

Good luck to his friend with his new venture which your son might get involved with and might help his depression.

Graham.

 

Thank you Graham. My son can't get involved in the glamping business because that is in Derbyshire, while we live in Hertfordshire, and my son hopes to return to university in late September. 

[grapau27]

6 minutes ago, groovechick said:

Thank you Graham. My son can't get involved in the glamping business because that is in Derbyshire, while we live in Hertfordshire, and my son hopes to return to university in late September. 

New friends at university plus hopefully a lovely new girlfriend will make him see life in a new way.

Wishing you and your son all the best for the future.

Edited July 2, 2020 by grapau27

[kalos]

20 minutes ago, groovechick said:

I'm sure there are other little bits I've forgotten, but those were the "highlights". We just accepted that it was part and parcel of the holiday and looked on it as an adventure, if not the relaxing holiday we had planned!

 

If those were the "highlights", I think I would have been glad to have forgot the other little bits as well 

Thanks for posting your story 

[Eddie99]

Right - a long weekend booked for September at Warners.

Hopefully good entertainment - The Fawlty Towers show (which my sister has seen and recommends), The Opera Boys and Aidan Walsh (The last two sound very cruise-esque - we’ve seen them on previous cruises)

 

If it all goes pear-shaped you’ll all be responsible! 😊

[zap99]

1 hour ago, Eddie99 said:

Right - a long weekend booked for September at Warners.

Hopefully good entertainment - The Fawlty Towers show (which my sister has seen and recommends), The Opera Boys and Aidan Walsh (The last two sound very cruise-esque - we’ve seen them on previous cruises)

 

If it all goes pear-shaped you’ll all be responsible! 😊

I would imagine that Warners and the other companies in the Bourne Leisure family, like the cruise companies, airlines et al, have groups of experts discussing how to keep their customers safe and maximize their enjoyment. I will trust their expertise ( but will have a little look at their protocols). We have started booking holidays in the UK and abroad and a couple of cruises. Not Warner's yet, but probably soon. They sometimes have a sale on, don't you know 😂

Edited July 4, 2020 by zap99
Spelling

[Eddie99]

They’re reopening all except Wales (watch this space for govt pronouncements) end of this month.  Hopefully they’ll have perfected everything by the time we go.  If not - we’re not far from home, so can easily abandon

 

When you think about it, they’ve got to clean/protect/clean/protect as if their lives depended on it.  Their livelihood certainly does.  Failures by hospitality operators will almost certainly result in them going to the wall

Edited July 4, 2020 by Eddie99

[happy v]

9 hours ago, Eddie99 said:

Right - a long weekend booked for September at Warners.

Hopefully good entertainment - The Fawlty Towers show (which my sister has seen and recommends), The Opera Boys and Aidan Walsh (The last two sound very cruise-esque - we’ve seen them on previous cruises)

 

If it all goes pear-shaped you’ll all be responsible! 😊

Which one are you going to?

We're thinking about it when the leisure facilities open again.