Selbourne

Day 38 - Friday 9th February - Cartagena, Colombia One advantage of my persistent sore throat is that I’m always awake to watch our arrivals into port. Today was no exception and I was glad to see the city scape and skyscrapers of Cartagena (population 1.3m) as we approached. I had booked a tour (Colombian Coffee Experience) primarily because it included time in the old city, which is 6km from the port. Transport was a small coach which we completely filled, so it was a bit cosy. First (very brief) stop was a 16th Century fort where we were swamped by vendors selling Panama hats, cigars, bags, jewelry etc. All very persistent. Then we stopped on the edge of the old city and followed our guide to the coffee shop where we had our lesson on coffee and 3 small tastings, all of which I thought were vile (but I’m more a tea person). This dragged on a bit, but at least they had a loo and it was something different. Next we had 30 minutes free time in Plaza de Bolivar (the main square) which was very picturesque but overrun with persistent street vendors who frankly were a complete pain in the proverbial. Over the 30 minutes I must have been harangued by around 50 of them, even though I avoided eye contact or conversation, and frankly it put me off the place. They really need to clamp down on it. I managed to take a lot of photos from around the square and was interested to discover that the large birds that I could see perched on the cathedral spire and flying around it were vultures! One thing that has slightly irritated me with all the ships excursions that I’ve done so far is that they don’t adhere to the timings, and every tour I have been on, even when we have left early, has been late back. Some may feel that this gives them even better value for money, but I am doing the tours on my own (because they can’t accommodate wheelchair users), we are skipping breakfast and I am telling my wife that I’m due back at X time and we will go straight to lunch in the MDR, yet a delayed return of as much as half an hour seems to be the norm and has made this difficult or, at times, impossible. It’s not just down to heavy traffic (which, in most places, is predictable and should be factored in), but too long being given in some places and stops that sometimes seem a bit pointless. On return (late) to the port we were dropped at the port entrance, which meant a walk in 33 degrees heat back to the ship or a ‘free’ car service. I opted for the latter but tipped the guy $5 as it was only me in the car and it enabled me to get back in time to take my wife for lunch as promised. During the afternoon we both went off the ship and visited the free aviary / zoo that forms the entrance to the port. What a fantastic place. Many dozens of free flying parrots, peacocks, flamingos and all sorts of other wildlife. Having thought that we’d seen it all we stumbled across a gate and a chap opened it for us and as we went through a little monkey came up and jumped up on to my wife’s lap. I think it was as much shock as anything as she didn’t sqwawk or panic, even when it climbed around her neck and proceeded to cuddle her. I could have done the chivalrous thing and removed it, but it was far more entertaining to take photographs 😂. It was all on board for 5.30pm with a scheduled departure at 6pm. The captain announced that we still had two tenders in the water (it wasn’t a tender port) and as soon as they were hoisted up he’d be back on with a departure announcement. In the end we didn’t leave until 9pm. This is a classic example of where a bit more communication from the Captain would be appreciated. We are all invested in this voyage for nine and a half weeks of our lives and it would surely just be common courtesy to say WHY we were 3 hours late leaving, as everyone was wondering. Neither of us could muster up much enthusiasm for the MDR dinner but we went anyway and mine was OK but my wife wasn’t enamoured with hers. We were equally unenthusiastic about the comedian / singing impressionist, so we went back to the cabin to watch the remainder of the sail out from our very warm balcony. Sea day tomorrow.

