Aurora is Ready for Christmas

[Eglesbrech]

Just back from a very enjoyable holiday on Aurora which is all ready for Christmas with pretty decorations and the smell of mulled wine in the air and I wanted to highlight a few things.

 

If you are travelling from the North there a major delays at Botley interchange and then again on the last bit of the journey where there were literally miles of cars waiting to get get through the Redbridge roundabout. The last short bit of the journey took over an hour last Friday.

We also saw one of the coaches about 4 hours from Southampton at 12 noon today so they were going to be very late. Give yourself plenty of time to travel, worse than I have ever seen before.

 

We were late leaving Cherbourg due to a technical issue with the sealing doors on decks 4,5,6 and did not leave until 11.20 (should have been 6pm) but got back in time as the Captain put the foot down. We disembarked at a different berth from embarkation (which we knew about before leaving but what we got was not what I expected) there was no air bridge . This meant that self disembarkation was horrendous and you and your case had to navigate down a very narrow and very, very steep set of stairs. Not fun. If they have changed where you arrive back you may find you get the same.

 

Food on the ship was good as was service in the MDR and little to no wait for a table in freedom dining if you were prepared to share. Much better than on Brittania imo. We met lots of pleasant and interesting people.

 

I did not enjoy this lot of headliners, they did not have the best voices but that is just my view. The other entertainers were very good as was the classical pianist. There were also some excellent films in the cinema.

 

It is the first time I have been on the ship since the refit and she looks good, the cabin was very fresh with nice soft green and cream colours.

 

Aurora is one of my favourite ships and she did not disappoint as ever.

 

 

[jeanlyon]

Don't you find this unbelievably early for Christmas?  Personally I am already sick of the Christmas Ads and shops with Christmas stuff in.  It's only 23rd November and I'm fed up with it already.

 

When I was a kid, we started making decoratiions around 15th December.  Soon we will starting it in June

😞

[AndyMichelle]

11 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Just back from a very enjoyable holiday on Aurora which is all ready for Christmas with pretty decorations and the smell of mulled wine in the air and I wanted to highlight a few things.

 

If you are travelling from the North there a major delays at Botley interchange and then again on the last bit of the journey where there were literally miles of cars waiting to get get through the Redbridge roundabout. The last short bit of the journey took over an hour last Friday.

We also saw one of the coaches about 4 hours from Southampton at 12 noon today so they were going to be very late. Give yourself plenty of time to travel, worse than I have ever seen before.

 

We were late leaving Cherbourg due to a technical issue with the sealing doors on decks 4,5,6 and did not leave until 11.20 (should have been 6pm) but got back in time as the Captain put the foot down. We disembarked at a different berth from embarkation (which we knew about before leaving but what we got was not what I expected) there was no air bridge . This meant that self disembarkation was horrendous and you and your case had to navigate down a very narrow and very, very steep set of stairs. Not fun. If they have changed where you arrive back you may find you get the same.

 

Food on the ship was good as was service in the MDR and little to no wait for a table in freedom dining if you were prepared to share. Much better than on Brittania imo. We met lots of pleasant and interesting people.

 

I did not enjoy this lot of headliners, they did not have the best voices but that is just my view. The other entertainers were very good as was the classical pianist. There were also some excellent films in the cinema.

 

It is the first time I have been on the ship since the refit and she looks good, the cabin was very fresh with nice soft green and cream colours.

 

Aurora is one of my favourite ships and she did not disappoint as ever.

 

 

Glad you had a great time. 

Aurora looks fantastic with the Decorations up. 

Last week in Brugge etc the Christmas markets were setting up, so we were a week too early. 

We did the Christmas markets on Aurora last year and had a great time. 

Andy 

[AndyMichelle]

The roads down here are atrocious at the moment and it will get worse with more roadworks planned in the run up to Christmas, so good advice to leave plenty of time. 

Andy 

 

[Eglesbrech]

30 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Don't you find this unbelievably early for Christmas?  Personally I am already sick of the Christmas Ads and shops with Christmas stuff in.  It's only 23rd November and I'm fed up with it already.

 

When I was a kid, we started making decoratiions around 15th December.  Soon we will starting it in June

😞

It is earlier than before, we were on Aurora a couple of years ago and it was the first week in December when they went up. It was an external company that did the decorating on this trip, they had branded t-shirts, perhaps they do all the ships and have to start with one - who knows.

