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

[SarahHben]

1 minute ago, grapau27 said:

We had an aft cabin next door to where you are booked on a 3 night cruise Sarah.

Because it had stag/ hen parties on board the lounge we could hear some noise until around 3am.

We spoke to the hotel manager and got an acceptable extra OBC and he acknowledged on the short booze cruises the lounge is open very late

On a traditional 7 night cruise we had the same cabin and after 11pm it was quiet 

Fantastic balcony views and cabin.

 

Thank you. This will be a 14 nighter and we wouldn’t be in bed before 11pm anyway so hopefully it will be fine

[Presto2]

5 minutes ago, SarahHben said:

Thank you 😊 How much soot should we expect, enough to mark clothes? 🥴

Depends. Probably. Take a flannel for first thing in a morning. On a sea day just bits but we the weather was hot so sunbathing and didn't bother. Go with the flow and if you look like Pongo one day jump in the pool. ....... you'll have to work that out;-)

[zap99]

3 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

Saga have created themselves a financial problem by a series of disastrous financial moves, and they're expecting customers to make up the shortfall.  Expecting people who've bought lifetime subscriptions to their magazine to pay all over again (another £30 a year) is really taking the mickey though!

 

What's next?  Send out another cruise invoice halfway through the cruise, saying they've decided to charge you all over again?

Perhaps when they flogged them they didn't expect ' lifetime ' would last as long.

[grapau27]

10 minutes ago, SarahHben said:

Thank you 😊 How much soot should we expect, enough to mark clothes? 🥴

Twice F728 for us.

No soot issues when we were on August 2021 and April 2022.

[SarahHben]

15 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

Depends. Probably. Take a flannel for first thing in a morning. On a sea day just bits but we the weather was hot so sunbathing and didn't bother. Go with the flow and if you look like Pongo one day jump in the pool. ....... you'll have to work that out;-)

Hubby can be Pongo, I’ll be Perdita 😂

[Fionboard]

Lovely in Corsica.

[Fionboard]

1 minute ago, Fionboard said:

Lovely in Corsica.

Or is it Oz?!!

[Harry Peterson]

58 minutes ago, mrsgoggins said:

I’m impressed.  I only got it on the 4th line …… but the thought process to get it ….. 🤭?

I'll explain tomorrow.  It was from one of today's news stories,  but an explanation would ruin today's Wordle.

[Harry Peterson]

33 minutes ago, zap99 said:

Perhaps when they flogged them they didn't expect ' lifetime ' would last as long.

Probably not, but that's no fault of those who took them up on it, and they had the benefit of the upfront cash.

 

The Sunday Times did a piece way back in the 70s on beating inflation,  which was high and still rising.  They tipped life memberships with the National Trust (£50, covering two), and we added English Heritage and the AA (£250 including all the extra add ons). 

 

We had no carpets and precious little furniture at the time, so they had to wait. No money for eating out or anything much else either. But the AA membership was useful for our £50 Austin A30!

[DamianG]

14 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

Anyone else happen to have bought a life membership to Saga some considerable time ago when they were offering them?

 

The welcome letter (rather a long time ago) included this sentence:

 

"Your new membership card entitles you to receive twelve copies of Saga per year for life"

 

They're now sending out letters to life members telling them that if they want to continue to receive the Saga magazine they'll have to pay £29.95 a year for it - despite having already bought a lifetime subscription to it.  Basically, they've got themselves into a financial hole through mismanagement, and they're expecting their members to pay twice over to help them out!  

 

Anyone else in this position, and gearing up for a challenge?

 

Best of luck with this Harry, if I was in the same position as you there's no way I would let it lie.

 

I've recently been heavily "negotiating" with MSC over our Voyagers Club level for next year's cruise. To cut a long story short they match existing statuses for passengers who haven't sailed with them before and they had a brief promotion whereby they would elevate this to the next level if you booked a cruise by the end of March.

 

We fulfilled the terms and conditions but it's taken the best part of 3 months for me to finally get the level promised to us by a member of their customer services staff when we made the booking. I was given different information throughout the correspondence and contact process but got there in the end.

 

We have been on other cruise lines years ago but this is the first time since becoming parents that we've found a cruise on a similar budget to what P&O offer in the main summer holidays. That's for 2024 though and we are now counting down to Arvia in August.

 

[zap99]

22 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Probably not, but that's no fault of those who took them up on it, and they had the benefit of the upfront cash.

 

The Sunday Times did a piece way back in the 70s on beating inflation,  which was high and still rising.  They tipped life memberships with the National Trust (£50, covering two), and we added English Heritage and the AA (£250 including all the extra add ons). 

 

We had no carpets and precious little furniture at the time, so they had to wait. No money for eating out or anything much else either. But the AA membership was useful for our £50 Austin A30!

The national trust one was a bargain.  £10 to park the car for a day now.

[mrsgoggins]

22 minutes ago, zap99 said:

The national trust one was a bargain.  £10 to park the car for a day now.

 

What a bargain indeed!  We've been NT members all of our married life so just imagine how much that would have saved us, although we do now benefit from the oldies/5+ years of membership cheaper rates.

[mrsgoggins]

1 hour ago, Josy1953 said:

I got it on the 2nd line this morning.  I use the first 5 letter word that I hear on the news.  I have a bit of competition going with my niece, whoever gets it first blocks out the answers and WhatsApps the grid to the other who then replies when they have the correct word and the other person then sends their version.

