Aurora Reviews

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Hello. My wife & I have just come back from one of the best cruises we have taken.The P&O ship Aurora, is a medium sized ocean going ship,built in 2000,and is still in great shape.We have sailed with P&O before and have always found the staff friendly and cheerful,they always seem to be happy ships! The boarding at The Mayflower terminal was quick and easy with free car parking for the 12 nights.The cabin was a large inside twin on A deck at the aft end,very quiet. The Cabin stewardess Leonora,was A1+ perfect in every way.a credit to P&O.Tea & coffee & biscuits replaced constantly ,the cabin kept immaculate.We were 0n 2nd sitting for dinner in the Alexandra restaurant, table 86 a table for two.Matthew & Shiv our waiter's were wonderful,service was on par with the QE2 which we always compare with. The wine waiter Desmond very knowledgeable about the wines and super fast service.Charles the Restaurant manager,came over every evening for a chat with us. The mostly Indian Staff here were without doubt the happiest workers I ever come across. The evening shows with the Dance group HEADLINERS were a joy to watch,very entertaining. The drinks were reasonably priced with quick service every time. The Playhouse had some great films to watch, Warhorse,The iron Lady, Sherlock Holmes,The Artist,A week with Marilyn Monroe,The Descendants Etc. The Tours were well organised., with good mixture of activities for all ages. We will certainly sail on the Aurora again

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When we and our friends arrived in Singapore the transfer coach took us on an unscheduled tour as the ship was not ready to receive us for a few hours. We are glad to say it was an excellent introduction to Singapore especially for those of us who had never travelled past Turkey. It was informative and comfortable and also FREE! The other port trips were also very good. When we boarded we were directed to our cabin where we were desperate to take a shower. Pity the water was only tepid and when we rang to request it be attended to we were told that they would deal as soon as possible but that the staff were dealing with a few leaks!!! It was a feature of the cruise that the plumbing on board would leak in corridors and bar areas ( the leaks in one of the bars were there for last 10 days of our section of the world cruise and the buckets never moved from the window seat area on the port side). The plus sides were the usual, the food was good and varied and individual requirements catered for. The ship was kept spotless and the staff were absolutely brilliant in the restaurants and pretty good elsewhere too. The entertainment was too dependant on the holidaymakers rather than celebrity guests which we found disappointing and also only had 45 minute acts or events. The cinema showed 10 year old+ films with poor quality display screens compared to the 6 month old or less films on the airplanes that we travelled on to and from the ship. Summary we will go for a bigger,newer ship and will embark and disembark in the UK from now on.

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Overall we 'quite' enjoyed the cruise, but it has to go down as one of our least successful. I'll get the problems out of the way first before giving an overview of the cruise ship. Some of the problems on this cruise were caused by events in a previous sector, namely a major drug bust of 4 passengers carrying cocaine who were arrested in San Fransisco and Sydney, before we boarded. (Serious enough to have been reported on Sky News.)However, the result of these events meant that we were a marked ship, subject to the most rigorous screening (full cabin searches, dog sniffing and additional baggage and personal searches especially in remaining Autralian ports and in Bali. Bad luck for anybody carrying small amounts of recreational stuff for own use!)The worst aspect was that we were unable to visit Yorkey's Knob, from where we had hoped to visit the Great Barrier Reef after 30+ years of trying. This was because the Australian authorities decided that Yorkey's Knob didn't have adequate screening for such a dodgy ship, so we would have to be screened at Cairns - but our anchorage position remained the same, and it would have taken hours to tender all 2000 passengers and crew up to Cairns. So Captain decided not worth it at all - we wouldn't have got the the GBR that day. So that was the first disappointment. But there were other difficulties, including a taxi blockade in Bali preventing P&O shuttle buses leaving the pier (so going nowhere)coupled with the pontoon on the pier getting damaged by waves, so preventing tender boats coming to pick up stranded passengers. (Many of whom spent the whole day in a bar off the pier who must have thought it was Christmas birthday and anniversary all come at once.) The Bali authorities appeared to be unable to mend the damaged pontoon, such that engineers from Aurora were despatched to do the job. This took until about 3pm, by which time tours buses that had got through before the taxi blockade were returning. We got to the pier around 5.30 after our tour, to face a 2 and a half hour queue. Medics from the ship had been brought over to identify any urgent medical cases to get priority. Aurora finally left Bali several hours late, with some very disgruntled people (also some very drunk ones). The other 'external' cause of passenger fury was that local tender boats were used as well as ship's tenders in Koh Samui, and the one we were on had a completely incompetent crew incapable of tying up to the Aurora, so passengers sat or stood on open decks in 39 degree temperature stewing while senior P&O officers were sent down to sort things out. Being overheated temperature-wise certainly raised the emotional temperature too.

