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

[pete14]

10 hours ago, Purdey16 said:

Had a lovely pre cruise dinner tonight , chicken teriyaki Arancini balls and curried parsnip soup , then lamb shank  potato dauphinois, braised red cabbage, Brussels with pancetta and maple syrup, rump steak with fat chips , a 10 out of 10 for our local restaurant tonight, I Hope Aurora has some good standards 😋

As I said in my blog recently, food in MDR was OK but got a bit ‘samey’. If you can, I would try to book Sindhu and Beach House at least once each, preferably this morning before you board. The Glasshouse is a good alternative but small and no advance bookings.

 

If you have special dietary needs, I hope you haven’t told them and just choose sensibly from the menu. 

Edited December 1, 2023 by pete14

[yorkshirephil]

21 minutes ago, kalos said:

 

 

Good morning everyone it's -2.c here today .

 

Love this month, at long last I can go out to the shops and buy my Easter eggs .
 

I noticed the supermarkets had flour and eggs on the shelf and it is months away from pancake day.

 

Very cold here with a covering of frost, we have decided to have breakfast before going for a walk to let the footpaths defrost. Take care everyone

[twotravellersLondon]

5 hours ago, lincslady said:

often think of people lying on a cold pavement at this time of year

 

We know Lincoln very well... family on one side came from Lincoln...Grandfather was an iron-founder who made some of the parts for the first tank. We also know a little bit about rough sleeping... one of us having been a sub-team leader in a project designed to help rough-sleepers off the street, into emergency accommodation with access to health services, social support  and so on.

 

Lincoln had a pretty good service including an outreach programme that tours the streets in the early hours offering all manner of  help, support and assistance. There's also a response line than anyone can call who have a concern about rough sleepers and can often initiate and immediate response with help, care and assistance when needed. 

 

On Wednesday of this week London activated the Severe Weather Protocol, opened extra shelters for rough sleepers which also have access to warm clothing, showers, doctors, food and other essentials. We know that for all manner of reasons, some rough sleepers will not accept help, will not use the shelters but there are people on the streets to help them. One faith group run an outside catering truck just off Trafalgar square. Another group from the "north" Midlands sets up above the Temple tube with hot soup, drinks, food, clothing and blankets. We've even seen youngster buying food and hot drinks in Blackfriars Station and giving them to a rough sleeper on the pavement outside. Schools, colleges and charity organisations run a rota to deliver food and to befriend rough-sleepers in parts of central London... supermarkets donate tons of unsold food. 

 

People do care, often with a passion so great that they will stint themselves, even sacrifice their own Christmas to help others... not just to be warm, fed, freshly clothed... but to give them hope and inspiration to grab the chance to move on... it really isn't about giving "down & outs" a turkey sarnie and a glass of muller wine at Christmas... it's all about giving folk in horrendous situations back their self-esteem and feeling of self-worth which will enable them to be welcome members of a civilised society again.

[terrierjohn]

31 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

I noticed the supermarkets had flour and eggs on the shelf and it is months away from pancake day.

 

Very cold here with a covering of frost, we have decided to have breakfast before going for a walk to let the footpaths defrost. Take care everyone

With your new hip do take extra care to avoid any icy patches. The early sun has disappeared on our side of Huddersfield and it looks unlikely there will be much of a thaw today.

[terrierjohn]

[Harry Peterson]

13 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Good evening.

We took our Sarah out for dinner.

Graham, those chips look particularly good. Is that mayo in the little metal dish?

[Son of Anarchy]

Light snow here this morning.

[Harry Peterson]

1 hour ago, twotravellersLondon said:

 

We know Lincoln very well... family on one side came from Lincoln...Grandfather was an iron-founder who made some of the parts for the first tank. We also know a little bit about rough sleeping... one of us having been a sub-team leader in a project designed to help rough-sleepers off the street, into emergency accommodation with access to health services, social support  and so on.

 

Lincoln had a pretty good service including an outreach programme that tours the streets in the early hours offering all manner of  help, support and assistance. There's also a response line than anyone can call who have a concern about rough sleepers and can often initiate and immediate response with help, care and assistance when needed. 

 

On Wednesday of this week London activated the Severe Weather Protocol, opened extra shelters for rough sleepers which also have access to warm clothing, showers, doctors, food and other essentials. We know that for all manner of reasons, some rough sleepers will not accept help, will not use the shelters but there are people on the streets to help them. One faith group run an outside catering truck just off Trafalgar square. Another group from the "north" Midlands sets up above the Temple tube with hot soup, drinks, food, clothing and blankets. We've even seen youngster buying food and hot drinks in Blackfriars Station and giving them to a rough sleeper on the pavement outside. Schools, colleges and charity organisations run a rota to deliver food and to befriend rough-sleepers in parts of central London... supermarkets donate tons of unsold food. 

 

People do care, often with a passion so great that they will stint themselves, even sacrifice their own Christmas to help others... not just to be warm, fed, freshly clothed... but to give them hope and inspiration to grab the chance to move on... it really isn't about giving "down & outs" a turkey sarnie and a glass of muller wine at Christmas... it's all about giving folk in horrendous situations back their self-esteem and feeling of self-worth which will enable them to be welcome members of a civilised society again.

