Having tried desperately hard to find some cheap flights to Tenerife, I thought that I had finally hit gold when I came accross the site of 'On the Beach'.
I duly filled in the on line booking form, and paid for the flights. That's it, I thought, job done. How wrong was I?
Several hours later I received an email asking me to phone them.
It was bad enough that the number they use is a premium rate 0870 number, but when they informed me that the price had now gone up by a MASSIVE £86 per person I was not a happy person!
They informed me that somewhere in tiny writing in their terms and conditions it tells me that the price could change. I could not see where it said that anywhere on the booking form I had printed out.
What, exactly, is the point of this company if they cannot guarantee the price at time of booking? To make matters worse, when I went back onto their website the same flights were being offered at the original booking price. When questioned about this, their answer was that 'On the Beach' do not have control of the website and that any airline can change details and prices to suit themselves, so again I ask
'ON THE BEACH' WHAT EXACTLY IS THE POINT OF BOOKING THOROUGH YOU?
My advice - DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES
Sunday, 9 May 2010
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Celebrity Eclipse
Graham and I celebrated our Silver Wedding Anniversary this week and were lucky enough to be aboard the brand new cruise ship 'Celebrity Eclipse' for this occasion.
It was her inaugural voyage (if you exclude her brave and daring mission to collect over 2,000 stranded Brits from Bilbao last week!), so everything aboard was brand new and pristine, just the way I like it.
She is a huge vessel at around 122,000 tonnes and carries just under 3,000 passengers. She is elegantly furbished with none of the tackiness I have seen on other American owned ships.
However, those who know me will be aware than I can be super critical, and some will say that I actually look for things to complain about. Moi? Surely not!!
So true to character, unsurprisingly, there were one or two things that I feel Celebrity need to take a look at.......
The first thing I noticed was that there was no coffee in the cabin,(sorry, stateroom as it is now called) only tea. As I do not drink tea I asked our steward for some coffee only to be informed that it was tea only on this cruise. What???? After a few choice words (from me, not him), he told me he would see what he could do. On returning to the cabin later I found some coffee had been brought, but guess what, this was at the expense of the tea bags!Obviously this must be some quaint new American health and safety law. Tea and coffee together in one cabin may lead to an overdose in caffeine! Also an apparant money saving idea was to leave out the biscuits that we used to enjoy with our cuppa.
Criticism No.2 - The toilet paper was so thin that, using newspaper would have been more effective. I do not understand how Celebrity think that this saves them money when you need to use four times as much as usual.
Criticism No.3 - Whoever designed the sink needs shooting! The taps take up the majority of it, and I had to stand sideways in order to use it. They should have been designed to push to one side.
By far my biggest complaint was the over-inflated prices on all drinks on board this ship. Yes, it is a 5 star ship and higher prices are to be expected, but these were well over the top, and if this wasn't bad enough 15% gratuity was automatically added to every order, even if you stand at the bar and collect it yourself. Sorry Celebrity, this leaves a bad taste in the mouths of us Brits.
I was also unhappy that Celebrity imposed a hefty charge to use the shuttle bus in Le Havre. It is hardly the fault of the passengers that the ship is too large to dock close to the town.
This always used to be a free service. As far as I am aware it still is on P & O ships.
It is all these little touches that, in my opinion, prevent a good cruise from being a great one.
However these criticisms aside, the ship is fabulous. We had a very enjoyable 3 nights aboard. The restaurant that we were allocated (Blu) had attentive waiters, and the food was extremely tasty. The Ocean view buffet style cafe was also excellent with top quality food and an extremely varied selection.
The outside deck area could get a little crowded. I do find that Americans do not give the same importance to outside space that the British do. However, the sun loungers were comfortable and there were plenty of towels freely available.
Would I recommend this ship? That's a tough one. I would say that as long as you are prepared to spend a lot of money whilst on board, then yes I would say give it a try.
