Peppers mum Posted July 6 #1 Share Posted July 6 I bet that got you all going!!! 🤣 So to give you a little bit of background, we are a happily married couple in our 60s although one of us will shortly be moving up a bracket and to give you a clue it's not me!!! We normally book warm weather cruises and holidays and having done a 7 night cruise to the Fjords on Iona in early June last year when the weather wasn't great, continually questioned why on earth we'd then booked 12 nights to the Fjords on Aurora for this June! When Rishi called the Election for 4th July all became clear!! We'd obviously had an epiphany and booked it (last year remember!!) to avoid all the pre-election nonsense!!! So from that point on we were suddenly very excited about our forthcoming cruise! Now there's nothing worse than looking forward to something and then the actual event being a let down. That was definitely not the case with Aurora!! Wow!! We absolutely loved her from the moment we stepped on board. Living in Whaley Bridge in the High Peak, we always travel down the night before and stay in the excellent Newbury South Premier Inn along with many fellow cruisers. This stay cost £60 for the room and there is a huge free car park (just make sure you register your car details on the machine in reception). There is a large Tesco next door with a petrol station so we filled up in preparation for the return journey. We ate and drank well and very reasonably by purchasing their "meal deal" and after a hearty breakfast set off for Mayflower terminal. Saturday 22nd June Our boarding time was 12.30pm and we breezed through ahead of time and were actually on board by that time! The cabins were going to be ready for 1.30pm so after attending our muster station we lay on deck for a while before taking our hand luggage and coats to our cabin. We were in C275 which is a balcony cabin. First impressions were good and then oh wow look at all this storage space!!! Next it was time for our welcome on board lunch which was in Alexandria restaurant where a lovely buffet was available and plenty of alcohol! After lunch we unpacked and then set about exploring Aurora! Wow!! I'd pre-booked Sindhu for our 1st night as we've previously found dining can be a bit chaotic in the MDRs on opening night! After dinner we took in the 10.30pm Headliners Show in the Curzon Theatre before a few drinks in Champions. Sunday 23rd sea day the Captains welcome on board party was held in the Crows Nest as there is no atrium on Aurora. Monday 24th Haugesund, we were there last year on Iona so basically retraced our steps and explored a few different streets too. Tuesday 25th Skjolden WOW!!!! This has to be the most picturesque place we've ever been to on any trip . . . . So far!!! Stunning scenery (I'll post some photos). We walked into the "town" and along the way saw notices about "walking with llamas" and of course it had to be done!! I'd actually seen the trip advertised on the ship but at £79 thought it pricy. Anyway we found the farm, it's an easy 30 minute walk from the ship and the llamas were very much in evidence and we spent time chatting to them whilst waiting for the tour to start. The owner of the farm, Simon, is actually an English guy who has lived in Skjolden for over 20 years. There were about 14 of us who had all wandered up including a lady in a wheelchair. Simon took us into the adjacent field and after telling us his story and giving us a brief introduction to llamas he and Grace then brought the llamas into the field and handed us a rein each. We were then free to walk our llamas in the field although Ike (my llama) was on strike and refused to move!!! My husband was having a lovely walk with Wilma so after a while we swopped llamas and I enjoyed walking her whilst Ike continued his protest with Ian!!! On the ships trip you walk the llamas along the river and also have refreshments up at the farm (I think it's a 3 hour excursion in total) whereas ours was only 100 NK (less than £8) each and just an hour which was perfectly fine. It was a great experience, if you are ever lucky enough to visit Skjolden and are an animal lover it's well worth doing. Simon does these visits around 12.30pm in between ship excursions. Wednesday 26th Alesund, again we'd been here on Iona last year but we'd taken a trip to the Sealife Park (which was brilliant) last time so this time we explored Alesund. Thursday 27th Trondheim another lovely port we walked up to the cathedral, were stopped by a lady and gentleman who asked if we were local!!! I explained no we weren't! They were trying to find the Hurtigruten ship so hopefully we pointed them in the right direction. We had a lovely walk along both sides of the river as it was another glorious day before returning to the ship. Friday 28th Andalsnes big change in the weather here. We had