mercury7289

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Nah - same old,  same old. But, to be fair, how many new ports are really available, given that P&O only use three home ports in summer months? 

Were you been! 

26 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Hello, thank you all for your kind thoughts.  Today is my first dip back into everyday life from what has been a surreal week.  I am far from mended but hopefully a corner has been turned in that I am at least out of bed this morning!  The journey has been rough and I will not hesitate to say not at all what I had expected from the talk of cold like symptoms.  The first 48 hours spent in dealing with a hacking cough, temperature and body aches were followed on Friday by a swollen throat which felt like a box of razor blades had been eaten. This in turn led to a complete airway blockage and collapse needing urgent medical intervention on two occasions - always the drama queen.  I have been lucky as anti viral drugs were allocated and these have helped.  This new variant is absolutely horrid if you catch it wrong.  

 

There were 75 people attending the wedding on 12 March. By the 15 March 27 attendees were positive and over the week more have been falling and apparently now around 50% of attendees have tested positive or become ill. Based on this experience it is easy to see how super spreading is still going strong. 

 

Sadly there will be no cruise for any of us on 1 April although having just been through all this I don't think any of us fancy being on a ship at present.

 

 

Megabear2, Sounds horrific, makes a mockery of the, only like a cold or light flu brigade] it is not for everyone! wishing you a full and speedy recovery, keep warm and safe

40 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

Well, today is the day that I say goodbye to you all.  I have enjoyed getting to know you, although it has not been in person.  I have decided that one of two of the newer members are not the peop!e that I would want to interact with.  I hope that I might meet some of you on board ships in the future.

Take care everyone and happy cruising.

 

Josy

Thank you for all that you have done, happy cruising

Has any one noticed Wowzz has gone AWOL, my guess is he has either run out of Malbec, or he has sneaked out for a sandwich,😀😀   hope that is all!

1 hour ago, Jennizor said:

Azura is our favourite ship. We love the atrium with the Blue Bar overlooking it. Perfect to watch (in the past) various entertainments. We always go for sun beds away from the main pool areas as they are much quieter. We are on her in September going to the Eastern Med, hoping things have not changed too much since we were on her in 2019.

That is the reason that we hated it! We had a lovely cruise, and met some wonderful table companions,

The Blue bar with those horrible seats, and the open atrium with the dance class music, vying with the different music in the glass house, at lunchtime, truly horrific. Not an age thing, more an intolerance of being subjected to Butlins on sea. Not directly a P&O problem, more down to the performers over exuberance and lack of guidance on the necessity for everyone one to say Hi d Hi! to be happy! Would not sail on her again.

57 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Tonight was Tagliatelli in green pesto with jumbo prawns and salmon, accompanied by garlic bread, and a couple of bottles of Malbec !

 

Wiltshire farm foods? and Aldi 😁😁😜

4 hours ago, NorbertsNiece said:

Captain's update :

Warp factor 1 to Southampton arrival hopefully midmorning 9th but will update tomorrow. 

 

3 new crew and 1 guest tested positive in last 24 hours. Makes 57 crew and 143 guests currently infected. Includes those released.

 

Rebooked food delivery for Thursday just in case.

I've literally just had LFT.

Hi enjoying your blog, and other peoples reaction to it. Well done.

I note you mentioned 3 new crew?, any idea where they boarded and how long they have been aboard

Might I suggest that if they were sitting out on a balcony in Forest Gate, they are either barking on in Delaware?

51 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

And I'm sure you look stunning in them too Mercury😉

Avril

Thank you

I have turned the odd head!

Sorry,

Taking one for the boys!

Formal nights----Stockings and suspenders

Why wouldn't you?

28 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Not a good situation, I agree, but it could be even worse if Saga are required to offload these cases as required by some countries.

Harry, I have friends on this cruise ,if not stopping at the Azores then 11 day straight at sea, not good in these circumstances.

20 minutes ago, Ardennais said:

Difficult one! And yet, it should be so easy to say no! I don’t know the full story, but I can’t help wonder whether there were family splits years ago which possibly made both parents over-compensate. It’s just that I’ve taught so many children over the years and seen how parents react following separations and sadly, following bereavements too, Very often they over-compensate with money etc, and the children, although miserable, get used to getting their own way. 

Not giving to much away, regarding my full understanding of this situation, but the answer is I am pleased to be your Brother/Sister, I am not your parent, and I am not your bank.

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

I'd agree with you. Hopefully if the weather is good, stay onboard,  and enoy the sun whilst everyone else goes ashore to save £2 on a bottle  of  gin.

After visiting the Trafalgar Cemetery, we walk, in my case push back to the Chinese Restaurant, just before the roundabout, nice people, they look after us. We always dine there. and we always look forward to going back

11 minutes ago, Snow Hill said:

That is correct the 1931 Census for England and Wales was destroyed by fire, the 1931 Scottish Census survived as stored elsewhere.

 

The next Census will be the 1951 Census due for release in January 2052. 

Looking forward to that!

11 minutes ago, Peanut006 said:

I use Ancestry and found it to be good. My mum did a DNA Ancestry test with them, I am now in touch with a relative in New Zealand I didn’t know I had.

