terrierjohn

30 minutes ago, Splice the mainbrace said:

Watching the opening ceremony, I keep wishing that we had Graham Norton or in the past Terry Wogan doing a Eurovision style description and comment of what is going on. 

The weather is appalling and rather spoiling the spectacle.

8 hours ago, zap99 said:

That was our retirement present to ourselves. Calgary to Vancouver staying at Fairmont hotels, Rocky mountaineer, Alaska Cruise. Majestic scenery.  No silly tourist stuff for us...oh no.

We did a similar trip, and actually found the Rockies to be far more spectacular than mainland Alaska.  Although the Glaciers and the calving was exceptional.

9 hours ago, davecttr said:

Yes, storage is needed for when supply exceeds demand and a back up production  in case the demand exceeds the supply. Imagine a February day with no winds blowing and cloudy sky.

 

Apparently in norway the domestic electricty costs about 6p per kilowatt-hour with a 90% government subsidy if the price goes higher.

 

Example - 100KwH would cost £6 but if the price increased to 12p per KwH the 100KwH would rise to £6.60

With only 5.5 million population and huge oil reserves, it's easy for them to be generous.

1 hour ago, Gettingwarmer said:

Sunset tonight. It looks more like a fire with smoke above. 
 

Are you sure you dont live in Iceland?😉😎

1 hour ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

Then P&O must accept the bad publicity that comes it's way

As far as PR is concerned P&O has a hide like an elephants.

3 hours ago, Fionboard said:

Really cannot see wind and solar providing sufficient energy required for electrification of everything. 

It could along with sufficient battery storage to provide the necessary back up

20 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Power stations will not be required using wind or tidal for electricity production.  The power goes directly into the grid system via substations. These are bigger versions of the ones you see on land around housing areas.  

 

Already large amounts of the UK's electricity is produced this way.  The clean energy you see mentioned on your electricity bill is produced this way.

 

The announcement yesterday regarding both onshore and offshore wind turbines will make the move to this clean energy even more of a move away to self sufficiency by the UK for their electricity.  As acknowledged by the last government and currently being looked at by the new one, the problem that has caused the slow movement towards the energy all coming from these sources has been lack of growth of the National Grid infrastructure to actually join up the system to move the power to where it's needed.  Both governments were/are committed to speeding up the planning process to upgrade the grid. 

 

This explains the process:

 

https://www.nationalgrideso.com/electricity-explained/how-electricity-generated/how-electricity-generated-using-wind

That's fine for land based users, but what about cruise ships, what would be the battery size needed to cover a transatlantic or Pacific crossing, which would be the minimum needed to make them viable.

It would be nice if the Mods left a message on the forum advising why a thread, or post, had been pulled, otherwise how do we learn.

10 hours ago, Snow Hill said:

I understand the ban from 1 January 2026 only applies to the 2 World Heritage Site Fjords, Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord, cruise ships that are emission free can access, but there are currently no ships in that category although they are being developed. It is understood that other fjords will transition to zero emissions by 2035. 

Unless someone decides to build a nuclear powered cruise ship  I imagine emission free ships will need to be electric. But can you imagine the size of the batteries needed for a ship as big as Iona?

17 deg here at present with expected high of 19, but no sun until later this evening. However it certainly feels warmer than June was, and quite pleasant when the sun is out, unfortunately not too often.

2 minutes ago, wetterthanwater said:

Probably some light relief for the crew on Iona who won't have to hear the same jokes and announcements for the 69th Fjords cruise in a row. 😁

I doubt the crew listen to his broadcasts, and they are primarily intended for the passengers anyway, and only regular cruisers will have heard them before.

He was certainly more entertaining and noticeable than many of the other Captains we have sailed with.

10 hours ago, indiana123 said:

Do you remember a week or so ago when we had that annoying  pop up from an Agent, the name of whom I may not disclose for fear of the naughty step.... well I have been receiving  messages at home now via e mail but have had no dealings with them.  Bit of a coincidence?   

Possibly a scammer trying to hook you in!

Eavesway have now stopped offering coach travel òn some of the P&O ships definitely stopped Iona cruises because numbers are not enough, although they are still offering Aurora  cruises.

2 hours ago, Hils62 said:

I have just tried to submit a claim for our cruise departing 3rd January, they advise submit claim in November. 

I would hope that is correct, as we also have a cruise sailing in January.

