pete14

2 hours ago, daiB said:

Just wait a few months and you will find the prices are much more to your liking. Expensive.

Expensive, even though many of the more preferred cabins will have been sold.

12 minutes ago, Clodia said:

Pre registered for that one this morning,  not easy from Fuerteventura. Couldn't resist as it'll be a one time experience. 

Welcome along! I suspect we are not alone.

6 minutes ago, happy v said:

I'm waiting for the postie

They are on P&O website. Who knows when the postie is going to arrive these days?

23 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

Have only looked at a few so far, but from what we've seen it looks an ok list of cruises, with more new ports than of late (I think). There also seem to be more 7 night cruises from Southampton to Spain and France outside of school holidays - which can only be a good thing.

Off to look at my brochure now ....

I agree that there are some new ports included in some cruises which is a good thing. Shame we can only book one of them. Our Iceland cruise has new ports and overnight in Reykjavik and Greenock for Glasgow on the way back. It also calls at Belfast and Cobh for Cork. All three UK ports are new to us which is great. So a combination of Iceland and UK cruise with the eclipse thrown in as a free attraction.

14 minutes ago, happy v said:

We did a total eclipse and Northern lights cruise on Oriana. It was breathtaking, awesome, and a bit magical. Definitely one of my most memorable moments.

Thanks for that. Being August, it is unlikely we will see the Northern Lights but you never know. At least we saw them last year and I agree they were awesome and magical.

After a 10 minute wait earlier this morning, we have pre registered our ‘total eclipse’ cruise. Arcadia to Iceland which is scheduled to be in the total eclipse path. All we need now is some cloud dispersant on the afternoon of 12th August 2026 and everything will be fine.

21 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

I thought they were coming live today so that you could see them ..... 😞

Tomorrow I think (if P&O technology can cope).

3 hours ago, 9265359 said:

 

Doubtful because of what you did - 

 

 

You had £500 of OBC which you had paid for - yes you had bought it for cash as part of the overall package - but decided to 'save' money by instead of spending it onboard you pre-purchased your drinks and internet.

 

The result being that you ended up with the OBC that you had bought that you couldn't spend on anything that you actually wanted, so used it to buy a watch that certainly had a massive mark up despite its apparent discount (was it the usual 'ship special' only sold onboard so no way of actually checking the real price).

 

What a marketing wheeze from P&O - they sell you OBC and then persuade you to hand over even more cash to buy the stuff you actually wanted in the first place, and then they sell you overpriced stuff you didn't actually want with the OBC you bought. 

Having the internet package, my son, being sensible, checked online to see the price before deciding to buy it. The identical watch online was nearly 50% more and that was the cheapest he could find it. So no, it appears that there was not a massive mark up, nor was it a ship’s special only available onboard. It was something he wanted but had it been overpriced, he would not have bought it. Neither he nor I are fools which you seem to be implying.

33 minutes ago, 9265359 said:

 

The same opportunities exist as they did before the discounts, it just means that £100 OBC is only worth £80 if there is a 20% pre-boarding price for the stuff you want to buy - quite clever marketing.

Of course the same opportunities exist, but only for those who do not pre purchase. Pre purchase discounts for packages encourage people to pre book and if they take advantage, they could easily end up with OBC that they can only spend by buying things they neither need nor want in the shops onboard. On a cruise last year, we pre booked drinks packages and internet at a discount and struggled to use approx £500 OBC because there was nothing we wanted or needed and speciality restaurants were fully booked. We ended up giving much of it to our son to put towards buying an expensive watch that he wanted which was already discounted in the jeweller onboard. Hopefully Moley’s  prediction about using OBC prior to boarding comes to pass. 

14 minutes ago, mrsgoggins said:

 

On to more mundane matters, we have been besieged by small black flies.  Ugh!  The sort you don't pay much attention to when there's only the odd one but then you do start to notice when they multiply.  We really don't know what has caused it, old bits of fruit in the kitchen bin?  Except we have never seen them around the bin.  Anyhow we found some old (and probably now illegal) fly spray which got rid of some of the blighters yesterday, and then thanks to Mr Google, I tried a dish of white vinegar last night and this morning, discovered that IT WORKS 🙂.

 

@indiana123 I hope you get some permanent relief very soon.

 

Off to finish my last minute packing for tomorrow's Florida flight, but I hope to pop in from time to time 👋

 

 

I must ask what you do with the white vinegar. Do you drink it, sprinkle it around the house or put a bowl of it on the floor to drown the little b***ers? 

It is quite noticeable that now P&O is offering incentives to book drinks packages, internet access, excursions and speciality dining before you set foot onboard, the opportunities for using onboard credit are diminishing. You have £150 which shouldn’t be too great a problem but some cruises offer much more with shareholder OBC to be added. We have a booking for 2026 - a 14 night cruise with total OBC of over £1000. We will probably use it to book drinks and internet packages onboard but will lose out on any pre booking discounts. Limited availability means that we will book speciality dining and any excursions in advance though. 

Paul McCartney and the fogs chorus?

2 hours ago, Caullkhead said:

Any songs for fog? Can just make out my neighbours & st Just has completely vanished now! 

