Eglesbrech

Mine is a slow cooker version so you can bung it on and leave it to cook all day. I prefer working in the morning. I had trouble getting porcini mushroom powder which I usually bring back from Italy but and eventually got it on Amazon. Hope you enjoyed yours.

That’s a real shame about your Aunt MB, my condolences. You may miss the funeral but you will be there in spirit and can have your own private remembrances on the day.

Don’t know about anyone else but I have been busy planting herbs. Some of the old ones are a bit woody so I’ve put in a new lot for cooking. Just finished making bread and a mushroom stroganoff. My don’t I live an exciting life. Hope you are all having a nice day.

It’s back after about 3 hours however not all the pages are loading properly.

The site appears to have been down for most of the morning. This was not pre announced update / outage. Anyone know what’s happening?

Very good advise from Snow Hill. Look at the fire regulations as well. How will they evacuate from what is essentially a domestic property, is there space for fire escape ramps etc.

I don’t know what the regulations are in England but up here some posts are politically restricted for a period of time, even after holding and leaving office / a senior post. I wouldn’t think it would apply if he has been out of office for quite a while. I sorry to hear this Josy and hope you get it sorted.

Because their onboard offerings are fairly limited and pedestrian. Add to that the change has been made after people have paid in full so customers have no valid choices.

Very few now and generally those who are all ai anyway so you bringing on a decent malt does not affect their profits.

One should indeed expect better food than the local pub on a cruise ship. The food on Aurora was however significantly worse on our cruise a few weeks ago (with the notable exception being Sindu which was excellent). The beer and wines were the same brands.

There is a massive divide both in drinks prices but also in wage rates. A steak is about £16 here and a massive mixed grill with steak, lamb, gammon, sausage, chicken etc £20.

My local pub has a decent bottle of Chenin, Pinot Grigio or shiraz for around £15. Beers like Stella are £4.30 a pint, Moretti £4.60. Cheaper beers are £3.50. Food is £10.25 for a large portion of fish and chips (£8.00 for pensioner portion). Fahitas are £10 for veggie, £12 for chicken and £13 for steak. Steak pie etc around £10.

I would not suggest they are a rip off as we have had the same or more in hotels abroad. That said they are certainly not the prices we would generally expect to pay at a restaurant or pub at home. All things are relative.

Yes another favourite along with the Roads and the Miles to Dundee, the dark island and the song of the Clyde (modern folks think that rappers sing fast, try that song for speed and tongue twisting).

Probably about as much as is “ wasted” on soaps I never watch, overpaid sports presenters I never watch etc etc.

Yes we were on last year as well and there were not any slots. Something new?

https://www.fredolsencruises.com/faqs/on-board/what-type-of-plug-electricity-sockets-are-used-in-the-rooms Official Fred information above. The plug sockets are few and far between so you may want to pack both an adapter and a buzz bar. We also had our own USB sockets as well (some of the refurbished rooms may have these but ours on deck 5 did not).

Glad you had a good cruise. It’s always nice to read positive feedback.

Yes I liked France, particularly the a acapello part. The Portuguese balled was nice too. The Spanish leather nappies were indeed off putting as was the windows man sans anything! The Croatian one was catchy so no surprise it got the majority of the public vote. Graeme Norton mentioned all the near nudity as well. Not required and doesn’t add anything to the music (says the Grumpy, opinionated old woman from Scotland).

And of course there was Andy Stewart and the northern lights of old Aberdeen. That was one of the songs trotted out every single new year by someone during the “ wan singer, wan song” part of the festivities.

@Angel57 we sat up to watch the Eurovisions. Some really good songs and performances this year. The half time act was a bit of a let down, I think we all expected ABBA, not the Abbatars. The last time in Sweden Petra did a brilliant half time act with Mans the other host. I love Eurovision and watch every year. Poor Freddie, hope he recovers soon.

Great re the dining. We have not tried SAGA as yet. We are finding MSC Yacht club suits us well. Yes you can pay for the mini bar but on P&O not pre booked theatre seats nor a nice quiet private lounge and restaurant which we enjoy. I also really enjoy avoiding almost every queue but others may not find that an issue.

If that’s what suits you then great. I hope you manage to get the dining reservations. It would be interesting to hear how your experiment goes. You don’t however get the same as other suites eg on MSC Boarding at 10 am with a butler to collect you and take you straight to your private lounge. Drinks and snacks all day. Full service YC pool and sunbeds area with food & drinks service. Evening entertainment in the suites only lounge Reserved seats in the theatre every night and butler takes you there to bypass any queues. Priority lift call Priority off and back on at every port Stocked and replenished mini bar / bottle of choice for the cabin / premier extra drinks package/ treats in cabin every night Daily printed newspaper of choice Private restaurant for all meals etc etc etc Thats not to knock P&O, it’s just a different package that they don’t do

You are correct John. As an example those with the Aurea experience on MSC used to get the basic drinks package included which has now been removed (prices are apparently reduced a bit but not by the package price). Diamond voyages members used to get a sculpted chocolate ship, it’s now a toblerone! Most of the lines are making small changes so they can reduce the base price advertised. We used to book suites on P&O but many years ago decided it was not value for money as they offer so few extras. Now we book standard cabins for the odd P&O we do and suites on lines that offer much more for the money. Princess took away the previously free and very popular Alfredo’s, then added it as a new benefit to their drinks packages. All hell let loose on the boards about that It’s all choices and what is important to me may not be to others. What annoys others may not even register for me.

Brilliant, thank you so much for coming back with that information.