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Cruise to Norway, Iceland and Ireland. Itinerary great, the ship not so!!

Kusadasi

As I said in my title, you get what you pay for. The ship is getting on and looks a little faded in parts. The food is nowhere the level you would otherwise expect on a cruise. But hey, you get what you pay for. What I don't understand is why people who come on having paid a P&O price, expect a Regent Seven Seas service. This is an adult only ship which quite naturally attracts a fair amount of UK senior citizens. I have never heard so many moans and groans about the most trivial things in my life. That will probably be enough to stop me going on Aurora again. Don't these people realise they are on holiday ? Cheer up for goodness sake. Even the comedian made a comment about the amount of sourpuss faces milling around.

Having got that off my chest, what about the cruise. Well as I said, the ship is getting a bit tatty but is still very clean. Food was more akin to school dinners but at least it was edible. Portions in the MDR were a joke. Also there isn't enough waiters to serve all the tables. Result was a very long wait between courses. We left before dessert on a few occasions otherwise we would have missed the evening show. Our stateroom was made up only once per day and only if you remembered to put the sign on each day. Entertainment was also pretty ordinary. P&O's resident entertainers, the Headliners Theatre company, did their best but too much badly miming to taped music is not what I want to go and see. The guest entertainers were nearly all previous participants of TV's Britains got Talent. So if you want to entertain on a cruise ship for the rest of your career, audition for BGT.

The ports were pretty dire. There are some nice places to visit in the Caribbean but P&O don't seem to go there. Probably much cheaper to dock at the likes of Guadeloupe and St Vincent. Pretty rough places I can assure you

On board shopping was ridiculously expensive. Also, bar prices seemed a bit dear considering the alcohol is duty free at sea

So I am trying other cruise lines for a bit to see if their standards have dropped as much as P&O. Hopefully not

You get what you pay for

We like the smaller ships and particularly Aurora.  We had wonderful calm seas for 16 days and then a Force 10 storm with high seas and missed Gibraltar as it was closed.  We had already had Rhodes cancelled 6 months before the cruise and replaced with Messina, where we have been many times.

The food in the main dining room seemed to be always roast this and roast that, along with 3 veggie dishes which didn't appeal at all.  We had salmon only once!   One evening we ate in the buffet and I thought the food was better up there.  At least there was more choice.

As we missed Gibraltar, we had 5 days at sea getting to Southampton.

Really nice inside cabin on D Deck forward and the service everywhere was impeccable.  We had a Table for 8 second sitting and our waiters were lovely.    We booked Arcadia for next year with a great deal on board.

Enjoyed the cruise, but food was average.

Positives:

The included food was mostly good. The buffet had limited options but the menu changed daily and the food was always piping hot. The MDR food was good except for the deserts which I found very bland.

The entertainment was very good particularly the Aurora orchestra and cast. The guest entertainers were above average too and we saw a different show every night of the cruise which were all very good. 

Being a smaller ship, we found the service to be above average. The waiters and bar staff worked very hard and always had a smile on their faces. Everyone from the housekeepers to the officers were always polite and willing to talk which was very refreshing.

Negatives:

The ship is in major need of a refurbishment. The public toilets were frequently broken and my cabin toilet broke down six times during the cruise. Many areas are showing severe signs of age and the whole ship had a musty damp smell about it.

The ship has essentially been turned into a floating retirement home. Most passengers were seventy years plus and a lot of the daytime activities were aimed towards senior citizens which were a little dull for my liking.

Great crew but ship needs refurbishment.

P & O Aurora awful 

This is very hard to write, considering our last cruise to Norway on Iona I gave 5 Stars as it was an amazing experience. We both had such high hopes and were so happy to be returning to P&O. However reality did not match expectations. 

Our trip to Germany and Belgium started going bad on the first night, when we discovered we were sleeping next door to a Rhino. Her snoring was so bad it actually vibrated our bed. Not P&O’s fault, our bad luck, so we moved our bed to the other side of the room, which stopped the vibration, not the noise.

