“This Is the life”

As consumers we believe in the dream or product that a corporation or company are selling us. No matter what media platform we use we are bombarded with images both visual and verbal and often they are hard to ignore.

I consider myself a loyal customer of P&O for a considerable time.  They first appealed to me because they sold themselves as being a British tradition in cruising that catered for all the family and in the main they do, I had up until 2016 been satisfied with the service I had received.

Their advertising slogan “This Is the life” is inviting and before you know it you have been drawn in to the dream.  In August 2016, I was looking for a cruise that ticked all my boxes and I found one on Ventura (N729).  The cruise was only twelve nights and I was looking to extend it to a fortnight.  The previous cruise (N728) was described as a two-night mini break and I thought this was perfect, I booked the back to back cruises and thought no more of it.  As the months and weeks past my excitement grew.  These two cruises were extra special because it was my best friend’s birthday while on board ship and I had planned a variety of surprises for her to celebrate her day.

I am an infrequent visitor to several cruise forums and I saw nothing to alert me that something might be amiss.  The only comments I found were that Ventura looked dated and in need of a refit.

Embarkation was efficient and quick taking around thirty minutes from car to ship.  Lunch was fine, and our cabin was clean.  I saw no issues with the décor.  We spent the next couple of hours unpacking and settling in and did not leave the cabin until the muster drill.  It was at this drill that my friend and I noticed passengers bringing alcohol and filled glasses into muster station along with their life jackets; I was horrified!  I know many passengers find the drill boring, but it is important as it could one day save your life.  It was after the drill that I realised what N728 was, it was full of hen and stag parties.  The lifts smelt like a brewery and I was verbally abused in the lift, being called a spastic.

Back in my cabin my friend and I prepared for sail away and tried to make the best of a bad situation, looking forward to N729.  Dinner that night was smart casual, but you would never have thought that with the variety of novelty sailor costumes and bride’s veils worn in the restaurants.  Their behaviour was not only loud but extremely rude to the waiting staff; this was not the P&O that I had come to love and respect.  That evening we went to the Headliners show “Paradise City” after dinner and then to bed.  This is unusual behaviour for us as we like a cocktail before heading to the casino. 

The next day we were in Zeebrugge and for a while some normality on board.  That night was worse with large groups of people moving from one bar to another and all inebriated and swearing if you didn’t move out of their way.  That was a formal night and again many were inappropriately dressed, but no one refused them entry into the restaurants, regular cruisers will know that after 6pm the ship reverts to a dress code.  After dinner we went and saw an Adele tribute act and she was fantastic.  Shame a group of drunk hens got up and left half way through her act; they must have needed a top up of alcohol.

The following morning thankfully, they all disembarked, and piece rained once more.  Being only a handful of transition passengers left on board I took my chance and spoke with reception about the two-day mini break.  The officers referred to it as a “party cruise”, while other crew refer to them as a “booze cruise” and that explains why no duty-free alcohol was sold on board.  For other passengers like myself and the young families on board I felt sorry, this is not the standard we expect from P&O.  But when they offer a suite at only £329 what do you expect.

I was young once and like everyone to have fun but many of the under 25’s were binge drinking and had no consideration for their fellow passengers.  I am just thankful that an emergency never happened, many couldn’t walk straight so how would they find their muster station.  The people who really suffered were the bar staff, waiters and reception they seemed to work double hard and were often spoken to rudely.

A few days after we returned I contacted P&O to discuss N728 and several other issues that had arisen during N729.  The lady I spoke with was very helpful and let me off load.  From the conversation it appears they have had many complaints about two and three-night mini breaks and in response P&O have a new code of conduct which comes into being on 1^st January 2018.  I was offered £50pp on board spend on my next cruise, which I excepted.

I was not looking for any compensation, but it was a gesture of good will from them.  People have said I should have pushed for more, but it wasn’t about the money.  P&O have lost far more than me in reputation alone.  This is their 180^th year in service and I personally thought they would never have stooped so low as to want to be associated with hens and stags.  I knew of several couples who were using it as a taster to cruise and from their own experience vowed never to return.  Back on dry land I have a couple of friends who were considering booking a two-night mini break as a taster but have decided not to book after hearing our experience.  I hope that P&O do in force their new code of conduct for everyone sake.

