Selbourne ‘Live’ from Aurora’s 2024 Grand Tour

[Fionboard]

6 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Day 27 - Monday 29th January - At Sea

 

After 3 weeks of mostly quite disappointing weather, we have thankfully now had a decent run and today was probably the best day yet, with calm seas, plenty of sunshine and temperatures in the high 20s. 

 

In spite of yet another clock change (forward another hour - now 4 hours behind the UK) we were up and about fairly early, so were able to have a light breakfast in the MDR prior to Margaret Gilmore’s second talk at 0930, this time on her covering the 7/7 attacks in London as a BBC journalist. 

 

Afterwards we did a partial lap of the promenade deck - partial because the forward section is still closed 🙄. We then retreated to our cabin and balcony until lunchtime. We had a window seat for lunch and my wife managed to see some more flying fish, which look a lot bigger from deck 6 than they do from our deck 11 balcony!

 

At 2pm the Headliners Theatre Company put on a 2 hour Alan Ayckbourn play called ‘Relatively Speaking’ in the theatre. This was a very welcome addition to their usual song and dance shows. Considering that the performers are primarily dancers or singers, rather than actors, they did a really good job. Well done them. 

 

Another partial lap of the promenade deck as the front section continues to remain roped off, which is incredibly frustrating and really messing up my attempts to try to counter some of the cruise calories. It’s such a shame that IMO Aurora has the best promenade deck in the P&O fleet yet, for quite some days now, it’s not been fully usable. 

 

The 7pm show in Carmens was comedian William Caulfield and, as mentioned before, we almost never find cruise ship comedians to be funny, so we skipped it. We didn’t bother with a pre dinner drink either. The Crows Nest always seems too hot and Anderson’s, which we used to love, doesn’t serve the drinks that my wife likes (the cocktail lists in most bars are a shadow of their former selves). 

 

We were back in the MDR for dinner at 8pm, hoping that our waiter will be in one of his better moods. Thankfully he was! One of the better dinners I’ve had in the MDR. Crab soufflé with a really nice shellfish sauce, chicken Kiev main and rhubarb and ginger crumble to finish, to which I added some ‘Honey Combe’ (sic) ice cream 😂 

 

The 10pm theatre show was the Polish violinist Isabella Zebrowska, who my wife hadn’t seen a few nights previously. Another exuberant performance although, as with many of the live performers, she was done no favours by the Aurora orchestra. The brass player isn’t good and the drums are too loud and overpowering on some tracks. Two tracks that I particularly enjoyed were the Summer storm sequence from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and the Pitates of the Caribbean theme music. 

 

Tomorrow we reach landfall at last with our first of 6 consecutive port days. San Juan in Puerto Rico is our first stop. I’m doing a tour in the morning and then we will both be exploring old San Juan in the afternoon. 

The bar staff in Anderson's will usually make me cocktails which are not on the drink menu. Just ask. Provided they have the ingredients, of course. 

[Red Ray]

23 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

There’s a wonderful local accent not so far from you. My daughter was teaching there a while back:

 

End of school.

 

“Where’s your Mum?”

”Me mam’s gone to vert.”

”Vert?”

”Aye, vert. Dahn at the Perling Station.”

 

Personally, it’s the ubiquitous ‘haitch’ that I find most annoying.

But it’s a changing language, and if it weren’t we’d all be using Chaucerian English, or something rather older.

 

 

 

Reminds me of the story of the Yorkshire vet whose client asked if the vet could neuter his cat.

'Is it a tom?' asked the vet,

'No,' came the reply, 'I've brought it wi'me.'

[jh1809]

3 hours ago, Red Ray said:

Reminds me of the story of the Yorkshire vet whose client asked if the vet could neuter his cat.

'Is it a tom?' asked the vet,

'No,' came the reply, 'I've brought it wi'me.'

Reminds me of the schoolteacher in Yorkshire who noticed over lunch that the classroom rubbish bin was missing. As the first pupil re-rentered the room after lunch, he asked him: "Where's the bin?" He got the reply: "I've been 'ome for ma dinner. Where's tha think I've bin?"

[Ukulele girl]

'Apparently it's really common among younger people too (I'm talking Gens Y and Z) - because, it seems, it helps them to multitask:

 

"Among the many replies DG received were lots of teenagers and people in their early 20s who said they liked using subtitles because it allowed them to multitask."

