Selbourne

They can definitely accommodate much larger groups, because when we were on Iona there was a group of at least 15 people at the afternoon tea (you couldn’t miss them, but that’s a separate issue). As to whether they’d allow that at dinner I’ve no idea. I suspect if you asked P&O they’d say that you have to book on board, but by the time you get on board you’d most likely find that there wasn’t availability left for that number, even if they could accommodate you. If P&O can’t help, in order to guarantee availability, I’d be inclined to get two of your group to book two tables of 4 for the same date and time, and maybe a third person book a solo and then as soon as you are on board go and see the restaurant manager and explain that you are all in fact one group.

It’s a shame when the behaviour of some guests can spoil the enjoyment of a venue for others. Sadly, it happens all to often.

Day 18 - Saturday 20th January - Miami Our best and most enjoyable day so far, helped by the fact that the weather was ideal (dry, partial sun and low 20s temperatures, which were perfect for lots of walking). I woke just in time to watch the entire dawn sail in to Miami, which was spectacular (photos posted yesterday). This commenced with passing the soon to enter service ‘Icon of the Seas’, the world’s largest cruise ship. She looked quite something and would dwarf Iona and Arvia. We berthed in terminal E, in the middle of the four other cruise ships. Aurora looks really tiny up against the other four. As always, we had a leisurely breakfast and let the crowds disperse. We walked straight off the ship and were out of the terminal in 5 minutes. We headed to the taxi rank which surprisingly had no queue, but also had no taxis either! Worst of all, the road it was in looked coned off and a police car was stopped across the end with its lights flashing. I asked a young girl with a uniform on if we were in the right place but, as we discovered, there are a lot of Hispanic people in Miami who surprisingly have quite poor English, so we couldn’t get much sense from her. Another lady appeared and asked if we needed a ‘handicapped’ cab (they use that term here for disabled). She kindly phoned for one and, as promised, it arrived 10-15 minutes later. Once we’d loaded my wife, still in her wheelchair, in the back of the vehicle, the driver asked where we wanted to go and I said “South Pointe, at the bottom of Miami Beach, by the ocean”. He seemed baffled by this, so I explained that it was my intention to walk all the way from there to Lincoln Mall, passing all the Art Deco district. I’d forgotten that Americans tend to use their cars rather than walk anywhere, so he told me that this wasn’t possible as it was way too far and several miles. I assured him that I push the wheelchair many miles everywhere we go and that was fine! He dropped us off as requested and the metered fare was $33, which I rounded up to $40 with a tip (this is relevant as you will hear when we returned to the ship). My plan to walk the coastal path from South Pointe worked a treat. We first looked around South Pointe itself and walked to the end of the pier, which affords distant views of Miami Beach, before heading north. This place is fantastic for wheelchair users as it’s all paved with smooth surfaces, is wide (to allow for all the joggers and cyclists - music blaring so you hear them coming) and is very scenic. Initially it’s plants and palm trees with beach views, gradually becoming hotels and then finally the iconic Collins Avenue strip with all the iconic Art Deco architecture that we love. I took loads of photos, as my previous visit to Miami Beach was just a drive down Collins Avenue, not getting out for a proper look around. This included the beautiful Versace villa. The place has so much atmosphere, with vintage cars parked outside some places, lively music from several bars, flashy cars and even flashier people! The only challenge was that the public toilets only had accessible cubicles in the ladies and gents and weren’t unisex. This is no good, as I have to accompany my wife. So I had one of my cunning plans. There are some swanky hotels with security gates and security staff guarding them, so I stopped at one and explained our predicament and asked if they knew if there were any suitable restrooms near. My plan worked and the guy offered us the use of the one in the hotel. We continued our walk north until Lincoln Mall and headed inland passing all the shops and restaurants. We then retraced our steps but headed down Washington Avenue, with a brief diversion along Espanola Way, to 10th Avenue where I tried (and failed) to find the Art Deco museum. Having now seen everything else that we wanted to see and feeling that we’d done really well, we decided to go back to the ship for a late