Splice the mainbrace

Whenever we have a power cut our central heating timer comes up with an error code and with some trepidation I have to reset by using a cocktail stick to press a small reset switch. I always have some concern that the unit will not reset correctly.

We came back on the same cruise and were Gold colour for disembarkation at 9.50. It seemed a more convenient Cunard system to stay in our stateroom but it got to 9.00 and hadn’t heard any announcements in our room or in the corridor that I was expecting. I went to the gangway to ask and they said that they were ahead of schedule and we could get get of immediately, there wasn’t any queue to get off. I don’t understand why they don’t give announcements as the colour groups progress.

We’ve just come back from a Queen Victoria round Britain cruise and the compliance to the dress code was very well observed with almost all pax that I saw adhering to it. I was surprised to see the majority of men wearing jackets on Smart Attire nights even though it is now not a requirement, I had taken a blazer not sure if I was going to wear it or not but did so when I saw others wearing jackets.

+ Fabulous pianist in Commodores and the Queen Victoria band and orchestra were really good, their big band night in the Queens Room was just like listening to the originals.

I was on this cruise it was our first with Cunard for 4 years but have cruised with Princess and P&O since. We were in a non Grill stateroom so dined in the MDR in the evening, my pros and cons are: Pros There was more space and places to sit than the other cruise lines that we have travelled with recently. Nice relaxed peaceful atmosphere, it was easy to find a quiet place. Interesting lectures Good food Comfortable bed and pillows Cabin was kept in good order by the steward Friendly efficient staff No problems taking wine on board at each port (1 bottle for me and my wife each) The overall cruise and experience was very good Cons Drinks prices + 15% service charge The evening MDR dining experience was more rushed than I remember previously on Cunard. Before we had settled and got our reading glasses out the menu was thrust in front of us, then shortly afterwards the bread rolls and coming back for for our order when we were still choosing after a brief chat with our table companions. We did tell the waiters early in the cruise and they slowed a bit but it was still had the feeling of bring rushed. We were on the 2nd sitting and the seats for the waiters to cover was only at 50 to 75% so being over worked was not an issue. Lunch and breakfast was different and was a more relaxed experience. Initially we were pleased with arrangements for the end of cruise disembarkation by waiting in your stateroom but we expected for announcements to be made calling your luggage tag colour for when to disembark but there were no announcements. Our disembarkation time was 9.50 but by 9.00 when we hadn't heard any announcements I went to the exit point and asked and was told 'we are well ahead of the schedule, you can get off when you want'!! The lack of enforced hand hygiene early in the cruise, there were no staff with hand sanitiser at the entrances to the Lido or MDR. After Norovirus was announced onboard after 4 days there were staff everywhere at the entrances and serving food from the buffet, surely they could have found staff in the early days to stand at the eating places entrances. I know that hand sanitiser is not 100% effective and it may not have prevented the outbreak but to have no staff in place is asking for problems. Related to the hygiene item about is that QV still use the old hand signing for drinks bought rather than auto systems that I have recently experienced on Princess and P&O. The problem that this is that after hand sanitising when entering a bar you have to handle the receipt folder and pen used by many others and often nibbles come with your drinks. I didn't sign the receipt until after finishing but expect many don't. The change for 'free' internet access from hours that countdown to $ towards internet plans. On my Platinum grade the previous 40 hours access is of more use to me than $80 which would buy me 3 days of standard access or 2 days of fast access.

I love the feeling as you enter the ship for the first time after the build up, the checking in and security procedure. We then go to the cabin to see if we can drop our hand luggage, then up to the buffet for a bite to eat and maybe a drink, explore the ship (especially if it’s our first time on a ship), then back to the cabin hoping that the suitcases have arrived so that we can unpack ( don’t really feel settled in until suitcases arrive and unpacked), then relax and look forward to the first evening onboard.

Thanks. The weather forecast is so far looking good for the duration even the Orkneys and Stornaway! They’ve even recently added Dublin (Dunleary) to the itinerary replacing a sea day.

Yes

Disappointingly cloudy here so far but I have gardening to do before we go away tomorrow for our round Britain cruise. We will be packing this afternoon (well the wife will she doesn’t let me anywhere near the cases!😊). I’ve put out too much stuff for the 12 night cruise so will put some back in the wardrobe, our recent trips have been longer and I’ve taken virtually all presentable clothes that I own. We drive down tomorrow to Southampton stopping off at our favourite pub which is the May Fly south of Andover by the river test and then staying overnight at the Harbour Hotel at Ocean Village.

