Ardennais

Phew! God bless Gareth Bale is all I can say!

I think we’ve only missed two in a dozen years too - Casablanca and Le Havre.

Of course. Easy enough for adults to find something else to do. But the children’s club is a major attraction for many parents and might be an important element in choosing this particular type of holiday.

Nice to see you, to see you nice,

I certainly don’t expect 5 star service on P&O. I just want them to deliver what they’ve stated on their website/glossy brochure! Afternoon tea definitely. And if I had young children and booked a cruise based on their spiel regarding the clubs and night nursery etc, I would be very miffed if these were unavailable.

Just seen Vampiress post on the other thread that they’re turning children away from the club on Iona. Not delivering against the website!

I’ve just checked their website now. States clearly that afternoon tea is available in buffet AND main dining rooms. Also wondering whether the Reef is operating as described.

They’re ok at the moment! Wouldn’t be the end of the world for us though (although terrible for the farmer) as we have plenty of frozen meat including half a pig and half a lamb again from local farms.

It’s really bad if people have booked based on the website and find that things aren’t available. P&O don’t care about that. They blame us passengers for not adjusting our expectations as our P&O insider posted here months ago! I’ve said before, we expect some minor changes, but not for eateries to remain closed for the whole cruise, withdrawal of afternoon tea, etc.

We get our turkey from a local farm and veg from the weekly outdoor market a few days before Christmas day. No need for deliveries!

I will have to claim my teaching pension when I reach 60 but I have no plans to retire from my post-teaching career. I won’t get my state pension until I’m 67. The generation before me fought hard for equal pay and I’ve been paid exactly the same as my male colleagues throughout my working life - the only absences I had were 3x maternity leave of 5 months each. So it’s only fair that my retirement age is the same as that of my male counterparts.

I’m not “more than happy” with the arrangements, but take the view that financially, I’ve won some and lost some over my many cruises with P&O. You haven’t actually lost any money have you? You were happy with the price you paid on booking. You’re still, hopefully, going to get the same product. It’s evident that you’re dissatisfied with your cabin allocation, but you decided to pay the saver fare, so that’s that!

The “inferior cabin” is what happens when you go for the saver fare. As I said, my next cruise is a saver, and I fully expect to be allocated an “inferior cabin”. No complaints on that score. The price adjustment is another issue entirely. It’s not a matter of being “happy with the situation”, it is what it is. Yes, we can all argue that it’s sneaky of P&O to lower their prices just after the final balance is payable, but this happens in other situations too. I noticed that self catering cottages had greater availability this summer and many sites had cut-price promotions in a bid to fill their properties.

Not sure what you mean by “If they treat staff like this”. As I said, it is disappointing, but in the past, we’ve booked a longer cruise on launch and seen the price increase by over £1500! So it works both ways!

Our next cruise (not P&O) is a saver fare and I won’t be complaining about the location of our cabin because we’ve paid much less for it. Just accept it! No use complaining. On the other point, it is disappointing when you find that prices have come down, but then again, we’ve often seen the price increase too after booking. It’s swings and roundabouts and if you cruise quite often, it probably balances itself out in the end.

I feel for all of you in this situation. It’s disgraceful. Keep up the good work Megabear2. Many thanks.

I would recommend emergency lights. We installed most of them over 20 years ago and they still work, but not as bright as the new ones we installed after redoing the kitchen three years ago. I’ve tried to persuade my parents to get some too but in vain!

Swings and roundabouts! It’s not a posh property, just an old farmhouse. Cool in summer (very cool in the recent heatwave) but cold in winter. It’s as well insulated as possible with double glazing throughout so very different to the farmhouses we were both raised in! Now they were freezing! I guess it’s what you’re used to.

We live in a big farmhouse but we’re not farmers! It does include a few machines in the outbuildings but nothing connected to farming. We have our own borehole so the pump is always running. The washing machine is used twice daily and the tumble when it’s wet. And that doesn’t include heating which is oil central heating. I work from home and have two screens running. From talking to neighbours, it seems to be about average.

Our estimated annual cost of electricity is …….. £3680.72

Sending birthday wishes to you Graham from Wales. Penblwydd Hapus!

Lovely photos. We were there mid May and have some similar ones. It’s such a beautiful place.

We had to throw out a few packets of unopened pasta last week. There were teeny little bugs in them. After a google search, my husband discovered that this is a known problem.

You mention the leisurely breakfast on the balcony which is one of my cruise highlights! Were you able to order hot drinks?

Wonderful news Kalos. Enjoy every second with her!