Selbourne ‘Live’ from Aurora’s 2024 Grand Tour

[Cathygh]

Was the teminal really full of people sitting down, or was it a case of a long wait at the check in desks? I ask because on Iona in May they only let people in when they could go straight to the check in desk, and held people at the bottom of the escalator until the queue cleared. No one was waiting on the seats in the terminal.

[purplesea]

Sorry to read about your problems arriving and embarking.

Hopefully things will go smoothly from now on and you will have an enjoyable cruise.

Look forward to reading the upcoming episodes.

[Selbourne]

31 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Are you going to tell your steward initially about the creaking?

Mentioned it this morning. He told me it’s because the ship is moving. I know that but also know that the excellent maintenance teams can often fix it, as they did on Ventura. 

 

33 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

(I sense a new better cabin for you at some stage

Not possible. We are in the highest grade accessible cabin. Not after anything other than to be made comfortable and quiet enough that I can sleep through any noise!

 

35 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I would mention you are doing a live report and how much you were hoping everything you could tell everyone was positive

I wouldn’t be happy doing that. A review is only worthwhile if reporting a normal passenger experience. That’s why I don’t take notice of reviews by those who do professional cruise blogs and use their real names, as they almost certainly get preferential treatment.

[Selbourne]

42 minutes ago, TigerB said:

Interesting about the bed given they are 60cm high on the newer ships. We're on Aurora next year so I will note that.

The bed on here is lower than we had on Iona, Britannia and Ventura. We know that, as we had no problems fitting the suitcases under the bed on those ships!

 

On a positive front, there is a guest speaker this afternoon that appeals to me, talking about U-Boats. 

[Selbourne]

45 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

Was the teminal really full of people sitting down, or was it a case of a long wait at the check in desks? I ask because on Iona in May they only let people in when they could go straight to the check in desk, and held people at the bottom of the escalator until the queue cleared. No one was waiting on the seats in the terminal.

When we eventually got inside, we were directed to the assistance area so bypassed a long queue. I couldn’t see beyond the queue to tell if anyone was seated, but my sense was no. It did seem packed though. 

[mrsgoggins]

Your pre-boarding experience was a disgrace.  I felt your frustration when new arrivals constantly went ahead of you.  What a shambles.

Hoping that the U-boats speaker lives up to expectations.  That would have pleased my husband.  The Ventura speakers’ subjects today are ‘The history of opera’ and ‘A Royal Marine Musician - is it all Rock and Roll?’ and we may attend the latter.
 

I hope they can do something about the bed height.  That would really have freaked me out as I have a few issues myself and I was once happy to accept a disabled room in a Premier Inn until I saw the bed, when it was a trip back to reception!

 

 

[lincslady]

Another full mattress on top of the existing one should sort this problem out - one I well understand myself.  It is like being on a chair without arms, difficult to get up from.

 

I hope  all the bad bits of your trip have now happened, and it will run smoothly and enjoyably from now on.

[CarlaMarie]

@Selbourne I am sorry to hear that the cruise has not got off to the best of starts. There is nothing worse than a bad embarkation day. 

 

I am really surprised at your priority embarkation lunch because on Aurora's 4 night in December the priority lunch was the set menu. I would have expected you to have had the same. However, I wonder if the number of priority boarders on your cruise is so high that they thought a buffet would keep the dining room flowing a bit quicker? 

 

As others have said, I do hope everything goes smoothly from now on for you. We watched your departure last night and the fireworks looked wonderful. So pleased the weather was on your side!

[CarlaMarie]

For @Selbourne and others who have mentioned about bed heights. I wouldn't have thought there would be differences amongst the ships. 

 

 

Edited January 4 by CarlaMarie

[Ardennais]

I had a look in earlier than usual today just to see whether or not you had actually made it onto the cruise! I’m relieved that you’re safely onboard. Shame about the embarkation but let’s hope that things improve! 

[Thedonkeycentrehalf]

@Selbourne  Were you out of Mayflower?  We were out of there last year having previously been used to the other terminals and had similar problems with CPS.  There was no logic to the queues and when they ran out of queue space, it looked like they just started putting those cars still trying to join straight into the unloading lanes so as not to block the road.  Mrs DCH was getting very frustrated seeing cars that had arrived 30 minutes after us being unloaded while we hardly moved.