That’s not good having to wait for 3 hours before boarding. We rocked up last October on Arcadia and went straight on ahead of time. We stay in the Southampton area the night before cruises and I don’t fancy hanging around between vacating the hotel room and killing some hours. We depart on a Cunard cruise this week on Queen Victoria it will be interesting if they are as strict with a smaller ship.

For those coming from the north west, West Midlands and wales a route that we use when travelling down the day before a cruise is M5, off junction 11a, A roads via Swindon, Andover, Stockbridge and Romsey to Southampton,with the benefit of stopping at our favourite pub by the side of the River Test between Andover and Stockbridge the May Fly. Also if there are severe problems on the M3 and coming down the A34 come off just after Whitchurch onto the A303 towards Andover and the go down to Southampton via Stockbridge and Romsey.

We’ve been cruising for 30 years and have never taken any notice of arrival times and neither have the cruise line. We travel down to Southampton the day before to stay locally so don’t want to hang around post hotel vacation time to board. I can however see with the 5000+ pax ships why some extra organisation is necessary.

We did a cruise like that 4 years ago on Queen Elizabeth and many (all?) of the ports in Japan, Alaska and Canada were maiden ports so we had some great arrival welcomes. In one Japanese port there were hundreds of school children with their band singing, dancing and doing choreographed actions, it was quite moving.

Personally I love sea days, we’ve done 2 return transatlantic crossings, across the pacific and will be doing South Africa to Australia next year. I don’t find it boring it’s in my heritage, I like looking out to sea watching the changing wave formations and hoping to see dolphins, whales and different birds. Have you given up on cruising or just anti P&O due to 2 bad experiences?

It must be the larger capacity ships which are causing the queues and the enforcement of boarding times. We cruised on Arcadia last October had a boarding time of 3 pm but arrived at 12pm and there wasn’t a problem.

When did this take place? I didn’t think that people tested for covid now.

We try not to eat things without cutlery. We wash our hands as we enter the buffet and also use our hand gel when we have served ourselves because others will have used tongs etc and may not have disinfected their hands on entering to eat. We also use our knuckle rather then finger tips to push the lift button😉 I’m tempting fate but on our many cruises we have not had any tummy problems, so far!!

Clear blue sunny sky here and 17c, really lovely. I think that May is my favourite month, the transition into summer, light evenings and the foliage is new and fresh.

Looking at the bbc forecast this is the start of nice dry warm weather. We go away next week on a round Britain cruise and it’s looking good even in the Orkneys and Stornaway, so far!

When I was growing up in Southampton we never went to Portsmouth apart from the historical dockyards, it just wasn’t done!! If we were travelling to a nearby city/town it would be Salisbury, Bournemouth or Winchester. Southampton doesn’t promote itself very well as a historical city, you only need a day but there are plenty of things to visit and see. I haven’t lived in the city for 38 years but my parents continued to live there so we visited the area regularly and now my Cheshire born son lives there as he feels at home there. In fact I have family connections there traced back to the 1400s when one of my ancestors was mayor of Southampton, so I am biased.

Same here. No buses for a number of years go through our village so people can’t go by public transport even to our 2 local towns even though they are both only 2 to 3 miles away. Our village also has lots of older people who don’t drive anymore making it difficult to get around without resorting to taxis. To make matters worse for everyone in the wider area Arriva pulled out of the area altogether at the end of April, some routes have been taken on by other bus companies but the frequency has in some cases halved and many have not been taken on and have ceased to run.

I have 2 future cruises booked with P&O because of their itineraries fitting in with our ‘ bucket list’ destinations. We were on Arcadia last October and had a really enjoyable cruise.

Booked another long cruise last night, the discount was a lot more than we were expecting (15% discount). In the next 16 months we will be cruising for 106 days, think we’ll throttle back after that only Nile Cruise, the west coast pacific highway and USA to Australia via pacific islands are left on our bucket list.

My travel insurance isn’t affected by taking statins, I am ‘allowed’ one medication for no additional charge. My wife was recently put on statins so she now takes 2 medications so it cost us an additional £40.

I’ve been on statins for 15 years after having a blood test at work and have never had a problem with any side affects. My total cholesterol is over 5 but within that I also have high ‘good’ cholesterol so the ratio is ok. There must be a reason why not but even though heart attacks and strokes are one of the biggest killers there are no routine scans to identify arterial problems at a certain age (60?) on the nhs like there are for bowel cancer.