Selbourne

Or more likely in this day and age, working from home 😂

Less than an hour to go and we still don’t know who the Godparent is? With this level of secrecy I can only assume that we are getting The King, The Queen, The US President and the Pope - all at once!

Two police rib boats now patrolling, each with multiple officers. Has to be a senior royal

I heard a helicopter earlier and my wife spotted a Police boat.

I read that article but assumed it just referred to the shipyard? Whilst it would be an enormous anticlimax, it would be quite funny if after all the secrecy it was someone that nobody has heard of. Just rejoined the ship and walked the red carpet, so I’m still optimistic 🤞

I thought so too, hence my theory that it would be The Queen. I was just wondering, as they’ve used the term Godparent rather than Godmother. Perhaps it’s to do with all this gender neutral nonsense. It will be a they / them! 😂 If it’s not The King or The Queen then I am at a loss as to why all the secrecy. Princess Anne’s engagements are publicised well in advance.

This is the stage and screen in relation to the ship. If, as I suspect, we reverse back so that the bow of the ship is by the stage, those at the front, starboard side will have the best view. Those towards the aft may have their view obscured by the Mersey Ferries building. 50/50 for us as we are midships. As for Godparent, still no news? With all the secrecy and Godparent term I’m wondering - The King?

We are going off the ship shortly. I’ll try to work it out.

Oh yes, I’d forgotten the huge queue of folk wanting a very early dinner. We found that to be an amusing spectator sport whilst we enjoyed what, to us, was a mid afternoon cuppa in the coffee shop 😂

Aurora never feels very crowded. Can’t comment on sunbeds as we never use them. The size of ship has little bearing on the speed of embarkation. We went on Iona last year, which felt very crowded, yet embarkation was a breeze and we were on the ship within 15 minutes of arrival. By contrast, due to a combination of CPS not having enough staff checking in cars and the terminal being disorganised, it took us 90 minutes from arrival to boarding the last time we were on Aurora, and that was with priority boarding! That cruise had a lot of higher loyalty tier passengers, so around half the passengers had ‘priority’ boarding which, in reality, meant that nobody did! We were in fixed (Club) dining, having had some problems with queues for freedom dining on a previous cruise on Britannia, but I didn’t pick up on any horror stories regarding freedom. I don’t think that they use the app, which makes it better as there’s only one system (first come, first served). The problem on Britannia was that they used the app but it didn’t work well at all and resulted in very long waits, especially as they kept setting it to ‘Queue Full’ due to all the walk-up customers who were getting priority.

Just keep a wide berth from anyone wearing a mask!

Well on the basis that they held you in close proximity to the infected couple and wouldn’t let you leave, you must surely be a risk now and need upgrading. PG is now a high risk area so nothing less than QG will suffice 😉

I’m glad that we are not in Princess Grill.

Thanks. That still fits with my theory 😂

Did you see where the stage is MB? Is it behind us up past the Three Graces? I didn’t notice it as we came in but only looked out briefly from within the cabin!

I appreciate that I am probably over thinking this, due to my hope that we can see things from our balcony. However, logic says that the ship will remain in this orientation throughout. There are only 3 options. Starboard to shore, port to shore or bow to shore. The latter would block the Mersey! If we were going to be port to shore, we surely wouldn’t have turned around on arrival. We would have berthed on the port side and then just pulled forward for the festivities, but then we’d have to turn around to dock again. By far the easiest option from where we are now is to reverse back for the festivities (as we did on QM2), then just pull forward back on to the terminal, from where we proceed forward when we depart. I shall ask the restaurant to have a slice of humble pie ready for me at dinner if my theory proves to be wrong 😂

We are already facing the right way for the sail out. We were here last year on QM2 and the port put on a firework display for us, which we had a prime view of from our starboard balcony. We were berthed as we are today (Starboard side). After the fireworks, but prior to departure, we reversed back up to the Cunard building (one of the Three Graces), honked our horn and then proceeded forward. I am hoping that it will be pretty much the same process today, albeit the manoeuvre will happen this afternoon and the fireworks as we eventually leave at 2215. If it does, those of us on the Starboard side will be very well placed, but it may just be wishful thinking on my behalf!

