Merry Christmas

[ekco]

Wishing a Merry Christmas to everyone on Island forum. Especially remembering the old gang of RR, Linda, Jan, Jenny, Mo and everyone else who went with us to the Hebrides a few years back.;) Enjoy yourselves.:):)

 

Jan xx

[skioncruises]

Wishing a Merry Christmas to everyone on Island forum. Especially remembering the old gang of RR, Linda, Jan, Jenny, Mo and everyone else who went with us to the Hebrides a few years back. Enjoy yourselves. Jan xx

 

Hello Jan

 

Many thanks for your Seasonal greetings.

 

Sorry I have not replied before but have just started trawling and found your message. Don't come on CC very often these days as there doesn't seem to be the same vibe anymore and it looks like the regulars have followed the new crowd over to Facebook. Not my cup of tea.

 

Hope you had a lovely Christmas. Ours was very quiet. Darby & Joan on 25th and yesterday Daughter dragged herself and the kids (21 & 19) to us for pressies and meal. I say dragged because she had just finished two 12 hour nightshifts and Granddaughter is poorly with severe septic throat so only Grandson and DH did the meal justice.

 

I'll be glad when we are back to normal as I seem to be getting very much like Scrooge in my declining years. However, I will perk up when it gets near holiday time again. Balance gets paid in two weeks time.

 

Best wishes to you and yours for 2014.

 

Jan:):)

[ekco]

Hi Jan

 

Hurray! 89 views and just one reply! YOU! So there is life in the old forum yet but no one is posting.

 

We had a lovely, quiet day with just the two of us and that's just how we like it now after decades of slaving over relatives, young and old. We went off to see our offspring and the grandchildren on Boxing Day, 4 hours was enough for us, lol, and we came back exhausted. I've never seen so many presents for the kids piled up.

 

Looking forward, we haven't even thought about holidays yet. We really enjoyed our cruise to the fjords in September with FO. The Balmoral was a lovely ship but maybe, just maybe, we are still a bit too young for Fred. It most definitely wasn't sedate though as I've never heard so much talking in all my life, lol.

 

Keep in touch, that means everybody else as well. Let's get the forum back up and running and forget about Facebook.:):):)

 

Jan

[skioncruises]

Hi Jan

 

What do you mean - "89 views and just one reply! YOU!" I'm like the bad penny, lurk for ages and then pop up.:D

 

I think Linda has defected to Facebook although she does pop up occasionally on the Thomson threads.

 

We are off on the Dream for 27 nights out of Manchester in April and have decided to travel down on the Transpennine Train.

 

I bought Rail Cards a few weeks ago and also booked and paid for the overnight accommodation. However, in two weeks time the fun starts - I will pay the rather hefty balance; bring our annual travel insurance forward by a month and change it to worldwide; then wait about 10 days until the advance booking comes on line for the train:eek:.

 

Just as well the freezer has plenty of food in it or we would be starving until the end of January.

 

Holidays - don't we just love them.:D

 

Not sure about changing from Thomson to another cruise line because of the extra travelling/overnight accommodation compared to fly/cruise from Scotland. It may be our last cruise after almost 25 years with Thomson as none of their itineraries appeal and I don't like some of the changes they have been making. Will reserve judgement until we come home in May.

 

Jan:):)

[ekco]

Lol, I didn't mean YOU in a bad way;) just that we have a lot of views but no one will post. Come on you lot lets get the forum up and running again now it's holiday booking time again.

 

Making arrangements is a real pain. We applied for tickets for the Commonweath Games in Glasgow next July and got some for one night at the athletics. That was the easy bit. No hotel rooms to be had anywhere so now we've either got to not go, stay a hundred miles away, or try and get a day ticket for the train. Nightmare! As for holidays, the travel insurance is harder to get sorted than the holiday. It was quite nice going from Southampton for a change though, we drove down and stayed overnight but would probably get a coach if we did it again.

 

Jan

[barnowl1950]

Hi there :) haven't come on here very much lately but happened to look in today. More often on Thomson as sailing on Dream in March. Not on FB at all. Wishing everyone here all the best for 2014.