[Eglesbrech]

40 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

Glad you had a great time. 

Aurora looks fantastic with the Decorations up. 

Last week in Brugge etc the Christmas markets were setting up, so we were a week too early. 

We did the Christmas markets on Aurora last year and had a great time. 

Andy 

The markets in Brugge were still not opening until today. But lots of nice Christmas chocolates etc.
 

The decorations in Rotterdam were up and very nice. We enjoyed a bit of Christmas shopping there too.

 

The ship had a “Santa’s grotto” board outside one of the shops but nothing much worth looking at, they may add more for December. Just a few decorations and sweets.

Edited November 23, 2019 by Eglesbrech

[Angel57]

Aurora always looks lovely when decorated for Christmas. I'm looking forward to the Christmas Markets cruise in a couple of weeks.....

[ToxM]

it looked to me like it was a company bought in to put the decorations up as I saw a few of them eating in the buffet and they had t-shirts on designating some company or other. It was very interesting to watch the decorations go up over the last week, it does look very nice!

[Rupert2251]

2 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

Don't you find this unbelievably early for Christmas?  Personally I am already sick of the Christmas Ads and shops with Christmas stuff in.  It's only 23rd November and I'm fed up with it already.

 

When I was a kid, we started making decoratiions around 15th December.  Soon we will starting it in June

😞

I used to work in retail where we will already have been receiving Christmas stock since June for it to go on sale at the end of Sept beginning of Oct. Stores are now into Easter, they have already had Valentines Day and Mothers Day so Christmas is already in the past.

 

[Lottie A]

On Aurora now and she does look beautiful with her Christmas decorations. Arrived in Amsterdam this morning...well Ijmuiden anyway! I’m doing a Windmills and Edam tour as I have been to Amsterdam many times. 
Food is very good, seas have been calm and the passengers are generally very pleasant! I would say the MDR was half empty last night as it was formal night and a lot of people did not bother to dress up. Those that did looked lovely! 
Having a great time! 

[AndyMichelle]

54 minutes ago, Lottie A said:

On Aurora now and she does look beautiful with her Christmas decorations. Arrived in Amsterdam this morning...well Ijmuiden anyway! I’m doing a Windmills and Edam tour as I have been to Amsterdam many times. 
Food is very good, seas have been calm and the passengers are generally very pleasant! I would say the MDR was half empty last night as it was formal night and a lot of people did not bother to dress up. Those that did looked lovely! 
Having a great time! 

Hope you are having a great time. 

Really surprised about the formal nights, we are recently back from Oceana and I would guess there was about 95% if not more dressed up and using the mdr. 

Hardly saw anybody in casual clothes. 

Steer clear of the cannabis cheese in Edam... 

Andy 

 

[P&O SUE]

43 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

Hope you are having a great time. 

Really surprised about the formal nights, we are recently back from Oceana and I would guess there was about 95% if not more dressed up and using the mdr. 

Hardly saw anybody in casual clothes. 

Steer clear of the cannabis cheese in Edam... 

Andy 

 

 

Perhaps it's becase it's an overnight in Amsterdam? When we were overnight the MDR was very quiet - lots of people were off the ship!

[P&O SUE]

12 hours ago, Eglesbrech said:

Just back from a very enjoyable holiday on Aurora which is all ready for Christmas with pretty decorations and the smell of mulled wine in the air and I wanted to highlight a few things.

 

If you are travelling from the North there a major delays at Botley interchange and then again on the last bit of the journey where there were literally miles of cars waiting to get get through the Redbridge roundabout. The last short bit of the journey took over an hour last Friday.

We also saw one of the coaches about 4 hours from Southampton at 12 noon today so they were going to be very late. Give yourself plenty of time to travel, worse than I have ever seen before.

 

We were late leaving Cherbourg due to a technical issue with the sealing doors on decks 4,5,6 and did not leave until 11.20 (should have been 6pm) but got back in time as the Captain put the foot down. We disembarked at a different berth from embarkation (which we knew about before leaving but what we got was not what I expected) there was no air bridge . This meant that self disembarkation was horrendous and you and your case had to navigate down a very narrow and very, very steep set of stairs. Not fun. If they have changed where you arrive back you may find you get the same.

