R506 Aurora to Venice

Arrange to meet other members whilst on a cruise on Aurora
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oldbluefox
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R506 Aurora to Venice

#1

Post by oldbluefox »

Have I got the ship to myself or will some of you be joining me?

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Onelife
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Re: R506 Aurora to Venice

#2

Post by Onelife »

Unfortunately not OBF but having looked at R506 itinerary you sure are going to have a nice time......enjoy!

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Manoverboard
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Re: R506 Aurora to Venice

#3

Post by Manoverboard »

Looks very good Foxy and at ( from ) less than £65 pppd for an Outside Cabin it is surely a bit of a bargain and one to consider.

The itinerary is Cadiz, Valetta, Venice, Koper, Dubrovnik, Corfu and Gibraltar ... note, no Vigo or Lisbon ... looks very good for a Springtime ' outing '.

ps .... sorry to see that you are still on your ownsome on this one ;)

Come on .... Roll up, Roll up !!!

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Frank Manning
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Re: R506 Aurora to Venice

#4

Post by Frank Manning »

He isn't!! There are at least two others, one of whom in particular can't wait to get some sea air and sunshine.


Frank Manning
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Re: R506 Aurora to Venice

#5

Post by Frank Manning »

So excited I posted it twice! :lol:

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Manoverboard
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Re: R506 Aurora to Venice

#6

Post by Manoverboard »

Yes, that's all well and good .... but who are these other people ?
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oldbluefox
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Re: R506 Aurora to Venice

#7

Post by oldbluefox »

The Captain and the chef?


Frank Manning
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Re: R506 Aurora to Venice

#8

Post by Frank Manning »

An engineer might come in handy. Any volunteers? How about dancers OBF? Hardly any point going unless there are some nubile young dancers to entertain the cruisers.

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oldbluefox
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Re: R506 Aurora to Venice

#9

Post by oldbluefox »

OK we'll have an engineer onboard, but it depends what she looks like!!


tonyl1956
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Re: R506 Aurora to Venice

#10

Post by tonyl1956 »

Don't post on here much but thought I'd say we're on this one, having had to cancel a very similar cruise last September on Oriana. We're coming with friends and hoping to make more along the way. Interested to see that one of the above posters is from Poole, as that's where our friends on this trip live. Unfortunately, though, we won't be bringing any nubile young dancers or female engineers with us.

We're really looking forward to the combination of lots of sea days with ports that are new to us as cruise destinations, even Gibraltar, though our friends have been to one or two of them before. Previously we've tended to concentrate on Northern Europe apart from one on Azamara which was all north of Rome in the Med.

Tony


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Re: R506 Aurora to Venice

#11

Post by Frank Manning »

Well done Tony, but OBF will be distraught that you are not taking any female engineers.

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oldbluefox
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Re: R506 Aurora to Venice

#12

Post by oldbluefox »

Too true. There's nothing that matches the smell of diesel oil and WD40.
There are some lovely ports on this cruise, Tony. I feel sure you will enjoy them. If you want help with places to go and things to do, fire away as some on here have a wealth of experience and will be only too willing to help.


Frank Manning
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Re: R506 Aurora to Venice

#13

Post by Frank Manning »

...and after they've serviced the Super Trident anaerobic digesters...ecstasy!


tonyl1956
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Re: R506 Aurora to Venice

#14

Post by tonyl1956 »

Having been to a university where the male:female ratio was reportedly 5:1 and then worked in engineering companies ever since, I can confirm that female engineers are a rare breed.

I'd been hoping that there would be lots of reviews of Aurora post-refit but I suppose more will appear when the world cruise comes to an end. Those published so far on here and elsewhere seem to be rather mixed about what P&O have or haven't done, whether it 'works' or doesn't for them, etc. We enjoyed the Glass House on Azura, so looking forward to that. May not try Sindhu, as one of our group doesn't like spicy food. One report said they hadn't changed the cabin TVs. My hope had been that one would be able to connect a memory card or tablet to the new ones to look at photos but that certainly won't be possible if the old equipment is still in place.

Definitely looking forward to all the ports. Thanks for the offer of help. I'll bear it in mind, though I don't have any questions at the moment. I'm working my way through the ports and have just been looking at Dubrovnik. I'm relieved to see that Aurora has a berth number (11) on the port's plan, even though P&O still say 'Possible Tender'. The only other thing I did notice, though, is that one of the Thomson ships will arrive around midday (Berth 10), so it would obviously be better to do the walls, etc in the morning, before the cruise population in town doubles!

I suppose the only slightly disappointing thing about the ports is having the block of four without a sea day. Venice is clearly a walking intensive destination, as is Dubrovnik. Maybe a lighter day is called for in Koper - a wander followed by a beer or two before returning to the ship for a late lunch.