Surprised you don’t have Carnival shares MB, especially as you cruise fairly regularly with at least 2 of their brands. We bought them just over a year ago and have already got 150% of our investment back and still have the shares to sell when our cruising days come to an end!

We are now in Liverpool and, as we hoped, the starboard side is going to be against the berth, as that’s where our balcony is! Fingers crossed we will remain in that orientation when we pull off the berth for the naming festivities.

Assuming that was as a result of passenger feedback, it’s a shame that Carnival Group don’t learn from these things and share best practice between brands, rather than make the same mistakes again.

I agree it’s far better to have a lower price with no OBC than a higher price with OBC, if the net of both is the same.

That’s a very good point. I always consider the net price of the cruise i.e. cruise price less OBC. Launch prices rarely come with much OBC, so a later booking during a generous OBC offer can work out a lot cheaper. Looking at cruise fares in isolation is only looking at part of the picture.

Some of the signs have mysteriously disappeared since the start of this cruise and others have been moved to the seat backs of the actual seats which, due to the inclination, cannot be read! It just isn’t at all obvious that they are meant to be for wheelchair companions only.

Sunday has probably been our most enjoyable day so far. We had pre-booked tickets for Titanic Belfast at 11am and as the shuttle bus went to the city centre I assumed that we’d need a cab, but even that’s a struggle for my wife as most of them are minibus types (which she can’t pull herself up into) or cars (which have the opposite issue of being low down). Anyway, partly by doing some iPad research and also phoning Titanic Belfast this morning (who were very helpful) I decided on a plan B. Just as in Orkney, we were able to get the regular shuttle as there was a drop down ramp and space for a wheelchair user on all the buses. This is so much easier than the wheelchair accessible mini buses, much as we appreciate the provision of those when no other option exists. Having alighted opposite the town hall, I pushed my wife down Royal Avenue, along the High Street, past the tilting Albert Clock, across the river via a pedestrian bridge and along the waterfront to Titanic Belfast. Some cobbled stretches aside, it was very easy with dropped kerbs everywhere. We really enjoyed our visit to Titanic Belfast. We probably slightly prefer the Titanic museum in Cherbourg, which includes artefacts from the ship and includes the beautiful art deco booking and luggage halls, whereas the Belfast version, aside from a deckchair (one of 6 remaining), was more about the construction and shipbuilding in Belfast. It was still well worth it though and included a 6 minute ride which even had a wheelchair accessible car. All the staff were brilliant. Welcoming and helpful, as were the shuttle bus organisers and drivers. Back on the ship we tried the deck grill and gelato bar for the first time for a late lunch. 10/10 for both. Just about to leave Belfast now but another enjoyable day. P.S. Walked on and off the ship with absolutely no issues today 👍

After the bitter disappointment of Thursday and Friday (referred to in my past post), I am pleased to say that we’ve had a very enjoyable weekend. Saturday in Greenock turned out to be a day with clear blue skies and 22 degrees. Having experienced issues getting off the ship in all the previous stops, we were delighted to be able to walk straight to the gangway without any queues - only to be stopped and told to wait whilst around 10 staff members and visitors embarking were given priority. All had to be checked in, photos taken etc. During this time a long queue built up again, but at least we were at the front. It did seem wrong to me to give priority to staff and visitors and make fare paying passengers wait, especially when it was such a slow process and so many people, but other than point this out to the security chap (who just ignored me) I didn’t need to say much else as the chap behind me was absolutely incensed and unleashed a tirade about how the organisation of disembarkation is going from bad to worse and the Captain needs to be told about it! Greenock is obviously a gateway port for tours to Glasgow and the southern Highlands but as there are no accessible excursions on this cruise (much to the annoyance of another couple we have befriended) and the fact that we have fortunately visited all these places several times, we stuck to Greenock for the morning. As with everywhere else we have visited, the welcome from the locals was superb. We had a piper to welcome us and all the shoreside staff were welcoming and efficient. There wasn’t a huge amount to see in Greenock itself and it wasn’t the most wheelchair friendly place, but we still enjoyed our visit. There are some attractive buildings and a lovely waterfront with stunning views across the Clyde towards the lower Highlands. After lunch on the ship my wife had a rest and I took the train into Glasgow for a wander. The city was packed as it was a Saturday and glorious weather. The sail out along the Clyde (preceded by another pipe band) was beautiful. All in all a lovely day.