delgirl

5 minutes ago, Angel57 said:

Everyone has their favourite ships for their own reasons, but I’m in agreement with you that the new ships are too large.

I love the perfectly sized Aurora!

That was our 2nd cruise, loved it.

2 minutes ago, Britboys said:

QM2 is rather an exception for mass cruising companies these days and also, she was built more as a transatlantic liner than a cruise ship. QE and QV passenger numbers are not dissimilar to Arcadia, which is built to the same template. Likewise, the Royal Class Princess ships take similar numbers to Britannia as they are on the same template.

I'm not a fan of the large ships myself. Best you don't look at Iona/Arvia then with their 5200 pax...😱😊

Don't think I will. I remember our 1st cruise on adventure of the seas, 119,000 tons 3200 passengers. It was hell on sea days. Good job we had a balcony cabin as there was nowhere to sit. It put us off rcl and have never sailed with them since. Done mostly cunard QM2 and QV, P and O, celebrity and hal. Wasn't keen on hal.

Didn't realise they packed so many people on a p and o ship. Just looked at brittania 143,000 tons just over 3600 passengers. QM2 150,000 tons 2689 people. Thats a 1000 more passengers on a smaller ship. No wonder so many people don't like the large p and o ships. Have only sailed aurora and oceana on p and o.

4 hours ago, Adawn47 said:

Me I hope🤞 There's too much antagonism in the world in general and I find it unpleasant when a friendly debate is turned into an unnecessary argument. The loudest voice doesn't always have the correct answer.

Avril

Well said. There seems to be a bit of cabin fever going on just lately.

I have travel insurance with my bank. Barclays travel pack plus It's £12.50 per month and also has RAC cover as well. Just checked it says we are covered for holidays 31 days or less, includes cruises and and we will be insured until we are in our 80's. (fortunately we are still in our 60's). It also covered us when we went to New York. Never had to make a claim so cannot say how good that is but I do know the underwriter is aviva.

2 hours ago, Beckett said:

No coach service would be a blow for me. I always use the coach as I live only 5 minutes from the M25 pick-up point. Usually, coach is included in the Select fare but not the Guarantee fare so it will be interesting to see see if they still differentiate, or if it will be on a first come first served basis. Mmm,  perhaps I'll have to re-think this. Jane.x

2 hours ago, Beckett said:

No coach service would be a blow for me. I always use the coach as I live only 5 minutes from the M25 pick-up point. Usually, coach is included in the Select fare but not the Guarantee fare so it will be interesting to see see if they still differentiate, or if it will be on a first come first served basis. Mmm,  perhaps I'll have to re-think this. Jane.x

Can you not do a national express coach. I know they don't take you to the cruise terminal but you could always take a taxi from the coach park.

10 hours ago, Selbourne said:

If they are clever, and price them at low enough prices, I think they can target several very different groups. As is evidenced by this forum, there are a lot of traditional cruisers who are so keen to get back on a cruise ship ASAP that the lack of a proper itinerary, risk of poor weather etc won’t be any deterrent whatsoever. Then, as you say, there will be those who are in the new target market who will see these as ‘taster’ cruises to see if cruising is for them. Another group could be people who live within a couple of hours of Southampton who might have never considered cruising but see these short cruises as ‘something different’ and a new experience after a year of not being able to do much. Yet another group could be experienced cruisers who see this as a low cost way to experience a new cruise ship that they haven’t been on before, or even a new cruise line altogether.
 

This last group could include us. We aren’t desperate to go on a cruise any time soon, especially whilst there are on board restrictions, but we would like to see Iona (we were due to be on the maiden voyage)  and have contemplated trying other cruise lines but have yet to take the plunge. We couldn’t face a week without getting off the ship, but as we are less than 2 hours from Southampton we could consider up to 3 nights if it was a new ship for us, but it would have to be at a cheap price - certainly much less than £100 pppn - for us to even consider it, given that we have paid less than that for a balcony cabin on a proper cruise to interesting places with no on board restrictions. 

 

 

We have done transatlantic 3 times on QM2. Its not as bad as you would think. We absolutely love it not getting off the ship is so relaxing. There is plenty to do onboard if you so wish or you can do absolutely nothing and just chillax. On our 1st TA it took us about 4 days to find our way around the ship, we kept getting lost but it all adds up to the fun😆

We have the barclays travel pack plus for £12.50 per month which also includes full RAC with at home call out. I think that is very good value. I had breast cancer in 2013 I wasn't covered for the 1st 2 years but after that I was and no increase in cost.

If you think p and o excursions are expensive you should try holland america they are truly eyewatering. Went to geiranger rib ride through hal was $150.00 each,  which at that time was £100 each. Went and booked with the geiranger agent online came to £92.00 for both of us. Went to Eidfford 2 days later there trip to the waterfall was $125 each. Booked when we got to eidfford £25 each. Have done p and o excursions and I always thought they are quite reasonable.

P and O have cancelled their cruises until end of september and october. I think cunard are due to make a similar announcement later in the month. This would explain why you cannot book excursions as I doubt it will sail

4 hours ago, lincslady said:

Hello folks  -  just had the phone call from the housebound vaccination team; they are coming tomorrow!!

 

I feel sure that the MP's intervention made the difference.

