Cruise Review: Aurora October 06

Monday 9th October 2006

I woke up at some ungodly hour that seems like days ago at the moment.  It was still dark whatever time it was?  I went down stairs and straight to my office to check out the webcams.  Yippee was just coming up Southampton water and by the time I had made a cup of tea she was turning in the basin.  Yippeeee!

Couldn’t wait to get ready and zip up my wheelie case of essential girlie items.  I had to go on a mission to Tescos at 8.00am to buy Mum my some fruit boiled sweets.  Why the heck she couldn’t get some on one of her daily visits to town during the week is beyond me, but we searched every local petrol station and shop yesterday and discovered nobody stocks fruit boiled sweets.

Got back to discover Mr C still in bed so it was time to kick him into the shower.

So the mini bus is due in 30 minutes and what does Mr C decide to do?  Yep, he goes out to look at some electrical job or another.  How I kept my cool I will never know?  Meanwhile I gets a call from Mummy and it would seem she was having some mini drama or another so I have to dash up there to sort her out.  Decide to take her to our house to save a bit of time when the mini bus arrives.

Got home – still no Mr C!  Mini bus arrives and he is greeted by a sea of cases in the hallway.  LOL, little did he know that there was more in the lounge.  Poor bloke, I think he thought the cases were never going to stop coming.  Mr C decides to come home just as the cases are loaded and the oldies are sitting in the bus.  Blokes!!!

Mr Driver man is Ace!  He can see Im spitting feathers for a drink and puts his foot down to Southampton.  My tummy is doing sumersaults and im paranoid I have forgotten something, but 2 hours 15 mins later we are in Southampton.

Check in for Golds is rammed and its still 20 mins until the desks open.  We joined the wheelchair queue as it was smaller.  We checked straight in and were assigned a wheelchair pusher and that was it, we were straight onboard and into Gold Drinks in Crows at 12.20.  I have never seen so few people at Gold drinks but I think that is because lunch was being served in the Orangery and most people opted to go there.

Bucks fizz was on offer but as usual we abused the system.  Mr C managed 3 large brandy and lemonades, then along came Darren (Engineer) and fed him a few more.  We bumped into Sharma who used to be our waiter many cruises ago.  He is now a Butler and Im dam sure he is an excellent one because he was by far one of the best table waiters.  I remember the kids used to call him Jackie Chan although I have no idea who that is!

I managed to go along to the Spa and book a nail appointment.  Good job I did as I only had a choice of two appointments for the next 48 hrs.  8.00am tomorrow or 6.30 the night after next.
OMG  had no choice but to opt for the 8.00am appointment tomorrow, don’t know if I will be up but no doubt they will call me if Im not.

At 3.45 we decided we really should go and unpack.  OMG, we got into the cabin and there were 6 cases a suit bag and a wheelie case plus the two evening dress bags.  Not an inch of floor space to be seen.  We unpacked but the wardrobes are rammed and the drawers are buldging.

Saftey drills are complete so we head straight for the Prom deck and get prime position infront of the Band of Royal Hussars.  Only to be moved along by Derek (officer) 10 minutes later because he needs to rope off the deck and get some safety equipment onboard!  Blokes!!  It was such a lovely mild sunny evening too for a sailaway.

Decide to call into Champions for a drink and met Alex behind the bar who I haven’t seen for 3 years, but then he tells me he hasn’t been at sea for 3 years so that will be why.

On our way to Pennant we spot Lizy in the Kids meeting in Carmens – nice to see shows some responsibility and attends LOL.  Oh, shes just there to say Hi to the Youthie’s!  But I do insist she has her free P&O Youth backpack!  How cool is this – it is big enough to take to the beach, has a water bottle and a towel inside.  She flattley refuses to carry it around as its just not cool so now its mine!

Sailaway party up on Pennant so that’s the place to be with Caravan providing the tunes.  We sail past Saga Rose and past the Isle of White with a perfect sunset behind.  John and Gill join us and we remanice about the last Caribean cruise we did at the same time.  There is a very excentric lady standing close by so we send Gill to investigate, but she hasn’t reported back yet!  The wind picks up and so we head down to Andersons where Clifford is behind the bar nursing a hangover, but he seems pleased to see us.

A quick wash and spruce up and we head back to Andersons for pre dinner drinks.

Our table, table 51 in Medina is waiting (Restaurant Manager dare not mess that one up really had he?).  Mark and Leo are our waiters and they seem nice and on the ball and I think we may be able to have a giggle with these.  I have to say that despite my previous thoughts about rest of the passenger ages being lower than of late we do seem to be surrounded by some old crocks in our section but they may be ok.  LOL they will have to be.  People watching at the max, and we spot a most out of place looking character on a table near by.  A young couple who I guess are travelling together but don’t look much older than 20’s.  He is a bit of a geezer or a chav, cant make up our minds about him, but he very rudely sits sideways in his chair all evening with his arm thrown over the back of the chair.  I will keep my eyes peeled and report back on him.  Tonight I had prawn and Apple, Vegetable Broth, Plaice, Raspberry pudding and custard, coffee and mints.

Mr C is wrecked and insists we go straight to bed, but I manage to drag him to Carmens for all of 3` minutes.  He is asleep on his feet so I have no choice but to head for bed.  We take a brisk walk along the Prom deck and it so mild still.  I have to pinch myself to see if I am actually here.  Mr C somehow gets lost on the way to the cabin and I get back first.  Must admit my bed did look pretty inviting and Im soon into my PJ’s and snuggled under my duvet.

Tuesday10th October

Hardly slept a wink last night thanks to the people next door.  How noisy were they?  Obviously uunpacking until late so I beared with them, but then at 5 they were all wide awake and chatting and giggling like they were the only ones onboard.  Sound like 4 grown ups too not kids!

My Pillows are going to have to go.  God knows how old they are but they are so old they are flat and rock hard.

Got up and dressed for my nail appointment only to find the clock was 30 minutes out.  Oh well at least I had a nice peaceful cup of tea and a Danish in a quiet corner of the Orangery watching the gengle rolls of the swell on the sea.

Nail appointment at 8.00am and the girl is nothing like ‘scarey Nail Lady’ of last cruise, but she is lovely.  We decide that more poor old nails aren’t up to much and so they have to be soaked off and a nice new gel set of nails are applied.  The two hour appointment doesn’t allow enough time for painting so I have to return later.

Met Mr C and Lizy for breakfast in Café B so I didn’t over do it and just had juice and fruit platter followed by tea and Danish.

A stroll around the ship and we notice they are very hard sell with everything this morning.  Everywhere we go there seems to be promotions of Duty Free, books, services, salon items etc.  Charlies is completely taken over as the new market stall area which looks dreadful and very tacky but at least its out of the way I guess.  Every bar seems to have a display of ‘special shots’ or Cocktails etc.  There is new drink sponsors too so that is all over the bars etc.  Think one is Leffe beer and that appears everywhere including sun brollies by the Riviera Bar.

We had a drink in Crows and listened to the noon announcement and I correctly guessed how many miles we had travelled since Southampton. 355!  I wonder if we always travel that far on the first day and it was logged in the back of my brain somewhere?  I had a Pimms as the cocktail of the day was Chocolate Banana – yuk!  Yesterday was Blue Laggoon and Im not keen on that either so hope for better things tomorrow.

Back to see Kim in the salon for my nail painting and art.  Im very pleased with the result even though they did cost a fortune.

We stop to chat to Gill and John in Raffles a couple I know from our last caribbeen cruise and then Gillian and her parents come around the corner.  Its so good to see her, but we hear all about the drama Shelia is having because her case never made it off the flight from Scotland.  I can not believe she is so good humoured about it.  I would be mortified!  Especially as they cant get her case to her until we get to the Caribbean!

Lunch in Medina Restaurant  and we are guided to a table in the back corner but are very pleased to be served by our last table waiter Caje.  Just a light lunch of potato and herb soup followed by tuna jacket potato.  I skipped the sweet so was pleased with myself for that.

We bump into the Staff Captain and Jane in the shop and have a nice chat.  He tells me we should expect very good weather in the Caribbean.

Mr C goes off to play cricket and Im on a mission to get a bit fitter so despite the drizzle and strong wind I head out for a mile round the prom deck at a very brisk pace. I’ve also told Mr C to make sure I always use the stairs when my heels allow as I don’t want too much ending up around my hips during this cruise.

Im done in and so there is only one place for me and that’s my bed.  Oh its heaven but I only get about an hour as the neighbours soon return and decide every friend and relative to tell them what a lovely cruise they are having.  They speak way too loud!

Mr C made me a nice cup of mocha coffee that I had bought with me  and then we decided we had a dodgy kettle as it insisted on keep buzzing!  It became very high pitched and annoying and given that there was quite a major incident involving a cabin fire and a kettle a few cruises back we decided to report it.  I reported it to reception knowing full well that the report would go straight to the Electro maintenance engineer and we expected someone to come running along to investigate.  But as time went by we realised that as the Maintenance engineer knew us really well he might think ‘Ha ha Chadwicks very funny Im not falling for that one’ so after an hour and half I bleeped him.  It turned out that the fault hadn’t got to him yet and when he eventually realised that we were being serious, he dispatched an engineer straight to our cabin to get the kettle supply disconnected.  He was not a happy man with the lack of communication and I get the impression that heads were about to roll. So I did the right thing reporting it.

Informal evening this evening and I headed for pre dinner drinks in Andersons.  Lizy and Mr C were engrossed in some film on TV so were late getting ready, but they weren’t long before the joined me.

Clifford made me a very nice apple Martini – very potent and so I had to return to my southern comforts and manage a few before dinner.

Justin (Portunus Manager) arrives to escort Lizy to dinner as he is our host this cruise for dinner.  Two bottle of wine flow and a very nice meal of Tiger prawns and shrimps with sweet chilli dip, lamb, and tropical fruit cheese cake.

After dinner they head for the theatre to watch comedian Mike Hammer but two jokes is all I can manage and head for Andersons Bar where Im joined by Arthur (Jools hubby)  Jools has turned in for the night so he’s left with me LOL.  We are soon joined by Darren (officer who had my kettle taken away) and so I rib him as much as I can about overting a major incident!  Not long and the others leave the show to join us, the comedian didn’t get any better!

I must have had far too many Southern Comforts but I blame all those that kept coming to chat to us.  Mr C and Arf get on like a house on fire (LOL) chatting about the fire brigade so we head off down to Masquarades and leave them to it.

Lizy is disgusted that the nightclub is busy but the DJ has the personality of a dead snail and is playing the same play list that Simon Jason played in 2000!  She only suffers one more drink and decides to go to bed, but Mr C is on a mission we have a few for the road.

Café B calls us and hot chocolate, loaded potato skins and Croque Monsueir are ordered.  Im not imressed because my ham & cheese toastie does not include any cheese, but the waiter is not interested in my moan at silly o’clock in the morning.  Why should he listen to a drunken silly woman?

Wednesday 11th October.

