Happy New Year from Aurora

We are nearly half way through January and Christmas and New Year seem like a distant memory already. I cant believe that it is 10 days already since I got back from my New Year cruise on Aurora which also seems like an age ago. When I woke up on 27th December and seen all the snow I did wonder if we would get to Southampton at all, thank goodness we had booked and hotel in Southampton for 28th December so we would be there the day before.

After a lovely night out in Southampton and a night at the Holiday Inn we set off for the terminal about 12.00 and were onboard the ship within 30 minutes. There was no waiting to be called by your coloured card number, we just checked in and straight on. Result

30th December was a day at Sea so we decided to have a lie in, miss breakfast, and have a nice lunch in the Glasshouse. This was a leisurely way to enjoy some great food and of course a flight of wine!

 

We were docked in Hamburg for New Year’s Eve and took the Free Shuttle Bus into the city which only took about 15 minutes from the Port. This stopped outside the Hard Rock Café ( always handy when it stops outside a watering hole) and we took a wander around. We decided to take a look around the Reeperbahn district but apart from the “shops” that the area is famous for there wasn’t much else open as it was a Sunday, apart from the pubs of course!

New Years Eve was a lovely evening with a 5 course Gala Dinner in the Dining Room and then plenty of entertainment in all of the venues. At midnight the firework display’s were spectacular and went on for about 30 minutes, coming from all directions. The decks at the back of the ship were packed with everyone watching and we took a bottle of Champagne out with us to celebrate.

New Years Day was a lot more subdued although there was another formal night so everyone made the effort and dressed up again although I have to say everyone was a lot less lively than they were the night before. Getting to bed at 4am may have had something to do with that. We did have fun in Champions Bar in the afternoon with the video horse racing and even managed to win a few races!

2nd January we docked in Zeebrugge and took the shuttle bus to Blankenberge, and as we do every year we had to have our obligatory “Beer on the Pier”. This is a tradition we have and I’m sure its one we will do it again next year when we sail on Oceana for New Year.

I have to wait until April now for my next Cruise when I will be sailing on the new Symphony of the Seas, back to back with NCL Epic, to celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary. Dry January and the diet has begun so lets hope I can stick to it ready for 15 nights at Sea!

Here’s to a great 2018 and Happy Cruising.


About Me

With the better half! Hello There, Well now my blog has had a makeover I thought I had better update the details about me. It doesn't seem like 5 minutes since I was writing about myself for the first time but that was nearly 5 1/2  years ago, they do say time…

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