Live from the Queen Victoria--Princess Elites sail Cunard QV to the Baltic

Thank you for the link Salacia, it gives a great deal on insight into their personal relationship. I especially liked this statement by Mary, Mrs., Doctor, Lady, Dame Archer:

"We have had difficult moments over the decades, but you have to work through these things. The rewards for this are the mutual tolerance and respect we have for each other. Not to mention the incredible bond that binds us after all the drama, both private and public.

For a successful long-term relationship is one that gradually wears away your rough edges over time, leaving a smooth and harmonious interface between the two partners."

I am a firm believer in "Until Death Do Us Part" and greatly admire couples who can work through the difficult times decade after decade. Of course, I must admit that I did warn DH before we were married that if he were ever unfaithful, there would be no need for a divorce to terminate our marriage. :p

Like my friend GCurry said, we don't have big enough jails in America to lock up every politician who committed perjury and we most assuredly don't have big enough jails to lock up every politician who had an extramarital affair and then lied about it. I am confident the same is true in the UK.

If Lord Archer has managed to get his wife to forgive him his trespasses, who am I to argue with her? We all tend to love gossip and sometimes suffer from he sin of trying to make ourselves feel better by judging other people far too freely without knowing their full stories. I full of faults of my own, but am also Catholic enough to truly believe that we should judge not, lest we too should be judged.

 

 

If Lord Archer has managed to get his wife to forgive him his trespasses, who am I to argue with her? We all tend to love gossip and sometimes suffer from he sin of trying to make ourselves feel better by judging other people far too freely without knowing their full stories. I full of faults of my own, but am also Catholic enough to truly believe that we should judge not, lest we too should be judged.

agree totally !!

We were on the voyage prior to yours and the chart map only had two bids and went for only £150, maybe Archer had a fan or two onboard after all.

We also enjoy taking photos of the chocolate extravaganza but are disappointed that Cunard have turned it into a cake event with no chocolates anymore, with the exception of the melting pots and dippers. Shame, it is also a smaller event in the Lido late evening and not the Winter Gardens anymore.

Safe journey home.

Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others. - Groucho Marx

Mr. Marx was perhaps a role model for "Lord" Archer. You folks can't defrock a peerage?? Not that it matters, if we ousted every president that had had an affair starting with George Washington, the count would be much much higher than it is.:rolleyes:

Safe travels Punki, good cruises everyone.

!Hasta Luego! (as I'll be saying in Mexico next week)

Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others. - Groucho Marx

 

Mr. Marx was perhaps a role model for "Lord" Archer. You folks can't defrock a peerage?? Not that it matters, if we ousted every president that had had an affair starting with George Washington, the count would be much much higher than it is.:rolleyes:

Safe travels Punki, good cruises everyone.

 

!Hasta Luego! (as I'll be saying in Mexico next week)

GCurry, in answer to your question, you might be interested in the House of Lords Reform Act.

Just to mention that the topic of Mr. Archers serial marital infidelity wasn't mentioned on this thread - until the comment was made about his being married for 48 years - as if that in itself was something to be admired.

Marriage is a legal contract (aside from those of us who also believe in that it is a sacrament, and/or that it has ethical considerations in that it is a vow), there seems to be no dispute that Mr. Archer repeatedly took rather long 'vacations' from his marriage contract. Is this not part of the mosaic that defines his life?

As I said previously, I don't know the man. I have an opinion regarding his activities, formed by having read undisputed accounts about his actions.

Certainly, I'm not in a position to judge anyone unless I'm a jury member in a court of law. But I am free to make my own assessment of people I care to spend time with, and I'm fairly certain Mr. Archer would no rather spend 5 minutes in my company than I would in his company. No doubt neither of us will lose any sleep over it, nor will Archer suffer any loss from lack of fans. Armani jackets will continued to be offered to him wherever he goes - he won't feel the chill.

GCurry, best wishes on your upcoming cruise. +Vaya con Dios!

Regards,

Salacia

Live from the Queen Victoria--Princess Elites sail Cunard QV to the Baltic

Day fourteen: Disembarkation—The End

After we dressed and finished our packing, we took our hand luggage with us and went up to breakfast—our last breakfast for now on the Queen Victoria. We ate with some lovely people whom we had met at the Captain’s party and then went down to the Queen’s Room about 8:25 a.m. to await the call for Red 3. We just happened to be standing next to our table mates so it was an opportunity for fond goodbyes.

