Eglesbrech

I don’t know what the official “Fred” answer is but we have been in the speciality restaurant on formal nights and people have been there is smart casual. Last time I felt a bit overdressed as we were in black tie and every other table was in casual. Others may be able to provide a more “official” answer.

I’d be interested to know that as well as we are there again later this year and what’s described above is different to December. That’s why this site is useful as procedures change from time to time and it’s good to be an update.

Have some of mine, it’s been hammering down for the last 2 days! Joking aside though I hope you get some respite from the heat and much needed water soon.

No it’s not. If a cabin has the capacity for a double then they happily do that for you at no extra charge, it’s noted as a request on the booking next to dining requests. The only reason there would be an extra charge is if she has to move up a cabin grade. Some cabins have fixed single beds, which are clearly noted on the deck plans. They can’t be made into doubles.

@davecttr cruise sounds lovely. We did the pre Christmas one in 2024 on Fred and it was absolutely brilliant, they really went to town with decorations and events. Everything from gingerbread making contest, reindeer racing, special Christmas cocktails etc to a full scale and very funny pantomime. We enjoyed it so much we have booked again for this December. Last year was the Spanish Christmas markets, this year the more traditional German and Belgium.

As @tring says CPS is available at q park in the city centre and offer a shuttle to and from the ships. This means you cannot self disembark as they time departures to fill the shuttles. E couple of times we have done it, it was efficient. You can however park on embarkation day at the Q park and they take your luggage straight to the ship. If you have a later check in then you are right in the middle of the city so can have a wander about then stroll the 10 minutes to the port for check in. Personally we usually stay at the Crowne Plaza right at the port. They offer an overnight stay and added parking at a fairly decent price and it means we can self disembark and leave the city before the traffic gets busy. Again you are right in the centre (to the side the Liver building and right next to the cruise port) so easy for shopping or museums etc. Dont eat there though as it’s both expensive and auto gratuity added, lots of better places to eat in the city.

@Splice the mainbrace excellent news. MIL will have bruising on her ribs so will be in a little pain for a bit yet but small price to pay. Glad things are going well.

Good morning all. The sun is just rising here and it’s a beautiful bright red sunrise. There is also one very bright star still in the sky. Last week we had a particularly bright shooting star and as I was having one of my sleepless nights I saw it, amazing. Another hot day forecast so once the daylight comes up I will go out and water the plants and vegetables. We have been using a lot of the salad so my supply of lettuce and sibus is depleting. We do however still have the rhubarb mountain, anyone got any good recipes for rhubarb chutney? Try to keep cool and stay hydrated folks.

@grapau27 very much like you we may not do as many tours as in the past but any line we travel with gets good sales for speciality restaurants, wine and spa treatments. On P&O we always book Epicurian, Sindhu etc, we really enjoy the food there. Funnily enough we never book a drinks package on P&O, it never seems worth it as the decent bottles of wines and champagne are so well priced.

I’m a bit like that as well, diamond here, gold there elite etc. It we go several cruises a year so it “looks” like loyalty and we don’t drop off because we cruise within the 3/5 year period. I suspect the other lines will be dumbing down their perks or making them harder to get in the first place . Too many people cruising regularly now. Im long enough in the tooth to remember being given a bottle of champagne as a first time P&O cruiser - yes champagne for your first cruise with them (but obviously relatively a lot more expensive than prices now).

I can easily believe that. The more cruises you have taken the less “new” excursions there are to do. You also don’t get caught out by the souvenir glass with the cocktail or the robot bar tender and such like. So it may (or may not) be a ploy to push away more experienced cruisers with lots of loyalty perks at present. The problem is you might get them departing from another cruise line and coming to you instead 😀.

Just looked at an interesting article from the CC daily email talking about changes to loyalty rewards for certain lines and whispers that Celebrity and RCI may be looking at it too. I know Fred are currently reviewing their loyalty programme. They sent out a survey about potential changes a couple of months ago. No outcome as yet. We missed out as a result of one of the P&O changes to their scheme, almost at Gold then the pulled up the drawbridge. That led us to stop being “loyal” and we tried numerous other lines and have done ever since along with fewer P&O cruises. For a long time now I am not loyal to any company or rely on anything from these schemes. They are a nice to have, a pleasant little extra which I am grateful for but they don’t particularly figure heavily in my cruise planning. For a bit of fun, discussion topic. Do companies lose more “loyalty” by annoying current high level loyalty members by changing things or bring in more new cruisers? Do the benefits actually make a big difference to cruise decisions or are they a bit of an afterthought. I know a few of you on here travel with multiple cruise lines.

