Selbourne

Yes, I’m keeping a copy of them all on a word document for just that reason.

Day 12 - Sunday 14th January - Sea Day It was a little misty when we left Bermuda at around 7.30am but thankfully the seas were calm and it feels quite a pleasant temperature. We have 3 sea days between Bermuda and the Bahamas, which is a day longer than is really required, so we have spent the day plodding along at around 10-11 knots. Sadly for the sun worshippers, the sun is remaining very evasive. Having praised the entertainment programme on all the sea days so far this cruise, I’m afraid that today was as bad as we’ve had on the other P&O ships last year. No guest lecturer, no music recitals and no ‘audience with’ style of shows. I hope that this won’t be the case for all 3 of our sea days to the Bahamas, but I fear that it might (Edit - Since writing this I’ve seen Mondays Horizon and I’m pleased to see that normal service will resume tomorrow). The sole thing of interest during the day was the port lecture on Miami. After breakfast we called at the excursion desk to explain our concern about US border control. For those who haven’t read my updates, Port Canaveral is our first US port on Friday. I am due to go on a transfer to the Kennedy Space Centre at 0830 which, unfortunately my wife cannot join me on as it’s not accessible. I will be fast tracked through border control but my wife will still be on the ship, and would be unable to deal with her clearance until I get back late afternoon which, apparently, might be too late. I asked for advice at reception but they were most unsympathetic and unhelpful. Thankfully the lady on the excursion desk was ten times better and completely understood our difficulties. She has promised to speak to the Customer Service Manager and get back to us. I want to get this nailed well before we arrive so as to avoid major problems on the day. Whilst the entertainment today is dire, we thankfully had a diversion at lunchtime with a wine tasting and nibbles session, organised by the Glasshouse but held in the Alexandria MDR. We struck lucky joining a table of dining companions who share a table at dinner. They were great fun. We all agreed that the English Bacchus wine was truly awful, the two reds were drinkable but unimpressive and the Peller Ice Cuvée and Blandys Malmsy Madeira were both very nice indeed! As the wine was only accompanied by small cubes of cheese, we decided to go the the Glasshouse for a proper lunch afterwards. We both had a 6oz fillet steak with prawns and both agreed that it was the best meal that we have had on this ship since we joined 12 days ago - by some margin. Absolutely superb and cooked beautifully (we both wanted Medium so asked for Medium Rare in the knowledge that it would be Medium). Of course, we washed this down with a large glass each of the recommended red wine. Having finished that we decided to go to Raffles for a hot drink, and one of the couples who we’d sat with at the wine tasting came up and we enjoyed a half hour chat with them. Having drunk more alcohol today than we have any other day of the cruise, a pre dinner rest (nap) in the cabin was in order. Sometimes it’s best not to fight these things 😂 MDR dinner was an average affair again. The evening entertainment was a comedian. We really don’t like cruise ship comedians, so that was a no for us. When Horizon arrived we were pleased to see that that tomorrow’s entertainment is much better and includes guest speaker Christopher Biggins. I suspect that he will be fun.

Does that only apply to Select fares though? Whilst it may be the case that the Select fare won’t be bettered after launch, are you saying that P&O will no longer try to fill the last available cabins with bargain Late Saver fares? Many of us have now got wise to not booking at launch (as we always used to do) but booking within a couple of months of the cruise for substantially less than the Select fare has ever been. Would P&O prefer to ditch this approach and sail with empty cabins?

Wow! A free Ultimate Drinks Package and no idea why? What a lovely start, although I would be needing to find out why 😂. I can’t imagine why P&O didn’t gift us a free drinks package on Aurora. I looked at it before we left home, for amusement more than anything else, and it was only £6,500 😱🤣

US Immigration Update I have spoken to a lovely lady on the shore excursions desk this morning, who was far more empathetic towards my wife’s potential difficulties (dealing with US immigration whilst I am on an all day tour) than the two staff on reception were. She is going to speak to the Customer Service Manager and will get back to me. I shall provide another update in due course.

Todays MDR menus

Other than the one on our door, no 😂

Ah, that explains it then 😂

Funny you should mention that. Apparently on another site, somebody on this cruise is doing just that. I shall pass no comment other than to quote what someone else said there in response - “Really? On an adult only ship”. Mercifully I have not come across them myself!

