Day 155..."The finish line is in sight" - Thank God!

Hello my loyal followers , how are we this fine wet and stormy day?

Thomas Cook is gone but still there is no let up in the bar. Thought it would maybe die of quite a bit but even last night the bar was full which I'm amazed at as this time of the season its usually just steady but with the end of TC i thought that would be it for the season but no, Oceanic has proved me wrong once again and that's down to you , the wonderful customer for making this season a record breaking season all round. 

I think after this weekend though the resort will be pretty empty with many places closing down. 

May - Best May in 13 seasons

June - Best June in 13 seasons and best night ever on June 6th

July - Best July in 13 Seasons

Aug - Best Aug in 13 seasons

Sept - Best Sept in 13 seasons and on Sept 17th equalled my best ever season which was 2018

Oct - So far beating best ever Oct in 13 seasons but early days yet.

Since 7th May had only 16 nights where i haven't been full at some point.

So a huge massive thank you to all who visited Oceanic this season.

So what happens now with Thomas Cook gone? Who knows what next season will bring.

Lots of tourists posting their sad stories online about losing their honeymoon, missing their dream holiday, had to stay in UK as lost holiday, poor you.

Lets look at the bigger picture here. 

Holidaymakers will all get their money back IF ATOL protected so even though you missed this holiday you will get your money back and be able to book another holiday at a later date.

Thomas Cook staff have all lost their jobs and some families are already struggling.

As for the hotels this has a huge knock on effect which makes the tourists sad stories look like a happy ever after story.

The hotels have lost 3 months of revenue which they won't get back.

Staff will lose their jobs along with not getting paid and could be without their winter living money from the tax payments.

Suppliers to the hotels/apartments won't get paid as products are usually all on tick and paid up when the tour companies way in with their money.

The Suppliers won't have the money to pay off the manufacturers of the products they buy.

So before we all start posting sob stories losing a holiday but getting your money back is nothing compared to the situations in resorts all over the world. 

Hotels could stay closed, families without any income from loss of jobs, suppliers could go bust, these are the real problems.

I think many accommodations will go with other European tour companies next season and not British as those tour companies don't put as much pressure on the Hoteliers to change things and upgrade.

Sian was booked with Thomas Cook to come over for my birthday.

That didn't stop the plucky little lady. She was that determined to be here for my birthday, she hunted high and low for flights and we got Sian a great deal £279 return for 4 days in from Gatwick and back  to Luton via Prague with only a 2 hour layover between connecting flights.

A bargain considering one way flights off the island the past 2 weeks have been ridiculous money up to 600-700 pound and then there were no direct flights off the island either.

That's a dedicated partner for you, going out of her way to get here.

So i decided to close the bar on my birthday as Sian had made such a huge effort to be here and booked us into the penthouse suite at the Phoenix Hotel in Zakynthos town.

The Penthouse suites are on the rooftop of Phoenix Hotel.

View from Penthouse to the back.

View to the front.

Lovely memory foam bed, such a good sleep.

Our private sunbeds.

Balcony dining and lounge area.

Nice little living area.

View out from bedroom.

Quite a big bedroom.

And of course toilet with shower room.

Sian and i had a wonderful day and night.

First we watched Liverpool beat Sheff Utd in the afternoon, Yay!
Then in the evening Zakynthos town had laid on a firework display, boat gala and marching bands for my birthday which i thought was extremely nice of them but i don't like to make a fuss of my birthday as i don't like celebrating it.
Then i found out the celebrations weren't for me at all, Phew! All the goings on were to celebrate a naval battle, Battle of Nafpaktos in 1571.

All very pleasant it was too, then off to food at a Gyros restaurant next to Alpha Bank in St. Marcos square. We ordered a mixed meat platter for 2 and it was huge, i mean it looked like a farmyard of animals on a plate.
As we were finishing our meal out came a birthday cake and happy birthday was sang in Greek. I noticed they had got my age wrong, I'm 51 but on the cake it had the number 12 made up in candles, ah, it wasn't for me it was a kids birthday phew and bugger. Phew because i get embarrassed easily when being sang at and bugger cause i like cake but didn't get any.

From here we moved on to Bliss Art Cafe for a drink. I was so stuffed it was uncomfortable to sit down.
We ordered our drinks and struggled to finish them but when you pay 18€ for 2 drinks you force yourself to finish them.

Then back to our penthouse suite to crash out on the bed and grizzle as we ate to much but what a great birthday it was and glad to have a night off with Sian from the bar.

I don't understand people who tell people its their birthday, the less people that know about my birthday the better for me.

We have the Suite again for the end of season as a little treat before we leave for our stay in London.

Well there are now 15 interests for Oceanic and no I'm not going to make it a bidding war, Its £10,000 and expenses, that's it and it will go to the person who i think will make a good go of it, maybe someones dream like i had when i first opened it, it would be nice to sell it to someone who wants a fresh start away from the UK but again that's a whole year away yet but if it's given to someone who isn't on the island they will have to start their paperwork in May 2020 to be ready for end of season.
If I'm being honest i just want this season out the way as its been exhausting and manic before i start thinking about season 2020 and then the sale after that.
Many of my customer have asked me not to sell, some have even pleaded with me, some have talked about starting a petition to keep me here but who are they going to send it to? Me, then i will say no I'm selling lol.
I'm very humbled by all the people wanting me to continue but I'm leaving on my terms and when I'm ready, a couple of people will love to see the back of me but that's their problem not mine. Jealousy is a terrible thing folks, HA!

So the bad weather is coming in, the nights are getting colder and the resort is starting to thin out as usual. Will i close early? No, i got lots of booze that needs drinking and boredom for me would soon kick in doing nothing until i leave so i may as well stay open as October is always a bonus month for me.

Strange thing someone said to me the other day. They read my blog and noticed through reading it that i eat allot of black pudding so they said "If you don't watch out you'll end up looking like one".
How is this possible? Even if i ate it for every meal every day for the rest of my life i still wouldn't end up looking like one. Now if i cut off my limbs and head, squeezed my body into black tight plastic and sealed it either end with metal clips THEN i might look like one but apart from doing that no i won't.

So i will leave you with this great sign from Manchester, how the mighty have fallen,
"The race for 6th" lol. I think from today that might be "The race to avoid relegation"

Until my last update from the rock..........

Serve All, Love All, Peace All, Kevlar Out!