lunch. Amazingly, unlike New York (or London) where cabs are constant, they were very sparse. I popped into a hotel and the receptionist kindly offered to call one. I made it clear that I needed a wheelchair accessible one, but when it arrived it wasn’t suitable as my wife would have had to get out of her wheelchair and the vehicle was too high. The receptionist came out and said she would get another. Sure enough 5 minutes later a proper wheelchair accessible one arrived. Once loaded and off I noticed that the meter wasn’t on. I pointed this out to the driver who said “no need. It’s a fixed rate”. Realising my schoolboy error I asked what the rate was “$65 dollars”. I pointed out that this was twice what we’d paid on the (albeit shorter) outward run. He got a bit funny and said he’d take us back to where he’d picked us up and we could get another cab, but I told him to just get us to the cruise terminal. En route he was at pains to show us evidence of the published fixed rates and he also, as so many Americans do, was fiddling with his phone the whole time and not concentrating on driving safely. Of course this isn’t illegal in the US, so doesn’t carry the 6 points and fine that it now does in the UK. Another example, I’m afraid, as to how backward the USA can be with some issues. When we arrived back at the terminal, I made a point of paying him exactly the $65 and not a cent more. Anyway, we didn’t let this spoil a fabulous day and we still saved money compared to doing a P&O accessible transfer. We had a brief lunch in the buffet, which we almost never use. I thought that the choice was very poor, but it filled a gap. The abolition of trays is a complete and utter nightmare for those of us who have to get food for more than one person, as I had to make multiple trips backwards and forwards. My wife was done for the day, but I decided to leave the ship again and this time get the shuttle bus to Bayside Marketplace. I must have timed it poorly as I was sat on the bus for a good 20 minutes before it left. My wife would have hated Bayside Marketplace. It was heaving. Small boutique shops, restaurants and bars with the obligatory blaring music. I was tempted to stop in a bar called Lola, which had attractive young waitresses wearing skin tight lime green shorts and equally skin tight pink bra tops, but decided that it would be inappropriate for a mature gentleman 🤔😂 Yet again I timed the return shuttle wrong. One had just left and I sat on the next one for 20 minutes before it left. I should at this stage say that Miami Cruise terminal was fine. No queues to get off or get back on the ship either time that I did it. At 6pm we went to see a local act, Miami Salsa, in the theatre (it was on at 6pm for those on second sitting and 8pm for those on first sitting). Think Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine but with more traditional Latin American songs. Not bad, and a nice change from the usual evening shows. My wife was less impressed 😂 We went for pre dinner drinks in the Crows Nest, which was still too warm but not as hot as a few days earlier. We had fabulous nighttime views across Miami with all the skyscrapers windows being lit up. At dinner we also had a lovely view through our personal panoramic window 😂. We later enjoyed the nighttime sail out of Miami as we didn’t leave until 10.30pm. As I said at the start, this had been our most enjoyable day by far and we loved it. We now have two sea days (when one would suffice) to get to our next stop Key West. This is shown on the itinerary as ‘possible tender’ but we are the only ship due in so there’s no reason why we shouldn’t berth and hopefully at the closest pier to Mallory Square. Hopefully the Captain will update us on all of this 🤔

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Worlds largest cruise ship, Icon of the Seas, due to enter service in 7 days time and weighing in at just a smidgeon under a quarter of a million tonnes. On the second photo, taken from South Pointe, if you zoom in you can see the incredible front of her and how she dwarfs the other cruise ship!

Todays MDR menus

Please don’t get the false impression that we have a ‘bad’ captain. We don’t. He sounds personable and obviously is extremely competent at being master of the vessel, but quite a few people have commented on his lack of announcements and useful titbits of information. I’m sure that we can all cite Captain’s who have massively enhanced our cruises with announcements about dolphins, whales, things of interest, things to look out for and when etc. Our favourite was Chris Wells who eventually went on to be Commodore at Cunard. As the most senior representative of the company, I’ve always felt that their role is an awful lot more than the seamanship aspects which, after all, are mostly done by the bridge team anyway!

