What are you all up to
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We've done around 12 cruises so far, first one a river cruise for our 25th was the Nile cruise, since then its been all sea cruises.
Never been seasick on one, and only one where we had rough seas that was from Madeira to Agadir a few were sick on that one.
Probably the best cruise was the Panama canal, the thing about cruises is getting the right one. If you don't like being at sea don't pick one that has a lot of sea days.
Many cruises have no sea days, while others like a relocation cruise across the Atlantic has 5 continuous sea days.
The last cruise we did Jan/Feb this year had 7 sea days during the 14 days cruise.
We've tried all kinds of cruise companies some we will use again, one we won't. P&O have now included tips in with the cost so no extra shock at the end of the cruise.
We both like cruises but only at a time when we wouldn't be using the van. So the search for January continues.
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Normal kind of day while we are home, working outdoors. Its not been as sunny or as hot today so I managed to finish off polishing the caravan.
OH still busy with his building project, I did some more painting for him then did some pottering in the front garden. Ironing still not done
Pretty perfect day 
Mum's bounced back again
up and about, eating and drinking. The home said she is doing well. Just wish we knew why she keeps getting chest infections. Thank you to everyone who has passed on good wishes for her 0 -
TG - if I could find an ocean cruise with no "sea days" I might even relent! I'm quite happy to be at sea for most of the day if I know we're docking somewhere in the evening. It's just 24+ hours at sea I dislike. I don't suppose you've got any suggestions?
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M, quite a few of the Caribbean cruises have no sea days at all, the cruising is done overnight so you tend to dock around 8am then spend all day ashore, sail again around 7pm overnight to a new destination.
We also did a cruise from Venice that didn't have sea days, Bari, Katakolon, Santorini, Mykonos, Rhodes and Dubrovnik. Santorini we docked in the morning and spent till mid afternoon ashore then sailed to Mykonos just a few hours away. This allowed you to go ashore there for the evening then back on board for a midnight sail away.
River cruises can be a bit different in that some sail for half a day then spend the rest of the day and evening tied up. Some days you spend all day ashore.
Of course you could always do a cruise and stay, we've done one of those which worked out great for us, we had 3 days before the cruise and 4 days after. A good cruise expert will put something together for you around a cruise, you could do a split like we did or a week stay before or after a cruise.
Companies that we have used are, Cruise club UK, Iglu cruises, Costa cruises UK. Quite often I've put it together myself, then get a travel agent to do the booking so you get the ABTA and ATOL cover.
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Not too bothered about cruises, although we have caravanning friends who love them. At one point, I almost considered a continental river cruise but I couldn't find one that was dog friendly We'll probably stick with caravanning for the forseeable.
We're in Cornwall since Monday for 2 weeks. Here for our youngest daughter's graduation (Falmouth Ui - on Thursday).
David
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Don’t get me wrong I’ve been to some really exotic places in ships but a cruise wouldn’t suit me I don’t particularly like being in crowds being herded around.
But the choice is so great these days that you can pick and choose how big a ship you travel on. There is of course no obligation for you to use the ships excursion's. We quite often do our own thing. Depending on where in the world we are, safety comes first, so if in doubt we use the ships services, if it ok and safe to do so we make our own arrangements.
We tend to use cruises as tasters, if we like a place and want to revisit we then use hotels. We both like the variety on cruise ships, lots of things to do during the day and in the evening you have a choice of entertainment if you so wish.
Cruise ships come in many shape and form, from the huge glitzy american in your face cruise ships, to Cunards ocean liners, to the small ships around Croatia and then for those who have very deep pockets the majestic sailing ships.
However they are not for everyone.
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Sorry to hear that brue, hope you have a relaxing day none the less.
Its dull here today with rain threatened later, so must get a wiggle on and get some work done before it comes.
Congratulations to your daughter DSB, have a good trip and a good day at the graduation.
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Cruises won't be for everyone. As I am not keen on flying, which I appreciate tends to limit our options, so we use them to visit places that it would be difficult/time consuming to get to by other means. I wonder if people have misconceptions about cruises, I did! Now we have a little more experience we know what to expect. We tend not to use the ship based excursions as we find them expensive for what many of them are. We usually wander off the ship during the mornings getting back on board for lunch (we have already paid for that!) I don't know if its only P&O and Cunard but they do have a couple of formal nights per cruise. Something you either love or hate! There are always alternative eating places if you don't fancy getting the DJ out!!!
I quite like the idea of a River Cruise but its the logistics of getting to the departure point and the return point that puts me off a bit. Perhaps the man in Seat61 will be able to help?
David
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It’s a miserable wet day here at New England Bay. But we’ve been lucky, we arrived in hot sun on Monday afternoon, and yesterday was perfect. Cloudy in the morning while we put the awning up. Then warm and sunny till we went inside in the late evening. There’s was a power cut in the evening - not just the site - based in Dumfries. It didn’t bother us as OH was cooking supper (Piri Piri chicken stir fry) ably assisted by his sous chef (who shopped, chopped and washed up).
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Up early this morning to drive the ladies to Manchester airport for their flight to Italy. Haven't told Mrs WN about Lunar as didn't want to put a dampener on the holiday. Taking it in for some work tomorrow so will be interesting to hear what the dealer has to say.