That bloody woman next door is on the phone again this time instructing someone how to cook something in the microwave.  Mr C banaged on the wall but it had no effect.

Im feeling rough, and when I try to get up from my bed OMG!!!  How much did I drink last night?  We are hitting some very big bumps in the sea today and I cant cope.  After 3 attemps Im fully dressed and Mr C drags me out.  But I cant pull myself together.  Martyn (1st Officer) finds it highly amusing to find me slumped in a window on Prom deck and I cant even make conversation with him.  After a gasp of fresh air out on Prom Mr C drags me down to the restaurant for breakfast, but I have to insist on a table for two as Im not feeling the slightest bit sociable.

After breakfast we sit for a while out on prom deck and its lovely in the sunshine.

We end up wandering the ship looking for a stable place to sit and I end up in the Sofas in Charlies behind the Shop market stalls – let the shoppies dare to ask me to move!  They soon realise Im quite a giggle and we end up having a morning of banter while they coach me through my hangover.

At 1230 I have to move and Im instructed to go for lunch.  Im not too bad now but the ship is still rolling around and its hard to deal with.  I manage my thick peas and mint soup but when the curry is put infront of me Im finished!

I do something I haven’t done in recent years and take to my bed with two seasickness tablets!  I woke up nearly 4 hours later from a lovely deep sleep feeling almost human again thankfully.  Hangovers and a rocking ship just do not mix so don’t try it!

Formal night tonight and the Captains Cocktail Party in Crows Nest. But we are ready early so have time for a couple in Andersons before hand.  Darren joins us for a drink before he shoots off to Carmens where he is on P&O Smile duty.

We spot Mum & Jack en route to Crows and we meet up with them at the lifts.  Doesn’t seem that many in the party?  Maybe it’s the weather?  Or maybe everyone is sick to death of listening to the same old speech? ‘You look after the weather and I’ll look after the ports’ Ha ha!  Yes its wearing a bit thin now.  But we have a very pleasant time chatting to Martyn (1st Officer) Justin (Portunus) and anybody else that calls past us.

Martyn is the perfect gent and escorts Lizy all the way to dinner despite the fact that he is not dining in our restaurant.

Tonight for dinner we had Smoked Salmon, chicken and sweetcorn soup, although the the pumpkin soup was also very nice, champagne sorbet, beef that was cooked to perfection followed by fresh strawberries and ice cream.  Lizy had the hot chocolate pudding with white fondant sauce and fudge ice cream and that was also equally as nice.  We succumbed to the ‘half price’ liquers that they sell after dinner as tonight it was Baileys with coffee and chocolates yum!

We head off to Carmens and don’t even draw breath before we are hurled onto the dance floor.  I think I struggled through a waltz a quickstep and a jive.  Still not many people around and I think they must be in the show.  Hughie was sat in the bar and after about the third time of walking past him I got a very false ‘oh welcome back, I had no idea you were onboard’  I swear he was winding me up or trying?!

As it wasn’t exactly kicking in here we decide to go and see the karaoke in Champions, but that’s not really happening either.  Although we can confirm that Elvis is alive and well and singing onboard Aurora.  After another drink we relocate back to Andersons and chat to Louise and Clifford.  Martyn comes by too, then we all head for Masquarades.  I manage to get my barstool back this evening.  Also discover that Rhumba Lumba is the cocktail of the day so I have 3 or 4 of those.  We have a very pleasant evening with Jill & John and Martyn who hasn’t been lead astray for a while.

At 2.30 we decide it must be Café B time and I ordered croquet monsuir to see if they have improved from yesterday?  No is the answer to that.  Cold toast, very cheap paper thin ham and nil cheese.  All stone cold, so I have to say something to the waiter and he advises me to check between the ham.  No still no cheese (should I really have to look for it?) So he says he will get some more made.  This time I get stone cold toast, 3 very thin slices of naff ham and 2 cold extremely thin slices of kraft cheese.  All layered together and all stone cold.  I have no choice to leave it but fair play to the waiter he did ask why and he has asked for my cabin number so Im guessing he has intentions of reporting it?

A stroll around deck before dinner and its all calm outside and lovely and mild.  Must be heading for the Caribbean eeek!

Thursday 12th October 2006.  Ponta Delgada.

Woke fairly early but then the clocks had gone back.  Mr C made some tea with the new kettle and then he ordered some BLT sandwiches. Yum Yum!

It’s a lovely sunny morning and by the time we emerge from our inside penthouse we are docked.  Captain is very pleased with us because we did such a good job of looking after the weather that he was able to get us into port 3 hours early.  We had a bit of a chilled out morning sitting by the Pennant and sampling the cocktails of the day.  Strawberry Daquari today and I like those!

Justin joins us for lunch in the Orangery, but he has work to do this afternoon ha ha.

We take the shuttle to the dock gate.  Mum moans like hell because there is nothing in Ponta Delgada but we knew that and are just happy to stroll around in the warm sun and check out the back streets.

We sat by the Riviera Bar for a while sampling Marks cocktails and then I knew I needed my bed.  So a few hours sleep was gained and I woke up feeling like I could stay there all night.

I managed to get up and showered for the evening ahead.  Mr C was nursing a man cold and it was touch and go whether he was going to get up or not, but he managed to scrape into dinner.  Andersons was very busy and eventually I was joined by Justin for one drink before dinner.

After dinner we went to Carmens and created our own dance floor by the bar with Justin, mr Magic man and Laura assistant Crew Manager.  Mr C couldn’t keep up with the party mood this evening due to the man cold so he had to go to bed.

After Carmens we all went to Andersons and it was still busy so we had to sit round the corner in the smokey section on the sofa which actually wasn’t too bad.  One lady definatley disapproved of us being there though.  I don’t know if that was because we had one stiped officer and two crew with name badges? Or whether it was because, shock horror,Lizy has a very pretty blouse and nice girlie shoes on BUT had some Capri type jeans on?  Oh tut tut  denim on a casual nigtht!  Anyway said woman did a lot of tutting and looking down her nose.

Had to visit Masquarades as it would be rude not to.  It was relatively busy again.  Lara and Lizy had a couple of dances, and the dance floor was quite busy at times.

Justin needed to go to bed as poor bloke has to work at 9.00am in the morning lol.  Laura and Mr Magic went off to the crew mess to get some food and that was it – as soon as someone mentioned food Lizy wanted to go to Café B.  Thankfully the menu has been changed and those non cheese, cheese and ham toasties are off the menu.  Tonight we had chicken gourjons and barbeque sauce with fries and a couple of hot chocolates.

We went out the back of deck 8 for a breath of fresh air and it was into bed for around 2.30 again.

Friday 13th October 2006

Clocks went back yet another hour last night and I was awake at 7.  We got up early and went for civilised breakfast in the Medina.  We had to sit with others though and yes one of the couples had to be snobs, world cruisers, gold card holders and all the rest of it!  I just wanted my breakfast in peace so we kept quiet and ate our breakfast and left.

Chilled out and had a nice wander around to see what was going on.  I was going to do a few laps of the prom but it was like brans hatch out there and everyone was on a mission to lap each other so I will go back when its quieter.

It’s a lovely warm sunny day outside but someone is sat in my chair and the one lounger we headed for someone else got there too and so I just cant be doing with the hassle of it all.  We had a lovely stroll around top deck and then went to Champions for a drink.  There was some weird American quiz going on but then it was sing a long time, which accompanied by a long island iced tea or three turned out to be good fun.  Lizy now has ‘It’s a long way to Tiperarry’ wizzing round her head sending her mental!  That’ll be payback for all that weird music that thumps out of her bedroom!

Indian Buffet lunch in Alexandria today.  I usually like Indian lunch but today I didn’t find many nice things to pick at.  We had a very nice table for two though by the window (table 42)

I had my walking on Clouds pedicure booked for 1.45 so mr C went to find a quiet spot on deck to chill out.  I have to say my cloud walking experience was nowhere near as good as the one scary nail lady did last cruise.  Why I paid for it is beyond me as the soles of my feet were dry when I left and I didn’t get the nail art I had booked for.  All they seem interested in is ‘up selling’ and extra appointments.  So the salon has lost any good marks from me.

I go for my afternoon nap sulking because I don’t have pretty toes but hey ho.

Formal night tonight and its pre dinner drinks in Andersons.  Tonight I tried the melon Martini followed by a couple of champagne cocktails.

Dinner menu was pretty uninspiring so I ordered a steak and fries. Looked lovely when it arrived but Justin spotted a long hair in it so that had to go back!  Now Im put off my meal!  The next steak arrives but is rare and not medium!  Friday 13th has kicked in I think. Then the dizy wine waitress turns up with the bill for me and I wasn’t even there when it was ordered!!!  They are all out to wind me up today.

Carmens was supposed to be a Ladies Night Ball but they were playing stupid flippin games with dice dancing from corner to corner.  Would have been ok but it went on and on.

Martyn turned up and drags us out of there to Champions where we sit and watch the comings and goings from a window seat.  Before I know it we are in Masquarades before the nightclub has even kicked in.  The useless DJ Andy comes on and that’s me about finished.  I slip off quietly to bed and leave Mr C and Lizy in the capable hands of a Martyn First Officer.

Saturday 14th October 2006

Another hour back on the clock and Im awake at 7 new time, but the TV info tells me its 22 degs outside so its on with the bikini and Im out there.  I get my usual chair and I don’t move very far from it all day. Moscow Mule is the cocktail of the day and they are very refreshing in the hot sunshine.  The steel band entertain us for an hour or so and the rest of the time is just spent soaking up the sunshine and its just fab.

Informal tonight.  Pre dinner drinks in Andersons and more Martini cocktails are sampled. Lamb for dinner followed by orange Soufle and grand marnier sauce.

Mr C is rather warm at dinner so leaves a bit early to get a breath of fresh air on Prom Deck.  Don’t think he was expecting it to be so warm and balmy outside and he had to retreat to the cabin to loose his suit, but he took one look at his bed and he was in there!

Justin escorted Lizy to the magic show in the theatre while I lapped the prom a couple of times and checked out the different venues of entertainment.  The pub quiz in Masquarades seemed to be the busiest but its not the same as being in Champions.  Carmens was dead and only a few couples on the dance floor.  I returned to the show and stood at the back with Clifford.  It didn’t impress me so he went back to work and served me drinks in Andersons.  Justin and Lizy joined me after the show.  It seemed to be senior officers big night out and all the senior stripes came in and stood at the bar for drinks.  I think each and everyone came over for a chat and offered to buy us a drink but we didn’t think that was the best odea for lizy to be asking for a large vodka each time so we declined them all (didn’t want no bar staff getting into trouble)

Me & Liz left Andersons at about 1.30am and headed for masquerades which was surprisingly busy, but we took a look around and decided to turn into bed.

Sunday 15th October 2006

I wake up at 5 ish and Mr C wakes up at 6.  We just cant get our body clocks to adjust.  Decide to get up and go out on deck.  We were on our sunloungers before 6.45 this morning and I confess to getting some strange looks from passing officers and crew to see me sunbathing in the dark in my bikini lol!  Well it was already 26 deg and it was nice just to be in the fresh air. We sat and watched the sun rise from the pink sky with a pot of tea and some Danish pastrys – well why not we are on holiday.

