Lottie A

2 hours ago, Tablelamp said:

I have always found that instead of moaning AFTER the event, find a chef (with a tall hat) and make the point re items on the buffet at the time.   Works wonders.

I don’t think the running out of golden triangles was really that important to my friend and we weren’t “moaning” ....but thanks for your advice about the chef in a tall hat! 🙄

11 minutes ago, mercury7289 said:

Read this, and moved from cabin in a similar position today, on a booked future cruise, also saved a staggering amount from when we first booked, was unaware before your post.Thank you

You are very welcome mercury7289. Hope you have a lovely cruise on the beautiful Aurora. She really is a great ship. 

6 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

Oh hold on... They still have the golden triangles??? 

Sorely missed on Oceana recently, just some hard, round bits of grease soaked bread... 

That's why Aurora is many peoples favourite ship... 

Andy 

Well as I said, I don’t eat a cooked breakfast but he seemed to be very pleased they had them...he went back for more but they had all gone! 🤣

Great photo’s there Damian and I hope you have a lovely cruise zoe sproodle. Aurora is indeed looking lovely and festive. I can recommend the mulled wine or the hot chocolate when you return from a chilly day ashore! 

4 hours ago, Waju said:

I'm sure you will be fine - deck 11 is my favourite so to me that would be the perfect position!  There is no smoking on deck 11 so no need to worry about that and the doors will have dampers fitted and don't slam.

 

You are in the perfect place to take a glass of something out on the deck before dinner (that's what we do) and sit at one of the tables or recliner chairs and have a perfect view from the back of the ship.  The only slight noise there may be is if people drag the chairs around.

 

Are you on the cruise leaving 4th Jan?  We are and have just been allocated a cabin on A deck but it's at the front, whilst I am very happy with that I'd have preferred the back.😎

 

Thoughts on my cabin A317 now I am back from my cruise. 
Positives were the excellent location on Deck 11. The last cabin at the back and next to the door out onto the tiered aft Deck on 11. Access to it took four steps. Very near the aft lifts and so convenient for everything....except the Curzon Theatre of ourse! 

Cabin was a slightly odd shape with the door to the bathroom being next to the bed, plenty of storage space and at night it was very quiet. Bed seemed new and was very comfortable. It was fine for a solo guest but I think space would be limited for two people. My steward said he had only ever known it to be occupied by a solo passenger. It was fine by me as I had a male friend onboard who was in a big suite so I “squatted out” in his suite sometimes during the day. 😄

Negatives were the window...no sea view as you could just see the table and chairs on Deck 11 directly outside your window. People passing by could see right into the cabin even when the net curtains were across. I had to keep my proper curtains closed at all times and this made the cabin dark. If it had been a warm weather cruise I can imagine it would have been very noisy with passengers sat chatting directly outside the cabin window both day and night. As it was too cold to sit out there for long on this Amsterdam cruise I was OK with the small amount of noise this time. P&O need to remove the table and chairs right outside this cabin window though. 
Would I choose this cabin again? Probably not as keeping the curtains closed made it so dark inside the cabin and it would be noisy and not at all private on a warm weather cruise. I would certainly choose one of the more traditional layout OV or balcony cabins at the aft on Deck 11 though ....such a great location. 

None of this in any way spoiled my cruise though....we had such a good time on lovely Aurora. 

Oh yes that is so sad. We met him in his restaurant on Oriana too. What a nice man he was and always happy to chat about his food. 

11 hours ago, Britboys said:

Glad you had a good cruise.  Were mushrooms and/or hash browns available in the mdr at breakfast?

Yes they were. My friend had them a few times in the MDR. He reminded me that he thought the triangles of fried bread in Horizon were hash browns at first and he was disappointed! 

11 minutes ago, DamianG said:

 

Thanks for all the photos, I've thoroughly enjoyed looking at them and a fair few memories of our own winter cruises have been triggered.

You are very welcome Damian. I do like winter cruises and wish there were more ships doing them. Here are a few more photo’s for you. 
 

Just off Aurora today. Had a great time, met some lovely people and Aurora is still my favourite P&O ship. 

However:-

There were trays in Horizon buffet but no mushrooms or hash browns at breakfast, even if you asked for them. I witnessed some very annoyed passengers complaining about this. They were told there was little demand for either item...but there clearly was! I don’t eat a cooked breakfast so it didn’t bother me. 
 

