Now considering Aurora for 2019. Who likes her?

I'm 44 and cruise with mum. I've done Oriana which is adult only last two years and yes I feel incredibly young. However I get on with anyone and adult only ships do attract a much older clientele but on my dinner table in June I had a 93,95,97 year old and loved the cruise. Aurora will takeover from Oriana as the older cruisers ship of choice. Make the most of these medium sized ships as once they are retired we won't see their like again sadly.

Hopefully P&O won't abandon all their small/mid sized ships and try and become British RCCL, because if they listen to their customers, not everyone wants to sail on a ship the size of Blackpool with 5000 other guests.

We have a 15 year old son, and so we split our cruises between P&O and RCCL, because he wants flow riders and rock climbing walls etc, and we don't. But having spent 30 days on Oasis now I can say that it was nothing like being at sea, just more like a huge AI resort that happened to stop off at a few different ports occasionally. On a few evenings as we sat in the small champagne bar looking out at the Car parked in the middle of the concourse, I said to my wife we could easily be at Lakeside, which is a large regional shopping centre near us in Essex, shops, bars, restaurants, and hundreds of people milling about, and with no noticeable movement due to the humungous size of the ship.

I have to ask the question, is this really cruising? or just another AI holiday like so many we have been on.

For me, small ship, teak decks, and some good old sea swell is what I want from a cruise.

I hate to be bearer of bad news but this is the way all cruise companies are heading. Rising employment costs and huge fuel costs no longer make it viable to sail smaller ships. Unless of course you wish to pay silversea prices. As these medium size ships become older they'll be retired and never replaced. You'll see the entire demographic of cruising changing over the next decade with the likes of Iona and Celebrity Edge to name but two.

Personally I'd still love these medium size ships so will need to make the most of them.

I hate to be bearer of bad news but this is the way all cruise companies are heading. Rising employment costs and huge fuel costs no longer make it viable to sail smaller ships. Unless of course you wish to pay silversea prices. As these medium size ships become older they'll be retired and never replaced. You'll see the entire demographic of cruising changing over the next decade with the likes of Iona and Celebrity Edge to name but two.

 

Personally I'd still love these medium size ships so will need to make the most of them.

Not quite true. Fred Olsen & CMV both operate a fleet of smaller ships. I haven't sailed on Fred for some years but did sail on CMV's Marco Polo in May and will happily book with CMV again. They are certainly not up to P&O standards and a cruise with them is not quite the sophisticated product offered on Oriana & Aurora etc. but my cruise was of a reasonable standard and felt a bit like the cruises I took 15-20 years ago.

I guess I should also mention Marella in relation to medium-size ships too but having tried them in January, they are definitely not my cup of tea.

We have cruised twice on Aurora, albeit a few years ago now sadly. She is a beautiful ship and when we did a ship visit to her last year it was lovely to see her looking spick and span just as she was when we cruised on her.

She has a beautiful, elegant atrium, the tiered stern is stunned and provides lots of open deck space and quiet places to sit with a good book. Best cabin on the ship?? To my mind it’s L100. Not the biggest cabin by far but has a small balcony and situated in a really lovely, quiet part of the ship. Would be our cabin of choice definitely. Excellent sea keeping too, from our experiences far more stable than Oriana.

Personally I am delighted that she is becoming adults only, and really hope to cruise on her again soon.

We are going to be in L108 in 9 days time for the Baltic cruise, have been on the Lido deck on Aurora 5 times now, and it suits us perfectly as it is a quieter part of the ship, and with the Library above us I don't expect too much late night partying from that direction ;)

Cant wait, counting down the days!!

We are going to be in L108 in 9 days time for the Baltic cruise, have been on the Lido deck on Aurora 5 times now, and it suits us perfectly as it is a quieter part of the ship, and with the Library above us I don't expect too much late night partying from that direction ;)

 

Cant wait, counting down the days!!

Encouraging to hear all these positives about forward cabins on Lido deck.We are sailing on Aurora for the first time in September in cabin L118:)

The LIDO deck cabins are the best for us, one deck down from the Crows nest, perfect for pre dinner and last thing drinks, straight out to the Adults only pool or the sun deck should the sun shine.

Same deck as the buffet, and as dear old John would say "Its the rule of the sea!!"

One set of stairs away from the gym, please see above, and next to the Laundry and library, not sure which gets used more :)

Aurora is our favourite of the P&O ships we have sailed on too. We are 46 and 48. Great atmosphere, love Anderson's and The Glasshouse. Lovely fellow passengers (including Selbourne, Britboys and Mercury1234 (I know I've got those numbers wrong[emoji23]).

