P&O Cruisers - What are things like where YOU are?

[Splice the mainbrace]

The cruise season is really getting going now with 4 ships today, 4 tomorrow and 4 on Sunday departing from Southampton. Apparently there has been bad traffic congestion in the city today.

[AndyMichelle]

21 minutes ago, Splice the mainbrace said:

The cruise season is really getting going now with 4 ships today, 4 tomorrow and 4 on Sunday departing from Southampton. Apparently there has been bad traffic congestion in the city today.

It's been a nightmare. 

Hope everyone boarded OK. 

Andy

[Splice the mainbrace]

42 minutes ago, Splice the mainbrace said:

The cruise season is really getting going now with 4 ships today, 4 tomorrow and 4 on Sunday departing from Southampton. Apparently there has been bad traffic congestion in the city today.

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/23518829.southampton-holidaymakers-seen-walking-gridlocked-traffic/

[Presto2]

4 hours ago, pete14 said:

I find it hard to see how you can make a mockery of Eurovision greater than the mockery that it has become to the music industry all by itself

Sadly I am one of those who gets the flags out (former Great British Sailaway flags) and enjoys it. Much to hubby's dismay I have to add. I just love listening to Graham Nortons sarcastic comments .... 

And totally agree that song last year by our Sam was fabulous and with great vocals. Not like a British entry at all really !!

[Presto2]

3 hours ago, Rupert2251 said:

Each to their own, I enjoy watching it. It has created some great names i.e. Abba and Celine Dion or have they made a mockery of the music industry as well? Hey ho its a bit of fun.

Exactly .. harmless nonsense that helps us all switch off from reality just for a few hours .. then guessing who is going to vice their favourite neighbour or country the most points!!! Once upon a time we used to rely on Cyprus .. no more though 😉

[Rupert2251]

36 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

Sadly I am one of those who gets the flags out (former Great British Sailaway flags) and enjoys it. Much to hubby's dismay I have to add. I just love listening to Graham Nortons sarcastic comments .... 

And totally agree that song last year by our Sam was fabulous and with great vocals. Not like a British entry at all really !!

So do we! Having pizza night as well (homemade by our daughter) with a lovely homemade rum and ginger log for pud. Sam is a really nice guy with a great voice, I'm sure we will hear a lot more of him.

[P&O SUE]

Re Eurovision I’d got fed up of it in recent years and sadly didn’t see Sam actually get second. I’d got fed up of all the weird voting. However I’m all for it this year, Liverpool is a fantastic city and I’ve enjoyed all the feel good factor around it. I think our entry has got a good chance. We brought some wine and snacks today ready to watch tomorrow.

[P&O SUE]

5 hours ago, Presto2 said:

Sorry Sue lovely here so going out for a drive over to Buxton across the Roaches 😀😃

It’s been poor here for weeks. This weekend is supposed to be good though.

[mrsgoggins]

7 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Unfortunately they do and I have proof with our travel insurance policy.

A minor ailment which the doctor said was nothing the insurance company added £50 to our policy at renewal.

Insurance company want you to report any medical issues when you take out the policy plus any extra issues once you have the policy as they claim if you don't it will invalidate your insurance.

 

I’m surprised at the inclusion of arthritis Graham (previous post) because I had RA diagnosed more than 20 years ago and it’s never affected my premium (now in long-term remission but only ever relatively minor as the condition goes). I thought additional premiums were only for conditions that might cause you to need treatment whilst away?
 

I declare everything and have had annual insurance for decades, albeit with different companies.

[Presto2]

3 minutes ago, P&O SUE said:

It’s been poor here for weeks. This weekend is supposed to be good though.

Lovely day put chilling Buxton. 10 degrees! Brrrr . Still beautiful and the drive over and then back via Congleton as stunning as ever.

[indiana123]

Up until 2002, when i was moving,  I used to host Eurovision dinner parties every year.  We did small betting, organised by a friend mostly on what Wogan would say  They were great fun and we'd laughed till we ached.  We limited to 8 of us, then 10, but people kept asking.  We thought it would spoil if we had too any people.

 

Then again, I do remember the party for the "opening of the new front door", someone else had one for the opening of their new porch but the funniest was one for the opening of the dropped kerb.  It was at a friends, and a cyclist stopped to enquire of the occasion, we told him and offered for him to cut the ribbon and to make a small speech etc, he jumped on his bike in fear and rode off at a rate of knots🤣!!

Edited May 12, 2023 by indiana123

[Presto2]

11 minutes ago, indiana123 said:

Up until 2002, when i was moving,  I used to host Eurovision dinner parties every year.  We did small betting, organised by a friend mostly on what Wogan would say  They were great fun and we'd laughed till we ached.  We limited to 8 of us, then 10, but people kept asking.  We thought it would spoil if we had too any people.

 

Then again, I do remember the party for the "opening of the new front door", someone else had one for the opening of their new porch but the funniest was one for the opening of the dropped kerb.  It was at a friends, and a cyclist stopped to enquire of the occasion, we told him and offered for him to cut the ribbon and to make a small speech etc, he jumped on his bike in fear and rode off at a rate of knots🤣!!

You sounds like great fun --- this made us both chuckle 😉

[Snow Hill]

Spent much of the afternoon in the garden or greenhouse, sunshine and 18C, 29C in the greenhouse. Transplanted 30 beetroot seedlings, 30 Rudbeckia, 30 Dwarf Aster and relocated plants from greenhouse to cold frame to harden off. 
 

The weather looks good again tomorrow so I will start clearing the borders of weeds that have appeared whilst we were away, trim back a few shrubs and dig in some rooted compost into raised beds, the French Beans can be planted late next week, cloche at ready in case of late frost.

