Sue and I specifically booked this short cruise aboard P&O’s MV Aurora because it was going to visit Hamburg – where we hoped to visit Miniatur Wunderland and/or the Maritime Museum – and Zeebrugge ... from where we would be able to visit Dunkirk.
Wednesday 9th September: Southampton
We awoke at 6.30am, and after getting washed, dressed, and eating breakfast, we finished packing our hand luggage before we loaded the car, and by 8.30am we were on our way to Southampton ... and then the problems started!
As we drove off the hardstanding outside our house, the tyre pressure warning light came on. There was no indication which tyre was causing this, so we drove towards the nearest garage, which was about half a mile away. When we reached the main road over Shooters Hill, we were greeted by the sight of a queue of stationary nose-to-tail traffic going towards central London. Luckily, we had to turn left to reach the garage, away from the direction the traffic queue was facing.
Having checked the air pressure in all the tyres, we discovered that one was a whole pound-per-square-inch under what it should be. Once this had been rectified (the air pump cost £1.50 to use ... which seems like daylight robbery to me!) the warning light went off, and we continued to drive towards the road that would connect us to the A2 and thence to the M25.
It was at this point that our second ‘problem’ reared its head; traffic trying to avoid the queue of traffic going over Shooters Hill was using the road towards the A2 as a diversion. Rather than sit in this queue, we turned around and made our way via several backstreets to a more westerly junction of the A2. By this time, it was gone 9.00am and we had managed to drive about four miles!
We reached the traffic lights at the roundabout at the Dartford interchange of the A2 and M25 about twenty-five minutes later and set off around the southern edge of London. The traffic was quite heavy, and there were several stretches of the motorway where the variable speed limit was in place. This, combined with a couple of wide loads that were being escorted along the motorway, resulted in us not reaching the interchange with the M3 until after 10.25am ... nearly two hours after leaving home!
Once on the M3, things began to improve, and by 11.00am we had reached Winchester Services, and after a comfort and refreshment break, we were back on the road to Southampton Docks by 11.30am. We reached the Mayflower Cruise Terminal at 12.15pm, and after queuing for a very short time in the valet parking are, we had handed our car over to them and a porter had taken our luggage to the baggage handling gate.
Because we were booked into a suite and I had assisted boarding due to my mobility problems, we went straight to the assistance desk where I was booked in and allocated a wheelchair and pusher. Sue and I were then taken to the booking-in desk ... and then the third ‘problem’ occurred!
Whilst my boarding pass and identity photograph were processed by the computer system almost instantly, Sue’s failed because the terminal’s internet connection went offline! This took over ten minutes to sort out, by which time the queue behind us had grown. Once it was, we moved through the shoreside security checks very quickly, and we were aboard Aurora and sitting in the Alexandria Restaurant (Deck 6 Aft) by 1.00pm.
The menu for the buffet lunch was the same as it had been on our last cruise, and we ate the following dishes.
Starters
Oak-Smoked Duck Breast with Pickled Carrots, Coriander, and Sour Cherries (Both of us)
Main Course
Fillet of Pan-Roasted Barramundi with Tarragon Crushed New Potatoes, Fine Beas, and Sauce Vierge (Sue)
Harissa Lamb Cutlets with Sag Aloo, Chargrilled Courgettes, add Tagine Jus (Me)
Desserts
Selection of British and International Cheeses with Banana Bread, Black Grapes, Mulled Apple Jelly, with Fine Cheese Biscuits (Both of us)
We were still in the restaurant when the public announcement was made to inform passengers that all cabins and suites were now available for occupation. Rather than go straight to our suite on Deck 9 Forward, Sue and I made our way to the Promenade (Deck 7) and sat there whilst we waited for the initial rush to be over.
On getting to our suite, Sue and I then spent the next couple of hours unpacking, meeting our cabin steward (Albert) and our butler (Dinesh), and getting used to the layout of the suite.
Aurora set sail just after 4.00pm, by which time Sue and I were feeling thirsty. We went Anderson’s (Deck 7 Forward) for a drink but discovered that it was not going to open until later. Instead, we went to Champions Bar (Deck 7 Aft), where Sue drank a gin and tonic (Sue) and a I drank a Guinness Zero. Once were had finished our drinks, we returned to our suite and had a doze before it was time to get ready for dinner.
