Norwegian Fjords cruise from Southampton, 7 August 2026 (12 nights)

We had a great time. Aurora was adults only which we wanted. There was everything we needed. Good shows in the Theatre in the evenings. With plenty of activities during the sea days. All the staff were fantastic. There was always areas around the ship that you could chill out if you just wanted to relax and enjoy a good book. We will definitely return.

Enjoyed the cruise. Everything was very efficiently run including embarkation, restaurants, entertainments etc. However the unexpected cost for a coach trip from the terminal into Zeebrugge was very disappointing and unfair (therefore we did not go).

We knew Aurora was an older ship in the P & O line and we had sailed on her a few years ago. We had a sea view cabin this time the same as before. We feel that the standard of food, cabin and ship have declined considerably. We had a twin bed cabin, the mattresses sloped, the bedding was poor quality and bobbled, the curtains had clearly been washed and had shrunk being 6” too short and left in in light from 4:30 a. m. the carpet was frayed along one side and the floor was uneven, sloping upwards with dips in the surface in places. On arrival the safe dis not work. The bathroom was in a poor condition. It closely resembled a 1960’s caravan. The wash hand basin was stained and smeared with a type of glue, the mirrors were mottled with age the water supply was atrocious. For the majority of the cruise we had absolutely no water pressure in shower which dribbled out and the hand basin tap had a very poor flow. If the surrounding cabins used their bathrooms at the same time we had virtually no water. We reported this problem but it was not corrected during our stay on board. The food was very poor. Due to an allergy we always eat in the buffet restaurant. This ship has had an outbreak of Norovirus in the last 6 months. You have to wash your hands before entering the buffet. There is only 1 wash hand basin point so queues are constant. The food was worse than a 1960’s boarding school offering and more serving points are needed. At breakfast the buffet was chaotic, lunch slightly better and evening meal the quietest. Theme nights are fine if you can eat that type of food, if you can’t then it’s salad or a roll. Too many of the sauces and desserts tasted manufactured and synthetic. The entertainment group the Headliners weren’t for us. We were told to leave the Crows Nest bar one evening at 6 p. m as my husband was wearing shorts. On the whole the crew were excellent and Hppy to provide assistance when needed. We have cruised on several different lines but have tried to stay loyal to P&O as a £’s based shipping line. Also we do not like huge ships of 5,000 plus guests, water parks, ice rinks, surf boarding wave machines, trains, indoor gardens etc. we had hoped that Aurora would have been more of a smaller ‘boutique’ type vessel, sadly it isn’t. The areas of rust are numerous, the ship is showing her age and is in need of a considerable refit. Would we sail on her again, sadly no, and this experience has made us question if we would book a P&O cruise again. As mentioned above this vessel has had a recent history of Norovirus. We contacted P& O a week before we sailed asking if it was now clear of this virus as we could not afford to catch it. We have been on the cruise and home for 2 days and are still awaiting a reply from P& O.

We went on this ship for the itinerary and this was exactly what we wanted. We love the P&O brand ships, so we accept that with a smaller ship comes less choice. If you want lots of choice on entertainment and dining venues, this may not be the ship for you. Would I go on Aurora again? For the right itinerary, not available on the larger ships, definitely!