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

[Harry Peterson]

43 minutes ago, kalos said:

Sorry about the delay but I am no @Selbourne when it comes to Vlogs and others who 

can do these things so fluently and easily and am glad to read Mrs S and himself had a good cruise.

 

I have been busy sorting things out and with what happened I have had to hit the floor running

with this and as you can understand ,family wanting a few answers as well. So I hope you 

all understand ,it was done in segments as I do not do vlogs and wanted family to know what happened first as some have been known to lurk on here to read my posts .

 

I will now jump /fast forward to the night before Cadiz. Mrs K wanted an early night as she had got a backache which we put down to some jolts within the ship. 

I told her take a couple of Paracetamol and she said it also made her feel a bit yuk ,so she took a sea sickness as well.

Going on a few hours to midnight she woke me up and said that "her back was still playing up and the pain had radiated into her ribs ,causing a pressure onto her chest "

Taking into account she already has heart problems I got her to ring the medical team,as our cabin was central we then made our way down to deck 4.

The nurse started to do blood tests looking for heart attack signs with in the blood .

By now a half asleep doctor turned up in his boxer shorts a tee shirt to look at cardio graph and blood results but due to her past heart results, he wanted her to go to Cadiz  Hospital  once we docked . 

I must say if your going to take ill then a cruise ship is the best place to do it, no sat in A&E for hours but it does come at a cost, a big one at that ,so make sure you declare everything and have suitable cruise cover insurance .

Lucky for Mrs K the tests came back clear but the doctor said and said he was happy for us to cruise if it was not for her past history so off to the hozzie to make sure..

With this one of the P&O staff were assigned to us (care team ) who now wanted me to pack all our luggage and gave us a few options leave them with the ship to be collected or take the suit cases with us or have a luggage company bring them to our house once home . we chose the latter 

It was now going on for 3am ,so off I went to clear our cabin of our things and pack a travel bag each . If Mrs K was kept in hospital the care team would arrange a nearby hotel for me and flight back home once she was deemed fit to travel .

If the hospital gave her the all clear and gave her a letter stating this then we would be let back on board .

Eventually a paramedic ambulance came and took her off board and they did further tests at the shore side before heading to the hospital in another ambulance they had sent for her .

Thankfully all other tests they did were clear and the ships doctor gave us clearance to re-board the ship and continue with the cruise .

With that baggage was returned to us and we just carried on cruising .

Lots of paperwork still to sort to reclaim our costs but we have a great care team and insurance team giving us help and guidance, so I will leave it at that.

As I said in my opening post ,lots of things we were expecting and a few we were not . 

Really sorry you both had all that worry, work and inconvenience, but glad it wasn’t what you feared. Look forward to reading the rest of your story, but glad you’re both safely home - as I know your family will be!

 

Harry

[yorkshirephil]

A cold and wet day here, we walked up to the cenotaph this morning to pay our respects.

I know this was from a comedy programme and I hope no one takes it the wrong way but has always stuck in my mind on this day;

 

 

[Harry Peterson]

1 minute ago, yorkshirephil said:

A cold and wet day here, we walked up to the cenotaph this morning to pay our respects.

I know this was from a comedy programme and I hope no one takes it the wrong way but has always stuck in my mind on this day;

 

 

One of the most moving scenes ever shown on television.

[Paddypuss]

16 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

A cold and wet day here, we walked up to the cenotaph this morning to pay our respects.

I know this was from a comedy programme and I hope no one takes it the wrong way but has always stuck in my mind on this day;

 

 

Yes from a comedy, but extremely moving and sad nonetheless

[Grandad John]

1 hour ago, kalos said:

Sorry about the delay but I am no @Selbourne when it comes to Vlogs and others who 

can do these things so fluently and easily and am glad to read Mrs S and himself had a good cruise.

 

I have been busy sorting things out and with what happened I have had to hit the floor running

with this and as you can understand ,family wanting a few answers as well. So I hope you 

all understand ,it was done in segments as I do not do vlogs and wanted family to know what happened first as some have been known to lurk on here to read my posts .

 

I will now jump /fast forward to the night before Cadiz. Mrs K wanted an early night as she had got a backache which we put down to some jolts within the ship. 

I told her take a couple of Paracetamol and she said it also made her feel a bit yuk ,so she took a sea sickness as well.

Going on a few hours to midnight she woke me up and said that "her back was still playing up and the pain had radiated into her ribs ,causing a pressure onto her chest "

Taking into account she already has heart problems I got her to ring the medical team,as our cabin was central we then made our way down to deck 4.

