Selbourne ‘Live’ from Aurora’s 2024 Grand Tour

[Selbourne]

Just now, Thedonkeycentrehalf said:

I've been looking at the MDR dinner menus you have kindly posted and generally there is something on there most nights me or Mrs DCH would have (not including the default chicken and steak).  I guess that at worst, you can always pop up to buffet and find something else if you are hungry.

 

It looks like the menus are repeating now so are you finding that a problem or just an opportunity to try something else?

 

Although some people might find the menus repetitive, most of us probably have a few go to dinners at home we have every week or two so not really that different.

The lunch menus are even more repetitive, so we struggle more with those.  Like you say, we repeat meals that we like at home, so would rather have a repeat of something that we know we like than something different for the sake of it, especially as the grand descriptions often end up as being something quite underwhelming. That being said, nothing tonight takes my fancy. Only been to the buffet a couple of times (lunch) and the choice there has been extremely poor. I believe that the evenings are better. 

[Selbourne]

Just now, doog442 said:

Arvia was also struggling under the weight of some nasty horrible cold / flu like virus, there were many, clearly ill people and coughing absolutely everywhere as well as with staff. Unfortunately my wife has it and suffered big time, as did half our plane home yesterday it seemed.

We can’t deny that this remains an issue with cruises and cruise ships, and your chances of picking something up seem to remain higher than with other types of holiday. 
 

As my wife has just said, it’s a good job that this isn’t a normal 2 week cruise, as I would have been poorly for half of it and counting!

[Presto2]

4 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

We can’t deny that this remains an issue with cruises and cruise ships, and your chances of picking something up seem to remain higher than with other types of holiday. 
 

As my wife has just said, it’s a good job that this isn’t a normal 2 week cruise, as I would have been poorly for half of it and counting!

Haven't shared this on CC yet but as.some of you know we returned from our Caribbean cruise last weekend. Sadly hubby came down with sniffles on the plane which turned out to be Covid. He then lovingly passed it on to me so we have looked like an advert for Kleenex since we got home. Just about getting over it.

Am only sharing this to say that we don't blame the cruise line at all .. their attempts to fight off bugs and germs was faultless this time. To me it is called Winter in a place with 3000 other people .. and a long flight.. so you take your chance in terms of picking up winter bugs and germs. 

No fun catching anything but we'd have done the same at work too am guessing 

This isn't aimed at you Sebourne but anyone who may blame any cruise line anywhere.  Hope you get over it quickly and Mrs S avoids it and stays well. 

Tip ... a good brandy ... take it at the same time as the Paracetamol and you'll sleep like a baby x 

 

[Selbourne]

Just now, Presto2 said:

Haven't shared this on CC yet but as.some of you know we returned from our Caribbean cruise last weekend. Sadly hubby came down with sniffles on the plane which turned out to be Covid. He then lovingly passed it on to me so we have looked like an advert for Kleenex since we got home. Just about getting over it.

Am only sharing this to say that we don't blame the cruise line at all .. their attempts to fight off bugs and germs was faultless this time. To me it is called Winter in a place with 3000 other people .. and a long flight.. so you take your chance in terms of picking up winter bugs and germs. 

No fun catching anything but we'd have done the same at work too am guessing 

This isn't aimed at you Sebourne but anyone who may blame any cruise line anywhere.  Hope you get over it quickly and Mrs S avoids it and stays well. 

Tip ... a good brandy ... take it at the same time as the Paracetamol and you'll sleep like a baby x 

 

Sorry to hear that. I certainly wasn’t ‘blaming’ anyone, least of all the cruise lines who, as you say, do a sterling job of trying to keep us all healthy. It’s just an inescapable fact that the nature of cruising and cruise ships puts us at a greater risk of these things than many other activities, but we accept those risks when we book. 

[Presto2]

Just now, Selbourne said:

Sorry to hear that. I certainly wasn’t ‘blaming’ anyone, least of all the cruise lines who, as you say, do a sterling job of trying to keep us all healthy. It’s just an inescapable fact that the nature of cruising and cruise ships puts us at a greater risk of these things than many other activities, but we accept those risks when we book. 