Day 11 - Saturday 13th January - Bermuda As mentioned in yesterdays blog we were late arriving and even though we are a small ship and the only cruise ship in Bermuda today, we didn’t berth in Hamilton itself, but at the dockyard which is on the opposite side of the island to the capital. Horizon was showing a revised arrival time of 11am and, as a result, I’d had a letter to say that my 9.30am tour will now be departing at 10.30am 🤔😂 As it happened we were alongside and clear to disembark by 10am. We had a brief breakfast in the Medina restaurant prior to me disembarking in order to join the ‘Bermuda Island Drive’ tour. The tour was in a minibus with about 20 or so of us with a driver who also acted as guide. He explained various things about the dockyard area as we drove through it and then maintained a fairly constant commentary throughout the tour. We drove across the world’s smallest drawbridge (32 inches, opening just enough to allow the mast of a yacht through) and our first stop was a tiny mid 17th century church. Whilst here our guide explained that all the roofs in Bermuda are limestone with a limestone cement over them, painted white. The cement is graduated down in steps and there is a gulley built in which sends rainwater to a holding tank. Houses around the island are a variety of pastel and brighter colours, but all have the obligatory white roof. Next stop was a beach where the sand is supposed to be pink (looked pretty normal sand colour to me, but it wasn’t sunny) and I lost my footing walking down the concrete steps to it but managed to recover and didn’t fall. That could have been a disaster as I would have really injured myself if I’d fallen. The water is a beautiful turquoise colour, even on a dull day. It must be stunning with the sun on it. We next went to Gibbs Lighthouse which is the highest point but, in itself, not that impressive. We had a 50 minute stop in the capital Hamilton which I have to say was underwhelming. The main drag, Front Street, reminded me of a U.K. seaside resort that has seen better days. The waterfront was OK, but nothing special. The main attraction for people seemed to be the Marks & Spencer store, which occupied the first floor of a department store! There were a few attractive buildings that we passed in the way out of town, en-route to St George, which is a UNESCO world heritage site and was the first capital of the island. This was a much prettier place than Hamilton. My wife hadn’t been able to come on the tour, so when I returned to the ship we both grabbed something to eat at the poolside grill and then went ashore at 5pm, just to look around the dockyard area. Unfortunately, everything shut at 5pm, so it was a brief walk around and then back on the ship. At 7pm there was a guy playing a steel pan (steel drum) in Carmens. I love a steel band, but one person on their own, especially when accompanied by recorded music, just didn’t work at all. Dinner was underwhelming again. At 10pm we went to the theatre and saw a local dance group perform a show entitled ’Echoes of Heritage’. It was basically a lot of people stomping around to drum beats whilst dressed in flamboyant costumes. After 15 minutes of repetition we lost interest and went back to our cabin. We leave Bermuda first thing tomorrow and then have 3 sea days before our next stop, which is Nassau in the Bahamas.

There’s rust along the sides and back as well. As I said, we noticed it in Madeira, even before the transatlantic.

A variety of shots from around Bermuda today

I meant to comment on this when I first noticed it in Madeira, but our beloved Aurora is looking quite shabby on the outside. Rust always happens with the salt spray, and the teams are usually very good at keeping on top of it, but on all our cruises on her I’ve never noticed it this bad. When she was alongside in Funchal, Ventura looked in far better shape. Here’s just one example…

My wife struggles to type now. Just one of the dozens of issues that blight her life. I refer to her challenges often so as to help prepare others who may be in a similar position. She reads all of my daily updates before I post so as to ensure that they are fair and balanced and cover her views as well as mine.

Just docking now (0930). The Captain has done really well, as this is earlier than he predicted. Once again, we are all incredibly grateful that he avoided the worst of the weather system. This minor delay is a tiny price to pay and well worth it. I have just flagged my concern about US immigration, and how my wife can be dealt with if I am on a tour, with reception. They weren’t terribly helpful but at least I’ve flagged it 6 days before we hit the US. I can see this will be an issue. Watch this space!

If this continues I shall close this thread. In conclusion I shall say this (not that I should have to justify it). You said that if you couldn’t have got a seat you would have returned to your cabin. Hopefully your condition would still enable you to do this unaided. My wife could not, without my assistance. Her disability is such that she may have a sudden need to use a bathroom and I have to assist her both to get there and whilst there. If I am sat away from her she cannot quietly advise me of this need and you can perhaps imagine the consequences. It is not just a ‘desire’ that some people want to sit adjacent to a full time wheelchair user. Now please let it rest.

Does anyone know if US immigration at Port Canaveral is usually carried out on the ship or in the terminal? If it’s on the ship my wife could come down with me when I do mine and I can whizz her back to the cabin before disembarking. If it’s done shoreside (as it was in New York) then that’s not an option.

