Aurora Refit

[Britboys]

3 hours ago, AndyMichelle said:

I have heard elsewhere that the existing, beautiful pink bathrooms have not been changed in the original cabins....

I agree about the Epicurean, although not my thing, I think the typical Aurora passenger would enjoy it.

We have always thought there is a lot of underused space on Aurora, so think they may have missed a trick.

Andy

 

I would be interested to hear which spaces you think are underused Andy.

[AndyMichelle]

1 hour ago, Britboys said:

 

I would be interested to hear which spaces you think are underused Andy.

Our table of 6 were the only people in Madquerades on a couple of occasions watching a very good guitarist. I never saw many people in Vanderbilts.

The Glass house  never seems busy.

 

I know these are used at certain times of the day and people like them, but just feel the activities that take place in them could be utilised elsewhere.

Dont get me wrong, that is one of the attractions for me of Aurora, that it never feels busy.

Andy

[BrianI]

My impression of the new cabins is that they look very nice but there is less storage space than the existing cabins. The single balcony cabins look very good but it would be interesting to see the price comparison to the single occupancy of an existing double cabin. 

Brian

[booksurfer]

On 4/17/2019 at 8:31 AM, Britboys said:

The 1,910-passenger Aurora joins Arcadia and Oriana as the line's third child-free ship

 

Could someone actually define precisely what '...child-free ship' means? I know it sounds obvious as to what it should mean, but I've learnt not to assume anything.

 

I noticed a cruise later in the year on Aurora that I was interested in but also I noticed that a large part of it covered half term. Am I right in thinking that even though it's half term school children would not be allowed on that cruise? How does P&O define 'child-free'?

 

Thanks.

Edited April 25, 2019 by booksurfer

[BrianI]

14 minutes ago, booksurfer said:

 

Could someone actually define precisely what '...child-free ship' means? I know it sounds obvious as to what it should mean, but I've learnt not to assume anything.

 

How does P&O define 'child-free'?

 

Thanks.

All passengers must be 18 or over. The children’s facilities have been removed and extra cabins put in their place. 

Brian

[booksurfer]

22 minutes ago, BrianI said:

All passengers must be 18 or over.

 

Thank you, that's fairly clear!

[Balaena]

On 4/17/2019 at 1:57 PM, Britboys said:

Yes, hopefully P&O will resist any moves from Carnival to sell off Aurora for a while.  Mind you, assuming they do take on the sister-ship to Iona in 2022, it is anyone's guess what they might do.

On good authority she will be with P&O for the coming 8 years, also of interest was that £37/38 million was spent on her refit.

Bal

[Selbourne]

Here’s the full detail on the changes following the refit;

 

https://www.pocruises.com/explore/articles/ships/aurora-refit-2019/

[AndyMichelle]

5 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Here’s the full detail on the changes following the refit;

 

https://www.pocruises.com/explore/articles/ships/aurora-refit-2019/

Thanks for posting this Selbourne, it's good to have some clarification.

I am so pleased the reception desk has benefitted from a new table lamp!!!

Andy

[blueboo]

On 4/15/2019 at 6:53 PM, Britboys said:

Thanks for posting the photos.

 

I guess they have tried to make the Raffles area more of a relaxed coffee bar feel than the atrium bar that it was originally.

 

Not sure about some of those carpets.  Not keen on the corridor one and the Crows Nest one looks a bit depressing.  Seldom use Champions so not that bothered about that one.  The one in the Atrium looks very much like the one on Arcadia - perhaps they had some left over after her refit 😁

I agree about the carpets..the Atrium one is hideous and the rest of them are not that great either...look like leftovers from the P and O ferries

[Britboys]

On 4/29/2019 at 2:22 PM, Selbourne said:

Here’s the full detail on the changes following the refit;

 

https://www.pocruises.com/explore/articles/ships/aurora-refit-2019/

 

Hmm, not sure the design changes sound that good to me but there again, the prosaic-style that P&O/Carnival now use in Press Releases (e.g. ..".give Aurora a bright and contemporary look fit for a new era of cruise experiences") rather make me reach for the sick-bag 😏.  Hopefully when I eventually get to see the result of the refurb, I will be pleasantly surprised.