What a great post! I could hardly believe all the bile and hatred aimed at Khan in certain newspapers the other day when he announced that Severe Weather Protocol following the Met Office weather warnings.

 

When I worked in London near Lincoln’s Inn Fields it used to be a popular sleeping spot - cardboard boxes in evidence for use as blankets at night. A colleague of mind once shocked me with the comment that he’d like to burn all the boxes so they’d freeze to death. Maybe something to do with the fact that his father was an undertaker and one of his fondest childhood memories was being taken to the window by his parents to watch old people falling over on the icy pavement outside.

 

Lifestyle choice? Oh yes - it was always one of the choice options, wasn’t it, along with gap years, Agas and SUVs.

[Eglesbrech]

Minus 5 overnight and now a beautiful crisp sunny day here at a balmy minus 2.

 

I changed the bed linen to put on the advent Callander duvet set and washed the old set. I always like to air my sheets and pillow slips etc even in winter. So out they went. 
 

Went to get them 45 minutes later for the tumble dryer and the sheets were crisp and the pillow cases could have stood up on their own like little yellow snowmen. Frozen!

[lancashire_cruisers]

Freezing cold overnight again, minus 5 I believe but another blindingly sunny day today. We’ve now received our travel claim pay out for the cruise we had to cancel and it only took a week to receive the money from the date we sent all of the documents - very impressed with the insurance company!

 

Have a great day everyone and be careful on slippy pavements.

[9265359]

Suitcases packed and in the car ready for the trip down to Gatwick this evening for the flight out tomorrow to Tenerife and then the next two weeks doing loops around the Canary Isles and Madeira.

 

It will be an interesting taster of Tenerife as we will be back there again after Christmas for a few months, with the first month spent in an apartment that virtually overlooks the cruise port.

[purplesea]

A cold day down here too at 1c, and after the weather we had yesterday, it is a complete contrast with blue skys and wall to wall sunshine. We had rain overnight and looking out first thing there wasn't any ice on the puddles, but looking out again a bit later they had iced over and frost had formed on the cars. 

I've been putting it off and putting it off, but have finally got around to defrosting the freezer and was  surprised to discover just how many raspberries I have😲 I now need to find some recipes to use some of them up! 

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, Harry Peterson said:

Graham, those chips look particularly good. Is that mayo in the little metal dish?

Garlic Mayo.

[Adawn47]

12 hours ago, Purdey16 said:

Had a lovely pre cruise dinner tonight , chicken teriyaki Arancini balls and curried parsnip soup , then lamb shank  potato dauphinois, braised red cabbage, Brussels with pancetta and maple syrup, rump steak with fat chips , a 10 out of 10 for our local restaurant tonight, I Hope Aurora has some good standards 😋

We should have been on Aurora today too but.....😒. Have a lovely time and hopefully I can enjoy it too through some posts if possible.

Avril  

[Purdey16]

So sorry your not on board with us Avril , I will certainly put post up when we get to each port . 
Our boarding time was for 1.15 we got to the terminal at 11.30 sent the cases through and sat in the arrival lounge as they were stopping people entering before which we knew but we were dropped of by family, after sitting in there for 10 minutes they came and got us to start queuing inside the departure building so we could all stay in the warm and they are using every seat available to get people out of the cold and they are dishing out chocolates 😁 we have check in now but the hall is almost full , boarding as not started yet and ther are 900 priority infront of us , boarding as just started 12.20 

[Peanut006]

We are currently driving up to San Whitley Bay, it is very cold. This is going through the lakes

[Purdey16]

3 minutes ago, Peanut006 said:

We are currently driving up to San Whitley Bay, it is very cold. This is going through the lakes

Looks lovely Michelle but no snow !!! But I’m pleased you haven’t because it’s safer for you to drive .

[Adawn47]

1 hour ago, purplesea said:

I've been putting it off and putting it off, but have finally got around to defrosting the freezer and was  surprised to discover just how many raspberries I have😲 I now need to find some recipes to use some of them up! 

Frozen raspberries are perfect for making into jam. So quick and easy to make, and keeps for ages.😋

You could put some into pretty jars for extra christmas gifts too.

Avril

 

[purplesea]

39 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

Frozen raspberries are perfect for making into jam. So quick and easy to make, and keeps for ages.😋

You could put some into pretty jars for extra christmas gifts too.

Avril

 

Make jam on a regular basis, it is my granddaughter's favourite. Made some into jam the middle of last month and have just made another batch. Am now running low on jam jars and storage space.

[Grumpycruiser60plus]

And off we go,🤣

[Grumpycruiser60plus]

And off we go,🤣

[Purdey16]

After a air bridge delay we are just going through security now so 20 minutes after our boarding time 

[Eglesbrech]

@purplesea 

 

Make Cranachan, uses up loads at a time and a nice change from heavy Christmas desserts.

 

Or raspberry icing for your sugar cookies for Christmas? You need to strain it for the seeds but tastes good.

 

 

[lincslady]

Frozen raspberries are really pretty good.  I unfreeze a handful at morning tea time, and they are thawed to put in my yogurt for breakfast.  (There's  a first world sentence!).

[Angel57]

49 minutes ago, Purdey16 said:

After a air bridge delay we are just going through security now so 20 minutes after our boarding time 

Have a wonderful time on the best ship!