It’s a very long hot morning and I was ready for a pina colada cocktail of the day when the bar opened at 10.00am. but the steel band play us some sunny Caribbean tunes to break up our day.  I opt for a light lunch of smoked salmon sandwich and prawn wraps.  I have to keep going for a wander around deck to cool off – it’s a hard life!

I decide to turn in early this afternoon for my nap, but it lasts all of 30 minutes before Liz and Mr C return to the cabin and Mr C proceeds to fall into a 3 hour deep snoring sleep which does nothing for my mood!

Pre dinner drinks in Andersons means more Martini cocktail sampling and tonight I opt for the orange and peach one – very nice! Jools and Arf sit at the bar with us and we all have a good laugh.  The attending officers scrape into dinner with less than a minute to spare for their table hosting – oops!

I had salmon moose, minestrone soup and chicken followed by carrot cake.  All very nice but I admit to picking at the chicken and the carrot cake because I was stuffed.

Its formal night tonight but there doesn’t seem to be much going on.  Classical concert in the theatre, Blues Brothers in Carmens, disco karaoke in Masquarades.  So we make our own fun in Andersons by the bar with the cocktail list with martin Justin, Jools Arf and us.  Who needs entertainment?  Lizy and officers head for Masquarades at about 11.30 and catch the end of karaoke, but by the time we get there its all over.

Me & Mr C go out on deck and just laze in a steamer chair with a brandy for a while.  Its so warm its great!  I leave Mr C to return to Masquarades to Arf and I retire to my bed.

Monday 16th October 2006

We had an hour back on the clocks but I was still woken up by Mr C at 6 in the morning as he was leaving the cabin to take some photos.  Once I was awake I decided to join him and was on my sun lounger in the dark (LOL) at 6.15am!!  Doesn’t matter what time I get up though there are always the same people in the pool having an early morning swim.

Its very windy by the Riviera today but I cant be bothered to relocate and anyway it’s a very warm wind.  By the time the bar opens at 10.00am Im ready for my Planters Punch cocktail of the day.

Caravan are serenading us at noon and we celebrate being here a week.  Its sort of the end of phase one of the cruise.  A week at sea with one port – sheer bliss!  A week full of informal and formal nights – just how it should be,  Tomorrow we start ‘phase 2’ with all the Caribbean ports on a row and lots of casual nights.

When Caravan finish we decide to take lunch in Café B, and I think we must be one of a few passengers onboard who change for lunch instead of dining in their swim wear and shorts!  We have a nice chicken pasta carbonara, strawberry trifle washed down with a bottle of wine followed by an irish coffee! Superb!

A storm is approaching as I do my laps ofprom deck, so the next decision is easy and I go for my nap, soon joined by Liz and Mr C.

Liz wakes up so disorientated that she thinks she was so drunk last night that she has forgotten what she did and where she went lol.

Informal night tonight and I have to  empty some of my worn clothes from the wardrobe into a case so I can start to see what I have bought with me.  The clothes were packed solid into the wardrobe but now I have space to see whats what.

Pre dinner drinks in Andersons joined by Jools and Arf but they warn that we mustn’t make them late for dinner as they got  some tuts last night lol!

Dinner tonight was melon & pineapple, spinach and courgette soup (yuk it tasted like wood bark)  I then opted for the sweet and sour veg but the roast pork or steak looked equally as nice. I had lemon cheesecake and mr c said the mud pie was to die for!

Peter Goodwright was on in the theatre and it seems half the ship went to se him as it was packed in there and was actually funny from what bit I saw. Mr C watched more of it while me & Liz returned to Andersons.

YEY!!!  Karen came and found me!  At last we meet.  Funny as her ears must have been burning because me and Jools were discussing sending a note to her cabin.  They both arrived just as we were asking Martyn (Hhiiii) about the ship, fire, water tight doors, evacuation in an emergency etc.  sounds boring but we did actually learn some fascinating facts.

The rest of the ship was just dead and I think everyone had gone to bed in rediness for port tomorrow.  We tried Masquarades and had one drink but the DJ’s personality was killing us so we went to Café B and had nacho’s and hot chocolate.  A stroll along the balmy prom deck and we were in bed at 1230 once we had put the clocks back yet another hour.

Tuesday 17th October 2006 – St Maarten

Martyn had told us to expect rain showers today but we woke up to it tipping it down! A massive thunder and lightening storm followed, but by 0930 it was clearing up and the sun was coming through.

OMG we had such a fantastic day ashore today that I don’t really know where to start.  We took Mum & Jack to the duty free shops at the end of the pier and they loved it.  Mum was in her element with all the diamonds, and I love the tanzanite.  We bought a litre of Mount Gay rum extra reserve for $17, litre of Southern Comfort 100% for $17, some gold schnaps for $14 and many other weird and wonderful liquors for a few dollars each.

We got them back to the ship for 11 and we grabbed some swimming gear and headed ashore again with Justin.  We took the water taxi across the Philipsburg for $5 return and walked along the prom before stopping for some very potent smoothies.  I loved the shops which ranged from little shacks of souveniers, duty free blokes gadgets and gizzmo’s, oh and loads of sparkly stuff!  Mr C got some all singing all dancing flash thing for his camera that cost a fortune but he tells me it was £80 cheaper than at home.  Liz got some free tanzanite earings!  I loved the Tanzenite and tried on this amazing ring but as it had an amazing price tag I had to give it back to the nice shop keeper man!  Anyway we hadn’t planned to buy tanzanite today and we had gone ashore for a fun day and oh boy did we have one!

We ate at Mango Bar.  Justin had the best ribs he had ever tasted, Mr C had a chicken curry and me and Liz had jerk chicken.  Two cocktails washed it all down nicely but made my head spin a bit!

I sat on the beach for a while while Mr C investigated some snorkling, meanwhile Lizy and Justin for filled and ambition and hired out to ‘Segways’ to ride up and down the prom on.  It was $45 each for an hour but they loved it.  For the oldies (like me) who haven’t got a clue what one is they are sort of like a cross between a bike or a pogo stick with wheels, and its all controlled by gyroscopes and body weight and balance.  Anyway they past their driving tests and enjoyed their hour zooming about on them. Mr C did do a spot of snorkelling but because of the storm the sea was very murky although he said it was very warm.

We investigated the back streets and then stopped for another cocktail on the beach over looking the ship.

We got the water taxi back and as a load of passengers pushed infront of me and Justin we got split up from Mr C and Lizy.  They got the back of the boat and we got the front where all the seats were wet so we sat right at the bow where they were dry.  OMG the sea was so choppy I thought we were going to die.  One minute I was laughing the next minute I was praying and nearly crying.  It didn’t help when Justin started to look worried either.  I apologise to all other passengers now for any bad language I may have used.  It was like the worst big dipper ride ever and you never knew what was coming! I got back to the cabin for a lie down and could still feel the boat throwing me around.

I had a sleep while Mr C took his new camera equipment out on deck for sailaway, woke up wishing I hadn’t bothered with my nap and could have happily stayed in my bed forever.

Pre dinner drinks in Andersons with Jools, Arf, Martyn and Justin.

Justin loves hosting our table so much that he even attends on casual nights!  We have such a giggle its mad.  Even Mark and Leo the waiters join in with it now and they wind Mum up and tell her to put the clocks forward again lol

We come out of dinner feeling completely wiped out but the Tropical Band are playing on Pennant so we venture outside in the hope that it will liven us up, but the heat of the tropical Caribbean zapps us and its not long before we find our beds.

Wednesday 18th October 2006 – Antigua

I have really been looking forward to todays port because I love it here, however it didn’t get off to the smoothest of starts.  Its very very hot even first thing in the morning.  We are docked on the next pontoon along from where we would normally dock which means the duty free shops that would keep mum happy aren’t directly at the end of our dock.  We are greeted ashore by a steel band and every one dances into the town.  Before I know whats what I loose Mr C who is pushing mums chair and then almost loose Jack.  I go backwards and forwards from A to B for ages until we find them again and as the sun is beating down on me Im not in the most pleasant of moods about it!  I tried on some very expensive Tanzenite rings just to calm me down, but they were way out of our price range.  I bought Mr C some
Pussers Rum though which isn’t bad though considering I was in a mood with him.

We got Mum and Jack back to the ship, changed into our beach wear, collected Lizy and headed off into town again to get a taxi to take us to the beach – but not before doing a spot of retail therapy because Lizy needed more casual clothes.

We had to haggle for a price of taxi to Dark wood beach, some wanted $60 but we got $40 return so wasn’t too bad.  All the taxis want to take you to the commercial or hotel beaches because they get a commission but I was adamant I wanted Dark Wood beach as its one of my very favourite beaches in the world.  Mr C wasn’t dissapioned when he saw the white sand and aqua blue sea glistening.
As always there were very few people ther and those that were there only stopped for an hour as they were doing the private taxi tour that took in Nelsons Dockyard and calls back at this beach as part of the package.  By 1.30 pm we had the beach to ourselves.  We had numerous rum punches and beers at $3 each.  We also had a lovely lunch of salad chips and burger x 2 and a chicken and chips for $7 each.  It was basic but lovely.

I lay on the lounger while Mr C and Lizy snorkelled and generally acted like kids, then all of a sudden out of nowhere 2 jet skis appeared and they were off for 45 minutes of messing about on the water.  The jet ski was $40 for 45 minutes and Lizy drove while Mr C hung on for his life, then the jet ski man hopped on and took them all along the coast and to all the little inlets at top speed.  Then they came back and Mr C took the controls and showed off in the water.

Our taxi man had waited for us and was there to take us back to the ship at 3.30pm as arranged.  Lizy went straight back to the ship but we just had to stop off again for another rum punch.  Why Mr C asked for extra rum was beyond me!

We stumbled back to the ship with minutes to spare, but no worries Martyn was watching for us from the bridge and so we waved and said our usual ‘Hhhiiii’

I had a shower and then fell into bed where I could have quite happily stayed if it wasn’t for the fact that it was Captain and Executive Pursers Private Party tonight out on the back of deck 8.  I got kisses from the Captain and the Purser, or should I say that they got kisses from me lol.

We arrived at dinner fashionable late, but to be honest a plate of sandwiches would have been a welcome change.

It was supposed to be 60’s & 70’s party be the Crystal pool but we went up and the dance floor was all table and chairs and they were doing a quiz.  Not only that but the dome was closed and it was sweltering in there. The staff were dripping and we just couldn’t stick it so we left.  A drink in Andersons and we were finished and ready for bed.
We later learnt that the dome did eventually get opened and it turned into quit a lively night.

Thursday 19th October 2006 – Dominica

Well this place didn’t have much to live up to because everyone had said there was nothing there. But we ended up having yet another fantastic day.

