pete14

1 hour ago, Ilovemygarden said:

I always take a brightly coloured (or distinctive) handbag and put it on a table whilst I go to collect food - it’s also good in guiding me back to the right table! 😀 Good idea re the card though - I’ll check it out next month on Azura.   Clodia - I see you have been on Iona.  How did you find that as a solo?   

50% of the population may be reluctant to take any handbag to the buffet, never mind a brightly coloured or distinctive one. 

53 minutes ago, keeven2 said:

If missing port due to weather conditions, is it covered by travel insurance which covers cruise? We skipped Porto last month due to strong wind. I did not buy cruise insurance this time so I didn't ask for a statement from the ship.

If you did not buy the extra cruise cover on insurance to cover instances like missed ports, I think it is unlikely that you will be covered for this. If the policy says it comes with cruise cover as standard, that may mean the policy applies to cruises the same as other holidays and so will not cover missed ports. We fell foul of this with Aviva a few years ago so we now make sure we pay the supplement for cruise cover which includes missed ports.

51 minutes ago, zap99 said:

On balance we prefer the buffet for breakfast as we don't want to spend a lifetime. A quick feed and out. I agree about tea and coffee to the table. A bit more civilised. MDR breakfast doesn't look any more appealing than the buffet, but the presentation is a little more amusing.  It's only food.

I am glad somebody else is as infantile as I am about food presentation. 😊

1 hour ago, Josy1953 said:

I have just got home from the hospital, I have lost the nearest thing I had to a daughter, my beautiful niece has past away.

Condolences Josy. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. 

7 minutes ago, jh1809 said:

Looking at the second dinner menu, not for the first time I reflected that it seems to be rather random which dishes P&O think should be suffixed with an asterisk as potentially posing a health risk. Beef seems to merit an asterisk - a hangover from "mad cow" disease days, which must be 20 years ago now? - whereas pork and chicken, which I'd have thought if undercooked are more of a risk, don't.

I think, as it is a potential health hazard for pork and chicken to be undercooked, it is always cooked to well done whereas beef can, and in my opinion should, be safely eaten with a degree of pink in the middle. 

5 hours ago, Red Ray said:

If I ever hear 'Stop The Cavalry' by Jona Lewie again it will be too soon.

I used to love that song but it has been played to death every year.

So sorry for you and your family Josy. Life can sometimes seem so cruel to the best of people. I pray you can stay strong in your time of need so you can support the family, especially the younger and more fragile members. 

22 minutes ago, sandancer said:

Same as the NCL Epic. 

Looks awful to me. ☹️ At least if you are on it you cannot see it from the outside. 

2 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

You were born after their first hit and didn't live through it.  Everyone is entitled to an opinion, I dislike Elvis Presley's music but respect others choices and appreciate their views. If you dislike some forms of music or voices that is your choice I'd not be so rude as to try to change your mind or argue who is right or wrong.  Musical background really has nothing to do with it.

 

Incidentally i liked the Monster Mash too, a great mickey take of the rather weird dances of the early sixties like the mashed potato. 

I was born around the same time as Megabear but don’t think it matters when you were born to appreciate good music. I also don’t think that a seven year old has the maturity to ‘live through’ anything. Even their last ‘hit’ as a real group in 1970 would be a bit of a stretch, especially considering the huge variety of music throughout the 60s. The Beatles were good but in my view no better than many other creative bands in the 60s. Maybe they were managed and promoted better than others despite their misuse of illegal drugs that influenced some of their greatly praised (and possibly best) lyrics and music. 

I disliked Monster Mash but enjoyed Snoopy and the Red Baron. 
 

Although I was never a great Beatles fan, I acknowledge their contribution to the history of music. However, there were many good bands in the 60s when I was growing up, the Beatles are just one of them and maybe not the best. I quite like the new song but maybe out of nostalgia. Much more preferable to much ‘modern music’ but in my view that is not saying a lot. I am not sure that a seven year old can know that an act is going to be very special though. 
Megabear - travelling the world to see bands would only be a dream to me. If I were to achieve the dream, I am not sure the two remaining Beatles would be on my list. 

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

I have never owned a christmas jumper in all my 79 yrs, and don't think I am likely to change now.

What a grinch you must be. 😉

I am also on the Aurora Northern Lights cruise leaving next week and was also surprised to receive the email. I wasn’t expecting it to be a Christmas themed cruise. Hopefully plentiful Christmas spirit will be flowing. It does seem a little early though.

3 minutes ago, Bin man said:

Yes I changed my blood pressure tablets to the ones your supposed not to ear grapefruit .Trouble is I love grapefruit segments while onboard .What affect dies it give I have no idea must ask the doctor or does anybody know the answer need to know breakfast 12 hrs away 

I think the combination may reduce the effectiveness of the medication in some people but this is just my memory from what I have read. Not good for those of us who like grapefruit and grapefruit juice. ☹️

12 minutes ago, Rex008 said:

Me and DW are fairly experienced cruisers (13th coming up), but for our next Fjords cruise in May a couple of new-to-cruising close friends have booked on the same cruise. We're not going to live in each other's pockets but are likely to join together for dinner and some excursions. I was wondering if I link our bookings whether we can book shore excursions for all of us? I've googled and can't find an answer. We get 7.5% discount for Atlantic tier, so if we could book theirs with the discount it helps them out a bit.

