R215 Aurora 18 night Mediterranean cruise

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MicheleW
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R215 Aurora 18 night Mediterranean cruise

#1

Post by MicheleW »

Headed of for this cruise with a little apprehension due to covid and partly due to hearing how many cutbacks there have been. But plased to say we had an absolutely amazing time.

EMBARKATION. Arrived at Mayflower terminal at approximately 12.30 and straight away on entering were asked about proof of vaccination, insurance, health declaration and covid tests. I replied "all done" and was about to open my bag and get all the paperwork but they didn't ask to see it and we were sent to the priority check-in where they asked for our passports and took our photos. I had done mine, but it needed re-doing! We then took a seat and waited as embarkation hadn't yet commenced. Most people were on a high tier so there wasn't really much advantage to the priority boarding! We went and checked in at our muster station before heading to the priority lunch. This was buffet style and along with the free drink, a very nice start to the cruise. After lunch we set of in search of our cabin.

CABIN. Our cabin was B247 - a mini suite on the starboard side towards the stern. We splashed out as it was OH 60th birthday! It was a lovely room. There was so much storage I kept forgetting where I had put things - and I could have taken another dozen pairs of shoes if I could carry them! There was a dining table and 2 chairs, a comfy sofa and 2 not so comfy easy chairs and coffee table. There was also a coffee machine as well as a kettle. The bathroom had a jacuzzi bath with shower over, two sinks and a telephone! The balcony was not very deep but had a dining table and 2 chairs, 2 reclining chairs, 2 footstools and a smaller table. Our cabin steward Steven serviced the cabin morning and night but no chocolates! We had a bottle and a half of champagne and chocolates on arrival, fresh fruit replenished a few times during the cruise and daily canapés. It was ideally situated - 2 floors up to Lido deck, 2 floors down to Glasshouse really close to aft stairs and just a few cabins away from the door out onto the beautiful tiered stern decks.

DINING. We got our requested dining - a table for 2 on second sitting and our waiters were excellent.In fact apart from the embarkation and Caribbean lunches, we had a table for 2 at every meal. We sometimes had to wait for a table at breakfast or lunch in the MDR (Medina), but not very long. We also used the lido grill and the buffet for a couple of lunches and either sat outside or took it back to the cabin. We also dined at Sindhu, The Glasshouse and the Beach House. I used the holiday app to book Sindhu for 27th October and booked the Beach House for 20th thinking it would be nice to sit outside but we had a call from Sindhu to say they were closing after 21st but we could eat there that night. I explained we were booked at the Beach House and said I would see if we could rearrange it. Not being able to find a telephone number I ran up to the Beach House and asked if we could go on 27th (was OK), then ran back down to Sindhu to book for that night! Had a lovely meal at all 3 venues but were unable to sit outside at the Beach House because it was so windy. Only gripe was that there were an awful lot of wines that weren't available in the MDR, but we sometimes ordered a bottle of wine from the Glasshouse and took it to the restaurant.

BARS. Our favourite bar was the Glasshouse which we used nearly every night for pre-dinner drinks except for the 3rd night when I asked for a Kir Royale but they didn't have any creme de cassis so we went to Andersons instead, but the following night the wonderful barman had managed to procure some so it was back to the Glasshouse. Also had our free sailaway drink at the pennant bar as we sailed out of Lisbon.

Will continue anon.

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oldbluefox
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Re: R215 Aurora 18 night Mediterranean cruise

#2

Post by oldbluefox »

That mini suite sounds lovely Michele.


Whynd1
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Re: R215 Aurora 18 night Mediterranean cruise

#3

Post by Whynd1 »

Thank you Michelle, looking forward to reading more.

Lindsey

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oldbluefox
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Re: R215 Aurora 18 night Mediterranean cruise

#4

Post by oldbluefox »

Just think how many more pairs of shoes you could have got into that suite.
Happy 60th birthday to OH. Looking forward to further tales of your cruise.

