Splendor: Christmas on the Canal

[Kristal Blade]

9 hours ago, flossie009 said:

I am sure we can all think of other descriptors, which probably would not be allowed on a public forum 😮

 

We are not looking forward to the cold/rain when we arrive home on Sunday. 
Hope your boiler is fixed soon. 
 

Yes, that was the mildest terminology that I thought I could use! I kept it polite on paper, but our comments to one another used much more colourful language.

 

Gas engineer should be here today. At least unpacking will keep us busy!

[Gilly]

So sorry for @Kristal Blade and @flossie009 returning to such dreary weather, not to mention boiler troubles.  I might even feel a bit sorry for myself too, because I was very much enjoying Christmas on the Canal and might even have been prepared to put up with a Twit if I could have been there for real (there's always one isn't there?!)  Thank you both for taking us along if only by means of a screen, for prompting happy memories of places (Salsa and Salsa was fun, I agree!) and for spending some of your valuable holiday time on board sharing your lovely days with us.  I have to wait till July for our next Regent fix, so you will understand how I appreciated it!

[forgap]

12 hours ago, Kristal Blade said:

And now our boiler has broken down! Why did we get off the ship?

It’s always something, isn’t it? On our cruise in August, we came home to the house in complete disarray.  A squirrel had somehow gotten into the house, and in his desperation to get out, he chewed the wood around the kitchen windows.  Debris was everywhere but no evidence of the squirrel himself until I caught a whiff from under an easy chair.  Not a nice welcome home!  

[Gilly]

1 hour ago, forgap said:

Debris was everywhere but no evidence of the squirrel himself until I caught a whiff from under an easy chair.  Not a nice welcome home!  

 

eeeuww!  😱     

[Kristal Blade]

2 hours ago, forgap said:

It’s always something, isn’t it? On our cruise in August, we came home to the house in complete disarray.  A squirrel had somehow gotten into the house, and in his desperation to get out, he chewed the wood around the kitchen windows.  Debris was everywhere but no evidence of the squirrel himself until I caught a whiff from under an easy chair.  Not a nice welcome home!  

Gosh, we were lucky in comparison!

It’s not too cold here so we are coping. Our neighbour has offered to let us shower in her house but we should see an engineer today.

[HotRoot]

Nothing to do with cruising.  What is a boiler?  We get heat via gas - natural or propane - or electricity.  Is boiler your word for one of those?  Or does this refer to a hot water heater since you need it to shower?  Again, ours are either gas or electric.  And we would never call an engineer to fix either.  The differences in the English language always interests me.  We once met a wonderful lady from London who worked in the theater.  We thought she was an actress.  Later learned she was a surgical nurse.   

[papaflamingo]

49 minutes ago, HotRoot said:

Nothing to do with cruising.  What is a boiler?  We get heat via gas - natural or propane - or electricity.  Is boiler your word for one of those?  Or does this refer to a hot water heater since you need it to shower?  Again, ours are either gas or electric.  And we would never call an engineer to fix either.  The differences in the English language always interests me.  We once met a wonderful lady from London who worked in the theater.  We thought she was an actress.  Later learned she was a surgical nurse.   

Boiler heating is fairly common.  Here's a pretty comprehensive discussion of it. 

https://quality-hc.com/heating/boiler-heating-system/

Edited January 7, 2023 by papaflamingo

[papaflamingo]

3 hours ago, forgap said:

It’s always something, isn’t it? 

YES....IT....IS!   We came home Christmas night to a broken water line in our attic and flooding in our living room and finished basement.  No we are having to replace hardwood on the main floor, LVT on the basement floor (our finished second level) and replace ceilings, insulation, walls, and some furniture damage.  To top it off, my wife slipped on ice, ice I had made by throwing water sucked from the furnace drip pan, and ended up in the ER for 7 hours. Thankfully all is good with her, but it was a 24 hour Christmas night.  Pretty much "dampened" the Christmas spirit.

