Day 3 Friday 13th March: North Sea
We had a lot of swell in the night and the ship did roll a lot.
When we tried to watch Sky News there was no sound. We waited for someone to come and fix the TV. It looked quite complicated to reset the TV and then to get it synchronised with the internal network of the ship. But once this had been done magically we had sound again.
Looking outside we still had sunshine and according to the TV map we were still heading North. After 10.10 am when we had had no news from the Captain we went down to Deck 7 and had our 3 mile walk. We rewarded ourselves with some coffee and cake.
At 12.30 the Captain announced across the ship that all the ports and airports in Norway were now definitely closed. After lots of discussions with head office it had been decided that as there were no feasible alternatives then Aurora would turn around and head back to Southampton. This would mean that we would dock at Southampton early Monday morning.
All passengers would receive a full refund. This of course was disappointing news to all of us but at least we were safe.
Afternoon on the North Sea
At 1 pm the Captain announced that the ship would be turning and that she might sway when she was beam on to the prevailing wind. I watched the turn taking place while I sat on the balcony. It was not possible to tell when the ship was turning as there was no real change in movement of the ship.
At 3.30 pm we received a letter from the Captain they gave us confirmation that we would all be receiving a full refund.
At 5 pm we received an update that Aurora would be alongside Ocean terminal at 7.45 am. Passengers should be prepared to be leaving the ship from 8.45 to 10 am.
We went to Reception and they kindly rang our private tour company in Alta so that we could explain that the ship wouldn’t be calling (!) and to cancel our trip. They could only note the cancellation as we’d have to contact TripAdvisor to cancel and get our money refunded.
The map on the TV showed Aurora slowly going East across the North Sea.
Evening in the Beach House
After drinks in Anderson’s Bar we went up to the Beach House restaurant on Deck 12. I started with a taco salad, then a small steak on a lava plate followed of course by a cheese steak.
As we passed the shops in the centre of the ship they were all unusually closed for a mid-evening and as we looked in through the windows we could see staff working stocking the shelves.
Peter Cutler in the Curzon Theatre
In the theatre we watched Peter Cutler sing, dance and play the piano. We have seen him before on P&O ships and his show again did not disappoint.
After the show.
As we passed the shops after the show we could see the staff still re-stocking.