Oh please don't think I was getting at you - definitely was not, but know that others may moan and would. I really hope that you get better soon --- and remember that tip re the brandy and paracetamol. Works wonders.

(Please note that this post carries a health warning, so don't try it at home unless under the direction of your GP !) 😉 

[Eddie99]

Best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery, Prestos (and Selbourne, whatever it is that ails thee)

[brian1]

1 hour ago, Thedonkeycentrehalf said:

I've been looking at the MDR dinner menus you have kindly posted and generally there is something on there most nights me or Mrs DCH would have (not including the default chicken and steak).  I guess that at worst, you can always pop up to buffet and find something else if you are hungry.

 

It looks like the menus are repeating now so are you finding that a problem or just an opportunity to try something else?

 

Although some people might find the menus repetitive, most of us probably have a few go to dinners at home we have every week or two so not really that different.

If there's carrots on the menu you must be happy surely😉

[Thedonkeycentrehalf]

1 hour ago, Presto2 said:

 

Tip ... a good brandy ... take it at the same time as the Paracetamol and you'll sleep like a baby x 

 

I agree.  A few years ago, I picked up a cold in Indiana and had the flight home.  A couple of Nyquil liqicaps (US Night Nurse) with a nice cognac and I had a fantastic sleep on the way home.

[Presto2]

Just now, Thedonkeycentrehalf said:

I agree.  A few years ago, I picked up a cold in Indiana and had the flight home.  A couple of Nyquil liqicaps (US Night Nurse) with a nice cognac and I had a fantastic sleep on the way home.

Perhaps we're on to.something .. copyright Presto22024

[Selbourne]

Just now, brian1 said:

If there's carrots on the menu you must be happy surely😉

Is there an animal that eats green beans? If so, they’d thrive on here. I swear that they must grow the ruddy things somewhere on deck 4. My meal last night said ‘seasonal vegetables’. What turned up? Just green beans. I’m amazed that we haven’t had green bean ice cream yet 😂 

[Selbourne]

BTW, I have been meaning to ask this for weeks and keep forgetting. I know that @TigerB is an expert on the codes for cabin door adornment (upside down pineapples etc). Someone along our corridor has an orange ping pong ball in their mail slot. It’s been there the whole cruise. Why? 

[Presto2]

3 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Is there an animal that eats green beans? If so, they’d thrive on here. I swear that they must grow the ruddy things somewhere on deck 4. My meal last night said ‘seasonal vegetables’. What turned up? Just green beans. I’m amazed that we haven’t had green bean ice cream yet 😂 

If they do Britannia had chillis growing on deck 4 as it was in everything special ! And, yip, green beans a plenty. Who told PO that we all like green beans ? Its like the most unlikely vegetable I can imagine ! 

[Presto2]

1 minute ago, Selbourne said:

BTW, I have been meaning to ask this for weeks and keep forgetting. I know that @TigerB is an expert on the codes for cabin door adornment (upside down pineapples etc). Someone along our corridor has an orange ping pong ball in their mail slot. It’s been there the whole cruise. Why? 

Off to google now

[gadabout60]

1 hour ago, Presto2 said:

Haven't shared this on CC yet but as.some of you know we returned from our Caribbean cruise last weekend. Sadly hubby came down with sniffles on the plane which turned out to be Covid. He then lovingly passed it on to me so we have looked like an advert for Kleenex since we got home. Just about getting over it.

Am only sharing this to say that we don't blame the cruise line at all .. their attempts to fight off bugs and germs was faultless this time. To me it is called Winter in a place with 3000 other people .. and a long flight.. so you take your chance in terms of picking up winter bugs and germs. 

No fun catching anything but we'd have done the same at work too am guessing 

This isn't aimed at you Sebourne but anyone who may blame any cruise line anywhere.  Hope you get over it quickly and Mrs S avoids it and stays well. 