Best wishes @grapau27, hope the date is quick. My friend had hers done and has a new lease of life from it.

I am, thank you. I’m eating smaller portions still but managing to eat at least which is great and giving me more energy, thankfully. I think fit is pushing it as I wasn’t that before 😀. It all started with a sore throat, cough and sniffles then moved to my chest and then unusually to my stomach. I’ve been told there is a new strain of that which must not be named and it does affect the digestive system as well as throat and chest etc and it’s rife up here at the moment. I have to prepare proper meals anyway or OH would revert to his favourite food group mentioned above! Chocolate. Hope you feel better soon.

My husband thinks chocolate it a food group. I’m definitely not letting him see this!

Lots of nice versions available online. I always sprinkle crumbled feta cheese on it just before serving as this enhances the flavour. Fennel bulbs are really fresh and relatively cheap at the moment as they are in season.

Im sitting eating a large bowl of Scottish strawberries, they are so sweet and tasty at this time of the year. It’s a dry sunny day after much rain so everything in the house that needed to be has been washed and hung out. Bed stripped, out on the line and almost dry. I will tackle the garden later if it doesn’t get too hot. Lunch is made as well. Bread in the oven and mackerel pate and salad prepared. We are having a Greek bean and fennel stew tonight and that’s in the slower cooker. The sun always wakes me early and I get so much more done. I hope the weather is good where you are.

Hope he packed the smelling salts when the bill for the first round comes to the table. Dublin is soooo expensive.

Many thanks for that Graham, I’ll take a look at them all. Edit- just had a quick look and the Elizabeathen banquet and stay looks like great fun at Lumley.

The funny thing is that we did play with these things. Did you ever play hopscotch and beds with a peever made from an old kiwi shoe polish tine filled with gravel for weight? My uncle made me a real solid metal one which was great but for a while it was the shoe polish tin. I’m not ancient but even the change I have lived through is significant. The young now have all these gadgets and gizmos (which is great) so it’s hard for them to believe how things used to be done. One of my favourite “modern” devices is a food processor. Grating carrot and turnip (and usually my knuckles as well) while helping to make a pot of broth is not a happy memory. Now one touch on a button and it’s done.

We loved it and have held onto the tickets. Really interesting place. I may make a special weekend trip to go again and stay somewhere near by.

A steamie was a communal public wash house that people used to take their washing along to (usually in an old pram). A bit like the laundrettes from the 1960/ 70s but without the electric washing machines. It provided hot water, washing facilities, mangels and big drying frames which created steam from the drying clothes - hence the name. Their is a popular musical comedy set in a steamie on New Years Eve. It’s on most new years up here. If you get the chance, watch it. You may not follow all the language as a lot is in broad Scot’s but enough to get the gist of it.

My granny had a wash house out in the back garden with a big copper boiler for hot water, tub, dolly and massive wringer. The drying green was right next to it so very practical. She thought she was posh as most people in that era had to use a “steamie”. We were at Beamish recently and they had the style of wringer my husband got his arm caught in when he was a child. He still has the scars from the skin graft he needed after that incident! Im thankful for a nice, quiet Automatic washing machine. The joys of modern living is in the small things.

Its wet here again today, it’s been wet, wet wet! I can’t even get the grass cut as it’s not been dry enough for a while so the lawn is looking a tad too long. The only upside is that the plants seem to like the warm and wet weather. The apple trees are groaning with fruit, lots of rhubarb, strawberries, herbs etc. I have been unwell since coming home from my most recent cruise (nothing to do with the cruise) and have lost a bit of weight, every cloud has a silver lining. Consequently I have delved into the back of my wardrobe and found some formal wear from years gone by that now fits me again. Keep a thing long enough and it comes in useful as they say. Anyway I’m glad it seems to be sunny where some of you are, have a good weekend.

Just an update on my comment above. There are a whole load of wind turbines covering the normal car park so the “official” car parking is now up the road a bit and a bus transfer. It is dead slow and stop and caused delays both embarking and particularly disembarking. Adding to the delay is the fact that the port no longer allow you to walk off. Everyone now has to get on a bus for a 30 second bus ride to the terminal but the buses take ages to load and unload. An alternative car park may now be quicker until the turbines go.