pete14

But sunrise in Arctic Norway at this time of year is much much closer to noon than midnight so not quite as obvious as it would appear.

Maybe it is the M and S way of persuading shoppers to use cash and not a card. Mind you, in the last month, I have tried to buy things in other shops where there are no self service tills. After waiting a few minutes for someone to come to the till to serve, I and others in the queue left the items we wanted to buy on the counter and walked out without them.

Not just discriminatory, derogatory and ageist but M and S discriminatory, derogatory and ageist. 😊

Yes there are plenty of staff but I think it is unreasonable to expect them to stand around all night waiting for people to return from where they have been, or to leave the ship, in the sort of temperatures experienced on these cruises. I guess you have never been on a winter Northern Lights cruise. I will say no more because I don’t want to become involved in a debate on this issue, especially as you appear to have little concern for the health and well being of the crew who serve us so well.

Sorry, I was not considering that. I wonder whether a full suite has ever been available to be featured in the bidding system.

Because there are only a limited number of suites, they tend to sell quickly so it is likely that an upgrade is not possible because suites are sold out.Maybe a mini suite is available to upgrade to, but it does not include many benefits, certainly not the speciality restaurant breakfast, butler nor free food service. If you do find a suite to upgrade to, the price you will pay is the price that existed at the time of your original booking which may be to your advantage.

Our recent cruise on Aurora to the north of Norway was the same but I didn’t pick up any adverse comments. I realise it says ‘overnight in port’ but it also says depart early morning’ and that this could be a bit confusing, but I don’t see any real cause for complaint. I must say that I think it is a bit unfair to expect crew members to man the gangway and scan you back onboard in the early hours of the morning in potentially extreme cold weather.

Are you sure you wouldn’t like to reconsider. If they have a youngster lined up, he will surely benefit from such an experienced mentor to work with and guide him.

Graham, if you want Alex Neal back, not many Stoke fans will raise a voice in opposition.

I am so sorry for your losses Josy. I am sure you will have the inner strength to get through it. As others have said, you will have many cherished memories that you will never forget.

The 10% discount I took advantage of was for booking early on launch. No doubt, in the 2+ years between now and sailing, there will be other offers, especially if the cruise isn’t selling well. Maybe the 5% discount that Fred offers is balanced by offering less OBC. I always think the most reliable cost of the cruise is the Fare minus the OBC. I would be astonished if I could book a suite on Fred for what I paid for this one, whether I take the generous OBC into account or not.

We certainly received the full 10% discount off the cruise we booked yesterday for January 2026. From my experience, booking during this introductory stage is financially worthwhile, especially for cabins that sell out quickly and don’t make it to the later ‘saver’ stage. The OBC we received was greater than the difference between select and early saver, regardless of the other lesser benefits.

Yes and no.

Midships on R deck. Shame it is not aft but that or nothing.

Booked last remaining suite leaving on Jan 10 2026, returning on Jan 24 2026, flying from Manchester. Crazy price and more OBC than I have ever seen for a 14 night cruise.

There was one available but no longer. 😊😉

As I said in my blog recently, food in MDR was OK but got a bit ‘samey’. If you can, I would try to book Sindhu and Beach House at least once each, preferably this morning before you board. The Glasshouse is a good alternative but small and no advance bookings. If you have special dietary needs, I hope you haven’t told them and just choose sensibly from the menu.

We had the deluxe package on our recent Aurora cruise. I agree with the more recent comments here. Our favourite wine is around £15 for a large 250ml glass, but there are many that are cheaper and a few a little more expensive I think. Three glasses throughout the day covers the cost so any others, whether alcoholic or not (including coffee), increase the value. For beer drinkers (about £5 a pint) or those happy with poorer quality wines or spirits, it may not be such good value. The package is personal preference of those in the cabin. For some it is well worth it, for others it is not.

It was the higher spec (ultimate one). For 11 nights, discounted on the offer and by Peninsular Club discount, it cost around £160. The daily refund for the two days where it was unavailable for many hours was £14 a day, which was about right. The main problem was the outages. It did run fairly slowly compared to home broadband but I did not really test it out by using it to do more complex things that require greater speed. Had I known that it was not the Starlink, I may still have bought it but may have been more greatly discouraged by the cost. Around half of the days on this cruise were sea days when onshore 4G was not an option.

Mrs Pete and Pete Junior were also able to use their 4G data for free, mine costs over £2 a day fee to get data etc for free. Having paid for the internet, I was determined to use it and of course if the Wi-Fi did slip into the maritime network without me noticing, my bill may have become very large.

I hope he recovers quickly. No doubt the accident form will be taken seriously in any investigation.

I knew nothing of the problems in Haugesund but we cut short our exploring of the town due to the patches of black ice on the pavements. I remember predicting to Pete Junior that there would be some people needing medical attention for falls. Were you on the coach that had the ‘accident’ on the ice?