 

Food on the ship was good as was service in the MDR and little to no wait for a table in freedom dining if you were prepared to share. Much better than on Brittania imo. We met lots of pleasant and interesting people.

 

I did not enjoy this lot of headliners, they did not have the best voices but that is just my view. The other entertainers were very good as was the classical pianist. There were also some excellent films in the cinema.

 

It is the first time I have been on the ship since the refit and she looks good, the cabin was very fresh with nice soft green and cream colours.

 

Aurora is one of my favourite ships and she did not disappoint as ever.

 

 

 

Thanks for the fair review. I still haven't been on Aurora yet - we were due to go on a 4 day cruise on her in 2014 and it was cancelled due to the refit taking longer than originally planned.

 

Re Christmas, it's definitely earlier everywhere as my birthday is mid November and  until recently there was nothing Christmassy about - now there is and a couple of places locally opened their Santa's grottos on my birthday this year!

[Lottie A]

Our overnight here is actually tonight Sue. I think it was due to a lot of younger people being onboard for this cruise who really don’t want to wear formal clothes. The Crow’s Nest was deserted last night apart from a few of us and I explained to some youngsters in the lift about why they were turned away. They were very perplexed and quite annoyed as they thought they looked “really quite the business”. They were wearing designer jeans (but torn at the knee) and glittery boob tubes. Great for a night dancing at a club perhaps....but not for a Black Tie night on P&O!  

Andy, that “special cheese” sounds interesting! 🤣

 

In the Zaanse Schans (sp?) windmill and craft museum now and just stopped for a coffee. It’s very interesting. 
 

 

[Eglesbrech]

There were quite a few people politely turned away from the Crows Nest on our formal nights as well. Two women wearing leisure wear were advised that as it was after 6pm the dress code applied, they made quite a fuss huffing and puffing about it. They must have seen the very large, very clear sign at the door and just ignored it.

 

We found that the younger set were generally very well dressed and stylish, more so than some of the older couples. One young man had a beautifully cut Harris tweed suit and bow tie matching his wife’s dress.

[Selbourne]

13 hours ago, Eglesbrech said:

Just back from a very enjoyable holiday on Aurora which is all ready for Christmas with pretty decorations and the smell of mulled wine in the air and I wanted to highlight a few things.

 

If you are travelling from the North there a major delays at Botley interchange and then again on the last bit of the journey where there were literally miles of cars waiting to get get through the Redbridge roundabout. The last short bit of the journey took over an hour last Friday.

We also saw one of the coaches about 4 hours from Southampton at 12 noon today so they were going to be very late. Give yourself plenty of time to travel, worse than I have ever seen before.

 

We were late leaving Cherbourg due to a technical issue with the sealing doors on decks 4,5,6 and did not leave until 11.20 (should have been 6pm) but got back in time as the Captain put the foot down. We disembarked at a different berth from embarkation (which we knew about before leaving but what we got was not what I expected) there was no air bridge . This meant that self disembarkation was horrendous and you and your case had to navigate down a very narrow and very, very steep set of stairs. Not fun. If they have changed where you arrive back you may find you get the same.

 

Food on the ship was good as was service in the MDR and little to no wait for a table in freedom dining if you were prepared to share. Much better than on Brittania imo. We met lots of pleasant and interesting people.

 

I did not enjoy this lot of headliners, they did not have the best voices but that is just my view. The other entertainers were very good as was the classical pianist. There were also some excellent films in the cinema.

 

It is the first time I have been on the ship since the refit and she looks good, the cabin was very fresh with nice soft green and cream colours.

 

Aurora is one of my favourite ships and she did not disappoint as ever.

 

 

We were on the same cruise and have to say that we had no traffic problems whatsoever in either direction, nor did our friends. In fact we both commented on what a clear runs we had both on the outward and return journeys given that they were both on Fridays! That said, even though we were all coming from North of Southampton, neither of us used the M271 / Redbridge area (where there are long term roadworks) as there is no need to do so. There are more direct (and quicker) routes to the terminals via the A33 or even the A335 from Eastleigh, especially as we were departing from Ocean Terminal. We used one route and our friends the other and both were around 20 mins from the bottom of the M3 to/from the terminals. 