[ekco]

Hi Barnowl, a Happy New Year to you. Nice to have some company so please come back soon. It's 2 years since we were on the Dream in the Caribbean, what a lovely cruise that was. We got the 22 bus in Antigua that Kruzseeka recommended and spent the day on a beautiful beach with hardly anyone on it. That is until the cruise excursion turned up in the afternoon, lol. They were all so flustered with being on the road all day and rushed onto the beach for 10 minutes before disappearing in a cloud of dust. We just ordered another rum punch before heading back to the bus.:):)

 

Jan

[barnowl1950]

Hi ekco that's what I would love to do and fit in a visit to the Dockyard and English Harbour too if there is enough time :)

[ekco]

Hi ekco that's what I would love to do and fit in a visit to the Dockyard and English Harbour too if there is enough time :)

 

Lol, that's the trouble, there's never enough time. Oh! that the ship stays in port a little longer. We went on a nice hike in Dominica though, not arduous and we stopped en-route and bought some vanilla extract from a roadside stall. Bargain.:):)

 

Jan

[barnowl1950]

Lol, that's the trouble, there's never enough time. Oh! that the ship stays in port a little longer. We went on a nice hike in Dominica though, not arduous and we stopped en-route and bought some vanilla extract from a roadside stall. Bargain.:):)

 

Jan

 

Hi ekco,

Was the hike in Dominica a ships excursion or did you arrange it independently?

[ekco]

Hi ekco,

Was the hike in Dominica a ships excursion or did you arrange it independently?

 

Hi Barnowl. It was a ships excursion hike Middleham Falls but I can't see it on this years list. The guide was a character called Peter Green or The Bushman. You can do a search for him on YouTube:):)

 

Jan

[barnowl1950]

Hi ekco :) can't see it on this years list either and for this island prefer a Thomsons tour, but I've been looking at Middleham falls on YouTube it shows some slippery rocks to walk across which would worry me a bit anyway. Don't like slippy :D

At the moment I think the Indian River rowboat (easy option I know) looks nice with a chance to explore a bit at the turn-around point in the rainforest. Will probably decide on the ship in the end.

[ekco]

Yes, you do need to be sure footed, I wore walking sandals, but it's not too arduous and you don't need to go down close to the waterfall. Some macho show offs did on our group but there were some really unfit people that managed to keep up on the hike. The only trouble with these things it that the competitive ones charge off all the time and the guide then stops the group to wait for the rest to catch up. Of course by the time they get there the guide sets off again which leaves the most unfit with no rest and the fittest having had a lovely breather. I think the other trip to Trafalgar Falls is a lot easier but busier, I would suggest that one as it's only a 15 minute walk. I seem to remember that people weren't too impressed with the river trip. A search on Thomson should make things clearer.:):)

 

Jan

[barnowl1950]

Hi ekco :) hubby's convinced he can hike all day and so can I too, we would prefer that especially in Dominica - we spent xmas going through the slimy muddy country park and forest near us to take the dogs out every day - it's just that he had an almost fatal cardiac arrest just over a year ago which happened right of the blue, but by a stroke of luck was only 1 mile from our hospital and needed those shock things (jump leads I call them) and although thankfully he's made a good recovery it's left me a bit scared to book trips that include climbing over rocks etc.

 

Thanks for your remarks re. the Indian River, I think OH would be a bit bored on this one anyway so we may yet choose the waterfalls excursion, I see they also do one where they drop you off at a beach too although it's just a dark sand one. Decisions, decisions.....can't wait whatever we do :)

[ekco]

Wow! That must have been a scary time with your OH. I'm glad he's ok now. I wouldn't worry about the Trafalga Falls trip, although I haven't been it looks quite an easy walk. Again, check out videos on YouTube. I have found on cruises that what they claim to be 'hikes' are usually just walks as they cater for a lot of elderly people. We did a hike up to the glacier in Norway and after walking on a tarmac path for a while we noticed a lot of people had disappeared, along with their sticks, lol. Ah ha! the truth came out later when we had walked to the top, along came a stream of golf buggies crammed to the ginnels with fellow passengers. Lazy lot, lol.:D:D

 

Jan

[jenny wren]

hello all... or should I say 'both'....just popped in to wish you all a belated Happy New Year!! We had Christmas and New Year away this year (on Oriana) for the first time and it was great.....we've been back a week and only just finished the washing...its been such a struggle to get it all dry...the house has resembled a Chinese laundry!!!!