Today’s MDR menus. Not getting any better 😔

So would I, but it was roast ham 😂

Day 37 - Thursday 8th February - Sea Day Late the previous day, two technicians came to have another look at the air con in our cabin. At the time they came the cabin was much cooler than at other times, but they still measured it at 22 degrees. The outflow from the vents is 16 degrees at the lowest setting, but the combination of it having very little ‘puff’ and it being a large cabin seems to mean that it can’t cool the cabin to that temperature. Anyway, they had a fiddle and reset a few things and it was a bit better last night. It still hadn’t been a great nights sleep though, partly due to my sore throat and cough, but also because there was a small amount of movement and the balcony door was making a squeaking noise all night. If it’s not one thing ……. As it was a sea day we didn’t rush to get up and, as a result, we missed both breakfast and the 0930 Roatan port talk. Our first encounter with humanity was the 1030 talk on the history of the Panama Canal by John Laverick, which was very interesting. Our partial transit, which looms on Monday, was certainly the thing that swung it for me when deciding to book this cruise. It seems that we will be going through the original canal rather than the new enlarged one, which I’m pleased about. I also believe that, being on the Port side, we may well be facing the ships that are descending whilst we are ascending, and vice versa. We intend to watch most of the transit from our balcony, so that will be good. The MDR lunch menu was dire, so we opted for a burger at the Lido Grill. I quite like them, but it’s about the only area of the ship where service is poor. The staff working there, and the waiters that patrol the area, seem to be very disengaged. None the less it filled a gap. We then went to the more civilised (and cooler) Raffles for a drink. Back to the cabin for a few hours reading - my wife on the balcony and me in the cabin before we made a second visit to Raffles. I’m trying to keep hydrated! We were 50/50 about attending harpist / singer Eloise Irving’s 5pm performance but decided to go. We weren’t terribly impressed. Lots of tuning issues again - apparently the harp doesn’t like air conditioning or movement! With all the tuning issues and the fact that she was in an all black outfit, I couldn’t help my childish sense of humour taking over as I created a nick-name for her. Anyway, Widow Twang-key leaves the ship tomorrow 😂 We hadn’t been too enamoured with the dinner menu either but in reality it wasn’t too bad. We both had the deep fried Brie starter and cottage pie main and the latter had quite a home made feel to it that we liked. The desert was very poor though and, as is sometimes the case in the MDR, was missing one of the stated components. The theatre show was ‘Power of 2’, a Cirque de Soleil style performance that we have seen similar versions of previously and makes a welcome change from the endless cruise ship singers and comedians that do nothing for us. Tomorrow Cartagena in Colombia, our only stop in South America. Clocks go back an hour as we do our time change hokey-cokey whilst we ‘lap’ the Caribbean.

Todays MDR menus.

On Aurora now. We were able to pre-book both Sindhu and the Beach House around 2 weeks before the cruise.

We are on Aurora now and can confirm that Sindhu is still open. I’ve not heard any rumours, but if they converted it into an Epicurean then it would get my vote!

Day 36 - Wednesday 7th February - Oranjestad, Aruba, Dutch Antilles I had a much better nights sleep at last. I hardly woke during the night, which saved me the coughing fits every time I turned over. We had already docked in Oranjestad by the time we woke. Once again we have struck lucky and we are on the right side for the best outlook, overlooking Oranjestad and Aruba rather than the sea. We had got fed up waiting for the laundry offer to re-appear (we’ve had it just once in 35 days) so filled a bag of 10 items for £32 (less loyalty discount) and handed them to our steward. If they eventually do the ‘buy one bag get the other half price’ offer again we still have enough to take advantage of it! As the forecast was for showers, we headed ashore soon after breakfast. It was a bit of a trek to the port exit, but we were soon in the town centre. As others have said, Aruba is quite different from Curacao. Far more US influenced and, as a result, is less authentic. The main drag along the front looks like a US main street but has a curious mix of tourist tat on one side and very high end brands on the other. The blend of swanky hotels with large indoor / outdoor water features, casinos and designer shops is very ‘Vegas’. I had a near miss when walking through one high end mall, when I saw the distinctive duck egg colour of Tiffany & Co. Thankfully the window vinyls proclaimed ‘Coming Soon’ 😂. We had a good walk around and I was interested to see that there were tram lines through the town centre, but we only saw one tram and that was a tourist one. Never the less, nice to see it. Having seen most of what appeared to be worth seeing, we slowly meandered back to the ship - although not as slowly as some folk. Why is it that the slower that people walk, the greater the width of pavement that they occupy and the more oblivious they become to those behind them who wish to pass?😡 We managed to get back just as a few spots of rain started, but nothing came of it. Although cloudy all day, the humidity was something else 🥵 The MDR menus for both lunch and dinner left us both cold today, so we went to the Glasshouse for lunch. As is often the case, it was a private dining event with us being the only diners! We’ve got to know some of the staff in there quite well as a result! I had the sea bass with prawns in curried broth again and it was superb. I’ve barely touched any alcohol since I’ve had this bad throat, but decided to have a glass of Money Spider and, whilst I enjoyed it, my throat didn’t and it seemed to spark off my late afternoon / evening sore throat a few hours early. We went for a hot drink in Raffles before returning to the cabin to read and relax prior to departure. In the evening we went to the MDR and we both enjoyed our starters (my wife had mussels and I had Goulash soup - I’ve been having soups a fair bit as they are soothing with a sore throat). Neither of us enjoyed our mains. My wife had Gnocchi, which she described as ‘gluey’ and I had pheasant, which didn't come with the advertised Calvados cream, just a smear of a flavourless gravy. Thankfully our puds of rice pudding and apple crumble were both good. The biggest disappointment of all was that my sore throat was back to how it was 2 nights ago. My hope that having had a better nights sleep might mean that it was waning was clearly misplaced, and may have been as much to do with a cumulative lack of peaceful sleep over the previous nights. It’s a sea day tomorrow so with rest, avoiding any alcohol, and another day into the course of antibiotics I hope that I might start to turn a corner.

