Reminiscing

[AndyMichelle]

Let's soften the mood a bit shall we... 

Lets have your stories about your favourite P&O cruise and why? 

Michelle and I have been talking a lot about our past cruises, good and bad bits. 

Surprisingly, we both agreed that our favourite cruise was what should have been a fairly standard Christmas Markets cruise to Copenhagen, Oslo, Hamburg and Amsterdam a couple of years ago. 

The ports were lovely, it snowed in Oslo, it was our first trip on Aurora just before she became adult only, so these contributed to the enjoyment. 

We both agreed though, that it was the people we met that made it so special. 

We had club dining, table for 6 and the other 2 couples really made our holiday. 

It seemed unlikely that we would get on, they were more refined than us discussing art and fine wine while I sipped on my pint of Peroni (but I did put my pinky out)... 

In the end, we spent many evenings and some days together and have never laughed so much. 

So, in case you do read this.. 

Linda & Clive and Tina & Pete, thank you for our most memorable cruise.. 

 

Over to you... 

 

Andy & Michelle 

 

 

 

[Harry Peterson]

6 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

........discussing art and fine wine while I sipped on my pint of Peroni (but I did put my pinky out)......

 

 

 

 

Andy!  How was that received? 😱

 

Harry 

[AndyMichelle]

47 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Andy!  How was that received? 😱

 

Harry 

I was a bit embarrassed, but they were fine. 

They genuinely wanted me to enjoy my holiday my way. 

We found common ground with gin in Anderson's.. 

Andy 

[kalos]

Yes I'm with you on this one Andy

 

I posted this a few days ago over in the pub lets smile page but thought it would suit your thread Andy .

 

Anyone got any funny memories of a past cruise?
If you have please post them,lets share those happy times .

 

The one  I remember is a sea day on the Azura .

Mrs Kalos  and I decided to pay a visit to the Glass House and we decided to have a meal there.
"I will pay for this with my cruise card" she said.

 

Then a waiter came up and asked if we would like to order any food?
He seemed a nice Indian guy with a soft spoken but strong Indian accent.
I had decided what I was having to eat and I ordered a steak.
The waiter asked any sauce to which I replied peppercorn please.

Mrs Kalos said she would have the same to the waiter, which he jotted onto his notepad.
With a smile on his face he read the order back ....
"Right you Sir are having the steak and peppercorn " and turning to my wife...
" You Marrrrm are having same ?  You have Cardamom ? "
No I want the same as my husband ,peppercorn please, she replied.
With a very puzzled look on the waiters face he turned to Mrs Kalos...
" Marrrrm ..You are ordering  both same with peppercorn ? True ?"
"YES " She  smiled, only to be wiped of her face when the waiter said 
"and you have Cardamom,please."
"I do not want any Cardamom at all, just the peppercorn ,same as my husband please"
was her reply, looking totally baffled.

It was now at this point the waiter pointed down at Mrs Kalos hand which she was clutching her cruise card  ....

Again he asked her " you have Cardamom,please."
At which time the penny dropped.  Talk about lost in translation !  

You have Cardamom,please is  " You have the card marrm please (in your hand ) to pay with ?
The Steak and peppercorn was very nice ,
That's our story. Have a nice day and keep safe.

[Eglesbrech]

Andy we have always loved the Christmas markets cruises as well and enjoyed every one we have done however one year on the little Artemis was just magical. We took my mum with us and she was like a child in a sweet shop, she just loved the whole atmosphere of the markets on shore, strolling round admiring decorations, drinking mulled wine and buying sweet things to take home.

 

The decorations that year on Artemis were lovely and to add to them a massive gingerbread village was built right round the bottom of the atrium. The ship did ice carvings, cracker making, cake decorating etc (we ended up lugging two massive cakes back home which my mum insisted on having as the cake was so good and you could pre order them for disembarkation).

 

The marching band on the dock at Copenhagen was memorable, the girls were dressed in Santa suits and it started to snow right on queue! We stood watching them in the snow.

 

One of the ships photographers took an impromptu picture of the three of us up on deck with our winter hats on sipping hot buttered rum. It is one of my favourite pictures as it is so spontaneous and my mum looks so happy in it. Now that she is gone it’s nice to look back on.

 

 

Edited April 2, 2020 by Eglesbrech
Typo

[AndyMichelle]

2 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Andy we have always loved the Christmas markets cruises as well and enjoyed every one we have done however one year on the little Artemis was just magical. We took my mum with us and she was like a child in a sweet shop, she just loved the whole atmosphere of the markets on shore, strolling round admiring decorations, drinking mulled wine and buying sweet things to take home.

 

The decorations that year on Artemis were lovely and to add to them a massive gingerbread village was built right round the bottom of the atrium. The ship did ice carvings, cracker making, cake decorating etc (we ended up lugging two massive cakes back home which my mum insisted on having as the cake was so good and you could pre order them for disembarkation).