I'd might actually have opted for the squirrel.  😱

I definitely can't wait for out Navigator cruise in March! 🍸🍹🥃🍷😎

Edited January 7, 2023 by papaflamingo

[forgap]

7 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

YES....IT....IS!   We came home Christmas night to a broken water line in our attic and flooding in our living room and finished basement.  No we are having to replace hardwood on the main floor, LVT on the basement floor (our finished second level) and replace ceilings, insulation, walls, and some furniture damage.  To top it off, my wife slipped on ice, ice I had made by throwing water sucked from the furnace drip pan, and ended up in the ER for 7 hours. Thankfully all is good with her, but it was a 24 hour Christmas night.  Pretty much "dampened" the Christmas spirit.

I'd might actually have opted for the squirrel.  😱

I definitely can't wait for out Navigator cruise in March! 🍸🍹🥃🍷😎

In January as we cruised on Explorer through the canal, we got a text from our neighbor that water was running down the hill from our house.  During the January freeze in ATL our outside hose big shot off (yes, I turned the cut off the wrong way in the basement and didn’t check to make sure the bib was drained).  Water ran for four days until our neighbor used a tool he had to cut the water off at the street.  Fortunately, the water company reimbursed us for the $400 bill.  
 

Since we are leaving again in a couple of weeks for a Voyager cruise, I got our handyman to check all the pipes in the basement only to discover a rusty spot in the main circa 1935 waterline BEFORE the cut off valve.  He described it as a “disaster waiting to happen”.  Our plumber agreed so that repair is happening tomorrow.   I guess it’s wise to shut off the water completely before a long trip.  

[HotRoot]

35 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

Boiler heating is fairly common.  Here's a pretty comprehensive discussion of it. 

https://quality-hc.com/heating/boiler-heating-system/

I could have googled it but was looking for an easy answer.  So it is heat as well as hot water.  We still would not call an engineer.  Maybe a plumber or HVAC person?  

[SusieQft]

3 hours ago, HotRoot said:

I could have googled it but was looking for an easy answer.  So it is heat as well as hot water.  We still would not call an engineer.  Maybe a plumber or HVAC person?  

Maybe that is what she meant by "engineer."

[flossie009]

7 hours ago, HotRoot said:

We still would not call an engineer.  Maybe a plumber or HVAC person?

In the U.K. a plumber who is trained and authorised to work on gas appliances and gas supplies is known as a “gas safe engineer”.

It is illegal for anyone not on the gas safe register to work on gas installations.

 

[Kristal Blade]

Ok, our boiler heats water. There are pipes taking that hot water into radiators to heat the house. There is another set of pipes that are linked to a water tank, our hot water supply for bathing and washing dishes. We don’t have an automatic dishwasher!! Just our hands, if you can imagine that.

 

Anyway, the plumbing system and boiler are maintained under a contract to our gas supplier. We use British Gas as our supplier. So, the plumber US style, came to fix the boiler for us. I called him an engineer as the boiler is a combo of pipes, gas powered equipment plus electric ignition system. Some plumbers only do water systems, such a toilets and showers, not the gas heating system. 
 

Our problem was a shorted out fan in the boiler. The weather has been wild during our absence. Torrential rain and high winds. Water was blown into the fan while the boiler was switched off (it vents to outside the house). When we tried to switch the boiler back on the fan shorted out, boiler kaput and not something we can repair ourselves.

 

The best news is that it’s all repaired and only at a cost of £50 because we pay an additional amount every month as a sort of insurance against situations like this.

 

We are warm and clean!

 

Let’s wish everyone a safe and repair free journey home!

[Kristal Blade]

8 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

YES....IT....IS!   We came home Christmas night to a broken water line in our attic and flooding in our living room and finished basement.  No we are having to replace hardwood on the main floor, LVT on the basement floor (our finished second level) and replace ceilings, insulation, walls, and some furniture damage.  To top it off, my wife slipped on ice, ice I had made by throwing water sucked from the furnace drip pan, and ended up in the ER for 7 hours. Thankfully all is good with her, but it was a 24 hour Christmas night.  Pretty much "dampened" the Christmas spirit.

I'd might actually have opted for the squirrel.  😱

I definitely can't wait for out Navigator cruise in March! 🍸🍹🥃🍷😎

It’s a shame there isn’t a sympathy emoji we can add because you deserve it!