 

Hoping that is the only major issue for a 65 day cruise as then I'm sure you'll have forgotten all about it by the time you get home!

[Selbourne]

32 minutes ago, CarlaMarie said:

I am really surprised at your priority embarkation lunch because on Aurora's 4 night in December the priority lunch was the set menu. I would have expected you to have had the same. However, I wonder if the number of priority boarders on your cruise is so high that they thought a buffet would keep the dining room flowing a bit quicker? 

 

It surprised us too, as I had read that Aurora had the nice waiter served lunch. I suspect that your assessment is correct. 

[mercury7289]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

The bed on here is lower than we had on Iona, Britannia and Ventura. We know that, as we had no problems fitting the suitcases under the bed on those ships!

 

On a positive front, there is a guest speaker this afternoon that appeals to me, talking about U-Boats. 

Selbourne. we had the same problem with our suit cases not being able to fit under the bed, our cabin steward, part covered them with plastic and placed them on the balcony. I was not happy with this arrangement. I finally lifted the bed and then kicked them under, no more problem 

[Selbourne]

20 minutes ago, CarlaMarie said:

For @Selbourne and others who have mentioned about bed heights. I wouldn't have thought there would be differences amongst the ships. 

 

 

I wonder if that’s the standard bed heights and the accessible ones are a bit lower? Deck manager has just been. They can’t raise the bed. My wife’s going to try to get used to it as she agrees with some that two mattresses may present another issue if the bed becomes too soft. She managed to get out of the bed this morning on about the 5th attempt. She needs to be comfortable with doing it on her own before I do my first morning excursion, but that’s a way off. 

[Son of Anarchy]

Hopefully things can only improve following your poor embarkation experience.

 

We used CPS in April, the first time in years.  Everything went smoothly, however that was at Ocean Terminal.

 

Using CPS at Mayflower this Saturday, hopefully they will have learnt from their poor handling of your cruise's embarkation.

 

Since the re-start we've only done one cruise out of Mayflower and we arrived by taxi on that occasion.  Lots of priority boarders though (terminal staff said there were 650) and we did have to wait around a while after checking in.  Also was Aurora btw.  However unlike yourselves we did not have to wait outside, and plenty of people were allowed into the terminal after us.  Maybe you had a lot more priority boarders than when we were on board.

 

Enjoy your guest speaker's presentations.  I would certainly have been attending U Boat talks. 

 

Thanks again for the update, may your onboard wifi access continue un-interrupted!

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Mentioned it this morning. He told me it’s because the ship is moving. I know that but also know that the excellent maintenance teams can often fix it, as they did on Ventura. 

 

Not possible. We are in the highest grade accessible cabin. Not after anything other than to be made comfortable and quiet enough that I can sleep through any noise!

 

I wouldn’t be happy doing that. A review is only worthwhile if reporting a normal passenger experience. That’s why I don’t take notice of reviews by those who do professional cruise blogs and use their real names, as they almost certainly get preferential treatment.

The last one I know how you feel and get it totally

 

But if you were to tell someone you want to be really positive about the cruise you are telling the truth as we know you do from what you've already said

 

And someone who may be able to help you solve the noise issues by going the extra mile for you may really appreciate some positive feedback on here

 

I would mention it myself as would just be being honest. And definitely couldn't do any harm. I totally understand though if it's not something you would want to do. 

 

I've done it before on land holidays in Turkey and ended up being upgraded to suites when the customer service staff realised I was live reporting on trip advisor. And that was when I wasn't trying to gain anything at all.  They just started going over and above for me. 

 

Never mentioned it on a cruise ship yet but would do if I thought it could help a situation that wasn't being addressed well. It couldn't do me any harm. And it might make a difference for someone who wants to impress.

 

Right now in your shoes I would want everything possible done to sort that creaking. 