Tip ... a good brandy ... take it at the same time as the Paracetamol and you'll sleep like a baby x 

 

I got COVID on my return from Barbados after the transatlantic on Britannia last October / November.  I was really quite poorly with it for 5 weeks - I think as it had been 11 months since my last vaccination (am slightly too young for this winter’s vaccination)

Due to the timing I think I got it on the flight.

I don’t blame the cruise line on the whole but I found hygiene on the cruise to be poor. This was my first post COVID cruise and I was surprised that there was no-one at the doors of restaurants / buffet to enforce/encourage handwashing or gel use. The vast majority of people did not use the sinks or gel as far as I could see. There were also issues with out of order and malfunctioning lifts which meant that lifts were generally crowded which would have helped the spread.

[Grandad John]

49 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Is there an animal that eats green beans? If so, they’d thrive on here. I swear that they must grow the ruddy things somewhere on deck 4. My meal last night said ‘seasonal vegetables’. What turned up? Just green beans. I’m amazed that we haven’t had green bean ice cream yet 😂 

I’m sure Heston Blumenthal would be able to come up with the ice cream if P&O commissioned him.

[Presto2]

1 hour ago, gadabout60 said:

I got COVID on my return from Barbados after the transatlantic on Britannia last October / November.  I was really quite poorly with it for 5 weeks - I think as it had been 11 months since my last vaccination (am slightly too young for this winter’s vaccination)

Due to the timing I think I got it on the flight.

I don’t blame the cruise line on the whole but I found hygiene on the cruise to be poor. This was my first post COVID cruise and I was surprised that there was no-one at the doors of restaurants / buffet to enforce/encourage handwashing or gel use. The vast majority of people did not use the sinks or gel as far as I could see. There were also issues with out of order and malfunctioning lifts which meant that lifts were generally crowded which would have helped the spread.

Different with us..always someone by the restaurants demanding you clean your hands etc. Re the lifts. That's the passengers and that annoyed me too ..m

[grapau27]

4 hours ago, Presto2 said:

Haven't shared this on CC yet but as.some of you know we returned from our Caribbean cruise last weekend. Sadly hubby came down with sniffles on the plane which turned out to be Covid. He then lovingly passed it on to me so we have looked like an advert for Kleenex since we got home. Just about getting over it.

Am only sharing this to say that we don't blame the cruise line at all .. their attempts to fight off bugs and germs was faultless this time. To me it is called Winter in a place with 3000 other people .. and a long flight.. so you take your chance in terms of picking up winter bugs and germs. 

No fun catching anything but we'd have done the same at work too am guessing 

This isn't aimed at you Sebourne but anyone who may blame any cruise line anywhere.  Hope you get over it quickly and Mrs S avoids it and stays well. 

Tip ... a good brandy ... take it at the same time as the Paracetamol and you'll sleep like a baby x 

 

I'm sorry to hear you are both unwell.

I hope it is mild and you recover quickly.

One tip for flying is dab a little Tea Tree Essential oil around your nostrils before your flight to protect you from airborne viruses.

Edited February 4 by grapau27

[david63]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Someone along our corridor has an orange ping pong ball in their mail slot. It’s been there the whole cruise. Why? 

From my Google search of the Urban Dictionary I think you are probably better off not knowing😉

[Selbourne]

Just now, david63 said:

From my Google search of the Urban Dictionary I think you are probably better off not knowing😉

😱

[TigerB]

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

BTW, I have been meaning to ask this for weeks and keep forgetting. I know that @TigerB is an expert on the codes for cabin door adornment (upside down pineapples etc). Someone along our corridor has an orange ping pong ball in their mail slot. It’s been there the whole cruise. Why? 

 

Oh aye, so you have me pegged as an expert on CARS (cruise adult related shenanigans), do you?😯

 

 

Well, I will answer your question, but I don't want anyone to be offended. So, the answer will be right at the bottom of this post. Anyone that is easily offended should go elsewhere now. Those of you that have a keen interest in CARS (you all know who you are) can tab down to the bottom.

