A month at sea, seven countries and a taste of Egypt — that's the current assignment for P&O Cruises' Aurora, which has left Southampton on its 24-night "Grand Mediterranean" sailing. The roundtrip cruise calls at 11 destinations across Southern Europe and North Africa before returning to the UK on 8 October 2026.
The 76,000-ton, 1,800-passenger ship has already stopped at Cadiz in Spain, Palermo in Sicily and Malta. Still to come: Piraeus for Athens, the Turkish ports of Kusadasi and Bodrum, Limassol in Cyprus and Alexandria in Egypt, before the homeward leg takes in Tunis, Cartagena and Gibraltar. It's a proper sweep of the Mediterranean's highlights, mixing classical sites — the Acropolis, Ephesus just down the road from Kusadasi — with beachier stops like Bodrum and a pair of North African ports.
Once back in Southampton, Aurora switches to shorter-haul work. Through the rest of 2026 it runs four- to 14-night itineraries to the Norwegian Fjords, Iberia, Africa and Madeira, which suit travellers who want a cruise fix without committing three weeks of holiday.
The bigger news for planners comes in early 2027, when Aurora departs on a 75-night "America and Caribbean Discovery" voyage — the ship's longest sailing of next year. The itinerary covers roughly 35 destinations and includes a partial transit of the Panama Canal plus calls at Miami and Port Canaveral in Florida. Galveston and New Orleans get overnight stays, giving passengers proper evening time in two of America's best food-and-music cities. The Caribbean leg takes in Bonaire, Curaçao, Grenada, St. Vincent, Costa Maya and Grand Cayman, among others.
If 75 nights sounds a shade much, P&O is also putting the Arcadia on a 106-night world voyage in early 2027, circling the globe via the Caribbean, North America, the Pacific, Australia, Asia and Africa. Between the two ships, there's a spectrum from a fortnight in the fjords to three-and-a-half months circumnavigating the planet.
Why it matters: long-haul roundtrip sailings from the UK are a niche worth knowing about. They cut out flights entirely — no airport queues, no baggage fees, no connection risk — which appeals to nervous flyers, travellers with reduced mobility, and anyone who fancies an extended trip without the packing-and-unpacking of a land itinerary. The caveat is sea time: getting from Southampton to the Mediterranean involves a couple of days each way through the Bay of Biscay, so these voyages suit people who genuinely enjoy days at sea.
For the 2027 America and Caribbean sailing, the overnight calls and the partial Panama Canal transit are the standout bits — canal transits in particular are a bucket-list experience that's hard to book on shorter itineraries. Anyone tempted should watch for cabin categories and single supplements, which on P&O's longer voyages vary widely. Details were first reported by Cruise Industry News.
