pete14

A late night last night because the Northern Lights made an appearance. They were neither bright nor colourful but they were definitely there. Pete junior managed to take some photos of them that accentuated the green colour which was less visible to the naked eye. Hopefully, we will see them more clearly over the next few nights. The sky tonight is very clear again so we may be lucky. I am sitting here with my coat on just in case there is a message from the bridge to tell us to look outside. Gervase Phinn did Christmas today in the form of anecdotes about Nativity activities and plays he has encountered. He also read a couple of quite poignant poems he has written. The books he brought along to sell have all sold out, even though he has three talks left. We had the loyalty club lunch today which was very pleasant. Although there were no officer hosts on each table, several of them greeted us as we entered and the captain visited each table. A pod of orcas was spotted by some earlier. Mrs Pete thinks she saw them but sadly I was elsewhere. It is hardly the weather for sitting outside gazing at the sea in the off chance of seeing marine life. After copious amounts of wine was dispensed and consumed at lunchtime, a lazy afternoon was required. Many of the stewards and waiters are sulking a little due to Australia. beating India in the cricket World Cup final. An announcement has just come from the bridge that the lights are visible so ta- ra until tomorrow

This was written last night but the internet has been down for 24 hours so I couldn’t post it. It is not the new Elon Musk starlink internet on Aurora so the fact we had no internet was not a reaction to his latest rocket exploding. An excellent day today and the Northern Lights have made an appearance!😊 We spent the day in Andalsnes, a small town at the end of a fjord. Snow on the tops of the mountains and frost on the ground. Apologies if the pictures are upside down. After a hearty breakfast, we ‘did Andalsnes’ in around half an hour, we didn’t fancy the cable car to the top of the mountain, and definitely not at more than £40 return. Even a baby ship such as Aurora dwarfed the town, but not the mountains. For lunch we braved the buffet which seemed quite calm and orderly with a good assortment of food. I chose crispy beef with chilli which whilst being perfectly acceptable was neither crispy nor laden with chilli. Pete junior had pizza from the grill which he enjoyed. We spent a calm afternoon in the Crows Nest reading and getting value from the drinks package whilst Mrs Pete got her nails and hands done in the spa. The Aurora trio played a few jazz style tunes (piano, electric bass and drums). They were perfectly competent if a little loud for the space. Sindhu was our choice for evening meal, a good choice after last night’s trials and tribulations. Everything about it was first class. Really tasty food, well cooked and with excellent service as you would expect. I know select dining is not cheap but it really is much better than the offerings in the MDR, which are actually quite good unless you have special dietary needs when they can be less than satisfactory as they were last night. We had not been back in our cabin for more than a few minutes when a message from the bridge was broadcast on the TV telling us that the Northern Lights were visible. We watched from our balcony and tried to take some photos. The lights were not particularly strong or vivid in colour but they were definitely there. Pete junior’s photos were positive proof of that, mine were just black. Hopefully when we are further North in Alta and Tromso, they will be more extensive and vivid but at least we can say we have seen them (unlike the last time we did this cruise in March 2019). Even I may manage photographic proof. I think it was Selbourne who asked about tiffin boxes at lunchtime in Sindhu. They are doing them on two lunchtimes (sea days). We have booked them both so will let you know how good they were. Also for Selbourne, today was a port day and breakfast in medina restaurant was 8:00 until 9:30 and the buffet 7:00 until 11:00. Another sea day tomorrow as we travel North up the coastline. They said top temperature today was about 1 degree Celsius, which in a couple of days time may seem pretty tropical compared with the minus temperatures we may encounter in the far North. As I finish, there has been another announcement about the Lights being visible so I will leave it at that.

If you buy drinks package, internet, excursions and speciality dining in advance of a cruise, possibly with a loyalty discount which you don’t get with OBC, there is not a great deal to spend OBC on so a large amount of it isn’t necessarily worth having.

A beautifully clear starry, starry night, perfect for the Northern Lights but they seem to be having a night in drinking Norwegian wine in front of the telly. The only cloud is caused by Aurora’s chimney. I guess we are not far enough North but when we get there, I doubt we have such a perfect night sky.

No herons visible at present. They do have a lot to answer for though.

Guilty as charged but I think we all stand by my original post of yesterday. 🥴😵‍💫 At least we haven’t got a cat with us. The bear is very special and would be upset if we left him behind and travelled with us for many years. His brother lives in our caravan.