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MicheleW
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Re: R215 Aurora 18 night Mediterranean cruise

#5

Post by MicheleW »

A bit more!
ENTERTAINMENT/ACTIVITIES. Due to covid we had decided to 'keep ourselves to ourselves' and were quite unsociable. There was a full programme of daily activities and evening entertainment:- films, quizzes, talks, art/craft classes, classical recitals, Headliners, comedians, etc. None of which we went to! I did enter the 2 blackjack tournaments they put on (didn't win unfortunately) and also ventured to the casino on a few evenings to make a small donation! We also, quite unwittingly, joined in a virtual tenpin bowling competition - we were strolling past Masquerades after lunch and wondered what was going on and when we went to have a look found ourselves 'having a go', without realising it was an actual tournament - which I won! And got 2 stamps on my prize passport! (Never took part in anything else, even the second bowling session, as the weather was too good to miss!) The only other thing I took part in was the Swowball bingo on the last sea day! Was 2 numbers away from the £600.00 jackpot! On sea days I would get up early and go and a few laps of the promenade deck before breakfast. We spent our sea days mostly out on the aft deck with a fair bit of swimming in the terrace pool and the occasional plunge in the jacuzzi there. We also watched a couple of films in the cabin, but they didn't show any of the latest blockbusters in-cabin.

PORTS. Our first port was El Ferrol. This was a new one for us, but we weren't overly impressed. The weather wasn't brilliant either which never helps. We went ashore at 9.30 and were back on board by 11.30! After lunch we had coffees and cake at Raffles and got charged the Spanish tax! Completely forgot about that!
Next stop Cadiz. We had a lovely stroll around Cadiz in some lovely sunshine - even had a paddle in the sea - extremely cold! Back on board for lunch in the buffet and then afternoon in the sun and a swim.
Barcelona was next. 4 other ships in as well: MSC Opera, Celebrity Edge and 2 Costa ships. Took the shuttle bus into city and walked a little way up Las Rambla before heading towards Montjuic, where we took the cable car up to the top. Some fantastic views of the port and the city. We walked back down and then on to Sagrada Familia for a couple of photos then had a quick lunch before walking back to the shuttle bus.

Next stop: Genoa. Another first for us. Just had a lovely wander around. First around the old port area before heading inland into the old town where there are some really narrow streets and some lovely piazzas with fountains. A very nice city. We took a funicular back to the old port area before nipping back on board for a quick lunch before heading out again when we took another funicular up to a higher viewpoint for some great views. Genoa has several funicular and lifts for getting around as it is quite hilly and they are all free. We were ready for a nice refreshing swim when we got back.

Will finish for now and get some more done soon.

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barney
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Re: R215 Aurora 18 night Mediterranean cruise

#6

Post by barney »

Cheers Michele 😀
Empty vessels .. and all that


CaroleF
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Re: R215 Aurora 18 night Mediterranean cruise

#7

Post by CaroleF »

Thank you for posting Michele. I have very fond memories of those mini suites on Aurora. John and I cruised in one twice and our last cruise together was in B229. They certainly are lovely cabins and so spacious. I haven't cruised since 2019 but have booked a short 4 night cruise in the cabin opposite to yours for next year to see if I can get back to cruising. My daughter is travelling with me and she's never been on a cruise before. I have fond memories of Raffles where I could be sure of getting a good cup of coffee - never found anywhere else on the ship where I could get one. I look forward to your next posting and I'm pleased it all sounds so successful.

Carole

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MicheleW
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Re: R215 Aurora 18 night Mediterranean cruise

#8

Post by MicheleW »

Sorry for the delay in reports - a little thing called work got in the way. But it pays for the cruises!

Just want to make a quick mention about mask wearing. Every daily Horizon had a note to say that while mask wearing is recommended they are only mandatory in the medical centre. Also 4 days into the cruise a notice appeared on the back of the Horizon which said 'In collaboration with health experts and with the legal requirement to wear a face mask now removed in England, our crew will now have the personal choice whether to wear a mask on board, on routes where international regulations around mask wearing do not apply'. The majority of staff did remove their masks from here on and it was so nice to see all their smiling faces again. Some did continue wearing masks along with some passengers. There was also a note on the Horizon in Barcelona that masks are mandatory on coaches but I don't think everyone read it and it certainly wasn't enforced.

