Megabear2

Well I gave up on going to bed - the cat wasn't too impressed to see me - so I cat napped in the recliner for an hour or so instead. The pile of removed clothing is now considerably higher though. It will now be a wait to see if the weather forecast for drier weather over the weekend is true. It's rained here since 5.00pm yesterday, not the buckets we've become accustomed to but still fairly wet. Hairdresser at 11.00am and due to the city centre being dug up still I can't park anywhere near. Here's betting the deluge will come exactly as I exit and a sad end to my £250.

Yes it would be wise to register even if on a just in case basis. I sympathise with you very much regarding the lack of understanding by some fellow travellers who judge others by what they think they have seen. Hidden disabilities are a really difficult thing, particularly when it comes to lifts. My husband has had difficulty with lift entry both onboard and ashore on a normal day to day basis as he suddenly becomes invisible and also gets challenged for occasional disabled lavatory use. What those seeing through him do not understand as it's not visible is he has fibromyalga, ME, IBS and a myocardial bridge, all of which mean stairs could quite literally be a killer. The problem is he's very active as encouraged by his doctors but the list of please do not's grows on every check up so in a close environment if you look at him not knowing him you wouldn't have a clue. I do therefore know how upsetting the situation can be for those with hidden disabilities and can only say please do not allow those who are fortunate enough not to have one to make you feel uncomfortable.

Yes, very much adhered to these days.

Yes, she is. I assume it would be acceptable to have more than one though as the late Queen Elizabeth had three at the time of her death, Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Britannia.

The drinks package is also getting to be a hot potato on the "Mothership" it seems. This article from mid May on the 15 drinks rule on Carnival Line https://www.thestreet.com/travel/carnival-answers-threat-over-unpopular-beverage-package-policy

So what happens to the unassisted member of a couple, do they get sent to their muster station without their partner? I'd be very unhappy to be told to leave my husband behind, particularly when the one to one assistance is definite overkill in his case.

Yes I'm on the naming ceremony cruise. The walking shoes are for the Giants Causeway. I went to bed and got up to repack because it's stressing me out really badly. I now have one pair of jeans, two cotton trousers and two pairs of leggings for going ashore. I have no problem with cold as I dress in layers as needed. I have big problem with wet, I cannot abide being in damp clothes all day. I've therefore left my Joules rain jacket in along with my Queen Elizabeth pack away coat. I also took out copious amounts of underwear, my change of gym clothes (hoping the remainder aren’t going to get smelly)! and one of my heavier sweaters. I've also taken out my sandals apart from a pair of Skechers. So considerably smaller. Now I just have to make sure I can get my five bags of Haribos and mints into my hand luggage along with my Milka chocolate biscuits although I'm sure my health coach would be far happier if I couldn't! I'm currently at serious risk of divorce now after waking my husband up twice when he has to drive to Leeds tomorrow to arrive by mid morning so rather than push my luck I'm thinking of going to the spare room if the cat will let me in! P.s. I just opened a back pack and found a P&O umbrella which was a prize on Arvia for winning Pointless last year! A definite result with that one.

Agree. I wanted cream cheese for my bagel. After the first day of asking it appeared every day without asking.

We did the Euro finals and the World Cup on Britannia. Games were streamed in Brodies and for the actual finals also in the theatre. I'd guess as these are just qualifiers Brodies is the obvious place to start and depending on match time could well be the Club House as well.

Around Britain on Queen Anne. The weather for half of it now shows warm and wet. I was reluctant to take out my warmer weather clothing so topped it up with a couple of pairs of jeans which take forever to dry if they get wet, two sweaters, a hoodie and my walking boots. My evening wear filled one suitcase as I wanted to keep the weight to something I can handle okay. I bought three heavily beaded dresses for the main formal gala nights and had forgotten how they fill half a suitcase. After lots of discussion with my friends I've taken out all the nice sparkly trousers and tops and replaced them with little cocktail dresses plus three pairs of evening shoes with various heels . Even that has filled the case up so I moved to number 2 for my day clothes but squashing it down meantbby the time I'd added my raincoat and lightweight jacket there was no room for my toiletries etc. It's total OTT but I'm tired of replanning it all. Ironically my packing list is actually quite short save my underwear where I take way too much. I'm normally really good at packing and when I fly I'm always underweight. Actually these cases aren't heavy, just bulked out.

The rain has arrived, there's a surprise. Packing finished but somehow once I put in the jeans, leggings, raincoats, hoodie and sweaters the suitcase was very reluctant to join in. So now I have one large suitcase full of formal stuff and cocktail dresses plus evening wraps and jackets (assuming it will be cold onboard as Cunard ships generally are) and evening/dance shoes, one full of cold weather gear and my hopefully useable lightweight onboard gear and a third half size case with my sundries. I took less for 5 weeks in Canada and Florida in a cold damp February a few years back, so this looks ridiculous! This ship better be worth all this!

If your form has been completed and you are walk ons without assistance you can carry on as normal, at least that's what we do on P&O. The assistance would be presumably only in an emergency which thankfully we've not tested to date. Our first cruise under the one to one assistance isn't until August so I'm afraid I haven't up to date information at present.