 

I'm soooo relieved to hear that the cabin bathrooms have new toilet seats and shower curtains....

[AndyMichelle]

On 1 May 2019 at 9:02 AM, blueboo said:

I agree about the carpets..the Atrium one is hideous and the rest of them are not that great either...look like leftovers from the P and O ferries

Hilarious..

Having been a bit involved in the process, the carpets are definitely not left overs and people have been paid a lot of money to design and produce them...

Something about aesthetics was the dream that was sold.

Andy

[manonabike]

Looks lovely though the corridor carpet is not to my liking at all. Such a shame that, as a family, we'll not be able to enjoy it. I know why P&O have done it but I do feel that not all families want to be on the big ships and that some of the itineraries, such as the northern lights, will now be unavailable for families to enjoy. 

[Selbourne]

As the OP, I thought that I should report back that we have just returned from 19 nights on Aurora. As we are regular cruisers on Aurora (7 cruises over the past 2 years) we were looking out for the changes, but I would say that they were mostly very subtle.

 

As a point of interest, even though we were technically on the 2nd cruise after the refit, a senior officer told us that we were really on the first post refit cruise as a lot of workmen were still on board during the previous cruise and were working until the end of it!

 

The most obvious change was the new carpets, pretty much throughout. In spite of a lot of negative comments about them in this thread, we thought that they all looked fine. The Glasshouse looked quite different, with new tables and chairs, a new layout, a screen splitting the area that runs along the outer side and improved window coverings. We preferred the old setup, but it was OK. The area around the new cabins looked fresh (as you’d expect) and the deck area outside was laid to look as though it had been there ages, to match the rest of the ship. Looked fine. 

 

Frankly, the other changes around the ship were so minor as to not warrant mentioning. As for cabins, they’ve done half a job. New carpets but still the dated looking (and creaky) cabinetry and (noisy) drawers remain. The bathrooms still have the vile peachy pink suite although white soft close toilet lids have been fitted and the lighting has been replaced with very bright LED lights. I found them unbearably bright when you switched the light on if you got up when it was dark and your eyes were in night mode, but my wife liked them. 

 

As for the much anticipated new TV’s, we had a big disappointment here. The large screen wall mounted TV’s were only installed in balcony cabins upwards. Word of warning for those who book one of the 8 accessible balcony cabins though. For reasons that are not clear (and we couldn’t get an answer on board), these have NOT been fitted to these cabins, even though all standard balcony cabins of the same grade have. Lower grade cabins (and the 8 accessible balcony cabins) have had new very slightly bigger TV’s installed but they are half the size of the TV’s in balcony cabins up. They are still rubbish. Poor picture and sound quality. P&O penny pinching I’m afraid. 

 

So, in summary, the ship is definitely refreshed but is still an old lady. We like her though. As for passenger profile, we didn’t get quoted an average age on this cruise, but I would say it was just over 70. We are in our 50’s and didn’t find it a problem as the passenger profile on this ship is always excellent and very different from the newer ships. 

[Dermotsgirl]

Was the Glasshouse very popular on your cruise? The last two times I’ve been on Aurora, the Glasshouse was rarely used. I like the Glasshouse concept, but on Aurora it always seems deserted, and therefore very little atmosphere.

 

[Britboys]

Thanks for reporting back.  I shall look forward to my next cruise aboard my soon-to-be favourite P&O ship (once we have lost Oriana) next year!

[Selbourne]

7 hours ago, Dermotsgirl said:

Was the Glasshouse very popular on your cruise? The last two times I’ve been on Aurora, the Glasshouse was rarely used. I like the Glasshouse concept, but on Aurora it always seems deserted, and therefore very little atmosphere.

 

 

It’s still not terribly popular, but I think that’s due to its location on deck 8 as there is hardly any passing footfall, so people don’t think of it. As always, we went straight to the Glasshouse for lunch when we embarked and, again as always, were the only people in there as nobody knows it’s open. Lovely way to avoid the bun fight that is the buffet following embarkation (and we don’t rate the priority boarders snacks and cheap plonk in the main dining room). We went a couple of other times for lunch and would say that there were no more than 3 or 4 other tables occupied. Busier in the evenings but nowhere near full. Have to say we like it that way. We dislike busy (and noisy) places and are more than happy to have a place to ourselves!

