Life after Lockdown [Split from Current Affairs]

[Stephen]

Toilet rolls are plentiful though.

They don't taste quite the same as brown muffins though

[Gill W]

Apart from essentials (including the hairdresser) I think I'm going to be mostly socially distant for a while yet. I do miss simple pleasures like going out for a coffee, but I feel lucky that I'm at a stage in my life where I can keep a low profile and not have to worry about work.

I'm lucky. Trish has cut my hair for the past 30+ years. So I can still get a haircut. Mind you I make her wear flippers and a snorkel and stand 2m back when she is doing it at the moment. Those long-handled garden shears are so handy

I’ve cut my husband’s hair for a long time, but not keen to unleash him on my hair. I’m a bit worried he’ll go into Edward Scissorhands mode!

[Quizzical Bob]

Toilet rolls are plentiful though.

They don't taste quite the same as brown muffins though

Brown muffins are made from used toilet rolls.


That’s why they taste like sh*t

[Mervyn and Trish]

Toilet rolls are plentiful though.

They don't taste quite the same as brown muffins though

Brown muffins are made from used toilet rolls.


That’s why they taste like sh*t

Not in our house. We're washing and drying toilet paper for reuse to conserve supplies

[Kenmo1]

Decisions made today :
1) I'm just going to let the grey come through and save lots of money on going to the hairdressers
2) I'm not going to buy any more clothes for cruising
3) I'm not going to do any more cruises

All the above to be reviewed at the end of lockdown and will be amended then.
I was never any good at keeping any New Year resolutions so not much hope for these being kept.

[Jan Rosser]

Decisions made today :
1) I'm just going to let the grey come through and save lots of money on going to the hairdressers
2) I'm not going to buy any more clothes for cruising
3) I'm not going to do any more cruises

All the above to be reviewed at the end of lockdown and will be amended then.
I was never any good at keeping any New Year resolutions so not much hope for these being kept.

My hairdresser has tried to persuade me to change my hair colour because my true colour is predominantly grey and he could sort of blend it in with the “blonde” he uses at the moment so I’m with you on 1. and definitely agree with 2. Not sure yet about 3. the insurance may well play a part in that decision as I am classed as “old” being over 70.

[Kenmo1]

the insurance may well play a part in that decision as I am classed as “old” being over 70.

Same here, Jan. It comes as a real shock when you hear the words 'old' or 'the elderly' and you realise they are talking about us. I'm 72 and Ken is 77 plus a heart condition so not a lot of hope for us with insurance.

Maureen

[david63]

the insurance may well play a part in that decision as I am classed as “old” being over 70.

Whilst I accept that cruising/holidays have not restarted yet as things stand at the moment insurance does not appear to be a problem. I renewed our annual policy last month without any issues and we are both "elderly" with minor medical conditions.

The bigger problem is whether/when the FCO will allow us to travel and where to.

[Ray B]

the insurance may well play a part in that decision as I am classed as “old” being over 70.

Same here, Jan. It comes as a real shock when you hear the words 'old' or 'the elderly' and you realise they are talking about us. I'm 72 and Ken is 77 plus a heart condition so not a lot of hope for us with insurance.

Maureen

I am in the same boat so to speak, I think the insurance companies will hit us very hard, that is, if they even take us on to insure.

[anniec]

Whilst I accept that cruising/holidays have not restarted yet as things stand at the moment insurance does not appear to be a problem. I renewed our annual policy last month without any issues and we are both "elderly" with minor medical conditions.

The bigger problem is whether/when the FCO will allow us to travel and where to.

David, was cover for covid-19 included? If so, may I ask which insurer, please.

[david63]

was cover for covid-19 included?

Yes and no. I have cover because the policy was in effect before some date in March that I cannot remember but is not for new policies. Whether that will change or not is another matter.

may I ask which insurer

Avanti

And they have just paid out for missed a missed port on out last cruise

[Whynd1]

I have also renewed with Avanti this week, they give you 15 months instesdcof 12 also delaying for upto a month.
The prices will go up and indeed my quote was up by more than a quarter. When I said oh I will leave it he instantly knocked a lot off and it came to less than years. Oh the plus side I do not know have to declare my medial condition any more.

[Jan Rosser]

the insurance may well play a part in that decision as I am classed as “old” being over 70.

Same here, Jan. It comes as a real shock when you hear the words 'old' or 'the elderly' and you realise they are talking about us. I'm 72 and Ken is 77 plus a heart condition so not a lot of hope for us with insurance.

Maureen

I'm 73 this year Maureen and fingers crossed healthy with no pre-existing conditions and at the moment I am insured with my bank until I am 80 but I wonder whether they will bring in some conditions relating to Covid19 and as David says will the FCO recommend us not to travel - lots of ifs and buts I'm afraid

[david63]

they give you 15 months instesdcof 12

I got that as well but in reality it is meaningless as there will certainly be no travel in the next three months

[Whynd1]

Received my refund from my travel agent this morning for my door to door transport .
It seems P and O are taking an age with their refunds.

That's the least of our worries at the moment as our son is employed by Debenhams in Wales and they are talking now about closing the stores in Wales due to the Welsh Assembly having different criteria for helping business than England.
They did get paid yesterday under the governments furlough scheme.

[Mervyn and Trish]

was cover for covid-19 included?

Yes and no. I have cover because the policy was in effect before some date in March that I cannot remember but is not for new policies. Whether that will change or not is another matter.

The insurance issue for us is that although our annual policy is not due for renewal yet our insurer (through our bank) has informed us that holidays booked before the middle of March are covered for Covid, but any new booking we make now won't be. So we have a couple of trips to Madeira booked, which are covered, though I am doubtful if the one later this year will happen. But beyond that overseas travel is effectively out until something changes.