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I and 5 friends set sail for a two night mini cruise on the P&O Aurora, Southampton to Bruges mid-November. Although the embarkation line was long, it did move quickly. In fact we were on board and having lunch in under an hour of joining the queue. My single cabin C102 was very comfortable. However I'd say you would be a bit hard pushed for space if it was sold as a double. The "White Company" toiletries were a real nice touch. The ship itself is very clean, lots of open deck space including a full wrap around deck (all with teak floors) and modern public lounge areas. For a mid-size ship, there were plenty of bars and lounges to hang-out and relax. Although this was only a two nighter, the second evening was a" formal dinner". That meant trying to pack a full, formal dinner suite into a small carry-on weekend trolley bag... Something I think is a little over the top for such a short trip. But it was fun nonetheless to dress up. The food on both occasions was tasty, presented well and the lobster on formal night went down very well. One thing I did notice different to the American lines is that the waiters make a bit of a "thing" if you ask to have more than one item of a particular choice. So getting a lobster and a steak or even two starters brings with it a real sense of "ummmmmmmm" wellllllll I'll have to ask! Another difference we all noticed was the friendliness of the staff. Don't get me wrong, all the staff did what they needed to do, but that was it.... The staff didn't seem to be able to have a laugh with you, have a joke with you or have any understanding of what it was you were talking to them about (if it wasn't to do with the task you had them do... i.e. bring you a drink from the bar). They often just looked at you and walked away. I have to say, doing a cruise longer than 2 nights with this sort of customer service fills me with dread, I think I'll stick to an american style service. I can't comment on what the ship tours of Bruges were like as I didn't get off the ship. Instead I managed to spend a few hours swimming in the heated pools and hot tubes, very relaxing indeed. The age ranged from the very young running around in nappies to the very old, snoozing in any area that had a couch. Given there were lots of stag and hen groups, the bars were often in full swing by late afternoon. Even the staff in the all night disco, were given their run for their money on both nights. So much so extra staff was needed to cope with a full house of party goers. As they say "all good things must come to an end", so I guess this cruise was no different. Yes I would cruise with P&O again but if it was for a cruise longer than a few days, I'll most probably choose an American line or Cunard first.

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ports Valencia - impressed with the state of the town - seems very clean and tidy - the new buildings, looked very good - quite a hot, sunny day for late October did the Lladro tour - DW really enjoyed it - be sure to ask for the seconds shop as well though You do also get a tour of the city which was unexpected and a nice surprise Palma - in keeping with the other spanish ports was impressed with the general state of the town - attractive streets, squares etc - not much to necessarily do there apart from the cathedral of course - we did the organised Soller train ride - it was ok - not great but OK - maybe we ended up spending just too much time in Soller itself which was kind of attractive but just had very little there Corfu - rainy day on a sunday - so not many shops open which wasnt a good combo - it did dry up a little later on - had been before - but DW wasnt that impressed - not a massive number of sights to see, went to the Liston - would recommend the Archaeological museum - its within the town (and the town is fairly small) - but there is some good stuff inside that you wouldnt expect - its not the biggest museum but good value - possibly cheapest cigarettes in the port duty free if thats your thing by the way (not mine) Dubrovnik - one day after Corfu - and what a difference in weather - sunny and hot and glorious this place always seems to be the place that everyone says is the one that they didnt expect much but really impresses them - and its true ! - its not just the town - attractive etc - the surrounding countryside and Islands are very scenic - sail in and away was quite spectacular - did the cable car independently - its 80 kuna (about 11 pounds sterling) - fantastic views from the top and gives a bit of a view of the high back country Venice - one day after Dubrovnik - but the weather goes back to dull rainy and cold - what a shame for the glorious sail in - truly outstanding regardless - the transfer to the town (15 pounds for all day) takes a little while but took us to near St Marks - if you know anything of the place you will know how impressive it is, but its the kind of place you can get a load out of, whatever you like - personally I like the way you can get lost in the narrow side streets but just pop out into a square - that said make sure you have a map and do some research before you go. We got a couple of masks out on Murano (take Vaporetto no 5) - which was done independently (much more comfortable than a hectic trip) - actually good value - 15/20 euro Palermo - possibly the least attractive town in itself - bit dirty - attractive setting surrounded by the hills Went to Segesta (its an ancient Greek site) - I was very impressed with the Temple and theatre - but thats my kind of thing - the setting was also very good - overall very much worth it Malaga - we should of gone to Porto for the sunday - but we went to Malaga instead on the saturday - which was a slight shame - but it was a nice day there - too short a visit to allow for the Alhambra to be added to the trips available unfortunately - its a nice town, busy and bustling - quite smart and compact - even if there arent a ton of things to do in the town - but there is a lot of good shopping very close to the port Have been on one or two P and O boats - Aurora typical of the style - its not the newest boat - but I thought that it looked in fairly good condition. Aurora isnt one of those massive ships - you can get one end to the other and back again without it seeming like too long a trek There isnt all the facilities as on the other boats, you just have to accept that - but there is still a fair amount to do In fact the only thing that really showed much wear was the handles on the rather stiff drawers in the rooms - you could see the fingernail scratches! Overall Aurora is a comfy old pair of slippers kind of boat with a largely British passenger list Average age for the folks on the boat - maybe 60/70 - well it made us feel young anyway - the events on board seemed to match the clientele - but thats fair enough - they know their market There were a few minor things that didnt go 100% right - but looking back on it there wasnt much over all we did note that a few things had been trimmed back a little - most of it subtly done - though the cafe (the Orangery) seemed a fraction more down market than it might (and sometimes the food wasnt that warm ..) bit confused on the cover charges for the two signature restaurants - it was almost a state secret how much it was (we think 6.50 for Cafe Bordeaux and 8.50 for Pennant Grill) - the breakfast at the Cafe was recommended (for an irregular visit) Spa was used twice - dont bother with the Catalonian mud soak apparently Did hear someone complaining about 'all the kids in the pools' - not sure if that was true ! Dress code was strictly enforced even on the last night when it was casual and everything else was packed away Its one of the few times on a cruise ship that I have experienced, that the captain, Neil Turnbull, was an actual presence (his announcements were always entertaining), I can imagine he's just the sort of guy that P and O love having as a captain We did have a late change in our itenery we lost Porto on the last sunday and went to Malaga on the saturday - which was a shame - but it seemed there was little other choice - you cant predict the weather I thought the TV was improved - doing the port talks and the guest speakers etc were on it if you had missed them Overall we enjoyed it - you mustn't let the minor problems bother you, though thats not to say it couldnt have been better

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