Azura 1st - 15th September 2018

[MicheleW]

AZURA – A823/824
Here is my report of our 2 weeks on Azura 1st -8th September Hamburg, Amsterdam & Le Havre, followed by Fjords 8th -15th
We had managed to secure the same cabin for both weeks – C231 – so of course had been allocated a 3.30 check-in time. My mother and godmother were also aboard for the first week and had a time of 1.30, being on E deck, so we arranged to meet them at the Ocean Terminal at 12.45, so we help them carry their hand luggage on!! In the end, they were delayed, so we entered the terminal, were directed straight to a check-in desk without being asked for our E-tickets and were on board by 1.30 having lunch in the buffet! The best check-in experience we have had since the new timed procedure was introduced. We had been allocated our preferred dining time of 8.30 – a table for 2 in the Oriental. Mum and Godmother had selected freedom as they prefer to dine a bit earlier – something OH was ever so slightly grateful for!

Sunday 2nd. Sea Day. We all breakfasted together in the Peninsular restaurant and as the weather was so glorious, we sat on the balcony most of the morning and then headed up to the sun deck for the afternoon, grabbing a little something for lunch from the grill on the way up. It was the first formal night & captains welcome aboard party at which we managed to grab a couple of glasses of fizz each. After dinner I made a quick visit to the casino to make my usual donation!

Monday 3rd – Hamburg. We were docked at the Steinwerder cruise terminal and took advantage of the shuttle bus into the centre of the city. After taking pictures of the town hall from several different angles, we walked to Miniaturewonderland. A huge building housing an amazing array of models of cities from all around the world. We hadn’t booked tickets and were told that the earliest available time was 12.30. We weren’t sure whether we would have enough time to do this, but were then offered the alternative of paying and then sitting in the waiting area, where free soft drinks and games are supplied, for our ticket number to come up on one of the screens, when we then be able to go in. We elected to do this and didn’t have to wait longer than 30 minutes. We spent at least a couple of hours here – the best bit was the airport, which has planes taxiing round the airport and even planes landing and taking off! On leaving here we walked on alongside the Elbe, towards the Altona district heading for the old Elbe Tunnel. It has elevators that used to take cars down to pass under the river and then back up the other side. Nowadays it is used by pedestrians and cyclists and takes about 15 minutes to walk through! We then had quite a long walk back to the ship – we could see it, but had to walk a rather long way round to get to it – it probably took us about 30 minutes in very hot weather! But it was a great day out. We got back about 3.00pm and had a late lunch in the Glasshouse. We got our free glass of sailaway fizz and sat on the balcony for the long sail out along the Elbe River. We sailed past some beautiful riverside properties and also a sailing club, where there came over a loud tannoy,”Thank you Azura for visiting the city of Hamburg, we wish you happy sailing” (or words to that effect), followed by our National Antherm – quite moving! Usual evening of Glasshouse, dinner and casino!

Tuesday 4th – Amsterdam.
After breakfast in the restaurant, we went out to the front deck on Deck 8 for the entry into the lock and through to the North Sea Canal. We then sat on our balcony with mum and godmother for the sail up to Amsterdam centre. The barbecue was on offer at lunch time, so we went up on deck for that and sat out in the sun for most of the afternoon. All 4 of us had dinner in the Beach House – sat by a window giving us a fantastic view over Amsterdam! Then OH and I set out to experience the city at night!! It was a beautiful balmy evening; there were lots of people about along with some interesting aromas and sights!!
Wednesday 5th – Amsterdam.
Woke up to rain! After breakfast in the main dining room, we walked up to the station and took the free ferry from just behind the station heading towards Buiksloterweg, and walked about 50 yards to a building called “This is Holland”. Here we purchased tickets for the Cheese, Windmills & Dutch Villages HOHO bus. This cost us 28Euros each. The buses do a circuit stopping at Monnickendam, Henri Willig Cheese farm, Volendam, Edam, Purmerend, Zaanse Schans and finally Zaandam before heading back to the start. , plus you get a little booklet highlighting what there is to see at each stop and what time the last bus departs. There are buses every 45 minutes and you can download an app to your phone, so you can track when the next bus will be along – brilliant! We got off at Edam, (where we bought some cheese!), Zaanse Schans and Zaandam. Mum and Godmother joined us at Edam but then stayed on back to Amsterdam. The whole trip without getting off takes 2 hours. We left Amsterdam at 10.00am and we were back on board by 5.15. Just when the rain stopped! Then Glasshouse, dinner but no casino as it was a late departure from Amsterdam(11.30pm).
Thursday 6th – Sea Day
Another beautiful day, which we spent sunning ourselves again! Had lunch in the main dining room today for a change. Went to the snowball bingo in the afternoon, but didn’t win the jackpot of £2,000.00! Then usual Glasshouse, dinner and casino for yet another donation. It was black and white night and quite a few had made the effort. At dinner, one of the head waiters came and spoke to us and said he noticed that we were staying on for the next cruise and was there a particular table we would like to have. We had been thinking of making a request, so this was quite handy – unfortunately the table we asked for had already been requested, so we had got the one next to it instead!