Service was dreadfully slow at some tables in the MDR as a lot of new crew boarded at Southampton. Some passengers were waiting 30 mins between courses. Fortunately our table had excellent and very experienced waiters. They were great. 

I felt very sorry for a new barman in The Glasshouse who was clearly not coping with the large amount of passengers there on the sea day. The head waiter stood watching him and tutting but never offered to help at all. Poor management skills IMHO. 

The MDR food was very good except for the very salty soups....they must add a bucket of salt to them! 
Butter was loose pats in a glass dish...at breakfast one man took five out of the six pats for himself...another lady commented there was none left and he said “so get some more”. Nice. 

And they still won’t let you have a Fruit tart before 11:30 am in Raffles Costa coffee shop! 😬 

But we all had such a great time anyway. 

Had the cheese plate on Aurora last night. It was really boring and nowhere near as good a selection as on Fred Olsen. No grapes or pickle and only two cream crackers offered! Could do better P&O!

Just left Ijmuiden on the way back to Southampton. The sky is blue and it has been a lovely little break. Met some fabulous people and generally had a very good time. 
 

Also very pleased that Bruce Parker is back on Azamara. He is great! 

I am on P&O’s beautiful ship Aurora at the moment. It has just had a refit and is very classy. There are a significant number of French and a Scandinavian passengers onboard and even about 50 Americans. I haven’t heard one person “moaning”, the drinks choice is far superior to Azamara....for example there are about 20 different gins and Fever Tree tonic is their standard pour. There is a comprehensive wine list and Olly Smith’s Glasshouse allows you to try very expensive glasses of wine as they have an enomatic wine system. As for my cabin ...well it’s at least twice the size of an AZ cabin and so is the bathroom. My friend has a Library Suite which is incredible. 
The food is great...went to Sindhu tonight, the Atul Kucher speciality Indian restaurant and had the most wonderful meal in great company. Entertainment is also very good and a breath of fresh air. The Stephen Mulhearn/Jonathan Wilkes show called Astonishing was most definitely just that! 

So I say try different cruise lines. You never know what you will like until you DO try it. 

I have one Azamara cruise booked, another P&O cruise, a SIlversea cruise and we are going to book Fred Olsen and an AMA river cruise next year as well. Variety is the spice of life! 😂




 

For our cruise departing Southampton on Nov 22nd we didn’t actually leave until about 11 pm ish. This was due to the technicians still working on the faulty fire doors. They were flown in to Gatwick from Italy and had huge delays on the motorway to get to Southampton. Fire doors now fixed! It made no difference really to Aurora’s timings as we still chugged up the Channel at about 10 knots all day yesterday and got to Ijmuiden at about 5:30 am this morning.

Just got back from the Windmills and Edam tour, which I have to say was absolutely excellent, with a very informative Guide. I feel like I could make a fair go at building a water Dyke now! 🤣

Bought some Edam and Gouda cheese, but sadly not the “special cheese” that Andy referred to! 
 

 Off for a late lunch in The Glasshouse now and then Sindhu tonight. The ship is deserted...as almost everyone got the free shuttle bus to Amsterdam this morning. Just how I like it! 
Some pix of Edam town. 
 

Our overnight here is actually tonight Sue. I think it was due to a lot of younger people being onboard for this cruise who really don’t want to wear formal clothes. The Crow’s Nest was deserted last night apart from a few of us and I explained to some youngsters in the lift about why they were turned away. They were very perplexed and quite annoyed as they thought they looked “really quite the business”. They were wearing designer jeans (but torn at the knee) and glittery boob tubes. Great for a night dancing at a club perhaps....but not for a Black Tie night on P&O!  

Andy, that “special cheese” sounds interesting! 🤣

In the Zaanse Schans (sp?) windmill and craft museum now and just stopped for a coffee. It’s very interesting. 
 

On Aurora now and she does look beautiful with her Christmas decorations. Arrived in Amsterdam this morning...well Ijmuiden anyway! I’m doing a Windmills and Edam tour as I have been to Amsterdam many times. 
Food is very good, seas have been calm and the passengers are generally very pleasant! I would say the MDR was half empty last night as it was formal night and a lot of people did not bother to dress up. Those that did looked lovely! 
Having a great time! 