So, to Civitavecchia. After breakfast in the MDR we took the shuttle bus to the drop off point and walked to the station to utter chaos! There were 5 other ships in with lots of people disembarking their cruises along with their luggage plus the station was undergoing renovations and only 2 ticket kiosks were open. We nearly gave up but eventually got to Rome about 11.15. We had planned to visit the catacombs but didn't want to spend such a glorious hot day underground so instead we wandered to the Coliseum and then on to the Circus Maximus, where we found a busy little cafe for a nice pizza and cold drink. After this welcome break we headed to the Vittorio Emanuele Monument, known to the Romans as "The Wedding Cake ". We'd passed it several times in the past but took the opportunity to have a closer look. It is free to climb the stairs for some great views and you can also see the unknown soldier's tomb. There is also a cafe and bookshop and for an extra charge you can take a lift to the top but there was quite a queue so we decided to head straight back to the station and were back in Civitavecchia by 5.15. We had a leisurely stroll along the front to the shuttle bus and had a lovely refreshing swim once back on board.

Next stop- SORRENTO- the one I was looking forward to the most as we had our honeymoon here in 1995! Will continue shortly as I have already lost all of this once!

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MicheleW
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Re: R215 Aurora 18 night Mediterranean cruise

#9

Post by MicheleW »

So, Sorrento. This was a tender port and after a quick breakfast in the buffet (only place to get an omelette, even though it wasn't very warm), we went to Masquerades to pick up tender tickets to find no one there. We eventually got the first two tickets but still had to wait for all the tour groups to get off first. We did push the issue a bit by actually going down to the tender deck and they let us on with one of the tour groups getting ashore just after 10.30. From the port we climbed the steps up to the town, although there was a shuttle bus available and there is also a lift. We had hoped to locate the hotel we stayed in, but we couldn't remember the name, plus it was a very hot day and the road out of town eventually ran out of pavement- as we remembered! So we headed back into town and went to the Foreigners Club for lunch. We got a table right at the front of the huge terrace overlooking the Bay of Naples with an amazing view of Vesuvius in the background and Aurora below us. We enjoyed a delicious pizza and glass of prosecco. We sat for quite a while before having a stroll around the narrow streets and treating ourselves to a large gelato before reluctantly returning down to the port and back to the ship. We bagged a couple of sunbeds on the aft deck and enjoyed the last of the sun before sailaway. A beautiful day

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MicheleW
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Re: R215 Aurora 18 night Mediterranean cruise

#10

Post by MicheleW »

Another sea day followed including our Caribbean lunch so we had a fairly light breakfast and spent in between times out on the deck topping up our tans before reaching our next port - MALLORCA. Had a lateish breakfast in the MDR before taking the shuttle bus into town and having a very leisurely stroll around town and then heading back on the shuttle bus to the ship. We grabbed some lunch from the buffet which we ate on our balcony before grabbing a couple of sunbeds on the aft deck for the afternoon. We didn't leave until after 9.30pm, so we had a lovely stroll around the promenade deck watching the receding lights of Palma. Another glorious hot sea day before the next port of Gibraltar.
We grabbed an early breakfast in the buffet and got off as soon as we could. We walked into town and caught the number 2 bus to Europa Point. After a quick look round we walked back to town through the Almeda Gardens and down the main street and on to the airport where we were lucky enough to see 2 planes. (Sorry but we are still childish enough to get a thrill out of seeing all traffic and pedestrians having to wait at the red traffic lights while a plane taxies across the road and then comes hurtling back as it takes off - and we saw 2!!) Then back on board for lunch in the MDR and an afternoon on the aft deck again.
Next - Lisbon.


LadyPCruiser
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Re: R215 Aurora 18 night Mediterranean cruise

#11

Post by LadyPCruiser »

Thanks for posting - really enjoy reading them !

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MicheleW
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Re: R215 Aurora 18 night Mediterranean cruise

#12

Post by MicheleW »

I'm back - just had a few days visiting my brother, but I will finish off quickly.

