Harters

Depends on the circumstances. If I knew it was going to be my last meal, I doubt I'd have the slightest interest in eating. If I didnt know I was going to die, then I'd hope that whatever we ate, my partner would be able to look back and say "We had a lovely dinner together that night".

Tinned sago pudding. It's no longer made here. I hadnt thought about it for many years but the subject sort of cropped up on a food forum I play on, so I Googled to see if I could still buy it. I can't

I've only heard of junket in references to food from medieval times, not from recent centuries

Put me down as a "neither". Not that I've ever tried them but I'd be in no rush to do so.

That's interesting. I've only visited states on the eastern side, so that makes sense - and I have come across the dress code in both northern and southern states there. Just seems so old fashioned to me. At one of our favourite Michelin starred restaurants near home, the servers tend to be the most formally dress in the room. Its dress code - "Please be advised that our dress code is smart and informal. Sportswear, ripped denim or shorts are not accepted."

They have never visited my town centre. 😀 And I'd sort of take a reverse view about restaurant dress codes. Fairly frequently, on trips to the States, I've had to discount upscale places because of a "jackets required" policy yet it's a long time since I encountered it here or in any other European country. The funniest I can recall was a place in rural New England which offered a hay ride round the farm before dinner. Yep, jacket required.

We'd decided on three SM excursions. No problem in booking the first two online, with deductions made to the SM credit, just as we expected. The cost of the third took us over the SM credit and I assumed the system would then default to requiring a credit card payment for the balance. It didn't and, In the event, it simply wouldnt let us book the excursion and we had to phone O to book. Never found out if this is how the system was supposed to work or if we'd hit a temporary techie glitch

That will depend on where in Europe. Certainly not too hot for jeans in my part of Europe in June (and that's often our nest month for weather).

I've had one problem for many weeks. On the "Find your perfect cruise" page, I cannot select including or excluding particular ports. All the other selections are working as normal but not these two. Odd. It means that, to find a UK round trip cruise, I have to check all the various Europe boxes and then go through all the listings to find what I'm searching for. It's doable of course but it's a pain.

Solid advice. By co-incidence, it was only yesterday that we completed our ESTAs for a trip next spring (we''ll be in the States for two nights pre-cruise). The first three or four Google hits were commercial companies (with official sounding website addresses).

Someone not using their head when using the head.

Christine - as suggested, check your confirmation details to be sure. However, I don't think PI offer that facility to transfer to a better price, as such - the contract is the contract, so to speak. Depending on your contract, it may be possible to cancel your booking without penalty and then rebook at the new price. But you run the risk that there are no rooms then available. Assuming you have a "no penalty" cancellation on your original booking, you could make a second booking at the new price and then cancel the original.

I'm genuinely surprised to read that. But I'll bear it in mind for next year when we visit the States again and not order cheese at a restaurant.

Lisa - design your own walking tour on gpsmycity.com. I note Liverpool already has six walks mapped out. But you can plan your own - just select the places you want to visit and the website puts them into order. Really useful - I've done it for a couple of cities on our last cruise and have planned out one for Cadiz for a 2024 trip. https://www.gpsmycity.com/gps-tour-guides/liverpool-2632.html As I think I posted upthread (or maybe on another), you can easily fill a day without leaving the waterfront. FWIW, I visit the city regularly and have never done any Beatles stuff (although I did go to see them when they played Manchester in 1965).

Seems unlikely that O would rely on chance that someone volunteers their time for a required service to passengers. It would be no way to run a professional operation.

Pelican - apologies. That came out overly direct. I'd intended to write "Folk such as yourself who find it uncomfortable to do otherwise".

Not in the slightest. At least, not for any seasoned traveller. Folk like that will very probably have researched the tipping culture of whatever country they are visiting and act accordingly. You will, of course, come across tourists who continue tipping in accordance with their own culture, whatever that might be. Folk such as yourself. And that will include Americans who visit a European country, without understanding its tipping culture and just continue to tip their usual 20%. Which is probably why American tourists are so widely welcomed in restaurants in my country. Especially the Americans who don't understand what a service charge is so, effectively, tip twice.

I am surprised that the relative has never even heard of serving cheese at room temperature. It is "common knowledge" easily found with a quick Google. There is little point in eating cheese which is straight from the fridge as it's flavour is going to be significantly compromised as, from your comments, you already. It's why I will rarely order cheese in a restaurant as it's not often that you come a cross a mid-range place that bothers to prepare it well. I suspect the relative would be horrified to learn, from my Spanish relatives, that it's commonplace in that country to chill light red wines in the fridge, particularly for summer drinking. Yes, it goes against all the pre-conceived ideas of this North European.

SOME not all Europeans. 😀

On my two cruises with O, I wore chinos and polo shirt (as did many other men) which is what I'd generally wear at a "nice" restaurant at home. And that's what I'll be wearing on our 2024 cruise.

Correct. That's what I've seen in hotels.

Transatlantic good thoughts being sent as you read this. John

I've not felt the need to do anything more about tipping than just pay this. And, even there, I would be more than happy to see that incorporated into the fare so that nothing further was expected from the traveller. I understand that how O configures its pricing for the Australian market and I'd certainly welcome its expansion to other/all sectors. Maybe they could call it "Simply a bit More".

And, of course, a major problem in many land based tourist hotels. The only solution for beds "claimed" but unoccupied is for it to be made widely known that the objects which have been staked as a claim will be removed after a period of time. And, of course,, for that to be actually carried out. I know of a few Spanish hotels which follow this practice successfully. Once you can get over some selfish folks' sense of entitlement, it becomes easy (well, fairly easy).

First time we went, he was in the bar area greeting customers. Nice bloke, as far as one can tell (although the recentish allegations about bullying, etc, have done nothing for his reputation).