The ferry from the dockyard to St George’s is supposed to be a summer only service, so not due to operate currently. I guess they may make an exception if a cruise ship is in? Thankfully my tour goes there anyway.

Yes I will check. We have quite a few days until we get there. When we did a transatlantic before, New York was our first port of call in the US. We were first off as I’d (deliberately) booked the first tour. We returned mid morning yet people were still queueing to get through immigration until mid afternoon. We didn’t attempt to get back on the ship but I’m sure others did. If not, they would have been waiting shoreside for at least 4 hours.

I really don’t want to start the usual ‘hidden disabilities’ debate that comes up every single time anyone mentions an issue and, as I said in my post, I’m not criticising the passengers. There are plenty of seats marked for accessible use, but only two in the whole theatre allow a wheelchair user to sit alongside their companion. On the newer ships, these seats are specifically designated as companion seats for wheelchair users and it would be helpful if the same could be done on Aurora. As I say, I am talking about just 2 seats.

🤣 P&O should really put a sign on the one seat each side where a companion can sit next to their partner in a wheelchair that says “Wheelchair Companion Only”. Unfortunately they just have the standard accessibility symbol on them, like all the other accessible seats, so anyone who uses an accessible seat can sit in them. It’s a particular challenge because of the passenger age profile on Aurora. There are a lot of elderly folk who may have a Blue Badge at home, or use a walking stick, who use these seats. Obviously they are perfectly entitled to do so, but they could easily use the other accessible seats and many would if the 2 seats were clearly marked as for wheelchair companions only.

I’ll try to explain what I meant. I am going on a tour that leaves the ship fairly soon after we arrive. As a result, those of us on early tours will be the first to go through US border control. My wife is remaining in the ship in the cabin, so will not have done this. When I return from the tour, there will only be a few hours left before the ship leaves. I am assuming that, at this stage, I will need to take my wife through US border control, but as this may take some time (although, being late in the day I’d hope that queues would be minimal) we will probably only have time to do that and nothing else, so won’t have time to leave the ship (or the terminal, if border control is there). My wife would be unable to get her US entry clearance done whilst I am off the ship, as she has a manual wheelchair and needs my assistance. She would also be unable to wait in long queues, hence my thought that I’d assist her to get this done when I return to the ship and it’s much quieter. I will check with reception prior to our arrival in Port Canaveral that this plan will work.

