Oceana v Aurora

[AchileLauro]

12 minutes ago, 9is said:

I’m pleased you enjoyed your cruise.  I wish we had your cabin.  Ours was also quiet and dark.  However (going to be as polite as possible) the stains from previous occupants was disgusting. We didn’t have a functioning tap in the bathroom, we had a piece of metal attached by gaffer tape.  As mentioned before P&O refunded us nearly 50% of our cost, this was obviously processed whilst we was still onboard as it was in the post received 2 days after returning home.  I’m sure many people love aurora but not us. 

Sorry to hear that things were so bad. We too have witnessed a few things that have been far from perfect but the worst that we have experienced was on Ventura when a freshly laundered towel was opened to find human feces dried into the towel. We didn't want to make a fuss but felt that it should be reported to reception. We just couldn't believe how uninterested they were, as if it was a regular occurrence that was simply accepted.

[AndyMichelle]

10 minutes ago, AchileLauro said:

Yes snow in Oslo but if anything it added something to the atmosphere.

Yes, we loved it, made it very Christmassy. 

Andy 

[john watson]

Aurora is an older design with far fewer balcony cabins than on Oceana.  This is a big factor in choosing to go on a cruise and the lines have gone consistently for a higher and higher proportion of balcony cabins in modern cruise ship design. A number of changes have come in with modern designs which have been generally detrimental to overall passenger  experience such as abbreviating  Promenade Decks often with cabin or other venue incursion.  I took my first P&O cruise 52 years ago and you would not believe the things they had then by comparison to modern ships.

 

Regards John

Edited July 3, 2020 by john watson

[wowzz]

6 hours ago, john watson said:

I took my first P&O cruise 52 years ago and you would not believe the things they had then by comparison to modern ships.

And I wouldn't believe the high price you paid !

Edited July 3, 2020 by wowzz

[AchileLauro]

39 minutes ago, wowzz said:

And I wouldn't believe the high price you paid !

Possibly not as high as you may think. Don't forget that jet travel was still pretty much a new thing and that liners were still in regular use.

P.S. I can just pip that mine was 53 years ago, it was a 6 week cruise from Australia to the U.K.

[wowzz]

6 minutes ago, AchileLauro said:

, it was a 6 week cruise from Australia to the U.K.

I would say that was more of a scheduled journey, rather than a cruise,  though. 

[majortom10]

10 hours ago, john watson said:

Aurora is an older design with far fewer balcony cabins than on Oceana.  This is a big factor in choosing to go on a cruise and the lines have gone consistently for a higher and higher proportion of balcony cabins in modern cruise ship design. A number of changes have come in with modern designs which have been generally detrimental to overall passenger  experience such as abbreviating  Promenade Decks often with cabin or other venue incursion.  I took my first P&O cruise 52 years ago and you would not believe the things they had then by comparison to modern ships.

 

Regards John

Sorry but Aurora is not an older design they were built approximately and launched at the same time. The main difference is Aurora was designed and built solely for the British market and Oceana was designed and built for Princess for 7nt Caribbeaan cruises for American market.

Edited July 3, 2020 by majortom10

[john watson]

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

Sorry but Aurora is not an older design they were built approximately and launched at the same time. The main difference is Aurora was designed and built solely for the British market and Oceana was designed and built for Princess for 7nt Caribbean cruises for American market.

 

I am not referring to build dates so much as the actual point that as time has gone by the proportion of balcony cabins to ocean view has risen enormously. The most modern cruise ship designs seem to eradicate ocean view completely and this has been a continuous trend in my opinion mainly due to being able to charge a premium on private balcony accommodation. 

 

Regards John

[john watson]

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

I would say that was more of a scheduled journey, rather than a cruise,  though. 

 

There was a time when P&O 1960's ?were exporting Brits to Australia for £10 and later £25 I believe.  The return journey needed Australians paying a bit more and flying home as space in Earl's Court had a limit..  They needed a bargain fare to help fill the empty ships.

