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Saturday 21st October 2017
Sea: A Little Bumpy
Weather: Sunny but Breezy
We had booked tickets for the trip to Ypres to visit the Menon Gate and Tyne Cot cemeteries. The trip was due to leave at 8am so with alarms set for 7am and as a back up, we’d arranged a wake up call via room service.
The TV was switched to Channel 1 but when the screen came up showing the ships path, it was pretty obvious that Aurora was unable to dock at Zeebrugge. We had arranged to meet mum and Callum at 7.45 , have breakfast and then set off on the excursion straight afterwards. I woke mum up at 7.30 (they had overslept!) and I tried to find someone to confirm what we already knew. No one would confirm … not even the shore excursion team who must have been made aware as I spoke to them 2 minutes before the Captains Announcement. They simply said to go down for breakfast as normal and the captain would make an announcement in due course. I would have prefered to have been told when we asked the first person so we could have gone back to bed for an hour!
As I left the Shore Excursions desk, the Captain was broadcasting to all areas. Winds too strong and the conditions were worse than expected so the pilot and captain had made the decision that it was too dangerous to attempt to dock so we would be spending the day at sea. To avoid the worst of the weather, we would be spending the day bobbing around the Thames Estuary.
We headed down to the MDR for breakfast and Callum decided to go for the P&O breakfast so just could try the White and Black pudding (bingo requirement). White pudding got the thumbs up but Callum was not impressed with the Black Pudding … and that was before Jon told him what was in it!
What to do today. A leaflet with extra activities was in the cabin but nothing terribly exciting. We went for a wander around deck 13 of the ship. Various interpretations of Quoits and Shuffleboard being played and a quick couple of games of table tennis for Jon and Callum. Back down to Champions for the Picture Quiz – guess what the object is from extreme close up objects. We got 12 …. the winners got 17.
Grandad J would have disowned Callum as he decided to give Bingo a whirl. £6 for a single card – one sheet for each round. This was proving to be very popular as it was moved from Champions into Carmen’s.
Line dancing was in Carmen’s beforehand and the dance floor was packed. Varying degrees of co-ordination with people ending up facing different directions and doing all the right moves at all the wrong times.
Carmens was really filling up with people playing bingo – judging by the prize fund, it was proving popular. Five rounds with prize money of £150, £250, £350, £500 and £750!! Alas, all the winners were over the other side of the room. Lesson learnt by one chap. Had the two lines but his card was invalidated as he’d marked it in pencil. Someone gave him a dabber and he remarked his card and claimed it on the next number. They did say at the beginning that all card had to be marked in pen or with a dabber … and that cards must be kept intact (not split).
At lunchtime we were off the coast of Lowestoft but the ship would be turning around and heading back to Southampton where things may get a little lumpy. We met up with Mum in The Glass House for lunch. I indulged with a glass of FMC, Jon a Rekorderlig Cider (followed by a glass of FMC) and mum a glass of Pinot Grigio. Callum was happy enough with a bottle of diet coke.
The Tasting Plate menu had changed since we last cruised but we all enjoyed the selection on offer. Between all of us we had the Hot Smoked Salmon Scotch Egg (huge!), Lamb Koftas, Beef Kebabs, Tempura King Prawns, Scallops, Popcorn Chicken with Kimchi Slaw and dipping sauce. All really tasty and rather filling.
Callum wanted to do Bingo again so Jon duly obliged a went to play in the afternoon – not even close to winning a line or full house but a few erroneous claims – two lines but not on the same grid!. We spent an afternoon just chilling before getting ready for our meal in Sindhu that evening.
Tonight was formal night so we all got dressed up. Pre-dinner drinks in Raffles before heading over to Sindhu for our 7pm reservation.
We were shown to our seats and were rather pleased that we had the menu featuring lobster. Mum chose a bottle of Sancerre to accompany the meal and it complimented the food perfectly. Pre appetizer was spicy cauliflower soup. For starters, we had the lamb chops, chicken and beef on paratha bread. Main course, Jon, Mum and I had the lobster (delicious!) and Callum had the tandoori chicken. A champagne sorbet cleansed our palate before puddings. Chocolate Textures for Jon and I, ice cream for Callum and a blueberry and yoghurt mousse for Mum. All washed down with coffee and petit fours. A fabulous meal enjoyed by everyone.
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After dinner, Mum went to Carmen’s as Caravan were playing the Bee Gees whilst Jon, Callum and I settled down in Champions for the Movie Quiz. A game of Carcassonne beforehand timed perfectly with the start of the quiz. Different member of entertainment team running the quiz this evening – and the quiz started promptly as advertised (and the football switched off without any hassle from anyone).
We got 11/20 – should have got one more as we knew it was Gene Hackman (not Wilder!) that played Lex Luther but it was good fun and Callum was chuffed he knew a couple of answers.
Gaining an extra hour in bed this morning … only to lose it again tomorrow night!
Callum’s Bingo Check list:
- Have your Embarkation Photo taken and find it in the photo gallery
- Try a Tasting Plate in the Glass House
- Have your photo taken next to something that says Aurora
- Eat Something you’ve never tried before
- Join in a Quiz
