Aurora in Stormy Seas

[Mollag]

1 hour ago, zap99 said:

Do you listen the ' I remember the time.......' Chap in the Crows Nest bar, or the Captain with his clever instruments and crew ?.

Don’t listen to either of them with  40+ years as a fisherman and lifeboat crew/coxswain you soon figure how much of an exaggeration there is

[Jules of The Seas]

Just off Aurora new year cruise. Apparently 93 cabins were affected by floodwater on the previous cruise, mainly on C deck forward, port side. Some 10 couples were denied boarding and sent home as they couldn’t organize new cabins. Some cabins still out of service.

We also missed Zeebrugge port due to high winds making it unsafe to dock, according to the Captain.

[zap99]

3 minutes ago, Jules of The Seas said:

Just off Aurora new year cruise. Apparently 93 cabins were affected by floodwater on the previous cruise, mainly on C deck forward, port side. Some 10 couples were denied boarding and sent home as they couldn’t organize new cabins. Some cabins still out of service.

We also missed Zeebrugge port due to high winds making it unsafe to dock, according to the Captain.

So not an exaggeration at all. 🤔

[harz99]

30 minutes ago, zap99 said:

So not an exaggeration at all. 🤔

No exaggeration at all, we're 60+ cruises all over the world, multiple bumpy trips across Bay of Biscay and around Cape Horn and have never experienced quite such rough seas and high winds as that night. The ship had a pronounced list due to the side on wind, water getting in in many areas particularly from the prominade doors along deck 7, and a very bumpy ride over the troughs in the waves. Our cabin was on deck 8 forward and we spent most of the night awake and holding on to the beds because sleep was impossible. I imagine very few crew members slept that night, and they all had to work again as usual the following day.

That ship is as tough as they come, despite her age she handle the violent storm and motion well!

[GOQ]

I have been across the Bay of Biscay in Ventura, Iona, Arvia and Aurora, all in stormy conditions and in my opinion Aurora was the most wobbly.

Iona and Arvia are the most stable but they tend to creak a lot.

Ships have a little paddle painted on their side which seems to indicate the position of a stabiliser, I have not noticed this on Aurora although fellow passengers have told me she does have stabilisers. 

Never mine, I love the whole bunch of them.

 

 

 

[gsmt47471015]

1 hour ago, Jules of The Seas said:

Just off Aurora new year cruise. Apparently 93 cabins were affected by floodwater on the previous cruise, mainly on C deck forward, port side. Some 10 couples were denied boarding and sent home as they couldn’t organize new cabins. Some cabins still out of service.

We also missed Zeebrugge port due to high winds making it unsafe to dock, according to the Captain.

Could you confirm if the 10 couples who were turned away were embarking the 65 night grand Voyage please as we know two couples who were going on it? Thanks 

[zap99]

25 minutes ago, harz99 said:

No exaggeration at all, we're 60+ cruises all over the world, multiple bumpy trips across Bay of Biscay and around Cape Horn and have never experienced quite such rough seas and high winds as that night. The ship had a pronounced list due to the side on wind, water getting in in many areas particularly from the prominade doors along deck 7, and a very bumpy ride over the troughs in the waves. Our cabin was on deck 8 forward and we spent most of the night awake and holding on to the beds because sleep was impossible. I imagine very few crew members slept that night, and they all had to work again as usual the following day.

That ship is as tough as they come, despite her age she handle the violent storm and motion well!

I prefer to accept the opinion of folk like yourself and the Officers. The bloke propping up the bar in the Crows Nest and the 90 years before the mast, Man and boy, thought it was an exaggeration. 🤣

Edited January 3 by zap99

[Fionboard]

On one Aurora cruise last year ( in North Sea I think) we had water pouring into the pub from the promenade deck. A few strategically placed towels under the doors did the trick! Good fun! 

[Jules of The Seas]

2 hours ago, gsmt47471015 said:

Could you confirm if the 10 couples who were turned away were embarking the 65 night grand Voyage please as we know two couples who were going on it? Thanks 

Sorry, have no idea who was turned away other than our friends who we travelled down with and who we have done the past 4 new year cruises. Lest you think we should have gone home with them we had 2 other friends on the ship who would have been left alone. The six of us have as I said done the last 4. It somewhat spoiled the whole cruise for us, that with the fact we had no hot water in the shower for 2 days and no aircon in the cabin until late on Monday evening. This was the same with every cabin in our section.

[jeanlyon]

3 hours ago, GOQ said:

I have been across the Bay of Biscay in Ventura, Iona, Arvia and Aurora, all in stormy conditions and in my opinion Aurora was the most wobbly.

Iona and Arvia are the most stable but they tend to creak a lot.

Ships have a little paddle painted on their side which seems to indicate the position of a stabiliser, I have not noticed this on Aurora although fellow passengers have told me she does have stabilisers. 

Never mine, I love the whole bunch of them.

 

 

 

Have only travelled on Arcadia, Aurora and Azura and had the worst time in the Med on Azura.  Not sea kindly.  The other 2 I have been in a Force 11 on Aurora and Force 10 on Arcadia.  Both handled it beautifully.  Of course she has stabilizers, but you can't always use these if it's too rough.  The P&O website says they have stabilizers on all their ships.

Edited January 3 by jeanlyon

[GOQ]

My cabin was in the bow on Arvia but was in the stern on Aurora, but I must comment that  in a stormy creaking banging environment Aurora was more quiet.

[tysonator]

We were on the 29th Dec 2023 to Hamburg Cruise, and while dinning at shared tables with other couples. Some were telling us their cabins have wet carpets. One couple told us they had two large fan blowers in their cabin when they arrived. P&O gave them a box of chocolates as compensation.

 

Our port visit to Zeebrugge was cancelled due to the bad weather according to the captain.

[PurpleMoonlight]

Ventura was due in Zeebrugge the same day, and ours was cancelled too. Instead we too a little cruise north for 6 hours then turned around and cruised back towards home. Ventura handled the storm quite well I thought, wind was gusting to 80 knots with the ship listing to one side.

 

Apparently there were people in reception demanding a refund of port fees. 

Edited January 5 by PurpleMoonlight

[otbc]

Funny how when it's a port mid-cruise they're happy to cancel it due to poor weather, but when it comes to getting back to Southampton in time to get more fee-paying people on board they'll happily sail through conditions that no ship should really be out in, isn't it?

[PurpleMoonlight]

32 minutes ago, otbc said:

Funny how when it's a port mid-cruise they're happy to cancel it due to poor weather, but when it comes to getting back to Southampton in time to get more fee-paying people on board they'll happily sail through conditions that no ship should really be out in, isn't it?

 

It's often cancelled by the port itself closing though, rather than the captain not being prepared to risk it. At sea Captains will usually try to divert around the worst weather if possible.

 

I would rather be heading home as scheduled than hanging around at sea. Ships don't carry unlimited fuel remember.