 

The marching band on the dock at Copenhagen was memorable, the girls were dressed in Santa suits and it started to snow right on queue! We stood watching them in the snow.

 

One of the ships photographers took an impromptu picture of the three of us up on deck with our winter hats on sipping hot buttered rum. It is one of my favourites pictures as it is so spontaneous and my mum looks so happy in it. Now that she is gone it’s nice to look back on.

 

 

That's lovely, brought a tear to my eye. 

Thank you for sharing your lovely memories. 

Andy 

[Adawn47]

We've enjoyed every cruise we've been on for varying reasons but our first was really special. Arcadia's 12 nights cruise to Madeira and the Canaries. Everything thing was so new and exciting for us. The movement of the ship on the water and the feeling of vastness when looking out to sea from the top deck. The excitement of a different port to explore every day. We were like two kids at Christmas. The lovely menus, we were spoilt for choice, and the Cherries Jubilee that they set alight in front of you, sadly no longer done. Health and safety apparently! The evening entertainment and Formal nights and the nightcap on the balcony before bed. We were hooked. Lovely cheerful thread Andy.

Avril 

[moonstone01]

My wife and I are relative new-comers to cruising, we have only been on six.  We didn't have holidays until our son grew up and became independent.  Our first cruise with Fred Olsen, into France was an absolute eye-opener, it was so exciting and different to what we were expecting.  We met a lovely couple who enjoyed telling us stories of their previous cruises, rough cruises, smooth cruises and everything in between.  Their enthusiasm for cruises was infectious, so much so that it confirmed to us that this is the sort of holiday that we like.  The food, the service you get and the whole experience is worth the money.  When people find out that you are relative newbees they then start telling you their stories...love it.  On deck with the sun just starting to go down, large mocktail for me and a glass of wine for the wife and sailing away from a beautiful port that we have just spent a wonderful day in...wow.  The best place we have called at has to be Monte Carlo, just to stand outside the casino and soaking it all up, the shops, the cars the buildings and the sun.

[Britboys]

What a great idea Andy. 

I suppose my favourite P&O cruise has to be the first, in 1997 aboard the lovely Victoria.  A 'tiddler' by today's standards, coming in at 28,000 tons and carrying just over 700 pax.  She was definitely a proper Ocean Liner, being built in Glasgow in 1966 for Swedish America Line, to do the Gothenburg - New York run.

We left Southampton at the beginning of August in heavy cloud and rain bound for the Mediterranean on an itinerary titled "The Dolce Vita Cruise" - in those days, P&O used to give each itinerary a descriptive name as opposed to just a cruise number.  Nothing however could dampen our spirits as, with glass of champagne in hand, the uniformed Brass Band played and the paper streamers streamed as we slowly eased away from berth 106.  It felt particularly good, being our first holiday after Tony had fully recovered from a Brain Haemorrhage and subsequent major surgery the year before. The ship was just wonderful and to this day has left me with a love for the old Ocean Liners and ships that really do look like a ship.  It might surprise some of today's cruisers to know that this bijoux little ship looked huge to us as we gazed at her from the balcony/terrace of the old Mayflower Terminal.

We had been upgraded from a standard "Outside Cabin" to an "Outside Stateroom".  This was larger than the normal outside, had 4 wardrobes instead of 2 and 2 classic-style armchairs as opposed to one.  Between two of the wardrobes, was a built-in desk with mirror that opened downwards to give you a writing desk, stocked with copious P&O Victoria stationery.  Of course, there was no fridge or mini-bar but your cabin steward always brought early morning orange juice and tea/coffee and would also happily bring sandwiches etc any time of day.

The main dining room was midships on a low deck, with portholes.  We had such wonderful table companions.  A couple from Harrogate have become firm friends and I still see them now.  He worked in TV outside broadcast and she was a senior nurse, with endless hilarious stories about her working life.  There was a quiet but pleasant couple from Wales who celebrated a wedding anniversary during the cruise (Silver or Golden I think) and a solo lady traveller who regularly took part in the Bridge Conference that was happening on board.  The table was completed by the Deputy Cruise Director, a lovely elegant woman who looked stunning on formal nights.  I think we laughed our way through every evening meal. In fact, the day after the Wedding Anniversary celebrations  a lady passenger I got talking to asked if we had been celebrating the night before before.  I explained the anniversary and she said "You certainly seemed to be having a good time.  In fact you seem to have a good time every night..." 😁. In those days, Officers regularly hosted private parties for selected pax and as we had the Deputy Cruise Director on our table we seemed to get invitations to more than our fair share.

There was no 'permanent' buffet aboard the ship but once we got into warmer climes, there was a "Lido Buffet" beside the Lido Pool.  This was under-cover but one side of it was open to the elements.  Victoria had two pools out on deck and one small inside pool in the spa area, which was open to all.

