Fionboard

Last month I took no cash. Used card for everything.

Seen some hair disasters on board! Get it done at home or ashore!

Saw a handbag on Iona for over £1000. My cruise (balcony) cost less than that!

Lovely in Croatia today.

For ducks sake!

Currently in Sardinia and sailing for Croatia tonight. Will make the most of it!

On her again next month. Lovely ship, apart from the plumbing!

Next month we have Gib swapped to Malaga. Result!

C deck is best. Biggest balconies, partly private and partly overlooked. Best of both worlds, but standard size cabin.

At captain's welcome party he mentioned the 2025 brochure included Aurora. Hope she continues until then but nothing is guaranteed. However, a lot of money has obviously been spent on her recently, particularly all the new deck furniture and tv's (could do with both on Ventura!)

Absolutely. Luckily I prefer 2nd sitting!

The Dutch side is better than the French on St Maarten too IMO.

Prefer the Dutch ABC islands to the French ones.

Correct!

It is not the size of the ship, it is the ambience and amount of overcrowding I dislike. Britannia (about 10 times) is fine for me. Circa 3600 pax is enough. Prefer adults only too, hence two small ships best for me.

Iona twice. Second time only because it was so cheap! As a solo cruiser I hate freedom dining or dining alone. Queues everywhere. Crowded - awful pinch point between theatre/pub to atrium - bad design. Atrium like an airport terminal. No atmosphere. Arvia probably much the same! I am considerably older than you and have probably done many more cruises than you. Have tried all size ships. Love Britannia and Ventura. Try cruising solo and you will get my drift! Different experience.

Annoying isn't it. My Arcadia Baltic last year was half the price at sail date than I paid! Nothing you can do. Just the way it is!

Different generations, different views!

Got off Aurora two weeks ago and back on her today. She is still as nice as she used to be with lots of new carpet, furniture, TV's, etc. I still find her the most friendly of the ships. Size does matter! Sorry, but I cannot stand the new ships. Just not my style.

Boarding Aurora this morning. No stress. You only need to see the problems with air, road, train and ferry travel this weekend to understand why we still love cruising, Have tried Cunard and not noticed much difference from P&O except the price! Am happy to cruise 6 or 7 times a year with P&O on the small ships in a balcony cabin and pay the premium. Each to their own.

If you book saver and get first sitting you should have no problem changing to second or freedom once on board. Just visit the MDR when you board and ask. They usually try to be accommodating.

The hotel manager summed up the problems on the new ships at the Peninsular lunch on Iona. She said "the reason we have to have pre booking for everything is because the venues on the ship are not big enough for the number of people wanting to use them" . Enough said!

Not tender. Have been there three times. Port and island pretty run down in general, but the beaches are lovely. Club Med is good for the day ( or another beach hotel) if you are not on an excursion. Not interested in DinP excursion but have heard it is not good.

But I always want a balcony. Not so many on these ships so I have been unable to book some cruises I wanted. Never would consider an inside so just have to pay the premium.

Arcadia and Aurora for me. Adults only. Expensive but often sold out as very popular still!