Oceana, one of my three favourite ships,

the other two being the Queen Victoria and the Celebrity Eclipse,is going to be based in the Arabian Gulf in 2019,as has just been announced by the P & O. The ship leaves Southampton on January 10 2019 and through the Suez Canal it will make its way to the Gulf,then cruise to various destinations in the area.It is the most wonderful news.The lovely little Oceana in one of the parts of the world I would love to explore again.I cannot wait.

Clem Curtis,The Foundations lead singer,has died,age 76.

I have seen him perform twice in as many years on cruise ships.His performances a masterclass in the way an audience is handled.He held us in the palm of his hand.Witty,amusing,at ease with himself,the voice not quite what it once was [ it must have been the lung cancer from which he has passed away, beginning to rear its ugly head ],but still so Clem Curtis.Beautifully turned out and always very pleasant and gracious. I was sitting near the podium during one of his performances and when he said he was getting married for the 6th or was it the 8th time, I uttered jokingly - a glutton for punishment.His hearing was still excellent,he burst out laughing - yes, I must be a glutton for punishment. Clem, your "Baby,now that I have found you"   and "Dancing in the street" I will boogie to for many years to come. Thank you and may you rest in peace.

"At the souk I barter like a pro"

boasts Celia Walden in today's ULTRATRAVEL supplement of The Telegraph about her shopping in Marrakesh.We come to these countries in our expensive shoes and clothes,[if not designer,just look at he Real Housewives of whatever and their large PRADA shoppers],flashing about more cash than the locals earn in a year and then we try to knock the price down to the bare minimum of the goods the stall holders sell,mostly made by the locals. I find this so utterly abhorrent.I remember on my first visit to the Caribbean [ I do not recall the name of the island now] I saw the most beautiful large peaches.I just had to have one.I asked the shop assistant where they came from. America. Yes,my heart jumped with joy. The fruit sold on the streets of New York two or so years earlier was fresh, delicious,utterly divine.So I took the peach, wiped it with a special wet cloth and took my first bite. And the last. I could not even stomach the atrocity called the peach.I went back to the shop and said to the lovely girl behind the counter - the peach is inedible. This is what they send us from America. We cannot afford it and even if we could, we could not eat it.The fruit is awful,she replied.

My husband passed away seven years ago this month.

He had a wicked sense of humour. When he was in the army during training the captain ordered - we are going to advance. My husband turned and started walking in the direction of the barracks. Where are you going,screamed the captain. To change.You did say we are going to a dance,replied my husband.

Having been away for two weeks and a day

I am surprised how quickly I have settled into my old routine.The letters have been opened and sorted according to importance,the flower pots have been resurrected,no deaths imminent,but then it is still only winter and wet most of the time,the feeding bowl for the wild residents of the garden refilled,the washing machine has turned for the whites and for the mixed laundry,I have had my two croissants and a latte and then when after six hours of activity I settled on my lovely big bed-cum-office-cum-dining table to chicken and rice,came the loveliest surprise - NCIS, the episode where Ziva and Tony see each other for the last time.She says to him - Oh,Tony,you are so... And he quips-wonderful,funny,what?...Loved.

Frenchman Landry Routhiau

and his side-kick Marianne [who had joined him in Norway,so I presume is Norwegian]travel the world picking up rubbish.I have looked up various statistics readily available on the internet Re the hygiene standards of these two countries.France and Sweden are described as "dirtier than most" in Europe.[Sorry Sweden to bring you into this, I am just being accurate]. One in 29 French people don't take a shower/bath even once a week.The French buy less than half as much soap as the British or the Germans [being accurate again].France stands in the 6th place as having the dirtiest hotels in he world.Oslo, the capital of Norway,has the third dirtiest hotels in Europe [or is it the world?] Landry and Marianne look as if they haven't had a good wash for a long time, 29 days or more certainly in the case of Mr Routhiau. So I suggest to these misguided simpletons - buy a bar of soap, have a bath, turn your Volkswagen van around and go home and then start cleaning your own backyard.Because hygiene and cleanliness, just like charity, begins at home.

Mr Donald Trump's 2005 tax return

shows,that he paid $ 37m tax on $ 150m income.No sign of any tax evasion.The Americans have a President to be proud of.Mr Trump has made his family exceedingly rich. I have no doubt with him at the helm his country will prosper beyond expectations. Several years ago I took a nightmare train ride from Fort Lauderdale to New York.I saw the ugly face of the American dream. Mr Obama had done very little for the poor and the unfortunate living by the rail tracks. Now they have a chance.