With regards to the children, we will welcome adults only too, not because we have encountered any badly behaved children (I can't actually remember seeing any....) but because the space previously taken by the kids club will hopefully be something interesting for all passengers. Looking forward to booking another cruise on her before too long. [emoji4]

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We have been on Aurora several times and we are looking forward to being on board her again in December.

When we book an inside cabin we usually book A297 or A298 as they are larger cabins. ;)

Also, due to a reasonable size dance floor it is one of the better P&O ships for Dancing. (Sorry, but as we enjoy dancing I had to mention that.) :)

Aurora is our favourite of the P&O ships we have sailed on too. We are 46 and 48. Great atmosphere, love Anderson's and The Glasshouse. Lovely fellow passengers (including Selbourne, Britboys and Mercury1234 (I know I've got those numbers wrong[emoji23]).

With regards to the children, we will welcome adults only too, not because we have encountered any badly behaved children (I can't actually remember seeing any....) but because the space previously taken by the kids club will hopefully be something interesting for all passengers. Looking forward to booking another cruise on her before too long. [emoji4]

 

 

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Thank you for your kind mention! That Baltic cruise was quite special and I can recall being asked by someone if I knew everyone on-board :D. She is always a very friendly ship in my experience.

Sadly, I don't think the current kids club will become anything interesting for passengers. I feel that - like Oriana - that space will all just become extra cabins :(.

We have been on Aurora several times and we are looking forward to being on board her again in December.

When we book an inside cabin we usually book A297 or A298 as they are larger cabins. ;)

Also, due to a reasonable size dance floor it is one of the better P&O ships for Dancing. (Sorry, but as we enjoy dancing I had to mention that.) :)

ssshhh!! (we like cabin A298 too but try to keep it a secret otherwise everyone will want it) ;)

Aurora is our favourite of the P&O ships we have sailed on too. We are 46 and 48. Great atmosphere, love Anderson's and The Glasshouse. Lovely fellow passengers (including Selbourne, Britboys and Mercury1234 (I know I've got those numbers wrong[emoji23]).

With regards to the children, we will welcome adults only too, not because we have encountered any badly behaved children (I can't actually remember seeing any....) but because the space previously taken by the kids club will hopefully be something interesting for all passengers. Looking forward to booking another cruise on her before too long. [emoji4]

 

 

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Thank you also for the nice mention. The passenger mix is indeed one of the biggest attractions of Aurora to us. Not only do I recall with fondness our chat in the Beach House, the nice long chat with Andrew (Britboys) as we surveyed the scene at Skagen from the top deck and our chat with Mercury7289 in the atrium, we had countless enjoyable encounters with many other fellow passengers over dinner (we were Freedom Dining).

We genuinely felt as though we were on holiday with friends. We would often bump into people around the ship or ashore and enjoy chats about what we had all been up to since we last met.

I do miss having an Epicurean and we don't really like Sindhu on Aurora, but other than that she is near perfect for us. We have 3 future cruises booked with P&O and all are on Aurora.

My only concern, as discussed on another thread, is what might happen to pricing on Aurora post conversion to Adult Only. I appreciate that we booked at launch (before the announcement) and the cruise may be almost sold out, but our 19 night cruise next spring is now two and a half times more expensive than the price we paid (balcony cabin). Let's hope that the prices of summer 2020 cruises, when released shortly, are at a sensible level, as we like the idea of adult only ships but didn't really take to Arcadia (other than our aft corner wrap suite, which was lovely).

I wanted to do end of May on Aurora but price is crazy and looking at what price was when it went on sale you can see how demand has sent it skywards.

With Oriana being sold and Aurora becoming even more popular from 2019 onwards I'm most definitely booking her when prices come out soon!

Yes I'm going to guess we will do the same in September. If the prices are OK

I am already booked on Aurora for May 19, did it when booking opened and reasonable price for solo occupancy of midships balcony. I think if I want to go on her again in 2020 I'll have to book while I'm on Ventura in September!

I am already booked on Aurora for May 19, did it when booking opened and reasonable price for solo occupancy of midships balcony. I think if I want to go on her again in 2020 I'll have to book while I'm on Ventura in September!

Do you mean may 27th med? 19 nights as that is one I been looking at. Noticed balcony prices dropped £500+ since I looked start July

Thank you for your kind mention! That Baltic cruise was quite special and I can recall being asked by someone if I knew everyone on-board :D. She is always a very friendly ship in my experience.

 

Sadly, I don't think the current kids club will become anything interesting for passengers. I feel that - like Oriana - that space will all just become extra cabins :(.

You are right. The deck plans are on the web site.