There was no theatre on this ship, just a show-room called The International Lounge, with attached International Bar.  There were two other entertainment spaces, The Carib Lounge, overlooking the aft pool and the Starlight Lounge, which was akin to a Crows Nest on today's ships.  There was also a quiet, classy bar called the Riviera Bar.

There was a nice collection of 7 ports on this cruise, many of them that only smaller ships like this would reach.  Monte Carlo was incredibly opulent and laid-back Sete, also in the South of France, was our gateway to Carcassonne, a beautifully restored, walled medieval city. For lunch we had to try out the famous Cassoulet stew. I made my first visits to Italy on this cruise, with stops in Livorno and Portovenere.

Whilst many of today's new cruisers would think the style & layout of the ship terribly dated and boring, I feel genuinely quite lucky to have sailed aboard such an example of a classic Liner and also that I was able to taste what was possibly the tail end of 'The Golden Age of Cruising".

You can tell that we were addicted after this - after all I am still cruising 23 years later, albeit that Tony is sadly no longer alive. This thread prompted me to dig out the photo album from that cruise and whilst I still miss Tony terribly nearly 8 years after he died, browsing through those brings back lovely memories - especially one of him 'dancing the night away' with new-found friends in the Starlight Lounge!

Sorry this post is so long but I have tried to set out something of the atmosphere of that lovely old old ship and my first P&O cruise.

[AndyMichelle]

36 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

We've enjoyed every cruise we've been on for varying reasons but our first was really special. Arcadia's 12 nights cruise to Madeira and the Canaries. Everything thing was so new and exciting for us. The movement of the ship on the water and the feeling of vastness when looking out to sea from the top deck. The excitement of a different port to explore every day. We were like two kids at Christmas. The lovely menus, we were spoilt for choice, and the Cherries Jubilee that they set alight in front of you, sadly no longer done. Health and safety apparently! The evening entertainment and Formal nights and the nightcap on the balcony before bed. We were hooked. Lovely cheerful thread Andy.

Avril 

Our first cruise was great as well, but we kept ourselves to ourselves, table for 2 etc. 

It was only when we were 'forced' to sit with others on our first saver fare that we realised how much we get from meeting new people with all different stories to tell... 

Haven't had a bad cruise yet, fortunately. 

Andy 

 

[AndyMichelle]

46 minutes ago, kalos said:

Yes I'm with you on this one Andy

 

I posted this a few days ago over in the pub lets smile page but thought it would suit your thread Andy .

 

Anyone got any funny memories of a past cruise?
If you have please post them,lets share those happy times .

 

The one  I remember is a sea day on the Azura .

Mrs Kalos  and I decided to pay a visit to the Glass House and we decided to have a meal there.
"I will pay for this with my cruise card" she said.

 

Then a waiter came up and asked if we would like to order any food?
He seemed a nice Indian guy with a soft spoken but strong Indian accent.
I had decided what I was having to eat and I ordered a steak.
The waiter asked any sauce to which I replied peppercorn please.

Mrs Kalos said she would have the same to the waiter, which he jotted onto his notepad.
With a smile on his face he read the order back ....
"Right you Sir are having the steak and peppercorn " and turning to my wife...
" You Marrrrm are having same ?  You have Cardamom ? "
No I want the same as my husband ,peppercorn please, she replied.
With a very puzzled look on the waiters face he turned to Mrs Kalos...
" Marrrrm ..You are ordering  both same with peppercorn ? True ?"
"YES " She  smiled, only to be wiped of her face when the waiter said 
"and you have Cardamom,please."
"I do not want any Cardamom at all, just the peppercorn ,same as my husband please"
was her reply, looking totally baffled.

It was now at this point the waiter pointed down at Mrs Kalos hand which she was clutching her cruise card  ....

Again he asked her " you have Cardamom,please."
At which time the penny dropped.  Talk about lost in translation !  

You have Cardamom,please is  " You have the card marrm please (in your hand ) to pay with ?
The Steak and peppercorn was very nice ,
That's our story. Have a nice day and keep safe.

Now that's my sense of humour Kalos, real life situations can be hilarious. 

Andy 

[AndyMichelle]

18 minutes ago, moonstone01 said:

My wife and I are relative new-comers to cruising, we have only been on six.  We didn't have holidays until our son grew up and became independent.  Our first cruise with Fred Olsen, into France was an absolute eye-opener, it was so exciting and different to what we were expecting.  We met a lovely couple who enjoyed telling us stories of their previous cruises, rough cruises, smooth cruises and everything in between.  Their enthusiasm for cruises was infectious, so much so that it confirmed to us that this is the sort of holiday that we like.  The food, the service you get and the whole experience is worth the money.  When people find out that you are relative newbees they then start telling you their stories...love it.  On deck with the sun just starting to go down, large mocktail for me and a glass of wine for the wife and sailing away from a beautiful port that we have just spent a wonderful day in...wow.  The best place we have called at has to be Monte Carlo, just to stand outside the casino and soaking it all up, the shops, the cars the buildings and the sun.