Ironically, my worst nights were when the air con wasn’t working properly at night and I was too warm. I’ve been better on nights when it’s been much cooler!

Today’s MDR menus

That particular itinerary looks absolutely fabulous. Best Norway itinerary I’ve seen in a long time. Yes, until around 5pm when they clear them away.

Day 35 - Tuesday 6th February - Willemstad, Curacao, Dutch Antilles Yet again another poor nights sleep due to my sore throat and the air conditioning not working properly at night. I don’t feel ill, but my sore throat is painful when I swallow, especially late afternoon and all evening. In desperation I have now started taking the spare course of antibiotics that my GP gave me for something else, but I’d held back on using as that condition was easing. However, Dr Google informed me that the same antibiotics are also used for throat and chest infections, so nothing ventured…. After breakfast we collected our Britain Yesterday papers and then headed up to Deck 13 to assess the lay of the land. Before heading out on deck I popped in to the Crows Nest and Library to see if the air con had been fixed and it has. At last. However, from what @Mollag has found out, it might be a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul, and deck 11 (where we live) may be Peter 😥 We had berthed right in the town centre, which means that we came through the Queen Emma floating swing bridge. We shall enjoy going back out through that later. We are berthed between the Queen Emma Pontoon Bridge and the Queen Juliana fixed bridge, which is the highest bridge in the Caribbean. We had already established a very favourable opinion of Willemstad before even leaving the ship, but this opinion only strengthened as we explored the town. What a beauty. It still has all the lovely colourful buildings that are common throughout the Caribbean, but they are all in immaculate condition. We first crossed the Queen Emma bridge and explored Punda, the older part of town. We walked along the waterfront past the stalls (no Venezuelan floating market any more - that appears to have been a casualty of Covid) and looked at the development area in Scharloo (over a smaller bridge) before spending some time in the market. We enjoyed this. It’s inside a large round building and the market encircles the outer ring with two walkways. We did two laps and actually bought a gift to take back. I failed miserably with my bartering. I tried every trick in the book, including walking away, all to no avail. I eventually had to return later, tail between my legs, and pay top dollar. It was only $20 but there’s a principe at stake here 😂 I then remembered the port presenter saying about one place we were going that they won’t haggle and are offended by it. Maybe that was here 😳 We zig-zagged around the the shopping areas before heading back across the Queen Emma bridge. As we started walking across the alarm sounded and the bridge starting swinging open. People were rushing to the end to jump the ever growing gap, but this is not advisable when pushing a wheelchair. Although 🤔😂 As it was only a small boat passing through, they only opened it half way to let the boat through and then started closing it again. We enjoyed the experience which, for countless Health & Safety reasons would never be allowed at home. We then explored the Otrobanda side of town which is just as nice. Again, waterside traders leading up to Rif Fort which, although old, has been developed into shops, bars, restaurants and outdoor entertainment space. It’s all been done really well. We walked out the other side into the park which leads up to the modern cruise port. We both agreed that this had been a highlight port and, best of all, it was brilliant with a wheelchair as well. Back on the ship for a spot of lunch before I headed off again to go on the Seaworld Explorer Glass Bottom boat excursion. This entailed a mini bus taxi to a really idyllic beach hotel from where we boarded our boat. The captain was quite miserable and never smiled, but our host was great and made it fun. I was quite relieved that it was a short trip as we were swaying around a lot and much longer might have made me feel queasy. We saw lots of coral and plenty of fish, big and small, but not the array of colours I was expecting and, sadly, no turtles. I was still glad that I didn’t though as it was an experience. Back on the ship we went for an afternoon cuppa in Raffles prior to taking up positions on our balcony for the sail away. As we had parked facing inland we had to reverse all the way out of the town centre, through the opened pontoon bridge, swing around the side of Virgin’s Valiant Lady (which looks very smart) and then out to sea. We tend to stay on our balcony until it’s dark (and sometimes beyond) and it’s weird how the temperature doesn’t seem to drop at night in these parts. Dinner in the MDR was pretty good. The Serrano Ham & Poached Pear starter with Gorgonzola is always very nice. None of the mains grabbed me, so I took a gamble on the mixed grill and it was ok and something different to what I’d usually choose. We both had the cherry cheesecake with Armarena cherries, which I’m pleased to say had the proper cherries this time. At 10pm we went to the Headliners show ‘Applause’, which we have always found to be the best Headliner show and tonight was no exception. It’s back to back hits from well known musicals rather than the usual silly story lines and, best of all, a huge ‘Les Miserables’ section at the end. As this is my favourite musical there was some trepidation that they might murder a track or two but in fairness they didn’t. Quite a show and an excellent way to end a cracking day. Tomorrow Aruba.