 

Hope the repairs don’t take too long. Going away in March will be a terrific antidote.

[Sunprince]

1 hour ago, Kristal Blade said:

Ok, our boiler heats water. There are pipes taking that hot water into radiators to heat the house. There is another set of pipes that are linked to a water tank, our hot water supply for bathing and washing dishes. We don’t have an automatic dishwasher!! Just our hands, if you can imagine that.

 

Anyway, the plumbing system and boiler are maintained under a contract to our gas supplier. We use British Gas as our supplier. So, the plumber US style, came to fix the boiler for us. I called him an engineer as the boiler is a combo of pipes, gas powered equipment plus electric ignition system. Some plumbers only do water systems, such a toilets and showers, not the gas heating system. 
 

Our problem was a shorted out fan in the boiler. The weather has been wild during our absence. Torrential rain and high winds. Water was blown into the fan while the boiler was switched off (it vents to outside the house). When we tried to switch the boiler back on the fan shorted out, boiler kaput and not something we can repair ourselves.

 

The best news is that it’s all repaired and only at a cost of £50 because we pay an additional amount every month as a sort of insurance against situations like this.

 

We are warm and clean!

 

Let’s wish everyone a safe and repair free journey home!

Excellent explanation of “boiler system!. We here in Canada completely understand what a “boiler” is, so we understand.  Essentially just a hot water (radiator) heating system (can be fuelled by gas, oil, alternate source) which heats the air, in floor,  and provides hot water. It does not allow for AC (need a forced air system for that). 

[Sunprince]

9 hours ago, forgap said:

In January as we cruised on Explorer through the canal, we got a text from our neighbor that water was running down the hill from our house.  During the January freeze in ATL our outside hose big shot off (yes, I turned the cut off the wrong way in the basement and didn’t check to make sure the bib was drained).  Water ran for four days until our neighbor used a tool he had to cut the water off at the street.  Fortunately, the water company reimbursed us for the $400 bill.  
 

Since we are leaving again in a couple of weeks for a Voyager cruise, I got our handyman to check all the pipes in the basement only to discover a rusty spot in the main circa 1935 waterline BEFORE the cut off valve.  He described it as a “disaster waiting to happen”.  Our plumber agreed so that repair is happening tomorrow.   I guess it’s wise to shut off the water completely before a long trip.  

13 hours ago, forgap said:

It’s always something, isn’t it? On our cruise in August, we came home to the house in complete disarray.  A squirrel had somehow gotten into the house, and in his desperation to get out, he chewed the wood around the kitchen windows.  Debris was everywhere but no evidence of the squirrel himself until I caught a whiff from under an easy chair.  Not a nice welcome home!  

Sounds terrible…you have had some bad luck!  We ALWAYS have someone check our home while we travel, usually a check every 48 hours.  Many insurance policies require periodic checks when the home is unoccupied for shorter periods of time.  Our caretaker knows where the water shut off valve is, how to check the generator if power goes out, and has contacts for handyman, plumber, electrician etc.  We also have motion activated exterior and interior cameras to remotely monitor while we are away. Our interior cameras also have a sensor for the temperature so we know if the heat or AC is not working.  Better be safe and enjoy your vacation then return home to a nightmare 😉

[HotRoot]

16 hours ago, Kristal Blade said:

Ok, our boiler heats water. There are pipes taking that hot water into radiators to heat the house. There is another set of pipes that are linked to a water tank, our hot water supply for bathing and washing dishes. We don’t have an automatic dishwasher!! Just our hands, if you can imagine that.

 

Anyway, the plumbing system and boiler are maintained under a contract to our gas supplier. We use British Gas as our supplier. So, the plumber US style, came to fix the boiler for us. I called him an engineer as the boiler is a combo of pipes, gas powered equipment plus electric ignition system. Some plumbers only do water systems, such a toilets and showers, not the gas heating system. 
 

Our problem was a shorted out fan in the boiler. The weather has been wild during our absence. Torrential rain and high winds. Water was blown into the fan while the boiler was switched off (it vents to outside the house). When we tried to switch the boiler back on the fan shorted out, boiler kaput and not something we can repair ourselves.

