Went on the Aurora Christmas and New year Carribean cruise - this was a lovely cruise... across the atlantic was a bit hairy on the way out. We had a suite which was great in the fine weather but If you are prone to sea sickness ONLY get a suite at the midships it seems crazy that they have put the suites and penthouses at the front ( the butler told us that in bad weather EVERYONE gets sea sick in then front suites).
Butler was brilliant.
Food was nice and plenty of it (not 5 star).Cafe Boudeaux was vey nice and service was good. I hated the orangery chips and sliding your tray along not my idea of fine food (canteen food)
Was VERY dissappointed in the kids club for 2-4years as the girls that ran it seemed more interested in the older kids and often grouped my 3 year old in with 5-7 year olds which was crazy - but as they were busy braiding each other hair and eating ice creams who has time to look after 3 year olds
It was a lovley cruise but if your used to the relais chateaux type service and dining you might be dissappointed.
One formal night they let children wearing football shirts and shorts into the main resturant made me glad i'd spent £500 on my dress (ha ha)

just come back from the carib,what a fantastic holiday,this was our 3rd cruise,1st on aurora what a ship,captain and all crew are so nice,food fantastic,entertainment was very good,if you want to see the carib do it on a cruise with p&o its the best,wake up every morning at a different island.went with my sister and her husband,will be back on the aurora again.thank you for a fantastic holiday.

I sailed from Southampton on 6th May 2008 on the Baltic Capitals and St Petersburg cruise. From the minute of boarding the coach at Liverpool (didn't see cases until in cabin) to getting off again 2 weeks later, I had the time of my life. This cruise isn't really suited for children or younger people wanting late night discos, surfing and ice skating so the passengers were more 'senior folk,' shall we say? Well I'm 49 and enjoyed the quiet and refinement of such a wonderful ship and people. We had in inside cabin which was truly excellent. The cost of upgrading to a balcony would, in effect, be nearly the cost of another cruise so why bother? Our steward always seemed to be accessible without actually being in the way. Anyway, we hardly spent any time in there apart from getting ready for dinner each evening. One night, after a particularly long day ashore in St Petersburg, we decided to dine early in the Orangery (buffet restaurant)and have a night in with the telly and a film. About 8.45 our steward rang our cabin phone to see if we were all right and not ill, as we had not gone down for dinner. Reassuring, if you think there were many people travelling alone and could be quite poorly and not able to contact anyone. We were on a table for 8 and our companions were of a similar age and we all got on so well we often went to the odd quiz after dinner, or a show and then a drink in the Crow's Nest. We dined at the 8.30 sitting in the Medina Restaurant. Our waiters were so nice and thoroughly well mannered, nothing was too much trouble. Even the wine waiter, knew our names and requirements and always said hello to us when she was on duty in other bars. Entertainment was good with the new Headliners Theatre Company. The singers and dancers were wonderful and the shows were all packed to the hilt twice nightly when they were on. Obviously they weren't on every night, only every other night with a 'special' thrown in late on in one of the other entertainment rooms, ie., Queen and Abba nights. Other nights in 700 seater Curzon Theatre there were comedians or singers on, which suited the clientele of the ship. On these nights, we chose to go to a quiz night or just chilled in the many bars to live music. The organisation of the trips ashore was done so professionally, it didn't even compare to the way we were treated on a previous cruise with different cruise line. We went to Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Tallin, St Petersburg, Helsinki, Gydinia and Bruges. My favourite place was actully Bruges, with Copenhagen and St Petersburg next.
For anyone contemplating a cruise with P&O please try Aurora - you won't be disappointed.

All in all, we have 15 cruises under our belt on different ships - trying to catch up with our in laws who have 50! We have traveled on Aurora 3 times and besides the QM2, is our favorite ship. We took our sons girlfriend on Aurora for her first time and even though she is travel sick at a mere motion, she coped very well and really, genuinely loved it. P&O [& sister co's] are, by far and without doubt, the best company/s to travel with. I must admit to liking very much, the Child-Free cruising =D
Always P&O for us!