Sue and I returned Anderson’s – which was now open – for a pre-dinner drink and by 8.15pm we were being shown to our table in the Alexandria Restaurant. The meal and the service were excellent … and this was in no small part due to our two wonderful waiters, Vishant and Kim.
After such a long and eventful day, and although we were both feeling very tired, Sue and I decided to go back to our suite after taking a short stroll along the Promenade Deck. We were back in our suite by 10.00pm, and as the ship’s clocks were being advanced by an hour overnight, we made sure that we were in bed well before 11.00pm.
Thursday 10th September: At sea
Overnight, Aurora had sailed up the English Channel towards the North Sea, and by the time we awoke at 7.30am, she was off the coast of the Netherlands and sailing on a northeasterly course (52°).
Sue and I were ready to go to breakfast just after 9.15am, and by 9.25am we were seated in the Sindhu Restaurant (Deck 8 Midships) ...
... and ordering our breakfasts. (As the Aurora is the oldest ship in P&O’s fleet, she does not have an Epicurean Restaurant where suite passengers can have breakfast. Instead, they use the Sindhu Restaurant to provide this service.)
After breakfast, Sue and I decided to go for a walk around Decks 7 and 8. Immediately outside the Sindhu Restaurant is the ship’s atrium, which has a glass shower wall.
This is also the location of the ship’s coffee bar, Raffle’s Café.
Further along Deck 8 is the Glass House Bar ...
... and one the staircases that leads to the Alexandria Restaurant.
The nearby lifts took us down to Deck 7, and as we walked forward, we passed the Champion’s Bar ...
... and the casino.
Walking forward, we went past the entrance to the ship’s night club (Masquerade) ...
... and Charlie’s Bar ...
... before going out onto the Promenade Deck for some fresh air.
Sue and I stayed outside for about fifteen minutes before going back inside near to Anderson’s ...
... and the entrance to the Curzon Theatre.
Sue and I then took the lift up to Deck 13 (Yes, this ship does have a Deck 13!) to the Crow’s Nest Bar ...
... where we stayed – dozing and reading – until just after 11.00am, when we returned to our suite to do the daily crossword. Sue and I remained there until it was time for lunch in the Median Restaurant (Deck 6 Midships).
We had a very pleasant lunch, after which we went out onto the Promenade Deck for some fresh air. We debated what to do next, and in the end, we returned to our suite to carry on trying to complete the crossword (it was a difficult one!), to read, and to doze.
Our butler paid us a visit just after 4.30pm (he delivered a plate of canapes as it was the only formal night or the cruise) and we had a short chat with him before he had to go to another of the suites that he services. Sue and I had a pre-dinner drink in Anderson’s and then made our way to the Alexandria Restaurant to eat.
The menu was – as usual – devised my Marco Pierre White and was cooked and served to perfection. As the restaurant was rather empty (quite a few passengers did not bother to dress formally and went to the buffet instead) we were able to have a chat with out waiters after the meal. Sue and I then went out onto the Promenade Deck for some fresh air before returning to our suite to relax until it was time to get ready for bed.
Friday 11th September, Hamburg, Germany
Overnight, Aurora sail up the Elbe River and into the centre of Hamburg, arriving there at 6.00am. We know because the sound and vibration caused as she turned around to get alongside the berth work both of us up!
After breakfast in the Sidhu Restaurant, Sue and I went down to the open-air section on the starboard side of Deck 7 to have a look around. We then returned to our suite, and I was able to book two tickets for Miniatur Wunderland.. one of Hamburg’s premier tourist attractions. As the tickets had a timed entry time (1.30pm), Sue and decided to wait until 11.00am before we disembarked. This gave us time to get everything that we needed sorted out and plenty of time to walk there.
We were informed by one of the staff at the tourist information booth in the cruise terminal that it was only a short walk to Miniatur Wunderland. ... and it may well have been if we hadn’t got lost inside the nearby Westfield Centre! (We took the lift to the wrong floor and wandered completely around the shopping centre’s 2nd floor before realising that we had got out at the 1st!) We did – however – have time to have a much-needed coffee in the local branch of Starbucks.
