P&O Cruisers - What are things like where YOU are?

[Pine Man]

6 hours ago, Adawn47 said:

We were all young and frisky once.😉 

Some of us wish we still were😆 

 

I still think I am frisky but my body won't carry out the instructions I am giving it☹️

[Eglesbrech]

Well it’s dull and cold here so I am frankly sick of every news bulletin banging on about how sunny it is. 
 

For those who do have the sunshine enjoy it (within the current restrictions).

[kalos]

14 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Well it’s dull and cold here so I am frankly sick of every news bulletin banging on about how sunny it is. 
 

For those who do have the sunshine enjoy it (within the current restrictions).

 

Thank you and you wrap up and stay safe and warm . It won't last long here , never does 

 

                        

 

 

[Eglesbrech]

30 minutes ago, kalos said:

 

Thank you and you wrap up and stay safe and warm . It won't last long here , never does 

 

                        

 

 

The only good thing about the cold spring weather is that it keeps people closer to home and indoors. No problem with bbqs or sunbathers up here 😇 (we will all however require even more vitamin d than normal being stuck inside most of the time).

 

Serious point, I take vitamin D every winter to adjust for lack of daylight, it’s actually recommended by the medical profession for those in the frozen north. With people down south being stuck indoors much more perhaps they should consider it as a supplement as well.

[wowzz]

38 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

The only good thing about the cold spring weather is that it keeps people closer to home and indoors. No problem with bbqs or sunbathers up here 😇 (we will all however require even more vitamin d than normal being stuck inside most of the time).

 

Serious point, I take vitamin D every winter to adjust for lack of daylight, it’s actually recommended by the medical profession for those in the frozen north. With people down south being stuck indoors much more perhaps they should consider it as a supplement as well.

Interestingly, we met an Australian doctor whilst on holiday there. He told us that the sun screen protection policy had been so successful there, that many children were suffering from vitamin D deficiency,  and had to be given supplements as a result.

[Eglesbrech]

3 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Interestingly, we met an Australian doctor whilst on holiday there. He told us that the sun screen protection policy had been so successful there, that many children were suffering from vitamin D deficiency,  and had to be given supplements as a result.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/vitamin-d-advice-for-all-age-groups/
 

The Scottish government have issued advice re the current lockdown as well as to the amount of bit D to take (normally only required during winter months).

[grapau27]

42 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

The only good thing about the cold spring weather is that it keeps people closer to home and indoors. No problem with bbqs or sunbathers up here 😇 (we will all however require even more vitamin d than normal being stuck inside most of the time).

 

Serious point, I take vitamin D every winter to adjust for lack of daylight, it’s actually recommended by the medical profession for those in the frozen north. With people down south being stuck indoors much more perhaps they should consider it as a supplement as well.

We are lucky to have a nice decent sized garden to walk around and sit outside.

All these selfish people still congregating in numbers in parks and beaches had the health secretary on TV this morning saying he might ban outdoor exercise if people continue to flout the advice.

I feel sorry for people who have no gardens who will be affected if this happens.

[Josy1953]

38 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

We are lucky to have a nice decent sized garden to walk around and sit outside.

All these selfish people still congregating in numbers in parks and beaches had the health secretary on TV this morning saying he might ban outdoor exercise if people continue to flout the advice.

I feel sorry for people who have no gardens who will be affected if this happens.

We are in the same position having a decent sized garden but I am really annoyed that some people seem to think that they are immune and carry on as they were before the virus.  These selfish people are probably the same ones who unnecessarily stockpiled food and have now fly tipped it because it has gone out of date ( there were pictures on our local paper''s website of the fly tipped food last week ).

[Eglesbrech]

48 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

We are lucky to have a nice decent sized garden to walk around and sit outside.

All these selfish people still congregating in numbers in parks and beaches had the health secretary on TV this morning saying he might ban outdoor exercise if people continue to flout the advice.

I feel sorry for people who have no gardens who will be affected if this happens.

We are also blessed to have lovely large garden and yes I do really sympathise for those stuck in urban areas in flats. It’s easy to be slightly smug and follow the rules when you have options like a private garden so really well done to those who don’t and still comply with the guidance.

 

I watched the Andrew Marr show and I was not impressed the Health Sec. I think it will be a step too far if they ban exercise outdoors completely and could cause more health issues mental and physical than it solved re the virus. I also think the issue is only in certain areas so deal with it there, not throughout the whole country. It’s like a teacher giving a punishment exercise to the whole class when only one or two have misbehaved.