That yacht was impressive, even amongst the dozen or so other super yachts surrounding it. I was impressed when I saw the helicopter landing pad at the back, only to be even more impressed when I noticed the second helicopter landing pad at the front 😂 We are now berthed and our side faces the main link road between Miami and Miami Beach. Every 5 minutes or so there’s the roar of a Ferrari or Lamborghini or other such exotica at full throttle. They don’t seem so bothered about electric vehicles over here 🤔😂

Just to repeat again that we are enjoying the cruise, in spite of some of the issues we have had. The biggest two challenges were US immigration and my aborted trip to the Kennedy Space Centre (now behind us) and our dining arrangement (now sorted). As I’ve now said a few times, the other issues, whilst irritating, are outweighed by the good points. So please don’t feel too sorry for us. We are still having a fabulous adventure away from the British winter 👍

Just had a fabulous dawn sail in to Miami. All the below taken from our balcony.

Day 17 - Friday 19th January - Port Canaveral, Florida Before I start todays update, a few hours ago I posted a summary of our likes and dislikes over the first 16 days (just incase anyone missed it). We arrived into Port Canaveral at around 0330, and much to the annoyance of a number of passengers, the Deputy Captain did the usual arrival announcement not long after 5am! We had a bit of a view from our cabin as daylight arrived, until Disney Wish pulled onto the berth opposite us. She certainly looks a very smart ship. After the disappointment of having to cancel my tour to the Kennedy Space Centre (which, by the way, I have already received the full refund for thanks to the efficient lady on the excursions desk), we decided to take our time and not even attempt disembarking and US immigration until we absolutely had to. Prior to going to breakfast I had a brainwave that the laundrette would be quiet, and it was, so I put in two loads of mostly underwear (a black and a white load - I’m well trained having to do all this at home 😂). The MDR was very quiet, so we had a leisurely breakfast before picking up Britain Today and then switching the finished washing into the tumble driers. We then did a panoramic tour of deck 13 to see the distant views. There were quite a few people up there as you can see the vehicle assembly building (VAB) and launch pads in the distance. The hot topic of conversation around the ship today is that the Captain on this cruise gives out virtually no interesting information to enhance passenger enjoyment of the cruise, as many others do. This was brought into sharp focus following yesterday afternoon when apparently there was a rocket launch from Cape Canaveral that might have been visible in the distance from the ship. I knew nothing about this or I would have been on deck for it. I wondered if perhaps the Captain would have been unaware as well, but apparently there are warnings and exclusion zones issued to shipping. We returned to the cabin and decided to just wait there until all the crowds had cleared immigration. After an age it dawned on us that we had forgotten all about the drying in the laundrette, so I rushed back over there expecting to be lynched by the laundrette mafia, but thankfully it was deserted and no other machines were in use. Phew! Every 20 minutes or so another 100 to 150 people with numbered tickets were called to go ashore for immigration. We got ourselves ready but continued waiting in the cabin until the final call for all remaining passengers to disembark. This plan worked, as we then only queued for 15 minutes or so to get through US immigration. All very straightforward and quick, even though the chap who dealt with us was po faced and didn’t even attempt a smile. Miserable so and so. It had all gone much better than we expected, but then we hit a