P&O Cruises, Aurora Review

Our first cruise with P&O. The experience was somewhat marred by the fact that our original cruise on Arcadia was cancelled on the Friday before we were due to leave the following Monday. However, our fantastic travel agent (Regent Travel in Stone Staffs) quickly booked us on another (on Aurora) due to leave a day later. It turned out to be better as we had not been to any of the destinations before. Covid testing was well organised although waiting for permission to board was an anxious time. We were very pleased with the ship (not too big) although the fact that some cabins had been reserved for Covid reasons meant that some corridors were blocked off which meant a slightly longer journey to and from our cabin. Food was very good although we found the evening menu a little repetitive. Service was good. We were somewhat disappointed with the on-board activities; there were no organised deck games such as on Olsen lines, nor were there any speakers talking about the next port to be visited. There was an excellent series of talks by an ex Marine who had served in the Falklands campaign but one of the other speakers was very poor. We went to two or three of the evening shows which were good but having to wear masks was rather trying and hot. Excursions were quite good, especially Santorini, Athens and particularly an olive farm near Kata Kolon, Greece. Yes, we would probably try P&O again to see whether things improve as Covid recedes, but not on one of their huge ships.