Harters

I agree with others that you need to contact his insurance company. My guess (and it is only a guess) is that his death will be covered. I'm basing that on the presumption that it would have covered him if he was too ill to travel and had to cancel, so would offer cover for the unfortunate circumstances that meant he literally couldnt travel. My only similarish experience here is making a claim on our own policy when my father in law died, literally on the day we were due to travel. The death of a close relative was clearly covered but our company made us jump through hoops, providing evidence that his death was unexpected. It took several months but eventually they settled.

Possibly. But wouldnt that be a matter of the diner asking the server to remove it, rather than the server assuming what the diner might want? Either way, as a European, I find the practice very different to what generally happens here. By contrast, we had lunch at a pub yesterday. We'd obviously finished the starters - nothing left on the plate and knife & fork "correctly" placed to indicate we'd finished - but the server still asked if we'd finished and could she take the plates. Just different dining etiquette that you have to adapt to when you travel.

A significant reason why we like O - and would like similar lines that offer tables for two, so we can eat at our own pace that particular evening, just as we would at a land based restaurant. Dinner is an "event" for us, whether we're eating at home or eating out somewhere (ship included).

It's a common occurrence in some American restaurants, in my experience, so I presume it's just following their cultural norms. I've always thought it odd and wondered, in a restaurant, if it's something about being seen to be doing something , to "earn" the tip. Certainly not a practice I welcome.

I think we'd get on in real life - we seem to have similar food tastes/experiences. I also had a dislike of okra until I went to a "secret supper club" run by a young woman of Punjabi heritage, where all the dishes were homestyle ones from her culture. I never realised okra could be other than slimy. By the by, the supper club was great fun. You signed up online but didnt know where you were going until an hour before (it was actually her parents' home). There was about a dozen of us - so a bit like a dinner party but one where you didnt know anyone. Payment, in cash, was by way of a "suggested" donation. Best Indian meal I've ever eaten.

By the by, for anyone not wanting to go to Brugge, both Zeebrugge and Blankenberge have stops for the Coastal Tram which runs from there all along the coast to De Panne near the border with France. It's a lovely bit of coast with some nice towns - like Oostende, Nieuwpoort and Koksijde. Trams run every 10 - 20 minutes and you can buy a day ticket which allows you to hop on and off. https://www.delijn.be/en/content/kusttram/

At €255, it's pretty much on the money for a Michelin 2* place. Our recent 2* meals in the UK have been £225 and £230.

We like Oceania and it's worth a mention that it's has just changed its offer, so is now more "all inclusive". By which I suppose I mean more similar to the Regent and Viking offer. We intend to make a comparison between all three for a 2024 cruise. The relaxed "smart casual" style of all three suits us much better than the lines which are more traditionally formal in dress code.

I've not taken the risk of staying there again. It'd been a long drive and we had an early ferry. And not much sleep in between. The A20 hotel is only a five minute drive down to the ferry port.

You can also exchange them at certain Post Offices. This link may help https://www.postoffice.co.uk/banknote-exchange

Yep, that's the only reason I visit in Dover. I travel down the day before my ferry - it's a 5+ hour drive. Whenever I'm travelling round the country, I usually stay in Premier Inns. They're decent enough for short stays. reasonably priced and with quite a good buffet breakfast (extra charge). I've stayed at the Dover Central hotel but there can be issues with traffic noise, so I now stay on the outskirts of town at the "A20" hotel.

Yes. I'm always conscious that this is an American ship and rightly caters to American, not European, tastes.

It was available on Nautica a couple of weeks back. Accurately cooked as requested but just not very flavoursome. I doubt I'd order it again.

We were on Nautica a couple of weeks ago. Very few crew or passengers wearing masks (us included). Nothing really by way of coughing and it felt very safe. We both came down with fairly bad colds, starting a couple of days after we got home. Probably caught it on the plane which, of course, was much more crowded than anything cruise related.

Salisbury Cathedral is magnificent (even if, like me, you have no religious faith). My highlight was seeing the world's oldest mechanical clock - dating from the 1300s. I was prompted to visit having read Edward Rutherford's fact based novel "Sarum".

Oh, if he can handle Manchester traffic, he can handle the New Forest with one eye closed. The city is at the centre of my metro region.

Yeah, just take your time. Settle into the car. On the flip side, I've rented cars at Atlanta airport and find the first 30 minutes are stressful. By the time I've reached Chattanooga, it feels like I've never driven anything else.

I stayed in Brockenhurst for a night last year. Traffic around the village was awful. Not "difficult" as such, just very slow moving. Thankfully, I was only a tourist and don't have to put up with it every day.

Pubs tend to fall into one of two categories - drinking pubs and eating pubs. Drinking pubs are often as described by Globaliser. These days eating pubs are really restaurants in buildings that used to be drinking pubs. Obviously, exceptions apply. But it is one of those things about which foreigners tend to have rose-tinted glasses. Another would be wanting to eat fish & chips - generally, please don't, it will probably be awful. And almost guaranteed to be awful if eaten in a pub.

And even our own homegrown major brand, Costa, is now American owned. Probably still too soon to tell if the quality will be adversely affected, although my guess is that it's only a matter of time.

Almost all of our relatives would be in that camp. One of my nephews will try anything but he's probably the only one Went to Core in 2020. Was fantastic. I suppose I better throw into the mix Simon Rogan's L'Enclume. Not been since he got his third star but previous visits have been outstandng. We're so fortunate on these islands by way of good eats. I confess to not yet making it to your part of the world. An old pal of mine, in Ballymena, always used to say that I had not lived until I'd eaten a proper Ulster Fry.

I'm also a fan. As for ordinary light & dark soy, it's whatever is on offer at one of the supermarkets in Manchester's Chinatown. So, no sophistication there. But I have learned something from the OP - I had no idea there were so many different types and styles. I don't think there's any great variety on offer in those Chinatown shops.

San Pellegrino Orange & Pomegranate. Much less sweet than the more common American canned drinks.

I'd also make it the Fat Duck. Went for my 60th birthday, in 2010. It was then rated as the third best restaurant in the world. The Waterside was for our 40th anniversary (2012). It would certainly be in my top five places, along with Le Manoir in Oxfordshire. I'd have to really think which other two places to put on that list. Maybe the now closed Club Allard in Madrid would be one

Recently back from an Oceania cruise. The MDR, specialities and the buffet all had their individual merits and we had dinner in all of them. One of the benefits of Oceania is that specialities are not chargeable extras as I understand to be with some other lines. The buffet allowed us to dine outside on the terrace one evening and the Spanish buffet another night was excellent. I suppose though that we ate in the MDR more nights than anywhere else. A major selling point for us with Oceania is that you can turn up at the MDR at whatever time you like, ask for a table for two and get one pretty much immediately. We have no interest in cruising on a ship where there are "sittings" or you are seated with other people. It's just not us. We also like thier "smart casual" dress code which is how we'd dress for a nice place on land - but that's a whole different dining question, I suppose.