a trip booked on the Golden Train, a Rauma railway adventure. It was a lovely experience although the views were obscured a little at times by the low cloud. Saturday 29th June Nordfjordeid Again we had a trip booked and this was to the Briksdal Glacier. It was a full day and we had the most amazing guide Laura and driver Magnar. Thoroughly recommended trip for anyone who hasn't already done it. Sunday 30th a much needed sea day after a hectic week! The weather wasn't great but we had our Peninsular lunch to enjoy and found ourselves on a shared table with 3 other couples and as usual we were 1 of the last tables to leave as we were all busy chatting away! Monday 1st Kristiansand the weather was different again and we enjoyed a lovely stroll around and soaked up the sunshine. Tuesday 2nd another sea day with the Captains cocktail party up in the Crows Nest before dinner. They were very generous with the drinks!! Wednesday 3rd Zeebrugge it was a wet morning so as we've previously been to Bruges several times we chose to stay on board and pack before relaxing. Thursday 4th Southampton So for those of you still interested and awake here are our thoughts on the lovely old lady called Aurora. She really is a beautiful ship, yes we did miss her not having an atrium BUT she makes up for this in so many other quirky ways! We ate in Sindhu twice so were able to enjoy both menus, the Beach House and Glass House once each. We were Freedom dining and assigned to Medina restaurant where we mostly shared a table with fellow passengers and enjoyed hearing different stories and swapping tales. The food in every venue was excellent, it was always piping hot and the vegetables (and no they've still not run out of green beans!!) were always firm. Nothing worse than soggy veg!! The entertainment was fantastic and we enjoyed numerous Headliners Shows both in the theatre and Carmen's. It was their final cruise after 6 months together so the aptly named Applause which was their last show received a very very well deserved standing ovation and several tears were shed! We thoroughly enjoyed Big Men in Town, male vocalists. Kiera Bethany a Barbra Streisand tribute act who also did a show as herself. Maurice Grumbleweed yes hes still going and still as funny. The entire crew were the happiest we've ever met and we commented on this numerous times. If anyone has any questions please ask me, I've never written a review before as you can probably tell! Thank you for reading this. Julie x 24 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaJane Posted July 6 #2 Share Posted July 6 Pleased you had such a fabulous time. Aurora is our favourite ship and we have sailed on her several times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnCoffield Posted July 6 #3 Share Posted July 6 So good to hear you enjoyed Aurora. It’s our first trip on her tomorrow as we head off to Norway, Iceland & Ireland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AchileLauro Posted July 6 #4 Share Posted July 6 (edited) Aurora is the finest ship in the fleet. We've sailed on her 7 times to date and in November it will be our eighth cruise on her. P.S. Can't see why you say she doesn't have an atrium, there's always been an atrium on Aurora when we've sailed on her, don't tell me that P&O have have converted the space to extra cabins. 😬 Edited July 6 by AchileLauro 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaJane Posted July 6 #5 Share Posted July 6 4 minutes ago, AchileLauro said: Aurora is the finest ship in the fleet. We've sailed on her 7 times to date and in November it will be our eighth cruise on her. P.S. Can't see why you say she doesn't have an atrium, there's always been an atrium on Aurora when we've sailed on her, don't tell me that P&O have have converted the space to extra cabins. 😬 No she still does have the same atrium and curving staircase although the sculpture no longer has water cascading. I actually prefer the welcome onboard party being in the Crows Nest or show lounge. On Ventura I found it strange to be all gathered around the atrium staircase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janny444 Posted July 6 #6 Share Posted July 6 We have cruised many times with P&O but never on Aurora....that will be rectified next year. Our favourite ship was the old P&O Oceana which is long gone 😞 ....if Aurora is anything like the Oceana then it will certainly tick our boxes. Thank you for your review and really glad you enjoyed your cruise on Aurora Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AchileLauro Posted July 6 #7 Share Posted July 6 22 minutes ago, JohnCoffield said: So good to hear you enjoyed Aurora. It’s our first trip on her tomorrow as we head off to Norway, Iceland & Ireland. I'm sure that you will enjoy her. Have a lovely time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AchileLauro