Our numbers were called very shortly and we headed to the elevators to disembark to find the elevator lobby relatively empty. It was rather amusing that when we entered the up elevator there was a woman repeatedly pushing “A” but it wouldn’t light up. When we pushed “3” she said, “That’s not fair, I was here first”. When we explained to her that the gangway was on Deck 3, she was very apologetic and thanked us repeatedly for helping her.

The disembarkation process was the smoothest we have ever experienced. Of course there was no customs check to slow things down.

We quickly found our bag and went out to our coach where we stowed our bags and got on board, saving the seats behind us for our friends. As we waited we saw Lord and Lady Archer leave the terminal building and meet up with a hired driver with a Jaguar limo. He got in the front seat next to the driver and she got in the back—that lost him a few points in my book. After was seemed like a very quick trip into Heathrow, we bid our friends adieu and went over to arrivals to catch the Hoppa. The Hoppa driver was incredibly grouchy and rude. We didn’t have any (or many) pounds so we asked if we could pay by credit card to which he responded with a curt and rude “No”. We then asked if we could pay in Euros. At first he said “No” and then said we could pay in Euros but that it would be 10€ per ride. We first offered him 50Є note, but he insisted on exact change. We only had an additional 15€ which by my calculations is about 12£ for a 10£ fare, but he insisted that we pay 20€ for both of us. When I tried to make up the difference with some 1£ coins, he said that he would not accept coins. Really? At this point a fellow passenger who was also headed to the Sheraton Skyline offered us a 10£ note. Although he protested and insisted that he just wanted to help out a fellow traveler, we paid him back once we got to the hotel and were able to break our 50€ note.

I don’t often complain about service, but this was so bad that I will write to National Express and report the incident.

When we checked into our room, I tried to check into our flights only to find that our reservations had disappeared. YIKES!!! I tried calling Delta but was put on the never-ending hold so we decided to head back to Heathrow and see if we could sort it out. The Delta agent couldn’t help us but he got an agent from the USA on the phone and after about a half an hour they were able to rebook us and get us our row one seats. They had no idea what had happened, but fortunately they were able to find the cancelled reservations and reinstate them. She said it was a very good thing that we had gone to the airport to deal with it today as by flight time we may well have lost our seats. Eeek!

By this time we both felt too tired to go into town so we just ate at the airport and then went back to our hotel and took a nap—a three-hour nap.

And, so concludes another great cruise adventure. 

GCurry, have a wonderful cruise. One of these days we will join you on one of your adventures.

Salacia writes:

Just to mention that the topic of Mr. Archers serial marital infidelity wasn't mentioned on this thread - until the comment was made about his being married for 48 years - as if that in itself was something to be admired.

Well I, for one, think that being married for 48 years is, in and of itself, something to be admired. We all have some rough spots along the way and, in this day and age, it is all too easy to just walk away. It takes courage to face your marital problems and work them out with one another and I suspect that the more difficult the problems, the greater the challenge to find an amicable resolution that you can both live with for the rest of your lives. I greatly admire any couples that can stick together through thick and thin and make their marriage work despite of their personal imperfections and stumbles along the way. Moreover, I greatly admire anyone who has been blessed with the ability to forgive and forget—it is a true gift.

PunkiC, I'm sorry that you felt that the Hoppa driver was rude, but in the circumstances offering you the ability to pay in Euros was probably an independent decision where he would have paid from his pocket and then exchanged your Euros at a bank.

In fact, it was an attempt to resolve your problem.

National Express clearly states that the transaction is to be in cash, he would not have the facility on board to take credit cards.

The legal currency in the UK is the GBP and not Euros or US Dollars.

He would not be carrying Euros to give you change.

How would an American bus company react in the US if I offered to pay in GBP do you think? :rolleyes:

I have no problem with his inability to accept credit cards, but he could have politely said, "I am sorry, Mam, but we don't accept credit cards" rather than rudely grunting "No". IMHO, there is never a reason to be rude to a customer who is simply trying to transact business.

He could easily have accepted the 15 Euros I offered him, which more than covered the fare and pocket the rest, along with the additional three pound coins that I offered over and above the Euros. He instead chose to be not only difficult, but rude in the process.