major problem. As we exited the terminal, we were directed to a queue for the accessible shuttle bus. There were only two people ahead of us in the queue, but the couple at the front informed us that they had already been waiting an hour. Apparently one of the two coaches that had a side lift for wheelchairs had a fault with the lift. After half an hour (90 minutes for the first couple) the second coach with a lift arrived and a lady was offloaded, who commented that due to the way that she had been treated she stayed on the bus and came straight back. We didn’t get chance to find out what her issue had been. Anyway, just as we were about to be loaded (the lady who was second in the queue had given up by this stage) the driver announced that the lift on his vehicle was also now out of action. I found a member of the shore excursions team and enquired whether it would be possible, if we could find a suitable vehicle, to get a taxi and get a refund from reception (this was offered to us in the past when there was a problem with the accessible shuttle). She advised against it. Another half an hour went by and eventually after a one hour wait (two hours for the first couple) another coach with a lift arrived and we were on the shuttle. Our driver ‘Rusty’ was brilliant. Even though it was just a shuttle, he gave a really interesting commentary throughout the 25 minute transfer to Cocoa Beach. When we got to Cocoa beach it was absolutely nothing like we expected. I had naively assumed that it would be a beach resort with a promenade. Unfortunately it’s nothing of the kind. If you’ve been to places like Orlando you’ll know what I mean when I say that it’s just a typical American area with widely spaced buildings each with their own car parks that feels nothing like a town. The beach has no promenade and is accessed up sandy access slips that aren’t wheelchair accessible. Realising that there was nothing of interest for us here, and not wanting a repeat of the one hour wait (or longer) to get back to the ship, after a quick 10 minute walk around we headed back to Rusty’s coach as it was still there. Once loaded we were off and he brought us back a different way with an equally interesting commentary. It was the first time that I’ve ever tipped a shuttle bus driver, but he made what could have been a completely wasted journey interesting. Getting back on to the ship was very quick and efficient and the shoreside terminal staff were very helpful. After dropping off our things we went up to deck 12 and grabbed a burger (well, I did, my wife just had some fries 🙄) which hit the spot. We then went to the coffee shop for a drink and the couple that we’d had the embarkation lunch with stopped for a brief chat and I was pleased to hear that he’d managed to get his ESTA problem resolved. Later in the day I went up to deck 13 to have a look at the NASA sites with my binoculars and ended up having a long chat with guest lecturer William Joyce and his wife. He is such an interesting (and intelligent) man. We watched the sail out from our balcony. The captain had said in his departure announcement that a retrieved Space X rocket would be visible on the port side, but we couldn’t see anything resembling it. When we sat down at our dinner table, a lovely lady came up and said that she reads my blog and was so sorry to hear about the problems that we had experienced in trying to resolve our US immigration problem and she wished that she’d been able to assist us. As I said in my summary earlier, there are some really nice people on this cruise. Dinner was better than usual. We both had tuna steak with stir fry and enjoyed it. We are happy with our new table and both our waiter and assistant waiter seem very good. The theatre show was another female vocalist and they never really appeal, so an early night. Tomorrow Miami where we are hoping to get a cab to Miami Beach.