 

Here goes...

 

The reason a ping pong ball is left in the mail slot of a cruise cabin is because the occupants want others of a like minded persuasion to know that they are really, really into...

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... table tennis.

 

An orange ball indicates that they like to play it with oompah loompas.

 

 

[Selbourne]

 

Day 33 - Sunday 4th February - Fort-de-France, Martinique 

 

Well we are now half way through the cruise but not half way through the ports, as we still have 15 ports remaining after today (plus a partial transit of the Panama Canal) and we have visited 12 ports so far (it would have been 13 had we not missed Key West). 

 

Can I start by thanking everyone for their kind comments about how they are enjoying reading this live blog. As I’m sure you can imagine, it takes some doing, but I am absolutely staggered that views of this thread have now exceeded 100,000. I know that a lot of people read it regularly, but even allowing for that it’s a scary number that puts me under some pressure to continue!

 

Today was the last in a continuous run of 6 ports - the French island of Martinique. I didn’t have a tour booked today so we managed breakfast (in the MDR) for the first time in a week. Afterwards we collected the ‘Britain Today’ paper (which a lady in the lift quipped should be called ‘Britain Yesterday’, given how out of date it always is) before getting ready for our walk ashore. Our balcony faces the town, so we heard the lively and large band (all members adorned head to foot in bright red) that welcomed passengers for the first few hours. 

 

We were berthed in the town centre, so it was an easy few hundred yards from the ship to the centre of things. Being a Sunday almost everything was closed and the place was a bit of a ghost town. Fort-de-France isn’t a pretty place and lacks both the colour and the charm of the more Caribbean influenced ports. The decaying buildings in places such as Dominica and St Vincent added authenticity, whereas in Martinique they just looked neglected. I was quite surprised, as I had it in my head that this would be one of the nicer places (a bit like the south of France). With hindsight, I should probably have booked an excursion here, but none had appealed. 

 

On to the positives. It was the easiest place yet with a wheelchair, so we could have a good wander around. The promenade was wide and level and was covered in murals. You can only walk as far as the underside of the fort (which was closed being a Sunday) and there was a very small beach there. We then walked up the side of the main park (lots of stalls but all closed due to - you’ve guessed it, being Sunday)!

 

Next stop was the ornate library which, surprisingly, was open. We then wandered around the rest of the city centre but it was lifeless as pretty much everything was closed. We didn’t get bothered by anyone though (as some had mentioned from previous visits), so felt perfectly safe. I managed to get some syrup for my sore throat from the pharmacist that I found open. Well I hope that’s what I’m now taking 😂. At just €4.99 I can’t imagine it’s up to much, but I’ll chance anything now as it’s just not easing and remains painful to swallow.  

 

Neither the lunch nor dinner MDR menus were grabbing us much today, so we decided to have lunch in the Glasshouse. Dennis is off today, so service wasn't as good or enthusiastic as usual, but we both thoroughly enjoyed our food and it’s one of the places that is consistently cool. Whilst it was cloudy ashore, it was still 30 degrees, so we are always keen to find a nicely air conditioned place whenever we get back on board.

 

We had a bit of a siesta before heading down to Raffles for an afternoon cuppa. Even the atrium can be nice and quiet on Aurora! Back to the cabin, or more specifically our balcony, for the sail away. Thankfully we couldn’t hear the live band on deck 12 so were hoping that they got off today! 

 

Yesterday I mentioned that around 10% of the meals in the MDR are poor. Well today was one of them. I had pork collar with veg and it needed more sauce with it. They can’t make tasty sauces to save their life and seem to have an aversion to seasoning. Bland in the extreme. My wife had creole shrimps with pineapple and coconut rice which she enjoyed but it came with, yes you’ve guessed it, green beens. A natural accompaniment for a dish such as this 🤔😂. Our assistant waiter very kindly offered to get me some warm water with lemon and honey, so I shall see if that makes any difference tonight. 