This was our second time on the Aurora and our 7th P & O cruise.

Our main reasons for choosing this cruise ship were:

1. Children's facilities. These are superb. Our 7 year old daughter was kept entertained the whole time...if she needed to be entertained. Much of the time she preferred to play around in the pool at the stern of the ship which is reserved for families with kids under the age of 10 (or is supposed to be - we had some issues with teenagers using this pool and displaying rowdy behaviour - a quick word with the Youth Crew leader put a stop to this). The Youth Crew were all excellent in their attitude and enthusiasm. We could drop our daughter off with them at any time from 9am until late and she was always welcomed into the group with warmth. Our daughter had an brilliant time so that meant we had a lovely relaxed holiday.

2. Food. This was generally very very good but there were some disappointments. We dined in the Medina restaurant most evenings and while most dishes were excellent a few suffered from being overcooked, particularly some of the fish. In general I think standards have fallen a little over the years with P & O. However, I could easily be persuaded that these were very much the exceptions and that we were perhaps a bit unlucky. Service was of an extremely high standard throughout. Wine prices are very reasonable.

3. The ship itself, and its staff. The ship is a magnificent, elegant cruise ship with furnishings and fittings of the highest standard. It is kept beautifully clean and tidy at all times. The staff are well trained and extremely courteous. The cabin steward we had (Santana on D deck) displayed the qualities that you need to make you feel comfortable - he was totally unobtrusive yet managed to always keep our cabin spotless.

We should probably try another cruise line but we are so afraid of being disappointed after P & O that we can't bring ourselves to change!

P&O Aurora
Baltic Capitals (R706) - 19 May 2007 (13 nights from Southampton)

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

This was our first time on a P&O ship, having previously been on Thomson Celebration and The Calypso. It would be hard to go back to Thomson’s after sampling P&O!

Check in at Southampton was fast, efficient and courteous. Arriving at the terminal around 2:15, our taxi was met by a porter who I assumed was there to help us to take the luggage to the check in desk. Not at all, it was whisked away and taken straight to our cabin.

There was virtually no queue to check in, we waited less than a minute to go to one of the many check in desks, and completed the formalities within five minutes. Making our way to the ship, there was an opportunity for a photo but it could easily be bypassed. Entering the ship, we were given directions to our cabin which we found easily. The cabin door was open and the keys were on the dressing table. The cabin keys are electronic, but are separate from the cruise cards. A luggage mat was placed on one bed; an array of welcoming leaflets (including our Portunus Club welcome letters) was laid out on the other.

Our cabin, the cheapest inside on deck 9 (C288) was spacious and very well appointed. A single and a double wardrobe with 28 hangers, and 8 drawers of various sizes, gave plenty of storage space. The cabin was well lit and well furnished with a small sofa, chair, coffee table, dressing table, 2 bedside lockers, 2 large mirrors, two pictures, fridge (initially stocked with two small complimentary bottles of water), electronic safe (free), and tea and coffee making facilities - which we did not use as our cabin steward or room service could provide a pot of tea or coffee and a range of food from a croissant to a hot meal 24 hours a day at no extra charge. The bathroom had two cabinets concealed behind side mirrors, which when open can be arranged to let you see the back of your head, and giving plenty of storage space. The bathroom cabinets contained racks for the drinking glasses and a shaver point (handy for charging up the electric toothbrush). Everything was tidily hidden away when not in use. There were even two small litter bins recessed into the shelf below the sink. A small selection of moisturising creams and gels was provided, and a nice touch of luxury – Molton Brown shower gel.

The directory in the cabin contained a surprisingly good room service menu, postcards, and writing paper, and a guide to the TV and the ship’s facilities. We had 3 movie channels, 3 news channels (BBC, Sky, CNN), BBC World, the view from the bridge, the ship information channel (showing maps of our cruise, weather, speed etc), and a channel which showed the Port Talks and Lectures after they were shown live in the main Theatre. Announcements are not made in the cabins (thank goodness), but can be heard through the TV on Channel 1.

