Splice the mainbrace

Yeah, bit different view this morning. Containers can be interesting too 😀

Woke up to this view of Quebec City from our balcony this morning. It’s a lovely city, we spent 4 hours exploring and we shared a plate of Poutine and glass of wine each for lunch. There is so much to see/visit in the city, more than I thought that there was. We are staying in port overnight but moving berths at 11.00 pm, tomorrow we will be exploring more and then a excursion in the afternoon.

Awake early here on Sky Princess. We have put the clocks back for 3 nights in a row as we cross the Atlantic so are now UK time -3 hrs so have effectively had 25 hr days. After today 1 more sea day and then Corner Brook Saturday, Saguenay Monday and Quebec Tuesday Wednesday. Sea conditions have been benign for the Atlantic with only some slight rocking at times. We bought a Dior fragrances yesterday onboard and it is considerably cheaper than back in the uk, about 35 to 40% off with the conversion rate plus DW got a £85 Night Repair Serum for ‘free’. The Night Repair Serum was only 50ml and I told DW she’d need a bucket full for it to work, she knows I wasn’t being serious………I think, well she was still talking to me afterwards anyway 😊

Yeah I know. I’m sure we’ll manage with alternatives like g&ts etc

2 more things to add: - We went to the lunch buffet for the first time. Such good looking food and so much choice, you think that you have surveyed everything and then you find some more. Also the lunch restaurant has more choice than our recent experiences with other cruise lines. I can’t remember if it was P&O or Cunard but for lunch in their restaurant they give you a sheet of paper with few choices on it. I would say we are more impressed with Princess than Cunard since covid where they seem to have really cut down choices on the menu. - We are on the plus package that includes tips, Wi-Fi and drinks. We normally are white wine drinkers but the ones included in the package are very weak, taste wise rather than strength, like water with a hint of something, so we have settled on rose and cocktails. £4 £5 supermarket wine per bottle is far tastier and if not on the package how they have the cheek to charge $11 (£8) per medium glass at bulk and tax free prices beggars belief. We tried to order a Whiskey Cider cocktail off the app to try and was told only one bar does it, we went there today and asked for a ‘whiskey cider cocktail’ and was told that they need the exact name of it so as not to disappoint!!

We’re into our 3rd day on board Sky Princess traversing the Atlantic to Canada. Boarding was easy and we watching the Grand Prix on the outside big screen in time for the 12.00 start of Grand Prix with first drink in hand. Yesterday the sea was flat calm, today is as forecast a 2 to 3 metre swell with some slight movement but only just. Some early observations, no particular order: - Wi-Fi works like a dream, fast and good signal strength everywhere we have been on the ship. - food is good with more choice especially with always on options. On Cunard earlier in the year there were 7 mains options but 3 of those were vegetarian or vegan which seemed to me a rather OTT proportion to me. - even though we are sailing about just under 10% off capacity the ship is busy and in bars mid evening it can be difficult to find a seat. The bar waiters drinks system isn’t very efficient and people often go to the bar to order themselves or point out to the waiters that they are waiting to order. They don’t seem to systematically patrol their bar areas in the way that P&O or Cunard do. Very pleasant staff though. - Ship is in good condition and our cabin is clean and comfortable. Our stewardess has been efficient. - In the mdr food service times are ok and I know why the waiters use the system to minimise going to and from the galley but it can be frustrating going at the pace of last person eating in their patch. Especially if they have arrived 10 mins later than the others and are catching up with others that they are linked to. overall so far so good. Anyway enough of my ramblings but if anything worthy of posting comes up I’ll post during the cruise. Maybe some port photos. -

If driving to Sky Princess then best to come in from the North or East, not from the West where you would have to drive past the dock gate for City, Horizon and Mayflower ship terminals and the boat show.

Roads will be busy around Southampton on Sunday with 5 ships departing and the first weekend of the boat show.

DW has been gathering things together for weeks for us to go away tomorrow for our month long cruise to USA Canada (and now France !) departing on Sunday. Today it is intense packing day for her, she doesn’t let me any where near it!, I will be keeping out of the way doing last minute garden tidying and lawn cutting, goodness knows what it will be like when we get back in nearly 5 weeks time. 🌾 Currently the outward Atlantic crossing is forecast to be relatively smooth but things can change 🤞

Talking of shuttle buses. We normally pay the higher price so that we can choose our cabin, but when we have got a shuttle bus they don’t seem to charge anyone. I know it depends upon if it is a port of call provided shuttle or cruise line provided but I can’t remember the last time that I saw peoples cruise cards being scanned.

When I got the original email in July I was suspicious and checked out the email contents which confirmed sign in changes were coming in on Outlook. All of the apps downloaded for my ipad and windows laptop today I checked were legitimate Apple and Microsoft sites and apps. I just now need to rearrange their new set front screen layout to my liking.