[AndyMichelle]

46 minutes ago, Lottie A said:

Our overnight here is actually tonight Sue. I think it was due to a lot of younger people being onboard for this cruise who really don’t want to wear formal clothes. The Crow’s Nest was deserted last night apart from a few of us and I explained to some youngsters in the lift about why they were turned away. They were very perplexed and quite annoyed as they thought they looked “really quite the business”. They were wearing designer jeans (but torn at the knee) and glittery boob tubes. Great for a night dancing at a club perhaps....but not for a Black Tie night on P&O!  

Andy, that “special cheese” sounds interesting! 🤣

 

In the Zaanse Schans (sp?) windmill and craft museum now and just stopped for a coffee. It’s very interesting. 
 

 

Looks amazing there, will do this trip on our next visit. 

Thank you for the pics. 

Enjoy the rest if your day/cruise. 

Andy 

[AndyMichelle]

21 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

We were on the same cruise and have to say that we had no traffic problems whatsoever in either direction, nor did our friends. In fact we both commented on what a clear runs we had both on the outward and return journeys given that they were both on Fridays! That said, even though we were all coming from North of Southampton, neither of us used the M271 / Redbridge area (where there are long term roadworks) as there is no need to do so. There are more direct (and quicker) routes to the terminals via the A33 or even the A335 from Eastleigh, especially as we were departing from Ocean Terminal. We used one route and our friends the other and both were around 20 mins from the bottom of the M3 to/from the terminals. 

Glad you had good journeys but a bit surprised. 

The A33 (The Avenue) has ongoing roadworks as has the A335 at Stoneham that have caused lots of delays locally. 

It isn't always bad, but when it is, it can be terrible. 

Andy 

 

[Eglesbrech]

21 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

We were on the same cruise and have to say that we had no traffic problems whatsoever in either direction, nor did our friends. In fact we both commented on what a clear runs we had both on the outward and return journeys given that they were both on Fridays! That said, even though we were all coming from North of Southampton, neither of us used the M271 / Redbridge area (where there are long term roadworks) as there is no need to do so. There are more direct (and quicker) routes to the terminals via the A33 or even the A335 from Eastleigh, especially as we were departing from Ocean Terminal. We used one route and our friends the other and both were around 20 mins from the bottom of the M3 to/from the terminals. 

Good to know for future reference and great information for those reading as if they came the way we did they would face the traffic delays.

 

The issues further North at the “smart motorway” and further up the m6 are however hard to avoid and the road south at the Botley Interchange looked like a nightmare (thankfully we were going North at the time). 
 

They are also closing a number of the slips (and the m6 toll for one night overnight) on a few days over the next month.

 

 

 

 

[Selbourne]

9 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

Glad you had good journeys but a bit surprised. 

The A33 (The Avenue) has ongoing roadworks as has the A335 at Stoneham that have caused lots of delays locally. 

It isn't always bad, but when it is, it can be terrible. 

Andy 

 

Perhaps we were lucky Andy, but the A335 had very light traffic both ways (even at 0915 Friday morning on the return) with no hold ups whatsoever.  The A33 had more traffic than the A335, but was still pretty quick, certainly a fraction of the time that the M271 would have taken, by the sound of it. 

[Daftlad]

Attracted to this thread due to the topic of the Aurora being decked out for the Christmas festivities, but focusing on the logistics of getting to the terminal.

Taking the Christmas market cruise on the 9th Dec. and travelling from East Yorkshire. I've always used the M271 route off the M3, but a few people have now commented on using the more direct A33 and getting to the terminals from the East.

I suppose it will all depend on traffic on the day, but having been pre-warned I'll give myself a bit more time to get there.

[Selbourne]

9 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Good to know for future reference and great information for those reading as if they came the way we did they would face the traffic delays.

 

The issues further North at the “smart motorway” and further up the m6 are however hard to avoid and the road south at the Botley Interchange looked like a nightmare (thankfully we were going North at the time). 
 

They are also closing a number of the slips (and the m6 toll for one night overnight) on a few days over the next month.

 

 

 

 

‘Smart’ motorways seem to be far from smart! In fact a recent study found that they cause more problems than they solve, with several people killed each year having broken down in hard shoulders that other motorists have driven down (even with the lane closed symbol) as they are used to doing so at other times. Also, the constantly changing speed limit signs, even when there is no need, seem to me to be contrived to catch people out and generate revenue through fines!

