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Atmosphere on Aurora


danielundecided
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Hi,

 

I'm a bit late on the pre-registering boat (pun definitely intended) this year, and one of the cruises we like the look of for 2019 is 12 nights to the Fjords on Aurora in July. It's quite port intensive; having 7 ports in 12 nights.

 

My concern before I commit to anything is that the teen atmosphere on board will be very bland and boring for a 17 year old. As far as I've read, Aurora has a higher age range of clientele while still being a family friendly ship. Bearing this in mind, with the sailing being out of main school holidays, and being 12 nights to Norway, is the atmosphere still somewhat of "family fun" or just tolerating families? We're not bothered about constant raves etc, just the atmosphere on board being "fun" and the likelihood of there being other teens on board.

 

The itinerary looks nice (especially Geiranger) however it has me worried that after a while, in Norway all the ports would seem to "blend" into one and we'd get bored.

 

Can anyone shed some light onto this? Thanks :)

 

Dan

 

 

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Every time I've been on Aurora there has been a good mix of ages. I did the fjords in August, and it was a younger mix as you'd expect during school holidays. I would imagine that there will be a number of pre schoolers and also older teens who've finished their exams on a July fjords cruise.

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Oh, and I also meant to say you won't get tired of the ports; they are all gorgeous. Get out and do a bit of walking, too!

There is a 13-17 club but most 17 year olds will turn up at first to meet each other then do their own thing. Worth going along on the first evening!

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We did the Fjords on Aurora in April and there were very few younger people on board. We are in our 60s and even we sometimes felt it was a little quiet. Having said that we enjoyed it but for a youngster I'm not sure. We travelled on Britannia last year and there were quite a few younger people on her and it had more of a fun type feel.

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We went on Aurora for the first time in May (16 nights Baltic) and there were only 8 children on board, all pre-school. Not a single older child or teen. At least 80% of the passengers were retired. We aren't retired but loved the ship and the passenger profile, but know that our children would have hated it when they were teenagers. I would think that a July cruise would have quite a few teenagers on it as they would have finished exams and private schools often break up earlier than state ones.

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We did Aurora to the fjords in August 5 years ago. Even in school holidays you get fewer children because the fjords is a less "attractive" destination than the Med or Canaries. There was a fair range of children and my daughter who was 17 had a good time.

 

We recently returned from a Canaries cruise on Aurora and 17 year old son made loads of friends and is keeping in touch with some. As Florry said, they tend to go to the first couple of organised sessions to meet people, then just go there to meet up and go off in their own groups. They all said the "youthies" were great at organising things for them to do if they wanted.

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We have sailed on various P&O ships and once you have been on the adult only ships the rest do seem a good bit livelier. We sailed on Aurora 2 years ago, and as two 40-somethings we still found the entertainment was aimed at the older age group. There were a few young adults onboard but not many. Unfortunately P&O seem to be aiming to please the older passengers which means younger cruisers are not choosing to sail with them. Personally I wouldn't choose a cruise that was like a floating Ibiza but I would like them to think a bit more about my generations tastes in entertainment as well, after all I pay the same as everyone else onboard and expect to be catered for accordingly. Maybe Royal Caribbean would be better for teenagers as they do cater for all age groups.

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We have sailed on various P&O ships and once you have been on the adult only ships the rest do seem a good bit livelier. We sailed on Aurora 2 years ago, and as two 40-somethings we still found the entertainment was aimed at the older age group. There were a few young adults onboard but not many. Unfortunately P&O seem to be aiming to please the older passengers which means younger cruisers are not choosing to sail with them. Personally I wouldn't choose a cruise that was like a floating Ibiza but I would like them to think a bit more about my generations tastes in entertainment as well, after all I pay the same as everyone else onboard and expect to be catered for accordingly. Maybe Royal Caribbean would be better for teenagers as they do cater for all age groups.

 

Good post, and very true. On two previous (100plus nights) cruises, many of us completed the questionnaires, pointing out that P&O's obsession with 'all things 1960s' was very boring. (We're a bunch of 6 friends, all in their 60s btw). Much as I loved the 60s, it drove me crackers. It seemed to me that the ents team, including the Headliners and the DJs, gear their entire repertoire to the Beatles and other 60s entertainment. I wonder whether P&O actually READ the questionnaires, let alone act on the views of pax. They have 60s/70s nights, where they encourage pax to dress up (and yes, we did!), but they could easily have an 80s night (think New Romantics), and play all the 80s stuff. 90s too. If I was in my 40s (oh I wish!), I think I'd be stir crazy, listening to all the 'Pick of the Pops' music.

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Good post, and very true. On two previous (100plus nights) cruises, many of us completed the questionnaires, pointing out that P&O's obsession with 'all things 1960s' was very boring. (We're a bunch of 6 friends, all in their 60s btw). Much as I loved the 60s, it drove me crackers. It seemed to me that the ents team, including the Headliners and the DJs, gear their entire repertoire to the Beatles and other 60s entertainment. I wonder whether P&O actually READ the questionnaires, let alone act on the views of pax. They have 60s/70s nights, where they encourage pax to dress up (and yes, we did!), but they could easily have an 80s night (think New Romantics), and play all the 80s stuff. 90s too. If I was in my 40s (oh I wish!), I think I'd be stir crazy, listening to all the 'Pick of the Pops' music.

Im so glad you agree with me and it must be true about P&O not reading the questionnaires because we wrote the same thing on ours and still nothing changes! Funny you should mention the 80s, when we were on Aurora we went into one of the lounges after the theatre where they were, as usual, playing 60s songs. Everyone was sitting around and nobody was going near the dance floor. We said we'd finish our drink and head off but then one of the entertainment team asked if we had any requests so i said anything 80s. He then played "Relax" by FGTH and the dance floor came alive! They stuck with 80s tunes and the atmosphere was amazing! People of all ages were dancing and enjoying themselves. Why cant P&O see that we arent all over the hill just yet?!

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Good post, and very true. On two previous (100plus nights) cruises, many of us completed the questionnaires, pointing out that P&O's obsession with 'all things 1960s' was very boring. (We're a bunch of 6 friends, all in their 60s btw). Much as I loved the 60s, it drove me crackers. It seemed to me that the ents team, including the Headliners and the DJs, gear their entire repertoire to the Beatles and other 60s entertainment. I wonder whether P&O actually READ the questionnaires, let alone act on the views of pax. They have 60s/70s nights, where they encourage pax to dress up (and yes, we did!), but they could easily have an 80s night (think New Romantics), and play all the 80s stuff. 90s too. If I was in my 40s (oh I wish!), I think I'd be stir crazy, listening to all the 'Pick of the Pops' music.

We were on Aurora in June and the new headliners show was entitled "The New Romantics". They must have listened to your feedback. We really enjoyed Aurora for its size, we found we could find your way around much easier. As it was June there were mainly only children under 4.

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We were on Aurora in June and the new headliners show was entitled "The New Romantics". They must have listened to your feedback. We really enjoyed Aurora for its size, we found we could find your way around much easier. As it was June there were mainly only children under 4.

Oh dear does that mean there won't be any 60's music on Aurora for my cruise?;p:cool:

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