pete14

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.

Starlink is not on Aurora yet. The email with the discount offer I responded to implied quite strongly that it was much improved but didn’t mention Starlink. It depends what you want to do. We were not looking to do anything really complicated, just browsing and email etc and it was OK for that. We had a couple of outages of several hours for which we have been refunded (only on request I believe). Despite her age, I think Aurora is a lovely ship. We found issues with the offerings in the MDR which I may expand upon further to end my blog. Sindhu and the Beach House are quite small and booked up quickly so if you want to use them, book them as soon as online bookings are available. I hope you have a great cruise.

Thanks for letting us know about this unfortunate incident. I was not aware of this although I have mentioned black ice on the pavement so it is not surprising it was also on the roads as well. I hope everybody came out of it unscathed. I am sure there will be questions asked and answers sought from P&O but I presume, mainly the local tour provider. Quite clearly, it should not have happened

It was raining practically all the way back from Southampton to Stoke but we managed to get back in good time.

Not tomorrow please. There is a lot of clothes washing to do.

I am currently on Aurora and have booked the internet for the whole cruise for one device. Access can only be from one device at a time (obviously) but if you try to log on from a different device, it asks whether you want to disconnect the device logged on. If so, it disconnects the other device so you can log on.

As we are currently on our last night of a similar cruise on Aurora, I wish everybody on board well. We have been lucky with the weather, I hope it abates soon for Arcadia. If they see as much of the Northern Lights as we did, they are likely to forget about the bad weather at the moment fairly quickly. I hope so.

I’m sorry, I can’t really help with disabled access to the shuttle bus. I don’t recall seeing one waiting as we left but there was one there when we got back. It appeared to be an ordinary coach. There were a couple of people on mobility scooters and one being pushed in a wheelchair that we passed on out walk back. Whether the one pushing the wheelchair actually reached the higher part of the bridge, I don’t know, I certainly would not have been happy to have swapped with him because it was quite a pull up to the top. I always find the final day a little depressing. Gervase Phinn lifted the mood with an excellent 45 minute presentation over wide ranging topics, not just school. Sadly for some on this forum, he is not booked onto any more P&O cruises, just a couple on Saga. Whilst mentally he is still very sharp, physically he struggles a little, especially in heavier seas. There was a moment this morning when he was interrupted by an announcement in the theatre through the tannoy, for exercise a first aid team was needed………in the recycling area. Of course, nobody laughed…not. Wine tasting in the glass house followed lunch in the buffet and a few hours later, we returned there for our evening meal. We seem to have missed the bad weather that Arcadia is experiencing on her way North. I wish her, and all those sailing on her, well as they continue their Arctic adventure. We have been very lucky with the weather, I hope it clears up for them as well. We are now approaching the Straits of Dover so I guess my final update will be from home in sunny Stoke on Trent.

So sorry to hear your sad news Josy and thanks for feeling you can share with our community on here.

Although we had a bit of a swell for a couple of days, it is currently calm with what I would call a stiff breeze, contrary to what I saw on the shipping forecast yesterday before the internet stopped. Hopefully, it will continue like this.

Sorry for no update yesterday, the internet was down again. As it was sold to us as new improved internet, I feel somewhat underwhelmed by it although most of the time it has been just about OK. For days when it isn’t working, and this was the second, so 20%, it seems as though you have to report it to reception in order to get the day refunded. Not a great deal to report from yesterday. Haugesund was quite nice although the shopping streets seemed a bit run down. Made me a bit homesick really. About 3/4 of a mile walk into town. It transpired as though there were shuttle buses but not advertised in Horizon, and judging by the number walking into town, including those with mobility issues, not widely known about. Although the temperature was about 5 degrees, there were icy patches on the pavement so we didn’t see all the town has to offer for fear of breaking an ankle or something. We ate in the Glasshouse again in preference to the MDR which we have lost some faith in. Menu choices are very limited, the ability to tweak dishes to meet dietary requirements known about in advance is still lacking (why the need for a low fat diet means Christmas dinner came without stuffing and cranberry sauce defeats me) and only partially cooking potato products of various types is not really acceptable. Pheasant breast was on the menu again last night. I only hope it was more easily edible than a few nights ago. To end on some good and surprising news, even though we sailing between the South of Norwayish and the North of Scotladish, we were able to see patches of the Northern Lights, accentuated with the camera on my phone. Not as impressive as further North but a bit of a surprise. Anyway, next stop is Southampton tomorrow morning and the ship has that sort of feel about it. At least Pete junior’s watch is keeping good time.