Bluecrest Health Screening

Yesterday 13^th March I received an envelope through the post addressed to me and inside was an invitation advertising private health checks to help me avoid heart disease and stroke.  The invitation then goes on to say that they have organised a clinic and they write to a small number of people in my area for whom appointments are available; my clinic date is April 10^th 2017.  If I wish to take up the appointment I just must call them.

The invitation includes four side of facts about stroke and heart disease.  The team doesn’t only check for my risk of heart disease and stroke but check my liver, kidneys, iron levels, metabolism, muscles, calcium, bone health, energy levels and apparently much more.

It is painless apart from a blood sample and I will eventually receive a report which I can show to my GP if I wish.  The readings in my report will be marked green for perfectly normal, Amber means the result is outside of the expected range, not necessarily anything to worry about but worth mentioning to your GP and then red is further outside of the normal range and you may want to contact your GP to go through that reading with them.

The invitation then goes into detail with what happens at my screening and certain words are underlined such as Blood Pressure, Blood Test Results, General Health Markers, Liver Function Test, Kidney Function, Gout, Full Lipid (Cholesterol) Profile, ECG Test, Biometric Analysis, Standard, Haematology Profile, Prostate Cancer Test and Ovarian Cancer.

Finally, I can have all this for just £129 and then they give comparison with BUPA and Nuffield.

I hate this kind of post and I know they probably sent the same letter to hundreds of people in my area.  I can ignore it, I have a good team of professionals looking after me but some people who receive this are vulnerable and may fell pressurised into taking up the invitation and spending money they may not have. 

Bluecrest have underlined keywords and to me this is just scaremongering.  I would like to know how they choose who they send this invitation to.  I have a congenital disability and other health issues my friend is healthy and we live at the same address and yet she has not received one which makes me wonder if they are just choosing people who already have health concerns.  I will be contacting them put just wanted to warn people they are in the area.

Pitch Black!

On Christmas eve all the lampposts in my close went out and  because it was the Christmas holidays all the councils and housing associations were closed until 3rd January 2017.  Emergency callouts usually only cover loss of power, heating and water and because of this I didn't try and call anyone.
By the 3rd we had been without light for ten nights and living so rural it was pitch black outside, even torches didn't help.
On the 3rd I called the county council in Norwich who informed me it was my housing association who were responsible.  Just hearing that filled me with absolute dread, knowing it would be an uphill struggle to get something done.  If it wasn't for the fact that I can't be out after 5:00pm because it is pitch black outside I would have let my neighbours deal with it.  So I plucked up courage and called explaining that all out close lights were out and had been since Christmas eve. the advisor had little sympathy  and said she would log it.  I said I felt in was a health and safety issue because no one can see where they were going and it was dangerous for the elderly and disabled who live here.
Stupid me, I thought it would be dealt with that day. By 3:45pm I could see that no they had not been fixed and that meant another night of darkness.  I called just after 4:00pm and at first the advisor said no one else had called except me.  I suddenly heard another voice in the background saying that another five people had called, that's six out of ten properties.  Like always I was fobbed off  by them saying it was on the list with their contractor TT Jones.
Go forward another twenty-four hours and guess what, still not fixed!  So I'm back on the phone to my housing association again who tell me that residents have said it's only three lampposts!  By this time I'm banging my head on my bedroom wall trying to explain we only have three lampposts and if they wanted to listen to my call the previous day they would hear that I did say all our lampposts.  Then the icing on the cake was when she smugly informed me it had be logged as a normal callout and could take 28 days to be fixed.  As you can imagine I blew a gasket and explained that being disabled I was now housebound between 5:00pm - 8:00am because my carer can't see to get my walker in and out of my car and it must be difficult for young mum's with babies as well.  Eventually my nagging got the advisor to escalate it to an emergency and should be done with 48hours.
Another twenty-four hours and I now looking outside my window complete darkness.  For stargazers it must be wonderful with no light pollution, but for me it's another night stuck indoors.