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I have no doubt that P&O (as demonstrated) have good protocols to deal with the rare lithium battery fires that occur. So what would a review achieve? That on rare occasions lithium batteries catch fire - that's why the crew has fire fighting training. That P&O ban lithium battery wheelchairs - given that a substantial market they target are those who rely on wheelchairs that isn't going to do much for the profit line. That P&O inspect every lithium battery as they are brought on board in the hope of detecting an internal fault - I can't see that working at all.

Breakfast as you would at home - a full cooked breakfast is enticing, but keep it for a once a week treat. Lunch in the MDR and not the buffet, but keep it to a single course. Dinner in the MDR and not treating every evening as a 'night out', so some evenings just having one or two courses. However doing that in the MDR doesn't work well with sharing tables as you are either sat around waiting for your single course to arrive, or leaving just as the others are getting started. Alcohol, well its all to easy to get into consuming far more than you would at home - not helped if there is a wallet full of OBC to get rid of. And these days a 'small' glass of wine at 175ml isn't small - a small glass used to be 125ml and a medium glass 175ml, and as for the 1/3rd of a bottle 250ml glasses... Similarly those drinking 'buckets' of coffee, sorry, 'buckets' of hot milk that has vaguely seen a splash of coffee. And then there is some exercise, and although you don't 'do' the gym, then even a half hour stroll on a treadmill watching some TV on the display when the weather is bad is going to be better than sitting around looking out of the window.

Chief commercial officer at Princess Cruises Terry Thorton said: “Gone are the days of last-minute deep discounts close to departure dates. "The best time to secure a spot on a 2024 or 2025 Princess cruise is right now.” To quote Mandy Rice-Davies "He would say that, wouldn't he" Lets see what happens in 2024 or 2025 if their early bookings don't hold up, and whether they are prepared to hold their nerve and sail with empty cabins rather than reduce the price, whilst continuing to pay the staff who should be serving those absent passengers and making no money from the bar, the excursions, etc.

That seems very fair. Why not ask one of your daughters to stay the final week - that way you both tick the cover box and it would likely reduce the risk of burglary or water damage that may or may not be covered. Another alternative if you have a dual sim phone that accepts e-sims (i.e. most recent iPhones - no idea about Android) then there are a whole bunch of companies out there where using a pre-installed app you can buy an e-sim and a data bundle.

Yes, that was what I assumed you meant, but that would still be something to strongly avoid as any curry where the meat is cooked separately to the sauce (as an awful lot are) is going to be pretty poor. 'Great British'? German chemist, Justus von Liebig, set up the company Liebig's Extract of Meat Company in the city of Fray Bentos in Uruguay to manufacture Oxo before moving on to manufacture and sell corned beef, using the name of the city where it was made as the brand name.

"becoming" - curry has been around in the UK since 1598, so it has been around far longer than other non-British dishes that are considered 'British' such as fish and chips. And if someone is putting left-over meat of vegetables in curry then that's certainly something to avoid.

https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/83859/html "Nearly all fish & chip shops in the UK now buy frozen at sea (FAS) fillets – caught in the icy, clear Arctic waters of the Barents Sea and the North Atlantic. Nine out of ten UK fish and chip shops use frozen at sea cod and haddock all the time and we estimate that 98% use frozen fish at some time every year."

90% of the UK's fish and chip shop fish is frozen - frozen at sea on the trawler.

Not so far, because I prefer to spend a month or two away, come home for a week, then disappear for another month or two, and so on, but I am aware from a search that such products do exist - and not just for people going on long cruises, but also other (less cheerful) circumstances when a house might be unoccupied for a long time.

Mine doesn't, other than suggest you buy additional 'unoccupied home' insurance from another company.

Are you? This is what the policy for my home insurance says (with my bolding)- "Unoccupied – By unoccupied, we mean that your home hasn’t been or won’t be lived in for more than 60 days in a row, or doesn’t contain enough furniture to be lived in normally. Regular visits to the home, or occasional overnight stays, would not count as your home being lived in or as a break in this period. You must tell us if you are planning on being away from your home for more than 60 days in a row or if your home is going to be unfurnished for any amount of time. Just to be clear, wherever we use the word ‘unoccupied’ under ‘What’s not covered’; this means if your property is ‘unoccupied’ there is no cover under those parts of the policy from the first day you leave your home. The only time this will change is if you are away from your home due to unforeseen circumstances and it is not possible to contact us. If this happens, normal cover will apply for up to a maximum of 60 days but will end as soon as it would have been possible for you to contact us."

My wife makes use of that service and it works the same way on the ships that have only Freedom dining. Although you can use any restaurant and they should know from the cabin number that you should get the next day's menu, we found it easier to pick a restaurant and stick with it as my wife then got to know the senior waiter tasked with the duty to take the order to get a better result - for example specifying how she wanted things cooked, additional sides, substitutions, etc. The only issue came at lunch when it always seemed to come as a surprise to the waiter that my wife had pre-ordered - why oh why oh why don't P&O get an integrated system so that when we are checked in by the host that it doesn't flag that up on the table booking so the waiters are pre-prepared.