 

Multitask?  How?'

 

I was on a plane yesterday and the young girl was watching a film on her iPad with subtitles on, earphones on so the subtitles were also talking into them. She was also using her phone to play a game. Multitasking it appeared!

[Selbourne]

Todays MDR menus

[Selbourne]

Some photos from my Rainforest Tour. Photos of San Juan itself will be with my daily update. 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 30 by Selbourne

[Selbourne]

Day 28 - Tuesday 30th January - San Juan, Puerto Rico 

 

For the first time this cruise I had set an alarm, but needn’t have bothered as I had a bad nights sleep. My sore throat has turned into a head cold. Unhealthy places these cruise ships!

 

It was a nice sail into San Juan whilst it was still dark and we were the first of the 5 cruise ships due in today to arrive. No breakfast as I was on an early tour, the 0815 Rainforest Drive. As there were several busses doing this trip, mine left at 8am. Unlike the minibus used in Bermuda, this one had plenty of legroom and decent air conditioning. However, it was lacking in one key area. Suspension. Dear God, this thing crashed and banged over every imperfection in the road, of which there were many. Anyone with a back problem would have been in serious danger. We were flying along the main roads at some speed and then ‘bang’ and we would all be violently jolted. 

 

Being the rush hour, the traffic coming in to San Juan was nightmare but, thankfully, we were heading out so it was quite clear (in a way, I wish it had been busier as our driver wouldn’t have been able to go so fast and each bump would have been a little less violent)!

 

Our first stop was a climb up to a pond in a lush tropical setting. There was also a restroom which was handy, given that the contents of our bladders had been shaken violently 😂. Next stop was a tower where, if you wanted to, you could climb 96 steps to get a panoramic view across the canopy of the rain forest and beyond to the sea. Thankfully the steps were wide with an up and down side, so no perilous passing on the narrow side as I’m sure we’ve all done at home in castles etc. 

 

The final stop was a river which, apart from some black fish swimming around in crystal clear water, seemed a bit pointless. 

 

On the return to the ship we hit a particularly bad bump on the main road that felt like it caused all my internal organs to clash together. I hadn’t expected such a thrill ride. I’m not sure that it was quite what I had expected, but at least I can now say that I’ve been in a rain forest! Note - talking to others back on the ship, I’d been unlucky with this bus and driver. Others on the same tour but on a different bus reported much better transportation (smooth ride etc), more stops and a more informative guide. 

 

Back on the ship I returned to the cabin to collect my wife for some lunch. We were both starving having had no breakfast and we didn’t fancy the MDR lunch menu, so we decided to go for a burger and fries at the Lido grill. It was peak lunch time and yes, you’ve guessed correctly, it was closed. Apparently on port days it doesn’t open until 3.30pm. What use is that? As with the buffet closure times, I am increasingly of the view that the opening times are those that suit the crew rotas and not the passengers 🤔. We had no choice but to go to my least favourite place (the buffet) where another odd assortment of random food items awaited. Just as we often stereotypically think of Indian people eating curry every meal, the Indian chefs on this ship must think that us Brits like nothing more on a day when it’s nearly 30 degrees and humid than….. a full roast with all the veg and trimmings - for lunch 🙄

 

After lunch we both went ashore with the intention of exploring the old town, but it soon became apparent that this was going to be nigh on impossible with the wheelchair. We took the decision that we’d just wander along the level waterfront and then I’d drop my wife back at the ship and I’d explore the old town on my own. Just as we got back to the pier, Celebrity Ascent was coming in to port for an afternoon and evening visit and, because it was berthing on the opposite side of the pier to Aurora, the decision had been taken to stop all Aurora passengers from embarking or disembarking until Celebrity Ascent was fully moored alongside. As a result we had to stand outside the pier gates for half an hour, which was really annoying and seemed like complete overkill. 

 

When I eventually got my wife back on board I immediately disembarked again to explore the old city of San Juan, which was a really lovely place - very colourful and attractive. 

 

We left San Juan at 6pm and, as always, watched the sail away from our balcony. After we had disembarked the pilot the light was fading when I glanced down into the water and thought I was looking at a shark. A quick as a flash three or four dolphins appeared, one did a quick leap and splash and then, as quick as they came, they were gone. 

