Ira Visits the North Pole – Almost

[I_r_a]

Hello All,

My Lady Wife and I recently returned from a 10-day voyage on the P&O Aurora.  This is a quick report of our adventure.

   

We flew ATL à LHR on Delta.  It was a typical Delta flight.

    We were taken from LHR to Southampton by http://www.smithsairportcars.co.uk/ -  highly recommended.

    We stayed overnight in a “Privilege Room” at https://www.dolphin-southampton.com/

     This is an old hotel in an even older building.  Our “room” comprised a good-sized bathroom, a large bedroom and an even larger sitting room with a view from the second floor over the courtyard.

     The hotel is very clean and well maintained.  Recommended for those who like old buildings with squeaky floors.

The weather was cold and rainy, so we stayed in and sampled the potables and comestibles at the bar until it was time for bed.  Very nice.

 

Next day we cabbed to the Mayflower terminal where, with the help of Special Assistance, we boarded The Aurora.  The whole procedure went very smoothly.  (One of the few privileges of getting old.)

 

The ship:

   She will appeal to those who are less than enthused by the contemporary atmosphere, although she does rock and pitch more than you will find on the larger, newer boats.

    We found the service to be excellent: the cabin (EB – deluxe balcony) better than most; especially the drapes that close off the sitting area from the bedroom area:  the public spaces to be much to our liking – especially Andersons:  the background music to be discreet – mostly:  and the food totally in keeping with traditional British dining of the late ‘50’s and ‘60’s – not very good, except for the tea – PG Tips.

    We stocked up on single packets of Nescafe and Mount Hagen as alternates to the ship’s product. 

 

    The orange juice was freshly squeezed each morning.

 

    We found that if you were not in the mood to share a table checking in at the desk and then taking the buzzer back to Anderson’s (short walk) for a libation or 3 was a good way to start the evening.

      Our fellow passengers were made up of two groups – those over 70 (the majority) and those under 50.  There was a decent muster of young marrieds – some with children.

 

    We chose the “anytime” dining in Medina.  Nice room.  First class service.

    We had dinner at Sindhu one evening – very pleasant Indian cooking brewed for British taste.

    I discovered a new love – Gunpowder Gin with Fevertree Aromatic tonic.

 

   We did not partake of the “entertainment”.

 

The Voyage:

     The itinerary is such as to allow for a very leisurely sojourn - lots of sea days, few “must see’s” to require your attention.

     The weather was warm for that part of the world (-3 to +8 C), and the skies were mostly overcast – both conditions that work against seeing The Lights.  We did, however, catch a view (or maybe 2) of a long, cigar-shaped object glowing a pale green (ionized N2) with occasional flecks of red (O2).

   The captain reported sighting a whale, which some other passengers verified.

 

   Not seeing the sun for several days was an interesting experience.

 

  The fjords are spectacular.

 

    We shall return in Summer 2020 for a voyage aboard The Arcadia.

 

I shall upload some pix ASAP.

 

Ciao

Ira

 

[Dorset cruise fan]

Forgive my ignorance Ira, but I assume ATL is somewhere in America (I'd make a wild stab at Atlanta but these initials are not always what they seem) given that you were on a Delta flight.  Was this your first P&O cruise? Did you feel overwhelmed by Brits or welcomed into the fold?  If you have booked Arcadia then it must have been a positive experience. Of course the lights can't be guaranteed but was the overall trip worth it, visiting the Artic is pretty special but if its just cold and dark is there enough to do? Thoughts and impressions welcome please.

[Selbourne]

Interesting review. There is a separate ‘reviews’ section where it might be wise to post it. 

 

Having cruised on all the P&O ships and having experienced heavy seas on most of them, we find Aurora (which is more liner like) to be far more stable than the larger ships with flatter bottomed hulls and high slab like sides that catch the wind more. The worst movement we have ever had was on Azura. 

 

On all our cruises on Aurora we have never been served freshly squeezed orange juice. It has the definite tang of processed juice and I find it undrinkable. You can, however, buy genuine freshly squeezed orange juice from one of the deck bars, where the oranges are squeeezed in a machine in front of you. Taste the two side by side and you will know which is the real stuff!

