jh1809

Thanks for all the informative and entertaining reports.

They had obviously realised by this point that they weren't going to run out of grapefruit or yoghurt by the end of the cruise, and so didn't need to water it down to make it go further! I'm glad everything went so smoothly on your last day.

1st March, maybe? (Ditto for Part 2.) Or maybe all your reports have been an elaborate - if early - April Fool, and you've actually been at home the whole time. 🙂 I'm glad you had such a memorable meal to finish with. I can't help wondering how much weight you've put on during the cruise - not that it's any of my business.

After reading that, I'm hungry! Luckily I'd already planned to be going to my local Indian for lunch in a couple of hours time. Though it's pretty good, it's not a patch on Sindhu, though.

Thanks for the very informative summary. Regarding the maintenance issues, it sounds as though things may have gone downhill over the last year or so. When I did a Caribbean cruise on Aurora at the end of 2022, I didn't notice any temperature problems, and the lift display screens and floor announcements were hardly ever incorrect. Even then, though, there was some rust to be seen on the hull, even by someone as naturally unobservant as myself.

If you mean a brochure devoted entirely to the cruise that you are going on, I didn't think that P&O did those any more. So it may be a case of the web site being out of date.

Thanks from me too. I've very much enjoyed all your reports. I wonder if the attitude that only customer satisfaction scores of 10 are adequate has filtered down from P&O being part of a US company. I understand that in the US, where everything is hyped, it is usual to award much higher scores than we Brits would do. I wonder if cabin stewards and waiters who fail to get an average score of very close to 10 miss out on their share of the gratuities that are included in passengers' fares?

It's a fairly big garden that is about 90% lawn and 10% jungle. And I live in Surrey, which is probably one of the more expensive areas if one wants gardening help.

I wonder if I could get her to come and mow my lawn. I pay the bloke who does it £25, and I think it takes him about 45 minutes. 🙂

"It was a Marco Pierre White branded menu but without his dishes highlighted" Not being a fan of his choices, I would see that as a plus! Wad this the Cheryl Baker who used to be part of Bucks Fizz? I was a fan back in the day, but I suppose that day was forty or so years ago.

Looks like the best dinner menu of the cruise. There are three main courses that really appeal to me.

I imagine there are still two or three daily reports to come, so I won't thank you just yet. 🙂 I did the "South Island sights and Angra" excursion on my way back from the Caribbean in December, 2022 and very much enjoyed it, so I'm glad you did too. And yes, the proper coach was a blessed relief after all the minibuses.

Fair enough. I'm no cook - putting a ready meal in the oven rather than in the microwave is about as advanced as I get - so am hazy on the details.

If it's suet pastry, my family always called it steak and kidney pudding.

"Prime Minister"?! What a strange name to give a menu item.

When I was on Arcadia last year, I'd managed to forget to bring my adaptor with me, bur I found that Reception were willing to charge my phone for me. They would give me a receipt for my phone and I'd come back and collect it fully charged a few hours later. That they offer such a service suggests that it must happen pretty often.

No USB sockets either, at least not that I could find in my outside cabin just over a year ago, so if you want to recharge a phone or the like then be sure to bring the appropriate adaptor.

Thanks for your entertaining reports. "Our chosen table was number 410, a two-seater 80cm from another two-seater..." I can't help wondering if you take a tape measure into breakfast with you. 🙂

Thanks. Not being fluent in Estuary, I hadn't got it until you explained it.

Regarding the air con, I don't recall any problems either in my cabin or in any of the public rooms on my trip to the Caribbean on Aurora just over a year ago, so it's either a recent problem or Selbourne has just been unlucky. Fingers crossed that it will be fixed before too much longer. I'm on her in May on a Baltic cruise, so even if they can't fix it it's unlikely to be a major problem for that cruise.

I suppose I'm a wimp, but if I found a hair in my food I think I'd just remove it and carry on.

"The sentence was never enacted as Parliament was in the process of abolishing the death penalty..." That surprises me, as quite a few convicted murderers were still being hanged during the 1950s.

The "five bean and lentil soup" on the lunch menu is probably five green beans.🙂

He's been on a couple of my recent P&O cruises, and I agree that he is very good.

Maybe the local pilot that Aurora got was more cautious than those pilots allocated to the other ships that did make it into port? But if the pilot didn't think that it was safe, then it would be a brave (or foolhardy?) captain who went against his advice.