So, after about 30 hours since we got back home, it is probably a good time to do an end of cruise review. I am not going to repeat what you have already read but to pick some highlights and a few drawbacks from what, all considered was an excellent holiday. The first highlight is the ship, creaks and all. I stood at the dockside beside her in Haugesund and thought to myself what a huge, but sleek, beautiful and streamlined ship. Then I thought of others in the fleet that accommodate around three times as many people and I couldn’t comprehend a ship so huge. I seem to forget sometimes that a ‘small ship’ can seem so huge. Internally, she is attractive and homely. Public areas were welcoming, not one chair I sat in was uncomfortable, even in the theatre or cinema. Everything seemed clean and cared for. A great place to be. I didn’t ever feel that anywhere was crowded. The suite that the three of us shared was large and well appointed. The balcony was a bit shallow but big enough for all of to use to watch and photograph the highlights that Norway has to offer. The main television was a reasonable size, with a smaller one in the sleeping area. Picture quality was quite poor on some channels but quite honestly we didn’t watch it often. We tended to leave it on the ship’s navigation page. Dedicating a separate channel to inform us of sightings of the Northern Lights from the bridge rather broadcasting it through the cabins was a very good idea. Although it was generally clean, there were a few areas where a duster would have been appreciated. We did not encounter a single member of staff, from Captain Simon Love right through to those continually wiping down the banister rails on the stairs, who I would say was not a credit to P&O. They were hard working yet continually helpful, cheerful, friendly and polite. The crew can make or break a cruise, those on Aurora certainly helped make it what it was. I am not fond of the evening entertainment so did not go along to any performances. We had a couple of singers, comedians including Eric and Ern and of course Headliners. For nearly half the cruise, they were competing against the possibility of the Northern Lights making an appearance which was certainly our priority. Daytime entertainment consisted of different quizzes, choir, different varieties of dance, bingo, craft sessions and guest speakers and classical guitar recitals. Certainly something for every taste, including a team from Southampton putting on a professional Pantomime. There was no problem looking for things to include in the Horizon magazine. We pre purchased the deluxe drinks package and, even though we did not drink a large amount, it was probably worth it. I had Costa coffee with my breakfast every day and at other times, soft drinks or bottled water when thirsty and if I wanted a glass of wine in the Crow’s nest, adding more debits to our account did not enter into consideration. Whether it is worth it depends upon what you like to drink. For a beer drinker at £5 a pint you need to drink more than I could manage. For somebody who likes a good wine that is included in the package it is likely to cost in excess of £10. A large Brandy or Malt Whisky is around £8 so it can easily cover the cost of the package over the period of a day. Some will no doubt win, others will lose. I think we won. The day when we spent over an hour in ‘whale infested’ waters and then a display of the elusive Lights at night was the most magical day. Other nights when the Lights appeared were a bonus and makes you appreciative of the wonders that nature produces. Breakfast in Sindhu was consistently excellent in every respect. At lunchtimes we mainly used the buffet and on a couple of occasions, room service. The buffet had an excellent selection of food, well laid out and of good quality. It would have been better had trays been provided but this is something most of us on here have agreed with for some time. The select dining in Sindhu, the Beach House and Glasshouse were all excellent as you would expect. Unfortunately, they are quite small so it can be difficult to get a booking because, not surprisingly they are fully booked. Best to book in advance. The main area that needs some attention is the MDR. We chose to eat at 6:30 on club dining and were allocated a table for four next to a large window for the three of us. Work certainly needs to be done on improving the menus. In order to do this, I think they need to drop the fine dining pretence and serve wholesome and more simple food. The absence of the Great British Classic in an error. Simple dishes such as pies, curry’s, pasta, sausages, braised steak and onions etc with chips, mash and simple but well cooked vegetables would be a welcome addition (not replacement) to widen choice. The requirement to include a fish dish, a vegetarian one and a vegan one, although necessary and desirable, seems to have adversely affected choice for the majority. In addition, the vegetarian and vegan dishes often seemed to have little or no protein. Vegetables, including potatoes were usually undercooked. Those who have been following the blog will know that Mrs Pete encountered serious issues with the special dietary needs she notified them about. Although this doesn’t affect a large number of people, it is of great importance and needs to be more specialised. However, I suspect that some who should notify P&O of their dietary needs, choose not to do so in order to make their own choices like they do at home. In order to prevent any further issues, we ate in the Glasshouse on the last three nights. Sorry to finish on a negative but hopefully somebody at P&O will read it and take notice. Many thanks to those of you who have been following and contributing your thoughts. It was an excellent first cruise since you know what and hopefully there will be many more. I will keep checking in case any of you want more information but if not, ta-ra, thanks for reading and may you have many more excellent cruises.

It was also included in the Glasshouse wine talk / tasting the other day and seemed to be appreciated widely.

It might be onboard but it certainly was not connected on Aurora. Or at least I hope it wasn’t connected because if it was, it is most underwhelming for a system that is supposed to be a big improvement.