Aurora is beautiful. I didn’t think I was going to particularly enjoy such a large ship (I know, she’s quite a modest size by today’s standards), but she is stylish, elegant, with a great range of facilities and a decent amount of deck space. Most of the time, it was hard to believe there were 2000 people on board. Where were they all? There is so much space on this ship.

Our cabin was close to the aft decks. We loved these traditional tiered horseshoe decks, a great place to sit, sheltered from the wind, on sea days, or to wave goodbye when sailing from the ports.

The promenade deck is very wide at the sides of the ship, giving plenty of space for walking, strolling gently, or just sitting and watching the world go by. At either end, the promenade deck goes inside the ship, and there is no view as you walk around the bow. At our sailaway from Southampton, champagne was on offer at £2.90 a glass, and the prom deck was full of people waving Union Jacks while a brass bank played on the quayside.

FOOD

We tried “The Orangery” buffet for afternoon tea soon after boarding and were not overly impressed (but we rarely are impressed by self service!) The quality of the food in The Orangery does not match the quality of the restaurants – certainly for Tea. However, afternoon tea in the Median restaurant was delightful. We always got a table for two with our own stand of cakes, while waiters came round serving finger sandwiches, scones, and toasted teacakes, and pouring tea. If you ask for a speciality tea such as Earl Grey or Assam, you get your own pot. The tea was usually fresh leaf, although my Earl Grey was made with teabags on one afternoon. A pot of clotted cream and a selection of Frank Cooper jams in individual glass jars was on each table. Afternoon tea in the Orangery simply can’t live up to the same standards of elegance. Tea is self service, whipped cream replaces clotted, and a cheaper jam in plastic pots is used.

Aurora has two main restaurants, each is open for Dinner with fixed sittings at 6:30 and 8:30. The Orangery buffet was also opened each evening, and for a cover charge of £7.75 one could eat at the Pennant Grill or Café Bordeaux. The Pennant Grill is in the open air at the back of deck 12 if the weather is good, but on this cruise was mainly a reserved part of the Orangery. Café Bordeaux is the ships 24 hour Bistro with waiter service and food cooked to order. The cover charge for Café Bordeaux only applies for dinner (18:00 to 21:30). The menus for the Pennant Grill and Café Bordeaux change every three or four days. We had dinner early on in the cruise in Café Bordeaux, and the food was outstanding. We had Surf and Turf, and the fillet steak was the best I have had for a long long time. The steaks are apparently imported from the US. The prawns were also full of favour. We had intended to try Café Bordeaux a second time, but Dinner in the main restaurant was generally so good that we didn’t see the point of eating anywhere else. We had late sitting in the Alexandria restaurant with delightful companions on a table for six. Our table was close to a window and had a good view, although we noticed when having lunch in the Medina restaurant that even tables in the middle of the restaurant had a fair view because of the way the levels of the restaurant are tiered. Our waiters were truly excellent. If you didn’t like something, it was changed almost immediately. One evening, one of our companions asked for a scoop of ice-cream with her dessert, and of course when it arrived we all looked rather envious. Our waiter had anticipated this, and was back a moment later with ice cream for the rest of the table. The Alexandria restaurant was only open for dinner, and breakfast and lunch were open seating in the Medina. If our dinner waiters saw us in the Medina they would always come over and say hello, and make sure everything was alright, even though we were not on one of their tables. Generally though service at breakfast and lunch could be a bit hit and miss. It was OK, but often not up to the standards of excellence that we found at dinner.

The quality of the food was often superb, especially on the gala nights. Getting rare beef and pink lamb was not a problem. Dinner was usually better than lunch, which tended to be simpler and only three courses – thank goodness! Lunch one day was fish, chips and mushy peas, and made a welcome change. Curries were often available at lunchtime, and again made a nice change from the gastronomic excesses of the evening. Wine was excellent value. The “wine of the cruise” was £12 a bottle. The house wine was £7.50 a half litre, and was absolutely fine. There was always a special after dinner drink – a port or a liqueur - at a reasonable price (and the cocktail of the day in the bars before dinner.)