It was her inaugural voyage (if you exclude her brave and daring mission to collect over 2,000 stranded Brits from Bilbao last week!), so everything aboard was brand new and pristine, just the way I like it.
She is a huge vessel at around 122,000 tonnes and carries just under 3,000 passengers. She is elegantly furbished with none of the tackiness I have seen on other American owned ships.
However, those who know me will be aware than I can be super critical, and some will say that I actually look for things to complain about. Moi? Surely not!!
So true to character, unsurprisingly, there were one or two things that I feel Celebrity need to take a look at.......
The first thing I noticed was that there was no coffee in the cabin,(sorry, stateroom as it is now called) only tea. As I do not drink tea I asked our steward for some coffee only to be informed that it was tea only on this cruise. What???? After a few choice words (from me, not him), he told me he would see what he could do. On returning to the cabin later I found some coffee had been brought, but guess what, this was at the expense of the tea bags!Obviously this must be some quaint new American health and safety law. Tea and coffee together in one cabin may lead to an overdose in caffeine! Also an apparant money saving idea was to leave out the biscuits that we used to enjoy with our cuppa.
Criticism No.2 - The toilet paper was so thin that, using newspaper would have been more effective. I do not understand how Celebrity think that this saves them money when you need to use four times as much as usual.
Criticism No.3 - Whoever designed the sink needs shooting! The taps take up the majority of it, and I had to stand sideways in order to use it. They should have been designed to push to one side.
By far my biggest complaint was the over-inflated prices on all drinks on board this ship. Yes, it is a 5 star ship and higher prices are to be expected, but these were well over the top, and if this wasn't bad enough 15% gratuity was automatically added to every order, even if you stand at the bar and collect it yourself. Sorry Celebrity, this leaves a bad taste in the mouths of us Brits.
I was also unhappy that Celebrity imposed a hefty charge to use the shuttle bus in Le Havre. It is hardly the fault of the passengers that the ship is too large to dock close to the town.
This always used to be a free service. As far as I am aware it still is on P & O ships.
It is all these little touches that, in my opinion, prevent a good cruise from being a great one.
However these criticisms aside, the ship is fabulous. We had a very enjoyable 3 nights aboard. The restaurant that we were allocated (Blu) had attentive waiters, and the food was extremely tasty. The Ocean view buffet style cafe was also excellent with top quality food and an extremely varied selection.
The outside deck area could get a little crowded. I do find that Americans do not give the same importance to outside space that the British do. However, the sun loungers were comfortable and there were plenty of towels freely available.
Would I recommend this ship? That's a tough one. I would say that as long as you are prepared to spend a lot of money whilst on board, then yes I would say give it a try.
Thursday, 27 August 2009
PONTEFINO'S ITALIAN RESTAURANT, GUNTHORPE
THURSDAY 27TH AUGUST 2009
A few weeks ago a new Italian restaurant opened in Gunthorpe, near Nottingham
I was really looking forward to trying it out and thought that it could well be an ideal venue to take my inlaws for lunch when they came to stay.
I should have taken it as a warning sign when they kept delaying the lunch time opening, but finally, just in time for my birthday in August they opened. However, as this visit was not problem free I chose not to review it, and give them a little longer to iron out the initial teething problems we encountered.
Today, reluctantly, I have to say that this is not the case, and that the level of service and professionalism one may have expected from a new and rather plush looking restaurant is sadly lacking.
When we arrived at around 1.20p.m it there were just 2 people dining, although another table of 2, and a table of 1 arrived soon after. We were asked whether we would like to go straight to a table or sit in the comfortable bar area for a drink first, We chose the latter. There are lovely, comfortable leather chairs and sofas and is very tastefully decorated. We did notice however that the same tiles were still missing from the fireplace.
The drinks arrived promptly. We were served by the same young man we had seen on our previous visit. He is extremely polite and helpful but it is clear that he has not worked in the retaurant business before, and the lack of training was evident.
