Aurora Cruise Ship
, P&O Cruises
Aurora Cruise Ship Reviews
- Advice: Use all the facilities available.
- Board Basis:All Inclusive
- Tour Operator:Thomas Cook
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1 reader found this review helpful
Very easy drop bags at terminal travel up escalator check-in -no wait! walked straight onto ship lovely lunch, bags outside cabin departed on time.
Lovely atmosphere with mixture of all ages but children so well catered for didnt see them except being well behaved in beautiful outfits in the evenings enjoying the fabulous shows by the headliners in the evenings.
Plenty to keep you occupied during sea days. Dance instructors were excellent!
So the negatives aurora is getting on a bit but i believe she is due for a refurbish and like a lot of the reviews the atmosphere and friendliness of the ship is in a class of its own. take the moans about the food with a pinch of salt the evening meals cannot be faulted and there is plenty of choice during the day!!
The cruise director lacked energy certainly didnt see her around the ship! and there was bad planning with the programmes sometimes- why no headliners shows on sea days? the 1st sitting would have to rush back exhausted from a trip and rush to get to the show!
- Advice: enjoy the grill to dine out one evening
- Board Basis:cruise
- Tour Operator:iglu
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9 readers found this review helpful
just came back from a world cruise of south america and austrlia new zealand and polynisian islands and mexcico. very good time had by both of us everything worked well as to be expected from them,room food, entertainment could have been better as the cruise went on. staff very good, lots of short courses to learn, paiting,bridge, dancing. but a lot of competitive games as well. the ports were good. and on our return we were assisted to catch our connections home. would recomend. only downside was a lot of days at sea.
- Advice: be prepared for long sea days
- Good For: Beach
- Good For: City Breaks
- Board Basis:All Inclusive
- Tour Operator:P&O CRUISES
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29 readers found this review helpful
Aurora has the feel of a classic cruise ship. She isn't the newest or swishest but she is comfortable, spacious and smooth.
We went on a Baltic cruise; Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, St Petersburg, Tallinn and Zeebrugge. The only place we did any of the organised tours was in Russia. We could have done cheaper tours and they are easy to arrange - but the P&O tours were the easy option! I would certainly go back to the Baltic, especially St Petersburg but would probably arrange any tours independently.
This was our 3rd P&O cruise (Arcadia and Artemis) and we have already booked another cruise on the Aurora - so you can see we do like both P&O and the ship.
P&O prices represent pretty good value (eg £2.80 a pint, decent wine about £14 per bottle). We have friends who have travelled with other cruise lines where the drinks prices are exorbitant. The approach to tipping on P&O is also less regimented; although there are suggested amounts its is left up to you to give any individual/s the amount of tip you wish.
Aurora is a child friendly ship, something which worried my wife and I as we had only been on all adult ships previously. There was no need to worry, the activities for all the children and young people on board kept them fully engaged and at no point was our enjoyment impinged on by screaming kids.
Meal times were a treat. We usually like a table to ourselves (anti-social pair that we are!) but we booked late and were on a table for eight. There ended up being another couple and two cousins who holidaying together along with one of the officers who joined us on formal nights (the chief electrical engineer). We found ourselves looking forward to dinner and catching up on what we had all been doing that day and telling all sorts of stories and jokes. The food was absolutely superb and made dinner the highlight of the day.
The only area that was not particularly good was the entertainment. The shows seemed pretty half-baked - we went along on 3 occasions but ended up excusing ourselves after about 10 minutes because the show seemed a bit lame. That said, there were some superb talks on board, not our usual thing but very educating, engaging and entertaining.
For us this cruise gave us new experiences along with the comfortable familiarity of the ship. An excellent blend.
- Board Basis:Full board
- Tour Operator:The Cruise Specialists
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16 readers found this review helpful
Baltics on Aurora - R009 Departing 4th May 2009
This cruise was our honeymoon present from my parents. I've cruised before on Oriana but my husband has never cruised and he loved every minute of it. The service was top-class, the staff warm, friendly and always had lovely smiles like they ACTUALLY cared about the passengers. Sadly this level of service is something still yet to be learned by Roayl Caribbean.
Our cabin (A172) was just right for the two of us. We had a balcony which had 2 wooden chairs and a wooden table. I must say our balcony and cabin onboard the Independance of the Seas in Aug 2009 was much more spacious - something i'd like p&o to think about.
Cabin staff (ours was a girl called Menchie) were totally terrific! You dont see P&O staff talking their mates on their mobiles whilst making up your cabin. Go with Royal Caribbean and its a daily sight. P&O's standards are second to none, they are the best!
