Megabear2

I didn't even know you got free prescriptions in Scotland to be truthful. Not having any connection to Scotland I just assume that like everyone in the world you just have to live with what government decrees. I know Wales gets free prescriptions as I have relatives there and at one point we thought we may be living there too. No offence was intended, I am sympathetic to anyone paying dentist fees.

Annual prescriptions are fine if you have regular medication of a certain number of items regularly. They won't help someone like the man I saw yesterday who had four items for a one off prescription. I listened to the chemist trying to advise. Ss a very wise man once said the only certainty in life is death and taxes!

Unfortunately no matter how much you need antibiotics down here if you're under 60 you pay for them at £9.65 an item. Luckily (!) My husband is over 60 so generally his would be free. However the dentist's prescription is private as his practice does not have an NHS section so anything issued by that practice has to be paid for regardless of age. Sadly I saw a man in our chemist shop with prescriptions with quite a lot of items on them and they are asking which are most important as they can't afford the three or four items. I picked up my husband's medication yesterday - 8 regular monthly items plus a new medication for a water and blood infection left by his food poisoning exploits on holiday. Watching the poor guy I worked out it would have been £86.85 in prescription costs if it hadn't been for my OH's age. Scary days.

I hope the pain eases soon. My husband's experience at £9.65 per prescription for "private" antibiotics as they were dentist prescribed rather than NHS plus the cost of his crown at upwards of £1,600 left us with a total dental bill of over £1,800 last year so I sympathise.

Not too good for me when I sail alone either. A recent quote for a 13 night cruise was a mere £13,000!!

Just be very grateful it wasn't your inlaws finding a pineapple duck ...

Apex only carries 2,900 guests compared to Iona/Arvia's 5,000 so not a mega ship. However the Edge class is very unique so I'd agree with it being very modern. I've never sailed any other Celebrity ships apart from Edge class but my family love them.

I sailed Celebrity Edge last year and Arvia this, not Iona but basically the same ship. Edge wins hands down no competition on food or service. Arvia wins on entertainment - as Iona and Arvia have the same set up and entertainment offering I'd expect that to hold true for both. Cost on Edge, we were lucky to have free select dining package and drinks and wifi. The price in 2023 was however far higher than last year which is why Arvia was given a whirl. That said we cancelled our Christmas booking for Arvia Caribbean and moved to Celebrity despite the less convenient flights to Miami and no bonded luggage. I've also booked Apex for next year, but saying that I've got two Britannia cruises coming up and an Aurora one just booked. If cost wasn't taken into account I'd definitely choose Celebrity but P&O offer a good product still with at the moment decent prices so we save Celebrity and Cunard for when we want something a little different/better service and food.

I thought that but my load went out at 8.30am and some of it's still damp! Rain again tomorrow I've just been told so hope it holds off until late evening.

Certainly with First Folio, yes. Dutch Decoy I'm not so sure to be honest. First Folio is very special to me as he was a present from a friend who has now sadly passed away. In his first race after he arrived in the UK he romped home at Great Yarmouth at 20-1 and myself and everyone in the training yard made a lot of money on him. He needs the right conditions but still has a rating of 98 despite this season not being so good to date. We think he might have odds around 12/1 on Saturday so fingers crossed.

I wasn't aware of Iona having the problem but I assume they are in the same places as on Arvia. It was hinted to me that the reception staff were fed up with having to deal with this problem every voyage and possibly they'd acquire some sort of separate grading in the way balconies are listed as obstructed but I've yet to see anything. I have noticed on looking at late select fares, ie just after final payment date, that a lot of the ones I know have problems on Arvia are not available and I assume late savers are getting them as its take it or leave it with those fares.

All looks wonderful. Thanks for keeping us up to date. The Retreat looks really cool. We were going to book it on our next Britannia cruise but needless to say it's currently telling me "Enquire on Board". Is it now the upgraded experience like Arvia has with alcoholic drinks etc included?

As expected Dutch Decoy is a non runner on Saturday so is aimed for York on the 24th as originally planned. Big excitement for me, my other horse First Folio is declared at Newmarket on Saturday. His last three entries have all been stopped by the weather as he only likes good ground. He is a highly rated horse though and the handicap is very hard on him since he won a big race at York the year before last. That said he is my "baby" and no matter what happens I'll be screaming him home on Saturday and his odds are very high for a horse of his talent.

Have a look at DamianG's current live thread from Arvia. First couple of pages he has photographs of his deluxe rear balcony cabin. The midships ones are narrower.

It's been well documented by me that this is the standard response. I believe DamianG has recently seen a new take on this on Arvia that no upgrades are available due to their "complex itinerary". With over 100 cabins on Arvia apparently having noise issues I'm not surprised there's no room at the inn as you put it so nicely.