 

The best news is that it’s all repaired and only at a cost of £50 because we pay an additional amount every month as a sort of insurance against situations like this.

 

We are warm and clean!

 

Let’s wish everyone a safe and repair free journey home!

Thank you!  I learned something.  I will tell our HVAC man he is an engineer.

[papaflamingo]

On 1/7/2023 at 9:11 AM, HotRoot said:

I could have googled it but was looking for an easy answer.  So it is heat as well as hot water.  We still would not call an engineer.  Maybe a plumber or HVAC person?  

As Kristin Blade described, boiler heat is heating water that is distributed to radiators in the rooms. You've likely seen these radiators in older buildings, most in the U.S. have been replaced with more modern HVAC systems.  To my knowledge it is completely separate from your hot water system.  Here's a pic of a boiler heat system radiator.

[lincslady]

Our UK boiler (oil fired because we don't have 'town gas' in the countryside in many places)  heats the old fashioned radiators and also the water; two systems controlled by two timing systems but the one boiler.  More modern homes will have more modern  systems, obviously.   Mine is pretty efficient, radiators are really hot within 15 minutes of the timer switching on.  Electric water heating also there, but it is cheaper to run the boiler for the water in the summer, and apparently good for the boiler!

[Kristal Blade]

Thanks Papaflamingo,

We have radiators, but they are of a more modern design than the ones in your picture! Think slimline.

Like lincslady we have the 2 system boiler. Gas is cheaper than electricity so even though we do have the ability to heat our water by electricity the gas boiler does it more cheaply and, according to the engineer who fixed ours yesterday, much more efficiently.

 

Now, who can tell me what HVAC is?

[pingpong1]

2 hours ago, Kristal Blade said:

Thanks Papaflamingo

 

Now, who can tell me what HVAC is?

"Heating, Ventilation, (and) Air-Conditioning"

[Kristal Blade]

Thanks pingpong1

No need for air conditioning here and ventilation to me is opening a window!

[MarkieMarkNYC]

On 1/5/2023 at 7:39 PM, ChucktownSteve said:

Flossie and other contributors did an excellent job preparing us to have an excellent cruise. 
 

we met so many nice people at the fairmont before getting our transfer today to your disembarked ship. 
 

my DW had left her hat in the gathering waiting area but didn’t realize it until we were on the bus enroute  to the port. 
 

I called the hotel and was transferred to their concierge. He got our information about the Stetson straw hat. Then called me back shortly, even thou I hadn’t given him my phone number.  He told me another passenger had picked it up was on a following bus. They said  they would drop it at the ship’s list and found. 
 

we quickly retrieved her hat. They were so Kind and considerate that I wish I could find out who they are. We ran into someone who rode the bus with them but didn’t know their name. 
 

the crew on this ship, even though we haven’t sailed yet are incredible!

 

I went into the restaurant reservation office and the gal welcomed me warmly by name. She was the hostess we saw every night at compass rose on the navigator last May that took such great care of us.  We got an extra pacific rim reservation already. I now understand how it feels to make contact with crew you’ve sailed with before. I never expected it on other cruise lines. 
 

Our Nicaragua pot turned into a sea day but I expected that from this thread. 
 

this is already starting to be the best Regent cruise. Thankx for setting it up with such positive information!

 

fair winds and calm seas. 

 

 

Are you sure?

[slidebite]

On 12/26/2022 at 10:19 AM, Wendy The Wanderer said:

There's always one.  We had one once who I called a "captain of industry", i.e., A-type personality. Had an Owner's Suite on Voyager. He ended up decking another passenger and being confined to his cabin by the security staff. Another one (a female this time) sniffed at us and looked down her nose every time we saw her--she was offended that we too were in a PH suite.  Her husband dressed in nautical attire, we nicknamed him Popeye.

LOL

Would love to know the story about the fight and being confined to your cabin.

[ChucktownSteve]

18 hours ago, MarkieMarkNYC said:

Are you sure?

 

About what specifically?