The nurse started to do blood tests looking for heart attack signs with in the blood .

By now a half asleep doctor turned up in his boxer shorts a tee shirt to look at cardio graph and blood results but due to her past heart results, he wanted her to go to Cadiz  Hospital  once we docked . 

I must say if your going to take ill then a cruise ship is the best place to do it, no sat in A&E for hours but it does come at a cost, a big one at that ,so make sure you declare everything and have suitable cruise cover insurance .

Lucky for Mrs K the tests came back clear but the doctor said and said he was happy for us to cruise if it was not for her past history so off to the hozzie to make sure..

With this one of the P&O staff were assigned to us (care team ) who now wanted me to pack all our luggage and gave us a few options leave them with the ship to be collected or take the suit cases with us or have a luggage company bring them to our house once home . we chose the latter 

It was now going on for 3am ,so off I went to clear our cabin of our things and pack a travel bag each . If Mrs K was kept in hospital the care team would arrange a nearby hotel for me and flight back home once she was deemed fit to travel .

If the hospital gave her the all clear and gave her a letter stating this then we would be let back on board .

Eventually a paramedic ambulance came and took her off board and they did further tests at the shore side before heading to the hospital in another ambulance they had sent for her .

Thankfully all other tests they did were clear and the ships doctor gave us clearance to re-board the ship and continue with the cruise .

With that baggage was returned to us and we just carried on cruising .

Lots of paperwork still to sort to reclaim our costs but we have a great care team and insurance team giving us help and guidance, so I will leave it at that.

As I said in my opening post ,lots of things we were expecting and a few we were not . 

Bloody hell Kalos, Jane (Beckett) was right the scriptwriters of any soap would struggle to come up with a better cliffhanger!! So,so glad for you and your good lady that all turned out well in the end.

[Splice the mainbrace]

1 hour ago, Josy1953 said:

My grandad also signed up in 1914.  He also fought at the Somme where he lost his foot. 

My grandma always told us of how had a vision of him telling her to go home immediately while she was in church  when she turned into their street there was a telegraph boy delivering the news that he was dead.  Grandma refused to believe it because he had "spoken" to her.  A few days later she got another telegram telling her that he had been found in a field hospital and was being brought home.  He lived to be 79 but suffered flashbacks for the rest of his life.

 I saw an amazing stat yesterday that 3 times as many UK servicemen died on one day of the Somme than have done since WW2, just shows what carnage there was. Another stat 6.5% of all British men died due to WW1 and 12.5% of servicemen, everyone must have known someone who died at that time.

[brian1]

3 minutes ago, Splice the mainbrace said:

 I saw an amazing stat yesterday that 3 times as many UK servicemen died on one day of the Somme than have done since WW2, just shows what carnage there was. Another stat 6.5% of all British men died due to WW1 and 12.5% of servicemen, everyone must have known someone who died at that time.

Even worse when they had the "pals" regiments to keep guys together that knew each other.Whole villages of menfolk were almost wiped out.They soon stopped that policy.

[brian1]

12 minutes ago, Grandad John said:

Bloody hell Kalos, Jane (Beckett) was right the scriptwriters of any soap would struggle to come up with a better cliffhanger!! So,so glad for you and your good lady that all turned out well in the end.

We didn't even get a doof,doof doof.

[Purdey16]

1 hour ago, kalos said:

Sorry about the delay but I am no @Selbourne when it comes to Vlogs and others who 

can do these things so fluently and easily and am glad to read Mrs S and himself had a good cruise.

 

I have been busy sorting things out and with what happened I have had to hit the floor running

with this and as you can understand ,family wanting a few answers as well. So I hope you 

all understand ,it was done in segments as I do not do vlogs and wanted family to know what happened first as some have been known to lurk on here to read my posts .

 

I will now jump /fast forward to the night before Cadiz. Mrs K wanted an early night as she had got a backache which we put down to some jolts within the ship. 

I told her take a couple of Paracetamol and she said it also made her feel a bit yuk ,so she took a sea sickness as well.

Going on a few hours to midnight she woke me up and said that "her back was still playing up and the pain had radiated into her ribs ,causing a pressure onto her chest "

Taking into account she already has heart problems I got her to ring the medical team,as our cabin was central we then made our way down to deck 4.

The nurse started to do blood tests looking for heart attack signs with in the blood .

By now a half asleep doctor turned up in his boxer shorts a tee shirt to look at cardio graph and blood results but due to her past heart results, he wanted her to go to Cadiz  Hospital  once we docked . 

I must say if your going to take ill then a cruise ship is the best place to do it, no sat in A&E for hours but it does come at a cost, a big one at that ,so make sure you declare everything and have suitable cruise cover insurance .