Posted July 6 #8 Share Posted July 6 7 minutes ago, SeaJane said: No she still does have the same atrium and curving staircase although the sculpture no longer has water cascading. I actually prefer the welcome onboard party being in the Crows Nest or show lounge. On Ventura I found it strange to be all gathered around the atrium staircase. Yes we much prefer the welcome aboard reception being held in more civilised surroundings also. Hundreds of people congregating on a staircase just isn't right as far as I am concerned. Besides that on those ships where its held in the atrium its a main thoroughfare with those not involved passing through and helping themselves to drinks from waiters trays. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peppers mum Posted July 6 Author #9 Share Posted July 6 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel57 Posted July 6 #10 Share Posted July 6 Thank you for your review. Aurora is a wonderful ship and your enthusiasm for her shone through. I’m so pleased you had such a great cruise. Where next? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peppers mum Posted July 6 Author #11 Share Posted July 6 1 hour ago, JohnCoffield said: So good to hear you enjoyed Aurora. It’s our first trip on her tomorrow as we head off to Norway, Iceland & Ireland. If you enjoy her half as much as we did you'll have a wonderful time! Enjoy every moment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peppers mum Posted July 6 Author #12 Share Posted July 6 2 minutes ago, Angel57 said: Thank you for your review. Aurora is a wonderful ship and your enthusiasm for her shone through. I’m so pleased you had such a great cruise. Where next? Thank you! Harrogate in July for a long weekend and then Ventura in August with 4 friends we met on Arcadia back in 2016 x 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waju Posted July 6 #13 Share Posted July 6 I thoroughly enjoyed reading your review - you are very good at telling your story! Aurora is my absolute favourite ship and we've had many a happy cruise on her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peppers mum Posted July 6 Author #14 Share Posted July 6 15 minutes ago, Waju said: I thoroughly enjoyed reading your review - you are very good at telling your story! Aurora is my absolute favourite ship and we've had many a happy cruise on her. Thank you so much for your kind words, they really mean a lot. I'm so glad you enjoyed my review and could tell how much we loved Aurora. I completed a Shine nomination on board for the entire crew!! They really were exceptional. We have now sailed on all the current fleet plus Oceana. To date we've only sailed with P & O but have future cruises booked with Princess, Cunard and MSC so it'll be interesting to see what they're like! I omitted to say that I was extremely impressed with how stable Aurora was, we had 3 metre swells at one point but you wouldn't have known but for the bridges announcement and the pick n mix bags being out on the stairways!! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ardennais Posted July 7 #15 Share Posted July 7 What a great review - many thanks. We have very fond memories of fantastic cruises on Aurora. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peppers mum Posted July 7 Author #16 Share Posted July 7 Bought this while we were on board, lovely souvenir of an amazing holiday on the beautiful Aurora 😍 I've never seen them before which is probably just as well 🤣 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ataraxia Posted July 7 #17 Share Posted July 7 It was good to meet you at the Peninsular lunch. I was the one who shared your other half's profession Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peppers mum Posted July 7 Author #18 Share Posted July 7 53 minutes ago, Ataraxia said: It was good to meet you at the Peninsular lunch. I was the one who shared your other half's profession Hi, small world on here! It was really good to meet you both too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grapau27 Posted July 7 #19 Share Posted July 7 On 7/6/2024 at 5:51 PM, Peppers mum said: Nice photos and great cruise summary. Graham. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peppers mum Posted July 7 Author #20 Share Posted July 7 8 minutes ago, grapau27 said: Nice photos and great cruise summary. Graham. Thanks Graham I really appreciate your kind words. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare P&O SUE Posted July 7 #21 Share Posted July 7 Great read thanks. We finally got on Aurora in March (after having our cruise cancelled in 2014) and really enjoyed it.we've previously enjoyed Oriana and Oceana so thought we would love her. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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