Re: Taking OFF To Iceland
Originally Posted by
OldGreyFox
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having not being on the Aurora I'm not familiar with her but can see the attraction over the Oriana with the extra balconies.
It went far beyond the number of balconies TBH. Aurora is almost identical to Oriana except for some additional benefits which makes Aurora better. Predominently this used to be in the form of an additional alternative restaurant called Cafe Bordeaux, which was a fabulous abd very well loved french bistro affair. You could go in there in the morning for FREE breakfast which was a range of continental dishes including cooked breakfasts like eggs benedict and kedgeree and so on. Then you could also visit for lunch which was again FREE and have delightful dishes like Black Marlin. In the evening you could have a sumptuous dinner for which you then paid a small supplement which was well worth it.
It was a unique restaurant amongst the fleet and Aurorians absolutely loved it.
Then Carnival came along . . . . . !
Clearly decided it was a space not maximising revenue, so they took away Cafe Bordeaux and in its place put in The Glass House, the standard wine bar/alternative evening restaurant you see on a number of the ships in the fleet.
Glass House is ok, but nothing like the old Cafe 'B'.
Nevertheless, Aurora is the better of these 2 sister ships.
A traditional ship with wide promeade deck in teak, fabulous crow's nest on 3 levels, sleek tiered back end making her sexier than the "block of flats" ships, great terrace bar at the back of the ship, great central swimming pool with retractable rook for those hot days.
If you are enjoying Oriana then it's quids in that you will love Aurora, but as I say the prices are rapidly increasing because of Oriana leaving, and cabin availablilty is becoming an issue.
She's still our No 1 choice but we will be increasingly moving over to Azura and Ventua which are great ships in their own right but very different from Oriana and Aurora.
I have no interest whatsoever in Iona. 5000 passengers is frankly ridiculous. Any tender ports will be a complete nightmare and I don't want to be part of a cruise line that swamps beautiful remote towns and cities with so many 1000s of people at a time. I think as passengers we share a responsibility to ensure our tourism doesn't adversely impact our destinations. 5000 pax on one ship is a bad thing, and what then if there is more than one ship in the same port?!!
Nope, not for me.
Pecking order is:
Aurora, Azura, Ventura, Arcadia
Now on a side, I have noticed that in every photo of yourself you are always wearing the same thing. Shorts, white socks and trainers. Do you ever wear a pair of trousers ?!!!
I think you need to put our minds at rest and put up a photo of formal night. I have this awful vision of a black tuxedo, formal shirt, snazzy bow tie . . . . and shorts and trainers !!! Say it isn't so !