Mr C went diving with the crew for $74 and for that he got 2 dives and he said it was worth every penny and he loved every minute of it.  He dived to 26m and he said the sea was still warm.  I know the next thing he is going to want is an underwater camera!  He saw some amazing fishes and sea life and so has fulfilled an ambition to dive in the Caribbean.

With Mr C departing for the diving expedition as soon as clearance was given on the ship it meant that I was left with the job of making sure Mum was taken off the ship in her wheelchair.  I was dreading it because I knew that the town was a taxi drive away and I knew I wouldn’t cope with kerbs and things.  But thankfully there was a sort of flea market/souvenier market set up in the sheds across from the ship so we arranged to take mum there. Justin had a day off so offered to push the wheelchair so I was saved.  Mum loved the market type place and I think it now means that Dominica is one of her favourite ports!  She bought so much tat it was unreal, but she loved it so that’s all that matters!

As soon as we got Mum safely back to the ship we headed off into town via the shuttle service for $2 per person.  It was baking hot and I mean baking hot!!  You could hardly breath and it was almost unbearable.  The Noordam was berthed in the town and Silver Shadow was anchored off and they have been the only ships we have seen upto now.  We sat in a nice hotel bar for a nice cooling cocktail, I had rum punch and Justin and Lizy had the house speciality.  After that we retreated into an air conditioned duty free shop looking at anything and everything just to stay cool.

We left there looking for another bar and wandered through some very didgy back streets,  I have to say its not the cleanest or most picturesque of ports and I doubt I would wander around lone with just Lizy.

Eventually after wandering here there and every where we ended up virtually where the shuttle dropped us at the CocoRico Cafe Bar we it was blue and yellow if anyone wants to go looking for it and on the road near where the shuttle drops you.  We sat inside and it was very nice and they were attempting to make it cool with various fans.  I had the most blow your head off rum punch I have ever had in my life – it was lethal and I felt la la!
Decided to change to lime daquari after that.  Even though it was only 11.00am we dicided to do lunch and we had some very yummy chicken tortilla wraps and salad, washed down with just a bit more cocktail!

It was too hot to do anything else so we headed back to the ship and went straight to the Riviera pool for a dip, but that was 34 degs!  It was so hot I ordered a large bottle of water!!!  Just as I was deciding it was too hot for even me and I was preparing to go inside Mr C arrived back from his dive.

I told him all about my Rum Punch and the town and before I knew where I was I was back in the taxi and heading for the bar again.  It was very busy and we couldn’t get a seat, but Jill and John were in there so we joined them.  John was bust telling Mr C how he only ever drinks beer and that he never touches spirits, then the next thing I knew was he had Rum Punches too!  Mr C needed to eat and when the girl came to take his order I could see her puzzeled look on her face as I had dined an hour or so earlier with another man lol.  Many many rum punches followed and we moved outside to a pavement table for the entire afternoon.  We were one of the last to arrive back at the ship, but Martyn was standing on the bridge looking out for us and Security man let me use the radio to say ‘Hhhiiii’ to him lol!

As if Mr C hadn’t consumed enough rum punch he decides to pop next door to Jacks cabin and have a Jacks special Rum punch!  He came back in a right old state and one minute was full of beans to the next minute being passed out on the bed.  Lizy found this highly amusing especially as she was able to torment hell out of him without him flinshing.

I decided that he wasn’t going to make dinner so dressed and left for Andersons, but Lizy somehow managed to drag him pout of the shower and push him in the direction of the shower.  She also chose him some clothes and left them on the bed for him.  About 20 minutes later he did actually join us, but he was there in body only and the rest of him seemed to have shut down completely.

Dinner this evening was really nice and I had spring rolls, tomato soup followed by gammon with raspberry sorbet to finish.

We had a baileys coffee in Raffles before going to watch Justin and Darren in the weakest link/Don’t Break the Chain quiz in Carmens.  It has to be stressed that I would never ever watch this sort of cheap crap entertainment but as they were in it we stayed.  I am just so against this rubbish as it costs P&O naff all, its staged and well its boring!  Carmens was packed at the beginning and we couldn’t get a seat so it was a popular venue, but as each long boring round progressed more and more passengers walked out and by the time the lights went up at the end the room was virtually empty, which is a shame as Caravan had a late spot to complete.  AND what really wound me up was this – plus I know it would wind Jules up – if it had been passengers taking part (like Cruisa and Jules did in Mr & Mrs last cruise) the prize would have been a bottle of cuve nappa or a P&O bag, but no, because it was officers playing it was a meal for two in Café B that was the prize!! It all ended in tears as Natasha (communication officer) and Darren (3rd engineer) went head to head and in the end Natasha ‘won’ unfairly and by the quiz master not paying attention.  Darren was not a happy bunny.

We headed off to Masquarades and it was dead but ordered a drink.  I tried the cocktail of the day as lizy said they were nice but it was gin based so didn’t score any points with me.  Darren and Justin joined us and so did Martin eventually with a new lady in tow – a young lady on her first cruise with her mum, obviously impressed by the three gold stripes but I’d just say very gullable!  Anyway at least it explains where he has been the last few nights.

John and Jill came into Masquarades and it turned out the Johns rum consumption earlier had turned him into a right grumpy puss lol.  Bt he seemed ok now and I convinced him to try a P&O rum punch.  Actually stayed out late for the first time in days and we were some of the last to go to bed.

Friday 20th October 2006 – St Lucia

Isnt it great when you can turn the tv on and see a brand new place sitting outside with the sun beating down on it?  It would be even better to pull back the curtains and walk onto the balcony to see it but that’s the difference of an extra cruise a year so the tv picture does me fine, after all its only a deck and a door away.

I wouldn’t have thought it possible for it to get any hotter this cruise but jeepers it’s a hot one today.  I can honestly say I never expected the weather to be any where near this good but it has been superb.

We took Mum and Jack ashore to the duty free shops for what turned out to be a couple of hours.  Mum has just loved every port because there has been duty free shops on every doorstep which has suited us all just fine. She has got pushed around all the little shops and duty free places giving us our time to do what we want later.  Howevever, Mum was on a mission to see everything in every shop twice this morning, which in the searing heat did try our patience just a little bit.

We eventually got her back to the ship and unloaded her wares and did our usual fast turnaround and disembarked the ship with Liz to head for the beach.

We had been advised to head for Spinaker beach although I wanted to go to the beach at soufreir overlooking the Pitons where I used to go on Royal
Clipper, but as I didn’t know the name of it that was off the list. So we decided on Spinaker.  A lot of haggling for a taxi followed as at first they wanted $20 each way, but I wanted $30 return payable on return.  Of course I did get my own way eventually and a taxi man agreed.

My first impression of the beach was slight disappointment because it was too commercial for me.  Rows of loungers and a few water sports, but the sea was shallow and calm.  Local boats on the water selling coconuts etc all added to the atmosphere.  Me & John went to the bar to collect some rum punch and when we got back Lizy had got some rasta man sitting making her an ankle bracelet that she hadn’t even agreed too.  Hi name was Paya and he seemed harmless enough so we let him stay and before long he had convinced Lizys pretty momma that she also needed an ankle bracelet.  He was very entertaining and so he was worth the money just for that.

A huge black rain cloud headed our way so we decided to retreat into Spinakers Bar for lunch.  Well, talk about laid back Caribbean! I thought our lunch was never coming, we were sozzled by the time we got it.  Me and Lizy just kept ordering different cocktails and we would order one just as the other arrived so we had a steady flow going.  Jill & John turned up and sat on the next table and he is a definite rum punch convert now lol.

We went back out onto the beach for a while and although it was baking hot the big black rain cloud was threatening.  Anyway Francis our taxi man was waiting so we headed off back to the ship – turns out it had been raining there ha!

Me and Lizy went back into the perfume shop that I had bought my perfume from this morning and she got some too.  We also got free gifts for spending lots (you see boys there is method in our madness)

N o afternoon sleep again today and I shower and dress in rediness for Tropical Party Night by the Riveira pool tonight.  Its only 6.00pm so we decide to head for  the rum and karaoke bar on the Quay side for an hour, but when we get outside its lashing it down so that scuppered that idea.  Instead we retreat to Andersons and try a Martini cocktail or 3, oooh and an Oriana Peach Royal.

Now, many moons ago, way back at the beginning of October shortly after embarking in Southampton I had booked a table at the Pennant Grill out on the wing.  Not the best of time to rain then!  I confess to being disappointed as it had been such a lovely evening for the last week or so but that’s the way it goes.  Our table was now located by the bar just where it is sectioned off from the rest of the deck.  I was impressed with our table location as it could have been worse and we could have been stuck back by the Orangery.
however it turned out to be not the best of evenings.  Mum was cold (even though it was warm) so I had the job of trecking back to the cabin to find her wrap.  It took the waiters forever t give us a menu, we ordered and I had Salmon fish cakes and chilli dip, scotch broth, tandoori chicken with naan bread.  Mine was very nice although Jacks steak was tough and Mums steak resembled half a cow!  Neither Mum or Jack  enjoyed anything about the evening which me and Mr C and Liz just gritted our teeth through!    Things didn’t get any better when mr & Mrs romantic couple in the corner celebrating an anniversary moved from their table to a table at the bar area directly behind ours and were joined by lots of friends in full party mood.  Nothing wrong with people enjoying themselves but when P&O advertise Pennant as an ultimate delightful dining experience (yes that’s what it says on the little cards on all the bars promoting pennant) I expect the restaurant manager to make sure that nobody sits 2 ft away from the grill part and gets as roudy as a Saturday night in a social club! What got me more was the fact that the restaurant manger came to my mum and asked ‘is everything alright madam’ (bearing in mind shes deaf and cant hear a thing) before moving on and not even looking at me who booked the table in the first place! Grrr!  Wine waier man came and whisked my glass away before I had finished so he nearly got a slap! And then the bill was given to Mr C to sign even though I booked and it was on my account!  Small things but it all got my back up.  I really wanted to call the restaurant manager to our table and say something but on the other hand hate making a fuss in front of others, apart from that he had been faffing over the F&B manager all evening on the table next to us!  So I signed the bill and we left, but as we left Lizy muttered ‘I’d be p’d off it that was me who had just paid £70+ for a crap evening’  so I went back and asked to speak to Restaurant manager man quietly in the Orangery. He just stood their and kept repeating ‘oh Im sorry mam’ after every point I raised.  Obviously didn’t give a monkeys as I had signed the chit and that’s all he was bothered about!

So what else could go tits up tonight?  Well because its been raining Hughie comes on the tannoy to tell us that the ‘oh Boy show’ by the Riviera pool has been cancelled tonight and would be in Carmens.  He never mentioned the Tropical Party afterwards so we presumed it was still on (yes you’ve guessed it the bungee jumping from the bridge had to be cancelled!)  No party by the Riviera, oh well it must be by Crystal under the dome?  No!  Its just disappeared!  Pretend P&O never mentioned it!  Hughies night off again!!!

A drink in Champions and we all retire to bed (Lizy thinks we have all got cabin feaver!)