Summary of Likes & Dislikes after the first 16 days LIKES Passenger Profile - I don’t know the actual age profile, but suspect that the average age is mid 70s. All seem to be seasoned cruisers who want the same sort of thing from their cruises as we do. Most are very personable and lift etiquette and consideration for the needs of fellow passengers with disabilities is excellent. Bar service - We are served almost immediately in all bars. No waits or having to catch the attention of waiters. Guest lecturers - The ones that we’ve had so far have been excellent and the topics have been very interesting. Theatre Performers - The Privateers & Neil Lockwood were probably the two best evening performances that we have seen on a P&O cruise. It’s not been so good since they left, but at least we were lucky to have them. Classical recitals - So far we’ve had a flautist and absolutely first rate classical pianist. I’d pay to see the latter. Superb. Port Presentations - I thought that these had bitten the dust, having had none on our last 3 cruises, but these have been great. There’s a good 15 mins or so of useful info before the promotion of excursions. Itinerary - Aurora (and Arcadia) still have very interesting itineraries on their longer cruises. We cruise for the ports, not the ship, so this cruise delivers 25 new ports for us whereas ex-UK cruises on the bigger ships are same old, same old. DISLIKES Loyalty, what loyalty? - This is the first cruise that we’ve been on since reaching Caribbean loyalty tier where we have felt that this has counted for nothing. Priority boarding was a shambles (not enough CPS or Intercruises staff for 1,000 higher tier passengers - had P&O warned them?), poor quality priority boarders buffet rather than served meal, no officer interaction or address at the Caribbean lunch, no complimentary champagne in cabin (I’ve asked and it still hasn’t turned up). Officer engagement - I have covered my concerns about this in depth so won’t repeat them here, but suffice to say that I have been unimpressed. Problem resolution has been poor and has required chasing multiple times. Low profile Captain and none of the usual interesting announcements to enhance passenger enjoyment. Temperature extremes - The air conditioning seems to be malfunctioning regularly. Very few areas are a comfortable temperature. Several areas are uncomfortably hot and one is like a fridge. Accessible provision - Having been on the newer ships, it really brings home how comparatively poor Aurora is for those with disabilities. No automatic doors to any of the outside decks and only two seats in the theatre where a companion can sit next to a wheelchair user - and these are not designated for wheelchair companions only (as they are on the newer ships). Ramp out on to balcony too steep for wheelchair user to use unaided. The bed is too low and my wife is struggling massively with it. Reported but apparently nothing can be done. MDR food - Those who read my blogs on Britannia, Iona and Ventura last year will recall that I was full of praise for the MDR food, in spite of all the negative reviews I’d read before we went on them. MDR food on Aurora has been the weakest of the four ships. All perfectly edible and some meals have been very good, but someone have been very poor and most have been underwhelming. Breakfast times in MDR - Last entry 9am on port days and 9.30am on sea days. This is a bit too early for us when on holiday. Other ships in the P&O fleet are now 9.30am port days and 10am sea days. That extra 30 minutes makes a lot of difference and would be particularly beneficial on our return transatlantic when we loose an hour a day. Weather - Not a P&O issue obviously, but just an observation that we have been incredibly unlucky with the weather in the first 17 days. I keep telling my wife that it can only get better, but it never seems to 😂 In summary, we are still enjoying the cruise and the positives definitely outweigh the negatives, but our frustration is that most of the negatives could be easily resolved. They have also come as a particular disappointment when we know that other ships in the fleet have done better recently and indeed our previous Aurora cruises haven’t generally fallen short in these areas.

