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 Cruise Reviews

P&O Worth the wait ?
Reviewed By: Phillips, Biggin Hill on 2nd Dec 2008
Cruise Line: P&O Cruises Times cruised before: 6-10
Cruise Ship: Aurora Sailed: November, 2008
Destination: Mediterranean Age: 36-45
Although we have cruised with both Thomson and Royal Caribbean this was our first time with P&O onboard the Aurora.
As a family of four including two young children we had opted for a suite to give us much needed extra space and the added benefit of a balcony. We were going on the Ancient Glories cruise for 18 nights and sailed as far as the eastern end of the Med to the Suez canal.
From the glossy brochure P&O put out ,i had expected an upmarket experience compared with Thomson and was looking forward to mixing with the many young and smartly dressed people featured inside.
However as you will see from our experiences we thought P&O excelled at some things but did not in others.
First our experience at check in was not that impressive. We arrived just before noon to the luggage unloading area and our holiday had officially begun. We were greeted by a smartly dressed port authority representative who politely informed us that they were a bit short of porters and could we take our own luggage to the drop off point. So while my car was driven away to the long stay car park we struggled across two lanes of traffic to the drop off point with six suitcases on two trolleys.
Not to worry i thought we have a suite so we get priority check in !
Well not really as we arrived in the check in hall we queued with everyone else but only for around 20 minutes so not too bad.
Check in was pleasant and then off to board the ship.
The ships photographer stopped us to snap that all important and annoying welcome aboard photo. Well again i was a little surprised to find he was using as his backdrop a piece of blue painted corridor wall and not a proper welcome on board lifebelt or suchlike.
So on to the cabin, which in our case a suite amidships on the starboard side.
Well that was a pleasant surprise, Certainly the largest cabin we have had and probably the best furnished.
Our Butler gave us the run down on everything we needed to know about the ship and was very helpful with those little extras such as breakfast in the cabin for those early start days. I couldn,t fault the cabin at all and the balcony was huge.
On a long voyage i would definately recommend going the extra mile and have a balcony it makes so much difference to your enjoyment.
The Aurora really is a beautiful ship and not too big that you keep getting lost. It has everything you need including some nice shops for essentials but we found the gift shops a little pricey.
My wife frequented the spa and hair salon quite a bit during those 3 weeks and we found the staff helpful but i would say not quite as talented as those we found on the Thomson ships. They were also very pricey.
The swimming pools on board are great and never seem too crowded no matter what time you go there.
Now onto the main restaurant where we were served almost entirely by indian waiting staff. Who were in my opinion fabulous and very friendly although we found the food was not as good as thomson, which i have to say surprised me a lot. The variety of food was also in my opinion not quite as good as either Thomson or Royal Caribbean. The chocolate Buffet for instance was a poor substitute for the same event on other ships we have sailed in.
That said the meals were substantial and the desserts were always plentiful.
I think the sightseeing department Explorers on Aurora was the best i have experienced and the staff were very helpful.
We took 4 organised tours and all bar 1 were excellent.
One of the prime reasons for us travelling with P&O was to renew our wedding vows. The ships captain and crew made this an excellent day for us and everything went smoothly. I would 100% recommend them in that area.
In fact i found all the crew to be helpful and the captain was especially good on this ship always updating you with information and always willing to go the extra mile to make your holiday special.
So now on to the entertainment.
Big let down for us there, we had expected a first rate show line up and some great speciality acts. Well i am afraid it was not to be. The entertainment on this ship was most definately in my opinion not even a match for Thomson and way way behind Royal Caribbean. Shows were fairly lacklustre and the comedian we saw was just aweful.
The show theatre was nice but needed to be a little larger as several times it was full and we were unable to get a seat.
Other entertainment was o.k but i felt that a lot of it was geared towards a much older audience. We had about 7 different lectures on Concorde for instance and i found that a bit repetative. To be honest i was a little surprised to find that the majority of the people on board were of a much older agegroup than i had expected and i guess the entertainment reflected in that.
From my childrens point of view the child facilities are superb and the kids club ran for long hours and the programme was varied so full marks to P&O there then.
All things considered we did enjoy the holiday and i think P&O have some very good points. We enjoyed the ship itself and the crew were great but i felt a little letdown with the food and entertainment.
Quality of Food2
Alexandria Restaurant mainly waiter served nearly every night.
Entertainment1
Stu Francis comedian offensive and not funny.
Shore Excursions4
Cairo best El Alamein worst due to short stay at the museum.
Staff5
Librarian, always polite and very helpful
Children's Facilities3
Onboard Activities2
Cabins5
Overall Rating3
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Comment by Hudson, Hitchin (02 Dec 08 23:59) about this REVIEW
From my own experience, I have found instead of going at the priority check-in time, to go later in the afternoon. When we travelled on Aurora from the QE2 terminal instead of the usual Mayflower terminal, we couldn't see the priority check in desk (gold Portunas club members) due to the huge que, so we asked a member of staff and they escorted us round the que and to the empty priority check-in desk. Did you have the pleasure of meeting Colin the butler? I have travelled on Aurora many times and think she is a fab ship.
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