Saturday 21st October 2006 – Grenada

We woke up to another very hot Caribbean day and I walked along the dock to the terminal building before 8.00am to check out what shopping facilities there were for mum in the new terminal.  It was great, a whole shopping mall.

Sat eating breakfast on the Pennant and the heavens opened for a whole hour, but thankfully it stopped and we could get mum to the shops. She was happy and we were back pretty soon.

As it was overcast we decided that Grand Anse beach wasn’t the best of ideas today, but you could get the water taxi at the end of the pier which I thought was pretty handy.  We decided to just go for wander and some lunch, so we waited onboard until Justin had finished crew drills.  We asked Marion and the port authority man for restaurant recommendations and both suggested Nutmeg or Ocean Grill in the bay.  They were only a few hundred yards apart and so we asked a random taxi man called Neptune which was best – he said Nutmeg.  The setting was ideal, upstairs overlooking the bay and we got a window table, however the food was nothing to write home about.  But it was cheap and cheerful.  After we walked down to Ocean Grill which was much nicer and the food looked very good so that one gets our recommendation for eating at.  We strolled back to the ship and the sun was beating down but I couldn’t be bothered to sunbathe – cant help feeling like I missed out though today.

I think Grenada was my least favourite port out of all of them we have been to.  It had some very dodgy backstreets that I felt very intiminated in even with Mr C.  Also a lot of ‘odd’ people that I wouldn’t like to bump into down an alley!

None of us could face a meal tonight so we sent Mum and Jack to the restaurant and we ordered plates of sandwiches from room service plus some Cajun chicken baquetts from Sidewalk and sat on deck 13 above the crystal pool having a picnic. And very yummy it was too.

Afterwards we strolled around deck 13 before playing shuffle board and deck quoits.  Then we went to the Uganda room and played cards.  Justin and Lizy pulled their hair out trying to teach me! I even only had one drink this evening!  LOL bet you never thought you would hear me say I played deck games and cards!

We stopped by Raffles for a nice coffee and a chocolate and for the first time ever we got asked by the waiter if Lizy was old enough to drink.  He even went away and asked the barman before coming back to us.

At 1030 in Carmens was Mr & Mrs and I had to go along just to see if they were offering the same junk P&O prizes as always or whether they actually offerd passengers a meal for 2 in Café B the same as they offered the officers in Weakest Link the other night?  The questions were the same humiliating ones as they subjected Cruisa and Jules to last cruise and yes, the prize was a bottle of house wine and a P&O prize!! That will definatley be going on the comment form!

We all decided on an early night but noticed the pub quiz in Masquarades and wished we had done that – if only we read Aurora today we would know what was going on.  But I still thought what we had done was more fun and entertaining anyway.

Sunday 22nd October 2006 – Barbados

Welcome to Barbados.  Its hot and its sunny! Its also a Sunday so all the locals have gone to church meaning the shops are closed.  But the terminal shops are open and doing a raring trade. We took mum to the terminal and there was a tropical downpour just as I was pushing her in and I had no option but to run with pushing the wheelchair. The crew were stocking up with plenty of alcohol, but I decided we had bought enough elsewhere.

We got mum and Jack back to the ship and then set off for the Boatyard as planned.

The ‘kids’ (being Mr C, Lizy and Justin) loved this place and had lots of fun.  Im not a beach lover (give me a good clean deck any day) but considering its commercial here it is still a lovely soft white sandy beach. 

They had great fun swimming to the iceberg and trampolines, and jumping off the pirates rope at the end of the peir.  The rum punch was good!  Very potent!  We had lunch of chicken and chips which was cheap and cheerful but always a welcome change.

Lots of pedlars selling there tat on the beach to day which can be quite annoying when you just want to chill out.  I politely told one of the men that I didn’t want anything from him to which he rplied ‘isit your first time in Barbados?’  No, I said.  ‘Well lady next you want o to try and be a bit more friendly!’ and walked off in a huff.  This caused Karen great amusement!

One man was selling something if interest.  He was carrying an Aloe Vera plant which he chopped up and stripped the juice from before giving us the leaves to rub over our body.  Apparently it’s the best thing for you skin and a suntan. We pushed Justins Loyalty Manager job description to the limit and got him to rub my body with the leaves.  LOL.  Well you have to have some perks as a Goldie don’t you?

‘Random man’ (Oh I’ll tell you about our various nicknames for different people on the ship later) got on our mini bus back to the ship and gave Lizy some Barbados dollars to spend.  So when we got back to the terminal we were on a mission to spend it.  I bought my now obligatory fridge magnet and Christmas decoration and we returned to the ship very merry.

I showered and went out to sit on prom deck for a while, but sailaway was delayed for another medical emergency (been one the last 3 nights now) so I ended up doing a mile around the deck.

Chief Engineers Party in the Uganda room this evening so we had to pre dinner drink in Andersons a bit earlier.  The party was packed and far too many people in a small room.  It wasn’t the same without Darren who had no choice but to work.  However we chatted with Zak the Purser, Peter and Jane  (staff Captian) and Captain Ian and wife for the half hour.

Indian Dinner in the Orangery and we invited Justin along because he had never been before.  It was a good evening and nice to be able to pick at the types of food I liked.

We were all zapped and none could keep eyes open so we were all in bed shortly after 10! Bliss!!

Monday 23rd October 2006 – at sea

Phase 3 of the cruise has began with a nice leisurely week at sea.  Because we went to bed at 10 last night I woke up at 4 and we were out on deck by 0630!  But it was hot, sunny and peaceful.  As the morning went on it got hotter and hotter and hotter, but did have a few tropical blasts of rain in between.

Barbeque lunch on Pennant and we sat out there but I had lemon chicken from the Orangery which was very nice.  We returned to our lounger for an hour but the rain came down again and so it was bed for me.  However Liz and Mr C had better ideas and went for long island ice teas and electric lemonades!  I must have passed out because I heard neither of them come back and when I woke up it looked like the a tornado had hit the cabin so I had to tidy up after them. Kids hey!

It was hard work getting up and ready tonight and time was ticking on.  I had a bit of a tantrum (as you do) about the fact that my dresses had all got smaller and my legs and ankles were swollen.

Pre dinner drinks in Andersons was nice and Darren put in an appearance for the first time in ages. Bless he has had some very naff shifts this cruise so we haven’t seen a lot of him. He was telling us that so much rain went down the funnel yesterday that it caused all sorts of problems in the engine room last night and Jools and Arf had said they seen sparks coming out of the funnel! Scarey!

We struggled through dinner tonight and I would prefer a little snack  than a full blown meal.  I managed the spicy chicken strips with sweet chilli dip. And the lamb in pastry was very nice, but I struggled with just a small portion of mango sorbet.

We went out on deck and sat in the steamer chairs for half an hour but its still warm and muggy out there and it drains you.

Back into Andersons to find Lizy to find her merrily sitting at the bar with some bright blue creation of a drink.  Jools and Arf came in after popping there head into the theatre to see new singing lady.  Apparently she is not good, and when I went to look for myself she was playing the piano so I never got to hear for myself.

Hughie was sat in Carmens watching Davina trying to host yet another bloody game show.  Passengers have wised up to it now and the room was half empty.  God knows when they will cotton onto the fact that passengers don’t like them.

Disco karaoke in Masquarades was packed.  Don’t know why they call it Disco Kareoke – I think they expect us to dance to it.  I really wanted to stay up but Im sick of drinking and Im tired.  Mr C caved in first and left me and Lizy.  There just haven’t been any teens even near her age this cruise and she has found the evenings a bit of a drag.  During the first week it was ok because Martyn (1st officer Hhiiii) would stand and chat with her but now he is all loved up with a gullable passenger and wants to tuck himself into a corner and have only eyes for the new love of his life!

So we listen to the end of the karaoke and then decide reluctantly to go to bed.  Looks like it will be a good night as its gone 12 and packed in there.  No doubt
I will get the reports tomorrow.

Tuesday 24th October 2006 – At sea

As I suspected, we missed the best night of the cruise in Masquarades last night and the party continued until 0630!  Oh well!

I woke up late this morning and could vaguely hear the 0855 announcement saying that it was overcast outside, so I was in no hurry to get out on deck.  Anyway, Im still glowing from yesterday and it’s a bit sore.

We decided to be dead lazy and order room service.  We had two plates of BLT, two Ciabbatta’s, some cheese and ham toasties and a pot of tea.  Room service is very good and everything we have ever ordered has always been fresh.  Liz often orders a sandwich and they will make her anything she asks for, which she cant get elsewhere on the ship.  We all tucked and and then turned out the lights and went back to sleep.  Well, I must have passed out because I never heard Lizy leave and I slept until 1.00pm!  I went out on deck expecting the worst but it was red hot sunshine – oh well I have had more than my fair share of sunshine.  We wandered around for a while and stopped and chatted with the shop lads for a while in Chrlies.  I did a few laps of prom deck and top deck before stopping by the Orangery for some water and a rest.  I spotted they had some nice looking little tuna rolls and though I would have one.  There was only me and another lady at the sandwich counter, she was hovering and dithering around and I had to wait for her to move before I could select my bread roll.  Eventually she picked up a tuna roll with the tongues and put it on her plate.  She then opened the roll, poked the tuna, licked her finger and threw it back into the sandwich display!!  I was gobsmacked and said ‘you cant do that!’  To which she snapped that she wanted beef.  Where was the beef? ‘Well it doesn’t look like they have any beef but you need to take that bread roll back’  She called a waiter ‘Where’s the beef’
We don’t have any today.  She was going mental so the manager was called and he convinced her that there was no beef today and she walked off in a huff.  I told him about the tuna roll being flung back in after being poked and fair play to him, he removed the tray straight away.  He was as horrified as me and said I should have told him while she was there but cant see what difference it would have made.

Well after that bit of excitement I was worn out and went back to bed and slept solid for another 3 hours.  I haven’t slept at all well all cruise due to my back and the fact that I miss my memory foam mattress, so it all must have caught up with me especially after the hectic run of port days.

Portunus Party this evening and I was in Andersons for my pre party drinks at 7.00pm.  Formal night and heaven knows how I found a dress to fit that I could breath in.  I have put on far too much weight this cruise.  Party in Carmens was a very sociable event and plenty of drinks flowed.  Justin excercised his P&O smile very well.  The draw was made for the new Portunus gift and we all took the mickey as to what it actually was.  It is a very nice silver ice bucket which no doubt cost a few quid, but in all honesty how many people are going to use an ice bucket regular at home?  Comes in a huge box too for transporting home.  But anyway someone on Formica deck won it.  A Mr Arf Jordon!!!  I think Jools was more excited about the bottle of Moet that came with it lol.  It seems Im not the only one having tantrums about dresses not fitting too and Jools had ‘a moment’ whilst getting ready and very nearly never came to the party to win her moet!  I managed to find both Karen and Jools in the same room tonight so now we have all been united and picture evidence has been taken.