I'm with you on this. 

I love hearing peoples cruising stories, although others hate it... 

Thank you for sharing, I will have one of those cocktails please... 

Andy 

[AndyMichelle]

11 minutes ago, Britboys said:

What a great idea Andy. 

I suppose my favourite P&O cruise has to be the first, in 1997 aboard the lovely Victoria.  A 'tiddler' by today's standards, coming in at 28,000 tons and carrying just over 700 pax.  She was definitely a proper Ocean Liner, being built in Glasgow in 1966 for Swedish America Line, to do the Gothenburg - New York run.

We left Southampton at the beginning of August in heavy cloud and rain bound for the Mediterranean on an itinerary titled "The Dolce Vita Cruise" - in those days, P&O used to give each itinerary a descriptive name as opposed to just a cruise number.  Nothing however could dampen our spirits as, with glass of champagne in hand, the uniformed Brass Band played and the paper streamers streamed as we slowly eased away from berth 106.  It felt particularly good, being our first holiday after Tony had fully recovered from a Brain Haemorrhage and subsequent major surgery the year before. The ship was just wonderful and to this day has left me with a love for the old Ocean Liners and ships that really do look like a ship.  It might surprise some of today's cruisers to know that this bijoux little ship looked huge to us as we gazed at her from the balcony/terrace of the old Mayflower Terminal.

We had been upgraded from a standard "Outside Cabin" to an "Outside Stateroom".  This was larger than the normal outside, had 4 wardrobes instead of 2 and 2 classic-style armchairs as opposed to one.  Between two of the wardrobes, was a built-in desk with mirror that opened downwards to give you a writing desk, stocked with copious P&O Victoria stationery.  Of course, there was no fridge or mini-bar but your cabin steward always brought early morning orange juice and tea/coffee and would also happily bring sandwiches etc any time of day.

The main dining room was midships on a low deck, with portholes.  We had such wonderful table companions.  A couple from Harrogate have become firm friends and I still see them now.  He worked in TV outside broadcast and she was a senior nurse, with endless hilarious stories about her working life.  There was a quiet but pleasant couple from Wales who celebrated a wedding anniversary during the cruise (Silver or Golden I think) and a solo lady traveller who regularly took part in the Bridge Conference that was happening on board.  The table was completed by the Deputy Cruise Director, a lovely elegant woman who looked stunning on formal nights.  I think we laughed our way through every evening meal. In fact, the day after the Wedding Anniversary celebrations  a lady passenger I got talking to asked if we had been celebrating the night before before.  I explained the anniversary and she said "You certainly seemed to be having a good time.  In fact you seem to have a good time every night..." 😁. In those days, Officers regularly hosted private parties for selected pax and as we had the Deputy Cruise Director on our table we seemed to get invitations to more than our fair share.

There was no 'permanent' buffet aboard the ship but once we got into warmer climes, there was a "Lido Buffet" beside the Lido Pool.  This was under-cover but one side of it was open to the elements.  Victoria had two pools out on deck and one small inside pool in the spa area, which was open to all.

There was no theatre on this ship, just a show-room called The International Lounge, with attached International Bar.  There were two other entertainment spaces, The Carib Lounge, overlooking the aft pool and the Starlight Lounge, which was akin to a Crows Nest on today's ships.  There was also a quiet, classy bar called the Riviera Bar.

There was a nice collection of 7 ports on this cruise, many of them that only smaller ships like this would reach.  Monte Carlo was incredibly opulent and laid-back Sete, also in the South of France, was our gateway to Carcassonne, a beautifully restored, walled medieval city. For lunch we had to try out the famous Cassoulet stew. I made my first visits to Italy on this cruise, with stops in Livorno and Portovenere.

Whilst many of today's new cruisers would think the style & layout of the ship terribly dated and boring, I feel genuinely quite lucky to have sailed aboard such an example of a classic Liner and also that I was able to taste what was possibly the tail end of 'The Golden Age of Cruising".

You can tell that we were addicted after this - after all I am still cruising 23 years later, albeit that Tony is sadly no longer alive. This thread prompted me to dig out the photo album from that cruise and whilst I still miss Tony terribly nearly 8 years after he died, browsing through those brings back lovely memories - especially one of him 'dancing the night away' with new-found friends in the Starlight Lounge!

Sorry this post is so long but I have tried to set out something of the atmosphere of that lovely old old ship and my first P&O cruise.

Oh Wow, thank you so much. 

