Just a quick thank you for your replies - as you have said, it was very straight forward and well organised.
As for the cruise itself, good and not so good, mostly down to us being pensioners before our time! We are late 50's and found that there were few quiet places around the ship, music was piped into the MDR and buffet which we felt was a bit too much, spoilt the chance of conversation between fellow cruisers, but as I say, that is just our opinion.
Food we thought was good, I am Coeliac so I always have some restrictions, but we successfully ate in the buffet, MDR, Sindhu and Beach House, which apart from the odd bad choice, were all good.
Bar sevice we thought was lacking, definitely a lack of bar stewards around, and if we wanted a drink, more often than not would have to go to the bar itself - not a hardship but different to how it has been before, where you were constantly asked. I did find that if I went to the bar, I was ignored in favour of the men and some were gentlemen who insisted that I were there first, others were not! In the MDR, we were often asked by the waiters if we wanted bar drinks, and they did arrive promptly, however, there was a limited selection.
We only did 2 excursions, a catamaran trip in Santorini, which was excellent and a trip to the Acropolis from Piraeus - this was ok, not the best guide but something ticked off the bucket list.
The weather was good, allbeit too hot for us at between 27 and 30 odd each day, and some ports were very crowded, which didn't help - the tender queue in Santorini was pretty bad, with an hour wait in the blazing sun.
Entertainment - we saw 2 Headliner shows which were very good, and Soul Kind Of Wonderful, we left before the encore as had had enough! The rest didn't appeal, and to be honest, the heat took it's toll so we were often tucked up with a book by 10.30 (we know how to live!).
All in all, it was a good cruise, would we go back on Azura, probably not but I can see the attraction for those who are younger, or act younger than us! We did book another cruise on boad for 2025 on Arcadia, big birthday and wedding anniversary, 3 weeks to Iceland and the North Cape. We accept that we may not get into all the ports if the weather is bad, but will be keeping everything crossed.
Oh and face clothes - not in the cabin, but only had to ask the cabin steward once, and there were a plentiful supply every day
