Aurora - February 2015 - Post 1

On 25th February I flew to Auckland to join P&O (UK)'s Aurora the next day. She was in the middle of her 2015 world cruise, having arrived from Southampton via South America and Cape Horn. I spent 9 nights on the ship from Auckland to Melbourne, Burnie and Sydney. The ship then continued back to UK via NZ, Pacific islands, West Coast USA and Panama Canal. She's a very comfortable ship with pleasant fellow punters, great service and good food. I would have loved to stay longer but the ship was fully booked out of Sydney.

Aurora sailing from Melbourne 3/3 - taken by a good friend of mine, Tim Ryan.

At the Emirates lounge, Melbourne, early morning 25/2.

I much prefer Emirates' A380 business class layout to Qantas' who still use the old 2x2x2 format.

Efficient and friendly service on the plane.

An identical plane on the tarmac in Auckland.

I've stayed in quite a few hotels in New Zealand over the years and have been underwhelmed by all of them. However, the one I stayed in this time, the Langham, was very comfortable with good service.

A busy cruise ship day in Auckland with Voyager of the Seas (left) on a cruise from Sydney and Amadea (centre) - ex Asuka, also on a world cruise.

Voyager of the Seas sailing for Tauranga.

 Other shipping in Tauranga.

A friendly shipwright on Voyager of the Seas, loading fresh water.

. . . and a self-important security guard. Why are some of these guys such tossers that they think they're saving the ship by trying to stop people taking photos of them or the gangways?