Given we're not going to be together all the time, are the any disadvantages to linking bookings? I know OBC is still separate, so that's not a problem. We're both on freedom dining so if we did want to dine separately that's not a problem either. Can't really see any other possible downsides but might be missing something. We've both booked through the same TA, so linking should just be one phone call as I understand it.

It is probably best to discuss this with your TA so that if things go wrong, you may have some comeback. 

48 minutes ago, lancashire_cruisers said:

Thankfully my husband was with me. The other driver admitted liability at the scene and said she didn’t see me 🤷‍♀️

 

I’m getting a dashcam for Christmas 😂

If you get one, it is a good idea to have one that films from the rear of the car as well as the front. Mine uses the reversing camera that is on the car as standard. 

12 minutes ago, bobstheboy said:

Wow, that's bad luck. I hope you have witnesses, too many nowadays try to lie there way out of these situations.

I had a bump in my car a couple of weeks ago. The other party admitted it was his fault entirely (which it was) and the insurance company and body shop (Halo in Crewe) were excellent. Although it didn’t prove to be necessary, the dash cam footage (minus the language on impact), would have removed any doubt. This is the first car I have owned that has a dash cam, I won’t buy one without in future. 

7 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Roasted Classic Tomato Soup isn't really posh though and not raising expectations too high MB

 

It's just making an effort on the description like they have with the rest

 

As it stands it certainly seems the boring choice

 

The fact it's got  basil oil does elevate it slightly 

What about ‘Heinz Cream of Tomato Soup’ (catering size)?
 

We always have fixed club dining at 6:30 which is pretty much when we eat at home. It removes any desire for afternoon tea as well, which helps the waistline; just about the only thing that does on a cruise. 

24 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

The menus appear to be the same in all MDRs going by what Selbourne is showing.  

I agree, it appears as though they are similar, which is not necessarily a bad thing but the point I am making is that there are alternatives to the MDR on all ships, which serve different dishes, if the food served in the MDR is not to your or my taste. Not all of them charge extra, especially on the larger ships which offer greater choice. The quality of the food however seems to be pretty good regardless of where a person chooses to eat, some better than others though. 

On 11/1/2023 at 4:05 PM, jeremiahclinkerbuilt said:

This was our wheelchair!

 

What was really odd is that it was NOT on charge.

 

We had merely arrived at our cabin, folded it up, placed it in the corner of the cabin and less than 10 minutes later there was smoke coming out of the battery. It has 2 batteries, only one of the them was connected to the wheelchair power but BOTH went at roughly the same time. First smoke poured out, then, in one of them, I could see through a hole on the side and it was glowing! So I took it out of the wheelchair and wanted to get it outside but we'd only been onboard for 10 minutes and so I didn't know where to go. I dropped it there because it went "crack" while I was carrying it. Then I had to run back to the other battery in case my wife was in danger of the other one catching fire, but members of the crew were already there and had seen to it. 

Many thanks for providing the facts. I am glad you are both OK and once back home, as presumably the chair and batteries are still under warranty, you can get a replacement.

4 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Yes, but I feel the boring menu is deliberate to get you to pay for alternate venues.    Now they have included the "always included" into the main courses, cuts down the choice considerably and there are now 3 veg choices.  One night, there was veg stew and another night there was poached kohl rabi?  Give me a break.

The two dishes you have mentioned would not be my choice but presumably they are aimed primarily at vegetarians and maybe vegans. 

Your comment about deliberately getting people to pay for alternate venues may be right but considering what they offer both in food and service, I am not sure they make much profit. I don’t suppose Arcadia and Aurora can cater for more than 10% of passengers in their select restaurants because they are quite small and there are only two of them. Of course the larger ships have much more choice, paid for or not.

47 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

That menu just leaves me cold.  I was struggling to choose something.  The avocado thing sounded the least awful.  It was quite good.  Another person on our table was in the same position.  We both had it.  I suppose I remember the days when I was pushed to choose because there were 3 things I liked.  Now I struggle to find anything I like.

I may have a similar problem but I certainly would not blame P&O / chefs and kitchen staff, or question the quality of the food just because it was not to my taste. There are of course alternative dining venues on each ship in the fleet which serve different food from the MDR. 

27 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Ha ha, it was a last resort!   The only thing that sounded half decent.

I am a fussy eater, especially of things that are green of that come from shells, but I would never describe something as not ‘half decent’, just because it wasn’t to my taste. 

48 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

Looking grim and grey on the North Wales coast but not as bad as it was the other week. The rain has started now and the winds getting up... days like this when I'm glad we haven't got a dog !!

Charlie says that if that is now you think, he is glad you are not his human 🐶 (but he still likes the treats you give him). 

39 minutes ago, snaefell said:

Sorry to change the subject back to alcohol but depending on what you drink it may be cheaper to buy it on board!

We drink Jamesons Irish falling over water,a litre is currently normally £33 in our local supermarkets,sometimes down to £25,when we were on Arcadia in May we could ring room service & get one delivered to our cabin for £20!! 

That is our usual tactic. It gets even cheaper if you have loyalty club discount or lots of OBC. In fact, a few years ago, a litre of Courvoisier Brandy was cheaper bought through room service than at the ship’s own duty free shop.