We did manage to find the old warehouse district but almost missed Miniatur Wunderland because there are no signs directing tourists to its location ... which is shares with the Hamburg Dungeon! Luckily, Google Maps came to our rescue and we at the right building nearly forty-five minutes early.
We were allowed into the building but not into the exhibit until the time on our tickets. However, they do have a waiting area where you can sit in comfortable chairs having a free soft drink or coffee. At 1.15pm, the waiting room was empty, and we went to the entrance ... where they let us in ahead of time.</ p>
Sue and I spent over two hours wandering around taking hundreds of photographs ... and still didn’t manage to see everything! It was very crowded in certain areas but we did manage to go to the areas dedicated to South and North America, Monaco, Italy, Provence, Austria, Hamburg, and a few other parts of Germany. We did not manage to see the famous airport in action as by then we were both feeling very tired and in need of some refreshment.
Miniatur Wunderland has a café and a bistro and we opted to eat in the first. Trying to order using their touchscreen system was ‘interesting’ ... but after a bit of trial and error, we managed to order a pizza and some spaghetti as well as a couple of soft drinks. (I did think about trying the curry wurst ... but Sue is allergic to some of the ingredients in curry sauce and I did not want to rick making her unwell.)
On the way out, I bought a large hardback English-language book about Miniatur Wunderland for 19.99 Euros, which struck me a very reasonable price as well as being an excellent souvenir.
When we had left the ship at 11.00am, it had been rather cloudy and cool, but by the time we came out of Miniatur Wunderland is was a lot warmer, and the prospect of walking back to the ship was not something that either of us wanted to do. Luckily, there was a taxi rank nearby and for the sum of 8 Euros we were whisked back to the Westfield Centre in a matter of minutes in an air-conditioned cab ... and by 4.45pm, Sue and were back in our suite relaxing and having a refreshing drink.
We stayed there until it was time for our pre-dinner drink, which we had in Anderson’s. Sue and I had a short spell on the Promenade Deck for going to the Alexandria restaurant for dinner ... which was exceptionally good and was almost the same standard as we would have eaten in one of the specialist dining venues on one of P&O’s larger ships ... and then we returned the afterwards to watch the local pleasure craft sailing up and down the Elbe.
We then went back to our suite to relax for a time before getting ready for bed. Sue and I would normally have been asleep by midnight, but as Aurora was leaving Hamburg, we read until she had left the dock to avoid being woken up by the noise and vibration of the thrusters.
Saturday 12th September: At sea
One Aurora had left the dockside in Hamburg, she made her way slowly back down the River Elbe to the sea. By the time we awoke, she was already in the North Sea and sailing westerly down the coast of northwest Germany towards the northern part of the Netherlands.
After our exertions of the previous day, Sue and I decided to take things easy, especially as we had booked an excursion with a very early start for the following day. As a result, we spent the first hour or so after breakfast in the Sindhu Restaurant in the Crow’s Nest Bar read and dozing. We then returned to our suite and tried to complete the daily crossword ... which proved to be a real stinker!
At middiay, we discussed what we might do for lunch, but as neither of us was feeling very hungry, we decided that we would give it a miss and have afternoon tea in the Horizon Self-service Restaurant (Deck 12) at some point after 3.00pm.
After returning to our suite, we spent the rest of the afternoon there resting and reading until it was time to go for our usual pre-dinner drink in Anderson’s. By 8.15pm, Sue and I were in the Alexandria Restaurant, where we ate yet another excellent dinner before going out onto the Promenade Deck for some fresh air.
Because we had an early start next day, Sue and I were in bed somewhat earlier than usual, and were asleep by before 11.00pm.
Sunday 13th September: Zeebrugge ... and Dunkirk
We set our alarm for 6.00am, and when we got up, Aurora was approaching the entrance to Zeebrugge Harbour.
Our butler had arranged for us to have an early breakfast in the Sindhu Restaurant and by 7.40am we had eaten it and were on our way to the area near the disembarkation gangway so that we could get off as soon as it was in place. There was a slight delay, but by 8.15am we were on the coach that was to take us on the excursion we had booked.
It took just over an hour to reach the first stop ... the memorial to the estimated eighty-one members of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, 4th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment, the 210 Battery, 53rd (The Worcestershire Yeomanry) Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery, and some French soldiers working in a depot who were murdered after they had surrendered by members of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler on 28th May 1940.