That’s a relief. Thank you 😂

Today’s MDR menus. Can anyone tell me what Pho Soup is? Given the number of typographical errors on the menus, I’m not sure that I’d risk it 💩 😂

I appreciate that my frustration at the way that some things have been handled (or rather haven’t been handled) is featuring in my blog, as it should in order to give a true reflection of our overall experience, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that we aren’t enjoying the cruise. There are many positives (which I’ve also been mentioning) and on balance we are still enjoying it. As we are over 2 weeks in, something that I considered doing, but haven’t had chance to, was a summary ‘likes and dislikes’ of the cruise so far. As I suspect that we will have a lot of hanging around today I might try to do that. Whilst disappointed that I’ve had to cancel my Kennedy Space centre trip, we shall turn today into a positive and see what Cocoa Beach has to offer. The shuttle is apparently free, which is handy as we booked a Saver, and there is an accessible one.

Day 16 - Thursday 18th January - Sea Day A cloudy but humid sea day as we slowly plodded along at 10 knots towards Port Canaveral, which will be our first US port of call. There was a talk on Nat King Cole at 1030, but we weren’t overly bothered, so our first visit to the theatre was for the 1130 port talk on San Juan, Puerto Rico. The MDR lunch menu didn’t particularly appeal so we went to the Glasshouse, which is the only place on the ship that is always nice and cool (more on air conditioning later). I had the sliders this time (mini burgers) and my wife had the small plates. We shared a cheese plate afterwards. The cheese plates in the Glasshouse are really excellent. We both enjoyed a glass of wine, the Money Spider for me and a Peruvian Malbec for Lady S. Lunch finished just in time for the 1415 Space Talk by William Joyce, this time on the Apollo moon missions. Once again, very good. It was now mid afternoon on the day before arrival into the US and I had still heard absolutely nothing from the so called ‘Customer Service Manager’, who I had been told for the last 3 days was going to contact me to discuss our immigration issue (me going on an early tour and my wife being unable to get off the ship unaided). I was now getting annoyed at the complete lack of contact, so went down to the shore excursions desk and said that I had now lost my patience, had no confidence that my wife wouldn’t be left in an impossible situation, so I now had no choice but to cancel my excursion to the Kennedy Space Centre. The excursions lady completely understood and assured me that I would get a full refund which, in fairness to her, was processed within a few hours. As mentioned yesterday, Savio, the assistant food and beverage manager, had assured me that if our MDR table move was possible, a card would be delivered to our cabin confirming the new table number. Needless to say, this never happened either (bit of a trend here). I went to reception to ask if they could contact him to find out what was happening, but thinking on my feet I asked if they had our table number on their system. They did and it was the new table, so we would take our chances and go to that table for dinner. I am sorry to say that I have now formed a very firm opinion that the officers on this ship are far too self-important and status conscious to have to waste their time dealing with us lowly passengers. What with the lack of engagement at the drinks party, the further lack of engagement at the Caribbean lunch (and nobody even bothering to say a few words), the fact that I wasn’t allowed to talk to the F&B manager and his assistant never confirmed what he said he’d do and, finally, a Customer Service Manager who is clearly not focussed on customer service, what other opinion am I to form? As I was behind on my daily exercise regime, I then proceeded to do 5 laps of the promenade deck. After a few laps there suddenly started to be a very loud noise at the aft of the ship, as if there was a loud diesel tug alongside at full power, and this was accompanied by smoke rising from below. Not a lot of smoke but enough to notice. After a few minutes of this the ship stopped completely, but the noise and smoke continued. A little while later the engines started again and we started to change course to port. I was concerned that we might have a problem and be heading to Miami, but normal service was resumed later, and we now seem to be OK. At 5pm we had the second classical piano recital in the Playhouse, which was just as impressive as the first. For pre dinner drinks we went to the Crows Nest. It was unbearably warm, as every customer entering was commenting. According to the drinks waiter, the air conditioning is broken and has been for 3 days. I’m sorry to have to say this, but I fear that Aurora is starting to feel her age. They seem incapable of maintaining a pleasant temperature in all areas of this ship. Very few areas are ‘just right’. Many are too warm and, if anything, the Glasshouse is a little too cool. This is going to become even more problematic when we eventually reach the Caribbean. I don’t wish to tempt fate, but I have a horrible feeling that we might have some Covid on board. Aside from the fact that quite a few passengers seem to have persistent coughs, there has been a noticeable step up in handrail cleaning, and as we were heading down to dinner there was a guy in overalls spraying disinfectant at the other end of the corridor. I asked him what he was spraying for and he said Covid. I asked if there were Covid cases in our corridor and I guess he was never going to give me a straight answer, but I got an answer that is a dreadful phrase that has crept in since the pandemic “No Sir, this is the new normal” 🙄 Our new dinner table is much better. We are on our own on an 8 top table at the opposite end of the MDR to where we were before, which has alleviated a couple of the issues that we had. It’s busier, noisier and warmer, but we are facing a large panoramic window overlooking the aft of the ship. Unfortunately this won’t be of much benefit on this cruise as it will always be dark well before 8pm. Our new waiters seem fine and the formal night dinner was very nice. Most importantly of all, my wife felt far more comfortable with the new table for two and the new position. At 10pm we attended the second performance of The Lavelles in the theatre. My wife enjoyed it more than me, but I was distracted by the couple chatting in front of me and the woman behind me who thought she was at the karaoke session 🙄. A late night lap of the promenade deck confirmed that the dreadful noise and smoke had stopped and we were proceeding as normal. I believe that we might be arriving in Port Canaveral as early as 3.30am, so I suspect that we shall be woken early. Tomorrow Port Canaveral and the joys of US immigration.