Edited April 5, 2020 by Eglesbrech

[Eglesbrech]

1 minute ago, Josy1953 said:

We are in the same position having a decent sized garden but I am really annoyed that some people seem to think that they are immune and carry on as they were before the virus.  These selfish people are probably the same ones who unnecessarily stockpiled food and have now fly tipped it because it has gone out of date ( there were pictures on our local paper''s website of the fly tipped food last week ).

Why would they waste food, they could at least of donated it to the local food bank once they knew they had far too much. That is really selfish.

[grapau27]

21 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

We are also blessed to have lovely large garden and yes I do really sympathise for those stuck in urban areas in flats. It’s easy to be slightly smug and follow the rules when you have options like a private garden so really well done to those who don’t and still comply with the guidance.

 

I watched the Andrew Marr show and I was not impressed the Health Sec. I think it will be a step too far if they ban exercise outdoors completely and could cause more health issues mental and physical than it solved re the virus. I also think the issue is only in certain areas so deal with it there, not throughout the whole country. It’s like a teacher giving a punishment exercise to the whole class when only one or two have misbehaved.

+1.

It seems to be London area and that is the worst affected too.

It's always a few who spoil it for the many.

Restrictions on alcohol brought onboard P&O ships is another example of the few spoiling it for the many.

Edited April 5, 2020 by grapau27

[Josy1953]

34 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Why would they waste food, they could at least of donated it to the local food bank once they knew they had far too much. That is really selfish.

The story in the paper showed this picture of an overflowing bin and bag of food that it said had gone out of date.  This was not in an affluent area of the city, it was in a rundown area.

 

Edited April 5, 2020 by Josy1953

[Josy1953]

25 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

+1.

It seems to be London area and that is the worst affected too.

It's always a few who spoil it for the many.

Restrictions on alcohol brought onboard P&O ships is another example of the few spoiling it for the many.

I think that many people in London live in flats and probably go to parks to sunbathe and socialise far more than those of us who live in nice areas with private gardens.  I can't quite understand why they think that they are immune to the virus and don't realise that by ignoring the current measures they are risking more draconian measures for all of us including them.

[AndyMichelle]

16 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

The story in the paper showed this picture of an overflowing bin and bag of food that it said had gone out of date.  This was not in an affluent area of the city, it was in a rundown area.

 

We tried to donate a load of food from our works cafe when we had to close, but the food banks could only take tins or anything that had 3 clear days on the sell by, bread etc. but we needed to empty the fridges. 

I distributed it amongst neighbours etc who couldn't get out, it went down well. 

Andy 

[AndyMichelle]

3 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

I think that many people in London live in flats and probably go to parks to sunbathe and socialise far more than those of us who live in nice areas with private gardens.  I can't quite understand why they think that they are immune to the virus and don't realise that by ignoring the current measures they are risking more draconian measures for all of us including them.

At least we can get out, they possibly can't. 

I can't imagine trying to be 2m away from anyone in London... 

Places like Clapham Common are these peoples gardens. 

I guess it will result in total lockdown... 

Andy 

[grapau27]

18 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

We tried to donate a load of food from our works cafe when we had to close, but the food banks could only take tins or anything that had 3 clear days on the sell by, bread etc. but we needed to empty the fridges. 

I distributed it amongst neighbours etc who couldn't get out, it went down well. 

Andy 

That was nice of you.

[kalos]

1 hour ago, Josy1953 said:

This was not in an affluent area of the city, it was in a rundown area.

 

I think the me,my and myself brigade are to be found in all walks of life .

Reading the papers this morning  and a TV presenter was slating Lord Sugar for doing naff all to help anyone

during this crisis.

Then you have Mr Branson who wants money off the UK as his planes are not making any money but again is

seen to be doing very little to help in this crisis .

Coming down the scale a bit on the wealth scale is Ms Vorderman  who owns her own plane but has donated it to

the NHS  so they can move vital supplies around the country. Good on her I say.

How many of us have seen food wasted on cruise ships ,just because its there and they can .

We even see them do it with drinks in the bars, unbelievable .

Then you get photo's like Josey's shown us . There is no excuse for it .

Never mind what goes around comes around  or so they say.

 

        

Edited April 5, 2020 by kalos

[peteukmcr]

3 minutes ago, kalos said:

I think the me,my and myself brigade are to be found in all walks of life .

Reading the papers this morning  and a TV presenter was slating Lord Sugar for doing naff all to help anyone

during this crisis.

Then you have Mr Branson who wants money off the UK as his planes are not making any money but again is

seen to be doing very little to help in this crisis .

