Aussieflyer

Lovely to hear from you - was getting a bit worried there for a while. Hope you are enjoying the retirement villa and that you can keep those pesky health issues under control. Enjoy the warmer weather that is coming. I think one always feels better if is is not dark and rainy. Best wishes Jenny

I am so sorry for you - it is always hard to lose a pet that has been part of the family. Their presence remains in all those memories though.

I believe that people make the best choice for themselves at the time - often others can find that difficult but I believe people have this right. I do acknowledge there are often people left behind and this is hard for them. It is a very personal journey and view.

So sorry to hear your gorgeous four legged friend has left. He looks very like a Springer Spaniel. We had one some years ago - very loving and a real character but could be oh so naughty!

Checking in to see how things are.

Our flights always have 10kg carry on. If we are getting close to that we often will check the bag in. We do laundry so never take the full amount of clothes/underwear. Three pairs of shoes for me is max - a pair to wear out and about, pair for dinners, one more day kind often. Usually only 2 outfits for formal night (though a bit over it now and so on the next cruise will probably have dinner in cabin or pizza restaurant). It is not so much the clothes but size and weight of the luggage that I find a trial - anything that is heavy and needs lifting or schlepping is a no no.

Sadly this model is no longer available - it was a Pacsafe and although a bit on the heavier side than new styles it was as solid as a rock. My case was blue and DH had a black one.We took them all over the world on planes, trains, ships over quite a few years. Sadly they did start to wear out so we had to buy new 55cm cases - Samsonite which I do not hold a lot of hope for their longevity but will do for some time I am sure. I quite like Rimowa but they can be heavy (not to mention expensive).

We make it a point to only take carry on - sometimes we check them on flights but often not. The cases are 55 cm international so a reasonable size. We also take a largish tote/backpack for the things needed on the plane and also a few pieces of clothing. We do laundry on board or if staying for a period at a hotel/apartment - either pay or use laundry facilities if available. I would much rather do that than wrangle heavy and large luggage, Small cases means I can lift them up myself on planes and trains etc. We had couple on our table on QM2 who were cruising from Hong Kong back to Southampton and they had 72kg each. Their dress did not impress so no idea why they needed so much. Another woman on on the table had 7kg of jewellery. We have different cases now but this was for 2 weeks on Silver Muse last December. Same size case each plus a Belroy tote.

Hopefully with the tightening up of smoking on ships at least you can make the decision to stay away from the areas where smoking is permitted.You should not be told 'too bad' and smokers must stay in designated areas (though I can imagine that air currents and wind may be an issue with smoke drift at times). It seems that the 'assistance dogs' were able to go everywhere on the ship with no doggie free zones.

I would have thought the dogs would have had to be wearing offical 'assistance animal' jackets to identify them as such. Although this is onboard it is an area where the owners come into contact with other members of the public therefore the dogs should be correctly identified if they are assistance or service animals (there is a difference in the role they play between the two I think). On a slightly different point, I wonder if anyone on either trips had made a complaint and if so what the response was. Certainly if I was allergic to dog hair I would think I would be within my rights to do so. Silversea should have robust rules to ensure that any service animal is correctly accredited by a proper third party.

Oleana have lovely knitwear. I have a couple of things (I picked up a scarf years ago in Oslo) and there is a shop here that does stock some Oleana where I have bought a couple of other things.

What was the reason given? Too windy or too much fog to get in safely? Interested to know.

Isn't there a particular TI company (name escapes me at this very moment) that covers a really wide range of medical PECs - though you do pay much more. But in the scheme of things if there are PECs that need to be covered, it would be worth it.

Ooh I can hardly wait 🤪

And bon voyage from moi. Enjoy the warmth.

Lovely to hear from you Les. Take care and don't overdo that shoulder - in the recovery stage of a frozen shoulder, I can feel your pain. Hopefully you will keep improving.

And on a different topic - Happy Birthday mr walker 😃

If you are cruising NZ before about February, it will be cold in the South Island - only hardy people outside. This was the 27 December with a puffer jacket! 🤣

Do you mean 11 am? 🙄

Bizarre - they are there today but definitely weren't yesterday. Another of life's great mysteries. 🙄

I thought it was LOTFAP - Land of the free and paranoid - used a lot on another travel forum I visit.

I wonder if the policy includes cruising. I know of some here that don't for the full year - only land based. We don't travel as much as we used to but in the past always had the full year policy; now we tend to just buy individual policies which include cruise cover when required.

Can your friends take their luggage to the port and drop it off there and then perhaps be picked up for their day trip from the port? Usually you can drop luggage off quite early and then go on to do other things until boarding.

Oh dear drron - I can't see the photos at all - just the dreaded question mark.

Over on a different forum altogether one member flew out on a Hercules last night after being stuck there since the turmoil began.