Another lazy but good day with a disappointing conclusion. The sea has remained quite calm although the forecast is for the wind speed and sea state to increase a little tonight. Skies are clear though and the captain has made a broadcast to all cabins to tell us that there is the possibility of seeing the Northern lights tonight and that he will use a dedicated TV channel to let us know if and when they are spotted from the bridge. Nothing yet though. I managed to have a brief chat with Gervase Phinn before today’s talk and told him that I am writing this report and that several people are disappointed not to be with us to listen to what he has to say. He seemed genuinely touched to be told this. Again, his talk was excellent. The theatre was almost full and I suspect as word continues to spread, it will become completely full before his final talk. There is another guest speaker doing the ‘afternoon slot’. He is a celebrity photographer talking about some of the famous people he has photographed. Today, it was Larry Adler but as I am not greatly interested in him, I gave it a miss, preferring an afternoon in the Crow’s Nest with my kindle with the Norway coast and snow covered mountains in view. Little else happened until our evening meal. Two main courses were fine, although I am still unsure whether the veal was in fact pork (perhaps veal substitute for the Fawlty Towers fans). One of us has special dietary needs that means meals must be low in fat. The paupiette of lemon sole with gnocchi, seafood ragout and courgettes consisted of a fillet of fish which was so over cooked it could be mashed with one stroke of a fork, partially cooked potatoes and vegetables with a pot of tasteless white liquid. We informed the waiter that it was inedible and far removed from what it should be and when he summoned the head waiter, we told him the same. He was asked to provide us with a replacement that was the same as others had ordered from the menu but the replacement he brought was exactly the same as the first one. He was asked to take it away and just leave it. Five minutes later, when others had finished he came up with a third similar plate of food, overcooked fish with gnocchi and courgettes replaced with undercooked potatoes and vegetables. That also went back. I know different dietary requirements can be a nuisance but they ask to be told in advance (which we did) and say they will take the order the previous night to check it is suitable and tweak it accordingly. All this happened but the result was unsatisfactory. Never mind, tomorrow is another day and we have already pre booked Sindhu for our evening meal.

Thanks for saving me a job Selbourne. As you can see, there are cheaper wines but I am quite partial to Velvet Devil .

There was a card (Folded A4 size approx) on the table when we arrived.

As far as I am aware, the Glasshouse did not open until after we had set sail. At least you had the forethought to take some wine with you.

He seems to do talks on quite a lot of cruises, including Saga. His new novel is called ‘The Captain’s Table’ (or similar) which is apparently based on some people he has met on cruises. I think one of his future talks on this cruise will feature it, rather than his experiences in schools, and of course he will be selling signed copies.

I am pleased to say that currently on Aurora, there are no problems with lifts which I am aware of. I use the lifts infrequently but there never seems to be a queue, and on occasions when I have used them, they have usually arrived empty.

As I have just written on my report from Aurora Northern Lights cruise, the worth of the drinks package is dependent on what you want to drink. We have the deluxe package and as wine drinkers, three large glasses of wine a day (lunch x1 and evening meal x2) @ around £14 a glass means that you only need a couple of coffees or soft drinks in addition to make it worth buying. I realise that to some, 3 large glasses of wine (a whole bottle) in a single day seems excessive, and perhaps it is, but on a ship, where drinks are very easy to come by, whether alcohol, soft drinks including water, and coffee/tea, I suspect many people drink more than they would at home. This may be a bad thing, and the drinks package makes it easier to do, but it is a matter of personal choice. We chose to buy it and if it saves us money then great. I suspect it might but not very much. For others, especially beer drinkers and to a lesser degree spirits or cocktails, it probably wouldn’t because they are cheaper than wine.

Towards the end of another day, a summary. For a sea day without sunshine and sun loungers, it has been a good one. The talk by Gervase Phinn on some of his experiences as a school inspector was excellently delivered, amusing but thought provoking. He really is an excellent speaker and if he is ever on a ship on which you are cruising, well worth listening to. He has five more talks to go. Lunch was three small plates in the glasshouse. The plates may have been small but there was plenty of food for one person. A glass of velvet devil red wine was a good accompaniment. At around £14 for a large glass, it makes the top drinks package seem to be a good choice but of course it depends on the tipple you choose. For beer, and a lesser degree spirits (around £8 for a 50cl measure of something decent), maybe not so good. We have a classical guitarist onboard (Carlos Bonell) who has collaborated a lot with Queen and Paul McCartney as well as playing classical selections with various orchestras. His 45 minute concert was very enjoyable, including a range of styles, including flamenco, the first movement of the Spring concerto from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, the Beatle’s ‘Penny Lane’ and Cavatina, from the film ‘The Deerhunter’. All were excellently played. He is also appearing five more times. The busker who we have onboard was not of the same quality. After renditions of two Ed Sheeran songs, we left when he started murdering my favourite Adele song. Tonight was the first celebration night. As the main courses were not greatly to my taste, I chose the main course from the pay extra ‘signature menu’. Apparently, I was the first person to select this. Although the steak was cooked excellently to my requested medium rare, if so few people are choosing to pay extra from that optional menu, its days may be numbered even at this early stage. In my opinion, it would be a shame if this happened, but consumer demand (or lack of it) may dictate its future. The weather has been fine all day and the sea has been calm with little movement to suggest we are crossing the North Sea. Hopefully this will remain so but somehow, I doubt it will.