How rude. I don’t come here to be insulted. I can stay at home for that 😉 😂

Todays MDR menus

As I’ve said before, for a supposedly advanced country, they are decidedly third world in how they deal with some issues. I am anticipating issues, not least because of the added complication that we have of me going on a tour and my wife not.

Thankfully it’s not our first US port, so we won’t have the immigration issue. We have that joy tomorrow in Port Canaveral and I’m on an early tour - if I get to go on it.

As we are in New Orleans for 2 full days, I will most likely try the trams at a time when I’m off the ship on my own. Was the tour that you went on a P&O organised one or something you found independently? I don’t believe that there are any accessible tours like that on our cruise.

During the conversation with the manager he was at pains to say that we couldn’t have a table for 2, but then mentioned the empty large table. I guess he was taking me literally because, of course, what I was after was ‘a table on our own’ and a larger table for sole occupancy is much better anyway. At breakfast and lunch we are often shown to a 4 top for sole use. It crossed my mind that we might be joined at some stage, but we would assess the situation at that time rather than instantly ask to move again. There were several reasons for requesting the move and sharing was only one of them. We are back in the MDR tonight (black tie night) so are really hoping that we get confirmation today. However, we still haven’t had confirmation about US border control and that’s now tomorrow 🤔

Day 15 - Wednesday 17th January - Nassau, Bahamas I have a map of the Caribbean stuck to our cabin wall and was pleased to see that the island that Nassau is on is well within the Bahamas and involves passing other islands to get to it. This was particularly good news, as we weren’t due to dock until 8am, so with it getting light an hour or more before that we would have a lovely scenic transit in. How wrong I was! By 6.30am, when it was still dark, we were manoeuvring onto our berth in Nassau 😔 We weren’t in a rush to get off as we were in port until the evening and I had no excursions booked, so it was just DIY. On our way out of breakfast the manager I had spoken to yesterday about changing to a table for 2 stopped us and said that they could change our dinner table to another shared table. Either our request got lost in translation or they weren’t listening. As I was getting nowhere fast, I asked who the Food and Beverage manager was (Ben) and went to reception to request a meeting with him. Either reception or Ben (or both) weren’t keen on me meeting him, so I was offered Savio, one of Bens team. As there was a crew drill due, Savio would come to our cabin this afternoon and 5pm was agreed. After a deck 12 orientation tour, we got ourselves ready and decided to go ashore. It was dull and cloudy but humid, so we decided that a bit of rain wouldn’t hurt us and might keep us cool. There were 5 cruise ships in port, so the cruise terminal and surrounding areas were heaving. On all our previous cruises on Aurora I have always felt proud that we are on her as she looks such a classy ship. However, today I felt almost embarrassed. Not because she was the smallest ship of the 5 in port (that’s a positive in my eyes) but because she looks so shabby on the outside compared to all the other ships in port. The outside of the ship is covered in rust patches and grubby marks and frankly looks very neglected. I mentioned this in my review of Bermuda (having first noticed it in Madeira) but I’ve never seen a P&O ship look this bad. The maintenance crews usually do a far better job of keeping on top of this. There had been plenty of touching up being done on the promenade deck during our sea days, but a distinct lack of attention to the hull of the ship on the days we’ve been in port. I hope that this is addressed during our cruise as it will only get worse. The area around the cruise terminal was absolutely heaving, so we cleared the area as quickly as possible and made our way to the main square and government buildings. Very quickly we realised that Nassau is absolutely dreadful for wheelchairs. I’m braced for some of the Caribbean islands to be bad but I had naively thought that the Bahamas, being very American influenced and bigger, would be better. Where do I start - lack of dropped kerbs, high kerbs, massive holes in pavements that you can’t get through, no pavements at all on many roads, severe cambers. I could go on. In