Selbourne ‘Live’ from Aurora’s 2024 Grand Tour

[jh1809]

The photo of the "Tsunami Hazard Zone" sign intrigued me. I wonder what they expect people to do in response to the sign.

[Selbourne]

Just now, jh1809 said:

The photo of the "Tsunami Hazard Zone" sign intrigued me. I wonder what they expect people to do in response to the sign.

The greater risk was the missing drain cover in the road immediately opposite it. It was about 3ft by 2ft and the hole was about 5ft deep. It was on a crossing with no warnings or barriers. Anyone not concentrating and falling down that would have most certainly ended up in hospital with serious injuries 😱

[Thedonkeycentrehalf]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Todays MDR menus

To quote Roy Wood, “I wish it could be Christmas every day” or on P&O, every couple of weeks.

[Selbourne]

 

Day 44 - Thursday 15th February- Sea Day

 

Not a lot to report today. It was a sea day which, unlike those earlier in the cruise, had very little of interest happening. 

 

I haven’t adjusted to the latest clock change so was awake just after 6am as it was light, so there was no rush to get to the MDR in time for breakfast. Just the usual muesli, fruit salad and toast or mini croissants. I can honestly count on the fingers of one hand the number of cooked breakfasts I’ve had over the 44 days so far, which is just as well. 

 

At 1030 we went to John Lavericks latest talk, this time on the restoration of the Kennet and Avon Canal, which was surprisingly interesting! This was followed by the port talk on Grand Cayman. 

 

The MDR lunch menu hadn’t appealed to either of us, so after an hours break we went to the Glasshouse where we both had the excellent 6oz fillet steak surf and turf with peppercorn sauce. Gorgeous. Such a shame that the peppercorn sauce that occasionally appears in the MDR with the always available steak isn’t a patch on it. 

 

We hadn’t had a starter and couldn’t manage a pud so we headed to Raffles for an earlier than usual cuppa. We are unusual in that we use the coffee shop as somewhere to go for a drink. Most others seem to use it as a place to play games,   which is odd when there’s a proper games room just around the corner, and this can be a bit irritating for those who want to use the venue as it’s intended. 

 

For the rest of the afternoon we just read in our usual spots - my wife on the balcony and myself in the cabin. If I thought about it I could say that I’ve been a bit bored today, but I guess that’s not bad after 44 days. Problem is we have another sea day tomorrow which also has very little of interest happening. The Wifi package has definitely been my saviour on the sea days. It’s also saved us having to faff about trying to get WiFi coverage in ports or terminals, so it’s been worth every penny. 

 

Dinner in the MDR, although we didn’t eat much as we were still quite full from lunch. Thankfully our assistant waiter has returned from his sickbed as we really like him. Neither of us are terribly keen on our main waiter, for various reasons. 

 

The 10pm show was a definite as it was Duo Yalba, the two mature male instrumentalists who were absolutely brilliant in Carmen’s a few nights ago. It wasn’t quite as good tonight due to the music choice not being quite as good, but it was still excellent and they are well worth seeing if you get the chance.  

 

It seems amazing that 3 weeks tomorrow we will be home. We have probably become a little institutionalised 😂. There’s been a bit of motion for the last part of the day which we hope will have ceased by tomorrow, which is the second of two sea days before Roatan in Honduras. 

 

 

Edited February 16 by Selbourne

[david63]

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Most others seem to use it as a place to play games

That seems to be the norm on all ships these days, and it really annoys me when they do it in an evening in one of the bars when I cannot find a seat to have a pre dinner drink.

[terrierjohn]

3 hours ago, david63 said:

That seems to be the norm on all ships these days, and it really annoys me when they do it in an evening in one of the bars when I cannot find a seat to have a pre dinner drink.

But they have all paid for their cruise, so surely entitled to use all the available facilities?

[david63]

2 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

But they have all paid for their cruise, so surely entitled to use all the available facilities?

Up to a point I would agree but facilities should be used for their intended puropse - if there is a card/games room then that is where you play games.

 

I don't have a problem with playing games in a bar area if they are also partaking of the offerings from the bar, but in many cases they do not.

[Presto2]

6 hours ago, david63 said:

Up to a point I would agree but facilities should be used for their intended puropse - if there is a card/games room then that is where you play games.

 

I don't have a problem with playing games in a bar area if they are also partaking of the offerings from the bar, but in many cases they do not.

May sound daft but perhaps new cruisers don't know there is a games room?  (I'm trying to be generous). Have to agree with you sort of david63 though, but on our last day we parked ourselves in Java for about 4 hours -- we drank coffee a lot and it was mid day so quiet. (On sea days we gravitate to our balcony).

[Selbourne]

Todays MDR menus (Black Tie night tonight)

 

Edited February 16 by Selbourne

[Palaceman]

27 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Todays MDR menus (Black Tie night tonight)

 

Wow!!! What a choice. Mrs P and I can't decide what we would choose with such a choice.  Hope you and Lady S enjoy!

