sgmn

3 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Are you missing a number on that? That is only a$144.00 per person, what date does that start on?

Nope, had a tesco discount (UK food store) of £631 so total on invoice was £3057 or £3688 if I hadn't got the discount .

£3688 divided by 32 (16 nights, two people) is just over £115pppn. It was only an OV guarantee.

As I said considerably more now as cruise on that segment is showing almost full.

BCN to Southampton segment 

4 hours ago, driftychick said:

Have you forgotten that when the Ovation of the Seas first came into the fleet they started with a Global Odyssey.  We were fortunate enough to sail on two segments from Barcelona to Dubai and then Dubai through the Suez Canal and finally ending in Singapore.  that was a total of 45 days, all of the segments were a minimum of 16 days and up from there.  This was not billed as a World cruise but did cover the globe.  This was in 2016 and I thought at that time the pricing was very good.  Of course, the Ovation is a bit larger than the Serenade.

This world cruise is going to some amazing ports. I think this is one of the standouts for this particular WC. 

9 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

 

 

They are paying ONE THIRD OF WHAT OTHERS ARE PAYING.  

 

Regular prices in the Cruise Planner are the elevated but non-stupid (think Wonder) prices:  $40 for Izumi.  $45 for Giovanni's Table.  $56 for Chops.

 

They are not offering UDP - just 10 night dinner package, for $280.  The funny thing is that they are even offering it on the only 9 night mini in my segment.  😄 

So I bought our OV UWC segment (16 nights) when the 17 segments were first released. With gratuities,  taxs and fees it works out at £115pppn (OV). 

Not particularly cheap compared to my Serenade summer '23 12 night cruise where I got a sunset spacious balcony for £80 pppn (including grats etc).

That UWC segment OV is now marketed at £198pppn (guarantee, not including grats).  

10 night DP is £263

5 night DP is £169

Chops £47

Giovanni's £38

Drink pkg £64pppn

As a lowly D member I  am a bit concerned boarding a ship which will be mainly pins or DP+ by next summer when we board. Hope our favourite VC lounge is not closed off for us 

4 hours ago, George C said:

That’s another reason we fly , while drinking doubles😁

we watched a interesting movie on Netflix yesterday “leave the world behind “ great cast , very suspenseful, weird ending.

We watched it too last night. Agree with you, great cast, full of suspense but strange unsatisfactory ending 

16 hours ago, NHProud said:

 

The gala pics for the world cruise are posted over at that other place. Laura looked fantastic.  Pax range in age from 2 to 87 . 

I spotted a couple in that photo who we shared a table on a cruise a few years ago. Gary keeps up with them on fb and we met them when they were in London 

8 hours ago, schooner_Drinker said:

The WC Gala night at the

Inter Continental Miami 

 

 

Nancy 

Looks like a great  crowd. 

Bon Voyage to all the WC's, quarter WC's and segmenters. Have Fun and hope to hear about it on CC .  Thank you to @island ladyfor starting this thread.

Will see some of you in BCN 👍

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

Good morning.

It is 44°F and raining here at 08.44am.

Prayers 🙏 for Dani @dani negreanu her family, friends and country.

I hope everyone is safe and well.

Beautiful tree Graham . We choose one yesterday but its still outside. Hoping to put it up today. We usually buy one decoration a year, so our decorations go back to when our children were born and our nativity scene use to belong to mum 

32 minutes ago, aussielozzie18 said:

I do hope you & Gary  make it down here one day.  Love Singapore.  Adding on a short cruise from Singapore is a great idea too. 

Thank you, you have definitely more than whetted my appetite with all your beautiful photos , though we've wanted to visit for a long time. Gary wants to visit Japan too

12 hours ago, jagsfan said:

Happy Hanukkah to @dani negreanu @lenquixote66 @BonTexasNY

and everyone else celebrating the miracle of the oils. 

+1 , Happy Hanukkah 🕎 to all who celebrate. May you find peace and get to spend time with family 

16 minutes ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Are you planning on doing the cruise in the future Sue?

We've done three on Celebrity and they are on my radar. Their rejigged Israel cruises from Greece this winter have some very good prices. 

But not far off diamond plus so its tempting to stick with RC for the next year or so. 

We have booked a short holiday in Singapore in February with a four day RC cruise tagged on.

One day we will get to Australia 🇦🇺 🙏....

13 hours ago, Luckynana said:

You've got it, Sue!🙏

+1, best wishes for a successful outcome 

16 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

 

Sad to report that Linda and I have cancelled our April 1st Beyond 11 night Southern Caribbean cruise. We angonized over it but feel with Linda’s shoulder surgery on December 26th and me scheduling a hernia surgery will not give us enough time in rehab to really do this physically. It’s not like we don’t have cruises coming up. Navigator in October, Bella 2, Bella 2.5 in February of 2025 and Bella 3 in January of 2026. We will try again and book Beyond but I’m sure the prices will be more expensive by then. Oh well.

Sorry to hear Greg but your and Linda's good health is the most important thing. Plenty of time for cruises 

18 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

I've enjoyed all the reviews from people on this thread. Maybe because I have a "closer" connection?

Again, no disrespect to those that have reviews with lots of banter or random thoughts, just personal preference.

 

 

I definitely feel an affinity  to some reviewers, though I am thankful to anyone who attempts one.