After approx 20 minutes, starving hungry and not a menu in sight, I found our young man who appeared puzzled that we were requesting a menu before being seated at our table. However, he took our order and left us to find a table of our choice. I had asked for some bread and garlic butter to be brought before our starter as by now we were absolutely ravenous. This however, arrived at the same as the starter and without any butter.
At no time were we offered a wine menu, or even asked if we would like another drink.
When our pizzas arrived we were not offered any black pepper or asked if we would like anything else (we would have loved some parmesan)
When I mentioned my concerns to our waiter he kept apolgizing, but frankly it is easy to say sorry. Actions would have spoken louder than words.
Despite these negative words, the food is quite good.
My prawn and avocado cocktail was lovely and fresh, mu husband said his vegetable soup was really tasty.
Out pizzas were freshly baked, if a little too well done on the edges.
This restaurant has great potential.
It is is the right location, close to the river. It looks right - bright, airy and clean. The prices are about right. It cost us £9.95 per head for two courses.
The menu has a fairly good selection, although the waiter seemed unclear as to whether or not we could just choose from the lunch menu, or the more extensive a la carte menu on the reverse side,
(The cost of the drinks were deducted after I complained about the service)
The problem I have is that the owners appear clueless and amateurish when it comes to actually running the restaurant.
At this stage I will award Pontefino's 5/10
I feel that it could easily rate a 9/10 with just a few important tweaks. I really hope it makes it.
A few weeks ago a new Italian restaurant opened in Gunthorpe, near Nottingham
I was really looking forward to trying it out and thought that it could well be an ideal venue to take my inlaws for lunch when they came to stay.
I should have taken it as a warning sign when they kept delaying the lunch time opening, but finally, just in time for my birthday in August they opened. However, as this visit was not problem free I chose not to review it, and give them a little longer to iron out the initial teething problems we encountered.
Today, reluctantly, I have to say that this is not the case, and that the level of service and professionalism one may have expected from a new and rather plush looking restaurant is sadly lacking.
When we arrived at around 1.20p.m it there were just 2 people dining, although another table of 2, and a table of 1 arrived soon after. We were asked whether we would like to go straight to a table or sit in the comfortable bar area for a drink first, We chose the latter. There are lovely, comfortable leather chairs and sofas and is very tastefully decorated. We did notice however that the same tiles were still missing from the fireplace.
The drinks arrived promptly. We were served by the same young man we had seen on our previous visit. He is extremely polite and helpful but it is clear that he has not worked in the retaurant business before, and the lack of training was evident.
After approx 20 minutes, starving hungry and not a menu in sight, I found our young man who appeared puzzled that we were requesting a menu before being seated at our table. However, he took our order and left us to find a table of our choice. I had asked for some bread and garlic butter to be brought before our starter as by now we were absolutely ravenous. This however, arrived at the same as the starter and without any butter.
At no time were we offered a wine menu, or even asked if we would like another drink.
When our pizzas arrived we were not offered any black pepper or asked if we would like anything else (we would have loved some parmesan)
When I mentioned my concerns to our waiter he kept apolgizing, but frankly it is easy to say sorry. Actions would have spoken louder than words.
Despite these negative words, the food is quite good.
My prawn and avocado cocktail was lovely and fresh, mu husband said his vegetable soup was really tasty.
Out pizzas were freshly baked, if a little too well done on the edges.
This restaurant has great potential.
It is is the right location, close to the river. It looks right - bright, airy and clean. The prices are about right. It cost us £9.95 per head for two courses.
The menu has a fairly good selection, although the waiter seemed unclear as to whether or not we could just choose from the lunch menu, or the more extensive a la carte menu on the reverse side,
(The cost of the drinks were deducted after I complained about the service)
The problem I have is that the owners appear clueless and amateurish when it comes to actually running the restaurant.
