4.5 / 5 — Excellent value for money and wonderful crew on P&O Aurora We are seasoned cruisers, and these were our 23rd and 24th cruises. We have sailed with Royal Caribbean, NCL, Holland America, Princess, AIDA, Celebrity and MSC, and after these two cruises, P&O has become one of our favourite cruise lines together with Holland America and Celebrity. Even though the passenger base on Aurora was mainly British, we are Spanish, and we felt very welcome and comfortable throughout both cruises. This is important for international guests considering P&O. We completed a back‑to‑back cruise on P&O Aurora (16‑day UK and 12‑day Norway), and we were genuinely impressed. Aurora is a charming, cozy, beautifully laid‑out ship with many quiet corners to read, relax, listen to music or enjoy time as a family. The value for money was exceptional. The crew were outstanding. We received exceptional service from Ms Filipina (Housekeeping Manager), Mr Rodrigues, our cabin stewards, and our dining teams — Danis and Rupesh on the first cruise, and Joamer and Mervyn on the second. Their professionalism and kindness made a huge difference. Highlights - Night entertainment at the Curzon Theatre was exceptional; the Headliners and the P&O orchestra delivered outstanding shows throughout both cruises. - The itineraries and ports of call were excellent, with a perfect balance between sea days and port days. - The Crystal Pool was a real highlight: a large, comfortable, retractable pool with two jacuzzis, ideal for relaxing on sea days. - Dining was consistently excellent — dinner at Alexandria MDR was superb every night, and breakfast and lunch at Medina were also outstanding. - For guests who exercise regularly, the gym and the Dance Fit and line dancing classes, among other activities, were excellent and very enjoyable.   - We appreciated the special touches: the chocolate tea event on the second‑to‑last day of each cruise, the welcome event with the captain including a complimentary drink, and the additional free drink coupons offered on a special night on both cruises. - The tea and coffee facilities in the cabin, along with the daily biscuits, were simple but very appreciated. - We also enjoyed the piano music in the atrium and the live music in the Crow’s Nest. Areas that could improve - The buffet is the biggest weakness. It is small, repetitive, and often closed — especially after excursions (16:30–17:00), when there was nothing available to eat. Other cruise lines offer more variety (Indian, Mexican, salad stations, etc.) and longer opening hours. There were no complimentary soft drinks such as lemonade available in the buffet — something offered on every other cruise line we have sailed with. This was the first ship where we encountered this shortcoming. - When the buffet is closed, there is no alternative place to eat. Most cruise lines offer an always‑open venue with salads, pizzas, hamburgers hot dogs, or Mexican food, but Aurora does not.   - The retractable pool was sometimes too cold, even colder than the outdoor pools, which is problematic on cold‑weather itineraries. It also closed too early (18:00–18:30), while the unusable outdoor pools stayed open until 20:00. The pool area frequently became cold because doors on Deck 13 were left open. - After 22:30–23:00 there was no venue for younger guests or for dancing — no disco or late‑night social space, unlike Celebrity or Holland America. A serious issue — handled very well We had booked the same four‑berth cabin for both cruises 16 months in advance. Unfortunately, the cabin had a loud humming noise that made sleep impossible for light sleepers. Thanks to Ms Filipina, we were moved to an adjacent cabin for the first cruise, but had to return for the second, which was inconvenient. Eventually we were offered a last‑minute balcony cabin, but it only accommodated three people, so our children stayed and had to endure the constant noise. We strongly believe cabin should not be sold until the issue is fixed. Despite this, the crew handled the situation with great care, and their support prevented this from becoming a deal‑breaker. Final impression This was our first experience with P&O, and despite the cabin issue and some areas for improvement, we had a wonderful time. The crew, the entertainment, the spa area, the Dance Fit and line dancing classes, the gym, the retractable Crystal Pool, the dining, and the overall atmosphere of Aurora won us over. We are already considering booking again with P&O.

