Harry Peterson

Our favourite place to be - and I'm glad the canapés have improved! I'm curious - what's the general state of those suites now? Last time we cruised they were in a pretty poor state and really needing some replacements of furnishings, along with the bathrooms. Tired, I think, is the word, and in hotel terms everything would have been replaced. Have they improved, along with the canapés?

Never had any problems ordering direct, and never charged. Any error would quickly and simply be corrected at reception, I’m sure.

No idea, I’m afraid, without a sneaky internet search, except that Club Soda sounds American. If I saw Prism event on the programme, I’d assume it was a misprint for prison and a veiled reference to a costcutting lecture on the joys of quarantine cabins.

Remember Buzzword Bingo? That used to be fun during monotonous sessions with management consultants who knew nothing new at all but made a good living from pretending they did.

Couldn't agree more. And you can add the hackneyed cliché 'woke' to that list too.

Taking up the points raised by others about steep insurance increases, our buildings and contents policy with John Lewis Financial Services has just increased by about a third. I did read something the other day about prices rising because of increased building costs etc, but 33% was a bit of a surprise. I’m happy to switch car insurance around fairly liberally, but home insurance is more of a risk. I’ll check around, but needs a lot more care and detail than mere cars. Anyone else finding their home insurance ramped up for no apparent reason?

‘Discussing’ it with Saga at the moment, and it’s already starting to feature in various websites as more people receive the letters they’re sending out. Their initial reaction has been disappointing, and they’re still trying to justify the decision on the basis of the cost to Saga of sending out the magazines. Legally, they’re on a hiding to nothing, particularly as I still have the original letter confirming the details. If push comes to shove I’ll use the revamped County Court online small claims procedure, but I’d be amazed if they allowed it to go that far because the attendant publicity would destroy their reputation for honest and straightforward dealing with the highly profitable grey generation (aka Boomers!).

Probably not, but that's no fault of those who took them up on it, and they had the benefit of the upfront cash. The Sunday Times did a piece way back in the 70s on beating inflation, which was high and still rising. They tipped life memberships with the National Trust (£50, covering two), and we added English Heritage and the AA (£250 including all the extra add ons). We had no carpets and precious little furniture at the time, so they had to wait. No money for eating out or anything much else either. But the AA membership was useful for our £50 Austin A30!

I'll explain tomorrow. It was from one of today's news stories, but an explanation would ruin today's Wordle.

My wife thinks I think she’s a witch. This morning (she chooses the start word for Wordle and we both use it in some sort of semi-competition) for the second time she got Wordle on the very first line. Using a thought process based on one of this morning’s news stories. No need for a spoiler alert - it’s impenetrable. She has a system involving using things like current news stories or what comes up in emails to trigger the word chosen. And she consistently beats me at the game itself. So she obviously is a witch! 😇

Saga have created themselves a financial problem by a series of disastrous financial moves, and they're expecting customers to make up the shortfall. Expecting people who've bought lifetime subscriptions to their magazine to pay all over again (another £30 a year) is really taking the mickey though! What's next? Send out another cruise invoice halfway through the cruise, saying they've decided to charge you all over again?

Sounds great - have fun!

Anyone else happen to have bought a life membership to Saga some considerable time ago when they were offering them? The welcome letter (rather a long time ago) included this sentence: "Your new membership card entitles you to receive twelve copies of Saga per year for life" They're now sending out letters to life members telling them that if they want to continue to receive the Saga magazine they'll have to pay £29.95 a year for it - despite having already bought a lifetime subscription to it. Basically, they've got themselves into a financial hole through mismanagement, and they're expecting their members to pay twice over to help them out! Anyone else in this position, and gearing up for a challenge?

After an email from Which? this morning I learned a new term - Nottingham Knockers. Not what you might think, Kalos, but we’ve all probably had them at the door, ex-prisoners selling tat from a hold-all. Nobody here daft enough to fall for their tricks, but this is an interesting read. I reported the last lot to the police because they’re often threatening and we have quite a few vulnerable older people in the village. The police, at least round here, do take it seriously and usually send a car out. https://www.oprepeat.co.uk/nottingham-knockers/

“Waiter - my crab’s only got 2 legs!”

Nor me. But at some point it’ll be seen as a luxury, when meat’s beyond the reach of all but the super rich!

I think that’s the point, really. Decent veggie options can be enjoyed by everyone. Non-veggie options can’t. And a choice between only two options isn’t much of a choice, is it?

I think vegetarians and vegans would disagree! I’m neither, but I know a lot of younger people who are, and their view is that those options can be chosen by everyone, including meat and fish eaters, while meat and fish options can’t. From P&O’s standpoint, veggie options are usually cheaper, the new target market includes a large and growing number of veggies, so it’s win/win. Those bad old days of one veggie option, usually a salad or risotto, are long gone onshore, and cruises are simply following the trend.

Absolutely. We've never been remotely bothered about using the ones in the suites because, as you say, there is a cleaning routine. It's sharing a jacuzzi with complete strangers in it at the same time that I am that bothers me! There's a lot of unpleasant evidence around about the risks. Swimming pools - fine. Jacuzzis - no thanks.

Spot on there!

Pretty powerful, I’d say. But I’m afraid I can’t give you a comparison with the jacuzzis because one of the very last things I’d ever want to do is share a warm bacterial breeding pit with a bunch of complete strangers and their unknown, but probably unpleasant, quite possibly faecal, bacteria. 🤮

My wife’s absolutely with you on that one. Mind you, she never actually played much after developing a technique for hiding in the toilets, hanging on the back of a door so that no legs were visible when the games mistress checked for absentees.

I must admit to being a little shocked by this - perhaps stupidly. We always found boarding to be a pretty relaxed, almost pleasurable, experience. Right from first arriving by car. But this was in the days of smaller (!) ships like Azura and Ventura, so I suppose if the terminal facilities aren’t improved and expanded the outcome’s inevitable. We used to tell friends who hadn’t cruised how much more relaxed it was than flying. From reading this, that seems to have changed.

I think you’re right about the pickers. The store that’s involved competes for staff with a nearby Waitrose, an Aldi and a Lidl. Tesco almost certainly pays the least, and the staff reflect that - though the drivers are great. Could be, of course, that the pickers aren’t given enough time. There was an interesting incident at that store a few years back when opened, contaminated and reseated alcohol bottles were discovered on the shelves. Happened during night shifts.

I was annoyed this morning because they substituted replaced 24 large eggs with just 12 medium. And then charged for 24. It wasn’t the overcharge, though - just that they only sent 12. Most of the problems arise because of the store - couple of weeks ago a lot of the fresh food was on its BB or use by date. No warning on the invoice either. Ocado is much more reliable - but often pricey. They once substituted a free range organic chicken costing £25 - and they don’t reduce the price to the original order price.