Coming down the scale a bit on the wealth scale is Ms Vorderman  who owns her own plane but has donated it to

the NHS  so they can move vital supplies around the country. Good on her I say.

How many of us have seen food wasted on cruise ships ,just because its there and they can .

We even see them do it with drinks in the bars unbelievable .

Then you get photo's like Josey's shown us . There is no excuse for it .

Never mind what goes around comes around  or so they say.

As a travel professional I take great exception to your comment about Richard Branson. Please remember he does not and has not ‘owned’ Virgin Atlantic for many years. This is fake news from the tabloid press. Btw I do not work for Virgin Atlantic but they are one of our major suppliers. 

 

***** I did not write this post , just shared it from someone at Virgin - I know the Virgin family all feel the same ********

Staff at Virgin Atlantic have had to endure the pressure of FAKE NEWS relating to the “boycotting” of the airline due to what some people THINK they know. 

These people seem to have become the new UK Chancellor overnight, claiming that the government shouldn’t help Virgin Atlantic because Sir Richard Branson is a “billionaire and doesn’t pay UK tax”

So firstly, I am by no means an expert on  governmental financial affairs nor am I a close friend of Sir B’s. 
But, before certain people try and put Virgin staff out of work in the careers that they love, here’s a few facts from one of them that the media seem to omit or just don’t seem to understand: 

- Richard Branson doesn’t own Virgin Atlantic outright anymore, he hasn’t done for many years!! He is not the CEO nor does he have any involvement in the day-to-day running of the airline. He was the founder, a figure head and now mostly used for publicity purposes. 

- Branson is a shareholder with numerous other individuals who make up the Virgin Group which owns 51% and Delta Airlines having the remaining 49%

- Richard Branson has already invested £250million into the Virgin Group to help with this situation and help safeguard the jobs!!

- He may be worth £4billion on paper, as often reported in the news, however, that doesn’t mean all that cash is sat under his mattress in the Caribbean. It is most likely tied up in almost 70 companies holding the Virgin name, many of which are struggling, the same as Virgin Atlantic at this time.

- Virgin Atlantic isn’t about making huge profits, it never has been. Virgin invests constantly in new aircraft, products and training to provide the best customer service and to provide an alternative for customers in the UK airline market. It doesn’t have a bottomless pit of money to survive no matter if Richard put all his money into it, all the while having no revenue coming in. 

- Virgin Atlantic is a UK based and majority owned UK airline that pays annually £350million to HMRC whilst employing 10000+ people and boosting the UK’s economy with revenues of £3billion. 

- Even at this time when Virgin’s flight schedule has had to reduced due to travel restrictions around the world to only 3 routes and having the majority of its fleet of aircraft grounded, high costs still have to be paid. As an example, Virgin Atlantic has to pay £140million annually in airport charges not to mention leasing costs, wages, fuel etc. 

- The airline industry as a whole has seen the biggest decline in its history, with airlines worldwide having to secure money from their governments. TUI have just secured €1.8billion from the German government and Emirates are being supported by the UAE and many more globally following suit.

- EasyJet (and others) are also needing help, the biggest airline in the UK with over 300 aircraft. Virgin in comparison have around 37 planes yet they should be left to fend for ourselves because of their “rich boss”?

- As a company, Virgin Atlantic took the proactive approach when all this chaos first started by reducing their costs by £500million, including employees, agreeing to take unpaid leave and pay cuts to help save the jobs they love. Virgin Atlantic even offered them ways of coping during this crisis financially before the government announced their ‘Furlough Pay’ scheme. Not like the media made out that “Branson isn’t paying his staff”

- Virgin Atlantic provides a QUARTER of all long haul cargo that comes in and out of the UK. Cargo that includes essential pharmaceutical goods, fresh groceries including exporting the majority of the UK’s salmon overseas, car parts and electronics amongst many more. Just yesterday Virgin Atlantic did the first flight of any UK airline to collect much needed PPE and medical equipment for the frontline NHS workers from China. 

- Virgin Holidays is the No 1 provider of package holidays to Florida and also serves 400,000 annual holidaymakers to destinations around the world. Think about this when you’re not wanting the government to help when it comes to that holiday you will be desperate for when all this is over. 

- Virgin Atlantic is the UK’s second flag carrying airline and the only real competitor to British Airways in long haul travel. Without Virgin, BA has a monopoly like back in the 1970’s, giving you NO choice of airline, increasing flight prices for individuals and import/export cargo expenses for business. 

