jeanlyon

It was quite busy, but found a table straight away One of us went to get our food and then the other. Simples!

We found the buffet food very good and loads of choice. I had my only egg and bacon of the cruise on the last day.

Actually you are quite right. I am a Watchkeeper at National Coastwatch and we had to ring the Coastguard one day as a large cargo vessel was heading straight for us. They were about 1.5 miles away. CG called them and eventually someone answered and they immediately changed course for Plymouth! Could not have been looking out at all.

So do I, but it still all goes in one case!! I should have said, one long dress, two short cocktail dresses and glittery top with black velvet trousers.

4 formal night's clothes takes up one case? It's a long dress for goodness sake.

Well, I am amazed by the luggage that people take. We had 4 formal nights, so that's easy. The rest is just shorts and t shirts, 5 pairs of shoes, etc etc. All go in my case. My husband packs his own and takes his DJ in a separate carry on.

We are always so glad to self disembark. No hanging around in the ship. No trying to find your bags. We only take one large suitcase each, and that was for 19 nights. I have still brought home clothes that I didn't wear.

We have just self disembarked from Aurora. You register that with the front desk and you are supposed to be off between 0715 and 0745. The letter also said they would announce when the ship was cleared, but they didn't. I think we got off at 0800.

I remember a cargo ship with 3000 electric cars on board had a huge fire and sank only 6 months ago. All caused by lithium battery.

How awful and more to the point, how on earth do two ships collide with all this navigational tech.

I was just about to ask why this is necessary? We are all people, whether straight gay or alcoholic. I take as I find. Seems unnecessary.

We had two of the Headliners for the Aurora Vocalists which we enjoyed. But, if she said Cool and Fabulous once, she said it a thousand times. I could have throttled her, but she was very sweet and had a wonderful voice. Our performance was changed slightly by the Force 10 storm and high seas, so we couldn't go on the stage, but we did it anyway, standing in the first 3 rows of seats and hanging on!

Yes, but they have 3 Always Available as well as all those choices.

Maybe unlucky because the guy on our table also had the steak the same night and both were gristly and tough to cut. Hey ho.

I saw that for a cruise we are doing next October! A bit odd if the offer ends 31/10/23

I don't want particularly haute cuisine. I would just like a better choice than 2 roast dishes, with tuna as the only other choice unless I wanted vegetable stew! On the Indian night in the buffet for instance, why don't they put on a curry in the MDR - they always used to. ~For just one of the choices I mean. We did have lasagne one night in the MDR, but frankly is was poor. Sweet & sour chicken on the last night was lovely. One Black tie night, there was Tiger Prawn and Lobster claw in a pastry case. That was also lovely.

I am pleased to say, I am exactly the same weight as I was when I left home, after 19 nights on Aurora. I used the stairs and not the lifts unless it was more than 3 decks going up.

As we had no announcements from the Captain from Gib to Southampton, nobody mentioned passing Q Vic.

By the way what is an MDR upgrade? Extra dishes in the MDR which you pay for? How on earth would that work>

have to agree with you. I don't feel cruises are any cheaper than they were 6 years ago, but the food has definitely gone down and I think it is deliberate to get you to go to the charged for venues. For me, the Beach House menu doesn't appeal at all. We used to love Sorrento which did Italian dishes for a small cover charge. One night on this cruise when the rest of our table went to the Beach House, we went to the buffet and actually had a very good meal which loads of choice. If we hadn't had such a good, fun table, we might have eaten in there more often. They had Italian night, Asian night, Tex-Mex.

On the night when they had salmon on, guess what the potato was - roast!! I asked for chips. One night there was roast beef on the right hand menu, roast pork collar on the left side. The pan fried chicken which is always on was awful and the sirloin steak was passable.

What did you find so exceptional? Just off Aurora and although some nights, the food was good, the choice on other nights was dismal. Roast beef, roast pork collar (whatever that is), and bream. Tell me what dishes you liked? On the last night I had sweet & sour chicken with stir fried veg and rice. It was lovely, but good different dishes were few and far between.

Not saying that, but some nights there were 3 roasts on and nothing else to choose!!

I wouldn't care if I never had another roast. Find them very boring. Interesting to see the always available like P&O used to do.

Just seen a menu from Fred Olsen - not a roast in sight! Can't wait for April!! Tuna Ceviche | Pickled ginger, chilli, beansprouts and coriander salad GF Roasted Romanesco Pepper Arancini | Sweet and sour pepper confit V Mushroom Broth | With basil oil GF Chilled Avocado | Sour cream, chilli GF V Spinach Leaf and Shaved Fennel Salad | Toasted croutons and red wine vinegar V MAIN COURSES Grilled Salmon Fillet | Horseradish mashed potato, sautéed broccoli and citrus zest butter GF Beetroot and Red Onion Tarte Tatin | With Raspberry dressing V VE Linguine Frutti Di Mare | Rich seafood and tomato sauce Braised Oxtail |Green beans and shallots with an intense Port wine jus Soy Glazed Shiitakes | Sesame toasted green vegetables, carrot flan Treat of the Region Authentic flavours, inspired by our location, please ask your waiter for today’s dish ALWAYS AVAILABLE EVERY NIGHT THROUGHOUT YOUR CRUISE Seafood Cocktail | Pickled cucumber, charred lemon Beef Boullion | Mini vegetable garnish GF Caesar Salad | Romaine lettuce, Parmesan shavings, herbed croutons and anchovy Grilled Salmon | Choice of steamed vegetables/ jacket potato/ French fries Grilled Chicken Breast | Choice of steamed vegetables/ jacket potato/ French fries Grilled Rump Steak | Cooked to your liking, choice of steamed vegetables/ jacket potato/ French fries and peppercorn sauce on the side