Universal post office experiences

On the recent cruise I tried to send postcards home at every stop (see the picture above for me posting a postcard in Corfu). I had a couple of visits to post offices that made me aware of the universality of some experiences - particularly unhelpful customer service!

In Dubrovnik I went into a post office to buy stamps and bought them with no trouble at all. It was about 1.58pm. After purchasing the stamps I saw the post office had some unusual and interesting looking souvenirs opposite the counter. 

As I looked at the souvenirs one of the clock-watching staff suddenly announced "sorry we are closed" and tapped her watch to tell me it was 2pm. They literally turned the latch to lock the door after I exited. 

In Kotor, Montenegro, I had another universal post office experienece. There was a queue and only one person serving. There was another staff member sat at the desk, with a little notice saying 'closed' (I presume) while she did something important, counting what looked like receipts. 

The queue stretched to the door as the person at the front of the queue was made to fill out various forms that would be attached to their parcel. The guy behind me huffed and tapped his foot. My brother appeared at the door peering over the shoulder of the last queuer wondering what the hell had happened to me. Meanwhile, the second cashier carried on with her important task, oblivious.

I was bemused and amused. Why are so many post offices like this, wherever you go in the world?  It reminded me of the post office in Taff's Well that used to close for lunch, despite that being the most convenient time for people working nearby to use their services. I asked the postmistress why they did that and she brusquely told me "we need to eat lunch too!" Which is fair, but, you know, customers... 

I have to say here that our local post office in Holmesdale Street is the exception. The counter is open every day of the week. The staff are helpful and friendly. They move the queue through quickly. It's a great little shop. Sometimes, you have to travel the world to be reminded of what a gem you have at home. 

Post-script

Even if you have a good post office experience, your item is still at the mercy of the delivery agency. One of my postcards didn't make it back unscathed.

I'm not sure if this damage was done to the postcard on the Dubrovnik end or back here in the UK. I wouldn't put it past Royal Mail. And, naturally, the rip damaged the stamp!

My stamp-collecting Dad would have ranted about this for hours. Honestly, I just laughed.

Post-post-script

Now that all five postcards I was able to send have arrived, I can tell you the Montenegro post office redeemed itself, with the post card arriving much sooner than the two cards I posted in the Greek islands. The card from Kefalonia was the last to arrive and literally landed on the mat this morning.

Football sticker boycott - 2026 edition

For the second World Cup in a row I have decided to boycott it in my own small way - by not collecting the official football stickers. I boycotted the Qatar World Cup stickers, along with all other merch, because I didn't like the way FIFA was enabling 'sportswashing' on an international stage. 

And since then FIFA have gone even more grotesque, giving a "peace prize" to Donald Trump just before he started an utterly mindless war in the Middle East. It physically disgusts me.

The profiteering and price-gouging on tickets is more blatant bastardry, and I just don't want to be even a passive consumer of it any more. By not qualifying, Wales have made it easy for me not to watch any games, unlike in Qatar, where I wanted to watch at least their matches. But now I can tune the whole thing out.

However, when it comes to unofficial stickers, the boycott doesn't apply. On my recent cruise holiday, I went into a Croatian supermarket that was running a promotion of a free packet if we spent 10 euros. 

So these are the free stickers from Konzum in Dubrovnik.

There are no official markings on this or references to FIFA. The trophy is a playful cartoon that doesn't look like the World Cup. This is boycott-legal.

There are two cards or stickers in each packet. I got a shiny card in each one, with the following players: Senegal's Kalidou Koulibaly, Columbia's James Rodriguez, Switzerland's Manuel Akanji and, er, a kangaroo. 

One of these things is not like the others 

The marsupial may be representing Australia. Here's a photo of the sticker back to show it is from the right set. 

Meanwhile, back at home, another shop is running a football sticker promotion, tied into the home nations. Technically, these Cymru stickers from Marks & Spencer aren't official World Cup stickers so I've decided they would count as boycott-legal

However, when I went into M&S and did a small shop that qualified for a free packet, I was told they had run out of stock! So I may as well have decided to boycott them anyway.

Cruising the Three Seas, part 4 (finale)

Our cruise ended where it began, in Dubrovnik.

Because we had a late flight home, this turned into a bonus day of exploration. Sarah and I went for a little wander into the port, where we found giant pencils and a Pope.

But the real highlight was discovering the uanassuming-from-the-outside, very-cool-on-the-inside Red Museum, chronicling the history of communist Yugoslavia.

Not much to look at from the outside 

The museum is a mix of history detailing how Yugoslavia came into being and artefacts from the communist era, which began in armed struggle against the Nazi occupiers in World War 2.

I kind of knew that Marshall Tito broke with Stalin and kept Yugoslavia independently communist. It allowed for a more consumer-focused state with promoting tourism as official policy.

Remember Yugo cars? I do!

The Sarajevo Olympics were the first winter Olympics held in a communist country. I liked their wolf mascot!

It was a fantastic, interactive museum with the opportunity to listen to top Yugoslavian tunes of the era.

It turns out this was the only museum I made it to on the cruise holiday, but I would rate it 10/10. And it had a fun little gift shop too. (Even the communist museums make you exit through the gift shop!)

So that was the final bonus morning of the cruise. We were able to have lunch on board the ship before getting in the coach for a very scenic ride back to the airport. 

Cruise whimsy

The crew of the Marella Explorer 2 were all lovely and some had a real gift for whimsy. The cabin stewards on the turn-down service amused themselves with crafting animals out of towels. It was always fun heading back from the evening entertainment and wondering what towelimals would be waiting for us.

There were some other quirky touches on board as well. Nobody ever explained the fibreglass cows.