 

Lol John

Edited July 3, 2020 by john watson

[AchileLauro]

35 minutes ago, john watson said:

 

I am not referring to build dates so much as the actual point that as time has gone by the proportion of balcony cabins to ocean view has risen enormously. The most modern cruise ship designs seem to eradicate ocean view completely and this has been a continuous trend in my opinion mainly due to being able to charge a premium on private balcony accommodation. 

 

Regards John

Although Oceana was launched before Aurora I wouldn't say that the one was anymore modern in design than the other, they were simply just designed for quite different markets.

In the last twenty years the demands of the customers/passengers have changed slightly with a much higher demand for balconies, though in many cases to call it a balcony is a bit rich many not being much larger than window boxes. I look at many cruise ships that have been built over the last 20 years and can't help comparing them to floating pigeon lofts, with the complete side of the ship adorned with pigeon boxes. Most of these ships lack elegance of design.

 

P.S. Having had the benefit of a balcony cabin on one cruise I can't say that it really floated my boat. Personally I would much prefer to save the extra  money for more cruises. Besides that most of the balconies are not very private.

Edited July 3, 2020 by AchileLauro

[john watson]

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

I would say that was more of a scheduled journey, rather than a cruise,  though. 

 

This type of sailing is technically a "Line Voyage" and the term "Line" comes from drawing a line on the chart going along in a single direction and is why ships belong to lines.  A cruise is more traditionally a circular tour terminating at the place of origin.  At some point the shipping companies started to fill in the end of season of line voyages with cruises and I suggest this would be around 1960 when Canberra was built.  Canberra was a huge 45,000 ton purpose built cruise ship whereas we were used to 28,000 tons either way you did not have an en-suite.  The even earlier ships were sometimes ex-navy ships like  Sitmar Fairsky  1958 - 1973 previously known as HMS Attacker 1942 - 1945 I am wondering if passengers realised that their cruise ship was previously an Escort Aircraft carrier.  The amonut of open deck space must have given them a bit of a clue.

 

Lol John

[john watson]

An excellent video on YouTube is called "A history of Australian P&O cruise ships - films and images from the archive"  It explains why their flag colours are not red white and blue and connections to foreign royal households. The guy doing the presentation is very knowledgeable and witty. I suspect he is Australian.

 

Regards John

Edited July 3, 2020 by john watson

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, john watson said:

 

I am not referring to build dates so much as the actual point that as time has gone by the proportion of balcony cabins to ocean view has risen enormously. The most modern cruise ship designs seem to eradicate ocean view completely and this has been a continuous trend in my opinion mainly due to being able to charge a premium on private balcony accommodation. 

 

Regards John

John, in point of fact Aurora has a slightly higher percentage of balcony cabins than Oceana, 406 out of a total of 934, with Oceana having 410 out a total of 975. But the difference is only 1%, so hardly worth bothering about. 

If one was to go then I imagine other factors would be taken into account, and since Oceana's sister Dawn Princess has recently transferred to P&O Australia, that might enable the Aussies to take Oceana and offload one of their older vessels.

 

[Denarius]

1 hour ago, john watson said:

 

Canberra was a huge 45,000 ton purpose built cruise ship whereas we were used to 28,000 tons either way you did not have an en-suite.

Nowadays she would probably be classed as a small ship. Even the enormous 70K tonnes 1800 passenger QE2 would be barely mid size. How things have changed!

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, john watson said:

This type of sailing is technically a "Line Voyage" and the term "Line" comes from drawing a line on the chart going along in a single direction and is why ships belong to lines

Interesting - you learn something new every day. So, in fact, "cruise line" is an oxymoron. 

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, AchileLauro said:

Besides that most of the balconies are not very private.

Not sure that is actually the case. It very much depends on the ship.

