joolsb

I was diagnosed with and treated for cancer at the start of the year. My insurance company who I'd used for 10 years without claim immediately washed their hands of me, even though I could provide evidence of being cancer free and in remission. I trawled through all the comparison sites to no avail, and was preparing to forego any cruising for the foreseeable future, when I looked at a Macmillan forum on this topic. Someone suggested Nationwide' s account that includes insurance. They'd had to pay a relatively small extra premium on top of the monthly cost, which from my perspective sounded well worth it.

Since we already had an account (altjough not the one with insurance) I phoned their insurance line and spoke to the most helpful man. Their screening questions were slightly different from all the others I'd been asked (where as soon as I answered "yes" to the first question ("have you been diagnosed .....within the last year"), the computer immediately said "no"!). I really felt that I was being treated as an individual and was able to actually discuss things with him.

The result was they agreed to insure me - at no extra charge! We changed our account, and for the same cost as my old insurance I've also got phone insurance and car breakdown thrown in too!! I am not covered for anything relating to the cancer I had but since I'm assured that's all gone, it's not a problem.

We immediately booked a lovely Caribbean cruise which was fantastic!

We managed to pre book a middle and aisle seat together home from Barbados in November. Not thrilled at having to pay but really didn't want a stranger dribbling on my shoulder during the night (my hubby' s bad enough!!). What I don't understand is why people who really need to sit together won't pay. We had a bit of an altercation with a lady who wanted us to give up our seats so she could sit beside her partner who apparently had sleep apnia! It appeared to be our problem if he died during the night without her being able to give him a kick!!

She was allocated the window seat in our row and he the one behind. We eventually agreed to move along and took the window and aisle, but the people behind weren't for budging, so he had to stay where he was ..........he lived!! Not convinced this isn't the first time they've tried this in an effort to get good seats without paying. If they were genuine then I don't think they'll make the same mistake again!

Brilliant - I wonder what they expect us to do till (in our case) 8.30pm? We fly in to Southampton at 0930 ... It's going to be a long day - but we'll have £20 to spend - and it's my birthday so what the heck, we might just blow the lot!!!

I agree that if they insist on giving out embarkation times, it needs to be done well in advance - and taking point of origin into consideration. We are flying in to Southampton early on Friday morning (arriving about 0930). Our check in is 1530! That's a long day to pass with luggage in tow - especially since those on the coaches will be checked in whenever they arrive!

We're aware of the Grand Harbour package - but really don't want to be sitting there for hours on end - with or without alcohol ;)

Yes! First cruised on Uganda in June 1974 - with all Aberdeen Schools taking over the ship (it was labelled "ABC '74" - Aberdeen Baltic Cruise!).

We left from (and returned to) Dundee - we were on chartered trains from Aberdeen to Dundee and then a fleet of double decker buses to the ship! Great memories - including the overnight sleeper from Leningrad to Moscow! And the food on the ship being thrown at you into those little compartment trays that you had to put your whole meal on at once!

I still have a Uganda bookmark, which I use all the time - it has drawn a number of comments on more recent cruises!!