A very nice meal and bottle of wine in Medina and the usual larking around and jokes from Jack.  After dinner we ventured to Champions for the Jazz evening.  The theatre company were singing with the Miles Forman Trio and it was very good.  I popped along to Carmens to see what was happening in there and there weren’t many people in there.  Considering it was a formal night there didn’t seem to be much effort made.  The lights were too bright and no hosted ball taking place.  I stopped and chatted to Gillian and family and they all seem to be having a good time too.

We went along to Masquarades and it was dead in there as we guessed it would be.  I think everyone who had been partying last night was still in bed.  Jill and John haven’t been seen all day.  We chatted to Martyn and his chic and the tech guys but the evening never livened up.  Lizy challenged us to stay up until 3.00am but we only managed 2.30am.  As usual we took our usual stroll out on prom and soaked up the balmy tropical air.

Wednesday 25th October 2006 – at sea

I woke up a little late and was convinced my sun lounger would be gone by this time but I turned the corner on deck 12 and there it was waiting for me.  The lady who always gets it when Im not around was literally 2 minutes behind me so there could have been a deck chair war lol.

It’s a lovely hot sunny morning with a light breeze and a flat tropical calm blue sea.  Mr C is fascinated by the flying fish.  We ate breakfast and I had my first cocktail of the day at 10.00am.  We spent the morning dipping in and out of the pool and the Jacuzzi.  At 2.45 I called it a day and gave up my chair to return indoors.  I tried having a nap but it just didn’t happen so it was time to have a tantrum about which informal dress does or doesn’t fit this evening (good job I bought plenty of choice with me)

Apparently as soon as I left my sunlounger the woman who tries to get to it everyday

(but fails) jumped from her lounger to mine lol.  Seems I have a contender for ‘my’ chair!

Having eventually found a dress that fits and is acceptable I was ready and partaking in pre dinner drinks in Andersons, soon joined by Jolls Justin and the rest of the gang.

Dinner this evening was accompanied by a complimentary bottle of wine from David Lee following my comments about the disappointing meal on Pennant a few nights ago, which I thought was a very nice gesture.

After dinner we were some how lured by Justin to Carmens for ABGS (another bloody game show) tonights offering was Give us a Clue but I found Hughie so nauseating that I had to leave and we returned to Andersons while Lizy stopped to watch the ‘fun’ I popped along to the theatre to watch a bit of Buddy Holly, but it was all the same old stuff.

STOP PRESS NEWS – a new theatre company join next cruise and they will be performing 6 new shows!  About time they had a change.

After Andersons we went along to Masquarades and it was really busy in here.  We could tell there was a big long night ahead but we must be getting old (or just enjoying the days too much) and we left around 0130 for bed.  Apparently the room kept going until 0530 and I saw some lads still up from the night before when I went on deck the next morning.

Thursday 26th October 2006 – At sea

Sun lounger wars is getting silly now LOL.  Of course I beat my contender to the sun lounger yet again this morning but she didn’t half scowl at me when she came on deck.  Most of the regulars on deck are very cheerful and we all select our same chairs and all greet one another but not her, she is bitter!  Doesn’t help when Martyn walks past for breakfast at 0815 every morning and shouts ‘I see you got YOUR chair again Jane’  It was a mixture of hot sun and overcast this morning.

Managed to get an appointment for a nail maintenance at 11.00am so by the time that was done it was 1.00pm with the clocks moved forward.  Mum Jack and Mr C went to the Neptune lunch in Alexandria restaurant but I had wet nails so had to sit it out on deck.  Later I had fish chips and mushy peas from sidewalk and very yummy they were too.    I sunbathed until 3 but called it a day and went ot the cabin leaving Mr C on deck.  You guessed it, as soon as I cleared my sunlounger my opponent was onto it.  Mr C said she never spoke a word and she claimed the other lounger too with a reading book.  I popped back on deck to speak to Mr C and sat on empty chair with book to chat to him.  LOL I thought she was going to flip.

Smart Casual night tonight and I thought I was going to struggle for an outfit that suited the occasion and fitted but I excelled myself when I produced yet another new dress I had forgotten about. Andersons pre dinner as usual then onto Medina for a very scrummy meal of Haggis, carrot and coriander soup, turley, fudge surprise ice cream. The flippin wine waitress got my back up again and very nearly got both barrels.  She has had her ass in her hands for a few nights as Justim had had a word with Bar Manager about her over pushyness of after dinner drinks and the fact that she ‘always’ puts the wine on my account without asking.  Tonight we ordered white wine, then she came around with the half price brandy and contreu, she was very insistent and Jack told her at that point to put the bill in his name.  The next thing I knew she was there with the wine bill for me and the £1.15 after dinner drink bill for Jack.  We asked what the heck was going on and she just giggled and smiled until we signed!  That’s either me or Justin stung for the wine every single night of the cruise – I think she likes Jack!

We went for a wander after dinner.  Not a lot happening in Carmens and Caravan were playing to a practically empty room again.  Chatted to Gillian and her mum, then wandered on through to the theatre for yet another boody game show.  Can cook Wont cook – Captain v’s Hughie Taylor.  The audience found it hilarious but I refuse to laugh at Hughie so I had to leave and go to Andersons.  We always have a good night in Andersons and Louise mixes the best cocktails.  We left there very late and went onto Masquarades for one drink before turning in for the night.

Friday 27th October 2006

I woke up at 7 and turned on the TV to check the weather but it was still dark.  Was so tempted to go and reserve my sunlounger and come back to bed just so my opponent couldn’t get it but nah.  Checked the webcam abit later and it appeared to be raining so decided she can have the chair today and fell back to sleep. That is until ‘Hughie flaming Taylor’ came over the tannoy in the cabin to tell us there was a charity ‘cup of tea’ event this morning!  Grrrr…

By the time we got up it was 1.00pm again as the clocks went forward again.  Decided to have a spot of lunch/breakfast from the Orangery.  Sat out the back by Pennant with a very tired Darren who has had to work all the late night shifts this cruise and it isn’t agreeing with his body clock.  Poor bloke looks done in.

It’s a very pleasant sunny day at sea but a little cloudy and there are people sunbathing but I cant be bothered with it today.

We have a stroll around and when we find Liz we have to return to the Orangery with her so she can have some lunch.  Afterwards we sat out on prom by Champions with a cocktail of the day, Harvey Wallbanger, and then me and Liz decided to do laps of the prom in opposite directions to see who made it back to the table first!  What fun we have at sea lol.

Lizy has become the ‘shop lads Mascot’ because she sits on the sofa in Charlies, either studying or reading, while they sell there wonderful wares to the P&O passengers, and they all have a banter and generally have fun.  So we went along to see what they were selling but they are back on designer watches today so they have gone full circle now.

I took to my bed for an hour (very hard work cruising) but then had to get up and showered ready for the Masonic party in Uganda.  Whos silly idea was it to hold that at 1745hrs?  I just stuck on a little black dress as it was black n white night and couldn’t bear the thought of wearing my big ball gown so early.  I then had to go back to the cabin after the party to complete my hair makeup and struggle into my black n white gown.  Geee Whizz it was tight!  I have serious dieting to do when I get back home.  I had to stand for pre dinner drinks and then suffer in agony as I sat through the evening meal.  I had a very nice steak tonight as I didn’t really fancy anything on the menu.

We came out of dinner and had a walk around before deciding enough was enough.  Mr C had been drinking non stop since the party and it had all caught up with him!  I knew it would!!  My dress was killing me!  And lizy was itching to get back to her book, so that was it – bed by 11.00pm!

Oooh I did stick my head in the theatre to see this new singer bloke they have just bought onboard.  Richard Williams – he looks a bit like Herman Munster to me and has a weird square mouth that sort of moves around his face like a cartoon character lol.  His operatic type singing wasn’t bad though.  The only other option on offer tonight was Caravan in Carmens, so there you go an exciting formal night at sea.

Questionaires have turned up in the cabin tonight – oooh where will I start with my comments re entertainment?

Saturday 28th October 2006 – Madeira

&.00am wake up call from mummy again this morning telling us she didn’t want to go ashore!
Well that was thoughtful of her considering we don’t dock for another hour!!  Mr C took the call so as he was now wide awake he went up to take photos of the sunrise and the approach to Madeira while I slept a while longer.

Had breakfast out on Pennant in the warm Madeira sunshine. No other ships in as yet and we are at the very end berth.

We walk ashore with no kids and no oldies – oooh a day on our own perhaps?  A double rainbow is over the stern of the ship and I wonder if there really is a pot of gold in the little house in the hills?  The queue for the boat shuttle is huge so we decide to walk into town – not without a few moans from Mr C!  It showers a little and then bursts into bright sunshine every now and again, but all in all it is a very pleasant day.  It seems a little weird that the place isn’t buzzing with the new year festivities but the shops are preparing for Christmas with crimbo decorations etc.

We stroll back to the harbour and stop for a drink in a café overlooking the ship.
I was so pleased to see Star Clipper come into dock behind Aurora on her way across the Atlantic – bless her she looked so little compared to Aurora. We were soon joined by Lizy and Justin who had been to McDonalds for lunch/breakfast, then we all walked back to the ship as the queue was ten times bigger than massive!

We watched sailaway from the Pennant to the sounds of Tropical Vision and I felt neither sad or glad.  I know I will be back in 8 weeks time so what the heck?

I spent the afternoon washing in the launderette and doing some packing – I hate having to pack on the last day and prefer just to chill out rather than stress over it all at the last minute.  Mr C and Lizy kept out of the way watching a soppy film in the cinema.

Pre dinner drinks in Andersons (where else?  Must make an effort to go to Crows some time!)  A Melon Martini (my favourite) a Oriana Peach Royal, and a Southern Comfort get me in the mood for dining in Café B!

Mum and Jack decide not to join us for the Café B meal (that’ll be something to do with a cover charge then??)  I had one of the best evenings of the whole cruise tonight.  Carvan were playing and we had a table right at the front because I booked as soon as we got on in Southampton and I knew what table I wanted.  Justin accompanied Lizy, Mr C and myself and it was just fab.  We had a delightful meal (although my salmon did have to go back as it was neither hot nor cold) Justin had duck, Lizy had toad in the hole and Mr C had a steak that was huge.  We danced between every course and it was sad when caravan had to finish.

After dinner we did ‘chocolate cake shots’ yumm diddly I like those!!!

Then we went back to Andersons and onto Masquarades.  All in all a fantastic evening at the end of a fab day.  Not many more days left now, but Im not to sad as I feel I have been away for months!

Sunday 29th October 2006 – at sea

We had a nice lay in and as I knew I had a busy social diary today I decided to shower and do my hair this morning rather than later as I knew there just wouldn’t be time later – social butterflys that we are LOL

Portunus lunch in the Alex restaurant at noon.  We should have been hosted by Darren (1st engineer) but he got his days mixed up and was on watch, which is a shame as we haven’t seen alot of him this cruise.  But Justin stepped into his place and had a nice easy table to host after all his organising – mind you Lizy did get u early this morning to help with the table planning.  Lunch was very nice although the rack of lamb was more like lack of lamb!