Then we were allocated Medina Restaurant as our eating place. On Iona there were 3 restaurants to choose from, on Aurora it’s either Medina or the free for all at Horizon. Now my wife is hard of hearing, due to back ground noise she felt awkward as could not hear a thing anyone said to her, even I could not talk to her as the tables were so big, so that left us with just the Horizon for the whole trip.

Day two we discovered that the pools and the spa’s were freezing cold. This did not change for the hole trip, in fact on one day one of the pools was closed off due to the temperature. So basically no pools or spa’s except for the extremely brave. We tried table tennis but our table became water logged from the leaking roof. We were starting to get an impression that the Aurora was not living up to expectations. Then came the night we were in Germany, omg how can I describe that night apart from disgusting. In the morning I informed reception that our toilet was not flushing. The receptionist replied saying he had a number of complaints of a similar nature. This continued through the day, more and more people coming out of there rooms with similar complaints, escalating to such an extent that the whole ships toilet system had failed, even the public toilets were effected. Complaints after complaints but nothing done culminated in 40 of us in reception at 1130pm which became extremely heated. The poor girl In reception, who was superb, finally asked for assistance after we demanded the chief engineer to update us. Someone came down and informed us all we could leave the ship into port to use the toilets, I just pictured people in their underwear at 3am going into port for a pee. More and more people joined in the heated discussion until finally some stroppy woman in an officers outfit came to update us all. By that time people were saying their toilets, including ours were over topping, some cabins were becoming flooded with effluent. We asked where were the announcements, where were the updates, nothing was forthcoming, only the receptionist telling everyone who complained, not to flush anything. Then to add insult to injury the stroppy woman lied to everyone’s face by saying this issue only started two hours prior, this caused further uproar as apparently I was not the only one who had complained by now 13 hours before hand. There was no response from anyone, the captain who conspicuous by his absence, no one, and no public announcements because apparently people were asleep, little did they know they would wake up to pee soaked carpets. By the time some cabins were cleaned it was 3am. An absolute nightmare with everyone trying to find a toilet that wasn’t overflowing. 

So bed time, wife went to take her heart tablets, lovely black water flowed from the taps. Again called P&O reception who said they were selling cans of water. I went ballistic as enough was enough. In the end the poor girl who brought up two cans of water asked me to sign for them which I refused, saying I would see P&O in court rather than pay for water that wasn’t black.

The following day, things started to clam down, cabins were being cleaned even though a few people still had problems, P&O insulted everyone on board by printing a one liner saying there had been a small issue with toilets and that nothing apart from paper should be put down the loo. Of course it’s the customers fault that the whole ships sanitary system failed, silly me.

Ok so it wasn’t all bad, let’s talk about the good bits, being restricted to Horizon for our food, thankfully there was plenty to choose from. However there was next to nothing to do apart from eat so it was heavily used by loads of people. Also the theatre shows, the 4tunes were good and Josh Adam’s was superb, he was the highlight of the whole trip. But that’s it. The catering and cleaning staff were a credit to the company, totally undervalued, the officers/managers etc, did they have any on board? Surly must have had one to steer the ship, the so called captain Russell Robson, was he onboard? No doubt he was far to important to talk to any of his passengers, especially those who were swimming in effluent in their cabins. So at the end of the trip we could not wait to get home, Would we return to P&O, sadly not, as there must be other companies that treat customers better and provide superior service, especially when such holidays are so expensive. As for Aurora, sell her, scrap her, get rid, she is not fit for purpose. I feel so sorry for the 1800 people just about to board, if no clue as to what’s been going on. So 0/10 must do better.