Lucky for Mrs K the tests came back clear but the doctor said and said he was happy for us to cruise if it was not for her past history so off to the hozzie to make sure..

With this one of the P&O staff were assigned to us (care team ) who now wanted me to pack all our luggage and gave us a few options leave them with the ship to be collected or take the suit cases with us or have a luggage company bring them to our house once home . we chose the latter 

It was now going on for 3am ,so off I went to clear our cabin of our things and pack a travel bag each . If Mrs K was kept in hospital the care team would arrange a nearby hotel for me and flight back home once she was deemed fit to travel .

If the hospital gave her the all clear and gave her a letter stating this then we would be let back on board .

Eventually a paramedic ambulance came and took her off board and they did further tests at the shore side before heading to the hospital in another ambulance they had sent for her .

Thankfully all other tests they did were clear and the ships doctor gave us clearance to re-board the ship and continue with the cruise .

With that baggage was returned to us and we just carried on cruising .

Lots of paperwork still to sort to reclaim our costs but we have a great care team and insurance team giving us help and guidance, so I will leave it at that.

As I said in my opening post ,lots of things we were expecting and a few we were not . 

So pleased for mrs K that it was nothing serious and you were both able to re board the ship and carry on your holiday, obviously the pain now is to recover your loses through the insurance but as you say you have a good one so it’s just time for payment, glad to hear it’s all ok 👍 

[kalos]

16 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Really sorry you both had all that worry, work and inconvenience, but glad it wasn’t what you feared. Look forward to reading the rest of your story, but glad you’re both safely home - as I know your family will be!

 

Harry

Cheers Harry,the rest of the cruise was doing what we do best , just the two of us watching the world go by , we have to adapt to our medical situations ,so a balcony is money well spent for us .

The shows we didn't bother with , to avoid the coughing and barkers , plus most shows we have seen or they were the same old songs under a revamped show name .

We had nice neighbours to talk to and other folk we met when we ventured out into the bars .

Our go to places were mainly  the Saffron in the mornings with a nice table for two set away from others near the waiters serving station ,which was nice and quiet apart from the last morning  when a guy started yelling at a couple cos they were sat at what he claimed was his table for the last two weeks . The guy sat with his wife rightfully said " It was freedom dinning and he had been told to sit there "  But he was having none of it, and went off on one and stormed off .

As I said we spent hours on the balcony and was rewarded with a family of about ten dolphins playing in the ships wash below our balcony .

The rest of the time we ate a lot in the Glass house at lunch time. We kept seeing people with their wives in wheel chairs wondering could they be Selbourne and his good lady ?

Overall barring the medical blip we had a good cruise and a few nice meals that were to our taste.

Do we still love our old Ventura ? Of course we do .

After using up our OBC we had a bill for .85p barring medical costs so not bad for two weeks away .

 

Will close with a few photo's , hope you enjoy .

 

 

 

 

The Saffron pie which was ok 

 

Room Service beef in ale pie was far  better than MDR

 

 

A good old surf and turf 

 

 

Another fan of spending time on the balcony 

 

 

Ventura getting close up to Iona in Lisbon .

[Beckett]

Pretty scary for you both Kalos. Thank goodness Mrs Kalos didn't have a heart blip and was able to return to the ship and continue the holiday.  It does sound as though you had very good and prompt treatment and were looked after well by all concerned. Good luck with the insurance - hope it's sorted quickly.

 

Interesting that some of your family lurk on here to read your posts.  Well, now they must know what high regard you are held in and how much we all miss you, and worry about you, when you're awol.

 

Glad all's well.  Jane xx

 

 

[Adawn47]

I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise @kalos despite the early morning side trip in Cadiz. I'm relieved your lovely lady K was alright, and hope she's still well. 

The moral of this cruise is -  good insurance, stay positive, keep smiling and 'carry on regardless'

Avril

 

[brian1]

On Princess we had a guy just below us a few balconies away smoking a fat cigar.The whole section of the ship reeked.When we complained a junior officer turned up and looked over our balcony to sus out where the guy was.He said it wont happen again and it didn't.

[Adawn47]

3 minutes ago, brian1 said:

On Princess we had a guy just below us a few balconies away smoking a fat cigar.The whole section of the ship reeked.When we complained a junior officer turned up and looked over our balcony to sus out where the guy was.He said it wont happen again and it didn't.

He spent the remainder of the cruise in a lifeboat being towed along in the ship's wake.😁

Sis

 

[Angel57]

@kalos really good to have you back posting…… we have missed you.