Who’s been drinking my brandy?

Welcome. Better late than never!😊This thread contributed to getting us through the last three or so years, knowing that when times got tough, there was always a virtual friend to raise the mood. Again, thanks to Host Sharon and Cruise Critic for allowing it to happen 👍

I agree that Aurora is a lovely ship - the best of those in the fleet that I have sailed on. When we came here for the first time a few years ago, the only night we did not see the lights in Tromso and Alta is when we did a trip on a bus almost to the border with Finland. Hence the reason why we have not booked any trips this time (plus the fact they are very expensive).

Welcome to another Stokie. I think we are beginning to take over the world on here. I certainly hope we see the lights although I am sure it will be a great cruise whether we see them or not. Just got back to the cabin from a glasshouse lunch. Time for a snooze perhaps.

This morning is of course a sea day and the Medina restaurant breakfast is 8:30 until 10:00 and the buffet, 7:00 until 11:00 although the first hour I think is light, continental only. I will let you know on Saturday, our first port day, the breakfast times in port. No mention of a tiffin lunch but I will try to find out.

Soon after setting sail, we passed Cunard’s new ship Queen Mary 2 which was parked, resting after an exhausting sea trial. Hooters were sounded between the ships. After sailing a small way down Southampton Water, we had to do some slow manoeuvres to enable the Captain to reset the magnetic compass. He did say he would give a further explanation today. Then, full steam ahead for the Channel where we turned left. After an OK evening meal at which I had roast leg of lamb (sorry Jean), not brilliant but certainly not a problem, a couple of drinks in the glasshouse and pretty much straight to bed. We didn’t fancy the Headliners show, which I’m afraid for us is not unusual. Selbourne may be a little envious but presumably pleased to hear that there are no creaks to be heard in the cabin. The sea was like a millpond, and still is but I didn’t sleep too well, maybe I need to get used to the bed. Overnight, Christmas arrived. A nice tall decorated tree and tinsel wreaths around the banisters in the atrium. Quite understated but, despite being too early, they add a certain something to the experience. Another perk of a suite is the breakfast in Sindhu. Special K, orange juice, bagel with smoked salmon, poached egg, hollandaise and a touch of caviar on the top followed by toast and a small jar of marmalade. Very attentive waiting staff under the watchful eye of the captain who chose to have a light breakfast at a nearby table. Maybe a late lunch is required. Tonight is celebration night so we will be dressed up in order to fit in. For me, one of the highlights of today should be a talk in the theatre later this morning. Many years ago, before he became better known, I heard a talk by Gervase Phinn, a school inspector in the Yorkshire Dales. Several books, theatre performances and radio appearances later, he is now our guest speaker on Aurora. He should be well worth a listen. Unfortunately the Norwegian specialist speaker who was supposed to be joining us as well isn’t able to.

And we’re off! 👍🏼

As promised, here is the first post. We are travelling as a trio, me, Mrs Pete and Pete junior (but not very junior). We have a midships suite, taking advantage of the third person travels for free. Booking a single cabin for Pete junior would have cost around £2000 so a no brainer. Leaving sunny Stoke at around 8:00 am, on relatively clear roads, we arrived at Mayflower terminal and CPS car park at 11:50, having dropped off our luggage (lots of warm jumpers etc) as suite passengers we went straight to checkin and after a ten minute delay for security boarded Aurora. Reporting to the muster station was followed by an excellent lunch in the restaurant. Lots of house wine but also food of a higher quality than the wine at a window table with the sun streaming through the window. And two fellow passengers who were very pleasant. Unpacking many cases and bags followed and also introductions to the cabin steward and butler. Anyway, we are off to explore and probably to the glasshouse to check whether the drinks package is operating properly. I will hopefully be providing regular updates as we go along.

Hopefully our son, who is a keen photographer, will assist in the photo taking.

Thanks again Selbourne for your balanced review. I am pleased the good things outweighed the not so good and that you and Lady Selbourne had such a good time. Hopefully I will post our experiences on Aurora from Wednesday (internet permitting) and hopefully I will be able to be as fair and positive as you have been. You may even see a real photograph of the Northern Lights but I can’t promise.

I do find it gratifying when the goodness in the majority shows through at this time of year. I was in Aldi this morning just before 11:00 am and the 2 minute silence was well observed. I have attended two football matches this month and at each, the last post and silence was observed perfectly by the thousands of people present. It just makes me wonder why people can’t be so respectful at all times and how much better things may be if they were.