 

Yet another comedian in the theatre, so our trend of early nights continued, but when we returned to our cabin the band on the open deck 12 was in full flight and this meant that we’d be hearing that for the next 90 minutes. A definite negative on warm weather cruises, and I was interested to read that it irritated @mrsgoggins as much on Ventura as it does me on Aurora. 

 

Tomorrow we have a rest day (sea day) after our run of 6 ports and the daytime entertainment looks quite good. I’m really hoping that I can begin to start shifting this sore throat and cough over the next 24 hours, as it’s damned painful, exhausting during the day and disturbing my sleep at night. Also, the next leg of the cruise is the part I am most looking forward to and I want to feel that I’m over the worst of it by then. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 5 by Selbourne

[indiana123]

8 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Someone along our corridor has an orange ping pong ball in their mail slot. It’s been there the whole cruise. Why? 

 

I just had to google too!😀

 

One website had pages of info and suggestions re door decorations.  One suggested leaving bags of goodies/candy for crew and passengers on the door,  and another suggested it  would be nice to leave  little bags of things/presents  and suggested   perhaps a gift exchange... whatever that is'  What's next, a sale out of your suitcase!

[Angel57]

1 hour ago, indiana123 said:

 

I just had to google too!😀

 

One website had pages of info and suggestions re door decorations.  One suggested leaving bags of goodies/candy for crew and passengers on the door,  and another suggested it  would be nice to leave  little bags of things/presents  and suggested   perhaps a gift exchange... whatever that is'  What's next, a sale out of your suitcase!

I think that the gift bags between passengers are currently happening on this cruise as I saw it mentioned on another site last week…..

@Selbourne thanks for continuing your blog. I look forward to reading it and also seeing your great photos. I hope your throat improves soon…..

 

Edited February 5 by Angel57

[Waju]

@Selbourne if you can get hold of any, I always find toffees are wonderful for a sore throat - please be careful with your teeth though - you don't need broken teeth on holiday!

[Megabear2]

14 hours ago, Presto2 said:

Haven't shared this on CC yet but as.some of you know we returned from our Caribbean cruise last weekend. Sadly hubby came down with sniffles on the plane which turned out to be Covid. He then lovingly passed it on to me so we have looked like an advert for Kleenex since we got home. Just about getting over it.

Am only sharing this to say that we don't blame the cruise line at all .. their attempts to fight off bugs and germs was faultless this time. To me it is called Winter in a place with 3000 other people .. and a long flight.. so you take your chance in terms of picking up winter bugs and germs. 

No fun catching anything but we'd have done the same at work too am guessing 

This isn't aimed at you Sebourne but anyone who may blame any cruise line anywhere.  Hope you get over it quickly and Mrs S avoids it and stays well. 

Tip ... a good brandy ... take it at the same time as the Paracetamol and you'll sleep like a baby x 

 

21 hours ago, Selbourne said:

We actually bought some Covid test kits with us so I’ve tested and I don’t have that. I would have cancelled my excursions if it was. I think this is about the 6th day I’ve had it and it’s not getting any better. Cold and flu medications and paracetamol aren’t touching it. I have an unused course of antibiotics with me which I’ve contemplated taking, but they don’t work against viruses and as I have a sore throat, congestion and a cough it seems as though it’s viral rather than bacterial. 

Sorry to hear this Selbourne.  Take care of yourself and if necessary seek medical advice.  Having just arrived back home yesterday after a very unexpected extra week stay in Barbados after being refused permission to fly due to the fluid build up in my lungs I can certainly sympathise.  So far three lots of antibiotics have only reduced the symptoms enough to get me home, but thankfully I'm here now and later this morning will be back in the care of my own local health team.  I hope the old fashioned remedies work but if not don't hesitate to seek professional help.  Both onboard Britannia and ashore I was told this year's virus infections seem to be very strong and take a lot of fighting.

 

Presto2 sorry to hear of you both catching covid.  I hope you both feel better soon.