Mid Cruise Update plus Question

Hi

Thought would write from our easy chair in Champions, taking advantage of the air conditioning considering it's 33 degrees outside. So hot that we've decided not to go to port in Sibenik after our exhausting but stunning day in Venice yesterday (32 degrees, 87% humidity).

I love sailing from port to port. One day we were atop Mt Etna, two days later we were in a gondola on the grand canal. Amazing.

The ship is nice. No real wow factor but comfortable and the longer we are on board the more I am liking her. The lounges and bars are all quite small and separate so there is a lack of sense of space but the Crows Nest is lovely. Most bars etc have windows so we can sit and read and see the ocean from many places.

The lack of feeling of space inside is made up for with the amount of outside space. The promenade is so wide, the tiered stern is lovely. It's the summer holidays so the terrace bar/pool and crystal pool are very busy with kids/families making them de facto family-only places so that does cut down on the outdoor areas we can go but we haven't felt like we've struggled to find places to sit as long as we avoid the pools (they aren't really enforcing the "adults only" Riviera pool either so there are always a few younger teenagers there but no actual toddlers or younger kids playing about etc).

The kids on board seem extremely well behaved and away from the pools and buffet we hardly notice them. A couple of lads are getting more boisterous as time wears on but I'd be exaggerating if I said it was a problem. Like I say we hardly see them and most we see are very polite and well mannered etc etc.

Buffet is dire. Seriously. MDR food and service both good. We've eaten in Glass House twice (excellent) and Beach House once (food ok, setting beautiful on the open deck with the classical guitarist playing).

Not much to do during the day aside from bingo, crafts and sales pitches which is a bit of an issue as we have ten days at sea. Eg there are no musicians playing during the day, they only show afternoon movies on port days(!?) etc.

Headliners pretty awful but the other musicians make up for it. The classical guitarist Paul Anderson is simply stunning. Breathtaking. I had tears in my eyes watching his show last night. He also plays around the ship in the evenings. There is also a young French pianist and he is also really good.

We've had some utterly perfect days. The poor buffet food, lack of musicians during the day notwithstanding the ship is comfortable and I feel very lucky to be on this "voyage".

Oh, our cabin F216 we got via saver fare and we really like it. It's low down, almost at the water line it seems so the view from the window is always gorgeous. We hear lots of mechanical noise (humming, some clanking, water hitting the ship or being drawn in for desalination) but we sort of like that. They are "ship noises" although I think some might be bothered by it. No noise bleeding through from other cabins, corridors or the MDR above us.

We are on the verge of booking this same ship for the northern lights November 2018. The only thing stopping us is a bit of a worry about the fact that with most people being indoors on an itinerary like that (whereas at the moment most are sat on deck) it might get very very full. So my question is to anyone who has done a cold weather cruise on her what their experience was?

Thanks all

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A good question to consider. We have done the Northern Lights on Oriana ( adults only) and with the seriously sub zero temperatures outside in the Arctic Circle everyone does of course head inside. Oriana also got quite crowded inside and it was often not easy for a variety of reasons to get a seat in the venue of your choice to just sit and have a drink and watch the scenery and marine life. This was especially a problem as activities were also scheduled in the bars and reserved seating, making fewer seats available for general use.

You haven't actually said which ship you are on.

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Thanks. Yeah that's what's worrying me. Was it enough of a problem that it would put you off doing that one again? Were there more/additional activities laid on due to the itinerary (related to the location) or just poor scheduling?

On Aurora (current ship) they mostly seem to be in the show lounges so not in the main bars/lounges.

It's a great itinerary.

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It was poor scheduling of activities like crafts and art classes running simultaneously, morning and afternoon and taking out two large areas of the Crows Nest. It wouldn't have been so bad if only one at a time. Although some were only scheduled for an hour or so, the seating was reserved much earlier and people came along earlier and stayed on to chat afterwards. But no, it definitely wouldn't put us off doing that cruise again. It was fabulous and a unique experience!

Sorry you didn't like the buffet on Aurora we were on her in June and felt it was very good with a good choice of food and clean. We only went on embarkation, one lunch and breakfast on the last morning.

We were looking forward to watching films on sea days but were disappointed that there wasn't more films shown as there is a dedicated movie theatre for this.

We really liked the size of Aurora and would not hesitate booking another cruise. For a small ship there are certainly lots of bars and entertainment areas.

Glad you are enjoying your cruise, but a bit concerned to hear the buffet is "dire" (as that's where we usually take breakfast and lunch) and that the entertainment is a bit lacking too, as I think we are on her next after you. On our Aurora cruise 5 years ago we found that the entertainment did not appeal (and we like most things) and ended up playing cards a lot of the time. I hoped we'd just been unlucky on that occasion. The shows on our last cruise on Britannia were brilliant so I was hoping for more of the same. Never mind, I've still got sunshine, cocktails and no work/housework to look forward to!

Regarding your question about a Northern Lights cruise in November. I have a Norwegian friend who tells me that you are likely to get more cloud cover at that time of the year than, say, Feb/March when Oriana tends to go, which would make it more unlikely that you would see the Lights.

Aurora is a gorgeous ship. She was our first large ship back in 2001 and is still one of our favourites. Glad you are enjoying her. 😊

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I might be wrong but I think the buffet is always good at breakfast on most ships but it's the lunch and dinner that aren't so good.

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Unfortunately Jan-April are out for us due to Hubby's job. My job usually rules out the latter part of the year (hence the sweat in intimate places in the med in August) but am thinking I might just wangle the Nov/Dec dates for this (I work for myself so I might give myself the time off[emoji6]).