Awful, ship falling apart and no officers care

The Baltic Sea cruise was a good value for money, and relaxing as a whole. This was my second time on Aurora, though the ship had gone through a refit and converted to an adults only vessel since my last trip, so there were some changes in layout.  Embarkation went very smoothly, and we were directed to our muster station on arrival getting the check in instantly out of the way.  The small cabin was cozy, and we slept well (with the exception of a storm day).  The cabin steward was efficient, though not as sociable as some I have had.  We had Freedom Dining, which was in the Medina Restaurant.  We found all of the serving staff friendly and attentive.  My wife took several art and craft classes on board which were held in the Crow's Nest area.  The teachers were really knowledgeable and helpful.  The Crow's Nest itself had good views of the surrounding seas and was a very relaxing retreat.  The Lido deck and the area around the Horizon buffet restaurant were busy, but not generally crowded.  The buffet was fairly good in choice and a great grab and go breakfast option on excursion days.  We took five ship arranged excursions, including one accessible tour.  These were well organised, informative, and reasonable in price for what we got.  Disability assistance on the gangways and on the coached was very good.  The Lido Grill was limited, but the veggie burger option was good.  General maintenance of the ship was good, though there were some issues with the accessible toilet doors near the Horizon on a couple of occasions.  Sea and weather conditions were such that the two Danish ports on the itinerary were cancelled, and an extra sea day (through a storm) was substituted as well as a port call in Cherbourg, France.  On short notice, no excursions were arranged for Cherbourg, though free shuttle busses were put on.

Baltic (More or Less)

I chose this cruise as I liked the itinerary. I was dubious about going on the Aurora, but the fact that it was Adult Only helped seal the deal and the price was right. 

Why was I dubious about the Aurora? This was my 3rd trip on her, my first being in 2019 just before the pandemic. My experience then was great. Good ship, lovely crew, good service and great food choices. Having experienced this in 2019 I sailed on her again in March this year. What a disappointment! you could tell immediately that things had got worse. Food wasn't great, neither was the service. I had hoped that by booking this trip might have shown that it was an isolated experience. Unfortunately not. The food situation was even worse and so was the service. I do not understand why P&O are doing this, Aurora is a great ship, people love her but if it carries on at this rate the customers will desert her, and P&O. Sadly Aurora is not the only ship I have experienced a distinct lack of quality. I sailed on Ventura in 2015 and thought it was great. Then I sailed on her in 2022, and boy had the experience deteriorated. 

P&O is definitely cutting costs and corners and to me that's pretty short sighted. Perhaps they are no longer interested in loyal cruisers and want only to attract a younger audience, although the new ships Iona and Arvia are not without criticism.

Cruise was wonderful, a relatively small ship so went right into port all days apart from one. We stopped at 7;different ports which was fantastic.

  We liked the ship, staff were great, entertainment very good, food very good too. 

Our only negative comments would be that there were no water points where you could fill up water bottles. You could order small bottles to your room but it was very expensive. 

   Freedom dining also at peak times had an estimated wait time of one hour. When we booked, We had opted for fixed dining but when we arrived on the ship we had been given freedom dining, when I queried it, I was  just told that there was too much demand for fixed dining. 

   Also to join in any eg pilates classes was a “nominal charge” , which was actually £15 a time which didn’t seem very nominal to us.

   We had gone for an inside cabin as it was significantly cheaper than one with a window but it was also very small, felt very claustrophobic.

    We would sail on the Aurora again but would choose a different cabin type.

Amazing fjords

Swimming in the aft pool on Deck 8, it was difficult to believe that we had reached the Arctic Circle with an air temperature of 27c and the water a pleasantly warm 24. For the entire cruise, the weather remained the same - how I regretted wasting space with gloves and base layers! 

This 12-day cruise offers plenty of opportunities to discover Norway and my overriding memory will be of the stunning scenery: deep Fjords, snow-capped peaks, green meadows, wild flowers, tumbling river waters and the purest air you will ever breathe. There had been some late changes to our itinerary and I’m glad because our first port of call, Skjolden, was one of the most beautiful I have visited, such a peaceful village with waterside walks and perfect reflections of clapboard houses in calm black waters.

In fact there was only one dud and that was our final stop. Haugesund would probably have been okay, had we not been spoilt by Skjolden, Måløy, Andalsnes and Trondheim, but I’ll leave you to make up your own mind once you’ve visited. The furthest north we reached was Leknes and it was here that I learnt something that might prove useful in a pub quiz. Where in Europe do cows wear bras? The Lofoten Islands! Because the sun hardly sets in the summer, cattle graze high in the mountains and eat grass for much longer hours. As a result, their udders weigh heavy and they need bras for comfort and to help contain dripping.