ENTERTAINMENT

The range of entertainment was very good. The ship has a large theatre and a 200 seat cinema, which is also used for port talks and classical recitals. A pianist – Naomi Edelmariam – gave five recitals, and her concerts were a highlight of the cruise. It was wonderful listening to these recitals in such a small venue, sitting so close to the stage that we were able to appreciate her dexterity visually as well as aurally. Naomi’s recitals lasted about 45/50 minutes, and were often themed according to the countries we were visiting, so we listened to the likes of Beethoven, Sibelius, and Grieg as we made our way around the Baltic and up to Norway. Around half of each programme was well known “popular” pieces.

Four different cabaret acts were on this cruise; comedian/impressionist/singer Allan Stewart and jazz singer Elaine Delmar were on board for the first week, illusionists “The Twins” and west end vocalist Robert Meadmore were on board for the second week. There was also an after dinner speaker, Diane Simpson, guest lecturer Guy Caplin talking about the golden age of television, and a series of excellent lecturers by on board jeweller Chris Burgess who spoke authoritatively about Faberge, Russian Art, and Amber. Chris was passionate about his work, and also had some beautiful pieces of jewellery in his shop which he was happy to show to people who he knew had no intention of buying it!

Aurora’s own 13 strong theatre company gave shows of typical cruise ship standard! Four different bands and a cocktail pianist played in various venues around the ship.

An “interview with the captain” was quite interesting, as was a “virtual bridge tour” by the second officer, a theatre presentation using slides. Both offered the chance to ask questions at the end.

CONDITION & CLEANLINESS

Public areas were in excellent condition and spotless. It was noticeable that handrails were constantly being cleaned. Decks were washed down every night.

Our cabin appeared reasonably clean when we got on board. We always give drawers a wipe with a face cloth before we put our clothes away and it was still white after we wiped them – a good sign. However, there were stains on the sofa and one of the bed spreads. About a week into the cruise, I had lost something, and ended up pulling the sofa and beds out and checking the top shelf in the wardrobe where the life jackets were. The wardrobe top shelf was dusty and there was a bottle of hand gel left by a previous passenger. There was some discarded paper behind the sofa. The cabin was not vacuumed all the time we were on board – the carpet was getting noticeably “bittier” as the cruise went on, and one of the concealed waste bins in the bathroom was not emptied for 3 days. We made a note of some of these issues on our CSQ on the last full day of the cruise and put it in the box at reception. That evening, the carpet had been vacuumed, and the waste bin in the bathroom had been emptied. Our cabin steward was very friendly but clearly a bit lazy. We should have said something to him earlier in the cruise, but I was curious to see how long it would before he finally checked the waste bin and vacuumed. He got half the tip that he otherwise would have received and a note in his envelope expressing our disappointment, and will hopefully learn from that. I noticed housekeeping sometimes left cards outside cabins to warn that they would be inspecting them the next day. This system seems flawed – if you warn the passengers, then you also warn the stewards. Managers/Supervisors need to carry out more spot checks.

There was some slight damage to the bottom of our wardrobe that was patched up with duck tape.

PORTS OF CALL

Copenhagen, Warnemunde (Rostock), St Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm, Oslo, Kristiansand.

We did all ports of call on our own, apart from St Petersburg, where we had a private tour with Red October. I think it would be difficult to attempt St Petersburg independently. The ship docks in the commercial port some distance from the city, and a long way even from the dock gates. You need a visa to attempt to do St Petersburg on your own, but not if you go on an organised excursion (and you can organise your own tours through Russian companies such as Red October, Alla, or Denrus).

Port information leaflets were good, providing a map and practical information. For example, for Warnemunde, I had checked up the times of trains into Rostock on the internet. What I had not appreciated is that Rostock station is in a modern part of town, perhaps a 15 minute walk from the historic centre. The directions in the port information leaflet told me which tram to take from the station to the town centre. A word of warning though, in Helsinki we were not berthed where we were meant to be – check before leaving the ship! We found our way to the centre easily enough, but didn’t know how to get back!