 

After first hearing of Wordle and Querdle on here, my friend introduced me to Sqaredle and just this week, Blossom.  I'm hooked and they are taking over my life 😁. 

[Harry Peterson]

56 minutes ago, DamianG said:

 

Best of luck with this Harry, if I was in the same position as you there's no way I would let it lie.

 

I've recently been heavily "negotiating" with MSC over our Voyagers Club level for next year's cruise. To cut a long story short they match existing statuses for passengers who haven't sailed with them before and they had a brief promotion whereby they would elevate this to the next level if you booked a cruise by the end of March.

 

We fulfilled the terms and conditions but it's taken the best part of 3 months for me to finally get the level promised to us by a member of their customer services staff when we made the booking. I was given different information throughout the correspondence and contact process but got there in the end.

 

We have been on other cruise lines years ago but this is the first time since becoming parents that we've found a cruise on a similar budget to what P&O offer in the main summer holidays. That's for 2024 though and we are now counting down to Arvia in August.

 

‘Discussing’ it with Saga at the moment, and it’s already starting to feature in various websites as more people receive the letters they’re sending out. Their initial reaction has been disappointing, and they’re still trying to justify the decision on the basis of the cost to Saga of sending out the magazines.

 

Legally, they’re on a hiding to nothing, particularly as I still have the original letter confirming the details. If push comes to shove I’ll use the revamped County Court online small claims procedure, but I’d be amazed if they allowed it to go that far because the attendant publicity would destroy their reputation for honest and straightforward dealing with the highly profitable grey generation (aka Boomers!).

[Snow Hill]

3 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

My wife thinks I think she’s a witch.

 

This morning (she chooses the start word for Wordle and we both use it in some sort of semi-competition) for the second time she got Wordle on the very first line. Using a thought process based on one of this morning’s news stories. No need for a spoiler alert - it’s impenetrable.
 

She has a system involving using things like current news stories or what comes up in emails to trigger the word chosen. And she consistently beats me at the game itself.

 

So she obviously is a witch!  😇

My wife managed it in 3 this morning, no yellows, 4 greens on second line, had 2 words in mind, chose the wrong one to get it in 2. 
 

Dare not call her a witch though, might be pitching tent on lawn if I do. 

[Harry Peterson]

Taking up the points raised by others about steep insurance increases, our buildings and contents policy with John Lewis Financial Services has just increased by about a third.

 

I did read something the other day about prices rising because of increased building costs etc, but 33% was a bit of a surprise. I’m happy to switch car insurance around fairly liberally, but home insurance is more of a risk. I’ll check around, but needs a lot more care and detail than mere cars.

 

Anyone else finding their home insurance ramped up for no apparent reason?

[Eglesbrech]

4 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

(aka Boomers!)

That term has become such an insult now hasn’t it. I don’t like the term snowflake either as it is just as insulting.

[brian1]

6 hours ago, SarahHben said:

Thank you 😊 How much soot should we expect, enough to mark clothes? 🥴

Think Dick VanDyke in Mary Poppins.

[Snow Hill]

2 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

Taking up the points raised by others about steep insurance increases, our buildings and contents policy with John Lewis Financial Services has just increased by about a third.

 

I did read something the other day about prices rising because of increased building costs etc, but 33% was a bit of a surprise. I’m happy to switch car insurance around fairly liberally, but home insurance is more of a risk. I’ll check around, but needs a lot more care and detail than mere cars.

 

Anyone else finding their home insurance ramped up for no apparent reason?

Our Home Insurance went down by £50 last September, same cover, just a lower price on renewal, will be interested to see what this September brings. 
 

No moaning about these extortionate increases, yet a nurse or doctor ask for double figure increase and some go apoplectic. 

Edited May 26, 2023 by Snow Hill

[Harry Peterson]

45 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

That term has become such an insult now hasn’t it. I don’t like the term snowflake either as it is just as insulting.

Couldn't agree more.  And you can add the hackneyed cliché 'woke' to that list too. 

[Eglesbrech]

7 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Couldn't agree more.  And you can add the hackneyed cliché 'woke' to that list too. 

And to add to the cliche bingo, “ doing us proud” - cringy!

[Harry Peterson]

6 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

And to add to the cliche bingo, “ doing us proud” - cringy!

Remember Buzzword Bingo?   That used to be fun during monotonous sessions with management consultants who knew nothing new at all but made a good living from pretending they did. 

[Eglesbrech]

2 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Remember Buzzword Bingo?   That used to be fun during monotonous sessions with management consultants who knew nothing new at all but made a good living from pretending they did. 

Oh absolutely yes - Blue sky thinking, thinking outside the box, quick wins, low hanging fruit, park that, black belt etc etc. Yes I remember them all!

[Ilovemygarden]

9 hours ago, zap99 said:

We have been in Britannia 3 times since lockdown and go again in December. Loved every minute.

Glad to hear it! 

[Ardennais]

I attended a Teams conference this week. I was placed in a ‘breakout room’, instructed to avoid ‘working in silos’ and asked to summarise my ‘takeaways’  at the end of the day. 
 

And no, we’re not talking about escape rooms, silo grains or fish and chips.