Findmypast is the only one that has the 1921 census. I registered for that last week, found my Grandma on the census then they wanted to charge me an extra £2.50/£3.50 to view it as well as paying my subscription to them. I have cancelled with them and are sticking with Ancestry 

Hope you have fun Avril researching your family 

Michelle

Michelle, I thought you could only view the 1921 census by signing up for a yearly subscription. then if you find something, they want as you say £2.50-3.50 a time. Not playing with them at this time.

Ancestry gave me everything I needed in terms of leads, then as a Canadian lady said, it's down to trawling the dead! Spent many hours in cemetery's and have been able to get many previously unknown family memorials, cleaned and repaired, Fascinating past time, touching on the Battle of Balaclava, one of the 600! The restructuring of Windsor Castle in the 1800s The Architect having been a partner in the family building business, also many family members being clergy in various parishes.

9 minutes ago, ccpm said:

Sun again today will have to watch that or I will be thinking climate change is a thing!

 

I am off to Blakeney today for no other reason that it was the first place that popped into my mind. Lunch out will be great.

 

News from the breeder my boy is performing well. I'm glad someone is living their best life.

 

Em

Lunch in the Kings Head!

2 hours ago, Britboys said:

Definitely worth visiting but best bet for you would be to fly to Gatwick and get the direct train, which takes less than 30 minutes. It has a very compact centre and good public transport too. On a recent visit I very much noticed an increase in high end shops and 'artisan' coffee bars. It's all gone very Kensington & Chelsea...(or maybe Morningside & Stockbridge???).

Andrew, stayed in the Grosvenor Hotel in Stockbridge many times, used to  fly fish a private beat on the test, good times

7 hours ago, tring said:

 

Thanks for the reply.  Must admit we are thinking that 10am checkout will be a problem and the reason we fancied it was that it looked like a classy hotel, though now thinking perhaps not.  I doubt we would have problem with children on a Thursday mid November, but if we did, we would feel the same as you.

 

Probably a back to the drawing board job, thanks again.

We always negotiate a later checkout time, and make a point of being nice and friendly to the cleaning team.

1 hour ago, tring said:

We have booked Chilworth Manor Hotel on a cancellable basis for before our Aurora Caribbean cruise next November.  It is a good price for room only, though we are slightly concerned that they have a 10am check out time.  We tend to have a late breakfast if we can, and will not want a large breakfast before going on a cruise ship, so are thinking we may be able to go into a bar or lounge after we check out and have a light brunch.  It does not have to be normal breakfast items, a small sandwich or similar snack would be fine.  Can I ask if that is something we may be able to do after we check out and if there is enough lounge/bar space to sit while waiting nearer to our embarkation time.  That will likely be the last cruise when we are still Mediterranean level in the Peninsular Club at embarkation, so I think our embarkation time will be fairly late.  We have a deluxe balcony cabin booked for that cruise. 

 

Any advice about this hotel, or our likely embarkation time for Aurora would be much appreciated, since we can easily change to another hotel if we have made a mistake.

 

Hated it! booked because of advise on here, and because our normal hotel was full. The open reception  area was so noisy, un- supervised children every ware not conducive to a quite adult night out. However we are all different. Also did not like the dining area and menu. felt very corporate.

Afraid we could be classed as old foggies, however our money and our expectations. This came no where near. We like to be looked after and valued which is why we tend to use a small place at Eastleigh ,who welcome us by name.

30 minutes ago, Britboys said:

I'm not getting any pop-ups at all... Using an Android tablet.

Ahh? Shame? 🤣 Sorry Andrew, I have been on the Wowzz diet this evening!

22 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Which is less than would be found on shore. Proves that cruising is safer than staying at home ! 

Wowzz

On the bench and eat your stilton sandwiches with your old lady. this is rubbish!

Happy New Year!

On 12/27/2021 at 11:38 AM, mercury7289 said:

creme de menthe Rodney  creme de  menthe!

Or the more inclusive retort;

fromage frais Rodney fromage frais

3 hours ago, Waju said:

My husband has recently been diagnosed with a 'suspected' TIA (mini stroke).  The doctor told him it is impossible to be definite after the event but has prescribed blood thinners, he generally feels really well in himself.  Does anyone have have a clue how much extra we might have to pay in insurance?  We have no idea if it will be a few pounds or hundreds 😲  There are no other conditions to declare.

 

I will, of course, be calling our insurers before we next travel in April but am just curious to know how much the loading might be.

Suggest dummy, on line quotes, with various insurers, such as Explorer Travel,  may give you some guide. May or may not be helpful to you!

14 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

I spent from 8am to 2:30pm at the vaccine hub, I should have stayed until 5:30pm but by 2:30 I was really fed-up with the attitude of people coming in.  For some reason we had loads of people who seemed to think that we are being awkward when we are saying that we only have Moderna for the boosters, the final straw was when I asked for a Pfizer to be drawn up for 16 year old because under 17s can't have Moderna and an old man overheard and shouted at me that I was a liar because I had tl?d him that he could only have Moderna.  I am now seriously considering giving up the volunteering, I don't think that this sort of abuse is worth it even though most people are polite.  

Keep going Josy, to important not to!

Thank you

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Well, we are the creme de la creme on here !

creme de menthe Rodney  creme de  menthe!