Everyone in our party was visibly affected by what they saw and read at the Plaine au Bois Memorial site just outside the village of Wormhoudt. The barn that the murdered men were in has been restored to its original exterior appearance and it serves as a repository for the many tributes for the families and veterans associations. The barn is located at one corner of the Plaine au Bois Memorial site, which also contains an avenue of trees – each dedicated to one of the fallen – as well as a viewing mound and a large stone memorial erected by the Birmingham Branch of the Dunkirk Veterans Association.
The coach then took us to Dunkirk, where we were able to visit the Operation Dynamo Museum, ...
... which is located in Bastion 32. This was a coastal defence fortification that was built in 1874 and served as the headquarters of the French forces defending Dunkirk. The museum opened in 2017 and houses an extensive collection of weapons, uniforms, models, photos and maps of military operations. What we found particularly interesting was that it told the story of military campaign that led to the evacuation and the evacuation itself from a French perspective.
We had some free time after the visit to the museum, and Sue and sought out a beachside café where we could eat lunch. The Sucre Salé turned out to be a great choice as we did not want a large meal and they specialised in snacks and fast food. Sue ate a croque monsieur and drank a very nice glass of white wine and I had a croque max – which was like the croque monsieur but with a hamburger patty and barbeque sauce as well as cheese inside it – with a Coke Zero. We also had some excellent French Fries!
Once we had eaten, we took a walk along the seafront before returning to our coach to go to the third and final stop of our tour. This was the military cemeteries at Zuydcoote. They are the final resting places for 1174 French soldiers, 327 Commonwealth soldiers (who died in the Zuydcoote military hospital), 201 German soldiers, 1 Belgian soldier, and 1 Russian soldier from the Great War, as well as 904 French soldiers (including a number of North African troops) and 14 Spanish soldiers who died defending Dunkirk in 1940.
We arrived back in Zeebrugge just before 4.00pm, and Sue and I were back in our suite just before Aurora set sail for home. Although we were feeling very tired after our excursion, we had to do our packing before we could have a rest. This took until just after 5.00pm ... and then we were able to sit down and have a refreshing drink.
Our butler paid us a visit at 5.15pm, and we were able to thank him for everything he had done for us. He was leaving Aurora on the same day that we were as his current contract was coming to an end. Unlike us, his journey home to India going to take him the best part of twenty-four hours!
By 7.15pm, Sue and I were feeling thirsty and although it was quite crowded, Sue and I were able to find somewhere to sit in Anderson’s. We stayed there until just after 8.00pm, at which point we went out onto the Promenade Deck for some fresh before going down to the Alexandria Restaurant.
Once we had finished eating, we were able to have a quick chat with our two waiters before thanking them for their excellent service. Sue and I then returned to our suite via the Promenade Deck. For the second evening running, we were in bed by just after 10.30pm ... and were asleep soon afterwards.
Monday 14th September: Southampton
At around 3.00am, Aurora picked up a Southampton pilot at the Nab Tower and by 6.00am she was beginning to moor alongside the Mayflower Cruise Terminal.
Sue and I were already awake by then, and by 7.30am we were dressed and sitting in the Sindhu Restaurant eating breakfast. Once we had finished, we took our hand luggage down to Anderson’s, which is where we were to wait for assisted disembarkation.
We did not have to wait long before I had been allocated a wheelchair and pusher, and we were on our way ashore. The airbridge was a bit challenging, but the pusher did a great job, and it was a matter of minutes before we were in the baggage reclaim hall. The pusher found us a porter and they quickly found our luggage onto his trolly. The four of us then made our way out through the ‘nothing to declare’ lane … and by 8.15am we had collected our car from the valet parking service and were driving out of the car park.
The drive through Southampton took longer than expected as it was the local rush hour, and although we were driving against the flow of traffic, we got held up at every junction. The amount of traffic on the M3 was very heavy until we reached the interchange with the main road to the Midlands – the A34 – after which it became a lot lighter.
We stopped at Winchester Services for a comfort break, a drink for the branch of Costa Coffee, and some much-needed food shopping. This did not delay us very much and we arrived home at 11.30pm ... less than three and a half hours after leaving Southampton.
