mercury7289

39 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Thank you. I recall @jeanlyon saying that when she was on Aurora in the summer they were holding unfinished bottles in Club but not in Freedom, but that may have changed. As our long cruise was booked on a Saver, we won’t know until we board whether we are Club or Freedom.
 

Hopefully you will see engineers with ‘Starlink’ uniforms on board fitting the new improved WiFi that P&O assures us is now on all their ships - but isn’t!

 

Wishing you both a fabulous cruise. 

Although it is of no interest to us, as we cruise under the radar, not even a phone, I will ask, and report back on our return

6 minutes ago, mercury7289 said:

Never been in that position🤣

Selbourne

I am aware from your previous postings that you tend to have two bottles on the go, white and red.

We are on Aurora again on Friday, I will ask the question for you and report on our return. Also for your upcoming adventure may I suggest that you down load and print off,16 square sudoku, I find they keep me occupied on sea days.

2 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Am I correct in thinking that the facility to have the restaurant hold on to part used bottles of wine for your next visit is still restricted to Club (fixed) dining only on Aurora? On Ventura the other week they wouldn’t do it at all, even in Club

Never been in that position🤣

4 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

Indeed convenience is the reason we bought it, coupled with the fact the money is a gift and we wanted to be able to,have something we could tell the person was an extra we wouldn't normally have.  We've actually added a gift package from the Black Friday sale to use the remainder of the money given to us.  On this occasion any discount didn't really worry us, particularly as the wine package covers a lot of wine we actually know and will happily drink.

We can confirm after looking at our Aurora May statement, that the wine packages are priced nett no further discount

25 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Yet with the Black Friday offers (also 20%) you could still get your loyalty discount deducted 🤔

 

Given that these packages restrict your choice and, for higher loyalty tier customers the discount would effectively only be 10%, I can’t imagine that they sell too many of them?

We have had the Commodores package on most of our cruises, it includes the wine that we would normally drink at restaurants when we go out out. On the first night, we choose the first bottle and also the second bottle for the ensuring evening. When we arrive at my table the wine is already there, so its all about convenience for us. No wine and food matching, we drink what we like. We also only order whilst on board

6 hours ago, zap99 said:

We bank with Lloyd's. We also have a Nationwide branch 20 meters away. When we do our questionnaire I point out that if they shut the branch I have a plan B.

My friendly Nigerian, who calls regularly, from over seas, always enquires which Bank I use, I tell him ant and dec, just saying

36 minutes ago, pete14 said:

That is exactly how it was done. On boarding we were directed to our muster station and then to lunch. We didn’t even have to prove that we know how to put a life jacket on. 

Thank you

Pete

How was the muster briefing done? In May, we went to our muster station presented our cruise card and then went to our cabin to listen to the briefing on the TV is this still the case please?

Seems like you have had quite an experience, does look cold though!

48 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

"I didn't get where I am today by needlessly crossing palms with  silver". 😇

Accepted but where are you, in the lounge!!

I am in the room!!

8 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

The hotel only wants you to vacate your room, you should be free to use their lounge facilities, and even order a coffee and cake to keep you going until you board.

As I say on a few occasions having crossed palms with silver, I was able to remain in place.

48 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Just had an email from P&O. They are delaying the boarding times for Ventura on Thursday by 2.5 hours. Gastro Intestinal reports on the previous, current? cruise. i suppose it means a deep clean. My boarding time was 12.15 and is now 14.45 so no Peninsular lunch and I have to leave the hotel at noon. It is going to be chaotic and I think the revised boarding times may not be realistic. 😟

Maybe worth contacting the Hotel and offer to pay for a later departure. This has been successful for me on a few occasions.

1 hour ago, Mike Senior said:

Leaflet-Wine-Packages-23-(POC) (4).pdf 1.29 MB · 17 downloads

Mike, is this wine package list current please?

1 hour ago, pete14 said:

As far as I am aware, the Glasshouse did not open until after we had set sail. At least you had the forethought to take some wine with you.