[aliandy]

Really looking forward to our first Aurora cruise having had two previous cruises on Oriana which we very much enjoyed. I tried to find a menu for the Glasshouse but failed as it seems an excellent idea for embarkation day. Its lack of patrons may be because of a reluctance to incur extra cost the minute one steps on to the ship!

[jeanlyon]

I thought the Glass House looked underused.  I quite liked the carpets.  It was my first time on the ship, so no idea what she was like before.  they have at last put the cabin safe in a place where you are not on your knees trying to get into it!!  The cabin cupboards were all long which is good for long dresses.  Compared to Oriana, I thought we had more room.  this is an inside cabin I am talking about.  Mattresses were very comfortable.  Sindhu was used a bit, but again, never saw it full.

 

Food was pretty good, but I do get sick of meat, potatoes and veg.  Would like some different dishes.  Really enjoyed the chicken tikka masala one night.  Lasagne was not good.   Great tiger prawns too.  And Lobster.

[terrierjohn]

5 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

 

 

Food was pretty good, but I do get sick of meat, potatoes and veg.  Would like some different dishes.  Really enjoyed the chicken tikka masala one night. Lasagne was not good.   Great tiger prawns too.  And Lobster.

Something else we disagree on Jean, on our freedom dining table of 8, 4 of us had Lasagne and we all gave it a thumbs up, agree about the Tikka Masala and tiger prawns though.

[ann141]

Lasagne was my favourite meal!!I also liked the chicken tikka masala.I liked the fact that at lunch time occasionally by the swimming pool they had crepes (savoury and sweet). another time toasties etc.I loved the rum and raisin ice cream but couldn t face trying the salt and vinegar ice cream.I think the food has improved slightly from our last cruise.

[Selbourne]

The Salt & Vinegar ice cream was actually fine (but I like Garlic ice cream also which I tried on the Isle of Wight!) although Rum & Raisin was my favourite. As a point of interest, all ice creams are bought in ready made. They are not made on the ship, as we had thought. The Lobster that was on the Chaines de Rotisieurs menu was superb (especially given that they served 600 of them that night) and solved the mystery as to why it no longer features on a Marco Pierre White menu. 

 

Sindhu was certainly full during the evening of the Tasting Menu (the last Friday) but we didn’t rate that menu having tried it. As I mentioned elsewhere I believe the reason that the Glasshouse is always underused on Aurora is due to it’s location as it has minimal passing footfall. We used the Beach House a couple of times and that wasn’t full either. It has always felt to me that on cruises where the average age of cruisers is older (as was the case on this cruise) a lower percentage of passengers use the Select Dining Restaurants. 

 

We both struggled with the mattresses and woke up with back ache, but I note that there is a rolling replacement programme of the mattresses on Aurora, so perhaps ours had yet to be changed. 

[jh1809]

I too thought that the Glasshouse seemed underused. I had a late lunch there a couple of times after returning from an excursion, and was very impressed by the food, though I thought that the glass of Rioja that I had was actually inferior to the Rioja that I was drinking in the MDR. I ate in Sindhu twice - once in the evening and once for one of their "tiffin" lunches - and it seemed fairly busy both times. I also dined once in the Beach house, which was even busier. I enjoyed all my meals in the speciality restaurants.

 

I enjoyed the MDR's lasagne (and indeed almost everything I ate there). It was a lot better than the overpriced lasagne that I had in Rome during my excursion there. In contrast to Jean, I thought that the MDR had fewer meat dishes than formerly and far more fish dishes.

 

I was amused during the cruise to get an email from the marketing department of P&O providing a link to a webpage where I could get a sneak preview of the refitted Aurora.  Too late, guys!

[aliandy]

Very minor detail (if you both have supple joints) but good to know the safe is in a more accessible place! We had problems with the safe on Oriana last year as it refused to open necessitating two visits from an engineer including one on disembarkation morning. We had reported it the evening before so we could empty it but in spite of various phone calls no engineer was forthcoming until early morning. 

 

Very interesting to read all the comments about Aurora and counting down the days till we sail.