Yes it’s a bit better, but the cheese board to have is the one in the Glasshouse 😋 .

Still dire I’m afraid. To make it worse, the digestives (which I don’t think are McVities) always taste stale 😂

You’re right, there’s not a lot in it, but it’s nice to come through the swing bridge into the river that dissects the town centre.

Todays MDR menus

Yes, I’m pleased to say that we have come through the swing bridge and are berthed in the town centre. We have been lucky with our berths this cruise - one big advantage of a small ship!

I am wary of going near the medical centre due to their fondness for imposing cabin confinement, which I wouldn’t be prepared to do. We brought some Covid test kits with us and I tested when this took hold and I was negative. I have, however, succumbed this morning (after another poor night - not helped by the poor air conditioning and the cabin being too warm) and I’ve commenced the course of antibiotics that I bought with me. I was meant to take them before the cruise for a separate issue that has now almost gone (and I was holding back just in case that issue flared up again during the cruise). I googled the antibiotics yesterday and they are also prescribed for bacterial throat and chest infections, so I am telling myself that I’ll take them as instructed to hopefully completely nail the first issue and if, by chance, I have a bacterial infection in my throat or chest (or it’s heading that way) then I might get a double benefit. Who knows, but I’m sick of this sore throat and want rid of it.

Same now. Glasshouse always nice and cool, as is the pub (not that we use the latter). The theatre is usually OK. Only been to Carmens a few times and that’s generally been alright, as is most of the Meridian restaurant. The lifts and stairwells are unbearable. When I went to pick my wife up from the show last night, someone in the lift mentioned that the Crows Nest had been fixed. I’ll check later, but @Mollag had heard that to do that they were going to divert AC from the forward stair well. Our cabin is just off that and I’m wondering if that might explain why our cabin is now not cooling as well as it did.