I think I saw a blue cow too, but I didn't take a picture. 

Here's a top tip - magnetic hooks to hang stuff on the walls. Dave had done his pre-cruise research and bought a really useful set. I ended up with a cap rack at my end of our cabin.

Speaking of cabins, this signage amused me. Signs don't just get put up for no reason. I suspect some buffoon has hung his suit from a fire sprinkler in the past!

I was impressed by how well oiled the various processes were. On our last night we left our hold luggage outside our room and it was whisked away and sorted out. We didn't see it again until it appeared on the carousel in Birmingham Airport. Things like that made the trip very easy. 

We had one minor issue when my sister got glutened by one of the restaurants. I've learned that customer service is judged best when something has gone wrong and people try to set it right. At our next mealtime the head waiter hovered over us to make sure everything was OK and extra care was taken to make sure my sister's plates were absolutely gluten-free.

A side effect of studying business psychology is looking at workplaces and trying to ascertain the culture. The crew vibe seemed very positive, professional and yet informal. The captain introduced himself as Captain Richard in his announcements and stood on the quayside saying hi to passengers as they disembarked. All the staff were happy to chat and answer questions about ship life. They were friendly without being false and I can't commend them highly enough.

On our last evening on board, after the entertainment show concluded, members of the crew were all invited up onto the stage to receive a round of applause too. It was a lovely way to recognise the whole team, and the whole team deserved to be thanked for making our trip so brilliant. 

Cruising the Three Seas, part 1

Dubrovnik ~ Day at Sea ~ Malta

Back in January my Mum turned 80. She said for her 80th birthday she would like to go on a cruise with her three children. We settled on the Tui Three Seas cruise on the Marella Explorer 2, which would take us to destinations in the Adriatic, Mediterranean and Ionian seas. 

And so it came to pass on the 14th May that the four of us headed to our embarkation port of Dubrovnik. Technically we hadn't set sail yet, so I'm not sure if it counts as day 1 of the cruise or not. However, we arrived at the ship, dropped off our stuff and then had some free time to take a taxi ride into Dubrovnik and visit the old city. 

Our first view of the old city was
from the bus to the port!

First ice creams of the holiday

It's a proper 'wow' experience; a heavily fortified city that oozes history. Much is made of it being a primary filming location for Game of Thrones, but as I haven't seen Game of Thrones, I just appreciated it in its own right. There is a weighty depth to the place, with the sense that those streets have seen some things, including not too long ago, a bombardment during the Balkan wars of the mid-90s. There are plaques up highlighting places of interest related to that recent, bloody history. 

After wandering around the old city for an hour or so, we went back to the port and started to explore the ship, ready for day 2, which was a day of sailing. Our luggage had been delivered to our room by the time we got back, just one aspect of a very smooth functioning system that took incredible care of us throughout. I really can't praise the service enough. 

Our sea day started with a mini-golf tournament up on the highest deck of the ship. It's the first time I have played mini-golf at sea.

It was a clever little course, and the wind added to the challenge. I also met Niamh, the member of the entertainment team managing the tournament. Niamh is from Swansea originally, and she was also running the afternoon activity that I went to with Mum - a beginner's guide to Welsh!

19 people turned up for the session, which Niamh said was a record. Most were from Wales, turning out in Cymric solidarity. There were some interesting reasons given for attending. One chap from Aberdare said his grandmother spoke Welsh but his mother wouldn't let his gran teach him Welsh because it would "hold him back". A couple from Newport said they were made to learn it in school and didn't like it, but now feel they have missed out. Another couple from Menai Bridge said their translators - their grandchildren - had left to go to university so they needed to learn a few words themselves. Another couple, from Wigan, had grandchildren growing up in Wales who now spoke Welsh, which they approved of - "as they should!", said the grandma - and they wanted to know a few words. And there was a guy who now lives in Colwyn Bay who came along because "my wife's in the spa!" A short session of Welsh clearly the more preferable option!

The evening of 'sea day' was 'Dress to Impress' night, and we so we did. Here's us looking smarter than normal! 

We then went to dinner at the Latitude restaurant and were seated at the perfect table number. (If you know, you know!)

After dinner, we went to watch the evening entertainment, a show called Musicals featuring various songs from musicals. Mum ducked the evening entertainment as she was a bit tired, so it was just us sibs. All the evening entertainment was delivered to a high standard. 

We rounded off the night at the silent disco. It was 60s,70s and 80s versus 90s, 00s, and 10s. It didn't matter which channel we were on, the songs were all bangers and it was fun switching between the channels.

FYI: Alleged footage of me dancing is a deep fake

The next day we called into our first port of call - Malta. I expected great things from Malta as people I know who have been there have raved about it. However, our excursion - a bus trip of 'Panoramic Malta' - was a bit disappointing. We went to the 'three cities', but honestly had better views of them from on board ship, we went to a very touristy 'picturesque fishing village' that we had to walk to along a road that was distinctly unpicturesque, and we went to see a very large church but weren't given time to go inside.

Three cities backdrop

The eye on the prow is a good luck charm dating
from Phoenician times

Red phone box - legacy of British government

Although the tour was disappointing we arrived back at the port with enough time to take the incongruously modern elevator up to the main part of Valletta. 

Big chrome and glass elevator!

The priest behind us was rushing to church

Playmobil did a model of a Knight of St John,
the crusader order that effectively founded Malta

We had been told that Valletta only really had two streets, so we walked a loop of them both and then headed back via the cannonade.

The crowds were too large to see the 4pm firing of the cannon, so we took advantage of the lack of queues for the elevator and headed back on board in good time for the evening sailing. On the way out I saw a crane in the port painted like a giraffe!

Next stop, Sicily!