You should give the penthouse a try Merv you might be surprised. My husband isn’t the best sailor but he loved it. We were told by James Cusack (He was the accommodation manager on our 2013 cruise.)that it was his idea to use the space for cabins. I believe it was also his idea to have butlers for the suites. From the layout of the suite, I think they converted 2 balcony cabins one on deck A and one on deck B and the front space according to James Cusack, had previously been store rooms. It was well worth being at the front for the fabulous views we had sailing into ports etc. We were at the back on the QE having changed from a Q4(midship) to a Q1(aft) and I much preferred being at the front on the Aurora to being at the back of the QE. I’ll admit when we encountered rough seas around the world the stairs could be a challenge. Apart from that I had a much better night’s sleep on there than on the QE in very smooth seas.Mervyn and Trish wrote: ↑31 May 2019, 11:39Emjay's post kind of reinforces our conclusion that on P&O it is mainly about the very nice cabin. The Cunard package is the complete deal. You just have to judge whether, for you, it is worth the money.
I'm slightly envious of the voyages in the Aurora penthouse suite - though I doubt it would be for us. Not just way out of our money league but in the wrong place. We have to be midships ideally and definitely not way forward. The story is the designer only conceived those two suites there because they couldn't think of a better way of using the awkward shaped sloping space.
The only disappointment I would say is that the balcony in the Penthouse is small in comparison to other suites. For anyone considering a suite on the Aurora I would definitely recommend the penthouse suites.