LISBON. Weather changed for the worse here. After taking the shuttle bus we caught the train along the coast to Caiscais and after a wander round the town we strolled along the promenade to Estoril. It was dry, but overcast and very windy. Estoril is another place we had a holiday at many years ago so we were reliving more old memories. We had a light lunch before catching the train back to Lisbon and lazed around in the cabin for the afternoon until it was time for sailaway. We had our free glass of fizz out on deck as we sailed out under the bridge. We had our dinner in the Beach House which was very filling! The ship was starting to move around a bit more, but still wasn't uncomfortable.
Then followed 2 sea days the first of which was OHs 60th birthday. We went to the MDR for breakfast and when we gave our cabin number the receptionist wished him happy birthday. We had another lazy morning in the cabin, with a bit of packing thrown in (literally!) And then we were lucky enough to get about an hour of sun on the balcony which we made the most of. We also had a knock on the door and were presented with a birthday card and some coffee creams from P&O. Lunch in the MDR was followed by another lazy afternoon - no more sunshine and in fact it absolutely pelted down! Last formal night and I helped OH celebrate his birthday with the party flight in the Glasshouse. After another excellent meal I made another small donation to the casino before bed.
And so to our last day. Breakfast in the MDR and then a visit to reception for a print out of the bill followed by a morning of packing and relaxing. Nothing took our fancy in the MDR so we grabbed some lunch from the buffet and ate it back in the cabin. Managed to drag myself to the final bingo session of the cruise and was 2 numbers short of winning the jackpot. Final drinks in the Glasshouse where we found out that the manager there is on our Ventura cruise next year and also a couple we got chatting to most evenings. Then our final meal in the MDR.

Disembarkation. We had chosen to self-disembark so after a quick breakfast in the buffet (more cold omelette), we went back to the cabin for all our luggage and made our way to the Atrium to join the queue! We were on our way home by 7.45 after a thoroughly enjoyable cruise.

We didn't wear masks at all throughout the cruise, but chose to keep ourselves to ourselves. We didn't use a lift at all until the last morning with our luggage and had a table for 2 at every meal apart from the embarkation lunch and Caribbean lunch, so it was a bit of a different experience. We really enjoyed being back on Aurora after many years and were very lucky to be able to experience all of the speciality restaurants - I wouldn't hesitate to go back on her again, but until then it is Ventura next July. And this time it will be nice to join in with things and go to shows, etc.
Signing off,
Michele

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Ray B
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Re: R215 Aurora 18 night Mediterranean cruise

#13

Post by Ray B »

Michele, really good post, thanks for your time to put it all together.
Don't worry, be happy


CaroleF
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Re: R215 Aurora 18 night Mediterranean cruise

#14

Post by CaroleF »

I really enjoyed reading about your cruise Michele, brought back many happy memories of Aurora. John was always a fan of the buffet, I never liked it. He loved it because he liked curry which was usually on offer. I don't like curry so never make it at home so he made up for lost time when on board. Very often if we came back from a trip in the middle of the afternoon and tea was starting to be served in the buffet there would still be some lunch dishes available, very often curry, so I'd have some tea offerings and John would be eating curry! I hope the Glasshouse will be back to full menu by the time my daughter and I go on Aurora next April. Really liked it there, loved that I could get the Peller ice wine, don't tend to see it available in supermarkets here although I believe you can buy it on line. Pleased you obviously enjoyed your cruise.

Carole

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Jan Rosser
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Re: R215 Aurora 18 night Mediterranean cruise

#15

Post by Jan Rosser »

Thank you for taking us on your cruise - I really enjoyed reading your report Michele - like Carole I have lovely memories of cruises on Aurora. My family all loved cruising on her but the change to adult only stopped that. Hope to sail on her again one day :thumbup:
Janis


cruisin_duo
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Re: R215 Aurora 18 night Mediterranean cruise

#16

Post by cruisin_duo »

Enjoyed reading your review.

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oldbluefox
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Re: R215 Aurora 18 night Mediterranean cruise

#17

Post by oldbluefox »

Thanks for posting your reviews. As one who is less adventurous and tends to play it safe ashore I was interested to read how you used local transport to visit different places.
We love Aurora so it was great to read your exploits.

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