Thank you.

3 hours ago, pete14 said:

Towards the end of another day, a summary.

 

For a sea day without sunshine and sun loungers, it has been a good one. The talk by Gervase Phinn on some of his experiences as a school inspector was excellently delivered, amusing but thought provoking. He really is an excellent speaker and if he is ever on a ship on which you are cruising, well worth listening to. He has five more talks to go. 
 

Lunch was three small plates in the glasshouse. The plates may have been small but there was plenty of food for one person. A glass of velvet devil red wine was a good accompaniment. At around £14 for a large glass, it makes the top drinks package seem to be a good choice but of course it depends on the tipple you choose. For beer, and a lesser degree spirits (around £8 for a 50cl measure of something decent), maybe not so good. 
 

We have a classical guitarist onboard (Carlos Bonell) who has collaborated a lot with Queen and Paul McCartney as well as playing classical selections with various orchestras. His 45 minute concert was very enjoyable, including a range of styles, including flamenco, the first movement of the Spring concerto from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, the Beatle’s ‘Penny Lane’ and Cavatina, from the film ‘The Deerhunter’. All were excellently played. He is also appearing five more times. The busker who we have onboard was not of the same quality. After renditions of two Ed Sheeran songs, we left when he started murdering my favourite Adele song.

 

Tonight was the first celebration night. As the main courses were not greatly to my taste, I chose the main course from the pay extra ‘signature menu’. Apparently, I was the first person to select this. Although the steak was cooked excellently to my requested medium rare, if so few people are choosing to pay extra from that optional menu, its days may be numbered even at this early stage. In my opinion, it would be a shame if this happened, but consumer demand (or lack of it) may dictate its future. 
 

The weather has been fine all day and the sea has been calm with little movement to suggest we are crossing the North Sea. Hopefully this will remain so but somehow, I doubt it will. 

Pete 14,we are aboard 1st December, if you get the time, is the Glass House open for lunch, when boarding, it was not on our Baltic cruise in May, so we had to do with a bottle of warm white wine on the balcony,

washed down with  brought on fresh fruit

3 hours ago, mercury7289 said:

We have also received this E-mail, and have asked our T/A to deal with it, and to confirm all is in order, giving them a copy of the filled in, accessibility form

Spooked for nothing, all was okay!

1 hour ago, GOQ said:

I've arthritic knees and problems with my balance so I would very probably need someone to steady me while descending stairs in an emergency. 

 

So I have requested assistance, completed and emailed the form back to P&O but I still had this email which included the paragraph :

 

"Recently, some guests have arrived at the terminal with specific on board needs that they did not make us aware of prior to their holiday. Unfortunately, to ensure we have sufficient capability to support all our guests at all times, this meant those guests were unable to board the ship. "

 

A couple of cruises back I sent a completed request for assistance form back to P&O only to find when I asked for assisted boarding at Southampton they had no record of my request. However while on board they did seem to have my request on file and I was asked to attend an assessment to determine if I was capable of using the ships tender to disembark.

 

So while boarding they had no record of my  request, then while onboard they did have my request.

 

A bit worrying. 

 

 

We have also received this E-mail, and have asked our T/A to deal with it, and to confirm all is in order, giving them a copy of the filled in, accessibility form

15 hours ago, Selbourne said:

My wife and I have booked the 65 night ‘Aurora’s America & Caribbean Discovery’ departing 3rd Jan. We haven’t been to any of the ports before (other than Miami and Key West, but that wasn’t on a cruise). We try to just look around the ports independently (from the ship or the shuttle drop off point, if there is one) rather than do excursions, as my wife is a wheelchair user and can’t use a coach.
 

I suspect that some ports are good for DIY and are nice places, whereas others may not be. Some places may not even be safe to walk around independently? We’re not beach people, but a promenade is always nice. We mainly like to see the towns and any significant sights that are ideally accessible without the need to travel from the port. However, if the port itself is completely naff, I’d rather know and get some ideas where we might be able to get to easily, perhaps by taxi? Also any ‘must see’ places, but keeping in mind the wheelchair!