We are the opposite to you. Rather have one cruise in a balcony cabin compared to two in an inside cabin.

[john watson]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

John, in point of fact Aurora has a slightly higher percentage of balcony cabins than Oceana, 406 out of a total of 934, with Oceana having 410 out a total of 975. But the difference is only 1%, so hardly worth bothering about. 

If one was to go then I imagine other factors would be taken into account, and since Oceana's sister Dawn Princess has recently transferred to P&O Australia, that might enable the Aussies to take Oceana and offload one of their older vessels.

 

 

Totally agree with your maths John.  I was somehow thinking Oriana with one balcony deck instead of Aurora.

 

Regards John

[Selbourne]

We like both ships but would choose Aurora over Oceana as the former has 8 accessible balcony cabins (I think we have stayed in them all)! The biggest difference for us is the internal layout of public areas. Oceana is ‘open plan’ with public rooms being more like public areas, with one bleeding into the next and open walkways through them. A bit like most American houses. Aurora, on the other hand, has more enclosed venues with a corridor outside, which we prefer. More British 😂 

[Adawn47]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

Not sure that is actually the case. It very much depends on the ship.

We are the opposite to you. Rather have one cruise in a balcony cabin compared to two in an inside cabin.

Mark this day on you're calendar wowzz, I agree with you 100%😉. We only cruise once a year and make sure not to compromise on comfort. 

Avril 

[SeaJane]

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

Not sure that is actually the case. It very much depends on the ship.

We are the opposite to you. Rather have one cruise in a balcony cabin compared to two in an inside cabin.

I agree. We would rather have fewer cruises in a balcony cabin. We enjoy sitting on our balcony and being able to watch the scenery or arrival/departure from ports in the comfort of our own space. Each to their own though! 

[wowzz]

5 hours ago, Adawn47 said:

Mark this day on you're calendar wowzz, I agree with you 100%😉. We only cruise once a year and make sure not to compromise on comfort. 

Avril 

Avril and SeaJane - thanks for your support.

I would say, that back in the 90s we did have interior  cabins, as money was tight. When we resumed cruising we went to a mini-suite on Princess  (big mistake) . 

My wife now constantly references any cabin back to Princess. That's why we can never have a suite - I'll be broke in three years.

[Adawn47]

8 hours ago, wowzz said:

Avril and SeaJane - thanks for your support.

I would say, that back in the 90s we did have interior  cabins, as money was tight. When we resumed cruising we went to a mini-suite on Princess  (big mistake) . 

My wife now constantly references any cabin back to Princess. That's why we can never have a suite - I'll be broke in three years.

We didn’t begin cruising until 2010 and being nervous of being at sea I thought I would feel better in a balcony. I've absolutely  no idea why,  it's not as though I thought I could get off quicker if I didn't like it😁. We've had a balcony ever since except once on Oriana when we wanted a particular itinerary and there were no balconies left. We took an outside cabin and it was alright. We enjoyed the cruise and would have another if it was really necessary,  but first choice always is a balcony. I love the early mornings sat with a coffee watching the sky lighten and the day begin.

Avril 

 

 

Edited July 4, 2020 by Adawn47

[AchileLauro]

We prefer an outside cabin normally but have purposely opted for inside cabins on occasion because of the location on the ship. As we spend so very little time in our cabin anyway we don't mind if an inside cabin is the only option available.

Usually we will opt for a cabin that is close to an exit nearest to a swimming pool. That way we have one very large balcony with a pool and often a bar or eatery near by.

Edited July 4, 2020 by AchileLauro

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, AchileLauro said:

That way we have one very large balcony with a pool

Which is fine,  as long as no one else is out there with you. Unfortunately it may be large, but it certainly isn't private!

[indiana123]

We are all different.  We do spend a bit of time in our cabin so a balcony is a must for us.  Some cruises they are used a lot, reading, watching, coffee-ing etc, and some cruises just for popping in and out off.  I can't wait!