Is the folk song ‘One misty moisty morning’ acceptable?

After the strong wind, heavy rain and sea causing flooding of a couple of days ago, today has dawned bright, warm and fairly calm. Hopefully it will remain the same later as we hope to be able to sit outside with a drink or two with friends.

What about the national anthem ‘long to rain over us’?

Day has dawned at our idyllic paradise in North Wales.

Not only has the world turned upside down (probably thanks to the Americans messing around with the sun and moon yesterday), but at 3:10 this morning the phone rang with a warning that flooding is expected today at high tide in a few hours. Shouldn’t be a problem for us because we are in a raised position but, mentioning no names, those on the flat may need wellies. 
 

Rain has been hammering down for hours (not just April showers) and the wind is baring its teeth, as is the sea. The joys of a British summer.
 

Oh, and it is coming up to the time when Charlie  🐶☔️ expects his morning walk although he is trying hard to pretend he is still asleep at the moment.

Have a great day wherever you are.

17 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

Sorry but he is the one star that makes me scream .....I can't stand the man. Will have to stick to tall ... 😉

It’s a good job your hubby is 6ft 13in+

45 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Have the Roman's finished the Coliseum yet, not much.point going if it's still unfinished!

Especially if it is raining. ☔️

On 4/6/2024 at 10:47 AM, zap99 said:

 We asked ' what are you doing tomorrow?. We're staying on the ship, we saw Rome a few years ago.😂

Has it changed a lot over the last few years?
 

I am waiting to see whether there will be any cruises to view the solar eclipse in summer 2026. Cunard seem to have three although they may not all witness the total eclipse, just partial. 

2 hours ago, tring said:

Out on deck when at sea, you will need some very warm clothes.  However, on a calm sunny day, with the help of the 24 hours of sunlight, it can be quite pleasant in Longyearbyen.  We have photos of each other sitting in the Jacuzzi on the back of the ship taking in the views, one July several years ago, not that it was in any way sun bathing weather mind.  It is certainly very special, just the sheer remoteness, rather than the scenery as such.

 

Magdalena Fjord, as mentioned previously, was indeed a lovely place, we stayed a while with the ship (Balmoral) sitting calmly in the centre of the fjord, surrounded by small ice floes from the nearby glacier. The ships do not go there now though, (well the expedition ships probably will), but I think environmental concerns have stopped average cruise ships going there and it is further north than Longyearbyen, so sadly you will not be going there.  The place to see icebergs is Greenland - somewhere worth going in the future, if you can. 

 

I am sure you will enjoy the cruise and I wish you good weather.

 

 

What a shame that Magdalena fjord is now off limits but perfectly understandable I suppose. We went there on our first cruise in 2005 on Artemis. 

1 hour ago, davecttr said:

I am visiting Longyearbyen in June by cruise. The average temperature will be 2C to 5C. Any advice please on reliable brands of windproof/waterproof/ insulated clothing would be welcome. There will be a lot of standing around on open decks whale watching.

If you are lucky enough to have a late night cruise through fjords in Svalbard, I think Magdalena fjord (from memory from 14 years ago), don’t pass up the opportunity to be out on deck for the sake of a couple of hours sleep. It is magical (but cold). 

15 minutes ago, Splice the mainbrace said:

12c and cloudy here but at least it isn’t raining, for now.
 

We’re taking my MIL to Stoke (Tunstall) today to buy a rollator. Her mobility has deteriorated a lot in the last year and after starting to use a stick last year she has reached the stage where she needs the stability of a rollator, much to her disgust as she has always prided her mobility compared to others of similar age. She is 90 next month.

I hope you manage to get something suitable. Sadly, Tunstall is a bit of a ghost town nowadays but at least you should be able to find somewhere to park. 

56 minutes ago, 9265359 said:

 

Jainism certainly is, and it is promoted within Hinduism and Buddhism and I am not sure that P&O would want to argue in court that it is not a requirement of a particular religion.

 

I don’t suppose there are many Jains who cruise on P&O. I did specifically post Major religions, Jainism doesn’t really come in that category, especially in UK. Hinduism and Buddhism strongly prefer vegetarianism but do not insist on veganism which is what I was referring to.

39 minutes ago, 9265359 said:

 

You are conflating vegans by choice with vegans due to religious conviction, and the latter means it would be impossible for P&O or any other UK cruise company not to offer vegan food.

 

I may be wrong but I cannot think of any major religion that insists its adherents are vegan. Some teach or prefer vegetarianism and others may think it safer to have a vegetarian diet onboard due to no total guarantee that meat is kosher or halal. Kosher meals are available if P&O are notified in advance but they are not freshly prepared, not sure if the same applies to halal. Jewish law states that they should not eat meat and milk at the same time but this does not equate to being vegan because they can and do eat meat without dairy products. 

18 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

Happy Easter everyone. 🙂

 

Here's hoping that the sun will show up again today. Two days in a row !! 

It certainly seems to be sunny here in Wales. Breakfast outside overlooking the sea coming up (maybe).

They say Easter eggs are suffering from shrinkflation. I can think of no better reason to increase the number you consume. Any contributions welcome. 😇