I have seen lots of situations in the US where passengers didn't have the proper currency or change and they were always assisted, as we were. by fellow passengers. I have never, however seen a bus driver behave so rudely in a similar situation.

I have no problem with his inability to accept credit cards, but he could have politely said, "I am sorry, Mam, but we don't accept credit cards" rather than rudely grunting "No". IMHO, there is never a reason to be rude to a customer who is simply trying to transact business.

 

He could easily have accepted the 15 Euros I offered him, which more than covered the fare and pocket the rest, along with the additional three pound coins that I offered over and above the Euros. He instead chose to be not only difficult, but rude in the process.

 

I have seen lots of situations in the US where passengers didn't have the proper currency or change and they were always assisted, as we were. by fellow passengers. I have never, however seen a bus driver behave so rudely in a similar situation.

It would have been easier if you had made sure you had the correct GBP amount ready to pay the Hoppa driver. It would have saved a lot of hassle on both sides. Why should you expect the driver to accept Euros which he would need to exchange for GBP - that is your responsibility. A lot of our bus drivers are a little miserable but then so would I be in similar circumstances. Why would you imagine that it is up to fellow passengers to bail anyone out with bus fares - you were very lucky that one assisted you.

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......

He could easily have accepted the 15 Euros I offered him, which more than covered the fare and pocket the rest, along with the additional three pound coins that I offered over and above the Euros. He instead chose to be not only difficult, but rude in the process.....

 

Euros are NOT legal currency in the UK, so no, he couldn't have easily accepted them.

He is a bus driver not currency exchange.

You chose to reject his offer of help.

If you had taken the trouble to pay at the ticket office inside the terminal you could have used your credit card.

The problem is that The Euro is not the currency of the UK; it's the Pound.

I wonder what would happen when I'm in the US next month if I try and pay a bus driver in Pounds and not Dollars ? Do you think he/she would accept them ? What do you think ?

........

I have seen lots of situations in the US where passengers didn't have the proper currency or change and they were always assisted, as we were. by fellow passengers. I have never, however seen a bus driver behave so rudely in a similar situation.

The problem is that The Euro is not the currency of the UK; it's the Pound.

 

I wonder what would happen when I'm in the US next month if I try and pay a bus driver in Pounds and not Dollars ? Do you think he/she would accept them ? What do you think ?

Apparently lots of fellow passengers would come to your aid and pay for you.

I might try this out in LA in February.

Although I couldn't be so presumptive as to assume that they would accept another country's currency.

According to the first post on this thread, on landing at Heathrow,the OP had taken a Hoppa bus from the Airport Terminal to their hotel.

One would have thought that having already travelled on a Hoppa bus, non acceptable payment methods would have been known.

How difficult would it have been to have put £10 aside for the return journey?

There are a lot of you all having a go at someone who has written a lot a good stuff about there interesting cruise experiences just because of there complaint about the Hoppa bus driver.

I live near Heathrow and don't very often have to use these services, but recently stayed at an airport hotel on the way out and on my return. On both occasions I find the service dreadful with not so courteous drivers and dirty buses with are overpriced for the service provided.

Heathrow airport Limited decided a number of years ago to stop all the Hotel courtesy buses going into the airport terminals and introduced this awful service, which is put out to tender by them and from which they take a rate off.

I feel it gives an awful impression to overseas travellers arriving in the UK and needs to be looked at urgently. They manage to accommodate the hotel courtesy buses at most international airports around the world including LA, but we can't manage it here, typical.

Have you used the service? if not please try it and see if it's worth £5 each way. Yes of course I accept that one is supposed to have the correct money in sterling etc. but haven't any of you been caught out on occasions. It would help if the limited amount of machines there are available for ticket purchase worked.

Funnily enough, my DH and I are had a conversation on similar lines whilst on this voyage. I commented that how interesting it is that we travelled around the Baltic with Euros and Dollars expecting/hoping that they would be accepted in any country when in reality on Estonia (& Germany which we by-passed) are in the Euro zone. Euros in particular were accepted and prices advertised in that currency no matter where we were. However, in comparison, in the UK we don't accept Euros ( on the whole/ in my experience) at all. Our conversation was just as an observation rather than a judgement on whether the UK should accept Euros.