The cost of catching Covid abroad would be eye watering so no way will we chance it. But ultimately that will have to change or the travel industry is dead. Presumably when the virus has receded, or a vaccine or reliable antibody test is available so people can get some sort of certification as okay to travel.

Or maybe it will be available on single trip policies only where the risk is more manageable.

In the meantime we will probably rebook our Cunard cruise for next year on the grounds that they are holding this year's deposit against a future booking (we cancelled before they did) so if we don't book within 12 months we lose it anyway. If we do book and cancel before the balance is payable, by which time we'll know bit more, we only lose the same.

[david63]

our son is employed by Debenhams in Wales and they are talking now about closing the stores in Wales

But aren't Debenhams talking about closing a lot of stores anyway?

reliable antibody test is available

Reading earlier that WHO are saying that there is no evidence that having the antibodies will prevent you from getting Covid 19 again - only time will tell on that.

[screwy]

They don't taste quite the same as brown muffins though

Brown muffins are made from used toilet rolls.


That’s why they taste like sh*t

Not in our house. We're washing and drying toilet paper for reuse to conserve supplies

Just turn it over and use the other side..

[Manoverboard]

Regarding insurance our experience was that year by year it became increasingly difficult to get, they only really want to insure fit and healthy 20 somethings. We can still be insured via the Bank or elsewhere but only with exclusions which for us defeats the whole idea of paying to be insured.

[anniec]

was cover for covid-19 included?

Yes and no. I have cover because the policy was in effect before some date in March that I cannot remember but is not for new policies. Whether that will change or not is another matter.

may I ask which insurer

Avanti

And they have just paid out for missed a missed port on out last cruise

Many thanks, David.

[david63]

our experience was that year by year it became increasingly difficult to get

That was one of the reasons why I wanted to keep the annual insurance "ticking over". I realise that I may not need it during the next 15 months but it means that I do not have to go through the process of trying to find another policy in the future.

[Manoverboard]

our experience was that year by year it became increasingly difficult to get

That was one of the reasons why I wanted to keep the annual insurance "ticking over". I realise that I may not need it during the next 15 months but it means that I do not have to go through the process of trying to find another policy in the future.

We had the same Worldwide annual policy for many years but they started to nibble at it even though we hadn't made a claim. It had therefore to be age / risk related. First off we lost the USA then Asia / Australia and even parts of Europe. After that came the exclusions of pre existing conditions so we switched to Saga and paid for a single trip around the UK albeit with exclusions ... at that point we decided that our cruising days were numbered.

Hey ho .....

[Gill W]

Decisions made today :
1) I'm just going to let the grey come through and save lots of money on going to the hairdressers
2) I'm not going to buy any more clothes for cruising
3) I'm not going to do any more cruises

All the above to be reviewed at the end of lockdown and will be amended then.
I was never any good at keeping any New Year resolutions so not much hope for these being kept.

I let my hair colour grow out recently, and I didn't like the result, as I was greyer than I thought. I had it done again shortly before lockdown, and I think it'll be one of my essentials in future.

As we aren't doing any more cruises this year, we hadn't planned to get any more cruises clothes this year. However, next year, we are booked on Queen Victoria, and we had planned to have a splurge on clothes next year.

As for future cruises, I have very mixed feelings. The thought of no more cruises makes me sad, but I tend to think cruises as we knew them are over for the foreseeable future, and if the onboard experience isn't like it used to be, I'm not really sure I want to spend a load of money, to constantly be thinking about social distancing and clearing the room if some one as much as coughs. It's not my idea of a relaxing holiday

My annual insurance is due for renewal in October, and I think that COVID 19 won't be included in the new policy, so I wouldn't be happy to travel without proper insurance. Plus there's the issue of the over 70's - not sure the cruises outside of school holiday would run with just a few early retired 50 and 60 somethings. Realistically, even if they find a vaccine that is safe and effective, it's going to take a long time to get everyone vaccinated, possibly more than the two years they keep talking about.

I've got 4 cruises booked.

14 nights on Iona next March. I only paid a small deposit on that one, so may just cancel it - it's not yet clear if Iona will be ready be then, so it may not go ahead anyway.

3 nights on CMV's new ship Amy Johnson in May 2021 (can't believe that I only booked that in February, how things have changed). Only a small deposit paid, and not sure what's going to happen with Amy Johnson anyway. Not sure about CMV either, they must be quite vulnerable

19 nights on Queen Victoria in October 2021. This is a big cruise for us, half way between our 40th wedding anniversary and my husbands 70th birthday. will wait and see on this one.

55 nights on Arcadia in Jan 2022. At the moment I feel this one is out of the question. Too long and too far from home, and my husband will be 70 by then.

We'll just have to await developments and see how the virus progresses, as it could come in waves. Also, will have to see what happens if they do start cruises up again.

I've had 18 years of great cruising, but can't see me rushing back to the ships.



I've thought of another small thing I'd like to do this year. I got my senior railcard in mid March - I'd just like to do one small train journey this year!

[Manoverboard]

Apart from rail an alternative to sea cruising is river cruising and another is cruising on the Wessex Rose but for any of these options the virus would have to be long gone.

.

[gilly88]

hair cuts!... no problem, and yes I do have a full head of hair . but as i have the fortune of 20 years as a hairdresser, I have always managed to cut my own, and my husbands, and sons. although the eldest has now deserted me to use a posh barbers, I blame his girlfriend!
I wish the government would open up the coastal areas again though, I really miss my walk along the coastal paths of Kent. I'm sure I could social distance, and I would take a flask of tea, so I don't need a café!. might need a loo somewhere along the way though.