Before leaving the cabin, or indeed leaving the house, Sarah always ask if she looks OK to go out. I would certainly say something if she didn't , but she has a great sense of how to dress, and I even check with her to see if my selection pass the inspection before I go to meet my public.
Like most cruisers, we have a lot of formal/very smart clothes built up over the years.
But for new cruisers worried it is going to be expensive to look smart, you can look extremely smart without spending a lot.
I mistakenly packed a pair of trousers from George,Asda, it was not until I removed them back in the cabin ,I noticed. But they did look very smart at only £10, you couldn't tell the difference.
Nothing beats sitting in Malta Airport which is rammed full .
Just one hour to the flight.
Nightmare Ray - packed like sardines and the queuing was crazy through passport control - worse since we left EU! My son who lives and works in Luxembourg still has a British passport and finds it a pain entering and leaving the country. Anyway Ray just think about the lovely holiday you’ve just had and breathe
we've just come back from a trip on the Venice Simplon Orient Express. In order to do that we experienced Thameslink, Eurostar, the Paris Metro , Venice water taxis and the flight home ( as well as the VSOE).
It made us realise why we like cruising. The VSOE was wonderful - but it's all the transfers
BUT we'll never complain about the size of cruise ship bathrooms ever again
It has always sounded a fantastic trip on the VSOE, everything being first class service and posh railway carriages, gliding through the country side.
Meg, does it continue to travel through the night ,or are you 'parked' for the night.
Plus Stephen's question.
Just a quick note for Pompey, a fan of the bucket. Sorry to say that I never came across the bucket again Pompey.
We booked this cruise last September through Fred Olsen Travel, four adults and two cabins on C (10) deck, and they looked after everything, we just sat back and relaxed. The original booking had us flying out of Gatwick and I booked the Gatwick Hilton and Gatwick valet parking. Stansted was the departure airport we wanted but had to wait until early this year before booking opened.
We received a call from the TA saying they had got us booked out of Stansted , so it was just a matter to cancel bookings at Gatwick and book into the Stansted meet and greet car park.
Flight was for 0800 delayed by 30 minutes, a quick bite to eat in the Terminal and then onto the Jet two 737 plane arriving just after midday in Malta time.
We were well looked after from airport to checking in, reporting to our muster station and entering our cabin on ship.
The cabin was nice and welcoming as you would expect by our cabin steward. I didn't go round on hands and knees looking for fluff balls as one passenger reported on another cruise forum, but did flush the kettle a few times as I always do , ship or Hotel.
So down to the review.
These are my thoughts on the cruise.
The Captian is Alan Hawkins.
Food.
I was very pleased with the dishes served in the MDR which was in the Oriental Restaurant deck 6 aft.
Presentation on the plate was very good to the eye. The food was well cooked and very tasty, the portions just about right, of cause if you're a big eater you could always ask for more.
I do think that P&O have really upped their game for the MDR from previous post Covid cruises.
The only other restaurant we visited was Sindu of which I have already covered.
The buffet was used a couple of times for a quick snack.
Breakfast was always taken in the resturant, and is still the same menu which gives a good start to the day and again was very good.
Twice we had breakfast on the balcony from a reduced menu, no toast now. It made for a lazy start and filled a hole.
Entertainment.
With temperatures so hot we spent a lot of time on deck in the evenings with various performances.
Top of the performers were the Azura orchestra and Pulse. On deck or down below, we enjoyed their gigs with their range of music that was great to listen to. P&O had a resident 'busker' who we caught a few times and was OK.
Unfortunately, the resident pianist who played in the Blue Bar hit the keys way to loud for a pre-dinner drink in the lounge and also sang. Previous pianists have been very good in the blue bar, but I did not enjoy this one.
In the theatre we watched the Privateers billed as a folk and shanty trio. Again we enjoyed their performance but not much in the way of shanties.
Went once to the Headliners in the theatre, but having been to their show many times over the years decided to take in other venues.
On top deck the silent disco was quite funny to watch when the participants started to dance or sing. It took a while to get them going and dancing in their different ways, but the noise was something else, louder than if it was a normal disco.
Eternal Valentines were a duo and I found them pleasant to listen to.
Joe Sax and DJ Haze, now I did enjoy Joe on the Sax, there is something about a Sax, you add a Sax to a group and you have a band. Joe was very versatile with the tunes he played.
We went to the theatre to see Drew Colby purely out of interest, couldn't believe we sat for 40 minutes of it. He was a hand shadow performer and whilst no doubt he is good at what he does, I do think it was more suited for children and not prime time in the theatre.
Swimming pools.
Our first week was the last week of school holidays, so if you wanted to get a few lengths in it was best early in the morning.
Our second week was quieter with just a handful of school children, the pools were much better and you could take the plunge comfortably.
Azura.
I do love Azura and have sailed on her many times. It was a disappointment when cruising resumed after covid and cruise lines were experiencing difficulty in getting crew and getting them up to standard. Food and service fell short of what pasengers expected, though having said that, we did enjoy the cruises.
Now it's totally different, food and service vastly improved, waiters in the lounge's and on deck so much more happier I found.
The ship was in good order other than the bucket on a couple of occasions catching drips, it happens on all cruise ships, but generally no complaints about the ship. Point to note, I'm on holiday to enjoy myself, so unless something jumps to my attention , I'm not going out of my way to find fault.
Ports visited.
Taranto
Corfu
Cephalonia
Catania
Valletta
Piraeus
Mykonos
Heraklion
Souda Bay
A nice selection of ports, of which only 3 or 4 we had been to before.
We used the Ho Ho bus a few times to look around or shanks pony. We got to see enough to make it most enjoyable but the heat did drain you being 30c every day, it did mean people watching from the the comfort of the cafe/bars longer than normal.
Disembarking the ship for the airport was very smooth, straight off the ship and on to the coach, the cases collected the night before and you meet up with them once back in Britain .
So would I recommend P&O to friends, no problem at all especially on Azura if it's your first cruise..
Well done if you made it to the end of my summing up, if you have anything you want to know about the cruise or ship I will try to answer.
Next cruise ,January.
That's all folks.
Thank you for that interesting review Ray Great to read your comments regarding the food
Regarding the cabin am I right in that they still have a curtain and a fixed shower head ?
I read that some balcony cabins have a bath with shower over....do you know if that is in the larger deluxe balcony cabins ?
Maybe booking the Azura for late November /early December ( Canaries ) for a cruise with friends.
Yes Pompey, the shower heads are fixed, at least they have been in all the cabins on Azura I've been in, and plastic curtains
Most reliable form of showering where the public shower, are fixed heads. Flexible shower leads tend to get twisted or stretched in these situations and they are also a devil of a job to keep clean.
Never had a bath whilst on Azura. Maybe Mervy can help as he stayed in cabins on Deck 9 I believe.
If you have never been on Azura, I think you will enjoy her. Having said that, my next cruise is with Ambassador as they are going our next favorite place.
Looks very likely I'll be booking for a bit later this year ...probably deck C or deck B . I know Barney (& maybe you ?) have a preference for deck C and wonder if there is a reason as deck B seems to be ok as well....there are still plenty of cabins on deck A,B,C on the dates I'm looking at.
Don't see any details of airport departure times so I presume you get them when you've made the booking ?
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