 

We were lucky with the weather on the first day in Rotterdam and the Zeebrugge day, weren’t we? Blue skies and sunshine are unexpected blessings at this time of year. Agree that the Christmas decorations looked lovely. We haven’t seen a ship decorated for the festive season before, so a nice surprise. 
 

The door problems that caused the late departure from Cherbourg were another first for us but, as you say, we were still on time in Southampton. Having spent the rest of the cruise at around 10 knots (plus going around in circles once or twice to kill time) we were lucky that the last night was a very short crossing and we could still have got to Southampton on time if we had left at 0030 in the morning. 
 

We were told that the issues with disembarkation at Mayflower on the return were due to an exceptionally high tide, although I’m surprised that the air bridges aren’t designed to take account of that. As my wife is a wheelchair user, we had to disembark via deck 4 and, even then, it was very steep with three of us needed to hold on to the wheelchair!

[Selbourne]

23 minutes ago, Daftlad said:

Attracted to this thread due to the topic of the Aurora being decked out for the Christmas festivities, but focusing on the logistics of getting to the terminal.

Taking the Christmas market cruise on the 9th Dec. and travelling from East Yorkshire. I've always used the M271 route off the M3, but a few people have now commented on using the more direct A33 and getting to the terminals from the East.

I suppose it will all depend on traffic on the day, but having been pre-warned I'll give myself a bit more time to get there.

The A33 can be busy but unlike a motorway, where you can get ‘trapped’ you can peel off if necessary. For the last half a dozen cruises we have used the A335 and had no problems whatsoever. At the bottom of the M3, follow signs for M27 Portsmouth and as you join the M27 you leave it almost immediately at the first exit (Southampton Airport) and turn right into Southampton. It’s intermittent dual and single carriageway with less traffic than the A33 and dovetails with it at the end. You come to the port at the Ocean Terminal end but it’s a very short drive from there to Mayflower. The main gate for Mayflower was closed last week, so we used the entrance that is near the Red Funnel Isle of Wight Ferry Terminal and followed the internal dock roads (signposted). That has the added benefit of avoiding any traffic in the West Quay / Ikea area. Thankfully, with multiple options to get to the cruise terminals from the end of the M3, there is usually a way to avoid any problems in Southampton. 

[Daftlad]

40 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

The A33 can be busy but unlike a motorway, where you can get ‘trapped’ you can peel off if necessary. For the last half a dozen cruises we have used the A335 and had no problems whatsoever. At the bottom of the M3, follow signs for M27 Portsmouth and as you join the M27 you leave it almost immediately at the first exit (Southampton Airport) and turn right into Southampton. It’s intermittent dual and single carriageway with less traffic than the A33 and dovetails with it at the end. You come to the port at the Ocean Terminal end but it’s a very short drive from there to Mayflower. The main gate for Mayflower was closed last week, so we used the entrance that is near the Red Funnel Isle of Wight Ferry Terminal and followed the internal dock roads (signposted). That has the added benefit of avoiding any traffic in the West Quay / Ikea area. Thankfully, with multiple options to get to the cruise terminals from the end of the M3, there is usually a way to avoid any problems in Southampton. 

Well thank you very much, I'm now minded to avoid the 271 as has been suggested to me in the past.

All being well I'll hit Southampton around 1300 and not get caught up in any school run traffic and such like.

Thanks once again. 

 

[Lottie A]

For our cruise departing Southampton on Nov 22nd we didn’t actually leave until about 11 pm ish. This was due to the technicians still working on the faulty fire doors. They were flown in to Gatwick from Italy and had huge delays on the motorway to get to Southampton. Fire doors now fixed! It made no difference really to Aurora’s timings as we still chugged up the Channel at about 10 knots all day yesterday and got to Ijmuiden at about 5:30 am this morning.

 

Just got back from the Windmills and Edam tour, which I have to say was absolutely excellent, with a very informative Guide. I feel like I could make a fair go at building a water Dyke now! 🤣

Bought some Edam and Gouda cheese, but sadly not the “special cheese” that Andy referred to! 
 

 Off for a late lunch in The Glasshouse now and then Sindhu tonight. The ship is deserted...as almost everyone got the free shuttle bus to Amsterdam this morning. Just how I like it! 
Some pix of Edam town.