At this stage I will award Pontefino's 5/10
I feel that it could easily rate a 9/10 with just a few important tweaks. I really hope it makes it.
Thursday, 30 July 2009
A GLIMMER OF HOPE?
It rains and it rains, and then rains some more
It rains every day, it's just such a bore
It's meant to be summer, the days long and hot
But look out the window and what have we got?
Bleak looking skies and overflowing drains
I can't hang the washing out yet again
The patio furniture is still in the box
As out to buy wellies and brollies we flock
Picnics forgotten, barbecues too
As nice sunny days we have just too few
I look at the forecast, five days ahead
With weather like this I may stay in bed
Surely, oh surely it has to improve
Oh please hurry up, or to Spain I will move
But all those who know me
Will no doubt agree
There's a glimmer of light, for me this July
With a little bit of luck the wasps will all die!
Claire-G
It rains every day, it's just such a bore
It's meant to be summer, the days long and hot
But look out the window and what have we got?
Bleak looking skies and overflowing drains
I can't hang the washing out yet again
The patio furniture is still in the box
As out to buy wellies and brollies we flock
Picnics forgotten, barbecues too
As nice sunny days we have just too few
I look at the forecast, five days ahead
With weather like this I may stay in bed
Surely, oh surely it has to improve
Oh please hurry up, or to Spain I will move
But all those who know me
Will no doubt agree
There's a glimmer of light, for me this July
With a little bit of luck the wasps will all die!
Claire-G
Sunday, 26 July 2009
Aaachooo! Is is Swine Flu?
I sit on my chair in the foyer at work
Assessing the patients for germs that may lurk
A cough? Headache? A fever or worse?
All of these? You won't see our nurse
Go home, get rest and phone the flu line
They'll give you advice, as long as you've time
Accesss the website and hope it won't crash
Trust the government to make a complete hash
They tell us the swine flu has taken a hold
But please don't panic it's probably a cold!
(Claire G)
Assessing the patients for germs that may lurk
A cough? Headache? A fever or worse?
All of these? You won't see our nurse
Go home, get rest and phone the flu line
They'll give you advice, as long as you've time
Accesss the website and hope it won't crash
Trust the government to make a complete hash
They tell us the swine flu has taken a hold
But please don't panic it's probably a cold!
(Claire G)
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
SAY NO TO TESCO IN BINGHAM
Tuesday 21st July 2009
Upon hearing the news that Tesco are interested in opening a 'moderate' sized store in Bingham, one could be forgiven for thinking wow that's brilliant, very convenient.
I appreciate that we will all have very different views on the pros and cons for this, but I ask you to consider the following and, should you agree with me, please forward this to as many local people as possible as well as to Rushcliffe Borough Council at:
blueprint@rushcliffe.gov.uk.
Despite being told by Tesco that this will be good for local people and traders alike, I beg to differ.
Firstly, once people are inside Tesco they will invariably do all their shopping under one roof. Who can honestly say that after parking in Tesco's car park and doing your shopping there that you are then going to walk into the square or Eton place to pick up veg, meat or papers, all of which will be available inside Tesco. I think not. Local shops will suffer and many could go out of business. Let's not forget either the struggling market traders on a Thursday or the local farmer's market on Saturdays. Can they survive this form of competition?
Secondly, Tesco will not be satisfied with just a moderate store for long and once they become established, will inevitably and dramatically increase the square footage and become a superstore.
Well what's wrong with that you may ask?
Consider the impact of hundreds and hundreds of people driving through our town 7 days per week from dawn to dusk , not to mention the juggernauts thundering through to make their deliveries to Tesco. Is this what you really want?
Bingham is already packed to capacity, driving around is chaotic enough.
Ask yourself why you have chosen to live in a small market town like Bingham. Could it be that you enjoy the semi rural lifestyle and small, indivually owned shops where you can be assured of personal and attentive service?