I've had a busy start to the day with some required home tech changes. I had an email from Microsoft in July saying that after mid September I would have to sign on to my hotmail email address through a more secure app method. I ignored it and hadn't heard anything else thinking I would get regular reminders if it REALLY applied to me, however this morning I got another saying that that new sign in method is needed in 5 days times the 16th September!! It's strange that the email only went to one of my 2 accounts which are both old. Anyway after downloading the app to my ipad and laptop its seems to be working OK but it doesn't seem to work on my old iphone. I am reasonably tech savvy but still get anxious that everything goes OK with this sort of thing. Unhelpfully the email didn't give links to help articles I had to google it and find the apps myself. And relax............

13c overcast and breezy this morning, at least it’s stopped raining as it rained all day yesterday worst day for many months. There was a car accident near us yesterday on a mini roundabout where the road markings have worn away and it’s difficult to see the lines, there has been a temporary sign up for weeks warning of no line markings after earlier crashes why don’t they just repaint the lines? Many road marking round here are worn away and difficult to see especially in the wet. Anyway a quiet day here but preparing for going away on Saturday to Southampton and embarking on Sunday for a month cruise on Sky Princess to USA and Canada. Early forecasts show a relatively smooth Atlantic outward crossing🤞

I had been with LV car insurance for many years but when my renewal quote came in July with a large increase I went on a comparison site and could save 35% going to Allianz, which is run and administered by……..LV!

I’ve had an email from Nationwide that the Flexplus account monthly cost will rise from £13 to £18 per month from December. I only use the world travel insurance part of the benefits because we have other included car breakdown insurance and our old mobile phones wouldn’t pay much if lost. They also haven’t reinstated interest payments on the balance even though overall interest rates have risen substantially in the last 2 years. We are due to move to their new travel insurance provider next spring but I know that the changeover started earlier this year. I know that others on here have a flexplus account is the new travel insurance provider ok?, have pre existing condition costs gone up? I read that you have to inform them before any cruise rather than just covered for the year. The attraction of the Flexplus account seems to be diminishing for me.

Earlier this year I remember someone on here recommending a place to eat out in the West End area of Southampton near the Utilita Bowl Hampshire cricket ground. We are staying at the Holiday Inn Express next Saturday before our cruise and will be going out to eat that evening. I can see West End Brewery and Southampton Arms for pub grub. We normally stay more centrally in Southampton but prices even when we booked back in January were high due to 5 ships going out and the first weekend of the Boat Show!

Drove back up yesterday from Southampton after a few days down there visiting our son and visiting some local attractions. We originally planned to cruise to USA and Canada on Arcadia which is why we had a hotel booked but changed to a Princess cruise in 2 weeks time (better price and later departure may mean better chance of autumn colours🤞) so will be back down there a week on Saturday. We visited Stonehenge on Sunday, my first time for over 25 years. We were lucky with the weather, it was bright and dry but only a few miles away they had heavy rain and thunder storms. It was the first time that we had been to the visitors centre and the just over 1 mile walk to and from the stones (shuttle buses are available). On Monday I gave OH a guided tour of the New Forest which I know well being brought up in the area. We stopped at a pub which was £15 for a pint and medium wine spritzer, ouch. The car has its MOT and service in Stoke tomorrow so I will need to check and reset the tyre monitor warning that came on on the way back up yesterday, it’s only slightly low on 1 tyre, not a puncture.

Lovely sunny morning here and 18c. Later we are walking the 3 miles to and from the Nantwich Food Festival that’s taking place this weekend. It’s a really good day out and a vast choice of stalls for buying lunch. We will break the walk on the way back by having a drink at a pub that is about half way 🍺🍷

Watching Solent ships on YouTube, 4 ships going out.

Nice warm weather is forecast from next Wednesday for a week but we’ll have to see if it is accurate or not. Some very light rain in the air at the moment but I hope that we get some more meaningful rain before the warm spell, the garden is already very dry. GCSE results day today and seeing anxious excited pupils gathering in schools. It was different in my day, we had to hand in a stamped self addressed envelope in at school before the summer holidays and the results got posted to you. At our school the Mountbatten School in Romsey Hampshire the O level / CSE certificates were always presented by Lord Louis Mountbatten but in my year he was killed by at IRA attack in the August so his daughter presented instead at the certificate evening in October.

14c sunny and calm here currently. We unfortunately avoided the rain the last 2 days as we really need it the soil is bone dry, the rain has been all around us but not here. The wife is off with the grandkids to Blue Planet Aquarium today at Ellesmere Port I’m not going, don’t get me wrong I like the kids in small doses but a day with them no thank you, my wife has more patience and tolerance than me 🤬

17c and hazy sunny here, rain forecast for late afternoon. It makes us wince when we see dogs licking peoples faces, as my wife says ‘it’s probably just been licking it’s bum’ 🤮

ESTAs done, approved and printed off. Phew.

Wife’s trying to do complete our ESTAs for our September cruise to USA and Canada. Seems more complex than the last time that we applied. Doesn’t seem to accept where staying in USA and contact info, put in cruise ship details but it doesn’t like the details entered 😩

The last hour or so I keep getting a ‘we value your privacy’ pop up on this site, I keep managing settings and decline all but it keeps popping up. Annoying.