Day 10 - Friday 12th January - At Sea Our last sea day prior to our first new port of the cruise (Bermuda) and thankfully we woke to much calmer seas. It was nice to be able to shower without having to periodically grab hold of the rail to steady yourself! The flip side is that whilst the sea is calmer, the sunny weather of the last few days has been replaced with a dull and cloudy sky and wind. Our dinner companions have done the transatlantic crossing to the Caribbean 5 or 6 times and say that it’s usually much calmer, and this has been their worst crossing. Just our luck 😂. I suspect the fact that our first stop is in Bermuda has a lot to do with it, as we are taking a more northerly track and therefore caught the southern end of the bad weather system. Hopefully Ventura, whose first stop is in the Caribbean (so has been taking a more southerly track), will have had a much smoother crossing without such heavy swells. The Medina MDR was busy again for breakfast but our pager for a table for two sounded within far less than 5 minutes. They really are super efficient at turning tables around on this ship, and you don’t get the annoying and inefficient table ‘down time’ that we’ve noticed on the ships that use the app. At 11am we attended Dick Taylor’s last talk entitled “The Way we Were”, which was a nostalgic and amusing look back at the 60s, 70s and 80s, mostly the through the lens of TV ads. Whilst we are a fair bit younger than the average passenger on this cruise, we still recognised almost all of the ads! I hope that our future guest lecturers will be as engaging as him and that the subject matter is as good as the subjects he chose. During the middle part of the day there was an event called “The Story Begins” on deck 12 which was advertised as showcasing the numerous countries that we are visiting on this Grand Tour. The atrium had also been adorned with all the different flags, which really brings home what a great itinerary this cruise has. In essence, it was nothing more than some tables selling ships services, a singer, plus a very busy deck barbeque. We skipped this as my wife hates crowds (being low down in a wheelchair) and went to the MDR for lunch. I wish that we hadn’t, as it was my worst meal of the cruise by far. I’m afraid that I didn’t enjoy a single course. You can’t win ‘em all! At 2.15pm we attended actor John Lyon’s final talk on his career, which included an interesting story where Reggie Kray virtually saved his life! He gets off in Bermuda and flys to Fort Lauderdale, where he joins Arcadia at Port Everglades on 16th. Still in the theatre, there was the talk on our 4th port of call, Port Canaveral. I didn’t glean much of interest, other than the fact that there’s a free shuttle to Cocoa Beach, but I’m sorted there as I’m doing the transfer to the Kennedy Space Centre and I don’t think that there will be enough time to do Cocoa Beech when I get back, especially as my wife won’t have cleared US immigration. After that we went for a coffee in Raffles, during which time the Captain announced that the large detour that he took to avoid the worst of the mid Atlantic storm would result in a 3 to 4 hour delay getting in to Bermuda. I guess that’s a small price to pay for what would have been a most unpleasant experience. Strangely, we’ve been running slower than Auroras designed operating speed, which would have easily got us there on time even with the detour, but I guess there’s a balance to be struck between maintaining timings on the one side, versus passenger comfort and fuel cost on the other. Thankfully we are overnight in Bermuda so it hopefully won’t impact on our visit too much, but I’m rather glad now that, on the spur of the moment two days ago, I booked a full island tour on the basis that I’ll only ever visit once and it’s a place I’ve always wanted to go to. I won’t now have the stress of trying to adapt DIY plans to suit the revised timings. We are berthing at the dockyard and my wife says that she’s not worried about going into Hamilton and is content with just looking around the dockyard area when I return. I’m told it’s quite nice and there’s a bit to see. I just hope that things will still be open when I get back from my tour. I’d be tempted to have dinner ashore (if there’s anywhere suitable in the dockyard area) but apparently Bermuda is ridiculously expensive. I attempted to do my daily exercise on the promenade deck but annoyingly the whole of the port side (where the sun was - ish) was closed “for operational reasons”. I know that we all laugh at P&Os constant use of that expression to justify unpopular things, but the sign really did say that (unfortunately I didn’t have my phone on me to take a photo). I gave up after what must have been the equivalent of 4 or 5 laps as it was boring and windy just going up and down on the shady side! At 7pm the Everly Beyond tribute were performing again, but this time in Carmens. We went along and I enjoyed it, but the best I could get out of my wife was that it was better than the first performance 🙄. Whilst the music is from our parents generation, I knew all but one of the timeless classics! I was surprised to hear that the two performances that we saw were their first ever performances on any cruise ship. I think they will be keepers and will become a regular act with P&O. After dinner we went to Neil Lockwoods second show. It’s challenging enough to find a spot with a wheelchair in the theatre on Aurora as it is, as only two spaces (one each side) allow the companion to sit alongside and are often occupied by those who aren’t wheelchair companions, but now we have an added irritant. A female passenger, whose husband is in a wheelchair, talks incessantly to him through every theatre performance, much to the annoyance of those around her. It drives me mad, so now we have to make sure that we sit the opposite side of the theatre to them otherwise we are within earshot. We still get the late arrivals standing behind us, who also think it’s acceptable to comment on every aspect of the show (once they’ve discussed at full volume whether there are any seats they can get to). What is it with these people? Rant over 😂. Another hugely impressive performance by Neil Lockwood. His singing voice is pretty good but it is as a guitarist and, in particular as a pianist, where he excels. He did a rapid fire classical melody based on Rimsky-Korsakovs ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’ that was just sensational. His talking voice is amusing as, like many ‘artists’ he has a mid-Atlantic drawl. If you close your eyes you’d think you were listening to Eddie Izzard 😂 He also disembarks tomorrow, so we have a 100% change in speakers and artists. If the next batch are as good as the first then we shall be very lucky. Tomorrow Bermuda.

I know that the laundrette is the social hub of a ship, but as I spend my life doing absolutely everything at home, this holiday needs to be a break for me as well, so I’m just going to suffer the cost of having it done by someone else. I can live with 10 items for £32 (less loyalty discount) to cover shirts and trousers, but I draw the line paying for underwear! Re the ESTA, the chap had an approved one before the cruise. They wouldn’t let people board the ship without one. A problem seems to have arisen with his whilst he’s been on the cruise. I’ve read elsewhere that this happened to someone else just days before the cruise. We are currently 3 hours behind the UK. We go back another hour tonight as Bermuda is 4 hours behind. Then we will lose another hour before the USA.

Display boards from todays “The Story Begins” event, depicting the whole route and then split into named segments.