elmsliebev

my OH has issue with lactose (mainly cream) and finds lactose free skimmed milk suits him best. That has a long use by date (weeks) so we always leave a carton of that in the fridge when we go away. My dad was a milk man in rural Lancashire for a few years when we were kids and he sourced his milk from various places - we had standard pasturised (with the cream rising to the top), sterilised, homogenised, farm bottled, Channel Island, semi-skimmed ...all had a different coloured foil top, apart from sterilised which had a beer bottle-type cap!

wow, when we sailed from Vancouver on Cunard's QE in 2022 it was total chaos. 3 ships in and it took us nearly 3 hours to get through. Bon Voyage - we are new to Oceania next month sailing Regatta from Tokyo, so I'm very interested in your trip.

we no longer drink alcohol and were on QA in June. We took the Premium soft drinks package and found it good value. Like you, I loved the hot chocolate. We had lots of alcohol free cocktails, smoothies, beers, cider and even sparkling wine. I also took a couple of bottles of alcohol free wine and asked them to change the usual Pol Acker for a non-alcoholic wine, which they did. I was very impressed with the AF selction - I love an Elderflower tonic as an aperitif.

saw him on QV a few years ago. He didn't play due to problems with his hands, but his wife and a young Chinese musician did and were wonderful. We got a photo later with them all, very charming chap Mr LW.

we were on QE for an Alaska cruise in2022. It was my husband's 60th birthday so I treated us to a seaplane flight. It was wonderful (very noisy) and we flew over Stanley Park (we have our own Stanley Park here inBlackpool NW England) and over QE. Your photos bring back some wonderful memories, thank you.

no, they're interested in our soon to be experience of O. but they've had a few Viking river cruises and now this most recent Viking ocean cruise.

Friends of ours from NW England have just come back from an Iceland trip with Viking, they loved it. Great excursions, good food and a beautiful ship.

we've not had our cruise yet and the offering has changed 3 times since we booked (move to Simply More inc drinks with meals, then tips included which we weren't eligible for, and now this latest change)! It certainly not inspiring me to book another Oceania cruis so far but I'll with till we actually travel. We'd already decided to have land-based European trips next year so who knows what the situation will be by 2026!

thanks everyone. We're in an inside cabin so will be using Horizons or room service to get my fix!

We're on Regatta next month. I like to end the evening with a hot chocolate to take back to my cabin. Can I order one from a bar or will it be available from the buffet until late (late being before 11pm in my case!) many thanks

it was there in October 2023. We had a day there from a cruise (another Carnival line) and fell in love with Trieste. Will be returning for a few days at some point.

I don't really hear Santa Claus much, tends to be Father Christmas. Mischief Night was a big thing when I was growing up 🤣 For our non-UK friends it was the night before Bonfire Night so 4th November and consisted of thins like swapping gates round or tying door knockers together!

we sail on Regatta at the very end of October. Be interesting to see if it has happened by then. BT - do Oceania do anything special for Halloween? There's been a move in the UK to make a lot more of Halloween in recent years and I wondered if it might be the same on the ship.

living in Blackpool as I do, I certainly didn't find it like Blackpool on sea! Nor did we find her overcrowded and we felt there was more outside space than other ships we've been on. Our inside non-Grills cabin wasn't noisy. I miised having a Promenade deck you can sit on. Agree re the entertainment, very good. The first time we were on QM2 TA we had afternoon plays - it wasn't a RADA type cruise just a normal TA back in 2009.

our first sea day is day 6 also. Are you on the Tokyo to Singapore cruise?

On QA we had the Natureo white and also the sparkling white called Ish is very good and available by the glass in most bars. We took a bottle of alcohol free red to the dining room, one we'd brought from home. The waiter inspected it and didn't charge us corkage.

I enjoyed the Thatchers Zero too.

we were in the Fjords in June this year and it was up to the low 70s a couple of days. The UK can be pleaseantly warm in June. Definitely layers and don't forget the suncreen and bug spray - I got bitten in Norway this June!

I'll be trying them all!

much better thn flying. I loved Queen Anne but QM2 is my most favourite ship of all.

She will. It's ice cream and jelly (jello not jam), chopped fruit (preferably tinned), whipped cream and sprinkles on top, all layered up in a tall sundae glass. Not to be confused with a 99 which is vanilla ice cream with a Cadbury's flake on top.

ok then, what's an egg cream? Does it actually contain egg?

I'm browsing the menus for our Regatta cruise in October and I see Waves serves ice cream, milkshakes and Malts. Please educate this Brit - what is a Malt? A milkshake with some sort of added malt powder? And which is the best one? thank you

Really interested in this. We are cruising on Regatta end of October. Not been on Celebrity but have had several cruises on Cunard, most recently on Queen Anne in June. The smallest ship I've been on is the Marella (Thomson) Calypso at around 700pax. Loved her and went through the Corinth Canal on her. Following your trip closely!

We were on QA in June and had proper clotted cream. We go on Oceania in October - I'll definitely be trying their afternoon tea, thanks for the recommendaton.