Re:the buffet the breakfast is ok; there is no black pudding or hash browns on the cooked breakfast, the toast is pre-cooked and piled high in a serving tray so usually lukewarm/cold etc. They do have an omelette station that makes made-to-order omelettes though which is good. The cereal selection is good too. We haven't tried dinner there but lunch is bad. I have ended up leaving half of it whenever we've used it, it just tastes bad or is very poor quality or something. It's just bad. The only time I've managed to finish was when I got a jacket potato from the crystal pool and made a salad to go with it. Hubby is less fussy, he finishes it, but even he thinks it's poor.

It's not ruining anything for us, for the price they charge it's fine (we stayed at the premier inn the night before the cruise and the nightly charge for this cruise is the same as we got charged for the premier inn so at that price we aren't upset that the buffet is poor). Apparently according to our dinner guests the lunch served in the MDR is good but we don't fancy a formal sit down affair in there - I'm assuming it's similar to dinner but not sure. Dinner is always good wherever we've eaten that. All in all I wouldn't let the buffet put anyone off[emoji106]

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Oh, I have another question. Dining times. On this cruise we've ended up with 6:30 which means we often don't go to dinner because we've not long got back from an excursion or we want to stay on deck and watch the land roll by eg Messina straits, Venice, Croatian coast etc.

So if we book another we'd opt for 8:30 or freedom. Only I was thinking that with the lack of evening light in the arctic winter maybe that won't matter? Or that for evening excursions an earlier dinner might be better?

Again anyone with any experience I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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We've booked 2nd sitting for years and years. Apparently most passengers want either 1st sitting or Freedom dining, so there is normally plenty of room in 2nd.

You would be correct that it would not matter re. light as it would be dark extremely early, especially high up in Artic Circle where the Sun doesn't rise above the horizon over Winter.

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When you are in the ports in the Arctic Circle ( Tromso and Alta ) there are lots of excursions in the evening and also people likely to be wanting to be up on deck ready to catch the lights as soon as it gets dark ... Dining is made flexible on those 4 nights to accommodate this so you could go to whichever sitting you wished in whichever of the MDRs you wanted. You are not held to the dining you are allocated for the rest of the cruise.

 

Dining is made flexible on those 4 nights to accommodate this so you could go to whichever sitting you wished in whichever of the MDRs you wanted. You are not held to the dining you are allocated for the rest of the cruise.

Oh, now that is very civilised! Thank you!

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Yes we were very impressed by the flexibility. Also the Captain used to announce over the tannoy if he spotted the lights or any interesting marine life so everyone would dash off up to the deck or to windows to see. It was a very exciting cruise and a real adventure but please remember that you are not guaranteed to see the Northern Lights. They are very elusive

We did the Christmas Markets cruise on Aurora last December and thought she was perfect for cold weather. Having the covered pool meant you didn't have to go out in the cold and could still swim. The ship didn't feel crowded and although we didn't have as many sea days as you will we found plenty to occupy ourselves.

Thanks all - sweltering here in 38 degrees in Dubrovnik with 42 degrees forecast for Sardinia...

An arctic cruise is sounding awesome about now.

Ps wow - how gorgeous is Dubrovnik!!

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I agree with Dorset cruise fan - we too were on that Aurora cruise last December, the ship looked lovely with all the Christmas decorations in place. We never found the ship crowded, even on sea days. I'll never forget the send off we got from the choir in, I think it was Copenhagen, an all girl group, dressed in red velvet with white fur, just like the end of the White Christmas film, marching up and down and singing Carols. It was magical.

I'm Aurora after you; sorry to hear the buffet is bad. Last time I used it (I don't like it so don't go there very often) it was just ok. Can't stand the scrum in there at breakfast so usually go to the MDR.

We booked[emoji4][emoji4][emoji106]

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Talking about the Northern lights. We were on Oriana back in March and had sensational viewings of the lights. Worth noting however that more cruises do not see them than do. And we paid around 100 pounds for a specific viewing excursion but no lights on that. Best viewing was on board in Alta the next night. So think twice before splashing out. Oriana was going back again straight after our trip and we heard they didn't see the lights. BTW we heard that Joanna Lumley was there for 13 nights before she saw them, but the cameras couldn't pick them up. On telly they used cgi to make them appear behind her!

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Yeah they are a rare thing aren't they. A friend of mine did a trip to see them but didn't get to (not on a cruise) so I know there's no guarantee, it was just make it more special if we do.

Oddly enough I did see them in South Wales when I was 18 albeit not the twisting, turning strings of lights you see in pictures and I actually didn't know what it was. It was about 1am and I was walking home from a friends house and the whole sky seemed green, then later it seemed purple.

The next day I was in my form tutor registration class talking about it and our form tutor (a geography teacher) got quite excited and started telling us it was the northern lights, they'd apparently (extremely rarely) been seen that far south and he was gutted he hadn't seen them himself.

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I'm glad you have booked, it's a fabulous cruise.

Did you do 'The Game of Thrones' tour today? If so how was it?

Wonderful! We are going to the arctic circle next year on Princess. Hope you are having a fab time x

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@florry yes it's a lovely cruise - if anyone is on a future cruise with Paul Anderson (classical guitarist) he is amazing.

@happyv in the end I didn't do the tour (way too hot) but my partner did and he loved it. They got to play with replica swords of Jon Snow and the Lannister sword, rang the bell and shouted "Shame" at him as he walked down the steps for the walk of shame etc.

Lots of titbits about filming (bearing in mind the gag order the extras have to sign), photo ops at key scenes etc etc. He really enjoyed it. He would recommend it.

This company only have 9 people max on the tour (he saw other tours with whole coach loads etc) and they are real fans of the show (his particular guide hosts the dubrovnik Facebook page for the GOT show etc etc).

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