1 minute ago, Riocca said:

Unfortunately for Azamara you are not alone.

No you aren’t and recently I have tried several other cruise lines and been very pleased with the product. Can only agree with John’s Viking opinions....they are a fantastic cruise line! 
In fact I am getting on another cruise ship today! 

3 minutes ago, Britboys said:

That is an absolutely dreadful experience and I completely understand what you mean about about how it would have been for a less confident individual than you.  I make no excuse for him whatever but you have to wonder whether he is on the Autistic Spectrum or has some other learning disability or mental health issue.  Have a wonderful cruise on what is now my favourite P&O ship.

I did consider your points Britboys but as a GP I have a lot of experience in identifying mental health issues or people on the Autistic spectrum and I don’t think for one moment that was his problem. He was just a thoroughly nasty and unpleasant man! 
I’m really going to enjoy my little Aurora cruise, so thank you for your good wishes. 

12 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

That is beyond rude, but unfortunately we heard a similar, if not as sinister story on Aurora, cannot remember if it was June this year or December last. 

A chap went to the singles meeting on the first Sea day, took a liking to a lady, ignored everyone else and stuck to her like glue, stopping her from mingling with the others. 

She asked another lady to have a word with him to explain politely that she was not interested and I believe he took the hint. 

Don't let this worry you, there are idiots in all walks of life. 

Have a fantastic time on Aurora, she is beautiful. 

Andy 

I will Andy, I haven't been on Aurora for several years now but she was always my favourite P&O ship. Looking forward to getting reacquainted with her. I usually cruise with Azamara or Silversea nowadays but I have always thought Aurora was a beautiful, classic ship. 

I have booked Iona for January 2022 but can't get any details at all on the CP. 

It is a long way away though....so I will give them a bit more time! 😄

How's this for a "rude passenger"? 

I recently did a Fred Olsen cruise on Balmoral. On the first night I joined my dining table to find a man about 45 ish and an elderly man seated there. Two much older ladies joined us later. I greeted them and told them my name and asked the usual ice breaker question of "have you been on Balmoral before"? Yes I have replied the 45 ish man. I find it good hunting ground to hook up with single, lonely, sad 50 year old women! At first I thought he was joking.... so I replied that I was neither single, lonely, sad or indeed 50!

He then kept asking me to go for a drink with him and constantly asked me for my cabin number throughout the meal, despite me saying that there was no way I was giving a complete stranger my cabin number. Eventually he said "well if you won't tell me then I can always follow you back to it tonight and then I will know". I regarded this as completely out of order and it felt like almost stalking me, so I left the table and went and reported him to Guest Relations. They sent a Security Officer to warn him that his behaviour was objectionable and if he repeated it to any other ladies he would be put off the ship. 

I am a confident and well travelled GP and fully able to deal with such an unpleasant character but I did think about how upset and worried less confident ladies who were cruising alone would feel if they had been subjected to his rude behaviour. Needless to say I changed dinner tables and met a fantastic group of people on the second table. One lovely man, ex services, and looked to be very fit, who was travelling with his wife and sister, offered to go and "sort him out" for me! 😄 

I'm sure nothing like that will happen on my Aurora cruise tomorrow! 

I remover that joke. It’s funny and harmless. The audience for Eric’s shows are not 10 year’s old! If it’s indeed the case that the people from Bermuda were that easily offended....well I’m glad I’m not on a cruise with such ultra sensitive beings! 

Very much enjoying your review HGC. Your photo’s are fantastic. 

16 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

Not familiar with the cabin but in a great part of the ship, close to the beautiful tiered stern. 

We were just along the corridor and it was great. 

Andy 

Thanks Andy. I’m sure it will be fine and I will only be in there to sleep and shower but it does look an odd shape on the deck plan. 

53 minutes ago, Covepointcruiser said:

I did notice that many of the new guests were directed individually by the HD to seats on the port side for Eric’s show last night.   It was very crowded and those of us old timers had to find our own seats.   Meanwhile shortly into the show, some after the first number, the new group began leaving the venue.   At the end of the show only two of the new guests remained.   Eric’s numbers, and jokes, may have been too off color for them.  Bermuda is noted for being conservative.

Off colour? Really? I can't imagine what kind of conservative Puritans they must be to be offended by any of Eric's Grandpa jokes or his songs! 

Perhaps they were just tired? 🤣