Live Report B225

[wowzz]

Using the sanitizer is OK, but washing your hands on entry to the buffet should be strictly enforced.  

[Dermotsgirl]

I much prefer the opportunity to wash my hands before entering the buffet, as I find the hand sanitiser that they use is so harsh and it gives me an itchy rash on my hands.

 

I carry around my own sanitiser, made by Wax Lyrical, which I’ve found to be less irritating on my hands  

[wowzz]

17 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

I much prefer the opportunity to wash my hands before entering the buffet, as I find the hand sanitiser that they use is so harsh and it gives me an itchy rash on my hands.

 

I carry around my own sanitiser, made by Wax Lyrical, which I’ve found to be less irritating on my hands  

And washing your hands with soap and water is far better than using sanitiser anyway. 

[Holidayfun141]

18 hours ago, GSPG said:

Sorry, but we have to get used to this thing now.

 

[Holidayfun141]

Yes I agree we have to get used to this thing now, but what’s wrong with a bit of preparation beforehand. 
And to squash people together waiting for the restaurant to open, even queuing on the stairs was very uncomfortable. 

But we all have a choice and mine will be with the cruise company that I feel comfortable with.

So sad that many cruise regulars are now afraid to go on a cruise ship due to this pandemic.

[zap99]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

Using the sanitizer is OK, but washing your hands on entry to the buffet should be strictly enforced.  

They normally do try, but some of the customers are determined to ignore them. As I politely pointed out to a gentleman ' use the tongs, idiot '.

[kalos]

2 hours ago, walkingdude said:

We’ve noticed that, too. We accept the sanitiser every time from the crew, and we each carry our own pocket-sized dispenser. It is unbelievable how some people behave 

If they come down with anything it will be anyone's fault but their own .

[pete14]

21 minutes ago, kalos said:

If they come down with anything it will be anyone's fault but their own .

As everything seems to be P&O’s fault at the moment, it isn’t hard to work out who would get the blame.

[Bazrat]

1 hour ago, Holidayfun141 said:

Yes I agree we have to get used to this thing now, but what’s wrong with a bit of preparation beforehand. 
And to squash people together waiting for the restaurant to open, even queuing on the stairs was very uncomfortable. 

But we all have a choice and mine will be with the cruise company that I feel comfortable with.

So sad that many cruise regulars are now afraid to go on a cruise ship due to this pandemic.

Sorry you lost me who was queuing on stairs and squashing people together 

[Britboys]

5 hours ago, walkingdude said:

There are 2 of these. First-come-first-served

My guess is that they are slowly creating these and will ultimately dress them with fabric and levy "a little extra"....

[Britboys]

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

Using the sanitizer is OK, but washing your hands on entry to the buffet should be strictly enforced.  

Not disagreeing in principle but that would lead to long queues getting in to the buffet.... and quite likely to the poor staff receiving some verbal abuse.

[zap99]

2 hours ago, Holidayfun141 said:

Yes I agree we have to get used to this thing now, but what’s wrong with a bit of preparation beforehand. 
And to squash people together waiting for the restaurant to open, even queuing on the stairs was very uncomfortable. 

But we all have a choice and mine will be with the cruise company that I feel comfortable with.

So sad that many cruise regulars are now afraid to go on a cruise ship due to this pandemic.

We have been on 3 different cruise companies so far this year. Protocols are a bit different, but all seemed to work. So sad we had a pandemic, but getting back to normal won't happen if the customers don't....become customers again

 

[zap99]

49 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

Sorry you lost me who was queuing on stairs and squashing people together 

Lifts were busy as all these folk got Into them and said....aren't the lifts busy.😉

[zap99]

13 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Not disagreeing in principle but that would lead to long queues getting in to the buffet.... and quite likely to the poor staff receiving some verbal abuse.

On Celebrity there was a physical barrier that caused everyone to go through the sink area. The man with the guitar singing " be 'appy washy washy" took any heat out of the process.

Edited October 27, 2022 by zap99
Wrong ship..Doh!

[Megabear2]

2 hours ago, Britboys said:

My guess is that they are slowly creating these and will ultimately dress them with fabric and levy "a little extra"....

Yes, that was certainly the intention when I called in Juky to ask what in Serenity was a little extra.

[walkingdude]

Big argument on deck 17 yesterday over sun loungers. Pax leaving their towels etc and then disappearing for a couple of hours. Other pax removing the left belongings and taking over the loungers. Argument breaks out when the original occupiers return later. Announcement made over the PA system yesterday afternoon, and comment in last night’s Horizon newsletter saying that absence of more than 30 minutes means you can lose your lounger. Not much time to go and get lunch in the buffet, if that’s what you want to do 

[Harry Peterson]

Having spent maybe all of a couple of hours on a sun lounger in my entire life - and that in the garden - the etiquette around them fascinates me.