 

I realise that this is a big ask and I don’t expect anyone to go through the whole list (although that would be absolutely fantastic if they did 😂), so any and all tips would be sincerely appreciated. The full list of ports is;

 

Hamilton - Bermuda

Nassau - Bahamas

Port Canaveral 

Miami 

Key West - (Possible Tender)

New Orleans 

San Juan - Puerto Rico

St Maarten

Dominica

Kingstown - St Vincent

Bridgetown - Barbados

Fort de France - Martinique

Curaçao

Oranjestad - Aruba

Cartagena - Colombia

Colon - Panama

Panama Canal (Partial Transit)

Puerto Limon - Costa Rica

Roatan - Honduras (Possible Tender)

Belize (Tender)

Costa Maya - Mexico

Cozumel - Mexico (Possible Tender)

Georgetown - Cayman Islands (Tender)

Ocho Rios - Jamaica (Possible Tender)

Tortola - British Virgin Islands

Basseterre- St Kitts & Nevis

Antigua

Praia da Vitoria - Azores

 

 

Wow,

What an adventure, my good lady is at the same stage as yours, apart from the every day issues that we have to deal with, my wife is seriously affected by heat and humidity, which rules out a lot of destinations. will be interesting to see how it goes.

Enjoy

4 hours ago, Selbourne said:

There were some pretty big OBC deals recently. If you booked on board, did you get more again?

On our May Aurora cruise bookings,we took the free parking and then received  the basic £165 per person OBC as  if you had booked at home, plus £150 per person additional for booking on board plus £125 per person bonus,which we were told was a special offer at the time total of £440 per person

Hope this helps

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Greetings! I can’t recall whether or not you need an accessible cabin, but I have a funny feeling that the one time that we enquired about some cruises onboard they weren’t able to confirm availability of accessible cabins. Do you happen to know? Maybe that’s changed as it was some years ago?

Hello to you.

We just about manage with a standard or deluxe balcony cabin,so have not enquired on board about accessible availability, An accessible cabin would make life a lot easier for us, but there are others that have a greater need.

14 minutes ago, Danamis said:

Whilst on Aurora in August we booked a cruise for later this month. We were surprised to find that the deposit had gone up to £100 each! I have no idea if this is across all the ships though.

On the Aurora Baltic cruise in May, we booked 3 cruises for 2024 all needed £150pp deposit.

2x16 day and 1x19 day cruise

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

That’s immensely kind of you John, but my wife saw a consultant recently who warned that as her hands are starting to go the same way as her legs, in a few years she may need some power assistance even to get around the house, so he’s authorised that she can have a bespoke one on the NHS. She is understandably resisting at present and I cope with pushing her around elsewhere without difficulty. Your offer is sincerely appreciated though 👍

Sorry to hear this Selbourne, just got to keep going and support where we can, but life can be cruel.

Bonus with cruising is that some one else is cooking, and others are doing the laundry .Enjoy the rest of your time on board

9 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

I have shares in two filly foals who will be needing names in January when they reach their official first birthdays.  All suggestions considered!

Small Print and Money Back!

22 minutes ago, kalos said:

Whilst out and about today ,we thought  we would eat out .

I fancied a bit of steak and ale pie, closest I get to having a pint these days 🙂

 

Wow! from a pieman! 

20 minutes ago, lincslady said:

Is that raw garlic??  If so, does anyone eat it?

Yes,in a salad

15 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Have I dreamt it, or are there new deposits for on board bookings, I thought it saw £50pp for cruises up to 14 days, £100pp up to 35 days and £150 pp over that.

We booked 4 cruises on board Aurora in May, 2 -16 day and 2 -19 day each required a deposit of £150.00 per person, Was told that it had changed at the end of April 2023