Wednesday, 8 June 2011

Southampton, At sea and Stavanger

Getting to Know Aurora
Getting to Southampton, departure and first day at sea

Easy journey to Southampton and on board by 12 15pm. This despite a detour in Southampton to go to the Mayflower booking office to get tickets for The Osmonds farewell UK tour. This will be the second such occasion as we went to Cardiff for the first (of many?) farewell tours! Bit cold and cloudy but enjoyed sailing down Southampton Water and passed the Isle of Wight before going down to dinner. Took a picture of Springvale and could make out Steve and Pat waving us off!

We really like Aurora: perfect size for us. We find the décor less glitzy than the newer larger ships we have been on and it feels less crowded. Lucky again with our dining table right by a window: perfect for seeing the view as we leave ports down Fjords!


The indoor pool was almost too warm and despite it being a cool day the outdoor pool was plenty warm enough for swimming.





We particularly like one of the lounges which looks like a stately home drawing room complete with a (fake) fireplace and the four floor central atrium with Lalique centre piece

Cabin is comfortable and nicely furnished but the bath is more a large shower basin!

Stavanger

Another new country for Island Girl and Boy: Norway. As usual up early to watch ship sail up Byfjorden to the port of Stavanger. Cold and slightly overcast but dry and fairly clear so could be a lot worse. Enjoyed a good look around seeing MSC Opera berth on the opposite side of the natural harbour. Town is a quaint mixture of old and new and very neatly laid out. Decided not to take the train to Oslo: it takes nearly 8 hours and costs Kr886 (£105) each day return! Back on board in time for Island Boy to have a swim before lunch and an afternoon of lazing: we are on holiday!


3 comments:

  1. It is best to reduce the size of pictures before you load them into Blogger. Also check the format of your pics. They should be jpg. Lessons on blog composition available from OBA (Orchard Blogging Advice) at modest fees.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The easy way to edit pic size on blogspot: in edit mode, select the picture and an options bar should appear either above or below the picture. Ensure 'Large' is selected - I find this or 'X-large' is the best pic size - the most important thing is to ensure 'Original size' is NOT selected!!

    But enjoying your blog!

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  3. Do they have tooth picks on the table Jack? If so I dare you to use one - remember use both hands. Great to hear that you are enjoying the cruise, and the boat. Waiting for next blog. 2cv still going!!

    ReplyDelete