- For those of you like those here in the North-West, Virgin Atlantic is the biggest long haul operator out of Manchester Airport and a huge part of the airports massive expansion. With the demise of Thomas Cook and Monarch Airlines in recent times (which btw, Virgin Atlantic offered those redundant employees jobs and helped repatriate thousands of passengers stranded around the world back to the UK when other airlines wouldn’t) this would hinder the economy of not only the UK but the North-West in particular. 

- Tens of thousands of people in other industries rely on Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays both in the UK and overseas. Airport employees including baggage handlers, ground agents, engineers, catering companies, fuelers, not to mention 57 Virgin Holidays outlets, the list and knock on effect goes on and on.

- Rolls Royce and Airbus both based in the UK have recently announced that they would suffer financially without Virgin Atlantic. Virgin have numerous new aircraft on order with engines and wings assembled at facilities in the UK.

- Then there’s the non-financial community aspects of Virgin Atlantic. Most recently Cabin Crew have been asked by the government to volunteer at the new NHS Nightingale Hospitals set up around the country due to our medical training, with 100’s coming forward to offer their assistance.

- The endless amount of charity work and funding Virgin Atlantic provides to local and international organisations that never gets spoken about.

This is just the tip of the iceberg and you may be thinking why am I so bothered about these silly comments and views of narrow minded people. 

The reason is, I love my job, the staff at Virgin love their job and love the people they work with and love Virgin Atlantic! 

I want my friends reading this to know that if you see a post that talks about boycotting Virgin Atlantic or one that doesn’t want the UK government to support them financially if this COVID-19 continues to effect us, because of what they THINK they know about one famous individual...
Maybe have a think about me as your friend and thousands of my colleagues who will personally suffer if, we as a country were to let another airline collapse through no fault of its own. 

At a time when we are supposed to be “All In This Together” lets not spend time spreading a vendetta against a company people THINK they know about, only to end up hurting the innocent people who work and support that company in the wake of it all.

To have Virgin Atlantic “boycotted” or not supported, potentially leaving tens of thousands of people including me, out of work because of a pandemic that has effected almost every single person around the world, I feel is morally wrong.

In a time when only a few weeks ago we were portraying to each other to #BEKIND should we not focus on getting though this crisis together, supporting every business and individual we can to make sure that when this is all over, we can go back to that life we all took so much for granted?!

 

[kalos]

33 minutes ago, peteukmcr said:

As a travel professional I take great exception to your comment about Richard Branson. Please remember he does not and has not ‘owned’ Virgin Atlantic for many years.

 Peter in no way was I trying to offend anyone or put anyone out of a job.

When you see Richard On TV asking the UK for help and why not if it saves jobs .

Then read a tabloid paper (I should know better) We tend to put  1&2 together and end up with ?

 The point I was trying to get over in my post is that there are good and bad at all levels in life .

MS Vorderman for example is a excellent example and maybe some of the billionaires should 

let us mere mortals know what if anything they are doing to help us all when we are in need .

Take Care and I hope you and your partner are keeping well after his heart scare.

 

      

[Josy1953]

 Maybe this should be shown on the BBC daily Coronavirus update

 

[NoFlyGuy]

All getting a bit nasty again. Is that because of certain posters returning to the fold or general stress that we are all feeling?

 

Here in Silverstone it's quite quiet. We've been out for a few walks over the past couple of weeks.

 

When someone approaches, we or they,  move aside - either crossing the road or walking into the road to keep our distance.

We can still say 'good morning' or 'good afternoon' or exchange other pleasantries.

 

Was watching a webcam of a part of Brighton beach/prom today. Yes, i'm sure it was a lot quieter than a 'normal' pleasant Sunday in April, but what struct me was the fact that those who did come out seemed incapable of obeying the rules and keeping two metres apart. Big wide prom, but most still passed about two feet apart! That's just one webcam in one seaside resort.

 

Of course the restrictions are unpresented and painful but it's not rocket science - follow the rules!

 

Stay well all.

 

 

[grapau27]

1 minute ago, AndyMichelle said:

Keep safe both of you. 

Andy & Michelle 

Thanks.

Take care of Michelle and yourself too Andy.

Same sentiments to all our friends on here.

Graham & Pauline.

[happy v]

4 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Thanks.

Take care of Michelle and yourself too Andy.

Same sentiments to all our friends on here.

Graham & Pauline.

You take care too Graham.

[grapau27]

1 minute ago, happy v said:

You take care too Graham.

You too happy v.

[kalos]