2 hours ago, Ranchi said:

Strangely the cruise history (of P&O cruises) shown on my Princess account is more complete (ie goes further back) than that shown on my P&O account. 

I think they rolled up the Portunus points into the starting points for the new Peninsular loyalty scheme. So the history only started in 2012.

17 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I corrected that in a subsequent post, as I found a copy of our completed ‘On Board Needs Questionnaire’ (admittedly for Cunard, but I think that they are the same) and noticed that there was a tick box for whether you needed an evacuation chair, which I had ticked. 
 

I suspect that the problems occur when passengers feel that they don’t need assistance when completing the form, but P&O subsequently do. As others have said, it really is essential to get clarity on this from P&O directly, as this is an immensely complicated area and none of us are experts on it. It’s a shame that you are being deterred from booking with P&O because of this issue, but I can’t say that I blame you. People want to look forward to a holiday, not be worried about it, and there’s a lot of confusion about this. 

I do wish that P&O customer service dept would provide comprehensive and thorough training to all their staff when they bring in any new systems. In fact I would really like them to think through new systems before they implement them, and ensure they have identified all potential issues that might result from the new system implementation. 

Maybe then they would realise how infuriating ill thought out and implemented systems are to their passengers

1 hour ago, lincslady said:

Thanks, kalos.  I didn't need to look at it anyway ,but just felt worried for anyone who did and lost their internet as a result.  I am fairly sure that my GP is on the most used one by hospitals and Doctors - they were all trying to be ultra-safe from hackers etc. of course!  It needs to be a severe warning to the internet world, and millions of travellers will continue to have problems with flights for some days, I fear.

I don't think that accessing your doctors website would have given you any problems, other than possibly not being able to obtain the information you were seeking.

It is the software your GPs practise uses to run its computer system that has been corrupted, which would not "infect" your pc.

54 minutes ago, FangedRose said:

Can you not book The Olive Grove pre cruise?

No.

6 minutes ago, Tin can said:

Do people tend to tip in the busy bar areas to 'assist' with regular service. I'm assuming things are similar to Royal and you sign a receipt that has a box to add a tip if you want to.

If you want to tip bar staff you can, but it is not necessary to tip each time you receive a drink, a little cash at the end of the cruise any bar waiter will always be appreciated, but again not needed.

7 hours ago, FangedRose said:

Don't need to book anything.on board

If on the big beasts you may want to book the Olive Grove and some of the speciality restaurants.

2 hours ago, daiB said:

Princess to P&O stopped 15 to 20 years ago and as I remember you only got 50% of your nights.

We have mainly cruised with P&O since 2011, but all our cruises from then until 2018 are counting towards our Elite status on Princess. I hope you're not being short changed Dai. But not as easy to check the P&O ones because of the change from Portunus to Peninsular, however I am reasonably sure that some of our early Princess cruises did contribute to our Peninsular status  but dont know just when it stopped.

6 hours ago, Eglesbrech said:

I was not aware of that re the Dambusters etc, you are correct that is just as bad.

 

I wonder at what goes through some people minds or perhaps they simply don’t think.

I did not hear the dambusters at the Euro final, however I did hear the Great Escape which also has WWII connections, but is more usually associated with a team performing a great escape.

8 hours ago, Tedferg said:

We are US based and are Platinum on Princess I also get Military OBC for my UK service. Do these transfer to a P&O booking?

P&O may take any pre 2017/18 Princess cruising into account, get a printout from Princess with the dates showing and e-mail to their customer service.

1 hour ago, kalos said:

Same here only bothered if it was to disrupt our cruise.

This drinking is not just about cruise ships,go to one of the Spanish costa's and 

you will find folk drinking day and night sat in a bar . 

 

Getting back to what the OP asked .. Why go to all that trouble of getting a doctors

note, only to find P&O possibly say "no exceptions to our rules "

 

Many passengers seem to like the idea of a drinks package so they know their drink costs are covered, and are not caught out at the end of the cruise. Whilst this might be an issue on some american lines, with high prices and then a gratuity on top, but not on P&O, at least not for the average drinker.

2 hours ago, Ardennais said:

Do you reckon that United diehards support City when they’re playing in Europe?  Would Swansea supporters cheer Cardiff if they played someone else in a cup final? Don’t think so somehow. 
At least the ‘Prince of Wales’ was there to cheer you on - oh, the irony! 
 

I have always liked to think that the close ties the 4 UK countries have rise above petty differences, and that we have far more in common than any differences that define us.

Clearly I seem to be wrong.