[MellyMoo1989]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Todays MDR menus (Black Tie night tonight)

 

Marco's recommendations sound wonderful - apart from the Black Truffle! - I wonder how easy it would be to get it without... and if that's not possible it's getting splatted on to the tablecloth! 😉😂

[terrierjohn]

28 minutes ago, MellyMoo1989 said:

Marco's recommendations sound wonderful - apart from the Black Truffle! - I wonder how easy it would be to get it without... and if that's not possible it's getting splatted on to the tablecloth! 😉😂

I doubt that a P&O portion of truffle would be big enough for the average person to find, even with a magnifying glass.

[Selbourne]

Day 45 - Friday 16th February - Sea Day

 

We awoke to calm seas which, was good news after the choppiness and wind of the previous day. We followed our usual sea day routine of MDR breakfast, photographing the lunch and dinner menus and picking up copies of Britain Yesterday. 

 

We usually attend the 10.30 lecture but today it was on cleaning up a lake which even on a dull sea day couldn’t excite us, so we skipped it. Our first visit to the theatre was the 11.30 port talk, this time on Ocho Rios in Jamaica. Unfortunately we don’t yet know where we are berthing. I believe that the modern cruise pier which, whilst very long, is better located, has been out of use following some damage sustained a few weeks ago. If that’s not available we are berthing at the old pier which apparently requires a shuttle. This may be a problem for us, as we’ve yet to see a wheelchair accessible vehicles anywhere this cruise. 

 

We did a lap of the promenade deck afterwards (28 degrees) and then retreated to the slightly cooler cabin to read until lunchtime. MDR lunches are very hit and miss but todays was thankfully a hit. Beef breseola, Parma ham and blue cheese starter followed by lasagne. Neither of us could manage a pud. 

 

At 2pm we went to an art talk in Masquerade’s. It was titled Art after Dark and covered some interesting artists such as Heironymus Bosch who, much to my surprise (given how modern his work looks) was a 16th century artist. The Scottish art manager has an interesting presentation style with his audience comments, which I’m sure he intends to be amusing, but can come over as a bit rude. 

 

Our afternoon reading was interspersed with an afternoon cuppa in the games room (sorry, the Costa). The waiters were pleased to see us, as we are in the minority that actually buy drinks in there! 

 

It was a black tie night with a Marco Pierre White menu. Thankfully we’ve only had one black tie night so far that had a normal menu and, as a result, felt like a waste of time. We went for a pre-dinner drink in the Crows Nest which is now nice and cool. We always used to prefer Anderson’s on Aurora, but they don’t do the cocktails that my wife likes now, so we’ve only been there once the whole cruise, which is a shame. Dinner was certainly better than a normal night, but we both had the lamb and beef duo for the main and both agreed that the lamb tasted more like liver. Our assistant waiter (who seems to do the majority of the work) is feeling better and looking forward to some shore leave tomorrow. 

 

The bad news of the day is that not only has my throat not improved, it’s getting worse again and back to hurting when I swallow. Other than the throat I feel absolutely fine, so I’m fearing that this is being caused, or at least aggravated, by something on the ship (air con?) so I’m probably going to be saddled with it until I get home. One of the less attractive aspects of cruising. 

 

The 10pm theatre show was Harrison Treble (Piano Vocalist) again, which still didn’t appeal, so we called it a night after dinner. Tomorrow is the first day of a run of 4 port days that mark our final ports in Central America. The first is Roatan, an island that is part of Honduras. 

Edited February 17 by Selbourne

[P&O SUE]

Thanks again Selbourne, loved the excitement of the Panama Canal. I saw a time lapse video from someone on your cruise elsewhere and it looked amazing. Fascinating.

[mrsgoggins]

I have every sympathy for your throat situation, as I still have my 'cruise cough' despite being home now for 10 days. It's not nearly as bad, but yesterday at my U3A singing group I did a good deal of miming rather than break into a croak!

 

We did see Harrison Treble, just the once and would not bother again. Let's just say he's a very enthusiastic performer which suited neither of us.

 

I was sorry to read that you have yet to experience a wheelchair accessible shuttle on your cruise. The only one I remember seeing - although I wasn't particularly looking - was at our favourite port, Praia da Vitoria, in the Azores.

 

It would be good if they could get your air con sorted. Is everyone's cabin the same or is your part of the ship the most affected?

[brian1]

1 hour ago, mrsgoggins said:

I have every sympathy for your throat situation, as I still have my 'cruise cough' despite being home now for 10 days. It's not nearly as bad, but yesterday at my U3A singing group I did a good deal of miming rather than break into a croak!

 

We did see Harrison Treble, just the once and would not bother again. Let's just say he's a very enthusiastic performer which suited neither of us.