[saatuk]

I was on the same cruise and was surprised how little Aurora was affected. We were having 4 M swells and Force 8 winds and the ship hardly moved at all. I was on deck 9 so pretty high up.

[I_r_a]

Hi DCF,

 

>  I assume ATL is somewhere in America (I'd make a wild stab at Atlanta but these initials are not always what they seem) given that you were on a Delta flight. <

   You are correct.  I didn't mean to seem smug.  I often look up code names for faraway places with strange sounding names.

 

>Was this your first P&O cruise? 

     Yes

 

>Did you feel overwhelmed by Brits or welcomed into the fold? 

    No and pretty much.

      No one bothered to make us feel less than welcome, nor did anyone make a point of being a welcoming committee.  I'd say we were treated like regular folks.

 

>... was the overall trip worth it, visiting the Acrtic is pretty special but if its just cold and dark is there enough to do? Thoughts and impressions welcome please. <

 

Spending several days (not nights) in the dark is definitely a new experience.

 

There is a lot to do in Norway, especially if you are a fan of the outdoors, even in winter.  If not, we enjoyed staying on the ship in place of wind and snow.

 

We recommend the trip.

 

Ira

[I_r_a]

Hi S,

 

> On all our cruises on Aurora we have never been served freshly squeezed orange juice.

 

That's too bad.

 

I stood on the aft deck as the oranges were being squeezed and then watched the server put the jugs of juice into the dispensing machine.

 

Ira

[I_r_a]

Hi S,.

> I was on the same cruise and was surprised how little Aurora was affected.

 

Well, it was my first time on P&O.  I shall have to do more sailing on that line before I can speak authoritatively. 

 

Ira

[Selbourne]

59 minutes ago, I_r_a said:

Hi S,

 

> On all our cruises on Aurora we have never been served freshly squeezed orange juice.

 

That's too bad.

 

I stood on the aft deck as the oranges were being squeezed and then watched the server put the jugs of juice into the dispensing machine.

 

Ira

That’s odd, as the freshly squeezed orange juice from the deck bar is chargeable. What they serve in the restaurants at breakfast definitely isn’t freshly squeezed orange juice and when we have been able to have breakfast in the Epicurean on Britannia we were disappointed to find that it’s the processed stuff as well. 

[Morgans]

Thank you Ira for your observations re Aurora and P & O - I enjoyed reading your report. We are P & O fans too ( also Cunard) and look forward to seeing your photos.

 

Arcadia is our favourite- so well done on booking another for 2020 - where will this cruise be going?  You may find the demograph of passengers different as of course children are not allowed. She is a lovely ship with some classy bars and restaurants. We have done several very long trips on Arcadia and would happily book again in a heartbeat. You will love it.

[I_r_a]

Hello again,

 

Here are some menus:

 

Desert @ Medina

 

Dinner @ Medina

 

                                 

 

 

 

 

My New Love - at Anderson's

 

[I_r_a]

More stuff:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who is this man?  Pic in Anderson's

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dorset cruise fan]

It's Arthur Anderson, founder of P&O

[I_r_a]

Thanks DCF.

 

 

Ira

[I_r_a]

Hello again.

 

Some pix at sea:

 

High Noon just below the Arctic Circle

 

Sailing in the Fjords

 

 

Reindeer

 

 

 

 

[I_r_a]

Some more Pics:

Mountains

 

A Pleasant Day at Sea

 

Sunrise 09:00

 

Sunset  10:30

 

Rainbow (taken through a window)

T

 

 

Th.. Th.... That's all folks

 

[P-L-B]

Great pictures.

They bring back memories as we did the same cruise as you in November 2017 and we got to see the Northern Lights to. 

[AndyMichelle]

On 20 December 2018 at 5:55 PM, saatuk said:

I was on the same cruise and was surprised how little Aurora was affected. We were having 4 M swells and Force 8 winds and the ship hardly moved at all. I was on deck 9 so pretty high up.

This is a funny one with Aurora... We were on the cruise directly after yours and on the way out, in relatively calm seas, she rock n rolled like an old pirate ship!!!

9 days later on our return in force 9 winds, we hardly felt a thing. 

Other passengers were speculating about a possible fault that was fixed in our first port, Hamburg, or the fact that we refuelled there? 

My maritime knowledge is not the best, but I have never felt movement like it on the larger ships.

Andy