Berths were often some distance from the town/city centre. In Warnemunde and Oslo we were berthed in the centre. At Kristiansand the berth is perhaps a 15 minute walk from the centre. At other ports, were were half an hours walk or more. Shuttle buses were provided, usually at a charge. A free shuttle was provided in Stockholm, and in Copenhagen a city bus runs from the cruise ships to the centre.

Berthing in the port of Stockholm was an unexpected bonus, as this cruise was meant to anchor at Nyneshamn, a tender port an hour away from Stockholm. This was the first time Aurora had been into Stockholm, and it was touch and go whether we would get there or not. Stockholm is reached through an archipelago of small islands, the route is about 100 km from the open sea and takes four hours. We picked up our Stockholm pilot in Helsinki, as he wanted to be satisfied about the ships manoeuvrability before allowing us in. We were also dependant on winds staying below 25 knots. One thing that had not been factored in was that we had to leave Stockholm the way we came – by the northerly route – as we were just too big to leave by the southerly route. This added 4 hours to our journey on to Oslo. However, this was nice as it meant we navigated the fjord into Oslo from 9:30 to 11:30, and it was very pretty. Our departure from Oslo was delayed until 20:30 to make up for the late arrival. The passage out of Stockholm was also very beautiful.

CONCLUSION

We had a superb holiday on board a wonderful ship, and we are looking forward to cruising with P&O again.

Went on my honeymoon on this ship to the carribean - it was a fantastic holiday and if you mention your on your honeymoon on the dock side they hurried us through the embarkation and we got striaght on the ship.
We had a suite and was a good size and the room was great, everyone very friendly great party atmosphere and Christmas and new year was very memorable will remmeber it for the rest of my life.
I am used to the Chewton Glen (one of Europes finest hotels) fine dining hotels - so in comparasion the meals were very nice.
I have absolutely nothing to complain about but i do feel that P&O have some fine tweaking to do when it comes to things like the staff using customer facilities - and disembarkation is alot of waiting around whilst staff show friends round the ship and members of staff were allowed off the ship before us ( we waited for 2 hours before we got off not allowed to wait in our cabin). And ive never seen so many overweight dancers in the entertainment!!

This was our first ever cruise,so didnt know what to expect. We had a ball, my kids are ten and twelve and cried for weeks after we came home they made so many friends there was so much for them to do, i will definately go on another cruise. FANTASTIC!!!!!

we did the baltic fourteen day cruise,bruge, oslo, stockholm, copenhagen, helsinki, st petersburg, tallin, travemunde.st petersburg was the star,tallin was charming, take the shuttle and walk it dont bother with organised trips, bruges is always enjoyable.travamude was great, imagine sailing up past sand banks up the river in an ocean liner and parking in the main street of christchurch with hundreds of happy german holiday makers waving.i can stongly reccomend the baltic go in june or july for the white nights it gets dark about 1am. the ship was very clean and tidy, the crew as always top class.the food was of a high standard,if you stayed at home and eat out to this standard it would nearly cost as much as the cost of thr cruise. the entertainment on p. o ships in recent years has dropped below the high standards we first enjoyed when wefirst started cruising ten years back. the aurora is lovely ship well designed, all the other additions to the fleet since have been a step backwards, you would have hoped some one at p.o could have told the parent company that their design was right for the british public. we dont want gyms with sea views and lose the crows nest, the best asset of oriana and aurora.having sailed on the later ships we still look first at auroras trips when the new brochures arrive. yes you can always improve and fine tune the product but not by adding extra rear cabins and ruining the classic stern of the ship.

It was a superb experience travelling onboard P& O aurora...lots of goodies inside the ship,excellent service n great quality all around.It was a very nice experience for my family...the entertainment are great especially the filipino band...they really play well,and they can make so many songs all around...thats really amazing, the waiters are so warm and friendly, good place for me to spend my days...I love it!

Hope to cruise again soon...

see ya!
Paul