Personally, I think that the lifestyle the majority of us enjoy in Bingham far outweighs the little inconvenience of travelling a few miles to frequent one of many superstores available to us on the outskirts of Nottingham
In my opinion, this will be destroyed forever if we let Tesco get a foothold here in Bingham.
Upon hearing the news that Tesco are interested in opening a 'moderate' sized store in Bingham, one could be forgiven for thinking wow that's brilliant, very convenient.
I appreciate that we will all have very different views on the pros and cons for this, but I ask you to consider the following and, should you agree with me, please forward this to as many local people as possible as well as to Rushcliffe Borough Council at:
blueprint@rushcliffe.gov.uk.
Despite being told by Tesco that this will be good for local people and traders alike, I beg to differ.
Firstly, once people are inside Tesco they will invariably do all their shopping under one roof. Who can honestly say that after parking in Tesco's car park and doing your shopping there that you are then going to walk into the square or Eton place to pick up veg, meat or papers, all of which will be available inside Tesco. I think not. Local shops will suffer and many could go out of business. Let's not forget either the struggling market traders on a Thursday or the local farmer's market on Saturdays. Can they survive this form of competition?
Secondly, Tesco will not be satisfied with just a moderate store for long and once they become established, will inevitably and dramatically increase the square footage and become a superstore.
Well what's wrong with that you may ask?
Consider the impact of hundreds and hundreds of people driving through our town 7 days per week from dawn to dusk , not to mention the juggernauts thundering through to make their deliveries to Tesco. Is this what you really want?
Bingham is already packed to capacity, driving around is chaotic enough.
Ask yourself why you have chosen to live in a small market town like Bingham. Could it be that you enjoy the semi rural lifestyle and small, indivually owned shops where you can be assured of personal and attentive service?
Personally, I think that the lifestyle the majority of us enjoy in Bingham far outweighs the little inconvenience of travelling a few miles to frequent one of many superstores available to us on the outskirts of Nottingham
In my opinion, this will be destroyed forever if we let Tesco get a foothold here in Bingham.
Saturday, 18 July 2009
RAIN, RAIN AND EVEN MORE RAIN........
SATURDAY 18TH JULY 2009
Having made the decision to holiday in England this year, and hearing from yet another 'expert' that we were in for a barbecue summer I was feeling quite optimistic as we set out to spend a week in a luxury cottage deep in the Northumbrian countryside.
The first two days, although fairly cloudy, remained warm and dry, so early in the morning on day 3, we decided to visit the Holy Island (aka Lindisfarne). We checked the tidal times for a safe crossing and off we went.
It was fairly sunny as we set off on a walk to the castle and then it all went wrong.............
Literally without warning the heavens opened and the rain just fell. I have never seen such a heavy downpour and certainly never been standing out in one, without any form of shelter in easy reach.
My husband was wearing a t-shirt, longsleeve shirt and a pair of shorts. Not at all concerned about me he pushed his beloved camera in my hand saying "look after this" and ran to hide under the nearest tree.
I did have a showerproof mac with a hood but this was no match for the powerful rain and by the time I reached the tree I was soaked right down to my undies! My husband didn't fair any better as even the cover of the trees was no match for this amount of rain.
Eventually the rain eased and the sun shone once again. My husband left me on a street corner saying that he was going to the gents to try and dry his clothes off. I waited and waited and waited,(I didn't even get one offer!) until eventually he phoned me to say that he was back at the car.
Thanks Darling xxxxx
It was hilarious though, on arriving back at the car, to find that he had stripped down and had items of his clothing drying on the bonnet of his car. Having a black car was proving an advantage on this occasion as the sun had turned the paintwork into a furnace. As usual no concern about me, he only wanted to make sure the camera had made it back in one piece.
You would think that after this we would have learnt our lesson and not venture too far without wellies and an umbrella.
Wrong!
Three days later we decided to visit Bamburgh Castle.
