A Suite and a Half!

I have been fortunate enough to see lots of different accommodation on different ships from 2* to 6* ships, from the basic insides to Owner, Grand and Penthouse Suites.

On Wednesday 2nd July I took the what’s turning in to a weekly trip to Southampton to see the Aurora which was in for the day.

Aurora and Queen Mary 2 are two of the only ships – Please let me know if you know of any others?, that boast a two story suite.

There is only two of these on the Aurora – B100 – The Library Suite and B101 The Piano Suite. Queen Mary 2 has 5 and these a Q1 and Q2 Queens Grill suites so they do get booked up very early.

We got to see B100 which is on the Port Side of the ship, as you enter you are in oar of the amount of space and light that the suite has to offer.

The suite is 937 square feet in size and as you enter you have a bar area for your butler to serve you and your guests drinks, and a guest bathroom to avoid the need for your guests to go upstairs through your bedroom area.

The suite is located directly on the front and has lots of picture windows, its hard to explain so see the picture below, but basically they are lots of windows going up diagonally giving some amazing views over the bow  of the ship.

Downstairs you have a dinning area with room for 5 people if you fancy having a meal in your suite, this is something your butler can arrange. You also have a writing desk area so if you do have to take work with you, you can and this way it doesn’t invade on the living space.

You also have a large corner sofa to separate the dining and living areas, there is also a balcony off the living space, now the balcony is smaller than what you would expect on a suite but this is one of two!

Connecting the down and upstairs is a beautiful spiral staircase.

As you get to the top you still have the stunning views out of the windows but also the space below, up here you have the master bedroom overlooking the downstairs, there is also a balcony off the bedroom perfect for when you get up.

There is a full bathroom complete with whirlpool bath, separate shower and his and her sinks, the walk in closet is also in this area.

Full suites benefit from a butler but this is optional should you not want to have him or her you don’t, you will also get little touches such as flowers, chocolate and champagne on arrival and a fruit basket to help stay healthy whilst you are away.

There is also the coffee machines, magazines and newspapers daily, bathrobes and slippers and all that you would expect in the top suite on board.

She does also have 10 suites on board and 2 of these are directly beneath the ‘Penthouse Suites’ on C Deck so they have the stunning views again over the front of the ship.

This does feel much more enclosed but then again they are 520 square feet, and  on an older style of ship where as this location on some of the newer ships would have much more glass.

 As you walk in you have the living area and the balcony, there is also a small dining area for 4 people.

At the front of the suite you have the bedroom which has the one window looking over the bow of the ship.

On from here you have the walk in closet and bathroom, again complete with separate shower and whirlpool bath, but on this suite you only have the one toilet but this is separate to the main bathroom.

All the benefits of a Suite are the same in here as the Penthouse.

So has anyone booked or stayed in one of these?

I will do another one soon so you can compare between this and the Q1 and Q2 on Cunard.

www.tomstravels.co.uk – 0800 408 6143 – [email protected]