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

[Presto2]

Morning, freezing cold here.

 

Just been out to feed the birds and refresh the water and now glad to be back inside. Well, I say that but our gas boiler has broken so no central heating or water, but we are of the generation that grew up with no central heating so are going back to our roots! Its amazing how much you appreciate a kettle at times like this, a gas fire and an oil filled radiator we usually use in our caravan ! 

 

Brandy helps too ...... so if I'm slurring my words later on today please forgive me 😉 🙂 

[Jennizor]

Presto, I see from your post you are on Azura on 23rd of December, we are joining her on the 22nd. We are also going to the Canaries on the 18th of February on Iona (4 weeks today, getting very excited). We are also going to the Fjords but in July, again on Iona. Happy cruising.

[Gettingwarmer]

14 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

Morning, freezing cold here.

 

Just been out to feed the birds and refresh the water and now glad to be back inside. Well, I say that but our gas boiler has broken so no central heating or water, but we are of the generation that grew up with no central heating so are going back to our roots! Its amazing how much you appreciate a kettle at times like this, a gas fire and an oil filled radiator we usually use in our caravan ! 

 

Brandy helps too ...... so if I'm slurring my words later on today please forgive me 😉 🙂 

Have you checked your condensate pipe

 https://boilerhut.co.uk/what-is-a-condensate-pipe/
 

[Presto2]

6 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

Have you checked your condensate pipe

 https://boilerhut.co.uk/what-is-a-condensate-pipe/
 

Hi, no, but we have had the central heating engineer and electricians out from the company who service our gas. Sadly it is 20 yrs old or more and not a condensing boiler (or so my hubby tells me). Its leaking which has blown the electrics. In a nutshell it has died of old age ! Have had it over 20 yrs - probably about 23 yrs - so it doesn't owe us anything as we've never had an issue with it before at all. 

[Snow Hill]

1 hour ago, purplesea said:

Hope everyone is well or those under the weather are on the road to recovery.

Mostly cloudy down here but there is some blue sky in evedence and warmer than late at 6c. 

Waiting for my Tesco delivery and prices of a lot of items have gone up since last week, not just by a few pence! 

Have a good weekend, stay safe and warm.

 

We have notice that some suppliers to Tesco are practical “shrinkflation” same price but less of it.

 

This week on that list are Warburtons Wholemeal Pittas, 2 weeks ago 5 in a pack, this week 4, price the same. 
 

Large Kettle Mature Cheese and Red Onion Crisps before Christmas 150g, now 130g, price the same.

 

It’s always gone on, but in the last year it has been rampant.

[kalos]

21 minutes ago, Snow Hill said:

We have notice that some suppliers to Tesco are practical “shrinkflation” same price but less of it.

 

This week on that list are Warburtons Wholemeal Pittas, 2 weeks ago 5 in a pack, this week 4, price the same. 
 

Large Kettle Mature Cheese and Red Onion Crisps before Christmas 150g, now 130g, price the same.

 

It’s always gone on, but in the last year it has been rampant.

The ultimate in "cheeky"  is when they revamp the packaging with words like "NEW " and

tell you they contain less calories  .

 

[zap99]

2 minutes ago, kalos said:

The ultimate in "cheeky"  is when they revamp the packaging with words like "NEW " and

tell you they contain less calories  .

 

We all seem to accept this as an inevitable result of the inflationary crisis sweeping us globally.  Not when it relates to P&O we don't.  Standards are slipping....budget cruise line...prawn cocktail crisis.......cheese ????

[Adawn47]

I've noticed the large rises in my weekly Asda shop too. Not so much per item, although I do notice the odd 20p to sometimes over a pound increase on some items, but it's more noticable on my total weekly shop. 

I make a monthly menu and follow that, it stops me overspending on unnecessary things and prevents a lot of food waste. My Gran taught me that way, and I've always done it, it works too. Having said that though, I still buy the same food that I normally do, I won't compromise on the quality of food I buy, and buy British wherever possible.

Avril

[Harry Peterson]

1 hour ago, Presto2 said:

Hi, no, but we have had the central heating engineer and electricians out from the company who service our gas. Sadly it is 20 yrs old or more and not a condensing boiler (or so my hubby tells me). Its leaking which has blown the electrics. In a nutshell it has died of old age ! Have had it over 20 yrs - probably about 23 yrs - so it doesn't owe us anything as we've never had an issue with it before at all. 

I hope you’re able to get it replaced quickly - not a good time for it.