Breakfast and Lunch was eaten in the Orangery, a self-serve buffet. Most nights we'd have dinner in the restaurant, Medina. 2 or 3 nights we ate in the Orangery for dinner. The food there is as delicious as in the restaurant.
We are both smokers and we spent almost every evening in the Crow's Nest having a drink and a smoke with pianist Paul during his breaks. We had a favourite spot on a table for 2 just ouside the Orangery where we'd get a coffee after dinner and have a cigarette or two.
The whole ship is amazing. We took our 2 of our 3 children onboard the Independance with Royal Caribbean last August (Aug 2009) for 12 nights doing an Italian/Mediterranian cruise. It as like a floating resort! Ever seen Benidorm on TV? It was like that but afloat! Totally what we werrn't expecting. Everything is in dollars onboard and very expensive (it was something like $7/$7.50 for a shot of whiskey!
I'd rather have a smaller cabin on Aurora and receive the best service in the world than go with Royal Caribbean again. We love it so much that we've booked onto cruise R009 (Aurora - dep 20/08/10) with all our children this year. The kids will love it as much we we did last May (2009).
I cant wait to get back onbaord - at last a holiday where I dont have to keep checking for cleanliness and looking to compare. Who can compare with P&O? I can just relax knowing my needs will be catered for!
- Advice: Lov3ed Aurora so much we go again with the kids in 3 wks!!!
- Board Basis:All Inclusive
- Tour Operator:Bolsover Cruise Club
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60 readers found this review helpful
Sadly on the Aurora P & O allow smoking in two of the main bars, including the crows nest. They allow smoking on two decks too, and on all balconys. If you are like me and find smokers of pipes cigars and cigarettes make you feel sick, best book another ship.
We are still on the cruise 915 eastern med, arriving back in Southampton on Nov 3rd.
Cant wait to get off, and have some fresh air.
- Board Basis:Not Specified
- Tour Operator:Booked Independently
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9 readers found this review helpful
Over all it was a great holiday, staff were friendly and welcoming. The Merdina was fabulous couldn't fault it waiters were lovely. my grandma, has trouble with her food and they could actually did what she wanted, which was very good. The only problem we had was the medical centre, becuase it chagred her about £400, just for her to go their.
My brother, who is 15, was a bit bored and their was nothing for him to do. Their should have been a games room, where they had play stations, wii and xbox 360. also we went over the bay of biscay, which was not very nice, a few of us felt sick. we took some sickness tablets with us, they helped alot.
I would reccommend P & O to anyone. this was not our last hopefully.
It was a lovely experience!
Laura Jones
- Board Basis:Not Specified
- Tour Operator:Thomas Cook
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5 readers found this review helpful
fantastic cruise brilliant ship the food on board was great, the itinery was first class , the trips were well thought outthe highlight for us was istanbul awesome place, the blue mosque was beutiful you see it on tv but its not a patch as it is in the flesh, then up into the black sea & Yalta, all in all it was a fantastic holiday
- Board Basis:bosphrus & black sea
- Tour Operator:Thomas Cook
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7 readers found this review helpful
I have been back of my holiday for 4 days and i want to go back!!
Never been on a better holiday in my life, i went with my mum, dad and gran to celebrate my mum and dad's silver wedding anniversairy and my 18th birthday. we had a fantastic 18 days!! Each day got better
food was fab, entertainment was ace!! Was just a shame that their wasn't many younger people my age, but i found a few. There was something for every age on board aurora. I would reccomend it to anyone. The staff are fantastic and so friendly, they are always there to offer you help.
i cant wait until my next cruise!!
- Board Basis:venetion affair
- Tour Operator:Thomas Cook
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5 readers found this review helpful
This was a great cruise for a pre Xmas celebration. A 2nt party cruise to Bruges. The booking process was easy with helpful staff who advised us well - we were after a short cruise without having to trail through websites etc. Check in was smooth and easy and the ship clean and staff polite. P&O are aimed at traditional British cruisers and this is exactly what we got, the food was tasty, although I found the menu abit too British for my liking (can't critisice though as this is what they say it will be). Entertainment took the form of Frank Carson who was hilarious, followed by karaoke in one of the bars and a good old dance until 4am when I finally collapsed. The bar bill at the end was good too - cruising always worries me as I'm not sure what I'm spending but the prices were really reasonable. Bad points were - queues for breakfast and lukewarm food in the buffet, but overall a good cruise and I would do a mini cruise again and use the same agents to book again
- Board Basis:Party Cruise
- Tour Operator:www.cruise.co.uk
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7 readers found this review helpful
First family cruise but hopefully it won't be the last! We had been warned that it could take an hour or longer to book in, but our bags were taken from us as we left the taxi,we sailed through Passport control and then straight onto the ship.We were immediately impressed with the cleanliness, the friendliness and once we had sampled the food, the very high quality that P&O were delivering.