 

Regardless. Like I said yesterday hopefully these are minor blips that are rectified soon enough

 

You've put me well off CPS though. That would have infuriated me

Edited January 4 by Interestedcruisefan

[Selbourne]

15 minutes ago, Thedonkeycentrehalf said:

@Selbourne  Were you out of Mayflower?  We were out of there last year having previously been used to the other terminals and had similar problems with CPS.  There was no logic to the queues and when they ran out of queue space, it looked like they just started putting those cars still trying to join straight into the unloading lanes so as not to block the road.  Mrs DCH was getting very frustrated seeing cars that had arrived 30 minutes after us being unloaded while we hardly moved.

 

Hoping that is the only major issue for a 65 day cruise as then I'm sure you'll have forgotten all about it by the time you get home!

Yes Mayflower. Usually brilliant and the only time that we’ve had a delay remotely approaching that length before was when the air bridge broke. 
 

CPS were excellent on our 3 previous cruises last year - lightening quick. The only time we’ve ever been in a holding queue before was when Britannia was new, but at least we were called forward in strict arrival order then. Fascinating that you had exactly the same experience as us and yes it’s infuriating watching car after car arrive and them being sent directly to the check-in lanes when you are trapped in a holding pen. Like you, I deduced that they didn’t want to block the road. 

[Selbourne]

22 minutes ago, mercury7289 said:

Selbourne. we had the same problem with our suit cases not being able to fit under the bed, our cabin steward, part covered them with plastic and placed them on the balcony. I was not happy with this arrangement. I finally lifted the bed and then kicked them under, no more problem 

Interesting. Our steward didn’t seem keen on storing the cases elsewhere but the Deck Manager offered and has asked the steward to remove them. 

Edited January 4 by Selbourne

[Selbourne]

10 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

You've put me well off CPS though. That would have infuriated me

Used them loads of times and they are usually brilliant. Yesterday was a one off but they simply did not have enough staff booking in cars and the traffic Marshalls (who, to be fair, may not be CPS staff) were not dealing with cars in order of arrival. That was infuriating if, like us, you were trapped in a holding pen for ages watching much later arrivals go straight through. 

[terrierjohn]

44 minutes ago, CarlaMarie said:

For @Selbourne and others who have mentioned about bed heights. I wouldn't have thought there would be differences amongst the ships. 

 

 

Where did you find this please, and did it show Iona's bed height?

[yorkshirephil]

27 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

It surprised us too, as I had read that Aurora had the nice waiter served lunch. I suspect that your assessment is correct. 

We had buffet lunch on Aurora in October as there were so many higher tier members. It was packed and long queues to get served, if we had known the situation beforehand we would have gone to the normal buffet as that must have been empty when we boarded at 12:30.

[terrierjohn]

Just now, Selbourne said:

Used them loads of times and they are usually brilliant. Yesterday was a one off but they simply did not have enough staff booking in cars and the traffic Marshalls (who, to be fair, may not be CPS staff) were not dealing with cars in order of arrival. That was infuriating if, like us, you were trapped in a holding pen for ages watching much later arrivals go straight through. 

Your experience yesterday was what prompted us to switch to parking4cruises. We had to queue in holding lanes on the majority of our CPS cruises.

I just hope this was due to the very high numbers of priority passengers on your cruise, and our Iona cruise in March will be back to normal, since we have switched back to free CPS parking as parking4cruises was now up to £136 for a refundable fare.

 

[CarlaMarie]

@terrierjohn @Selbourne Here is the link for the bed heights which I found listed on the 'Accessible Cabins and Ship access' page. 

 

https://www.pocruises.com/accessibility/life-onboard/accessible-cabins-and-ship-access

[Selbourne]

Just now, terrierjohn said:

Your experience yesterday was what prompted us to switch to parking4cruises. We had to queue in holding lanes on the majority of our CPS cruises.

I just hope this was due to the very high numbers of priority passengers on your cruise, and our Iona cruise in March will be back to normal, since we have switched back to free CPS parking as parking4cruises was now up to £136 for a refundable fare.

 

We used CPS on Iona in August John when there were 5750 passengers and they were brilliant. It was so quick from arrival to check in I felt giddy! Just 1650 on here yet the experiences were chalk and cheese. The difference was that they had enough staff to cope with Iona. 

[Selbourne]

Anyway, on to more cheerful things. Here are some shots of the fireworks from our balcony. Really enjoyed them.