What a lovely written, thoughtful post, I almost felt like I was there.. 

It sounds absolutely fantastic but I don't know how modern cruisers would cope without a buffet.... 😊

Andy 

 

 

[Angel57]

22 minutes ago, Britboys said:

What a great idea Andy. 

I suppose my favourite P&O cruise has to be the first, in 1997 aboard the lovely Victoria.  A 'tiddler' by today's standards, coming in at 28,000 tons and carrying just over 700 pax.  She was definitely a proper Ocean Liner, being built in Glasgow in 1966 for Swedish America Line, to do the Gothenburg - New York run.

We left Southampton at the beginning of August in heavy cloud and rain bound for the Mediterranean on an itinerary titled "The Dolce Vita Cruise" - in those days, P&O used to give each itinerary a descriptive name as opposed to just a cruise number.  Nothing however could dampen our spirits as, with glass of champagne in hand, the uniformed Brass Band played and the paper streamers streamed as we slowly eased away from berth 106.  It felt particularly good, being our first holiday after Tony had fully recovered from a Brain Haemorrhage and subsequent major surgery the year before. The ship was just wonderful and to this day has left me with a love for the old Ocean Liners and ships that really do look like a ship.  It might surprise some of today's cruisers to know that this bijoux little ship looked huge to us as we gazed at her from the balcony/terrace of the old Mayflower Terminal.

We had been upgraded from a standard "Outside Cabin" to an "Outside Stateroom".  This was larger than the normal outside, had 4 wardrobes instead of 2 and 2 classic-style armchairs as opposed to one.  Between two of the wardrobes, was a built-in desk with mirror that opened downwards to give you a writing desk, stocked with copious P&O Victoria stationery.  Of course, there was no fridge or mini-bar but your cabin steward always brought early morning orange juice and tea/coffee and would also happily bring sandwiches etc any time of day.

The main dining room was midships on a low deck, with portholes.  We had such wonderful table companions.  A couple from Harrogate have become firm friends and I still see them now.  He worked in TV outside broadcast and she was a senior nurse, with endless hilarious stories about her working life.  There was a quiet but pleasant couple from Wales who celebrated a wedding anniversary during the cruise (Silver or Golden I think) and a solo lady traveller who regularly took part in the Bridge Conference that was happening on board.  The table was completed by the Deputy Cruise Director, a lovely elegant woman who looked stunning on formal nights.  I think we laughed our way through every evening meal. In fact, the day after the Wedding Anniversary celebrations  a lady passenger I got talking to asked if we had been celebrating the night before before.  I explained the anniversary and she said "You certainly seemed to be having a good time.  In fact you seem to have a good time every night..." 😁. In those days, Officers regularly hosted private parties for selected pax and as we had the Deputy Cruise Director on our table we seemed to get invitations to more than our fair share.

There was no 'permanent' buffet aboard the ship but once we got into warmer climes, there was a "Lido Buffet" beside the Lido Pool.  This was under-cover but one side of it was open to the elements.  Victoria had two pools out on deck and one small inside pool in the spa area, which was open to all.

There was no theatre on this ship, just a show-room called The International Lounge, with attached International Bar.  There were two other entertainment spaces, The Carib Lounge, overlooking the aft pool and the Starlight Lounge, which was akin to a Crows Nest on today's ships.  There was also a quiet, classy bar called the Riviera Bar.

There was a nice collection of 7 ports on this cruise, many of them that only smaller ships like this would reach.  Monte Carlo was incredibly opulent and laid-back Sete, also in the South of France, was our gateway to Carcassonne, a beautifully restored, walled medieval city. For lunch we had to try out the famous Cassoulet stew. I made my first visits to Italy on this cruise, with stops in Livorno and Portovenere.

Whilst many of today's new cruisers would think the style & layout of the ship terribly dated and boring, I feel genuinely quite lucky to have sailed aboard such an example of a classic Liner and also that I was able to taste what was possibly the tail end of 'The Golden Age of Cruising".

You can tell that we were addicted after this - after all I am still cruising 23 years later, albeit that Tony is sadly no longer alive. This thread prompted me to dig out the photo album from that cruise and whilst I still miss Tony terribly nearly 8 years after he died, browsing through those brings back lovely memories - especially one of him 'dancing the night away' with new-found friends in the Starlight Lounge!

Sorry this post is so long but I have tried to set out something of the atmosphere of that lovely old old ship and my first P&O cruise.

I too sailed on Sea Princess/Victoria between 1991 and 2000. A wonderful ship....

The Riviera Bar was at the pointy end of the ship by the library and was one of the worst places to be if it was rough (or with a “respectable swell” as the officer from the bridge used to like calling anything over a force 6)

We sailed through the Kiel Canal on her en route to the Baltic and I clearly remember people coming to the ends of their gardens to wave to us.