We had a balcony cabin on B Deck, it had everything you could wish for,the only slight problem was that once the bed settee was put up at night it was very difficult to manoeuvre.If money had been no object then we would have definitly booked two cabins so that we would have had more space.
We made the most of trips on offer and apart from Madeira where we did our own thing, we went on a trip at each port of call.A trip in the cable car on Madeira followed by the wicker basket journey down is certainly not for the faint hearted but was great fun once it was over!!
We enjoyed La Palma, Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote, all having something different to offer. Lisbon was magical and after the tram and coach tour my daughter and I enjoyed a leisurely lunch.Be warned that on ordering 1 glass of rose with lunch the waiter brought 1 bottle! I didn't like to send it back.My husband preferred to go back to the ship so as not to miss Afternoon Tea!The weather turned nasty in Vigo and so the trip to Bayona La Real was cut short.
We loved the shows, the theme nights, the classical recitals-everything.But I am afraid to say Matthew Cutler didn't have the same success as he did on Strictly Come Dancing when trying to teach us to dance!
We can't wait to book another cruise, hopefully to the Mediterranean in the summer of 2008.
Would definetly recommend it, have enough brochures to start a Travel Agent!
- Board Basis:Canaries Collection
- Tour Operator:Booked Independently
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4 readers found this review helpful
From boarding the ship at Southampton, we thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.
The food and service was excellent and the ship itself was a floating 5* hotel. The entertainment programme was varied and exciting and the theatre was filled to capacity every night.
The ports visited were varied and interesting and P&O gave detailed briefings of what to expect. We had pre-booked two excursions, Majorca and Dubrovnik and found both good value for money.
Looking forward to our next cruise on Oceana to Norway in June 2008.
- Board Basis:Pearls of the Adriatic
- Tour Operator:Booked Independently
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2 readers found this review helpful
I have recently returned from a 12 night Medeterrenean cruise on the Aurora. This time I was accompanied by my elderly mother, who unfortunately suffers from Alziemers Disease, I was determined to give her one last cruise before she dies. One big problem, I found though, is that P&O will go out of the way, if you have some physical disability, hence specially designed cabins for wheel chair users, mobility assistance at port disembarcation etc, but on some ailment that is not visibly noticeable, they are not so strong. My mother is fairly physically active for her age (she's 86) but this is more of a hinderance than a help, if you suffer alzeimers, for instance, although she has been on the ship many times before, she could not find her way around the ship, and could'nt use the swipe card key to her cabin. Although, I had a next door cabin, I could'nt keep tabs on her all the time, and she sometimes went wandering out of her cabin and got lost, she was usually picked up by a member of staff, but they were far from sympathetic at times (language difficulty, is a problem here) and made it clear to me, that I should keep a better eye on her, which grated with me a little bit, especially when I witness badly behaved children, unaccompanied by parents, not being challenged about their behaviour.
As for the ship, the food was good, with the odd duff dish, (never tried the cafe bordeux or Pennant grill, the waiting staff were pleasant and efficient in both the bars and the restaurent. The Cabin Steward was average, (did not understand my Mum's need, but I did'nt expect him to), though he lost the plot at the end, when on the last morning he woke me up at 6.15am, loudly talking into his mobile phone, and I had to open the door and tell him to be quite as I was still resting, his tip was of course reduced, and talking about tipping of the cabin steward, here's a useful tip (excuse pun), always give it on the last morning, when you have completely finished with their services, because if you give it the previous night, (which many people do!) and then during the night or next morning, they do something to irratate you, like as happened to me, its then to late, they have got their money from you and are laughing. The theatre company was very good, with some great shows, and the resident band, Caravan were very good. Though that miserable concert pianist was still there. I have seen this gentleman on this ship since 2001, he has a lovely life, full use of all the passenger facilities, sunbathing on deck, seeing the world plus probably reasonably paid, for minimal amount of work, playing a bit of bach or whatever in the Champagne bar for an hour every night (nice work if you can get it). This leads me on to a general criticism of some of the lesser entertainers on P&O cruise ships, I think they are ever in much threat to their jobs as they would be on other lines, because of thier membership of Equity, (one of the worst restrictivwe practice unions, still to be found). and this leads to a comfort zone mentality, Knowing no one is likely to step in and replace them at any time.
The ports of call were all good, apart from that dreadful Gibralter, it has got nothing going for it whatsoever, all it is, is a few ugly buildings, surrounding an ugly looking cliff, and they even have the audacity to charge for shuttle busses, when we subsidise them, with our taxes.