After lunch we did of flitting between bars before I returned to my bed for a snooze. Mr C was quick to take the mickey about my need for so much sleep but he wasn’t far behind me and we had trouble waking him.

Gillians 30th Birthday party this evening and her mum and dad had organised a surprise party for her so we had to be out and booted and suited early this evening.  Gillian looked absolutely radiant and was obviously gobsmacked at her surprise!

We went to the Crows for a nice quiet romantic drink afterwards and I think it is only the third time we have been in there this cruise.  It was very quiet as it was between dinner sittings.

We then moved onto our usual place in Andersons for pre dinner drinks.  I could have done without dinner tonight but it has to be done and it was very nice.  Trio of salmon, Mediterranean vegetable soup, sorbet, beef Wellington, and fresh fruit salad and a cappachino.

After dinner we went dancing in Carmens and did all the silly party dances and a few proper ballroom dances.  We had a family challenge to stay up until 3.00ambut an hour in Masquarades almost killed me.  I tried to leave 3 times but kept getting forced back.  I had to cave in eventually and left at 0130.  Mr C Lizy and Justin are still there and judging by the amount of people in party mood in there tonight I think it will be a very late one!

Monday 30th October 2006 – last day at sea

Well, well, well,  someone is feeling a little rough today.  Lizy came in at an almost respectable 3.00am this morning (it was a family challenge so at least she lasted that long!)  But Mr C – the same Mr C that has been tired all cruise and has often wanted his bed straight after the evening meal – suddenly found his stay out late head and came rolling in with a big stupid grin on his face at 10 past 6 this morning (Ive been out on a sunlounger at that time some mornings!)  Anyway he is paying the price for it now as he is lying moaning up on Lizys top bunk whilst I have been packing the rest of the stuff.

We had lunch in the Orangery which I was a bit disappointed about as I like to have a leisurely lunch in Café B but the menu wasn’t one of the best.  But Orangery lunch was a very nice pub lunch although I did have did have Cajun chicken and made some very nice wraps with them.

So here I am now, in my cabin surrounded by all the packed cases after 22 fantastic days and nights to the Caribbean and back.  6 suitcases, 2 dress bags, 1 suite carrier, 2 back packs a holdall and a wheelie case somehow have to find their way to the mini bus tomorrow.

Im sitting here writing this in bed with a rum punch kindly supplied by Mr Chadwick for all my hard work and effort of packing and generally organising the mammoth task of what goes where.  Either that or he feels guilty for stopping out last night with his ‘uncle John’  Apparently the nightclub was really buzzing right up until 6 this morning, it wasn’t just a few drunken idiots propping up the bar and even the barstaff said that is unusual of late.

Mr C has just dashed out of the door as it has just been announced that a large school of dolphins are on the port side.

We are almost out of the bay of Biscay and it is so very very calm.  It was far lumpier than this a few days ago so why people worry about the bay of Biscay is beyond me.

The Captain has just announced that we should be alongside by 0630 tomorrow so no doubt mummy will have us up with the larks!

We got to Andersons a little earlier than usual for pre dinner drinks but it was just as well as it got packed in there around 8.00pm.

I wasn’t looking forward to my meal as Ive really had enough food now, but I actually quite enjoyed it.  Smoked salmon on a bed of cuecumber, Roast Pork (mmm I ate all the crackling as the diet starts tomorrow and things like that are strictly off limits) followed by chocolate souffle.  Parade of the Chefs and that was it – all over.  Mind you the meal could pass without Rizlyann or whatever her flippin name was getting my back up one final and last time.  Basically everytimne we had wine at the table she automatically charged my account with it!  Something was said to the Bar Manager and she got a grump on for a while, but still she continued to always charge me for the wine.  Tonight we wondered what would happen and I purposely didn’t speak first when she came to the table.  Justin asked for a sprite, lizy a fanta, Mr C a coke (don’t worry we don’t normally have soft drinks but I think they have all started to detox a little) and I said I would have a glass of wine.  Justin did most of the talking so we took bets that he would get the bill.  No! Wrong ‘Thankyou Mrs Chadwick’ giggle giggle!!  Grrrr.  We even asked why I got the bill and she just giggled – so beware if she comes to your table!

After dinner it was ‘Five minutes of shame/Fame’ in Carmens.  It was packed in there and actually the 8 acts were very entertaining.

Then, wait for it, we had a party night!!!! What a brilliant idea!  Why didn’t the ents department think of that before??  Im speechless, what can I say?  Ive banged on about the lack of entertainment all cruise and the fact that the bands were wasted.  My comments did of course go on the questionare but I really do doubt that they will take notice of them  Its just as well we have a good time despite what goes on around us.

A few final goodbyes and a quick visit to Masquarades to say Bye to Glenn and Aldrin and we were on our way to the cabin.  But a funny thing happened on the way to the cabin – I went into check the CC posts.  Gillian had been telling me earlier about the couple of times she had caught a crew member and a passenger ‘up to no good in there (oooh and if you knew who they were it cant have been a pretty sight) (Jools I’ll let you know who, and I know you will know them instantly LOL) Anyway Gillian and I though it hilarious when she caught me coming out of there late at night and Im sure she was expecting Mr C to follow lol.

Observations and other things

The ship is still undergoing a massive rebranding with the logo etc.  Key cards and most of the paperwork now have the new logo and the shops have just about cleared the old stock at half price, but logos on doors etc are still unchanged and I think it will take them a long time to get it all done.  I still ask why they bother.

I think there are only 64 kids under 18 onboard so it hasn’t been ideal for the older kids from about 12 upwards.  Lizy has been a little bored and if it hadn’t been for the lads in the shop to talk to during the day she would have been really cheesed off.  She has loved the cruise, the weather and the ports and had a really good time when we have been ashore but I know she has found the evenings to be ‘different’  A couple of her Youthie staff friends are onboard but she hasn’t been able to spend much time with them.  I think she will be giving next years Caribbean cruise some careful thought for next year.

There are a strange little pocket of passengers scattered about the ship that me Jools and Mr C have our own little pet names for.  ’Green folder man’ never seen without his green folder even at night!  ‘Batwoman’ she wears bats in her hair lol. ‘Dancing man’ hes just crackers and loves to dance to anything and everything.  ‘Random man’ he just walks up to you and has a full blown conversation with you when you least expect it.  ‘Excentric Lady’  Well she is just plain barking!!! LOL.  There are others but only me, Mr C or Jools know about those lol.

There are also some people we don’t wish to see on a cruise again.  Some right flippin moaning whinging types, some so far up there own asses and even some we refer to as gypsys and then there is the council brigade! (sorry not very complimentary am I)  I don’t think I will forget deckchair woman for a long time – she scowls at me everytime I pass her and all because I sat in the chair she wanted everyday!  Ha ha tough luck deckchair lady! Oh and Jools has a terrible drama to tell about some silly troll!  It takes all sorts to fill a cruise ship I suppose.

Ooh we heard that some ‘youths/kids’ broke open the DJ booth late one night as they wanted more tunes played.  They were told to pay for the damage or they were off.  And it gets worse than that. (If the people concerned are reading this now I hope you are ashamed of yourselves?) We used to speak to a very nice couple from Jersey pre dinner in Andersons at the bar and one night late in the cruise she was very upset.  They were in a cabin on B deck and had already complained about noise from the neighbours.  They had an interconnecting door from the cabin next door so crew came and put extra lagging over it to stop noise travelling through, but it didn’t really help much.  On the night of the Jazz fest in Champions they had seen their neighbours in there with their little boy.  They went to bed and soon after the man and little boy were heard to go to bed too.  Not long after that woman from next door trys to go to bed but didn’t have her key so she started F’ing and blinding calling her hubby various vile words and started kicking at the door until she damaged it to such and extent that it had to be replaced the next day!  When she got inside the cabin she continued to abuse hubby and when the little lad asked her to stop he was reffered to as a little ‘C’.  Why did P&O allow this stupid low life to stay onboard?  There is no question about it for me and they should have just been off the next day.  The poor neighbours were distraught and had to be moved but it took P&O 2 days to ‘find’ her a cabin which I think is disgraceful.

Oh and I hope the woman who had a go at Jools gets her come uppance to as there was no need at all for it.

Dress code – Mmmm well, very hit and miss on a lot of nights.  Most seemed to cope with formals wear although some dresses were a little more daywear than formal. But I have to say, it’s a good job I was comfortable with my choice of clothes as sometimes I came downstairs by Raffles and wondered if I had the correct dress code.  Im still dead against men not wearing a tie on informal nights so maybe I just have higher standards than many?

The crew – lots of familiar faces onboard.  Most senior officers seem to have their wives traveling with them.  Its rather nice when all the senior officers know you by your first name and always have time to stop and chat.  I still think Ian Walters is one of my faveourite captains, probably because he always has time to chat or say hello and shows an interest in Lizy and always comments about when she was a little girl at the coketail parties.   Zak is always very joville, and staff captain and Jane are great fun.  Unfortunatley Hughie just doesn’t come anywhere near to them for frendliness and communication – maybe he just doesn’t like me?

Geoff is due back behind the bar the cruise after next.  Louise is fairly new but is excellent behind a bar and you can tell she has managed her own place.  She is the one to go and see if you want the perfect cocktail or martini mixed.  Clifford has a couple more cruises before going on leave but he wants to return with some sort of officer status maybe as stores manager so we shall see.  Glenn was in Masquarades and Alex in Champions, they were the only bars we frequented really.  A few of the stewards have been around for a while and know what we like to drink and look after us.  Our wine waitress seems to be on her own planet and I wont be sorry not to see her every evening.  She has really got my back up with her silly giggle and the fact that she always charged the wine to my account without asking!  The restaurant manager and head waiter have been fantastic and Leo and Mark have given us excellent service with a smile.  Airene the cabin stewardess has loved seeing mine and Lizys dress every evening as we leave the cabin, bless her she is very sweet and again has done an excellent job.

Entertainment – Mmmmm yes well.  It’s a good job I don’t come on a cruise for the entertainment part.  I have to express my disappointment though at the lack of party nights and deck partys etc.  Most formal nights don’t seem to have coincided with anything in particular and even in Carmens there hasn’t always been a hosted ball.

Tropikal Vision and Caravan have been superb but have been wasted.  We could have had some great deck parties as the tropical weather has given us very warm balmy evenings.  We missed out on 60 & 70’s night due to the fact we went up to Crystal too early and it was sweltering hot with the roof over.  30 minutes later they pulled the roof back and it was a good night.  The only other planned deck party night should have been by the Riviera pool on St Lucia night and unfortunately it rained – but why they didn’t move it to the Crystal pool is beyond me!  Not even any party nights in Carmens with Caravan.  And the tropical steel bamd were wasted in Charlies or Champions or Crows – but heaven forbid that the ents team had to do a bit of thinking outside the box for once!! Im guessing that you either love or you hate Hughie, and yes I thought he was great back in Canberra days but I reckon he is still stuck in those days (just my opinion) and needs to step aside and give some of the new guys a chance.  Him and Davina get off tomorrow and Leon is back for a few cruises before Neil Oliver comes back in time for Christmas I believe.

