Flooded Cumbria timeshares - Windermere ...

[Laurie]

Keith and Bruce, I've been reading up on the flooding in Lakes District - yikes! Someone was killed, over 12 inches in 24 hours, called the most rain ever recorded there, biblical proportions, etc.

Do either of you have further news?

I know our troubles are insignificant compared to the residents there, but our 2 confirmations into Lakes District in June may be added to our long and growing list of timeshare confirmations that end up cancelled. We have 2 consecutive weeks at Windermere Marina Village and Quaysiders Club this June. I know Ambleside has been in the flood area but haven't read any specifics about Quaysiders Club yet. Here's what I read today about Windermere Marina Village:

http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co...ia_flooding__Boats_sunk_on_Windermere/?ref=mr

AROUND twenty boats moored at Windermere Marina Village have sunk due to the floods.

Holiday homes at the site have also been evacuated after water flooded into ground floor properties.

The business has stopped taking holiday bookings for a month.

 

[sjuhawk_jd]

Your trip is in June of 2010, correct? :zzz:

 

[Keitht]

The main flood area is further North & West than Ambleside. Although there has been a lot of rain in the whole area, the Ambleside area has not suffered anything like Cockermouth, Keswick etc.
There is certainly no reason to panic about the 2 exchanges you have in place.

 

[Laurie]

I couldn't tell how serious it was there, as this barely hits our news. Hopefully by June, all will be well. (Of course when major, it can take many many months or years to recover - New Orleans, parts of NC etc.)

Here's info on South Lakeland, with a map and photo galleries - if anyone else has plans coming up, it's updated daily:

http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co...Photo_galleries_from_towns_across_the_county/

 

[Keitht]

The area in question isn't called the Lake District without good reason They do have a lot of rain, but the situation last week was truly exceptional. 12" of rain in 24 hours was the highest level on record and the devastation wreaked shouldn't be ignored. However today the point was being made on the news that 90% of the roads in the area are unaffected and it is business as usual for most of the region. Again, that is not to ignore the fact that for those involved the effect is huge.
I live in one of the areas that was hit by the severe flooding in the summer of 2007 so have huge sympathy with those suffering now.

 

[w879jr1]

Keitht is correct. The consequences of exceptional weather in the UK strike locally and, generally, small areas are affected. I used to tell my friends in the US that UK weather rarely caused fatalities but that seems to be changing. However, behaving sensibly usually means that you will come to no harm. The unfortunate victim in the Lake District this time was doing his job, he deserves the respect of us all.

Don't worry about reports of boats sinking. If owners cannot get down to slacken the mooring ropes a vessel is held down below the rising water.

 

[Laurie]

should I panic now?

There is certainly no reason to panic about the 2 exchanges you have in place.

Although RCI still shows my confirmation as active for early June, I just got off the phone with Windermere Vacation Village and was told they will not reopen until July. Apparently they are refurbishing from major flood damage in the apartments. Their staff person told me that they had notified RCI of this fact many months ago. (I have a call into RCI...)

Panic is the wrong word, we are capable of changing plans and going out of pocket now, which will be the probable result at this point. But this is still a multi-week trip with what had been 4 back-to-back timeshare weeks, 3 of which have been cancelled now. We've gotten 1 replacement and are already out-of-pocket for 1 week, and this may make 2. (So we have timeshare confirmationss for first and last weeks of the trip, and transatlantic flights are booked and paid for.)

Your trip is in June of 2010, correct? :zzz:

sjuhawk_jd, I've been curious - what was the meaning of the zzz's? Did you find this topic boring, or not worthy of concern?

 

[MULTIZ321]

Laurie,

Do you have a SmartPhone? If so, what make and model?


There's a free Android App called "Newspapers" - it's a great app with Newspapers from all over the world, including many from the UK - that would probably give you better access to local weather information.

I wouldn't be surprised that there's a similar App for iPhones.



Richard

 

[Laurie]

MULTIZ321, funny you should inquire about smart phones, because we don't have one yet but are just now trying to decide which we want and are leaning towards a Droid. It sounds like you've got the Droid - do you love it?

Final update on Windermere Marina Village : after numerous calls to both the resort and RCI to please communicate with each other and then me about this, so's I can get on with planning, this morning I finally heard back from someone at RCI and yes, my confirmation into Windermere is cancelled. Had I not called numerous times, I can only imagine when I would have been notified ...

The RCI supervisor had no idea or information about the reason for the cancellation. He could offer me a later date in June instead - which happens to be the date we are now flying back to the US, airline tickets purchased last week.

Had RCI been more on top of things, I believe we could have rearranged our travel plans in time to enjoy a week at Windermere Marina Village, which we had been looking forward to since 2008. That's a whole 'nother topic though. :annoyed:

 

[Keitht]

RCI should be doing backflips trying to sort something else in the UK for you. It seems to be there mistake so they should take the hit, not you.

 

[MULTIZ321]

MULTIZ321, funny you should inquire about smart phones, because we don't have one yet but are just now trying to decide which we want and are leaning towards a Droid. It sounds like you've got the Droid - do you love it?

Hi Laurie,

Yep, you're right - I have a Droid. Love it, Love it, Love it. If I had to make the purchase again, I would do so. The WiFi and 3G receivers work great.
I changed the default keyboard - you have 2 on the droid, a dedicated keyboard and a virtual keyboard. I use the virtual keyboard 99.9% of the time. I changed the virtual keyboard to "Big Buttons" - a free app, which works great for me and the Big Buttons keyboard has cut my typing errors to virtually nil. The weak link on the Droid is it's camera - ok but not great. Haven't been able to take pics outdoors in sunlight - the screen gets washed out and I can't view the image before taking the picture.

Have a great trip.

Richard