The Cruise Director on many of our cruises was the wonderful Ian Fraser who would know almost all of the passengers and his bingo calling was a highlight of a sea day afternoon!

I seem to recall there being a roll call/list of all passengers in the Reception area. Although no cabins were listed I cannot see that ever happening now.

No kettles in cabins but the cabin steward would bring your morning tea or coffee with custard creams at your requested time.

Happy Days indeed. 
 

 

 

[AndyMichelle]

1 minute ago, Angel57 said:

I too sailed on Sea Princess/Victoria between 1991 and 2000. A wonderful ship....

The Riviera Bar was at the pointy end of the ship by the library and was one of the worst places to be if it was rough (or with a “respectable swell” as the officer from the bridge used to like calling anything over a force 6)

We sailed through the Kiel Canal on her en route to the Baltic and I clearly remember people coming to the ends of their gardens to wave to us.

The Cruise Director on many of our cruises was the wonderful Ian Fraser who would know almost all of the passengers and his bingo calling was a highlight of a sea day afternoon!

I seem to recall there being a roll call/list of all passengers in the Reception area. Although no cabins were listed I cannot see that ever happening now.

No kettles in cabins but the cabin steward would bring your morning tea or coffee with custard creams at your requested time.

Happy Days indeed. 
 

 

 

Custard creams... Now I can see why they call it the Golden age of cruising😊

Andy 

[DamianG]

2 hours ago, kalos said:

Yes I'm with you on this one Andy

 

I posted this a few days ago over in the pub lets smile page but thought it would suit your thread Andy .

 

Anyone got any funny memories of a past cruise?
If you have please post them,lets share those happy times .

 

The one  I remember is a sea day on the Azura .

Mrs Kalos  and I decided to pay a visit to the Glass House and we decided to have a meal there.
"I will pay for this with my cruise card" she said.

 

Then a waiter came up and asked if we would like to order any food?
He seemed a nice Indian guy with a soft spoken but strong Indian accent.
I had decided what I was having to eat and I ordered a steak.
The waiter asked any sauce to which I replied peppercorn please.

Mrs Kalos said she would have the same to the waiter, which he jotted onto his notepad.
With a smile on his face he read the order back ....
"Right you Sir are having the steak and peppercorn " and turning to my wife...
" You Marrrrm are having same ?  You have Cardamom ? "
No I want the same as my husband ,peppercorn please, she replied.
With a very puzzled look on the waiters face he turned to Mrs Kalos...
" Marrrrm ..You are ordering  both same with peppercorn ? True ?"
"YES " She  smiled, only to be wiped of her face when the waiter said 
"and you have Cardamom,please."
"I do not want any Cardamom at all, just the peppercorn ,same as my husband please"
was her reply, looking totally baffled.

It was now at this point the waiter pointed down at Mrs Kalos hand which she was clutching her cruise card  ....

Again he asked her " you have Cardamom,please."
At which time the penny dropped.  Talk about lost in translation !  

You have Cardamom,please is  " You have the card marrm please (in your hand ) to pay with ?
The Steak and peppercorn was very nice ,
That's our story. Have a nice day and keep safe.

 

Reminds me of one cruise where we'd just gone to bed around 11pm when the cabin telephone rang. Fortunately it was on my wife's side of the bed so she had to answer.

"Hello Madam, did you order laminate?"

"Did I order what?"

"Laminate Madam."

"Sorry what?"

"Madam, did you order laminate?"

"Sorry, I don't understand."

"Madam, this is room service. Did you place an order for lem-on-ade?" 

😃

Edited April 2, 2020 by DamianG

[DamianG]

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

Our first cruise was great as well, but we kept ourselves to ourselves, table for 2 etc. 

It was only when we were 'forced' to sit with others on our first saver fare that we realised how much we get from meeting new people with all different stories to tell... 

Haven't had a bad cruise yet, fortunately. 

Andy 

 

 

You're right about the pleasure of meeting new people. Our first P&O cruise in 2004 was made extra special by seasoned cruisers Phil & Jill from Stoke who showed us the ropes in the nicest way and were great company. Back then curry night was a special occasion where you had to book a table in the buffet restaurant and we even enjoyed that in their company.

On our 2nd last cruise before our son came along we enjoyed club dining sharing a table of 8 with the nicest of people, in particular Roger and Pat from Winchester. Pat almost acted as the table hostess, insisting we sat "boy girl boy girl" and rotating us all nightly so that no-one was left out and conversations were kept fresh. Towards the end of the cruise it was her birthday and she booked us all in at Gary Rhodes restaurant. It was a wonderful evening and she insisted on paying for everything, incredible generosity. 

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, Angel57 said:

I too sailed on Sea Princess/Victoria between 1991 and 2000. A wonderful ship....