It was a glorious morning. We walked and explored and had a fabulous time. If only we had left it at that and headed home, but NO. Guess who wanted to see some other sights - yes, that's right ME!
We ended up at yet another castle, Warkworth. It was still a fairly bright day, so ff we went, both of us with a showerproof mac this time, but without an umbrella, and once again a million miles away from the car, the heavens opened once more.
This time we thought aha here's a shop doorway. We can shelter here for a few minutes and wait for the shower to pass.
Shower? you may well ask. The rain just came down heavier and heavier (even worse than on Lindisfarne) so we just had to attempt to get back to the car as quickly as we could. I wonder what the manufacturers of showerproof items actually class as a shower, as once again the rain penetrated the macs in seconds
The Hubbie was not at all happy with me, as once again we had to drive back absolutely sodden.
It was a good job that we decided not to wait in the doorway otherwise we may well have still been there, as this downpour lasted until we were approx 30 miles from home yesterday, and apparently it is still raining in the North East. oh Joy!
Where will I be going on my next holiday. Well it will not be in England, that's for sure. If I ever tell you otherwise please have me locked up....
Having made the decision to holiday in England this year, and hearing from yet another 'expert' that we were in for a barbecue summer I was feeling quite optimistic as we set out to spend a week in a luxury cottage deep in the Northumbrian countryside.
The first two days, although fairly cloudy, remained warm and dry, so early in the morning on day 3, we decided to visit the Holy Island (aka Lindisfarne). We checked the tidal times for a safe crossing and off we went.
It was fairly sunny as we set off on a walk to the castle and then it all went wrong.............
Literally without warning the heavens opened and the rain just fell. I have never seen such a heavy downpour and certainly never been standing out in one, without any form of shelter in easy reach.
My husband was wearing a t-shirt, longsleeve shirt and a pair of shorts. Not at all concerned about me he pushed his beloved camera in my hand saying "look after this" and ran to hide under the nearest tree.
I did have a showerproof mac with a hood but this was no match for the powerful rain and by the time I reached the tree I was soaked right down to my undies! My husband didn't fair any better as even the cover of the trees was no match for this amount of rain.
Eventually the rain eased and the sun shone once again. My husband left me on a street corner saying that he was going to the gents to try and dry his clothes off. I waited and waited and waited,(I didn't even get one offer!) until eventually he phoned me to say that he was back at the car.
Thanks Darling xxxxx
It was hilarious though, on arriving back at the car, to find that he had stripped down and had items of his clothing drying on the bonnet of his car. Having a black car was proving an advantage on this occasion as the sun had turned the paintwork into a furnace. As usual no concern about me, he only wanted to make sure the camera had made it back in one piece.
You would think that after this we would have learnt our lesson and not venture too far without wellies and an umbrella.
Wrong!
Three days later we decided to visit Bamburgh Castle.
It was a glorious morning. We walked and explored and had a fabulous time. If only we had left it at that and headed home, but NO. Guess who wanted to see some other sights - yes, that's right ME!
We ended up at yet another castle, Warkworth. It was still a fairly bright day, so ff we went, both of us with a showerproof mac this time, but without an umbrella, and once again a million miles away from the car, the heavens opened once more.
This time we thought aha here's a shop doorway. We can shelter here for a few minutes and wait for the shower to pass.
Shower? you may well ask. The rain just came down heavier and heavier (even worse than on Lindisfarne) so we just had to attempt to get back to the car as quickly as we could. I wonder what the manufacturers of showerproof items actually class as a shower, as once again the rain penetrated the macs in seconds
The Hubbie was not at all happy with me, as once again we had to drive back absolutely sodden.
It was a good job that we decided not to wait in the doorway otherwise we may well have still been there, as this downpour lasted until we were approx 30 miles from home yesterday, and apparently it is still raining in the North East. oh Joy!
Where will I be going on my next holiday. Well it will not be in England, that's for sure. If I ever tell you otherwise please have me locked up....
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