 

l will come back after the event, possibly after any side-effects have worn off.  Hope there won't be serious ones, as I do have to care for my husband, and am inclined to allergies.

 

Thank you all for your interest.

Thats brilliant news.😊

2 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Thanks Avril.

When I paid it said collections start early March 2021.

I had tried online but it wasn't showing brown garden waste bins so I just rang the council and April 2nd is first collection.

Graham.

April 2nd is Good Friday. Didn't think they worked on a bank holiday.😀

4 hours ago, Peanut006 said:

I have just had my Covid vaccination (AZ) and got a fitter appointment booked for 9 May

 

Michelle 

Thats great news. Hope you are well.

1 hour ago, purplesea said:

Had my jab yesterday morning (AZ) and apart from a sore arm where the injection is, I feel fine and am not suffering any symptoms at all🤞

Thats great news. I bet you are relieved.

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Pleased to hear that they have both now had the jab and hope that they are ‘reaction free’. My arm is still quite painful after two and a half days. I reckon the nurse was practicing darts when she jabbed me 😂 

My arm didn't hurt until 2 or 3 days later. Hurt for about 3 days.

12 minutes ago, Beckett said:

Great news delgirl. Fingers crossed they'll both be fine. You must be so relieved. J.x

Very relieved.😀

Daughter and hubby got jabbed this afternoon. Both had the phizer so am hoping she doesn't get too much of a reaction. My other daughter said when she had the e-mail and text from drs she could choose which one she wanted. She is having the az same as me. We are at the same drs but I didn't have a choice. Whether its because she is in group 6 I don't know(she is coeliac same as me) but seems a bit bizarre she had the choice.

2 hours ago, Angel57 said:

Unexpectedly had a call from our local hub at Midhurst and I’m having the Pfizer jab on Thursday. I’m group 7.
So excited (which is quite ridiculous really) that I’m having a glass of wine!

Cheers everyone 🍷🍷🍷
 

thats great news.

5 hours ago, Adawn47 said:

I'm not overweight either kalos, I'm just not not tall enough.

 I should be 8' 6''😁

Avril

I always say I am the right weight but the wrong height!!!

14 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Just had a text from my doctor's.

I have been invited for my vaccine jab on Wednesday.

I have an eye appointment with the consultant in the Wednesday morning so I have booked the vaccine jab for 5pm at Millfield health centre Sunderland.

Thats great news. Did you do a jib around the room when you heard!!

4 minutes ago, lincslady said:

delgirl - delighted to hear of your result.  At present, we are supposed to be hearing from the roving team that they will be visiting us.  However, I have been in touch with the local MP by email on and off, and now one of his staff who replies says if we don't hear by Monday she will get in touch with whoever and make sure we get 'done' pronto.  The most heartening news I have had, and improves my impression of our politicians by a notch or three - if it works.

 

Obviously making a fuss can make a difference, although it should not be necessary.

 

Hope your daughter's jabs go smoothly; you will feel very relieved.

Thank you. I am glad you seem to be getting somewhere. Fingers crossed.

52 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Update on ‘the morning after’! My wife and I had the AZ vaccine yesterday. We have both had slight reactions, but different to those reported by others.
 

My issue has been my arm. It’s quite painful and disturbed my sleep quite a bit last night. I also had a stiff neck which may or may not be related. It dawned on me last night that when I had my flu jab, the pharmacist told me to let my arm go very limp and she pinched my skin as she injected. Not only did I not feel it at all, but I had no inflammation or pain afterwards, which I usually do. Yesterday, although the nurse made a point of telling us that she had been a nurse for 46 years, she did neither of these things and I felt the needle (only slightly). There is no redness, swelling or ‘hot to touch’ sensation at the vaccination site but it’s more painful than I have experienced with other jabs. Other than the arm, I feel OK. 
 

My wife said that she felt a little bit out of sorts last night, but she has MS and her immune system is a bit shot (hence the group 6 categorisation). Thankfully, she almost never gets colds, but if she gets anything it can really immobilise her. The very little movement that she does have seems even more compromised as a result of the effects of the jab. For those who are familiar with MS symptoms, she says that it feels as though she is having an ‘episode’. We are hopeful (and optimistic) that this will pass by tomorrow.

 

As long as my wife returns to her previous position, we would consider these to be small prices to pay for the prospect of life returning to normal and we both feel very relieved to have had the jab. My only advice would be let your arm go very limp, which I will try to remember for my 2nd one!

I also had a sore arm a few days later. Lasted about 2/3 days. No mark but sore to touch. I hope your wife is feeling better soon. I worry when my daughter has hers on saturday as she had stem cell treatment in mexico 3 yrs ago (it didn't work) and hasn't had an injection since. Hopefully it won't be too bad a reaction if she does have one. Please give my regards to your wife and hope she is better soon.

57 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Delighted for you all.

Graham.

Thank you.

55 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

 

Brilliant news for your daughter. So pleased to hear it. Keeping everything crossed for bobtheboys wife, AnnieC’s daughter and peanut006 now. 

Thank you. Just have to hope everyone else in group 6 will be jabbed soon.

1 minute ago, Beckett said:

That is such great news delgirl. Really happy for your daughter and for you too. Jane.x

Thank you.