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Looking after my son and DILs crazy pup today . She's quite a handful. Normally Gary does most of the walks with her but he's meeting up with old work friends in London. I told him to keep away from Downing Street/Westminster area with all that's going on up there at mo

Edited to say sorry, misread your question, too much skim reading 😄

We have a yearly pass to 'historic Royal palaces' which includes Hampton Court, Kensington Palace and The Tower, so have visited all this last year. A few years ago we also visited Buckinghsm Palace and Gardens when it was open to the public. Haven't been to the Royal Mews yet though

Agree, I love fictionalised books/audio books about that time, so much intrigue and skullduggery

But please remember it is fiction (based on some facts) it's not a documentary or all true. Who truly knows what goes on in the privacy of other peoples homes or what they are thinking even when they have a very public life

How lovely Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁

Same with the airline industry, always working to strict deadlines. So many times trying to do a tricky rebooking/fare calculation/reissue when the closeout of the flight is creeping closer and closer, shouting to the supervisor to keep the flight open just a few more minutes .....

Glad you had a,good cruise. Love Anthem. Perfect cool weather ship with the big indoor pools and lovely Solarium. Living in the UK it's so easy to have a short drive to the port and park right outside the ship. The porters come to your car to get the bags and next time you see them they are in your room. We were booked on Anthem in September but have had to cancel due family commitments, next year maybe

Seriously the ones who earn their share of the gratuities are the always smiling lovely staff who keep the public 'ladies' toilets so clean Loved the little individual folded towels on our celebrity cruise last month

Agree make it mandatory. No worries, no discussion. If you want to give out envelopes (this to OP), you still can , give extra to your stateroom attendant or fav bartender if you think they went above and beyond

Dani and I were on the same cruise and I had some lovely conversations with her and DH. It was 13June for 10 nights

Here is a pic of the dark mirrored corridor that leads to Eden. It does look quite beautiful but it definitely is a hazard. Those big golden blobs are hard. I saw an elderly man walk into one of the mirrors thinking it was an exit. Its actually darker than the pic shows. Loved how they're changed the lawn to plant islands with seating. Great for watching the outdoor movies. Loved the outdoor sunset bar. Loved the stage and entertainment,though some shows were a bit loud. Missed the sky lounge and no forward facing top deck lounge

Looking forward to your review, we were on Beyond the cruise before yours, though it was different ports. Our cruise was busier, around 2300 I think. On our last day there was a little competition on the pool deck - guess how many on the next cruise. I said 1400 but I think the correct answer was 1690. We were also on deck 12, but under the Solarium, very handy for the lovely fresh coffee in the spa cafe early in the morning. Looking forward to hearing about the specialised restaurants as we didn't do any.

They're talking about extending it to over 50s though not definitely announced yet. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/2697117a-fc94-11ec-ab20-2fd534744dd7?shareToken=fc2612830c66d626d75f7213e9d49eac

I have to admit to a soft spot for Malta as I lived there as a very young child when my father was posted there with the RAF in the late 50s. If you like scuba diving there are some good dive sites. My DH is a WW2 and plane nut so he finds the whole history of the island during the war years fascinating. The harbour was stunning , as is the sail in and sail out . We did the Three Cities and Harbour cruise tour . If you Google Three Cities Malta it will give you an idea about this historic area. After the land tour we transferred to a large boat for a tour of the very big harbour. The tour was excellent and I would recommend. We hope to return soon for a proper stay on the island Regards Sue

I guess they would have to find a carrier willing to allow them to purchase tickets. Though if they don't have the right docs for that country the original carrier could be forced to arrange transport

In UK over 50s will be getting our fourth test in the autumn along with the flu jab .

When airlines have to divert and offload in a third country they police would meet the flight and they would at the very least be put in cells overnight and may be prosecuted

My BA flights to Rome on the 12th June was on time, picking up a slight delay due European ATC, returning 11 days later from Barcelona we were on time. Waited just 10 minutes for baggage at T5 on arrival. I always book my flights separate from the cruise so I can book the flights I want. Hopefully things may of improved by September. Can you request an earlier flight?

Ah thanks a million, don't go to too much trouble, you know what teenagers are like, a million ideas but trying to get boys to follow through isn't easy. I pass the webaddress onto him Thanks again Sue

I agree, we mostly left our afternoon snacks on our Beyond cruise last month. There's always food around the ship if you want something . Just a waste and I would ask them not to deliver in future

@aussielozzie18my nephew has deferred his uni place so is having a gap year until Sept 2023 and is thinking of having a working holiday in Australia. Do you know if its easy to get casual work in Sydney now maybe in the bars or cafes? He's 18 years old. I guess he would have to get a special gap year visa that allows him to work. My eldest did a gap year but it was after uni so he was that much older. Just wondered what the employment/job situation is like at mo in Sydney? Thanks Sue 😊

We don't have little ones anymore but I can give you a some advice about Greece. We were there two weeks ago, it was hot but not impossibly so. I guess with young children you need to factor in shade and sun protection. A lot of ports you can just get off and do your own thing. Rhodes you dock right next to the centre of the old city and a there's a fair amount of shade. Mykonos and Santorini we anchored in the bay and tendered to land. Mykonos has very narrow pedestrian only streets but can get crowded. Maybe book a beach tour? Santorini you can take the cable car up to Fira but again the streets are very narrow and crowded. You could hire a car or stay in Fira. Ensure there are child seats if you book a car on line Katakolon is the port for Olympia and the ship docks right in the port with the shops and restaurants a few minutes walk. I would advice giving Olympia a miss and stay in port which is very nice. There's a cute land train tour that the children would like Athens would be a good port to take a private taxi tour or stay on board. Lots of info on the port pages of cruise critic for Greece. Enjoy your holiday

Here you go, this was concierge class on Silhouette a few weeks ago, octopus maybe?

Over 75s here, happy to wait till Oct/Nov to have the second booster along with flu vaccine as we go into the Winter. Had Omicron in Feb and my online NHS covid info says I have protection for 180 days , though with the new Omicron variants B.4 and 5 I'm not sure if that still holds true. A lot of younger people seem to be testing negative after 5 days with the new variants To the OP, hope you all feel better soon and make a full recovery