Last Chance to See...

They say you never forget your first time but for us our second time was more memorable and a lot more enjoyable. Bear with me a minute.


The Eugenio Costa was a transatlantic liner built in Italy in 1966 and by the late 90's it was becoming a bit tatty even for Costa. They sold it to a company called Lowline who leased it to Direct Holidays who were hoping to break into the increasingly lucrative cruise market. Direct Holidays knew nothing about ships although the name of the leasing company should have given them a clue about what they were getting into. They changed the name of the Eugenio Costa to the Edinburgh Castle, gave the rust a coat of gloss paint and sat back and waited for the money to roll in.


In 1998 Janet and I, like Direct Holidays, knew nothing about cruising and so we decided to find out by booking a cruise on the Edinburgh Castle. I remember standing with horror at the door of our allotted cabin thinking that, as a child, I had built better furnished dens. In particular I remember the curtains which hung threadbare and filthy from broken rails. After a lot of screaming we were eventually upgraded to just above illegal immigrant class. On the positive side we did go on one of the few Edinburgh Castle cruises that didn't end with the ship being towed to the nearest port and, after two weeks in the Med, we did get a taste of what a cruise might be like if it wasn't being organised by complete tossers.


In 2001 enough time had passed for us to mainly remember the good bits and so we decided on another cruise. This time of course it was with a reputable company on an almost new ship that had been built specifically for the British market – the Aurora. After the Edinburgh Castle the splendour of the Aurora simply took our breath away. We've now been on twenty cruises and six of them have been on the Aurora. We've been on more spectacular ships and with arguably better companies but, helped by nostalgia from that second cruise, the Aurora remains our favourite.


This will probably be our last chance to enjoy that nostalgia because in December the Aurora is due for a £26M refit. For good or ill the Aurora is going to change and for us it won't be the same ship any more. So, one last chance to see, and of course blog about, some of Aurora's more iconic features...............


Dave

I've called this blog 'To Istanbul and Beyond', but in fact we won't be going very much further than Istanbul. Cruise No R416 was originally marketed as a cruise to the Black Sea, with the main attractions being the ports of Sevastopol and Yalta. However, with the current political unrest in Ukraine, P&O cancelled those ports and revised the itinerary. The ship now sails into the Black Sea, but only as far as Burgas in Bulgaria.

About ten days ago, we noticed that cabins were available at knock-down prices, and since we were looking for an autumn holiday it seemed like an opportunity too good to miss. We leave on 1^st September and have 24 nights onboard Aurora, our favourite P&O ship.

Janet