We were already talking of swapping the van for something different in the next year or so as some of the work doesn't look like it will stand up to scrutiny in a couple of years. Have to have a chat with Mrs WN when she gets back. I daresay this will affect its p/x price.
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We had a good viewing of the partial eclipse last night as staying with friends they tried to set their telescope up but it seemed to not want to work last night ok this morning so made do with binoculars instead try to take some photos not good enough really an appropriate night as 50 years since first moon walk. Still very warm here and next week a heatwave again and water restrictions in a many areas of France.
Wn hope your family enjoy Italy and hope all ok with your caravan issues tomorrow.
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That's pretty much what we do David re the excursions. We don't mind flying which is a good job as very few cruises leave from Scotland
Lots of cruise lines have formal nights but as you said you don't have to take part in them. NCL are a casual cruise line, open seating for dinner, we like that as you get to meet new guests every night. No fixed time for dinner either so just go when you feel like it.
Although the press keep saying that there are hundreds of cruises out there and they are all trying to get your business the prices have rocketed in the last few years. Think I will wait a bit to see what appears in the late deals
The river cruise we fancy it the Danube but which section of it to choose, also fancy the SAGA one that sails from Moscow - St Petersburg or your can do it the other way round. The only thing with that is you have to book the cruise fairly sharpish and then apply for your visa, which doesn't come cheap. It can take up to 3 months to get it and can only be done at London and Edinburgh.
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WN. Our Lunar is just coming up for 2 years old and we are very disappointed about the situation at Lunar. Our van came with the 6 year water ingress warranty which according to some of the Linar Facebook groups is now void. We have had a few minor issues fixed under warranty over the past 2 years no problems and as far as I can tell nothing else needs done just now here’s hoping that there are no major issues crop up. We were discussing things today and may look at changing next year but we like the van so will see how things go also no doubt the PC values will suffer if Lunar disappear.
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Sorry to hear you are in the same boat as us Francis. It's a pity really as we love the layout of the caravan. It ticks all of our required boxes, plus we didn't have to upgrade the car, plus the upgrade on the payload really helped us (one of the few I think).
Technically speaking I think your dealer will still have to sort out any ingress problems that may arise. Had a word with the legal team at the CAMC and they confirmed that the dealer still has to sort out warranty problems, and recovering any outlay becomes their problem.Hopefully I won't need to explain the Consumer Rights Act to the dealer tomorrow when he looks at the "warranty" work on our 'van. If I get into an argument I'll get the credit card company that I used for a deposit involved.
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Lovely warm day here again. I got up early this morning and headed out a cycle ended up cycling in to Christchurch along to Avon beach and then back to the site through some quiet country roads very nice scenery was good too, I must say this area is excellent for cycling one of the best we have visited I’m hoping to get out a few more times on this trip. When I got back to the van SWMBO was filling out the coffee (great timing) so we had a nice relaxing morning before heading into Lymington for a couple of hours this afternoon what a nice town really enjoyable visit and even managed to find a nice little pub for a drink but £9.80 for 2 drinks was a bit of a shock to the system. My sister and family are joining us on this trip too so we met them for dinner at a little pub called The Swann close to the site and had a lovely meal sat out in the beer garden. We were dog sitting this evening while my sister and family went out a cycle but the dog has now went back to its own caravan so all quiet here. The rain has just started first rain we have had since we left home so we are now just sitting in the awning having a drink listening to the rain. Who couldn’t love the caravan life lol.
TG glad to hear your mum seems to be getting better. Thanks for the thoughts Brue it’s so frustrating you buy a brand new van expecting a 6 year warranty and it now looks like 2 years down the line that is now void, still not the end of the world I just hope we don’y Have any major issues with the van.
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And the same from me too.
Glad to hear that there's some improvement with your mum, TG.
Hope that you are able to get over your bug quickly, brue.
We were supposed to have had a pair of smart meters fitted today, but things have not gone to plan a old gas meter needs moving and also some rewiring done on the electric one, both being over 50 yrs old. They had planned to install 1st generation SMs too but as we are in an area of poor wifi signals the engineer doubted that they would work, and so it looks as if we'll get 2nd generation ones, all being well, in due course. Tomorrow we the mobile service engineer coming to do the yearly caravan service, so finger crossed that he doesn't find anything untoward and we can get away next week as planned.
We've had proper rain today from early afternoon, just what the garden wanted. Only hope that it's dry tomorrow though for the service.
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Had to get up at 5am this morning (again). This time due to a coughing fit that seemed to last forever but as usual I'm exaggerating. Felt much better after 20 minutes or so. Just waiting to get off to deliver the caravan.
The sun has decided to put in an appearance. Hope the day treats you well.
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Still feeling a bit yukky but got to keep going, a mixture of cold, cough and general "offness." We've had some rain which was quite pleasant and could do with a lot more.
Son and family are travelling down a bit later than expected so that's a help, gives me a bit more time.
Hope the meter work goes ok Nellie, we backed out of the smart meter option when a neighbour hit signal problems but we updated our system to the newest available.
Sounds like a good holiday Francis, have you found the Ornamental Drive area yet, another good spot to explore.
Have a good day folks, we're expecting the full holiday rush down here now!
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Folks are still a touch nervy, especially round ' Big Churches '