The "insider" on the P&O forum said some months ago things had to be tightened following the Britannia line breaking incident when it was realised a large number would be in difficulty if they needed to go swiftly to their muster station. As to whether this is the full reason or even correct I have no idea but the timing does tally. Also trade press carried stories last year that Carnival Cruises had been ordered by authorities to clamp down on "unofficial" wheelchairs and mobility scooters as they'd been turning a blind eye. Reading all this a combination of the two would seem to have led to the clampdown and new arrangements across all the Carnival mainstream lines.

Deservedly so. I was very shocked it was considered acceptable particularly as it was apparently an all girls church school in Kent. Myself being an oik went to a comprehensive school, ond of the first after the scrapping of secondary modern and grammar in our area. I was a year older than all my classmates after missing the 11+ due to being in hospital for over a year. We had navy pleated skirts, white shirts, black and white diagonal striped tie and black blazer. In summer we could wear a gingham dropped waist seersucker dress. There was a catch, we had to make the latter in sewing class and my sewing was so bad I never actually got to finish a dress before leaving school!

A shirt such as the ones in this picture would where I come from be called a "business" shirt. A dress shirt would be worn with evening dress as would a formal one. Incidentally several leading UK shirt makers refer to "short sleeved" business shirts. These are plain for striped with the same collar styles as long sleeved ones and can be worn with ties. Just another take ... Incidentally I doubt many UK businessmen would buy the work shirts at Harrods as there are specialist business shirt makers who most use.

The problem with the one to one assistance is mainly for the "inbetweeners", ie those who occasionally need an aid such as a wheelchair ashore or a stick to help them rise. Having discussed this subject to death on the P&O board I have come to the conclusion that it is best to mark all bookings for one to one assistance in an emergency if you use a stick even occasionally as in my husband's case. Interestingly I have four bookings, two Cunard, two P&O where my husband is travelling. One for each company was marked ond to one, the other wasn't. After reading of all the problems others are having I have resubmitted forms to state ond to one for the other two cruises. I consider it a total waste of a ship staff member as the chances are high the walking stick won't come out of the case but I certainly do not want to be refused boarding. My husband has fibromyalgia and does not under normal circumstances need the stick. He is very fit, plays 6 a side soccer, walking rugby, swims a mile 5 days a week and attends a class for people with his illness once a week. I can assure Carnival Corporation he would manage far better than I on stairs but they won't accept that. Ironically in any real emergency I would rely on him but apparently we would be dealt with separately.

If you are taking anything mobility related onboard do it as soon as possible as apparently they are limiting numbers of certain aids. Click into before you sail. Mobility needs is to the right and them form is within that tab

On strict skirt lengths, I have a friend who told me when she was at school one of the teachers used to make them bend over to see if knickers were displayed by doing so! She thought it was quite normal and didn't understand why I was appalled. Worse it was her head of house male teacher ...

Good morning, the clouds are gradually rolling in and it's beginning to look a bit grey again. Thankfully I had a good night with uninterrupted sleep. Today I have my pre holiday catch up with the health coach and hopefully she will be pleased with my progress. This afternoon the last of the packing to do. I've decided to hell with worrying about my luggage and have added an extra case, I'm probably the only solo traveller with two huge cases and a holdall - the latter with a full range of boots, shoes, sandals and trainers! I'm looking forward to wearing all my new clothes now so why spoil things by not taking the shoes as well? Just been watching the BBC weather forecast for the coming days, oh the joy to hear of the massive amounts of rain in Scotland and the north over the course of the week, I just hope the "better" for the weekend forecast is true! I hope all the clean ups are successful and send as ever best wishes and prayers for those who are sick and hopefully on the mend.

They already do! She is Queen Victoria's godmother. Seriously if Princess Catherine wasn't unwell I'm 99.9% certain she would be Anne's Godmother, there are so many pictures of her in videos shot onboard it can't be coincidental. The guessing game continues for Liverpool 3 June!

As I said, a Cunard girl!!! Screenshot from a blogger currently on Queen Anne.

I'm so pleased you are learning to like (I remembered you said not love!) her as we seem to be going to be acquainted with her for quite a while. Thank you for all your pictures and interesting offerings on lifts and things. Enjoy your remaining time onboard and here's looking forward for the next time. Thanks again.

I'll try a glass half full rather than half empty approach and say I'm very much looking forward to sunrise and sunset stretches up there, in fact if I even see the sun it sounds like it will be a minor miracle the way the weather has been.

Thank you for that, much appreciated.

I don't have an opinion on Grills passengers' facilities, it is for them to decide if the ship and it's offering is for them and if they decide not they will no doubt decide to spend their cash elsewhere. I'm afraid I cannot say why the designers and Cunard decided on this occasion you should be deprived of what you consider a basic advantage but I'm at a loss to see why that "depravation" has to be rectified by removing something that has not been tested yet. I have no opinion one way or the other, I merely offered my opinion on what Cunard may be trying to achieve with this ship. I've absolutely no axe to grind with you or any other Grill passengers and frankly challenging me about the ship's design is fruitless because I had nothing to do with it and cannot influence any amendment to it.