Seems as though Whitebridge wine tasting was even better than we thought it might have been.

As some / many on here know, we have caravan near Abergele. Have played there, in the shade of the ‘I’m a Celebrity’ castle a couple of times with mixed success.

If you don’t mind me asking (shame there is not a pm facility on here), can you give me a clue where you play? Doesn’t matter if you don’t want to but just curious.

Enjoy the wine tasting, just a pity we are in the glorious sunshine of Haugesund and not Stoke. We will undoubtedly be with you in spirit.

The tiffin lunch is not every day, in fact I think yesterday was the only day it was scheduled. On Aurora, Sindhu is quite small so does get booked up quickly. Quality of the experience is excellent. We get back on Monday. Between then and your cruise, it is doing a short Amsterdam cruise. I think the glasshouse opens on boarding day but not at lunchtime. We had a very enjoyable meal in there last night. I am getting a bit disillusioned with the MDR evening meal which I may say more about later. Quality is fine but choice is poor.

I did enjoy it thanks. I don’t think a small travel sized can of WD 40 will be sufficient, lovely ship though she is.

I am not sure everybody is being serious in their remarks. Of course Santa will arrive in good time, dispensing good cheer, turkey and a fine stuffing to go with it. If the skies are clear for Stokiegolfer in Alta, Rudolph’s nose may be clearly visible alongside the green in the sky, that would make a good photo which I expect to see on here. By the way, Stokiegolfer may appreciate the fact that the crockery on P&O is made by Dudson and that in Sindhu by a subsidiary of Churchill. You can always tell if somebody is from the fine city of Stoke on Trent, because whenever they have a plate put in front of them, they always look underneath it to see whether it is of sufficient quality to be made in the Potteries, or at least for a company based there. I always find that sea days towards the end of a cruise lack the anticipation and excitement of those at the beginning. Once you have drunk your way through the wine list, sampled everything off the breakfast menu, had your fill of singers and comedians etc, some of the magic dissipates. There has been a sense of that today, which we have tried to dispel. We had the Tiffin Box lunch in Sindhu which was excellent, highly recommended. I was actually allowed to sit where the Captain sits for breakfast which for sad minded people like me was quite a thrill. For the first time in living memory, we chose not to observe formal night (to give it it’s old name) and ate in the Glasshouse. What a good decision! As with all speciality restaurants we have tried, it was excellent in every respect. Service was brilliant, the food was superbly presented and tasted great, the extra cost, even bearing in mind we had already paid to eat in the MDR, was a bargain and, to the delight of some on here, I had a glass of Peller Ice as an aperitif. This drinks package is very handy. Pete junior has a bit of a penchant for nice watches. I committed a great error in allowing him to look at what the jeweller was selling (not that I could stop him as he is taller, more well built and of course younger than me). They actually had one he really likes which, even before Peninsular Club discount, was considerably cheaper than reputable dealers online were charging so he took the plunge and treated himself. I am sure they will be very happy together and I am pleased he seemed to get a bargain. There is currently a singer in the theatre who I don’t really have any great desire to listen to, so am writing this whilst she is thrilling the audience with her obvious vocal dexterity (or something similar). Then another chunk of the book I am reading about a Norwegian private investigator before an early night to catch up on my sleep. If Selbourne has any of his giant can of WD40 left, perhaps he can airlift it to us because, nice as though Aurora is, she doesn’t half creak with every breath of wind, especially if the sea is rougher than the average millpond, which it has been since last night. Motion Discomfort Receptacles are hanging from the banisters.

Not through choice but it was quite a nice atmosphere and the decorations have been up for more than a week. The roast Turkey joint was very tasty, the sausage was fine, the roast potato and vegetables were as you would expect and the stuffing us was…………….P and O stuffing. They have to practice cooking and serving Christmas dinner sometime in order for it to be perfect when it needs to be so why not last night with such discerning clientele? Just a pity Eric and Ern were in the theatre the night before (Christmas Eve) rather than the big day itself which is customary and traditional.

That is exactly how it was done. On boarding we were directed to our muster station and then to lunch. We didn’t even have to prove that we know how to put a life jacket on.