Friday 7th –Le Havre
We all took the shuttle bus into the town centre where I found a supermarket selling some nice Alsace wines of which I purchased 3 bottles. We then took a tram to the train station and got a taxi to take us to Honfleur, for 60 Euros for the 4 of us. We had a lovely wander around Honfleur in the sunshine, including a go on a Big Wheel there giving us amazing views, before catching a bus back which cost us about 15 Euros for the four of us! We then took the tram back to the town centre and shuttle bus back to the boat. Though I had 3 bottles of wine, these weren’t taken from me, as this was the last day of the cruise and Saturday was disembarkation day – even though we were staying on for the next one! In fact I wanted them to take home anyway, and fortunately mother took a couple of them home with her, along with some of our dirty washing and a couple of pairs of shoes! Talking about shoes – I had real problems with packing for these 2 weeks. With the Fjords being the second half of the fortnight, we had to pack wet weather gear, walking boots as well as warmer clothing, so I had a real dilemma – how would I fit in all my pairs of shoes as well? Of course, being classed as 2 separate cruises, I could just have the same wardrobe for both weeks – but no – why wear just 7 outfits and pairs of shoes, when you can wear 14! And we were planning on self-disembarkation at the end of it all! Anyway, to continue: -
Saturday 8th: Mum and godmother left their hand luggage in our cabin and we went to breakfast together, before they returned to our cabin to freshen up and then made their way to disembark. After waving them off we went down to reception, to exchange our cruise cards for the new ones for the following week and asked if we had to re-register a credit card, but were told that we would not have to. We then suddenly decided to go off and have a quick wander round Southampton and saw Mother again, waiting for their lift! After about an hour in town, we headed back to the terminal and boarded through the crew entrance for part 2 of the cruise.
Please forgive any typos - I only did a quick read through!

[oldbluefox]

Just 14 pairs of shoes Michele? Did you have to cut back?
Thanks for the review. We have never done a cruise to these ports so it made for interesting reading. The model train layout in Hamburg is on my bucket list. It looks and sounds wonderful.

[Jan Rosser]

Thanks for posting this Michele - I did this cruise on Azura with the family at Whitsun half term and really enjoyed it - didn't put together a report I'm afraid so interesting to read what you did. We loved all the ports and had the most amazing weather - looking forward to hearing what you did at Le Havre - we went to Honfleur.

By the way I'm sailing on Azura again on Sunday - packing is underway and the shoe count is getting higher and higher

[Kenmo1]

along with some of our dirty washing

Did your Mum do the dirty washing for you, Michele? Looking forward to the next part of your review. I was getting desperate for something interesting to read instead of Brexit, Brexit, Brexit and your very interesting review popped up at just the right time.

Maureen

[cruisin_duo]

Thank you for posting your review. Enjoying reading about your travels.

[barney]

Thanks for the review Michelle

[MicheleW]

Thanks for you nice comments all - part 2 is on its way.

Hi OBF - Miniaturewonderland was amazing - wish we could have spent longer there!

Jan - we went to Honfleur - beautiful place especially in the lovely weather. Hope you have a lovely cruise - you can never pack too many shoes!

Kenmo -yes, good old Mum did my washing for me, love her!