Have you sailed from the west coast of the US to South Pacific?

My husband and I are considering the Jan 2016 voyage from US to Auckland on the Aurora. Have you done this cruise or a similar one on P&O? Pros? Cons?

What activities stood out as memorable (positive)?

Do they have lecturers similar to Cunard?

It is important to me to have a good gym (newer equipment, lots of equipment etc). How would you evaluate the gym?

What is the dress code? It seems to differ yet appears to be similar to Cunard on transatlantic voyages with some "formal" evenings.

One aspect of sailing on the QMII with Cunard was the availability of space to be quiet / alone to enjoy my book or knitting without being confined to my cabin. In your opinion does the Aurora have similar open spaces available to all passengers? And enough space one didn't dare move or they would lose their seat.

Thanks everyone for sharing your experience and input. As I said this is "under serious consideration" for us and the more information we can gather the better.

We sailed on the Arcadia this year from Los Angeles to the South Pacific but on Arcadia.

There were plenty of Formal and semi formal nights. The first leg to Tahiti was 7 co tinuous sea days.

Lots of entertainment on board including lectures, tap dancing, line dancing, ballroom dancing, quizzes, beauty and fitness seminars.

The gym and Spa on Arcadia is excellent and hopefully they will be updating the equipment on Aurora during its current re fit. We have only sailed on Aurora once and we found the gym and pool areas lacking. However it has fantastic Aft decks and lots of sunbathing / outside seating areas.

Sue