But back to the cruise. If Norway was impressive, so was Aurora.

Post-Covid, early cruises were disappointing to put it mildly, and I have written about those elsewhere on this site, but it would be difficult to find much to be negative about on this cruise. Aurora delivered fantastic service, plenty of daytime activities, some memorable meals in the buffet and the main dining room - given the chance, order the barramundi - and officers and crew who were always cheerful and courteous around the ship.

I believe one of the reasons for this was the presence of senior officers. Captain Simon Love could be seen most days, chatting to guests, and I have never known a hotel general manager quite like Ajit for being everywhere at the same time, overseeing standards and responding to questions. Whether I was entering the theatre for the show or walking down to Deck 4 to board a tender, Ajit would be there.  

Others in the team deserve equal praise. In Horizon at breakfast, Abhilash, a buffet attendant, made every morning special when he delivered granary toast to my table along with a cup of tea. His cheerfulness and willingness to go the extra mile were strengths which made this cruise such a success. Many others were equally impressive. Step forward Ash in Raffles for his calm professionalism as he took orders for Costa coffees at busy times, always managing to find time for a chat. Or Godfrey, our waiter in Alexandria, who without fuss would bring something different if nothing on the main menu appealed. Elsewhere, Helen in Whitewall Gallery was a tonic for her northern humour and knowledge about the paintings and sculptures on display, and so was Ben, the F&B manager, for his interest in our opinions about standards across the department - all of the highest, by the way.

If you tend to keep returning to the Med and the Caribbean rather than stray northwards, take a look at Norway. When you do, be sure to check out what Aurora has to offer. There have been fears that the future belongs only to floating cities, but I have good news for those who prefer a more intimate cruise experience - Aurora is safe in the medium term. At a drinks’ party the captain announced (to cheers) that Carnival recognised Aurora’s loyal following and confirmed that she would continue to offer cruises for at least the next five years. 

With that level of certainty, I’m happy to commit.  The 65-nighter looks tempting . . . as well as another dose of Norway, of course.

(Before retirement, the reviewer worked in education and in broadcasting as a producer with BBC Radio. He writes about cruise holidays and has written European city guides.)

Top marks on all counts!

I booked a de luxe Cabin and it was Small, dark and nothing like the web site shows. With a metal balcony screen you couldn't see the sea if you sat down !!!!! Or get day light. Ruined my cruise

 My cabin was Worse than a standard balcony cabin.

Customer Service on board and at head office we're not interested. Most times have not replied and don't care if you never cruise with them again 

SO, I will go elsewhere for future cruises, as they don't care

The restaurant food was good, generally, but nothing like as good as before. Ship old, but good layout. Needs refurbishment. Good rooms for recitals. Entertainment good. Service was good, but again nothing like previously. Looks like P&O have cut back to the point where it shows everywhere. I liked the swimming pools.  Even with any plus points, the cabin ruined my cruise. I'm very disappointed that P&O Don't care

Terrible cabin and awful customer service 

I chose Aurora because it was a smallish ship and had 3 swimming pools. The crew were friendly and the entertainment very good

The food was OK, but nothing like it used to be. Fewer courses and not as good. Could be due to covid changes or P&O cutting back

I had a balcony cabin on D deck, Very small, Very dark, Nothing like the pictures or description. Some items missing. Would be ok if a standard cabin at a lower price. Cabins ok on deck B

The itinerary was good and varied. Stockholm was amazing and the many islands well worth seeing. Shame no St Petersberg, obviously not included!! Good that 16 nights as time to spend at each port and 2 days in Finland 

A lot of people return to the same ship which says a lot. OBVIOUSLY  these people did Not stay in a D deck de luxe Cabin as they would not return and Nor would I

Aurora is a good ship BUT some De Luxe Balcony cabins are Bad

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