Tony


Frank Manning
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Re: R506 Aurora to Venice

#15

Post by Frank Manning »

Hi Tony I have done 4 or 5 of these Venice P&O cruises. They are my favourite because you get a few sea days, but the slight downside is the port days coming in quick succession in the Adriatic. I wonder who your friends from Poole are; it is a cruise intensive town so there are plenty to choose from.

You can get a monorail from near the docks in Venice to the Piazzale Roma, and a vaporetto down the Grand Canal to save a lot of walking. That way you go under the Rialto bridge en route to St Marks Square. P&O will have a bus into Dubrovnik but you may have to pay for it. To be honest after the first visit it became a bit of a non destination for us, and we ususally do a tour nowadays.

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Dancing Queen
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Re: R506 Aurora to Venice

#16

Post by Dancing Queen »

So have we Frank and I never tire of the Adriatic, we are looking at one for the summer but unfortunately it is a fly/cruise so the downside for me will be not having the relaxing sea days there and back.
Jo


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Re: R506 Aurora to Venice

#17

Post by Frank Manning »

Hi Jo. I will not say we never fly cruise, but I prefer leaving from Southampton because we are only 35 minutes away. I like the sea days because they are (mostly) relaxing, and there are activities. I want Sue to do another Pacific crossing, now that was really relaxing. I wish P&O would do some different Adriatic Italian ports perhaps Ancona or Bari.

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Dancing Queen
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Re: R506 Aurora to Venice

#18

Post by Dancing Queen »

It has been a long time since we did a fly/cruise because I love the ease of sailing from Southampton even being 3+ hours away but what I am looking at has a lot of new ports for us which is really appealing.
Jo

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Re: R506 Aurora to Venice

#19

Post by oldbluefox »

I think this time we will do the monorail and vaporetto down the Grand Canal as, although we have been to Venice quite a few times this is something we have never done. We will then have a wander around just taking in the atmosphere before walking back to Piazzale Roma and catching the monorail back to the ship.
We have also walked the walls and wandered around Dubrovnik so, on this occasion we will be doing the cable car up the mountain and Cavtat following some of the recommendations on here. Not sure there is much else to do in Dubrovnik.
We have never been to Koper before and although it doesn't sound like a big place we will just have a wander round and explore anything it has to offer.
We have been to Cadiz so often now the locals know us so we will probably do the Vejer/Cape Trafalgar excursion.


Frank Manning
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Re: R506 Aurora to Venice

#20

Post by Frank Manning »

OBF - it is possible to walk back to the monorail from St Marks Square, we have done it and it was a very hot day. I see Aurora is in for the evening so it is also possible to go further afield on the vaporettos - to other islands etc. We went to Lublijana from Kotor and had a great day out.

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Manoverboard
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Re: R506 Aurora to Venice

#21

Post by Manoverboard »

Koper is more up n down than round n round .... off the ship, over the little hillock to check out the Bell Tower etc and then down the High Street. After a sit down at the end you walk back up the hill again although there are a couple of different ways of doing it. Tis interesting enough for a zero cost half day.

A decent addition is to take a taxi or public transport bus to the lovely sea side town of Piran which is about 10 miles away.

ps ... Lublijana is drop dead gorgeous and it actually departs from Koper not Kotor

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tonyl1956
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Re: R506 Aurora to Venice

#22

Post by tonyl1956 »

I'd better not say too much about our friends without permission, Frank, in case they aren't happy to be talked about! They live in Upton, but, as you say, there are likely to be many cruisers from an area like Poole. I'm sure they'd be up for a drink and chat about home, as we bob across the BoB (or later).

We have to plan our walking. My wife has two replacement hips and the other lady has dodgy knees, so we don't travel fast when we are together, one of the reasons why DIY trips work better for us. There's nothing worse than struggling back to a coach under the glare of waiting passengers who boarded ten minutes previously! All these 'iffy' joints make us sound older than our years but we are still just on the low side of 60 and our friends won't be 50 for a while.

Thanks for the tips about Venice, I think we'll use the people mover, as you mention, then a day ticket on the boats. My wife is very keen on going to Murano, so we may go there on the direct vaporetto, cross back to Venice using the clockwise one (4.2) and make our way in the general direction of St Marks and the Rialto, then return to the ship via the Grand Canal (route 1).

No shortage of sea days on this trip. I doubt our cabin credit will go all the way! Never mind, it's our main holiday of the year.

Thanks for the info about Koper as well. That may be a day for recharging the batteries after Venice. Lublijana may have too wait for another time. We've discussed going to the Lake Bled area for a camping holiday in 2016, so that might be an opportunity.

Tony


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Re: R506 Aurora to Venice

#23

Post by Frank Manning »

If you do the Murano trip with P&O they usually lay on a glass blowing demo (Also some pressure selling techniques; so beware) The glass blowing has been done by a rather overweight elderly gent called George who is a dead ringer for the Italian chef Carluccio...he does it all with a dead pan expression. Once you get the hang of them, those vaporettos are a great way to get about, espcially for a ship lover like me.

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