Slugsta

We don't have any priority and were given 12.30 boarding of Aurora earlier this month (we were on D deck). I seem to remember that the latest time was 3.30. We were told that there were a lot of people onboard with high loyalty levels.

We disembarked Aurora on Friday and the Captain said that both gastro-intestinal and respiratory conditions were prevalent. We certainly saw evidence of the former with people suddenly becoming unwell whilst in public spaces.

We thought we were in the clear but I spent Friday night vomiting, was just glad that it was short-lived and waited until we got home!

Thanks for the comments about temperature onboard. We are going down to the Med. so I hope it will be the 'Goldilocks area'!

Changing the subject completely - what was the temperature like inside the ship? On our last 2 P+O cruises, I have been quite cold. I know that Selbourne said that some places were terribly hot when they were down in the Caribbean, but I suspect that is not the same in cooler climes.

Some cruiselines, including P+O, are now stipulating that people who use wheelchairs and scooters must be allocated an 'evac chair' and member/s of crew in case of emergency. I would imagine that this does necessitate some sort of 'quota' as these members of the crew will not be available for other emergency duties.

I'm sorry that you experienced this. Noro is bad enough at the best of times - and being alone, far from home must be particularly hard. I completely understand that this might have made you reluctant to cruise again, especially if this was your first time.

In all fairness, it's not only cruise ships that get Noro outbreaks. It happens anywhere people are in close proximity for extended periods, including schools, hospitals etc. Of course, the same goes for cough, colds, flu, Covid and such like. Even so, many posters here have clocked up dozens, if not hundreds, of cruises without getting ill, so it certainly isn't inevitable.

He would only be able to add an extra passenger later if there were still lifeboat places available for that area of the ship. This could be an issue particularly if the 3rd/4th places in other cabins were taken, so this is something to be taken into consideration.

When the speciality dining is open for bookings can be rather variable. We are embarking on our next cruise in 2 weeks time (we should be onboard and under way in exactly 2 weeks time 🙂) and we were able to book speciality dining yesterday afternoon. Yet I have heard other people say that it hasn't been available until well into day -14 for them, so look early and keep trying if it isn't open.

I also thank Selbourne for this every enjoyable thread. It has really helped pass the dark winter days between Christmas and our first cruise of the year.

We board Aurora on 8th April, so am rather hoping that someone will have found the seasoning by then! However, I am not fond of many veg so would be happy with green beans most days.

As well as physical comfort, the answer will also depend on how your mother feels about being pushed around (literally!). I utterly hate the lack of independence associated with this and will always choose my powerchair over a manual chair. Think also about the respective weights of the chairs as someone will have to lift it in and out of taxis etc (although one would hope that the drivers would do this).

I will add my heartfelt thanks for the time and work you have put into this 'Live from'. As a wheelchair user, I have been particularly interested in your comments about accessibility at ports (and have come to the conclusion that the Caribbean is not for us).

I wish you a safe journey home even though, like others, I will be bereft of reading material in the mornings once you get back. 

@Junction2 We are on that one too and it will be our longest. Longest thus far is 24 days, also on Arcadia to Canada.

5 minutes ago, brian1 said:

What if the other bloke Antigua to get off.

<groan> 

I admit that I had to read that aloud several times before the penny dropped!

We have a cabin by the forward lifts on Aurora in April. Hopefully, it won't be overly warm then, even in Morocco.

I notice that the mezze appeared both at lunch and dinner!

We went here for a meal when we had an overnight in Helsinki last year https://www.myhelsinki.fi/en/eat-and-drink/restaurants/restaurant-kuu

It was a good meal and an easy tram ride from where the shuttle bus dropped us off.

We are also celebrating a 'big 0' anniversary on Aurora in April. It's good to know that we will be able to pre-book the Beach House (hubby doesn't like Sindhu).

@Megabear2 I'm sorry that you were not well enough to travel home as planned and really hope that you are on the mend now.

@Selbourne I used to be a nurse practitioner and would have been very happy to see someone who had a bad sore throat that hadn't improved after a week! It is possible that you have a secondary bacterial infection on top of the virus.

3 hours ago, mrsgoggins said:

 

I don't know much about the choir, pre-covid or now (although I did consider joining but the time of the sessions put me off). However, I was on a large table at lunch a few days ago with 2 women and the husband of 1 of them who did attend. I was interested and they all seemed quite enthusiastic about the choir. I was told about 100 attended with sopranos to the right and altos to the left. The man said that a few women were with the men.

 

The ship's orchestra pianist was accompanying them and was obviously popular. They had had a change of members of the ship's singers leading them. 

 

I hope that helps.

Thank you. That, along with Selbourne's comment about the current choir on Aurora, is reassuring.

@mrsgoggins I see that they are still running 'vocal workshops'. Do you happen to know whether these are more like the pre-covid passenger choir? I participated in the 'workshops' on Iona last year and found them a waste of time and was hoping there would have been a return to passenger choirs, at least on the smaller ships.

Selbourne, I am really enjoying your reports and am so glad that you were able to see the whales.

I had another email about this today.

For our 19 day cruise an upgrade to deluxe balcony (we are currently in an inside), minimum bid £910.

Standard balcony £490

Large seaview £430

Seaview £180

Larger inside £260.

All prices per person.

I don't know how these compare with prices when we booked.

We have had an email from our TA confirming that the OBC has been added.

I just glanced at the prices and it seemed to me that P+O were not offering any amazing deals. However, I could be wrong in this as I don't know what the full price upgrade might cost.