purplesea

Meeting friends for coffee this morning, too. We have six birthdays in December and two in January (although one of those is mine). I haven't counted those in Sicily! I have hardly started Christmas shopping, never mind the birthdays.😳 Looks like being a nice bright sunny day and although temp is reading 6c, although it doesn't feel that cold when I put the washing out.

So sorry to hear what you and your family must be going through. There are no words that convey what it must be like. Life can be cruel. Stay strong and know that we are all thinking of you.

Had a good day yesterday and no problems with the traffic or roadworks going up to Exeter yesterday. In fact we made such good time getting out of the show ground and down the road we arrived at the pub booked for our meal an hour early. Fortunately they were able to accommodate us so we didn't have to wait for a table. Everyone enjoyed the show and had first and front row seats, so no heads obsuring the performance.

Afternoon all, Have just been catching up with the boards. After a chilly yesterday our temps have now returned to double figures and we've got rain again. Josy I am so sorry to read the news of your BIL and hope he I learnt yesterday that a friend has been diagnosed with stomach cancer which is terminal and has only 4-6 weeks.

Was just wondering as we are on K407.

Are you on K407 or K408?

Morning everyone, hope you're all well. Our coldest temp of the winter so far this year at 5c, but dry which is a bonus and no wind. Driving up to Exeter today to see Disney on Ice and have booked a meal at a local pub for our return.There are 7 of us going so should be a good day. Hope everyone has a good weekend. Pam

On Arvia in May the two or three shelves by Anderson's bar were very sparcely stocked at the beginning of the cruise. By the end of the cruise there were a lot more books as people left books they had read. Personally I would't class it as a library. It is more like a few shelves for book swapping!

Have been out nearly all day so have just been catching up with what's been said. Congratulations @DamianG on your promotion, I hope it all works well for you. We had two banks here, Barclays and Lloyds. First Barclays closed and Lloyds were due to close before the pandemic but stayed open until it was over, but has now gone. So now our nearest banks Camborne, Penzance or St Ives (which is a pain to get parked). I called in at Asda on my way over to Mum's this morning and what should have been a quick shop turned out to take a lot longer than planned as an ex-collegue saw me and ended up talking for half an hour as I couldn't get away! Mum has decided to cancel our TA cruise in March as she has decided that 8 hours sitting on the plane will be too much for her. So we then spent over an hour on the phone getting through to P&O. We have now cancelling and booked a Med cruise from Southampton instead.

I bought the Captain's package a couple of times and last time when arriving in our cabin there was a voucher which I took to the dining room with me. This was exchanged for a booklet for the number of bottles purchased. For each bottle of wine required you filled out one of the pages in the booklet and handed it to the wine waiter. I only used ours in the main dining room, but I believe it can be used at any bar, but I'm not certain of that fact. I purchased it in advance by phoning, but didn't get Penisular discount. I hope this helps.

I too am on Azura in January and as stated most days are port days.

I get badly bitten and reactions every time when we visit relations in Sicily, but on all of the cruises I've taken do the Caribbean I rarely get bitten, and if I do, I haven't had a bad reaction to the bite. My doctor advised me to start taking anti-histamine tablets before my visits to Sicily, instead of taking them once I had been bitten, to be more effective.

Yes, that is the one I had on Britannia.

I took the Captain's wine package when we were on Britannia in September and it worked out cheaper than buying the bottles individually. There didn't seem to be any problems with availablity. Prices on alcohol had gone up between our cruise in May on Arvia and Britannia cruise.

And still my freezer is waiting to be defrosted🙄 I met up with my friend for coffee which turned into lunch and a shopping trip. She did ask if I had anything planned, so I decided the freezer could wait until another day!

It's a job I hate too, which is why I keep putting it off. It's a chest freezer so a lot of bending.

Morning to you all. Trying to brighten up here and the temperature is till in double figures although windy so feels colder. Meeting a friend for coffee this morning, then I think this afternoon I'll get round to defrosting the freezer. It's a job I keep putting off! Have a good day..

Mum is a full time wheelchair user too, if I had had wifi I could have shown them the e-mails that had been received. Lesson learnt I have downloaded my husband's, for our cruise in January, ready for printing.

Morning everyone, It's very quiet here this morning, hope everyone is well. A bit blustery today, and of rain is forecast again, for a change! Nothing much planned for today, just normal household chores. Take care, Pam

Hopefully by filling in the new mobility form online it won't go missing. As I've mentioned before I filled in and e-mailed an accessablity form for my mother and noted her allergy. Her name was not on the list for assistance but she received a letter regarding her allergy. Both were sent in the same e-mail.

Our nearest Tesco Extra has got tins of Quality Street, although more expensive than the tubs (I can't remember the price). Tubs are £4 each.

Thank you for an interesting and balanced reporting on your cruise. We were on Iona in January last year and my mother is a wheelchair user so I can relate to some of the problems you encountered.

It is times like this that I sometimes regret moving to the far end of Cornwall, as it takes us a day to get anywhere. Before we moved down we were only half an hours drive from Luton Airport. A taxi is a very expensive option for just 2.

Morning, dull here but dry and still mild at 14c. My daughter saw the Northern Lights during the week over Helston way. I'm trying to work our train times for our cruise in January. It's a toss up of do we try and get a train home as we are due to land at 5pm with the last connection being 7pm, or book into a hotel for the night and travel home the next day. Travelling the next day will see us using a rail replacement bus and several changes. I thought by travelling from Bristol would be easier than having to get up to Gatwick. Looks like I might have been wrong! Hope everyone has an enjoyable weekend.

My mother uses a folding wheelchair and we had standard cabins on Britannia and Iona. On Britannia we stored the wheelchair in the wardrobe and on Iona it was stored between the sofa and the balcony (but that would depend on the layout of the room as some cabins have the bed nearer the balcony door)