Bath-wombs

We've had our first blockage which, after reading the paranoid warning leaflet that we were given on our first day, came as no surprise. Someone in an adjoining cabin must have flushed something they hadn't eaten. Reception was permanently engaged so I walked down five decks, thinking of the walk back, (we're not using the lifts) and rather grumpily complained. “Our toilet won't flush and I'm just getting the engaged sound from Reception so maybe the phone's broken as well” - I said to a young man of indeterminate nationality, who told me that the plumber was already working on the blockage. Later in the day, a telephone engineer arrived to check our phone. British sarcasm doesn't always translate.

I said I'd blog about Aurora's iconic features and the bath-wombs in the balcony cabins are definitely one of them. They are prefabricated pods moulded almost entirely out of pink plastic. This method of construction enabled them to be “ergonomically designed” which is architect's jargon for cramming everything you need into a very small space. Lying in a bath of warm water, the ship gently rocking, and surrounded by all those pink curves is strangely comforting.

At college I wrote a thesis that predicted that by now most domestic bathrooms would be built in this way. One of the many reasons why I was wrong is that the materials available are still not quite good enough. If you scratch a basin that is moulded out of a wall you need a new wall and, if the wall is no longer made, you need a new bathroom. Plastics also age and change colour depending on, well, lots of things. The bathrooms already look like they've had a few skin grafts and it would be almost impossible to match new bits to the old.

The cabins on the Aurora are now looking a bit tatty and are ready for November's refit. It will be easy to decorate the bedrooms, change the carpets and furniture and fettle up the bullet proof German fittings – the bath-wombs are a different matter. Time will tell but I think P&O will have to cut their losses and rip them all out and start again. So Ste, if you're reading this, keep an eye on eBay and look out for an ex-Aurora bathroom for your London flat. With one of these and a few alterations you could end up with enough room in your kitchen to swing both of your cats.

Dave