Aurora Cruise Review

The cruise was to Northern Spain and Portugal ending with a day in Cherbourg. Northern Spain and Portugal were ideal in early October, not too hot with temperature in the 15 to 24 degree C level and some sunshine. A little light rain in Ferrol, but no problem. Santander and Porto were first class ports of call. Ferrol was a bit plain and geometric as it was built round the Naval base. Would not rush back. Cherbourg is not much of a place to spend a day. some nice sea fronts and gardens, but not a lot else. Both Ferrol and Cherbourg seemed a bit run down and past their “sell by” date.

The ship was good and if anything the P&O menus have improved over the last few years, but there was scope for that!! It is a shame that P&O do not offer a single sitting dinning room. The freedom dinning room is always too busy and has queues at 7.30 +/- 30 mins. Shows were good as was the sea day speaker (but now only one to save money). The wine / drinks on P&O priced in £ sterling offer much better value than US dollar priced ships generally.

It is a shame that on P&O ships the select dinning outlets are all the same – Glass house, Sindhu and Beach House – there is becoming less individuality between the ships which is, I think, a bad move. P&O have also stopped selling the £50 future cruise option – they want you to book a specific cruise on board. As I had to check other availability I did not book and therefor they may well have lost a future booking.

It was good to be able to get off “self help” at 07.15, avoid Southampton and M27 and M3 rush hour traffic and be home before noon.