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Also to add... Having been on this voyage (5th with Cunard) we had the most amazing time. Balcony room on deck 4 aft was superb and our room steward very attentive. We had a table for 2 on deck 3 Britannia which was fabulous - our waiter was excellent but special mention goes to Denys, our sommelier who had such a great knowledge of each wine we asked about. He offered suggestions (without being pushy on the pricey bottles!) and was generally a very pleasant person. The guest entertainers were superb and I have to add that despite my initial concerns I found J A to be entertaining and added atmosphere to the trip. The singers and dancers were clearly talented but we found their shows a little bland (apart from 'Celtic Heartbeat' which was excellent).

I took part in the choir (QV vocalists) which I enjoyed a great deal. The performance was really fun)

We loved the itinerary and weren't too bothered about missing Warnemunde as it was the port we were least interested in. The mix of sea days and port days was perfect for our tastes. (I notice that the equivalent trip next year on QE is quite different).

We met some lovely people as always. There was a gentleman introduced at the cocktail party that had sailed for over 750 nights since 1945. He spoke very well in response to his gift.

We weren't aware of any dramas or incidents on board until unfortunately, on the morning we docked there was a code alpha call (twice) for deck 5. Let's hope that the person in question was treated successfully and on the mend. It's always unsettling to think of a fellow passenger becoming unwell.

Once again, we had a wonderful trip. No complaints..other than having to disembark! Two weeks of living in the style in which I'd like to become accustomed to in the real world! Perfect.

(Oh! And we we're allowed to keep our key card!)

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There are a lot of you all having a go at someone who has written a lot a good stuff about there interesting cruise experiences just because of there complaint about the Hoppa bus driver....

I wasn't 'having a go' merely pointing out that maybe she was a little quick to judge the bus driver who had made some attempt to solve her problem.

The £ sterling is the legal tender in the UK and I'm sure PunkiC already knew that.

I certainly don't expect other countries to accept our currency and it would have saved her the hassle if she had put aside some local currency for the UK.

I also enjoyed her blog but felt her annoyance at the driver was uncalled for.

We were on the same cruise last year and the year before that (but it went round the other way and was a bit earlier in the year). I would say its a really good cruise, with an excellent balance of ports and sea days. 2 years ago Oslo was included and that's a great place to dock because you just get off and walk into the centre in around 10-15 minutes, so it was a pity it's been dropped now.

With regard to the Euro being accepted in the UK; I think some major tourist attractions will accept them, but that's about it. I'm fairly sure that Chester Zoo (for example) will accept them for entry but I'm not sure about it taking them in shops and cafes etc.

There are a lot of you all having a go at someone who has written a lot a good stuff about there interesting cruise experiences just because of there complaint about the Hoppa bus driver.

 

I live near Heathrow and don't very often have to use these services, but recently stayed at an airport hotel on the way out and on my return. On both occasions I find the service dreadful with not so courteous drivers and dirty buses with are overpriced for the service provided.

 

Heathrow airport Limited decided a number of years ago to stop all the Hotel courtesy buses going into the airport terminals and introduced this awful service, which is put out to tender by them and from which they take a rate off.

 

I feel it gives an awful impression to overseas travellers arriving in the UK and needs to be looked at urgently. They manage to accommodate the hotel courtesy buses at most international airports around the world including LA, but we can't manage it here, typical.

 

Have you used the service? if not please try it and see if it's worth £5 each way. Yes of course I accept that one is supposed to have the correct money in sterling etc. but haven't any of you been caught out on occasions. It would help if the limited amount of machines there are available for ticket purchase worked.

All we were saying is that they should have had the correct money for the return trip. We know Hoppa buses charge for a journey when the hotel courtesy buses were free. If you don't like the service, pay for a taxi - that would be far in excess of £5 per person. The OP has been quick to let us know about her first class air travel, invitations to higher level Captain's parties, meeting up with 'Lord' Archer and lending him an Armani jacket etc etc but seems to think that she can get on a transfer bus and offer the driver whatever currency she has in her purse and that he will go out of his way to accommodate her and visit the currency exchange when that should have been up to her. And yes, the Hoppa is worth £5 each way.

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Trying to find some middle ground here (which means I'll get shot from both sides :eek: )

There was no reason for the bus driver to be rude to the OP.