 

Leaving towels on them has been controversial (often even racially charged) for as long as I can remember, but what exactly is there to prevent anyone simply removing the towel from an otherwise empty lounger at any point? And how is that 30 minutes judged?  Do we need little timers of some kind, or maybe the Blue Badge time displays?

[walkingdude]

Thankfully, the Ocean is like a mill pond

[kalos]

1 minute ago, walkingdude said:

Thankfully, the Ocean is like a mill pond

 

Lovely photo😊 At least the sea is calm ,more than can be said for the sun lounger passengers .

Personally I think you'd have more chance winning lottery than sorting the old sunbed saga out .

 

I think the reason P&O chose 30 minutes is give them an inch and they take a mile and you can

be sure that it will turn into 40-50 mins anyway .

Never understood how someone thinks nipping off for two hours that the sun bed should be 

theirs upon return . Thankfully I don't use them so that's one thing less to worry about .

[Host Sharon]

37 minutes ago, walkingdude said:

Big argument on deck 17 yesterday over sun loungers. Pax leaving their towels etc and then disappearing for a couple of hours. Other pax removing the left belongings and taking over the loungers. Argument breaks out when the original occupiers return later. Announcement made over the PA system yesterday afternoon, and comment in last night’s Horizon newsletter saying that absence of more than 30 minutes means you can lose your lounger. Not much time to go and get lunch in the buffet, if that’s what you want to do 

Personally I believe reserving your lounger is only valid when going for a swim or toilet break. Going to lunch is leaving the deck and and so freeing up the lounger, unless you just go to pick up food from the lido buffet or grab and go etc, and bring it back to the lounger to eat.

[walkingdude]

2 minutes ago, Host Sharon said:

Personally I believe reserving your lounger is only valid when going for a swim or toilet break. Going to lunch is leaving the deck and and so freeing up the lounger, unless you just go to pick up food from the lido buffet or grab and go etc, and bring it back to the lounger to eat.

I totally agree, but some pax seem to think that first-come-sunlounger-owned for the day

[happy v]

11 minutes ago, Host Sharon said:

Personally I believe reserving your lounger is only valid when going for a swim or toilet break. Going to lunch is leaving the deck and and so freeing up the lounger, unless you just go to pick up food from the lido buffet or grab and go etc, and bring it back to the lounger to eat.

I totally agree with you Sharon. I only ever use one to dry off after a swim. On our last cruise I used sunbeds and didn't have a clue how long they had been empty. No one ever came back while I was there 

[davecttr]

51 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Having spent maybe all of a couple of hours on a sun lounger in my entire life - and that in the garden - the etiquette around them fascinates me.

 

Leaving towels on them has been controversial (often even racially charged) for as long as I can remember, but what exactly is there to prevent anyone simply removing the towel from an otherwise empty lounger at any point? And how is that 30 minutes judged?  Do we need little timers of some kind, or maybe the Blue Badge time displays?

I took my mother on a cruise several years ago and she wanted to sit on the prom deck loungers. There were only ones occupied by towels so i moved the towels to the top of the life jacket bin. About 45 minutes later a couple arrived and he said those are our loungers and we left out towels on them. They were free when we arrived I said, maybe a crew member removed them.

[Dermotsgirl]

42 minutes ago, Host Sharon said:

Personally I believe reserving your lounger is only valid when going for a swim or toilet break. Going to lunch is leaving the deck and and so freeing up the lounger, unless you just go to pick up food from the lido buffet or grab and go etc, and bring it back to the lounger to eat.

I agree.

 

Normally, we only sit in the sun for a few hours in the morning, so we’d have packed up by lunch time anyway.  But on the occasions when we wanted lunch on our lounger, one of us would go to buffet to pick up their lunch and then bring it back, then the other one would do the same.

 

in later years, we would enjoy getting something from Grab &Go and taking it back to our balcony 

[Harry Peterson]

18 minutes ago, davecttr said:

I took my mother on a cruise several years ago and she wanted to sit on the prom deck loungers. There were only ones occupied by towels so i moved the towels to the top of the life jacket bin. About 45 minutes later a couple arrived and he said those are our loungers and we left out towels on them. They were free when we arrived I said, maybe a crew member removed them.

I think that’s absolutely the right approach. Loungers left empty are no use to anyone.

Good plan for everyone maybe - shift the towels, be prepared to vacate them if someone turns up in a few minutes, but if not use your ‘excuse’.

 

Sounds like an excellent plan for everyone to follow.  😇