Day 34 - Monday 5th February - Sea Day I had a marginally better nights sleep but my sore throat is incredibly annoying, especially late afternoons and evenings when it’s particularly painful to swallow. I’ve got through several packets of two different Cold & Flu tablets, loads of paracetamol, two types of Strepsils and a throat syrup and none of it is touching it. I keep looking at the spare box of antibiotics that I’ve got in our medicine box and thinking ‘shall I or shan’t I’? My wife says not to touch them 🙄 I know that she’s right but I’m fed up now! In all honesty, given the amount of people that have been coughing on this ship since week 1 (and continue to do so) and the way that viruses spread like wildfire around cruise ships at the best of times, I’m not in the slightest bit surprised that I have succumbed during this long voyage. I am just willing it to start showing signs of easing before the Central America section, as that’s the segment that I am most looking forward to. However, it dawned on me tonight that a lady on the next table in the MDR is still coughing regularly and has been ever since we moved there, which was on 18th January, so almost 3 weeks ago (and I don’t know how many days she’d been coughing before that). After our usual light breakfast we went to deck 12 where there was a stall of branded souvenirs for Aurora’s 2024 Grand Voyage. We weren’t tempted enough to buy. We then spent the rest of the morning in the theatre, first listening to the initial presentation by John Laverick on features of the UK canal network and then the first of two port lectures given by the excellent port presenter Lynn. My ears pricked up when she mentioned that we would need to go through immigration in Panama, especially after the debacle with US immigration that resulted in me having to cancel my Kennedy Space Centre visit. I am due to go on a Panama Canal Train tour there, whereas my wife intends to stay on the ship all day as it’s a Yellow Fever hotspot and she hasn’t been vaccinated against it. Having an exemption certificate doesn’t lessen the risk of contracting it - only the actual vaccination will do that! We went to the shore excursions desk afterwards to seek clarity on whether my wife will need to go through immigration if she doesn’t intend to go ashore, and Lynn has promised to get a definitive answer for us as it seems unclear. Lunch in the MDR was actually quite good. We both had Chicken Tangdi which we both enjoyed, even though it was very different from the Chicken Tangdi that we had a few weeks back (that we also enjoyed) 😂. We are noticing that now - items that we’ve had before can be very different second time around. Very odd. After lunch we both went to another Orca whale talk, but the post lunch lethargy challenged both of us 😴 😂 At 4pm there was the second port talk of the day, this time on Costa Rica. Lynn stressed that there’s nothing in Puerto Limon of interest, so a tour was essential. but notes that I made pre cruise suggested that this wasn’t the case. I’m doing a half day tour anyway to see more of the place as it’s a wildlife haven, but intend to explore the town with my wife as well. We then headed to the Playhouse for Eloise Irving’s second performance. Although the music choices were film scores, which is more our thing than the folk stuff she did last time, we didn’t feel that it was as good. Her voice didn’t seem to suit the songs quite as well and the harp sounded quite ‘twangy’ (to use a highly technical term) 😂 It was another Black Tie night but we’d asked our waiters for a sneak preview of the menu last night, as we were only going to bother getting dressed up if it was a special menu. If it wasn’t (like the last Black Tie night) then we were considering a boycott and going to a specialty restaurant! Thankfully it was a proper formal night menu, as it should be. Credit where credit is due, we both had Beef Wellington and it was probably the best one we’ve had in a long while. We always ask for medium rare in order to get medium and this seems to work each time. During the meal there was an emergency call due to a suspected fire in the waste handling area, but this was dealt with promptly and the Captain made an announcement to reassure everyone soon afterwards. I would never worry about my safety on a P&O ship as they take it all so seriously, and deal with it all so professionally, as they should. The 10pm theatre show was vocal group Unity’s second show which appealed to me as little as their first show, but it was Billy Joel songs tonight and that meant that my wife wanted to go! As it happened, even though we arrived 20 minutes early, both the seats that allow a wheelchair user to sit next to their companion were already occupied. My wife still wanted to see the show so I left her and went back to the cabin, returning to fetch her when the show finished. The lack of provision for wheelchair users to sit next to their companions in the theatre is a major shortcoming on Aurora. Two suitable seats in the whole theatre is woeful. I was glad to get out of my dinner suit as the ship is so ruddy hot everywhere. The MDR felt OK when we walked in but we are at the back where it is noticeably warmer (presumably as it’s by the windows, that would have been acting as a greenhouse during the day). The lifts and stairwells are so warm it’s as if the heating is on. We’ve given up on the Crows Nest and Library for the same reason. Even our cabin, with the air con on its lowest setting, is still too warm for me. If the state of the air conditioning on Aurora is now such that they can’t get the whole ship to a more consistent temperature, then I don’t think we’d rush to book any more cruises on her to very warm destinations. As I was sat in the cabin on my own with the annoying noise from the live band on deck 12 blaring, I decided to go up there and see how many passengers actually attend it. At 10.10pm there were no more than a dozen and a few of those seemed to be crew. This confirmed my belief that the numbers who are adversely affected by the din probably far outnumber those who are benefiting from it. I remain of the view that this is a bad call. Tomorrow is Curaçao, which everyone says is very nice so we are looking forward to it.

I look at all new releases and any that may be of interest I make a note of the net price (select fare less any OBC). Every few months I revisit the P&O website and look at the same cruises and work out the net price again. Usually the net price doesn’t change vastly (the base fare may go up but OBC usually goes up to compensate, or OBC is cut but so is the fare price) but there can be short term peaks when prices are high. The bargains tend to kick in a week or so after balance due date (mostly late savers). Good TAs like the one that many of us use may have some insight into changes the day before they happen. Other than that, they appear on the website.

As I’ve flagged, what turns up is often not quite as grand as the description! One other thing that we’ve noticed is that when an item is repeated, it’s not always the same as when we’ve had it before. At lunch we both had Chicken Tangdi, which we both enjoyed but was quite different from the Chicken Tangdi that we had a few weeks back! Also we both had the rice pudding and, again, it was different from the last time we’d had it. The Amarena cherries that come on top of it were gorgeous last time and tasted as though they had been soaked in a lovely liquor for a few days. Today they were just plain, and quite bitter, cherries. Very odd.

