Ardennais

The Closing Ceremony is rather tedious thus far! 

2 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

We have had 2 cruises with Princess in 2023 and 2024, and not had any problem at all with the embarkation procedure. However I can imagine that if the previous cruise had a delayed disembarkation, then the following cruise could well be affected, which might have been the reason you had such a poor experience.  And of course such a situation would equally impact the P&O procedure, so I still feel that the Princess, RC, Celebrity, MSC etc system is light years better than P&O, and they really need to fine tune their procedures and join the rest of the cruise industry in the 21st century.

To be honest, it wasn’t a poor experience as such, just some waiting (sitting down inside) and as I had my Kindle, I was already in holiday mode and switched off! 
If it hadn’t been for some comments on here saying that the Princess embarkation was superior, I don’t think actually we would have gone there so early. I was just curious to see how it would work. I mean common sense tells me that if everyone turns up at the earlier times, then there’s going to be waiting. So how does it work then if there’s ‘open’ embarkation? 

7 hours ago, david63 said:

That could be dependant on the number of American's on the cruise. If there are a lot of Americans then embarkation is quicker as the American arrive by coach mid afternoon.

Not the case on our cruise. Fewer than 1000 passengers from UK and 1500 Americans. Place was heaving just before 12 midday. 

19 hours ago, Thejuggler said:

At some time in the future I'm sure P&O will catch up with other cruise companies and let passengers choose their own boarding time. 

Well my last cruise was with Princess and we were allowed to turn up any time after 11am. I was wondering how that would work and turned out that we took ages to embark. So not such a good system after all. Much prefer being given a time with P&O which has worked so well recently with speedy embarkation. Late embarkation doesn’t bother me. 

I have slow developing cataracts and I could tell that one eye had really deteriorated by the time I had my annual test recently. However I was told that the cataract has to cause 50% loss of vision before referral to the NHS and that mine was currently only at around 35% loss of vision. I asked about going private and the optician said that it was better to wait a while. So that’s it for now! I think I’m too young anyway!! 

6 hours ago, Palaceman said:

The BBC could not afford to pay for full live coverage of the Olympics this year. This means they have a lot of gaps to fill with waffle. This proves the tax we have to pay called the TV Licence fee is not fit for purpose and outdated. It's about time it was scrapped and the BBC became a commercial broadcaster. All other channels have adverts so there'd be no hardship to the viewers. 

I can’t think of anything worse than adverts on the BBC. They’re doing a great job. 

Went to see Wrexham play a pre-season friendly against Fleetwood yesterday. So after the cricket in Cardiff last weekend and the football up North yesterday, we’re wondering what sporting event to attend next. I think the Olympics on TV will have to do! 

The crew had time to chat on Caribbean Princess and were pleasant and engaging and we never felt that they were after any tips. Service in the MDR was excellent too, but the food itself wasn’t that good. We didn’t find it too noisy to be honest (apart from the creaky cabin) and that’s something that my husband is very aware of, as loud music really affects him. We do love Iona, but the crew are rushed off their feet! 
 

1 hour ago, zap99 said:

We always use CPS. Never a problem dropping of car, or collecting keys. Can't really be bothered to save a few quid.

We’ve always had fantastic service from CPS, but used P4C last time as we sailed with Princess and it was quite a bit cheaper. It was very efficient. However I would still use CPS if sailing with P&O as there is less walking involved. 

3 hours ago, tring said:

 

I really hope the P&O brand remains solely British based as the ambience is far better, and calmer than the American lines imo.

 

I thought that the ambience was just as good on Princess recently and better in some regards. The staff were definitely more engaged and cheerful.  

Lovely photos. I would love to visit Flam again and take the train. It looks lovely. 

We’ve had a family weekend down in Cardiff and also met up with some friends, Had a great afternoon at Sophia Gardens yesterday watching two Hundred matches. Welsh Fire lost both matches, women and then men, against the Oval Invincibles but the glorious weather and brilliant atmosphere made for a memorable day. 
Visited Aberfan Cemetery on our way home today. Hadn’t been there for years. There were some family members tending some of the graves. It’s a sobering place but really well kept. 

On 7/27/2024 at 6:15 PM, Megabear2 said:

For those not liking sport the television is a total wilderness at present, the main non sporting choices currently being offerings on the first and second world wars.  It's no wonder people are switching off in their droves. 

