Ranchi

Ganglion? You could hit it with a Bible, or so I was told by my GP many years ago. I opted not to & it went away of its own accord. Now, whether the threat of a Bible bashing caused its disappearance…we will never know!

Cutting it fine…Quite a few years ago we were on Arcadia (not the current one) and as we pulled away from the tendering anchorage at Zakinthos a jet ski came out from the port. Nothing unusual in that as they often came out to sail alongside the ship. This time however, Arcadia slowed and then stopped. A door opened near the waterline and a ladder went down. The pillion passenger from the jet ski climbed aboard and the ship continued on its way. We met the pillion next day in the lift. He was the classical pianist and had misjudged his overnight watch changes (there had been a few recently as we zig zagged Turkish/Greek islands) and his watch was set one hour behind ship’s time. He had been asked to see the Captain to clear things up. No harm done. In mitigation the ship rarely kept to its departure time on that cruise as we had the Chairman of the day on board and he liked to lunch ashore!

I certainly found west bound quite challenging ( previous years.) My body clock refused to update and I kept waking up an hour earlier each day. After three twenty five hour days I almost dropped off one evening in the Crow’s Nest. We’ve just been trawling through some old scrap books containing cruises in the mid sixties & half hour were common on those cruises.

That’s how we used to do it. ( to be honest I’m not sure if we had different booking refs.)

My proof reader is having a sabbatical! ‘corner’ should read ‘former,’

Welcome aboard lunch/drinks for Caribbean and above were available on Ventura (June) & Aurora late August. On the corner due to restrictions a fully served lunch was given but due to relaxation of requirements, the Aurora reception had reverted to buffet. There was a syndicate quiz on Aurora (but in Horizon?- the buffet, rather than Vanderbilt’s.) There was also a loyalty lunch but wine/drinks/fizz vouchers replaced parties. At Mayflower a they seemed to segregate slightly but there was no roped off area. Passengers were called by tiers initially….

Not a sequence dance but I haven’t seen a ‘Taxi quickstep’ since before Covid. Can’t think why!

We were on the same cruise as Britboys and did enjoy it. It was certainly eventful. I must agree with Britboys’ comments. The MDR menus seemed to rotate on a 7 day cycle (I’m sure the numbers on the bottom rhs of menu were at least a 14 day cycle pre Covid.) We tended to use the buffet for breakfast & lunch which was unusual for us but the service was very slow in MDR. There were very few curries ( no regular sea day curry) and those that did appear ( with one exception) were pretty uninspiring. Whether the limitations of the menu was due to supply problems or inexperience/shortage of staff is unclear. Certainly, there were several evenings when the MDR doors were late in opening. In the buffet there were items missing towards the end of the cruise eg Weetabix & marmalade. I’m not sure if this was owing to shortages or simply not being replenished on time. We didn’t use Sindhu but had a lovely meal in the Beach House. We did enjoy the Irish Bar show which was new to us and was in Carmens. We didn’t fancy much of the evening entertainment in the Curzon (I find the sound set up in the theatre on P&O over driven and too bright- but that’s just me.) It was disappointing that all dancing took place in Masquerades. Re reading this it all looks like a moan, it’s not meant to be that. We did enjoy our cruise. It was lovely to be back on board Aurora.

If you can get a very low deposit then it puts you in a good position should the price of your cruise drop before the balance is due.

I believe Blists Hill is pretty good. Ironbridge etc. I say ‘believe’ as it’s many years since I visited. Worth investigating as a possibility.

Thanks, terrierjohn. I found it. Unfortunately it is going to let me know nearer the time- we go next week.

In all of the e-mail links I have received from P&O I can’t find which page will give details of the number of formal nights on our forthcoming cruise. Anyone able to point me in the right direction? Many thanks.

I’m developing an app called either ‘Berthfrog’, ‘Cabinfrog’ or ‘Stateroomfrog’ as we speak. Which do you think sounds best? I’m hoping to earn enough to be able to afford a drinks package. 😉

Got ‘Genius’ on Wordle today. Wouldn’t normally blow my own trumpet (& it was a bit of a cheat) but I had seen David Baddiel’s tweet where he got it in two and it made me realise that so many people must use the same starter word.

I have just had a phone call from my niece's friend asking if I can alter a skirt for her before lunchtime tomorrow. DH has asked me whether any of the younger people we know can do anything useful.

…and (US) chips would be called crisps in UK, I believe.

Am I correct in thinking that your old EHIC card is valid in Europe until it’s expiry date and then it should be replaced by the new GHIC?

Needs to be a direct debit. SO is a fixed amount. The principle is good nevertheless.

Thank you. Just off to search out the witch-hazel. 😂

Apologies for ‘postbombing’ but can anyone tell me which speciality restaurants are operating currently on Aurora ?

That’s a cracker! I love waterline models. Any idea of the manufacturer? I recognise the terminal building. Die cast or is it polymer?

We are dyed in the wool ‘we like smaller ships’ cruisers but we gave Britannia a try a few years ago ( we only booked it because we needed to be in the south on the day of disembarkation.) I must admit to be pleasantly surprised. Size gave some advantages ie a proper dance venue (cf to Azura/Ventura), there were enough pools to find a quiet space (cf Azura- where the seascreen could be heard everywhere or so it seemed.) The dining rooms were well designed with lots of alcoves so you never felt you were in a massive canteen. I did miss prom deck & the colour scheme wasn’t to my taste but that’s just my opinion.

Presumably a paper plate would have saved you sending the ‘tough’ dish back 😉

Anyone currently walking the decks of Aurora able to inform about speciality restaurant availability? Thanks!

It wasn’t an oversight. The standard situation is a bottle of liquid soap on the wash hand basin and fixed bottles of shower gel & shampoo ( or was it body lotion?) in the shower. Why the ?…because I couldn’t read the labels! & with my limited amount of hair either would have been suitable. Our steward provided a bar of soap and a nice big bottle of conditioner -pump action, White Co. Floral.