spite of this (and don’t ask me how) I eventually managed to get ourselves up to the Queens Staircase. The final walk down to it is like walking through a jungle and as we did this it started raining. Not to be deterred, I abandoned my wife at the bottom under a large palm leaf and walked up and down the steps. The light rain that we were “OK about as it would be cooling” didn’t materialise. It poured down and on the way back towards the centre we both got absolutely drowned. I wanted to see more of the town but my wife was hating it all (the combination of being soaked and not feeling safe in her wheelchair) so we went back to the ship. We had to change into dry clothes and went to lunch. Afterwards, I decided to go ashore again but on my own. I first headed up to Goverment House, which I’d visited 35 years ago, but the statue of Christopher Columbus was missing and the plinth looked badly damaged. I was glad that my wife wasn’t with me, as it was on a very busy road with no pavement (makes you realise how backward some of these places are). I then cut down through the town and headed to Junkanoo Beach, where I walked along the sand. On the return walk I visited the Straw Market. That was an eye opener. Row upon narrow row of items stacked around 12 feet high, with stallholders sat on stools every few yards. I wasn’t impressed with Nassau. Aside from the fact that it was a nightmare with a wheelchair, the place was over crowded, noisy (all the bars had loud music blaring from them), very congested with cars, lack of suitable road crossings and so on. A lady in the lift back on the ship summed it up well - “I’m glad that I’ve been, but I wouldn’t rush back”. When I returned to the ship my wife and I went to Raffles. My wife had her usual fruit tea and I had a frozen drink. A minor irritant is that they don’t have the cups for the larger cold drinks, so you have to buy a small one which is only about 30p less than the much bigger Medium. I had a mixed berry one which wasn’t as nice as the salted caramel one that I’d had the day before and I got brain freeze. God, I’d forgotten how painful that can be 😂 5pm came and went and no sign of Savio, then at about ten past the phone rang. Apparently they don’t come to guest cabins. Anyway, there are no spare tables for two. However, there is a table for 8 that we might be able to have to ourselves. He’s going to confirm tomorrow, but we really hope that this happens as we went down and checked it out and it would address a couple of the issues that we have with our current table, as it’s in a completely different area of the restaurant. Tonight was our first of four planned visits to the Beach House. We were greeted warmly by at least 4 different staff and given a choice of tables. We took one in the window, anticipating that there might be something to see, but there wasn’t. I was immediately struck by the heat in the restaurant. There are huge temperature variations around this ship. Some areas feel quite cool and other areas are quite hot. The Beach House was the latter. I asked a waitress if the temperature could be cooled down but she didn’t understand me. I had the nachos with chorizo to start, the fillet steak on Lava stone for main and the Key Lime Sundae for dessert. All were very good. My wife just had the steak (no starter or desert) and handled it better than me, as she took it off the stone so as not to overcook it and pointed out of course that steak should be rested before eating it. I failed on both! The theatre show was another singer, which we didn’t fancy, so an early night. Tomorrow is a sea day.

We are DIY in New Orleans. We will look around the French quarter etc and may do a paddle boat trip (not sure if it’s worth it - not interested in going to a plantation or having a buffet lunch on board) but booking direct and not through P&O. Not sure about the second day yet. I believe that there’s a good aquarium near the cruise port and I fancy trying the street cars

Todays MDR menus.

Thank you. They are not being terribly helpful so far. This morning we were told that we could move to another shared table, which I had made clear is exactly what we don’t want to do. I have asked for a table for 2 in second sitting (which is never more than 75% full) or switch to Freedom. Apparently neither is possible. I have asked to speak to Ben the F&B manager but was told his deputy would see me later. Given that the ship is far from full, it’s a shame that everything is proving to be a battle. it does rather take the shine off things.