The Riviera Bar was at the pointy end of the ship by the library and was one of the worst places to be if it was rough (or with a “respectable swell” as the officer from the bridge used to like calling anything over a force 6)

We sailed through the Kiel Canal on her en route to the Baltic and I clearly remember people coming to the ends of their gardens to wave to us.

The Cruise Director on many of our cruises was the wonderful Ian Fraser who would know almost all of the passengers and his bingo calling was a highlight of a sea day afternoon!

I seem to recall there being a roll call/list of all passengers in the Reception area. Although no cabins were listed I cannot see that ever happening now.

No kettles in cabins but the cabin steward would bring your morning tea or coffee with custard creams at your requested time.

Happy Days indeed. 
 

 

 

Yes, I too recall the "Passenger Manifest".  I think it was either by the Reception (or Pursers Desk as it was then...) or in the Library.

Another nice feature was the internal 'Promenade Deck' - real teak promenade but protected by large windows and so protected from the elements.

One of the little niceties in those days was mid-morning ice cream brought around the open decks in warm weather.

[DamianG]

Hard to pick a favourite from 22 cruises and I'm pretty sure I could tell a tale from each one of them. If pushed I'd choose our 2005 Christmas Markets cruise on Aurora. This cruise was not in the brochure as the ship was due to be out of service for refurbishments. We got a letter late summer advising that the ship would be available sooner than expected so they were scheduling an extra cruise, the first of it's kind, to Northern European ports in Winter. We had spare holidays to use up and enough cash to afford it so we took the plunge.

Straight away it felt like a unique cruise as we left Southampton in darkness, stood on the promenade deck layered up against the cold, drinking mulled wine and eating mince pies! A band saw us off (as they usually did back then) and it felt like a real adventure was starting. 

At the welcome on-board reception Captain Mark Symonds told the story of how P&O had been advised of the early refurbishment completion then notified him of the 10 day gap in the schedule. He then set to work with his officers and they plotted a course around Rotterdam, Oslo, Copenhagen and Zeebrugge then passed it back to P&O for them to book the ports. I don't care if he embellished the story; I loved it and it just added to the sense of adventure. We were on club dining 2nd sitting on a table for 6 and immediately hit it off with Danny & Helen from Southport and a young chap Charles and his mum from Kent (sorry mum, we cannot remember your name!). Mid-cruise it was Danny's birthday and he bought the table drinks all evening. We got him a birthday card in Norwegian (we hope it said "Happy Birthday" anyway).

It was quite mild in Rotterdam and we spent time at a modern art museum. A jazz band played at the sailaway. 

We loved Oslo and caught the underground/overground up to Holmenkollen to see the ski jump. Yet again a band saw us off for the sailaway.

A band of Santas greeted us in Copenhagen and we stayed overnight which allowed us to enjoy Tivoli Gardens at night with all the Christmas lights. Next day we took a steam train excursion out into the countryside. A marching band with majorettes saw us off. 

Zeebrugge was our last port so we caught the train from Blankenberge to Bruges and had a nice half day sight seeing. We also had a look around Blankenberge and briefly went on the beach where it was blowing a gale.

Everywhere we went we were drinking mulled wine and sampling wieners!

We subsequently took 2 further Christmas Market cruises and loved them just as much. It's the first type of cruise I'm going to book when our son is old enough and we are no longer restricted to school holiday cruises.

 

 

Edited April 2, 2020 by DamianG

[ann141]

Our first cruise was in 2011 on Crown Princess to Iceland and around The British Isles.I don t like flying so had been restricted to places we could holiday to.We had booked an inside cabin but as soon as we stepped onboard we were wowed by the glamour of the ship compared to the cross channel ferries we had previously sailed on(Bunk beds etc)Iceland was amazing and previously we had never visited Ireland and that was great as well.We were hooked!

We chose P and O for our third cruise and loved the friendliness of everyone onboard.Someone had recommended joing Cruise Critic.We went along to the meet up and although there were only 6 of us, one couple invited us to join them at The Syndicate quiz each evening.We don t usually quiz at home but loved being part of a team (and the chance to win a bottle of wine!)We have visited some really interesting places and made some great friends along the way.Thank you Andy for setting up this thread and to Cruise Critic for helping us to connect with fellow cruisers. 🙂

[AndyMichelle]

15 minutes ago, DamianG said:

Hard to pick a favourite from 22 cruises and I'm pretty sure I could tell a tale from each one of them. If pushed I'd choose our 2005 Christmas Markets cruise on Aurora. This cruise was not in the brochure as the ship was due to be out of service for refurbishments. We got a letter late summer advising that the ship would be available sooner than expected so they were scheduling an extra cruise, the first of it's kind, to Northern European ports in Winter. We had spare holidays to use up and enough cash to afford it so we took the plunge.