[Snow Hill]

1 hour ago, Presto2 said:

Hi, no, but we have had the central heating engineer and electricians out from the company who service our gas. Sadly it is 20 yrs old or more and not a condensing boiler (or so my hubby tells me). Its leaking which has blown the electrics. In a nutshell it has died of old age ! Have had it over 20 yrs - probably about 23 yrs - so it doesn't owe us anything as we've never had an issue with it before at all. 

My daughters boiler failed February last year, go a new one installed very quickly by this company, I house sat while it was installed, all very efficient boiler etc arrived at 8am, engineer turned up at 9, all done by 3pm. The old boiler was 20 years old she seen a huge difference in amount of gas used.

 

https://www.boxt.co.uk

[kalos]

46 minutes ago, zap99 said:

We all seem to accept this as an inevitable result of the inflationary crisis sweeping us globally.  Not when it relates to P&O we don't.  Standards are slipping....budget cruise line...prawn cocktail crisis.......cheese ????

 

My thoughts as well but why the fixation on P&O cruises ? They are not alone .

Last night we watched a YouTube film on RC ships and in the film they went to a paid eatery.

One gets his Breakfast in about 10 minutes while the other sits another 25 minutes before

his breakfast turned up . They  had staff shortages .

A couple who filmed Cunard were not happy either.

You only have to read the "Cut backs on P&O " thread and folks were wanting to get off a 

Princess cruise due to shortages ..

A fair number of cruise lines as well as P&O .

You forgot the photographers ..Say .cheese ????     Oh you did .😉

[pete14]

2 hours ago, Presto2 said:

Hi, no, but we have had the central heating engineer and electricians out from the company who service our gas. Sadly it is 20 yrs old or more and not a condensing boiler (or so my hubby tells me). Its leaking which has blown the electrics. In a nutshell it has died of old age ! Have had it over 20 yrs - probably about 23 yrs - so it doesn't owe us anything as we've never had an issue with it before at all. 

Sorry to hear that. Do you want a warm dog to huddle around? 🐶. I don’t suppose the cat is too impressed.

[zap99]

1 hour ago, kalos said:

 

You forgot the photographers ..Say .cheese ????     Oh you did .😉

That's one thing we don't miss. A nuisance in my very humble opinion.  Photographers that is. DW likes a prawn cocktail and a nice chunk of Stilton goes down well. Wallace and Gromit will be on Azura in a couple of weeks, at least we will have somebody to complain to....wrong cheese Gromit.

[kalos]

8 minutes ago, zap99 said:

That's one thing we don't miss. A nuisance in my very humble opinion.  Photographers that is. DW likes a prawn cocktail and a nice chunk of Stilton goes down well. Wallace and Gromit will be on Azura in a couple of weeks, at least we will have somebody to complain to....wrong cheese Gromit.

 I'm sure you and your good wife will have a great time Zap.

We used to like the Blue Bar looking down at the ballroom dancers as they performed 

the military two step .🙂

Knowing your luck it maybe just one step .. Due to cut backs 🤣

[zap99]

6 minutes ago, kalos said:

 I'm sure you and your good wife will have a great time Zap.

We used to like the Blue Bar looking down at the ballroom dancers as they performed 

the military two step .🙂

Knowing your luck it maybe just one step .. Due to cut backs 🤣

Thanks Kalos. This will be our first time on Azura, so will go with an open mind and will have a good time. We have a full day in Tenerife before we sail. We can have a look at what's missing and pop into a local shop. Our shopping list so far is cheese, after 8's and Banana's.  I wonder what else🤔

[Harry Peterson]

1 minute ago, zap99 said:

Thanks Kalos. This will be our first time on Azura, so will go with an open mind and will have a good time. We have a full day in Tenerife before we sail. We can have a look at what's missing and pop into a local shop. Our shopping list so far is cheese, after 8's and Banana's.  I wonder what else🤔

Prawns?

[alpha whiskey]

3 hours ago, zap99 said:

We all seem to accept this as an inevitable result of the inflationary crisis sweeping us globally.  Not when it relates to P&O we don't.  Standards are slipping....budget cruise line...prawn cocktail crisis.......cheese ????

Yep, no way would I want to walk a mile in the same shoes as anyone trying to balance the books on any cruise line in today's climate.

We were more than happy with what P&O provided us with earlier this month and definitely got excellent value for money.