Sorry to hear about a couple of the issues you had, but glad you and Mrs K had a good holiday otherwise.

 

[P&O SUE]

Oh @kaloswhat a worry you had! As you say at least you didn’t have to wait in A&E for hours! Scary though but sounds like P&O looked after you well.

 

Thanks for everyone’s good wishes for tomorrow.

[P&O SUE]

2 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

One of the most moving scenes ever shown on television.

Absolutely. 

[P&O SUE]

5 hours ago, AndyMichelle said:

My Dad, my hero... 

We were lucky to have him until he was 86, but always conscious so many of his mates never made it. 

Thinking of all our Dad's and Grandads today. 

Thoughts and love with you Sue for tomorrow x

Andy 

My Dad was 86 too, he never thought he’d reach that age as both his parents died in their 60’s.

 

My Grandads didn’t fight in the wars, they were too young for the first one and a bit too old for the second one. My maternal Grandfather was in the Home Guard though. My Nan was quite a bit younger, that generation didn’t have many men to choose from! He was a farmer so exempt I think and my paternal grandfather was a miner so another important occupation. I had two Great Uncles who died though.

 

Can’t imagine living through those times.

Edited November 12, 2023 by P&O SUE

[Angel57]

9 minutes ago, P&O SUE said:

Oh @kaloswhat a worry you had! As you say at least you didn’t have to wait in A&E for hours! Scary though but sounds like P&O looked after you well.

 

Thanks for everyone’s good wishes for tomorrow.

I imagine you will be glad to get tomorrow over with…….

Sending a hug.

x

[Angel57]

@Josy1953 did you do your volunteer training today?

I hope the family are doing ok after such a tragic week for you all.

x

[P&O SUE]

1 hour ago, Splice the mainbrace said:

 I saw an amazing stat yesterday that 3 times as many UK servicemen died on one day of the Somme than have done since WW2, just shows what carnage there was. Another stat 6.5% of all British men died due to WW1 and 12.5% of servicemen, everyone must have known someone who died at that time.

We went on a P&O tour to Ypres from Zeebrugge. Our guide told us they still find bodies now in the fields we were driving past 😞

[P&O SUE]

12 minutes ago, Angel57 said:

I imagine you will be glad to get tomorrow over with…….

Sending a hug.

x

Thank you, every time I sort something out something else happens! We’re having the wake at a cricket club but as John can’t drive at the moment we’ll need someone to take us home. My son will do it I thought but his “father in law” is taking him! My Bro in Law has a tiny car with virtually no boot so 2 should get in but there’s 3 of us plus Mum’s wheelchair! Aargh! I’ve decided to just wing it and hope someone will take pity on us! 

Edited November 12, 2023 by P&O SUE

[yorkshirephil]

Just now, P&O SUE said:

We went on a P&O tour to Ypres from Zeebrugge. Our guide told us they still find bodies now in the fields we were driving past 😞

We were told the same when we went to Ypres, same when they dig foundations for new buildings, or old ordinance. The last reveille at the Menin gate is definitely a tear jerker

 

[Splice the mainbrace]

One of my Grandads was a desert rat and did the whole North Africa, Sicily and up through Italy campaign, unfortunately I never met him as in the early 50s he and my Grandma divorced and my mum completely distanced herself from him, it would have been great to talk to him. My other Grandad was in an essential service supplying fuels to the merchant shipping in Southampton so didn't go to war.

 

My mum was evacuated to Bournemouth from Southampton and I'm glad that she was. In a blitz on Southampton her previous school class was visiting Southampton Art Gallery and were sheltering in the basement after the air raid siren went off, there was a direct hit and 15 of her class mates were killed. Even more tragic was that this was over a year after the original evacuation in 1939 and there had been little incident so many parents had brought their children back from being evacuated😪

 

The Gallery in Wartime: A Commemoration – Southampton City Art Gallery

[Adawn47]

5 minutes ago, P&O SUE said:

My Dad was 86 too, he never thought he’d reach that age as both his parents died in their 60’s.

 

My Grandads didn’t fight in the wars, they were too young for the first one and a bit too old for the second one. My maternal Grandfather was in the Home Guard though. He was a farmer so exempt I think and my paternal grandfather was a miner so another important occupation. I had two Great Uncles who died though.

My Dad was exempt too. He worked on the large earthmovers, clearing and reparing or relaying bombed airfields, runways and major roadways.  

I hope all goes smoothly tomorrow Sue, and always remember, even though your Dad has gone, he will always be there,and will never leave you.

I shall be thinking about you tomorrow. xx

Avril