Todays MDR menus

Day 33 - Sunday 4th February - Fort-de-France, Martinique Well we are now half way through the cruise but not half way through the ports, as we still have 15 ports remaining after today (plus a partial transit of the Panama Canal) and we have visited 12 ports so far (it would have been 13 had we not missed Key West). Can I start by thanking everyone for their kind comments about how they are enjoying reading this live blog. As I’m sure you can imagine, it takes some doing, but I am absolutely staggered that views of this thread have now exceeded 100,000. I know that a lot of people read it regularly, but even allowing for that it’s a scary number that puts me under some pressure to continue! Today was the last in a continuous run of 6 ports - the French island of Martinique. I didn’t have a tour booked today so we managed breakfast (in the MDR) for the first time in a week. Afterwards we collected the ‘Britain Today’ paper (which a lady in the lift quipped should be called ‘Britain Yesterday’, given how out of date it always is) before getting ready for our walk ashore. Our balcony faces the town, so we heard the lively and large band (all members adorned head to foot in bright red) that welcomed passengers for the first few hours. We were berthed in the town centre, so it was an easy few hundred yards from the ship to the centre of things. Being a Sunday almost everything was closed and the place was a bit of a ghost town. Fort-de-France isn’t a pretty place and lacks both the colour and the charm of the more Caribbean influenced ports. The decaying buildings in places such as Dominica and St Vincent added authenticity, whereas in Martinique they just looked neglected. I was quite surprised, as I had it in my head that this would be one of the nicer places (a bit like the south of France). With hindsight, I should probably have booked an excursion here, but none had appealed. On to the positives. It was the easiest place yet with a wheelchair, so we could have a good wander around. The promenade was wide and level and was covered in murals. You can only walk as far as the underside of the fort (which was closed being a Sunday) and there was a very small beach there. We then walked up the side of the main park (lots of stalls but all closed due to - you’ve guessed it, being Sunday)! Next stop was the ornate library which, surprisingly, was open. We then wandered around the rest of the city centre but it was lifeless as pretty much everything was closed. We didn’t get bothered by anyone though (as some had mentioned from previous visits), so felt perfectly safe. I managed to get some syrup for my sore throat from the pharmacist that I found open. Well I hope that’s what I’m now taking 😂. At just €4.99 I can’t imagine it’s up to much, but I’ll chance anything now as it’s just not easing and remains painful to swallow. Neither the lunch nor dinner MDR menus were grabbing us much today, so we decided to have lunch in the Glasshouse. Dennis is off today, so service wasn't as good or enthusiastic as usual, but we both thoroughly enjoyed our food and it’s one of the places that is consistently cool. Whilst it was cloudy ashore, it was still 30 degrees, so we are always keen to find a nicely air conditioned place whenever we get back on board. We had a bit of a siesta before heading down to Raffles for an afternoon cuppa. Even the atrium can be nice and quiet on Aurora! Back to the cabin, or more specifically our balcony, for the sail away. Thankfully we couldn’t hear the live band on deck 12 so were hoping that they got off today! Yesterday I mentioned that around 10% of the meals in the MDR are poor. Well today was one of them. I had pork collar with veg and it needed more sauce with it. They can’t make tasty sauces to save their life and seem to have an aversion to seasoning. Bland in the extreme. My wife had creole shrimps with pineapple and coconut rice which she enjoyed but it came with, yes you’ve guessed it, green beens. A natural accompaniment for a dish such as this 🤔😂. Our assistant waiter very kindly offered to get me some warm water with lemon and honey, so I shall see if that makes any difference tonight. Yet another comedian in the theatre, so our trend of early nights continued, but when we returned to our cabin the band on the open deck 12 was in full flight and this meant that we’d be hearing that for the next 90 minutes. A definite negative on warm weather cruises, and I was interested to read that it irritated @mrsgoggins as much on Ventura as it does me on Aurora. Tomorrow we have a rest day (sea day) after our run of 6 ports and the daytime entertainment looks quite good. I’m really hoping that I can begin to start shifting this sore throat and cough over the next 24 hours, as it’s damned painful, exhausting during the day and disturbing my sleep at night. Also, the next leg of the cruise is the part I am most looking forward to and I want to feel that I’m over the worst of it by then.

😱