We booked this to try out a ship we have never seen on and because the itinerary seemed interesting. We were contacted 48 hours beforehand telling us to arrive 90 minutes later due to "deep cleaning" required: we knew that meant an outbreak! When we arrived as advised boarding was smooth with the very friendly staff Southampton helping us in every way. We knew Aurora was an older ship but on boarding we were pleasantly surprised, she was a bit old fashioned but in a classy way, a bit 70's night club. Our cabin awas a small and cheap inside which was very small but Ok, it was clean though we struggled to fit our empty suitcases under the bed. We had been allocated freedom dinning and only on one occasion did we experience a long delay in getting a table which forced us to have another G&T before dinner! Food at the main dinning room was good and service was excellent 18 out of 19 times we ate there. We danced most nights, the dance teachers were not great and seemed obsessed with line dancing which was not our bag, the venue used most times " masquerade" was really too small and "Carmen's" was better when used. The noticeable thing about night time was that once the clock strikes 10 everyone seems to go off to bed! At one stage there were only 4 of us in the night club/disco. We are both 65 so not young clubbers, but it was a bit os a shock , but maybe to be expected with the demographic. The shows were OK, though not always to our taste, ut people seemed happy which is important. The entertainment team were really great, really engaging with passengers and full of fun, the best we have come across for a long time! The thing we liked most was the sense of space on Aurora ( other than the tiny cain with 1 plug and the smallest shower in the world!), it never felt cramped, we always found a seat or a sunbed, and rarely queued very long. The stars are the crew, a nicer, kinder bunch you could not ask for, not only were they efficient but you could see how kind they all were looking after some of the less independent passengers. Now the down side, unfortunately the Norm virus outbreak lasted for the whole cruise, that meant that for many passengers ( we have no idea how many but it was definitely more than the 1% P&O usually claim) their cruise was ruined. We were fine and escaped unscathed as we were very careful with eating and hand washing and mostly avoiding the buffet. This meant that the Glass house was closed for the whole trip which was really dissappoining as the staff were redeployed to the buffet to serve food to passengers. We only visited the buffet three times once for breakfast and twice for lunch when the only option on deck was fish and chips and we had missed the set lunch at the restaurant! We did not enjoy it as it was even more stressful than usual and a security guard was deployed to make sure argumentative passengers washed their hands. My sympathy goes to the staff, I just don't understand why British people are so averse to actually washing their hands after going to the loo or before eating: my mum would have given me "a thick ear!" Even as the cruise ended there we plenty people in isolation due to Norovirus that means that virtually for the full 19 nights people were sick. We ate at Sindhi twice once for lunch which was excellent and once in the evening which was OK but far too expensive at £25 each with a £5 supplement for Thali...I could get a far better curry for£50 most places in the UK, so I won't be rushing back. That was it for dinning as there were no other options! The itinerary was great, Tangiers and Corsica being highlights, but there was not a ad destination. . We booked 2 excursions one in Tangiers which was excellent: Azillah is beautiful and Herculaneum at Salerno a trip which was marred by guests who were not mobile enough to keep up with the walking tour and one who got lost by following the wrong group, next time we will go on our own! We had the deluxe drinks package which with so many sea days worked out really good value for us, the wine list is very short but mostly very good. Disembarkation was pretty smooth despite the airbridge breaking down at Southampton, our luggage was easy to find. So would we go on Aurora again? The answer is a qualified yes, but we would need a bigger cabin, it was just to cramped, she is a bit rusty and old but nice, much classier than other P&O ships, the crows nest which is excellent was better than Cunard's offering by quite a long way ( though I do miss the snacks!). The constant Norovirus is a worry though it does seem as if it either endemic on the ship, or amongst it core client group and the limited lunchtime food choice due to the closure of the Glass house is a massive issue, maybe a more imaginative poolside offering would help in a crisis, rather than the same old Burgers, Pizza or Fish and chips. The acid test is that we received some cruise leaflets through the post the other day and I read out aloud the destinations for Aurora in 2028, which is the next bookings we are thinking about and we both said that sounds good....but I don't want to spend 3 days throwing up and pooing myself in the cabin!...as the bard said : "there's the rub!