Straight away it felt like a unique cruise as we left Southampton in darkness, stood on the promenade deck layered up against the cold, drinking mulled wine and eating mince pies! A band saw us off (as they usually did back then) and it felt like a real adventure was starting. 

At the welcome on-board reception Captain Mark Symonds told the story of how P&O had been advised of the early refurbishment completion then notified him of the 10 day gap in the schedule. He then set to work with his officers and they plotted a course around Rotterdam, Oslo, Copenhagen and Zeebrugge then passed it back to P&O for them to book the ports. I don't care if he embellished the story; I loved it and it just added to the sense of adventure. We were on club dining 2nd sitting on a table for 6 and immediately hit it off with Danny & Helen from Southport and a young chap Charles and his mum from Kent (sorry mum, we cannot remember your name!). Mid-cruise it was Danny's birthday and he bought the table drinks all evening. We got him a birthday card in Norwegian (we hope it said "Happy Birthday" anyway).

It was quite mild in Rotterdam and we spent time at a modern art museum. A jazz band played at the sailaway. 

We loved Oslo and caught the underground/overground up to Holmenkollen to see the ski jump. Yet again a band saw us off for the sailaway.

A band of Santas greeted us in Copenhagen and we stayed overnight which allowed us to enjoy Tivoli Gardens at night with all the Christmas lights. Next day we took a steam train excursion out into the countryside. A marching band with majorettes saw us off. 

Zeebrugge was our last port so we caught the train from Blankenberge to Bruges and had a nice half day sight seeing. We also had a look around Blankenberge and briefly went on the beach where it was blowing a gale.

Everywhere we went we were drinking mulled wine and sampling wieners!

We subsequently took 2 further Christmas Market cruises and loved them just as much. It's the first type of cruise I'm going to book when our son is old enough and we are no longer restricted to school holiday cruises.

 

 

Fantastic Damian. 

I hope you had a go on the ski slope... 😊

Andy 

[DamianG]

3 hours ago, Eglesbrech said:

Andy we have always loved the Christmas markets cruises as well and enjoyed every one we have done however one year on the little Artemis was just magical. We took my mum with us and she was like a child in a sweet shop, she just loved the whole atmosphere of the markets on shore, strolling round admiring decorations, drinking mulled wine and buying sweet things to take home.

 

The decorations that year on Artemis were lovely and to add to them a massive gingerbread village was built right round the bottom of the atrium. The ship did ice carvings, cracker making, cake decorating etc (we ended up lugging two massive cakes back home which my mum insisted on having as the cake was so good and you could pre order them for disembarkation).

 

The marching band on the dock at Copenhagen was memorable, the girls were dressed in Santa suits and it started to snow right on queue! We stood watching them in the snow.

 

One of the ships photographers took an impromptu picture of the three of us up on deck with our winter hats on sipping hot buttered rum. It is one of my favourite pictures as it is so spontaneous and my mum looks so happy in it. Now that she is gone it’s nice to look back on.

 

 

 

Was that 2007 on Artemis? If it was we were on that one and wholeheartedly agree with everything you've said. Here she is docked in Copenhagen.

[DamianG]

1 minute ago, AndyMichelle said:

Fantastic Damian. 

I hope you had a go on the ski slope... 😊

Andy 

 

Wayyyyyyyy too high for me, I don't even like going up the ladder into our loft! 😄

[AndyMichelle]

5 minutes ago, ann141 said:

Our first cruise was in 2011 on Crown Princess to Iceland and around The British Isles.I don t like flying so had been restricted to places we could holiday to.We had booked an inside cabin but as soon as we stepped onboard we were wowed by the glamour of the ship compared to the cross channel ferries we had previously sailed on(Bunk beds etc)Iceland was amazing and previously we had never visited Ireland and that was great as well.We were hooked!

We chose P and O for our third cruise and loved the friendliness of everyone onboard.Someone had recommended joing Cruise Critic.We went along to the meet up and although there were only 6 of us, one couple invited us to join them at The Syndicate quiz each evening.We don t usually quiz at home but loved being part of a team (and the chance to win a bottle of wine!)We have visited some really interesting places and made some great friends along the way.Thank you Andy for setting up this thread and to Cruise Critic for helping us to connect with fellow cruisers. 🙂

My pleasure Ann, thank you for contributing. 

I am going stir crazy and getting a bit tetchy, so hoped this thread would get us talking positively and it has. 

Andy 

[SeaJane]

For years friends had been telling us we might enjoy a cruise, but we weren’t sure and it was only after I took early retirement that we decided to give it a try. We chose 7 nights on Adonia to the fjords - we reckoned that if cruising wasn’t for us it was a short enough trip to put up with! A special memory is waking early one morning and standing on the balcony watching the spectacular scenery as we sailed along a fjord. We loved the whole experience and of course we were hooked from then onwards.