First of six days at sea

Sunset  as we left St Maarten

It was lovely once the other two cruise ships had left St Maarten last night, leaving us the last to leave. If the truth be told, I wasn’t fussed about going out last night. We had been informed slightly late in the day that there was a change of schedule for our departure from St Maarten and we would be leaving 3 hours later than published. This was due to the issues with docking and re-berthing that the ship had to do and quite a lot of people had been stranded on the ship and were therefore late getting off. I thought it might be nice to simply reflect on an amazing day and get a simple room service in. Nope, Nick wanted to be entertained. So recognising that the key to a successful marriage is compromise, we did as Nick wanted! We’d checked out the dinner menu on our way back from our trip and felt it looked ok. And ok it was. This is now the fourth decent meal on the trot in the restaurant. What’s going on? Long may it last.

Manicured Aruba

Casibari Rock Formations

Last night we tried The Beach House for the first time…on this trip. We’ve eaten in it before on other P&O cruises. The menu seems to be aiming at the American grill style of food with largely a meaty sort of fayre, but there were a couple of prawn and veggie options too. It’s next to the cafeteria so didn’t really provide us with any huge expectations. There’s a cover charge for this dining experience, just to give it that edge of being something different from the normal restaurant. We were offered inside or outside and of course, chose outside. 

An active sea day … and a mystery

Sunset over Cartagena as Aurora pivots for takeoff

It never ceases to amaze me how the ship is wielded in and out of port. Yesterday’s manoeuvre was not the most complex but still involved reversing the bulk of Aurora from its berth in Cartagena port, out into the open harbour, turning it sharply to the right as it backed up under the watchful eye of a large tug. Once clear of the jetty, the ship then pivoted around its centre using its side thrusters until it was aligned with the marker buoys that showed the way out to the open sea. At the same time as all this was going on we were rewarded with a beautiful sunset where the sun dropped rapidly behind the skyscrapers and lit the sky with fire. Magical!

Two good reasons to celebrate

Valentine's menu - click to open and read it

After Gabrielle had posted her blog yesterday evening and we had consumed the chocolate strawberries (oh, yum, by the way) we steadily prepped for our Valentine’s night out. Given that neither of us had felt that good, really since we came back from Atacama, this was the first real effort we had put in. The powers that be had ordained that, for this auspicious occasion, we would be able to buy Taittinger Rosé at a £10 discount per bottle. Guess what? We grabbed two! So once scrubbed and primped, we decided to pop a cork. We’d not had a drink for two or three days - horrors - and so it was something of a shock to the system to have alcohol again. 

A peaceful day on the high seas

Enjoying the roar of the wake

No dramas, just observations in today’s account. After our busy three days on land, it was rather nice to know we would be back at sea for a day. Last night we had a swifty prink at The Glass House and a lovely chat with the staff to find out what they’d been up to for the day, a simple meal in the main restaurant and then back ‘home’ for our viewing pleasure and a quiet evening.

Exciting news, albatrosses, lectures and upcoming Celebration Night

We begin today’s post with very exciting news to share: Captain Love has invited us to visit him on the bridge on 6 February at 11:30am. This means that we shall have a chance to see everything that goes on there and witness his 12pm “Captain Ting-Ting” message to the entire ship. Apart from the fact that he’s invited us, he’s a really very nice guy who has a warm and friendly manner. He’s from Sherborne in Dorset so we already have a connection.

On board Aurora: its crew and its entertainment

Phew! Managed to grab a morsel of Internet. It's in short supply down here as there's not much demand among the penguins. Gabrielle has decided she likes being called ma’am, as in ham (not marm as in farm). The unfailing politeness and friendliness of the staff is testament to great training and quality recruitment. They seem largely to be drawn from the Indian subcontinent, Malaysia and Philippines. 

Today’s the day. Tonight’s the night!

This post is jointly written by Gabrielle and Nick. There will be another post tomorrow with all the pics!

The plan for last night was to go to The Glass House for a small pop and then go for dinner and have a glass of wine and an early night. You know when you have a plan and it goes out of the window? That was us last night. 

Astonishing, poor Internet and a great presenter

Last night’s “Astonishing” show lived up to its name. A blend of magical illusions, song and dance, it packed a lot of oohs and aahs into around 40 minutes. The enthusiastic troupe of singers and dancers leapt, danced and magicked their way around the stage and we left feeling that we had had our money’s worth.