However, none of us (other than the OP) were there to see and hear both sides of the interaction on the bus.

Could it be that these drivers are asked by people twenty times a day take Euros or USD or Yen or Bolivars or any other currency you care to mention?

Sometimes, I dare say, not even asked politely IF they can take the above, but merely have notes pushed under their noses on the assumption that they will.

If so (and multiply that by five days a week, all year) and I can see how they might be slightly fed up with explaining, time and again, that they only take GBP, and therefore might answer with a monosyllabic "no" when presented with a note they don't recognise (with an exchange rate they do not know).

I wouldn't imagine that the drivers are highly paid, like many in the service industry, and sometimes recruiting the right applicant can be "take what you're offered".

I'm sure the OP was amazingly polite of course, and didn't do anything to deserve to be treated badly.

However, as has been said above, I also wouldn't dream of trying to use GBP to buy a bus ticket in Tokyo, Sydney, Prague or Seattle etc. And if I did, wouldn't be at all surprised to be treated as the OP was at Heathrow.

First thing I'd do on entering a new country is to obtain local currency, if I didn't already have some.

Now I'll duck down... :D

Trying to find some middle ground here (which means I'll get shot from both sides :eek: )

 

There was no reason for the bus driver to be rude to the OP.

However, none of us (other than the OP) were there to see and hear both sides of the interaction on the bus.

 

Could it be that these drivers are asked by people twenty times a day take Euros or USD or Yen or Bolivars or any other currency you care to mention?

 

Sometimes, I dare say, not even asked politely IF they can take the above, but merely have notes pushed under their noses on the assumption that they will.

 

If so (and multiply that by five days a week, all year) and I can see how they might be slightly fed up with explaining, time and again, that they only take GBP, and therefore might answer with a monosyllabic "no" when presented with a note they don't recognise (with an exchange rate they do not know).

 

I wouldn't imagine that the drivers are highly paid, like many in the service industry, and sometimes recruiting the right applicant can be "take what you're offered".

 

I'm sure the OP was amazingly polite of course, and didn't do anything to deserve to be treated badly.

 

However, as has been said above, I also wouldn't dream of trying to use GBP to buy a bus ticket in Tokyo, Sydney, Prague or Seattle etc. And if I did, wouldn't be at all surprised to be treated as the OP was at Heathrow.

 

First thing I'd do on entering a new country is to obtain local currency, if I didn't already have some.

 

Now I'll duck down... :D

👍. Need a like button 😄

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The OP has been quick to let us know about her first class air travel

I wondered about that too. If I could afford a fly TA first class I'd not even consider using a bus at the other end.

I wondered about that too. If I could afford a fly TA first class I'd not even consider using a bus at the other end.

Probably washing by hand can be done in a bus but not in a limo?

It's hard to use points/miles to book a limo.

It's hard to use points/miles to book a limo.

Actually, limos are pretty to easy to get using miles. They come with premium class flights on several airlines. Emirates, for instance, picks you up at your home in a limo pretty much anywhere in the world, even if you are only flying business class, and then meets you at the airport with another limo and takes you to your hotel. Since our Emirates trips always take us through Dubai where we spend few days, and then onward, they also pick us up once again at our Dubai hotel and take us back to the airport and then meet us at our final destination and take us to our hotel in that city. It is a very cool service.

Sure limos are fun, especially on Lufthansa in Frankfurt where they drive you from the first-class lounge right out on to the tarmac to board your flight, but after the first couple of times they are not that big of a deal. We actually enjoy taking local public transportation to get a better feel for the countries we are visiting.

I can assure you that I am always unfailingly polite to all service persons. I have traveled a lot, a whole lot, and know for sure that being kind will get me lot more than being difficult. The issue wasn't that we couldn't use credit cards, but instead that the driver was extremely rude when it was totally unnecessary.

There were six of us on the bus and we all got on famously, and all agreed that the driver's behavior was totally uncalled for. I think that is the reason that the other passenger was so quick to come forward with the 10£ note. Of course it would have been easier had I had the 10£ but as it happened I didn't.

Please note that I have been in 20 different countries in 2014, seven in the past two weeks, and this is the first time I was unable to use Euros or Dollars, but that is still not the point. The driver was rude, plain and simple and that is never acceptable.