 

My wife had her car insurance renewal quote today a 32% increase in premium, extortionate 🤬 Time to shop around, she had rung the company to question the increase they gave her a load of waffle about car prices not dropping, inflation etc, but refused to budge, so she told them she will be shopping around and as she end called she said to herself out load Total ******** but then heard the phone go down at the other end.

 

Another industry maximising their profits on the backs of its customers. 

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, mrsgoggins said:

 

I’m surprised at the inclusion of arthritis Graham (previous post) because I had RA diagnosed more than 20 years ago and it’s never affected my premium (now in long-term remission but only ever relatively minor as the condition goes). I thought additional premiums were only for conditions that might cause you to need treatment whilst away?
 

I declare everything and have had annual insurance for decades, albeit with different companies.

I have osteoarthritis.

When I rang to say I had steroid injections in my knee they said it was okay because I have declared arthritis.

[c-leg5]

8 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Once you have medical issues the price goes up significantly.

We priced a single USA cruise trip policy in January and it was expensive so went with the annual worldwide cruise policy.

When did they start charging extra for cruise vacations? This wasn’t a factor 10 years ago when I was shopping for insurance for our parents. 

Edited May 12, 2023 by c-leg5

[Gettingwarmer]

14 minutes ago, c-leg5 said:

When did they start charging extra for cruise vacations? This wasn’t a factor 10 years ago when I was shopping for insurance for our parents. 

 Cruise insurance is an add on, covers missed ports isolation in cabins etc. The main cruise is covered under all good insurance cover. 

Edited May 12, 2023 by Gettingwarmer

[grapau27]

33 minutes ago, c-leg5 said:

When did they start charging extra for cruise vacations? This wasn’t a factor 10 years ago when I was shopping for insurance for our parents. 

Normal travel insurance does not cover cruising.

There are various cruise cover options as add ons.

The main one being plenty of liability cover if you need to be airlifted from a ship in an emergency.

[Gettingwarmer]

13 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

51 minutes ago, c-leg5 said:

 

Normal travel insurance does not cover cruising.

I disagree. Travel insurance unless it specifically excludes cruises has always covered cruises. You can however now have the add ons for missed ports etc. we have been cruising for several years and travel insurance has always covered cruising. The liability cover has always been the same. 

Edited May 12, 2023 by Gettingwarmer

[terrierjohn]

9 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Normal travel insurance does not cover cruising.

There are various cruise cover options as add ons.

The main one being plenty of liability cover if you need to be airlifted from a ship in an emergency.

Most mainstream travel insurance policies now cover you for cruising and will have medical cover of at least £2m which will cover for repatriation and medi-vac if needed, but you can pay extra for things like missed ports, which does have a surcharge but not a massive one.

We are currently unable to get an insurer to provide annual cover and we are having to pay over £1000 for one trip cover, which is a significant add on to the cost of a cruise.

[grapau27]

5 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Most mainstream travel insurance policies now cover you for cruising and will have medical cover of at least £2m which will cover for repatriation and medi-vac if needed, but you can pay extra for things like missed ports, which does have a surcharge but not a massive one.

We are currently unable to get an insurer to provide annual cover and we are having to pay over £1000 for one trip cover, which is a significant add on to the cost of a cruise.

We have been cruising for 20 years and had annual cover travel insurance including cruise.

We are currently with All clear. Have you tried them to see if they not do an annual for you as they are supposed to be a speciality medical insurance?.

 

 

[c-leg5]

12 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Normal travel insurance does not cover cruising.

There are various cruise cover options as add ons.

The main one being plenty of liability cover if you need to be airlifted from a ship in an emergency.

I can understand medical evacuation limits varying between policies but surprised it would be an optional add-on for cruises specifically. 
 

19 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

I disagree. Travel insurance unless it specifically excludes cruises has always covered cruises. You can however now have the add ons for missed ports etc. we have been cruising for several years and travel insurance has always covered cruising. 

This makes more sense and is what I would expect.

[grapau27]

16 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

I disagree. Travel insurance unless it specifically excludes cruises has always covered cruises. You can however now have the add ons for missed ports etc. we have been cruising for several years and travel insurance has always covered cruising. The liability cover has always been the same. 

We have been cruising for 20 years and always had an annual policy which included cruising.

Price rose quite a bit when I was put on HBP tablets.

After my heart attack 3 years ago the price rose significantly.

[c-leg5]

2 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

We have been cruising for 20 years and always had an annual policy which included cruising.

Price rose quite a bit when I was put on HBP tablets.

After my heart attack 3 years ago the price rose significantly.

Prices also rise significantly over 70, 80, 90. That was the problem we had finding policies.

[grapau27]

1 minute ago, c-leg5 said:

I can understand medical evacuation limits varying between policies but surprised it would be an optional add-on for cruises specifically. 
 

This makes more sense and is what I would expect.

 

3 minutes ago, c-leg5 said:

I can understand medical evacuation limits varying between policies but surprised it would be an optional add-on for cruises specifically. 
 

This makes more sense and is what I would expect.

If you have no medical issues travel insurance is quite reasonably priced.

After my heart attack the insurer we had annual travel insurance with for 10 years cancelled our policy immediately when we informed them of my heart attack.

We then had to source specialist medical cover travel insurance.

[grapau27]

4 minutes ago, c-leg5 said:

Prices also rise significantly over 70, 80, 90. That was the problem we had finding policies.

We took Pauline's late mam on several cruises in her 80s and also on her 90th birthday.

We got travel insurance for her but it was single trip only.