terrierjohn

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.

1 hour ago, Ardennais said:

Neighbouring countries are sporting rivals all over the world! 
 

England and Scotland are rivals. Wales and Scotland are rivals. Ireland and Wales are rivals. Not just England so don’t take it personally Zapp! 
 

I could write an essay on the topic, but work beckons! 

But neighbours are often only rivals when playing each other, I normally support close friendly neighbours when they are playing someone else. 

I would give them a ring and use the  cruisemummy review to emphasise your disappointment. Hopefully they will be able to find you  a better cabin. 

35 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

The England lads must be devastated. They did their best but Spain were better. 

I think that Gareth Southgate has done well with the team and hopefully he will lead them to success in the world cup.

Looking at the possible English managers who could replace Souuthgate, with the exception of Eddie Howe I cannot see anyone, and I doubt he would want to leave Newcastle.

I think we need to ensure that there are enough quality assistants to Southgate to ensure there can be someone in place to takeover when he either wants to retire, or fails miserably enough to needs sacking.

12 minutes ago, Splice the mainbrace said:

Sky Princess has only been in service since 2019 so not that old. We were on her in 2021 so she must have deteriorated quickly over the last 3 years if she is now looking ‘tired’. We are back on her in September and next May so we’ll see what we find.

 

We were on her in May and she looked fine to us, the MDR food was very good, much better than P&Os Iona in March, and nothing wrong with the buffet breakfasts, although Princess chefs dont really know how to cook english back bacon.

3 hours ago, FangedRose said:

If you are self disembarking you are expected to leave the ship first (7am-7.30am). Cabins have to be vacated by 8am. They want everyone leaving the ship to be off by 10am.

 

Just tell P&O (probably best to tell reception whilst on board, P&O shoreside cannot be relied on to give you the right info) you won't be using the flight and they will give you a place and time to meet for disembarkation. Leave your cases outside your room as per instructions the night before and pick them up from the baggage hall.

This is a Flycruise so the disembarkation would normally be in line with the return flight time. I would guess that the op would be able to leave all their luggage in the hand luggage location and be free to utilise the ships services until they are ready to disembark.

1 hour ago, Adawn47 said:

I used to leave mine on sleep too until my grandson told me that's the worst thing to do. I should shut it down every night to give the software time to sort itself and do any upgrades, otherwise it gets clogged up with rubbish, slow down and will eventually ''spazz out'' his words😏

I also had a habit of leaving it on charge, even though it was fully charged, which I'm told is a big no no and the fastest way to ruin the battery. 

So now I do as I'm told😇

Avril

My laptop was born in 2010 and it has always been plugged in, mainly because the battery always needed charging fairly regularly, and it still says the battery is in excellent condition.

However I now use my phone or tablet for most on-line activity, the laptop now only gets used for MS office activity.

4 hours ago, 9265359 said:

 

They wouldn't have been, as the many vegan restaurants that are closing in the UK are finding out.

 

Less than 4% of the UK population is vegan, and that falls to under 2% for those age 50 and over (which is a substantial proportion of the P&O demographic).

 

No matter how well you try and sell vegan food as an idea the vast majority of your customer base is going to give it a miss.

 

If you suggested running the Crows Nest bar as an alcoholic free drinks bar to appeal to the 20% of the population who don't drink then you would be decried as completely crazy - but that is what the Green and Co restaurant is trying to do.

But lots of restaurant customers in the UK order veggie dishes. There are loads of vegetarian dishes among the mediterranean countries, and very tasty they are as well.

So I don't believe the idea for a veggie restaurant was I'll conceived, just not well presented as an alternative option by P&O.

1 hour ago, 9265359 said:

 

So P&O has finally realised that having a faddy vegan menu that only appeals to a tiny fraction of the population wasn't a smart move, and actually having a menu that most people actually want to eat (and pay for) would be a good idea.

 

But they have eventually seen the light. 

However there have been lots of favourable reports about the food in Green &Co and if P&O had sold the idea of a meat free experience with delicious tasting vegetarian options, then it might have been more successful. 

But we all know that P&O don't really handle customer service very well.

If, as @9265359 states, EES will not affect most P&O cruises or any sailings out of the UK, then we have no need to be concerned on this part of the forum. 