 

 

[brian1]

Hi all,just returned from a night out in Colchester staying with my OH's old schoolfriend from Whitechapel.They moved there last year.Their daughter lives in the Dutch quarter in a 500 year old mid terrace house only 10 minutes across Castle park from our friends house.The 6 of us went for dinner in a pub called the Castle inn,there are blown up photos of old Colchester buildings dotted around,after about an hour our friends SIL said hang on that's my house on that wall over there.They'd been there a few times and never noticed,lol.Quite impressed this time on our second visit to Colchester in a year.

[Dermotsgirl]

6 hours ago, brian1 said:

Hi all,just returned from a night out in Colchester staying with my OH's old schoolfriend from Whitechapel.They moved there last year.Their daughter lives in the Dutch quarter in a 500 year old mid terrace house only 10 minutes across Castle park from our friends house.The 6 of us went for dinner in a pub called the Castle inn,there are blown up photos of old Colchester buildings dotted around,after about an hour our friends SIL said hang on that's my house on that wall over there.They'd been there a few times and never noticed,lol.Quite impressed this time on our second visit to Colchester in a year.

We went on a short break to the Colchester area last year and had lunch in the Castle Inn 

[brian1]

8 hours ago, Dermotsgirl said:

We went on a short break to the Colchester area last year and had lunch in the Castle Inn 

Our friends hadn't moved there on our 1st visit so we didn't have the benefit of being shown the lovely park with the castle,Roman wall and river Colne running thru it.Also the old Dutch quarter.Brian.

[purplesea]

A rather non discript day here, dull and still and very quiet.

Meeting a friend for coffee this morning and a catch up as it's been months since we last met, life kept getting in the way!

It's also my daughter's birthday today so the family are going out for a carvery meal later. 

Hope everyone has an enjoyable day.

 

[Eglesbrech]

22 hours ago, zap99 said:

We all seem to accept this as an inevitable result of the inflationary crisis sweeping us globally.  Not when it relates to P&O we don't.  Standards are slipping....budget cruise line...prawn cocktail crisis.......cheese ????

No we don't.

 

Some of it down to profiteering by the large supermarkets. There was an article on radio Scotland about this and research has shown that while some items have gone up due to legitimate higher production costs eg eggs and milk others have been ramped up unnecessarily.
 

As an example the more people have moved to buying the budget own brand range foods the higher the prices have got for them. The same percentage rise has not been applied to the more luxury end of the market with the same basic ingredients so it’s not to do with production costs.

[twotravellersLondon]

Yesterday was Chinese New Year's Eve! We're now into the year of the rabbit! Billions of people hope trust and believe that the sign of Rabbit is a symbol of longevity, peace, and prosperity and that 2023 is predicted to be a year of hope. 

 

So here's just a few pics of London's China Town in a less busy moment... later yesterday evening we had to be at a sell out performance of a spectacular concert by the Grimethorpe Brass Band... quite a culture shock but in both cases... the bringers of joy, happiness and hope.

 

So to everyone on this cold misty morning ... a wish of long-life, peace, prosperity and hope for the future!

 

 

 

Edited January 22, 2023 by twotravellersLondon

[brian1]

13 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

No we don't.

 

Some of it down to profiteering by the large supermarkets. There was an article on radio Scotland about this and research has shown that while some items have gone up due to legitimate higher production costs eg eggs and milk others have been ramped up unnecessarily.
 

As an example the more people have moved to buying the budget own brand range foods the higher the prices have got for them. The same percentage rise has not been applied to the more luxury end of the market with the same basic ingredients so it’s not to do with production costs.

Spot on, as I said in a previous post Sainsbury tinned spag 21p Heinz 90p,no brainer.

[Beckett]

Good Morning Everyone and Happy Sunday.

 

Just been catching up with the food prices posts. My biggest beef is the cost of my favourite coffee - Nescafe Azera. We now have a smaller tin and a much bigger price. Used to be £4.70, now £6.20 - unless it's on special  offer in which case it's sold out. I know, first world problems! 

 

This giving up smoking lark ain't easy! Went to collect my vape on Friday and the shop didn't have the right strength liquid - in stock again late tomorrow apparently. Anyway I bought the vape and a stronger strength liquid to keep me going until Monday. Too strong. I've been coughing non-stop since I tried it. So, I bought a minimum strength throw away bar from my local newsagent which I'm actually getting on fine with - no cough at all. I'll go back again tomorrow to the proper vape shop, have another consultation, and hopefully re-adjust to the right strength. Still determined!

 

Good day for me today - Arsenal v Man U this afternoon and Happy Valley tonight.

 

I hope you all have a good day today and mind the slippery pavements.

 

Best wishes. Jane.xxx