 

At 7pm we went to Carmens for Elton & Friends with Steve Hollington. It wasn’t as good as his first show. Elton John impersonations are where he excels and him singing other artists songs didnt work as well. 

 

Dinner was fine and as the theatre show was the young chap who we didn’t enjoy the other night we gave it a miss. Tomorrow is St Maarten. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 31 by Selbourne

[mrsgoggins]

Some fabulous photos from your outings today and another great review. I especially loved the shot framed by the window. 
 

The lack of suspension struck home with me after a couple of our trips! Boy have we been bounced around. I didn’t have a stiff neck when I came away, but I do now 🙁 - hoping it’s temporary!

 

I hope your cold is short-lived.

[TigerB]

Thanks for the update, young man.🙂

 

Hopefully that bus ride had shaken that head cold out of you.

 

San Just looks nice, and the waterfront area and squares look to be okay for a wheelchair. What is it with the old town, narrow pavements and lack of dropped kerbs?

[Selbourne]

Just now, TigerB said:

What is it with the old town, narrow pavements and lack of dropped kerbs?

Yes, and add to that hilly and cobbles!

[TigerB]

No good for our lass, then🙁

[Purdey16]

Lovely pictures selbourne, I like all the different colours of the houses and love that picture of the rain forest through the window, I would get that framed and put in my bathroom 😎 happy you’re getting some sunshine now 

[Presto2]

Thanks for all of this Selbourne and hopefully things will get better and better in terms of any issues you have faced. Have only just got back so it has taken a while for me to catch up on your adventures ! 🙂

 

[Presto2]

On 1/26/2024 at 5:27 PM, Megabear2 said:

El Nino is dropping off with hopes of El Nina taking over.  Unfortunately the cruise lines never tell the customers that anything on the Atlantic and Gulf are very much affected by these two events.  Ironically last year the Canaries passengers were the ones being disappointed.

 

Not sure where you're checking your weather updates but Accuweather and Weather.com tend to be reliable.   Presently they are predicting El Nino waning.

 

Most Caribbean rain will be short sharp outbreaks, often early morning or late afternoon.

 

From other CC threads there have been a few rougher swells around with some winds which have led to one or two ports being missed by several lines, St Kitts and Antigua get some mentions but my experience is this is not unusual in December or January but improves in February.

 

The whole Caribbean has been unusually wet through December/January, we had lots of it over Christmas but it won't be the stuff in New Orleans.

 

The islands to watch out for with rain will be places with high mountain interiors as the afternoon rains come from there, not sure if you go there but places like Dominica is an example.   You would be extremely unlucky to get the sorts of downpours you've had recently on any island in February.  

 

 

 

 

Just been catching up and sorry to read that you were ill on our cruise. Hope you are feeling better and are on the road to recovery now.

The weather was certainly unusual on our cruise - will just have to go back and try again for more sunshine next time !

I've posted my review so it would be interesting to see if you recognise the same cruise (before you were poorly that is)

[david63]

@Selbourne Out of curiosity do you use a phone or camera for your photos?

[Mollag]

Sorry to hear you’re not feeling too great Selbourne I’ve been the same for a couple of days. Apparently they can’t weld at sea which is the reason for the prom deck closure, also the non working A/C in the Crows might be fixed in 3 days if not they may have to close the venue it’s been terrible up there🥵 and finally before too much longer there’ll be no free cakes, sandwiches etc. in Raffles as too many are treating it like a buffet and abusing the system 

[Selbourne]

Just now, david63 said:

@Selbourne Out of curiosity do you use a phone or camera for your photos?

iPhone. Just point and shoot. Hopefully I have a reasonable eye for what makes an interesting photo?. Always amuses  me on trips when people are snapping away at all sorts of rubbish through the windows of coaches, with all the associated reflections from the glass etc. As I remember when we paid a fortune for 36 prints, I still try to make each one count 😂 

[Malcolm142]

42 minutes ago, Mollag said:

Apparently they can’t weld at sea which is the reason for the prom deck closure, also the non working A/C in the Crows might be fixed in 3 days if not they may have to close the venue it’s been terrible up there🥵 and finally before too much longer there’ll be no free cakes, sandwiches etc. in Raffles as too many are treating it like a buffet and abusing the system 

With plenty of port days coming up can you make sure you get the prom deck welding workers on it PDQ !!