 

We've been struggling to find different itineraries this year but think we may go for Fred Olsen (never sailed with them before) and the long one to the Amazon and Caribbean in March......just waiting to see if the price drops a bit!! Thomson seem a bit pricey now there are so many bargains to be had, and we've done most, if not all, of their itineraries now.

 

I did go on the Facebook IE page for a while but came out of it as it was too busy and I didn't have the time to catch up with the number of posts.

 

Reading your comments of the Caribbean has made me want to be there!! the rain is pouring again....luckily we live on a hill so haven't been affected by flooding ....but I feel so sorry for those poor souls who have been flooded out they must wonder if it will ever come to an end. Not a Happy New Year for them.

 

Anyway all the best for the new year. :)

[barnowl1950]

Hi Jenny Happy New Year :)

Caribbean+Amazon brilliant, which islands would you be visiting?

 

My brother and SiL are cruising around Dubai (MSC) next month so I'll be looking forward to hearing all about it.....don't know if you have ever been? Think I would enjoy going there.

 

Yes weather has been awful, so lucky we don't live in a flood area.

Our house is covered in scaffold at the moment as builders began exterior wall insulation 2 weeks before xmas (expensive and messy) :eek: but worth it, as we have no cavity walls, rain has held things up a bit but should be completed and painted by end of next week.

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Hi Jenny, Happy New Year to you, glad you had a good time on the Oriana. Still not tried P&O :o

 

Re Fred.Olsen, I have only been on Braemar, but can thoroughly recommend her :) We are off on her next month for the third time. Jan (ekco) liked the Balmoral too.

[ekco]

Happy New Year Jenny. It's nice to see some of the regulars back, along with some lovely new faces.

 

We went on the Balmoral to the fjords with FO for the first time last year. Lovely ship with a nice layout and good cabins, we booked late and had a cabin on the next deck to the bottom one. The cabin was nice but very noisy when we set sail and we couldn't sleep, we saw people moving clothing around the next day and thought we would ask if they had spare cabins. The customer services lady was really helpful and got us a cabin on deck 8 which was great. Thomson would never do that. If you like to eat late then second sitting dining will suit you, it didn't suit us though as we don't like to dine at 10.00pm. That's why they all book first sitting early in the year and they were charging £10 per night to change on board. We ate in the buffet most nights which was ok with the tables set by the waiters. We had no trouble ever finding a seat out on deck or in the shows and bars. We got the AI at £10pp night and it was ok but the waiters seemed to have been on a rationing course and did make us wait, we don't drink much at all. We didn't appreciate, along with others, the lack of waiters in the shows and thought that if they didn't want to serve drinks there they should just say so. We collared a waitress before the show started, even though we had half a glass left, and she had the cheek to say "ANOTHER ONE" as if we were a pair of alcoholics. That aside we enjoyed the ship and the cruise, even though it was a bit sedate.:):)

 

Jan

[jenny wren]

Hi all...away in Devon at moment helping son and family with childcare! Home thursday so will reply then......thanks for info! :)

 

Sent from my ST21i using Forums mobile app

[ekco]

Hi all...away in Devon at moment helping son and family with childcare! Home thursday so will reply then......thanks for info! :)

 

Sent from my ST21i using Forums mobile app

 

I hope the rain has stopped Jenny or you might need your mop and bucket, lol.:D

 

Jan

[jenny wren]

Hi Barnowl....we decided against the Amazon & Caribbean cruise mainly because the ship is small and doesn't get good write ups...only 800 or so passengers so may be a bit bumpy crossing the Atlantic! The itinerary is good ...up the Amazon (which would be new for us) then Grenada, St Lucia, St Maarten, Dominica and Barbados in the Caribbean (we've been before to all these) and Madeira, Tenerife and Ponta Delgada in the Atlantic (which we've also visited before) ....so we're still looking at other possibilities!

 

We have cruised out of Dubai before....seven years ago when Costa first did that itinerary....we went in February and the weather was gorgeous and we did enjoy it...totally different and a wonderful experience!

 

Hope the building work has been completed on time and you can get your house back to normal! :)

[barnowl1950]

Hi jenny, yes the house was finished at the end of last week and painted nicely too.

 

Never been with Fred Olsen either only Thomson, but just had a glance at their cruises... if I were planning a long cruise I would love a New Zealand one :)