| Our final stop was the Pearl after we doubled back on ourselves. That's not a circle! This place had a geyser and viewing platform on top of the building which overlooked the city. It seemed everyone from the buses congregated here and the lifts were crap. |
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| After a mere half an hour to get everything done we headed back to the ship. I honestly wouldn't recommend this tour unless you like seeing sod all for your money. I can be bored for less than £80! It would be a relief to return to Aurora. We saw Cedric and Marge getting off their bus so went back with them. Two gangways were open so Cedric suggested we went to the Deck 4 one, which ended up taking longer to get on from! |
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| Ridiculously it was Black Tie, which they'd changed from the original sea day the day before. Since that was all buggered up, they should have had it casual. People have been out ALL day so don't want to posh up as soon as they get back! One of the main reasons I hate first sitting. Mike had said he would be at the sailaway party on the Terrace Pool so I half-dressed then went out. First of all a kid splashed my leg getting into the shower then Mike did when he spilt his pint as he clumsily gave me a kiss. A bit later he introduced me to the bride and groom, Sue and Dave. |
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| Like Southampton, the final song was Sailing so I got another tear in my eye thinking about Steve Read. Life really is a bitch at times. He should have been here, preparing to go to the launch of Celebrity Silhouette with John Honeywell (Captain Greybeard from the Daily Mirror). Mike offered to buy a round, much to Dave's amazement but I made my excuses because I had to finish dressing for dinner. |
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| Mathi told us he got back about 5am and they all walked from town, he had to work then got about two hours sleep - bless! Sounds like he had a great time. Juanita suggested to Cedric and Marge we go and have a formal photo taken after dinner so we did that on Deck 5 at the atrium. They used to do photos in Andersons so no idea when they stopped, which left only the atrium with the booby lady backdrop or by Charlie's with a pain backdrop. No brainer! They went to the show while I returned to the cabin to rest my back and noticed Life on Mars was suddenly replaced by the Aurora video which actually features parts of Oriana, such as the atrium, Crows Nest and Cyb@study. Do they think no one who's done P&O notices??? Even Juanita did. They also tell you you can book other ships in the fleet which includes Artemis. Time to update things methinks! |
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| The sun was setting slowly so we went out to get it. It was so cold you could see your breath and it was ever so slow. |
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Back inside to warm up after giving up on the full sunset. Juanita went to sleep while I tried to watch Life on Mars again and noticed it changed to the Aurora video at exactly the same place. I decided to give up and switch it off. As much as I love Aurora I can't stick those rolling videos! A lie- in on the 18th since we weren't arriving in Akureyri until 12.30pm. Juanita went to breakfast at 9.45am and I decided to go on deck after I saw us passing the Eyjarfjordur from the window. The lift was partially knackered, saying Deck 6 even after the door opened on Deck 13. |
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| The observation deck was closed off - grrr! Went for a wander and it was pretty cold. Gavin was refereeing the shuffleboard and a bloke playing had a big furry hat on. Aurora's smoke was blowing out in a heart shape. Awwww. I phoned my dad then went onto the observation deck now it was open. |
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| Time for the Caricatures quiz in Champions, hosted by Suzanne so I grabbed a table while Juanita collected her sticker from Charlie's. We won - yay!!!! But it was yet another P&O Cruise notebook. The pregnancy testing kit and sex toy were eluding us. It was definitely warmer when we went back on deck as we got closer to the port. Mike found me as Juanita was taking photos and then we went forward, standing beside Jacqueline and Bill as we docked. Juanita had to go because of her tour and I went shortly afterwards. |
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| I ordered room service pizza and I think he went to Italy to get it! After an age it finally turned up, he handed me the tray then went, the only time that's happened. I decided to risk my back by taking a wander, buying a 500ml bottle of Coke en route. How come that costs £1.50 yet 330ml from the bar is £1.75? It's as bad as their drinks package where you get twenty 330ml refills for £30 so save nothing in the long run. Darren was dressed in the penguin costume and mucking about. |
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| That was as far as I could go so I slowly and painfully made my way back to the gorgeous ship to rest. Mike was coming the other way then I saw Sue and Sue who weren't surprised when I told them he was looking for a pub. I stopped a few times to take photos of the four families of ducks then went to the tourist shop where Darren was mucking about with the undies. |
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