First of all, I have to say that we love the Aurora and have now completed two wonderful cruises with the same ship and Captain, although pretty much all the crew had changed for this second voyage.  The Aurora is not one of the biggest P&O ships and is now adult only and perhaps this is why it appeals to us so much; after a year with our extended family and a total of 15 grandchildren, a couple of weeks away with no children is just what the doctor ordered.  The ship has been refurbished recently to make it adult only and everywhere on board appears to be well cared for and clean.  The food is varied and superbly cooked and the staff are fantastic.  Last year we had two great waiters (Elvis and Rohan) and this year was no different with Kam, Froilan and Regina (the wine waiter) looking after us at dinner.  We met Elvis who had been promoted over the winter to senior waiter and he remembered us which was nice.

IDA   

There were 5 sea days when we were not in port and therefore free to do whatever we wanted on board during the day.  Evenings, on each of these days, were reserved as a formal dinner when we dressed up in our tuxedos and best gowns (not sure what the ladies wore).  The weather was great so much of our days were spent on deck enjoying the sun and the swimming pool with the odd cocktail or beer supplied by the ever present waiters.

Additionally, there were guest speakers including Kevin Ashman (from Eggheads) and Dickie Arbiter (former press secretary to the Queen), whilst Jane spent some time (and money!) in the Oasis Spa and Health Clinic.  Kevin gave three talks, two about his experiences in the world of quizing and the final talk he chose the Gunfight at the Old Corale, a most interesting take on the legendary event in American history.  Generally, though we relaxed and made the most of the facilities; they had an excellent library where books could be borrowed and the entertainment during the day and especially after dinner was superb.  My favourite guest act was IDA who performed a mixture of opera and popular music on two evenings; we had also seen this act the previous year when we cruised the Baltic to St Petersburg.  Great singers and not bad looking either.

Grafiti Classics   

Other acts we saw were a madcap group called Grafiti Classics who played a form of classic music with humour and they were very funny.  The ships company troupe called the Headliners put on several different shows the best of which was their final show the night before we arrived back in Southampton - Killer Queen.  You can only see so much and there were acts we missed and I guess this emphasises how much variety that P&O provide on these cruises.

One of my favourite experiences on a cruise are 'formal evenings' and this year we chose a theme for one of the evenings with Women in Red and Men in Black.  When we finally arrived back in Southampton I for one had reaffirmed my love of cruising, especially on the Aurora.

The last few slides above were taken by the professional photographers on board for an album commissioned by Marion.

I cannot end this section especially without thanking Nick for pinching most of his photos; I didn't use my camera much on the sea days so most of these photos are not mine.