Currently enjoying one from Jim_Iain over on the Celebrity page. It's up to 40 pages and is from Singapore to Australia 

On 11/25/2023 at 11:08 PM, Jim_Iain said:

 

Anyone who has a family member with this terrible disease my heart goes out to you.   Luckily he only suffered  (or was it me suffering to manage him) was less than 9 months.

Feeling your pain with your dad. My mum suffered for almost 10 years. A very proud independent lady who I think of every day. I won't go into the struggles she overcome but she is my role modal for living a positive happy and healthy life.

Loving your blog as usual. Your warmth shines through. We're off to Singapore in February, my first visit back after living there as a forces brat in the 60s.

 I better get a move on, I'm only on page 14 😊

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

It would be interesting to know how they came up with 70 as a cut off age. I would say that the vast majority of shingles cases that I've treated have been in people younger than that.

No idea, think its historic.  As I said it's being lowered from 01Sept 23 to 65, but us guys who are over 65 but below 70 will have to wait till over 70 which is a bit frustrating 

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

It is sad that he can't do a live thread on CC. It is a great loss for all of us and everyone else on this site.

Agree, just pushing people to sign up to other sites 

In the middle of watching The Stranger on Netflix, really good mini series, would recommend 

8 hours ago, Luckynana said:

Andrew, believe me when I say that you definitely do not want to get Shingles!!!   Jim and I had reservations for a hotel in Boston in the month of February, and just days before, I wound up with Shingles.  It was so very painful.  By the time I had gotten to the doctor, my rash was full blown and burned like the dickens.  I was put on several medications, so much so that I made a chart and would check off each time I took one of them.  We still decided to go to Boston,  Here I was, walking around the snow-covered sidewalks, in pain with every step.  

Needless to say, I got the shot afterwards.  At the time, there was only one shot.  Once the Shingrex came out, I then made sure to get the two shots of Shingrex.  

Most of my friends and family made sure they got the shots after what I went through.  I wouldn't wish Shingles on my worst enemy.

We don't get it on the NHS until 70, though they are lowering that to 65. I could pay privately but I think it around £500

11 hours ago, CSHS1979 said:

Looking forward to hearing all about the WC Laura . So exciting 

17 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

Speaking of elves, while we were gone Wednesday evening someone dropped off a bucket of goodies on our porch!  The bucket said on the side, You've been effed.  I pulled up my Ring to figure out who dropped it off but no video!  I rarely turn it off but Sharon was earlier out front putting Christmas lights up and I turned off the Ring and forgot to turn it back on!  😆 

What a lovely thing to do, sounds like you've got some lovely neighbours/friends 👍 

17 hours ago, George C said:

My wife has never called in sick in 35 years, she was feeling cold last couple of days on the ship , just came back from urgent care, she has Covid , so far I am fine , currently her symptoms are like a bad flu. 

Sorry to hear George, hope its mild  though it sounds quite bad.

My second bout in August I still have a cough, on antibiotics at mo to try and clear it up but no luck so far 

11 hours ago, Lionesss said:

On a girl’s cruise I was the victim of the screaming demons. 
 

Attributed to the ice I had in port. 
 

Now very careful. 
 

 

Happened to us in Egypt. We were very careful but still got 'the trots'  think it was ice from the ice machine in hotel 

22 hours ago, h20skibum said:

I finally got caught up on this thread.  I was preoccupied last week because of things going on.

 

It started on Monday.  We watched our grandkids, because they had the day off from school. Our daughter was at Cleveland Clinic to have a day filled with many tests.   After all the chemo and radiation, she finally completed her eight cycles of oral chemo last month.  It was a long day, and before she got home, she already had some results that they found a spot on her lung and liver that needed further evaluation.  Monday is a sleepless night. 

 

They checked around, and the Cleveland Clinic in Canton, Ohio would be able to do the additional testing on Wednesday.   Tuesday, they call and tell her that they didn’t think insurance would cover the test.  Ok, we give her 5k to pay for the testing and have her keep the appointment. Tuesday is another sleepless night. 

 

Wednesday, I drive her to Canton.  Prep and testing did not go as smoothly as it should have, but they finally got going with it around 5pm.  Drive back to Pennsylvania, and it was another sleepless night for everyone. 

 

Thursday morning, and Susan and I were already talking about canceling our cruise in two weeks, depending on the results.  Thursday afternoon, the call comes. I am glad they prefaced their call with “It’s good news!”  No sign of cancer.

 

You can’t imagine the weight that was immediately lifted from our shoulders when we heard that news.   I know many of our friends here said a prayer for her and her family over the past couple years, and I thank you all for that.  I guess you could say that this is our Christmas miracle.  

Oh wow Mark, what am awfully worrying time for all the family. I'm so glad for you all that you've had a fast and positive outcome.

On 12/3/2023 at 4:04 AM, jagsfan said:

In the US, it’s a cul-de-sac (borrowed from the French) or a dead end, which is purely American 

We use cul-de-sac too, as a noun, such as 'that road is a cul-de-sac'.

Close is part of the road name. So King Close, instead of King Road 

11 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Good morning.

It is 33°F and snowing.

Currently there is at least 2 inches of snow on my car.

I hope everyone is safe and well.

Prayers 🙏 for our lovely friend Dani @dani negreanu and all of her family and friends for peace and happiness.

Post pics Graham, love snow. Hubby loves it too but he spent his  formative youth in Winnipeg in the 60s and 70s so he's use to having to dig his way out of his front door