I love sport (apart from horse racing and rugby) and love history too, but there’s always something interesting on iPlayer. Plenty from the archives too. 

The balloon is the first wow moment! 

The ceremony has improved. The Eiffel Tower is a wonderful backdrop. 

1 minute ago, terrierjohn said:

The weather is appalling and rather spoiling the spectacle.

It’s all rather monotonous isn’t it? Better now with the lights though. 

6 hours ago, kalos said:

Morning ,it looks bright and sunny start to the day for us but nothing planned.

Yesterday had a look around a local shoe warehouse and got a new pair of

trainers and some slip on's. At the counter the lady was very "up sale"

"Do you want me to spray them with a protective coat  that will make them 

last longer?"    No thanks I replied   "Well can I have your e-mail to send you

our offers ?"    No thanks again as I see any offers on their web site .

 

You seem to get folks pitching their sales I remember once in a shopping centre

a young lady walked up to me with her survey board in her hand and asked me.

'Do you have any pets'? I said 'A goldfish'.

She said 'any hobbies'? I replied 'well he likes swimming!' 🙃😉

 

Have a great day and take care .🙂

My mother and I were discussing this very topic a few days ago. We both think that there’s an element of desperation around at the moment. If you’re only just browsing a website, but don’t put anything in the basket, emails keep appearing a few hours later. Then if you do put something in the basket but don’t proceed to checkout, you get the annoying email telling you not to forget to checkout. The frequency of marketing emails has also increased, and I’ve been unsubscribing a lot lately. Also discount codes and flash sales. 

5 hours ago, Splice the mainbrace said:

18c and sunny here at the moment. I was speaking to our local farmer yesterday and even though most people are complaining about the weather for farmers this year’s temperatures and regular rainfall is actually ideal growing conditions. He has already got as much silage as last year with probably 2 more cuts to come, so will not have to buy in cattle fodder this winter saving him a lot of money. Could probably do with some dryer sunnier weather now to ripen cereal and fruit crops though. I know that in our garden everything has been growing really well with grass having to be cut more often and shrubs putting on more growth than normal.

Some farmers are already on their 3 cuts around here. 

Looks good! Looking forward to reading about your cruise. 

3 hours ago, Adawn47 said:

So sad to hear of the passing of Ray Reardon. A remarkable snooker legend and a true gentleman. 

R.I.P Dracula.

Avril

Always loved watching him, and he was also very witty. His personal life wasn’t plain sailing though! 

5 hours ago, Vampiress88 said:

they hate the matching outfits if I’m honest. 
I’m just find that there aren’t so many nice tops or dresses that fit them so I usually buy the same so there is no arguments and I always know what they are wearing if one gets lost. 
 

usually at home though they aren’t matching though but that’s because they aren’t nice going out tops for wearing around the house. 

Good point about finding them if one gets lost. Like school uniforms on trips really which most Primary children around here wear, apart from the one or two who want to ‘express their own individuality’! 

More great posts and wonderful photos. My girls were always smiley too at that age and to be fair, weren’t too bad as teenagers! I’m intrigued that they’ve always got matching outfits - apart from the formal night. My three are really close in age, and were of a similar size between about 5 and 13 so I would try to buy clothes in Sales and they just then selected what they fancied between them. I don’t think they would have liked matching outfits though! Now in their late 20s, their styles are very different. 

5 hours ago, Eddie99 said:

Probably a dozen years ago, on a Cunard excursion in St Petersburg, we were all kitted out with wireless earpieces (sort of wireless.  There was a wire between the bit in your ear and the small box of tricks you hung round your neck).  This was such a good arrangement and I’m really surprised I haven’t seen it anywhere else since.

It allowed our excellent walking guide to move at a decent pace whilst everyone in the group was able to hear what she was saying without having to cram together around her.  When she was ready to move on she simply raised her voice to get everyone’s attention and it was up to us to keep up

 

We’ve had those earpieces several times, and found them to be very good. I noticed a group had them in the Royal Palace in Stockholm last week.

4 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Thank you for your nice words.

I'm so sorry to hear about your experience at the game in the 78/79 season.

 

Chelsea were even worse the following season, but we won that game I think!

1 hour ago, Splice the mainbrace said:

So are you from Wrexham? That’s my wife’s home town, now city.

No, not from Wrexham, but the wilds of Mid Wales! It was a 100 mile drive there and back every other Saturday. They were good days and the good days are back again!