davecttr

8 hours ago, Son of Anarchy said:

Surely they will simply put the Peninsula embarkation lunch back as everybody is boarding later?  Or have they told you that it will be cancelled?

 

We're on the cruise after, I doubt they will be able to fully sort the noro issues, so may well be delayed boarding for us in a couple of weeks. 🤔

No word of cancellation but that lunch would turn into a very early dinner. I am thinking of avoiding the buffet which means the MDR which I don't particularly like. I have had Noro on at least 3 occasions and don't want to repeat the experience

Just had an email from P&O. They are delaying the boarding times for Ventura on Thursday by 2.5 hours. Gastro Intestinal reports on the previous, current? cruise. i suppose it means a deep clean. My boarding time was 12.15 and is now 14.45 so no Peninsular lunch and I have to leave the hotel at noon. It is going to be chaotic and I think the revised boarding times may not be realistic. 😟

4 hours ago, davecttr said:

I don't have a bank app on my phone for two reasons. I don't do any financial transactions via an app and  i get online access from my PC.

 

I checked my credit card account this morning and there is no payment pending so P&O have not processed it yet. I will try again later but I don't want to end up paying twice!. I will try using the phone option before travelling tomorrow or on Thursday morning. My hotel is Premier Inn West Quay with P&O HQ next door so I could try them,🙄 otherwise can you pay a balance on board ship?

I tried paying again and it has worked this time with the amount shown as pending on my credit card. No worry to stop me sleeping tonight 😴

57 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

If you have your bank app on your phone you should get a notification of any in or outgoing payments Dave.

I don't have a bank app on my phone for two reasons. I don't do any financial transactions via an app and  i get online access from my PC.

I checked my credit card account this morning and there is no payment pending so P&O have not processed it yet. I will try again later but I don't want to end up paying twice!. I will try using the phone option before travelling tomorrow or on Thursday morning. My hotel is Premier Inn West Quay with P&O HQ next door so I could try them,🙄 otherwise can you pay a balance on board ship?

Don't you just love the P&O web site. I have to pay the balance of a cruise by early December and I will be away on a cruise so decided to pay today on line.

All went well with the bank security then the P&O site threw a 9004 error 😠

I find the final preparations for a cruise stressful without this extra hassle.

So have i paid or have i not?

I must be cursed. My Ecoair dessicant dehumidifier has broken down. I checked on line and the problem seems to occur when the machines are over 5 years old which mine is. Apparently the manufacturer won't fix it so I need to spend over £200 on a replacement. It is a Which best buy too.

39 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Starlink should cure this problem, they dont use geostationery satellites. Not sure how they operate but suspect there are a string of them in the lower orbit position, and you connect to the nearest one to you at the time.

But I am sure we will have a few experts able to tell us exactly how they differ, and why this improves internet speeds.

I think the Starlink satellites are all in a lower orbit including about 200? which are in polar orbits so there should be several in range even in Norway

starlink.com has a map of coverage and a section on boats

23 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

Doesn't sound too appetising

Jobby is either Scottish slang for a.........jobby or a type of Nigerian cuisine

Time problems!

I have a wall mounted clock which is regulated by the National Time Radio Signal. Yesterday at 22.10 it started running fast. OK, take down from wall and reset. The hands went to 12  and a few minutes later moved rapidly to the correct time. It is working fine this morning.

I have a Sekonda battery watch with dial and it keeps excellent time. When I came to put it on this morning  at 9am before going to the supermarket it had stopped, at TEN PAST TEN 🤯 I shook it about and it started.

I bought a simple Casio digital as a back up for the holiday only to remember when I got home that I bought one 3 years ago. I found it in a drawer and the thing is running 30 seconds fast, after 3 years.

What do you reckon, gravitational wave, cosmic rays. electromagnetic pulse or Aurora Borealis or even little green men.