The people – As well as all the oddballs onboard we have met some fantastic people.  Some old friends and some new friends.

The cruise wouldn’t have been the same without Justin.  He has been fab.  He has made us laugh and as well as being the best loyalty manager at sea, he is also as nutty as a fruitbat.  We have had some great times ashore and him and Lizy have been like a pair of kids messing around and I know the highlight for them was the segways in St Maarten, plus all the silliness at Barbados Boatyard.  He has made Mum feel like the most important woman on the ship and he has creased with laughter at some of Jacks jokes.  Im sure he is going to miss us for the next cruise or maybe he will just return to normal lol.

Jill & John and son Tom.  They are great and we had a fab afternoon ashore with them in Dominica where ‘Uncle John’ developed a liking for rum punch!  Jill & John had some very late nights but all under the watchful eye of their 15 yr old son and I think its so amusing that he came and dragged them out of the nightclub one night because he was sick of them lying in bed hung over all the next day with him doing all the fetching and carrying for them lol. It was uncle
John who kept Mr C in the nightclub until gone 6 this morning – what do fellas find to talk about?

Jools and Arthur – great company and we all seem to be switched onto the same wave length and can laugh at the same things.  The boys usually talked about the wonderful world of photography while me and Jools sumerised the day and the strange people that had crossed our paths.

Karen and Hubby – thanks for eventually coming and hunting me out Karen because Im so bad at remembering faces.  Glad I managed to get you and Jools in the same place at the same time too.

Gillian, Shelia and Michael – such a lovely family.  Shelia handled her missing suitcase situation far better than I ever would have. So laid back about the whole situation. No suitcase full of clothes until Antigua?  I would have been locked up for going mental by then! I never saw Gillian without a smile and always looked stunning.

Mr & Mrs Q – they were Goldies introduced to us on embarkation day and again they were so pleasant and happy to be onboard.  Mr Q had made the most stunning necklace in the craft class so next time I will be looking out for the craft classes.  Oh and they are called Mr & Mrs Q because I haven’t got a clue what there long surname was only that it began with Q.

The nice couple who used to sit in the same sunloungers just by the steps to the Riviera pool every morning.  Always pleasant always cheerful.  On there second cruise and now it turns out we will all be onboard for the Oriana New Year so no doubt I will see them by the pool in 8 weeks time.

There are various other passengers around the ship who had the ‘misfortune’ to sit with Mum & Jack for either a meal or on deck.  Most are still laughing about the 3 legged chicken joke!

The food – to be honest I am sick of the sight of it and wish I hadn’t gone to dinner every night except our picnic on deck night.  Only one more meal to face this evening and hopefully I will make the most of it and enjoy it.  Im even starting to crave for some super speed food (slimmingWorld) and by heck I need it! Im not happy with my weight at all, but at least I have something to aim for when I get home (anther cruise full of eating and drinking!).  I cant wait to eat real toast and a proper cup of tea.  I’d kill for a jacket potato with baked beans and I never want to see another biscuit, cake or pudding ever again as long as I live!

The stores man doesn’t seem to have ordered enough of some things as the ship ran out of ginger beer days ago so that was the end of Moscow mules for me!  They have also ran out of Guiness and some other beers.  We haven’t had nibbles on the bar in Andersons for well over a week, but now they have found some dry tasteless nuts for us.  We resorted to a bag of walkers crisps with our pre dinner drinks last night!  Hot chocolate disappeared well before Madeira but got replaced with some weird foreign stuff.  The little pots of milk also got replaced with some foreign stearlized yuk stuff that makes the tea taste worse. And you consider yourself lucky if you find a packet of sweetner.  Cant be rocket science for P&O to order and store enough provisions surely?

Speaking of food, I collected a huge carrier bag full of biscuits which I haven’t counted, but I did intend giving some to the youthies and bringing some home as I usually do, but the youthies that we usually give them to are disembarking tomorrow so they have all gone in a suitcase.  If they survive without turning to crumbs we should have enough to see us into 2007!

I also have 54 pillow chocolates (we must have eaten 12 during the cruise at some point) to put in the fridge when I get home and I will allow myself a treat of one a day if I am good and stick to my diet. Oh and some of them are in red wrapping rather than the usual blue paper.  They appeared mid cruise but soon returned to blue so don’t know what all that was about.

Oh and I had a new collecting game this cruise.  I saved the stirring sticks out of my cocktails and I currently have 139 of them!!!  That’ll be why Im carrying a spare tire around with me then!  That’s a lot of cocktail research, even for me!

The ship – its still as good as it has ever been.  It still looks great and has been a welcome sight in the heat of the Caribbean. I cant really fault nothing about the ship or the service and will be more than happy to return to her next year.  There I no signs of her looking tired or worn out and the lads are about on deck constantly touching her up with paintbrushes on things that don’t look to be a problem to me.  I do wish P&O would ditch the wornout looking bed spreads though and just freshen up the cabin furnishings.

Our cabin on D deck is in an ideal position, just 2 doors away from the library.  Sometimes we could even pick up the wireless access from our cabin.  Our cabin was almost like our bedroom, Raffles became our personal lounge with comfy chairs to chill out in.  Sometimes I would go down the stairs by Raffles bar and look across at Charlies marble floor and table and think that could be our hallway!  LOL I do live in a silly dream world sometimes

Embrkation/Disembarkation – We checked in as soon as the desks opened at Southampton and walked straight on the ship as Goldies without entering the lounge.  Normal embarkation started at around 1.00pm and passengers flowed on quite quickly and were served lunch in the Orangery.  Some people ignored the fact that cabins weren’t available for use yet and went to their cabins anyway, which I think is rather sill as it could mean P&O put a stop to early embarkation if passenger ignore their request not to go until cabins are announced ready for use.

Disembarkation seems to be starting even earlier tomorrow.  We have orange which are the first off and this is usually at around 0915.  However, we have been given a disembarkation time of 0840.  I did think about calling our taxi company and asking them to get here earlier but decided to just embark at our leisure.  P&O also offer the ability to self disembark at 0730 providing you carry all your own luggage in one go!  Mmmm cant think there will be many able to do that after 3 weeks at sea.  Hopefully disembarkation wont be too chaotic and mother wont get her knickers in too much of a twist in the morning.

Internet/CC access

Using the internet is fairly easy to log on to.  If you have a laptop you need a wireless card, or you can hire one from the cyberstudy.  There are also a xouple of terminals where you can just plug the laptop in.  There’s a one off fee of £1.95 plus the time plan you choose.  100 mins is £16.95 I think?  An hour was about £10 and you could choose to log on at 30p a minute.  It want superfast but not slow either if you know what I mean.  You could write in word for no cost.  Printing was 25p per sheet!

To log onto CC, just click on internet which gives you the logon page for connection to internet – ignore all that and the P&O website button is bottom left of that screen.  I hadn’t spotted it until Cruisa said that he was posting on CC for free.

Upselling

This really gets on my nerves.  Its like everywhere you go its thrown at you.  The bars have promotion posters and displays on them, the wine waitress hassles you to buy half price after dinner drinks, the shops set up the stalls in Charlies and later move to the bottom of the Atrium, the salon staff are on at you constantly to but hair straighners, hair product, magic make up etc etc.  If I want a drink I got to the bar, same as if I want something from the shop I go into the shop, and if
I want something done at the salon I go and book for it.  I just don’t like or want things thrown at me all the time.  All a sign of Carnivalisation I suppose?!

The Ports – I loved them all.  Antigua probably still remains my favourite because I like the dress shops and the beach at Dark Wood.  Dominica everyone said don’t expect much, and we didn’t but it was better than I thought.  Barbados, we had a great day at the Boatyard but next time I want Mr C to see more of the island.  St Maarten – it just has everything doesn’t it?  Beach, good shopping and plenty of places to eat and drink.  St Lucia, mmmm still doesn’t inspire me but next time I want to go over to the Piton side. Grenada, mmmm it has never really inspired me as a nice port of call and I came away feeling pretty much the same this time.  Matbe next time we will go to the beach? Ponta Delgada isn’t as bed as everyone makes out and Ive always had a pleasant day there.  Madeira is lovely but sometimes it just feels like we are ‘there again’ if you know what I mean?

Tuesday 31st October 2006 – Southampton

Well, that’s it all over L back in Southampton, cruise over, finito!  They really do seem to want you out of the cabins by 8.00am.  The very very long and detailed bill was sitting in our cabin letter box – I do hope Mum didn’t take her usual nosey peak at it as she might have keeled over.  Heck it was a big one, but who cares?
We were amazed to go for late sitting breakfast in the restaurant and get in without any problem.  In the past if you didn’t get in the queue 30 mins before you faced the doors being closed on you.  But it seemed very empty.  So a very pleasant relaxed breakfast with our final bit of waiter service.

We delivered Mum to Andersons for her assisted disembarkation and as we seemed to be the only people on D deck still in our cabin we quickly vacated and went down to F deck.  Orange had already been called so we stood back and waited for the mass to clear and then we left the ship.  Totally hassle free.  We collected the cases quickly with my special identification system I have for the cases.  Well I say quickly, it could have been quicker if old people didn’t insist on just stopping and standing aimlessly in the baggage hall instead of standing to one side while there other halves looked for their luggage!

We walked through customs and I was rather nervous.  Most tables had someone pulled over and their bags going through.  Two customs people were looking for the next one to nab but I just took a few deep breaths and carried on.  I heard one custom man ask a woman what she had bought and she said 200 ciggies and a litre of vodka!  Mmmmm, I doubt it very much as she didn’t look the innocent type.  By the time Mum and Jack came through the custom hall 35 minutes later Jack said there were 1000’s and 1000’s of ciggies piled up on the desks waiting to be bagged up and destroyed.  Booze and ciggies were so cheap that I think everyone risked it, but looks like a lot got caught out.  We didn’t buy any ciggies but
I have to confess to having rather an excess amount of rum in various places, plus my 100% southern comfort, some strawberry vodka, some rum liquer, frangelico and a litre of Goldsclager!  Plus the perfumes and aftershaves – oopps!

The taxi driver turned up at the same time as mum and jack coming through and we were on the road at 0945.  He was on a mission and he got us home for midday even after stopping to refuel!

Its cold and miserable.  The house is spotless which is rather suspicious!!But I shouldn’t complain, bless him I think Adam has been up to no good and he must have paid someone to get the house this neat and clean.

Mr C and Liz have gone to Tesco’s and I have just skimmed through my 370+ work emails and I don’t know where to start so it will have to wait until tomorrow.

I have to try and cook some super speed food for this evenings meal as I have a cruise in 8 weeks time and the dresses aren’t fitting to good at the moment!

So that’s it, no time for the PCB’s.  NCL Pearl party cruise for 2 nights on 30th of this month and then we will be all excited and looking forward to our New Year trip on Oriana.

Please feel Free to leave a comment below and you can view the rest of my pictures here in the Aurora Octobor 06 slideshow