Now the Crow's Nest A/Con we are less concerned about.

We are on Aurora on 12th March (R403N) to Norway, not sure we'll need the A/C at the North Cape 😄

To the serious issue of cutting out the cakes and sandwiches in Raffles....... can you and Selbourne stop eating them all and leave some for us LOL

[Purdey16]

Selbourne I take a awful lot of photos on my iPhone 13 on coaches and at speed and get great photos, some may have a reflection not many and I don’t get any travelling blur , I prefer to use that than my big cannon camera which I don’t quite know how to handle really, my phone cuts all that out .

[Selbourne]

Todays MDR me us

[bbtablet]

On 1/29/2024 at 3:16 PM, Harry Peterson said:

But it’s a changing language, and if it weren’t we’d all be using Chaucerian English, or something rather older.

 

 

 

Ita quidem.

[bbtablet]

On 1/30/2024 at 7:13 AM, Eddie99 said:

I suddenly feel the urge to sing from West Side Story

 🎶 I think I'll go back to San Juan
I know a boat you can get on 🎶 

or "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh" (Camp Granada Song)?

Edited January 31 by bbtablet
addition

[bbtablet]

On 1/30/2024 at 8:00 PM, Ukulele girl said:

 

posting error - please ignore

Edited January 31 by bbtablet
error

[Selbourne]

Day 29 - Wednesday 31st January - St Philipsburg, St Maarten

 

There are 6 cruise ships in port today and we are the second smallest. That honour goes to Sea Dream 1. I was booked on a 9am tour to Marigot, capital of St Martin (the French half of the island). 

 

Unlike yesterday where we departed 15 minutes early, today was 20 minutes late. A proper coach this time thank goodness and no bone jarring suspension. Legroom was incredibly tight but I had a double seat to myself. One odd thing was that the coach didn’t have tinted glass. It had a tinted film fitted to the top half of all the glass. This film was wavy and you couldn’t see through it properly, so I spent the journey craning my neck to see out from the lower half of the glass 🙄

 

The driver / guide was quite amusing and gave a good commentary as we crossed the island. The French half looks a bit tidier, although it was disappointing to see litter in all the gully’s that line the roads, especially as there were Egrets in them. 

 

45 minutes free time in Marigot was long enough to get a feel for the place, which had a market, small shopping centre, waterfront and a marina with a lot of superyachts. Looking down on all of this was a fort. On the way back we stopped at a viewpoint but the view was nothing special at all so I stayed on the coach. I managed to see and photograph a small lizard at Marigot but on the way back saw a very large male green iguana (I knew it was male as it had an orange mane to attract the females - some knowledge that our guide shared with us)!

 

Back on the ship, having had no breakfast we went for lunch in the MDR prior to me taking my wife ashore. We were berthed at the far end of the pier, so we had to walk the length of two ships just to get to the cruise terminal, which was the nicest so far. Well spaced shops and bars in Caribbean colours and, when we returned, a steel band playing.  

 

It was quite a long walk to the main town and whilst we shouldn’t complain about the heat (especially having had rubbish weather for most of the first 3 weeks), mid to high 20s in strong sunshine and humidity is quite hard work pushing someone in a wheelchair. Miami was perfect (low to mid 20s) but over 25 degrees becomes hard work, especially with the humidity. By the time we got to the town I needed to sit in the shade for 10 minutes. We strolled along the promenade, went to Wathey square, the flea market and walked back along Front Street. 

 

By the time we got back on the ship we were both gasping for a drink and I know that alcohol is a bad idea for rehydration but we ordered a pint and a half of Birra Moretti and enjoyed it in air conditioned comfort. 

 

We had our first sail away of the cruise in the Caribbean Sea. No dolphins to greet us this time. None of the evening entertainment appealed so we just had a relaxed dinner in the MDR and then returned to our cabin. Tomorrow is Dominica. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 1 by Selbourne

[pennib]

Good morning Selbourne. Useless info for today: did you know that the courthouse in your picture is unique as it has a pineapple on the roof?? Clue: look carefully at your photo. Thanks for your blogs and I hope you have a better time all round on the return trip to Blighty