 

I was sorry to read that you have yet to experience a wheelchair accessible shuttle on your cruise. The only one I remember seeing - although I wasn't particularly looking - was at our favourite port, Praia da Vitoria, in the Azores.

 

It would be good if they could get your air con sorted. Is everyone's cabin the same or is your part of the ship the most affected?

You should have gone again ,it'd be a Harrison double.

[Waju]

@Selbourne -  do they still show films in the Playhouse or is that not your thing?

[Eddie99]

If you still have your bad throat when you reach somewhere with a pharmacy, see if you can get some soluble paracetamol (or aspirin, at a pinch, as long as you have no reason to avoid it)

Take the recommended two tabs, 4 times a day, maximum, but don’t just glug it down.  Gargle, as much as you can gargle (chose a piece of music and gargle it?!), every drop of the solution.  It will do the normal general painkilling but there will be a local reaction in your throat, to take the sharp edge off the pain

Or go to the medical centre!

 

Smooth seas, sunshine & hopefully no more health lectures

[Bill Y]

7 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Our first visit to the theatre was the 11.30 port talk, this time on Ocho Rios in Jamaica. Unfortunately we don’t yet know where we are berthing. I believe that the modern cruise pier which, whilst very long, is better located, has been out of use following some damage sustained a few weeks ago. If that’s not available we are berthing at the old pier which apparently requires a shuttle. This may be a problem for us, as we’ve yet to see a wheelchair accessible vehicles anywhere this cruise. 

We visited Ocho Rios some years ago on Oriana, we and another ship berthed at the main pier but a Carnival ship had to dock at the overspill dock, this was euphemistically referred to as the "James Bond" pier, it was the industrial pier featured in Dr No. From what I can remember it was a flat walk between there and the centre. don't know if it's still used.

 

 

7 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Dinner was certainly better than a normal night, but we both had the lamb and beef duo for the main and both agreed that the lamb tasted more like liver.

That rings a bell, I remember lamb on P&O that could only be described as been well hung. probably the same offering on a formal night.

Edited February 17 by Bill Y

[terrierjohn]

@Selbourne I note that on sea days you never mention using the promenade deck for a spot of people watching, or just relaxing. You can generally find the odd spare chair and somewhere you can sit alongside your wife in her wheelchair  On our Caribbean round trips we really enjoyed using the prom deck as an alternative to our balcony, and could usually find somewhere that was out of the full sun.

[Selbourne]

Just now, mrsgoggins said:

It would be good if they could get your air con sorted. Is everyone's cabin the same or is your part of the ship the most affected?

It’s an odd one because at times it feels reasonably cool but then at other times it doesn’t. We are by the forward stair well which is the hottest area of the ship, especially on the higher decks. Someone on the ship reckons some air con from our ‘zone’ was diverted to the Crows Nest in order to sort that out. No idea if that’s the case, or even possible. 

 

Just now, Waju said:

@Selbourne -  do they still show films in the Playhouse or is that not your thing?

Yes they do, but we don’t go, for the same reason that I often find the theatre performances irritating, as some people are incapable of watching something without having to continually pass comment. That being said, there’s only been one film that would have interested me (Oppenheimer) but that’s 3 hours long. Many of the films have been very old and amazingly there have been quite a few children’s films - on an adult only ship - which has caused a lot of comment!

 

Just now, Eddie99 said:

see if you can get some soluble paracetamol (or aspirin, at a pinch, as long as you have no reason to avoid it)

Take the recommended two tabs, 4 times a day, maximum, but don’t just glug it down.  Gargle, as much as you can gargle (chose a piece of music and gargle it?!), every drop of the solution.  It will do the normal general painkilling but there will be a local reaction in your throat, to take the sharp edge off the pain

Paracetamol isn’t touching it. I think we have some aspirin in our medicine box. I’ll give that a go. 

 

Just now, Bill Y said:

a Carnival ship had to dock at the overspill dock, this was euphemistically referred to as the "James Bond" pier, it was the industrial pier featured in Dr No.

 

That’s the one. They mentioned that it’s quite a way out and would necessitate a shuttle, but if we can walk, and it’s OK with a wheelchair (which, from our experience so far is a big ‘if’) then that would help. 

[Selbourne]

Todays MDR menus

 

Edited February 17 by Selbourne

[Purdey16]

I’ve woke up this morning to no Selbourne morning read ! I hope you’re feeling well Selbourne and that pesky throat not getting the better of you .

I hope alls good for you both and your just having a day off 🌞

[lindyloo22]

1 minute ago, Purdey16 said:

I’ve woke up this morning to no Selbourne morning read ! I hope you’re feeling well Selbourne and that pesky throat not getting the better of you .

I hope alls good for you both and your just having a day off 🌞

Yes I done the same as you nothing to read with my cup of tea, hope all is well with you both.

[Beckett]

Me too. Coffee at the ready but no Selbourne!

 

I do hope you are both ok and, as @Purdey16 says, just having a day off. 

 

Jane xx