If I recall rightly you could choose a wheelchair space and the end seat was for a companion.

A bar of Milka chocolate was £5.25. Bag of Haribos (big bag admittedly) was £6.00. Paris Hilton if you refer back to ICF's live from Iona thread he listed lots of sweet and chocolate prices.

I forgot, you've actually only cruised the QM2 Coronation cruise. That's a whole different ballgame to a "real" Cunard voyage where there's hundreds of people flying in from all over the world so very multi national. I cannot think of any other line I've sailed on where things are so diverse. I heard two days ago from my friends down in Florida who I met many years ago on QM2 that they are sailing 18/8/23 from NY, arriving Southampton staying overnight before flying to Valencia to meet up with another friend we met onboard, flying back to London 30/8/2023 to spend 4 days with myself and other cruising friends before travelling back to Southampton to board QN2 on 4/9/2023 to head home. Cunard has very many people who do this sort of thing on a regular basis until late December and January in the run up to the World Cruise and Grand Voyage season. Compared to P&O their "cruises" are often links for overseas guests.

Over the years Cunard has traditionally had less take up on their November Med/Canaries cruises with many undertaking the long Caribbean cruises which come up sooner after in preference. It used to be they were the first cruises where singles were offered reasonable fares on Cunard commenced on 1 November- cue the shouts of why can't we travel reasonably at other times of the year! Also of course a much smaller UK level of Cunard travellers and less overseas people flying in to cruise during the winter months reducing demand. Apa

Well done! Breakfast I assume?

With the cost of sweets onboard Arvia I doubt there will much of that!!!!

I understand exactly what is important to you, I was only highlighting for any other readers the quite substantial difference in costing. Many of us are on different budgets though so it's always good to know where things stand. You also have had the good fortune to be able to book a very long way in advance which many may not have the opportunity to do. My family were actually looking yesterday as one of them has a very elderly father who has moved in with them recently and he does not travel. As such they needed to book care for him to facilitate them taking a holiday booked for December this year and were told the earliest availability for this particular set of carers was August/September next year! The whole family minus myself were due on the Aurora December cruise and have as a result cancelled. We are all now on Queen Anne next year instead. Queen Anne of course has an added problem in the number of obstructed balcony cabins is quite high and she is also a new ship so carries a big premium at present. With all the new pay for restaurants on her as well it will be interesting to see how many move to use them. Certainly in 20 years since the first one appeared on a Cunard ship there's never been a rush to dine in them.

The funny thing about Arvia's cinemas was people thoughtthey should queue - so used to it everywhere else - but actually the system was good as you didn’t need to queue. Pick a fiom, go to the door of the screen showing it and press a button on the screen. This showed availability of all seats and you selected from there and proceeded straight in. I thought it was an excellent innovation far better than stumbling into Britannia's freezing dark hole of Calcutta!

If you all abandon it no doubt P&O will have to change around the dining rooms to accommodate you! However I can't see them doing that in reality as the new cruisers won't like it. You like us have a specific need of a table for 2 and with the best will in the world P&O aren't in a position to offer everyone that. I appreciate you are moving across to Cunard to facilitate this request. However the same situation would apply if you were not Club. Incidentally I priced a Queen Anne cruise in September 2024 yesterday. Britannia balcony £7198 or Britannia Club £8198 so a thousand pounds more for what is basically dining choice.

Point 1, yes, these are the current requirements: Our checklist for choosing the right level of cover Make sure your insurance provides cover for: A cruise holiday The full length of the trip All of the destinations you’re visiting – if in doubt, choose worldwide cover When travelling with us, your insurance must include medical cover of £2 million minimum and cover for emergency evacuations and medical expenses related to COVID-19 Declare any pre-existing medical conditions and read each policy thoroughly to make sure you have the cover you need Going on more than one holiday this year? Look into annual or multi-trip policies. We would also recommend that you have adequate cancellation cover to cover the cost of your trip. The choosing of an insurance company is subjective. Many on here are taking cover with Nationwide by opening a specific bank account. Personally I have had extremely good experience with claim settlement from AllClear but a nightmare with Good to Go and their claim handlers. I would advise looking not at price but on reviews for the assistance companies used by the companies. This link from Which? Helps with seeing the percentage of claims each insurer has paid out on. Although you won't see the full review if you click on the name in the right hand column you will see a percentage figure. For some big names its surprisingiynlow. Good luck. https://www.which.co.uk/money/insurance/travel-insurance/travel-insurance-reviews/best-and-worst-travel-insurance-ad1xp1C7eKFR