Azura A301N - to Amsterdam 7th-10th January

#1

Apologies for long-windedness – tried to keep it short – honest!!

Travelling as party of 3: myself, mum and (fairy) godmother

We arrived at Southampton at 12.30 and found ourselves in a large holding queue to get to the drop-off area and once in departure lounge we were given red letter L embarkation cards - they were currently on green T! When we were called to check-in for some reason the passport was playing up and they were calling red letter R by the time is was fixed. Still, we made up a bit of ground by ducking under the tensa barriers to avoid the embarkation photo! On board by 2.00pm to find the Christmas decorations still up – very nice, but P&O obviously aren't superstitious! As we headed up to Venezia for lunch they announced the cabins were ready, so I whizzed down to drop the hand luggage & suit carrier off, scooping up my bag which I found in the corridor on the way! Cabin was A615. Plenty of room for the 3 of us including plenty of storage for my 7 pairs of shoes, but only 2 sets of everything, so asked our steward for 1 more of everything when he came to introduce himself. (Although he brought the cup and glass fairly quickly, it wasn't actually until the following morning that we got the extra towels!) At Muster, Captain Keith Dowds gave quite a speech about Norovirus and procedures to follow to hopefully keep it at bay before the safety talk began. Then I went up to Breakers bar to get my free glass of bubbly which I took back to the cabin to enjoy on the balcony. Then ready for the first evening – smart/casual we headed off for a pre-dinner drink in The Glass House before heading to the Meridian restaurant. I prefer club dining, but Freedom was ideal this time, as FG doesn't like to eat late and I don’t like to eat early. It was fairly quiet and we were seated straight away on a table for 4 and service was excellent. I had prawn cocktail, plaice, Pavlova and cheese. Mum & FG then headed off to see the show whilst I headed for the casino where I managed to lose £50.00 in about an hour! I left the table promising to return to get my revenge the following night – only to be told they wouldn't be open on Tuesday as we were in Amsterdam. Well, revenge is a dish best served cold, so they say!
TUESDAY
I was up at 7.30 Tuesday morning and set off to do a few laps round the prom. deck and found the place to be deserted – even the smokers hadn't ventured out yet! I did approximately 4 laps (hard to be precise, when part of your route takes you back indoors, past the entrance to the Playhouse and back out the other side to continue the circuit), and then joined up with the others for breakfast in the Oriental restaurant. We then watched the transition from North Sea into Canal through the lock – the best view was from the forward facing open deck space on E deck, accessed through doors right at the front of the deck. There were only about 6/7 people out here. Then it was a gentle sail into Amsterdam, during which time we enjoyed lunch in the Peninsula restaurant. As we've been to Amsterdam before and Mum was having difficulty walking we went on an organised tour on arrival on the Tuesday afternoon. This took us out of Amsterdam into the countryside through quaint villages, past pretty windmills with a stop at a hotel for refreshments. The guide was excellent, explaining about the building of dykes to reclaim the land from the sea and the constant pumping of water into the North Sea. This was followed by a visit to a cheese farm with the opportunity to taste and then purchase a variety of Dutch cheeses. As we weren't back until 6.00pm, we headed straight to the restaurant once we were ready (another smart/casual) and were seated on a table for 8 with 2 other couples travelling together. Another enjoyable meal, although the service was nowhere as slick as the previous nights, and we ended up having to go to the second showing of the Headliners ‘Destination Dance’ in the Playhouse. It was here that I caught my first sighting of the infamous Monocled Mutineer!

WEDNESDAY
Woke to pouring rain and went out to do a few laps of the prom deck before breakfast in the Oriental again. I decided to make the most of the last few hours in Amsterdam and walked the 15 minutes into the city. I spent some time in a large department store, checking out the shoes, before nipping out the back doors into Dam Square, where I took a couple of photos of the Royal Palace, before deciding that I was wet enough and headed back to the ship just in time for coffee which we enjoyed in Java with a couple of cakes! Then after an early lunch in the Peninsula, we headed off to the Manhattan show lounge to watch The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Not the best venue for showing a film as there are too many seats without a good view of the screen and it was not really big enough considering that we there were over 3000 passengers on board. The final evening was formal, so we donned our glad rags and headed up to the Planet Bar for a drink (or 2 in my case!) We had decided to request a table for just the 3 of us for the last night, but were told there would be a 45 minute wait, so decided to share again. We sat with a mother and her daughter-in-law and another couple on a table for 8 and had a brilliant evening – helped along with a nice bottle of wine! It was whilst en-route to the Manhattan show lounge that I spotted the Monocled Mutineer and, rather embarrassingly, introduced myself to him! (Apologies to Mr Kane). We then watched a variety show, featuring comedian Rudi West and Matthew Byrne as Robbie Williams, but sadly to say, I had to drag myself away for a prior engagement at the casino to try and regain my losses of Monday. It was really busy in Brodies, which shares the same space as the casino, due to the Karaoke being held there, and I was fortunate enough to catch Mr Kane’s excellent rendition of The Days of Pearly Spencer. I also managed to walk away £30.00 up overall, so was very happy! It was fairly late when I got back to the cabin and the others were in bed though not asleep – Mother still waiting up for me – that took us both back a few years!!!

There are several things about Azura that don’t appeal to me (ie. the Seascreen, Manhattan, the promenade deck is awful), and a couple of things that do (the Glasshouse and the Planet Bar), but although I prefer the mid-size ships, there is something about Azura that I quite like and I would be quite happy to do a longer cruise on her.

#2

Sounds like you had a good time Michele.

Thanks for taking the time to report.

The short cruises are a great way to sample a ship (or size of ship in your case) and to help decide whether you wish to sail on her again.

Just a quick question...why so FEW shoes - I thought you would have taken a couple more pairs...just in case!

#3

Hi Michelle, its nice to see you would try Azura again. It really is our favourite ship (This mini cruise affirmed it) although I can understand why mid size ships appeal to you. I didn't see MM although I spoke to people who did! shame as I would have spoken to him if I had. P.S I took Six pairs of shoes and Four pairs of boots.

#4

Rob,

I am trying to 'travel light' when it comes to shoes now

Though just wait until October

#5

I was fortunate enough to catch Mr Kane’s excellent rendition of The Days of Pearly Spencer.
Still singing this one then... Definitely his party piece along with the Beatles When I'm Sixty Four! Heard both quite a lot when we were on Ventura for the GE last July - quite the showman isn't he

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