Given the FOS view on this matter that they will take the "natural and ordinary meaning, taking into account the overall purpose of the contract and clause/term in question and usually adopt the meaning that’s most favourable to the customer" unless there is a "clear definition" then I am pretty surprised that *any* insurer would not have a 'clear definition' and would leave things vague to be interpreted by the FOS in the event of a claim - Unoccupied properties (financial-ombudsman.org.uk) My home insurer is quite clear about what 'unoccupied' means, and if I was to be away for more than the time limit then effectively the house is uninsured from the day I leave as there is no cover on fire, theft, leaks, etc. - and they don't offer an option to extend the limit for a fee. And this is one of the big name reputable insurers. However you can buy 'unoccupied home' insurance if you are in the position of going away for a length of time longer than your insurer will allow under your normal home insurance policy.

Technology is pretty handy when you are away over winter for several months. A Hive heating system so I can 'see' the house temperature and it will alert me if it falls too low - and setting it to fire up three times a day at six hour intervals to keep the house at a minimum 12c (its pretty well insulated so rarely falls below that anyway) as that seemed to work better and more efficiently than a 'once a day' approach. Ring cameras surrounding the house and at various locations inside, so I can keep an eye on what is going on, with alerts if someone was in the garden. Automatic blinds that close at ten minutes past sunset and open again at a set time in the morning. WiFi lights that turn on and off automatically (and some randomly within set times). Speaker systems turning on music automatically in the evening so anyone pressing their ear to a door or window would hear something. And if your neighbours are amenable, asking if they would park a car on your drive as it helps to make it look occupied.

Enjoy. For the last few winters since I retired I have been spending January to March outside the UK, this year it will be a few months in Tenerife, and there is nothing to beat not having to deal with the UK's worst time of year. One thing not to forget is your home insurance. Most policies have a limitation of 30 or 60 days, with very limited cover if you are away for longer than that (with the restriction kicking in when you *leave*, for that over 30 or 60 day trip and *not* at day 30 or 60) and most have clauses that mean that family popping in don't count even if they are staying overnight.

That doesn't seem out of step with anything else they charge for on board, such as hairdressers, spa, etc.

Yes you use a travel router - I use a GL.iNet router and they start at around £30. At any hotel (or cruise ship) you log onto the WiFi with your phone so the hotel has the MAC of your phone which it then uses to 'recognise' the device. You then disconnect and if you have not already done so copy your phone's MAC to the WiFi router and then connect the WiFi router to the hotel's WiFi. The hotel's WiFi seeing a MAC it recognises allows the router to connect and you now connect whatever you want to your router. Primarily I don't use it to avoid the 'multiple device' restriction as most hotels don't place any such restriction these days because they generally don't charge,, but to run a VPN back to a Raspberry Pi at home so bypassing any geo-restrictions on being abroad (the banned B word that has removed the ability to be able to watch streaming services outside the UK if you don't take similar steps).

Even if a couple on a drinks package were drinking 15 drinks each a day every day, P&O would still be making £1,400 profit from them on a 14 night cruise.

So an industrial estate with no security. Hmm...

Yes, instead of not being able to find space on deck to sunbath, it would not be finding space to set up your satellite connection. At the moment... The first iPhone was launched in 2007 and was a 2G phone with only very rudimentary web access, and yet 15 years later when they launched the iPhone 14 it offered built in emergency satellite communication access. Would you be prepared to gamble on what the iPhone 25 will be capable of in ten years?

Sure, as a 'get it out there quick' stop-gap following the restart then a webpage was OK. But now the requirement to book for restaurants, shows, etc. isn't going away, then after two years it is a bit poor that the stop-gap is still in place and a proper app hasn't replaced it.

Why on earth P&O don't bite the bullet and just release an app that actually worked that people can download before they get on the cruise ship ... Do that and leave the website as a fallback to those who hadn't downloaded it (and when onboard overseas had no internet access to do so) and it would solve many many issues.

Yes, you can personally buy a Starlink roaming setup, and plenty of people with camper vans are doing so. And also plenty of people in rural areas that cannot get a decent 'landline' broadband connection are buying the residential version. And that's before you get to the latest iPhones having emergency access to satellite communications for if you are stuck somewhere where there is no mobile phone coverage. A box 2' x 1' x 1' weighing about 10kg - so not too bad. People take dafter things on cruises, and unless there is anything in the T&Cs to prevent you... Realistically I can't see people doing so, but my point was that satellite internet access at £3 a day (or likely far less when bought in bulk) cost price is massively marked up by the cruise lines.

I would suggest the opposite given how the regulator has had to bring enforcement action down on some airlines who haven't been paying up for pretty straightforward things. Depends on the circumstances. The court fee and travel expenses would be all. Things are going in the opposite direction with plans by the UK government to water down the rights people gained whilst the UK was in the EU - Aviation Consumer Policy Reform (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Although if you do that you will inevitably have to take the airline to court to get the money back you spent on the new tickets.