I get a reminder that the upgrade will happen outside normal hours so it is best to leave it switched on all night. I am not looking forward to the windows 11 version after I tried the new email system, rubbish and did not work anyway. Waht always worries me is my online banking software really secure despite the security software and the little padlock icon

Just reported on the Saga forum that the MAIB are investigating the Spirit of Discovery loss of propulsion

I tried a long cruise to the Caribbean on Oceana several years ago. 24 nights  from Southampton for £130 more than an equivalent 14 night fly cruise. That is £130 for an extra 10 days holiday, and i like sea days. We called at the Azores there and back. £13 per night and the ship was not full 😀🤑

IRRC the difference between formal and celebration is if you are a high Peninsular club status you get a free  half bottle of champagne on Celebration night.

4 hours ago, charlie7 said:

I personally would never cruise on Arcadia again after being on her in May.

I and a vast number of passengers succumbed to some virus described as norovirus. This was the first time in almost 20 years of cruising I had ever picked up anything as nasty as this as I am very careful hygiene related. I have my doubts that the virus’s  which circulate on Arcadia can be blamed totally on passenger hygiene, more of a concern to me was the wet carpets and foul sewerage smell midship, particularly in the Retreat Room used by the people who enjoyed participating in the ballroom dancing there. Throughout that cruise “deep cleaning” was carried out but they never seem to eradicate the source. I have been on other cruise ships where there have been small “norovirus” outbreaks but these seem to be contained so as not to have an impact on other passengers but something appears amiss with Arcadia.

I can confirm the Retreat Room smell on deck 10 as in August I and others were whale watching outside. The Retreat glass doors were propped open in an attempt to keep the room ventilated.

For table games it is exchange sterling cash for chips or buy them via your cruise card and the cost is added to your onboard account. Don't forget to change your chips for cash at the end of the cruise.

Onboard credit cannot be used in the casino.

17 hours ago, Ilovemygarden said:

I always take a brightly coloured (or distinctive) handbag and put it on a table whilst I go to collect food - it’s also good in guiding me back to the right table! 😀 Good idea re the card though - I’ll check it out next month on Azura.   Clodia - I see you have been on Iona.  How did you find that as a solo?   

I found a jacket on the back of the chair plus my beanie hat on the table works OK except once when I forgot the soup spoon. On returning with it everything was OK except someone had taken the chair and there were no other empty ones nearby 🤬 

I used to enjoy the Beach House but now it has a more spicy menu I will maybe visit once for a steak. 

I received 8 this morning from P&O within 10 minutes!

1 hour ago, sogne said:

Viking sky sensors in fuel tanks activated low oil pressure when ship rolled or pitched after they were exposed due to movement. Engines automatically  shut down.

... and there are reports that the sensors were exposed because the oil level was lower than normal which led to it sloshing around in the tank - allegedly

16 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

Well, to be fair, it would normally be something on these lines:

 

’British pensioners hit by GIANT foreign killer waves as the BBC and RNLI stand back and refuse to help.’

And in the Daily Distress it would look like this

ps - read the Saga forum topic for a seasoned retired cruise ship chief engineers thoughts on the causes.

1 hour ago, Dermotsgirl said:

I’ve been following this on a Saga group elsewhere.

 

One group member explained this in a very similar way - she had been on a previous Saga cruise and a captain spoke about this particular system 

Check here on the Saga forum for the most plausible reason

3 hours ago, crompton21 said:

You may already be aware of this one, if you are not do a google search on the 2019 Viking Sky incident.  Similar in the sense that the difficulties were caused by inbuilt safety systems causing unforeseen consequences.

I asked on the general question board and this reply from a retired cruise ship chief engineer is interesting. He is a fount of knowledge of the technical stuff

Sagas modern Spirit of Discovery was caught in a severe storm a few days ago resulting in the injury of about 100 passengers including several hospitalisations. Reports state that the sudden ship movement was the result of the activation of the "automatic propulsion safety system" making the ship veer to the left and come to a sudden halt. What sort of automatic system is this and why would it result in many injuries?

Very christmassy on Oceana years ago. They could not find the christmas music CD until boxing day 🙄

The 12 night cruise is actually 14 days so a fresh shirt a day means 14 shirts and no need to wash anything else. I will take a maximum of 9 shirts and launder 6 on day  7 from departure. Actually only rinse/freshen up if there is such a wash cycle.