For other EU holidays the airport or ferry port wIll deal with the EES process, and ETIAS when it comes in will operate similar to the US ESTA, and will be linked to your passport and should not really cause us any problems.

55 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

Many papers and https://etias.com/articles/eu-border-security-ees-launch-2024 say october 6th for biometrics and fingerprints 

Will ships passengers have to do the biometrics at the first or all ports or will the EU allow the manual system to continue, with cruise ships confirming all passengers and crew have returned from shore visits.

4 hours ago, Adawn47 said:

BP numbers vary  with whomever you speak to.

My gp says average numbers for our age group is 140/70, the doctor who dealt with Frank while in hospital says 150/80 and the health visitor who came to see Frank after he was discharged says 160/80🤔

However, my BIL spent 14 months on various BP meds trying to raise his BP to an 'acceptable' level, only for them to realise he has a naturally low BP.🙄

So who can say what a 'normal' reading for any one person should be?😁 

Avril

 

 

 

My GP says that 150/80 is OK for over 80s, if only mine would stay below that!

1 hour ago, FangedRose said:

In April the coaches arrived at normal times despite boarding being delayed for a deep clean.

Were these Intercruises or Eaveway coaches, the latter still arrive around 1:00 - 2;00 pm.

3 hours ago, yorkshirephil said:

If they qualify for the loyalty lunch they would have priority boarding. Usually the bus passengers get pushed through when the buses get in but as long as the bus is early enough they should make it?

Unfortunately the intercruise coaches now all seem to have later arrival times, the northern ones don't arrive until 3:00pm, which is too late for the embarkation lunch.

2 hours ago, DamianG said:

Anyone else think that we are heading for an England vs France final at the Euros where the priority of both managers is not to lose?

If we do reach the final I think we would have a better chance of winning against France, but I think Spain's name is already on  the trophy.

3 hours ago, kalos said:

What stood out to me John was 3-4 boxes easily visible and the cruise was a 5 day one..

 

 

I agree that seems a bit extreme.  We always end up throwing them away, as they go out of date before we need them, I suppose I should be happy about that, but being a tight Yorkshireman, I don't like waste.

30 minutes ago, kalos said:

 

Too true ,I remember a cruise years ago and a woman at the side of us was filling 

in her questionnaire at the side of us .She had left her big travel bag open and 

she had a few boxes of Imodium ? Recovery or prevention ? Who knows .

We always have immodium in our general travel medicines, just in case they are needed, and 99% of the times they have been needed are non Noro related.

2 hours ago, TigerB said:

 

Is that you suggesting I'm a greedy fat knacker, John? The cheek of it!😯  Well, I suppose if the cap fits!😉

 

I certainly won't be sharing a steak with our lass; I don't eat meat.  That poster and his missus though would have been entitled to another main; after all, they have paid for three courses each. If they thought they were perhaps saving money by splitting the steak, paying the one supplement, and foregoing the other main, suggests to me they're not from Yorkshire!😉

No they are not from Yorkshire, but I guess if they only had one main, the choice was made because they felt half the 10 oz fillet was enough, I know it would be for me.

3 hours ago, Angel57 said:

I ate in Sindhu on Iona a few weeks ago. The menu was different to Aurora and imo, not as good, but I still enjoyed it very much. I got the 20% off.

I also ate in the Beach House and had the fajitas which were absolutely yummy. I like the lava steak but 10oz is far too big and I wish they did a smaller option.

 

A poster on another forum said he and his wife shared a 10oz lava steak on Aurora recently, only paying one supplement, but no idea if they could have had a second main course as well.

We will maybe have to wait for @TigerB 's next cruise to find that out.😉

1 hour ago, yorkshirephil said:

Thanks for that mrsgoggins, we will be trying Sindhu on Iona even though I have not been impressed the last two times on Ventura and Arcadia.

I was not impressed with our last 2 visits to Sindhu on Iona, most dishes seem far to dry for my taste and, although I am sure TV  cooks would probably drool about the exotic flavours, I found them a bit too bland. I don't like over hot dishes, but I do prefer some sort of spicy flavour.

Grey cloudy skies this morning and a miserable 12 Deg, this is definitely not summer weather. Any party that can guarantee a return to warm weather and sunshine gets my vote on Thursday.