14 Nights Mediterranean Cruise

Fantastic cruise throughout

We have just returned from a Med cruise on Azura and we loved it. Gorgeous ship, friendly staff and fabulous food . It has had a refurb of public rooms but cabins were a bit dated- no problem though - they were spotlessly clean. . Mixture of ages but attention was given to providing something and somewhere for everyone.. Shows were especially stunning and packed every night. Great ports, though Rome, Puglia, Sicily and Livorno were big container ports and the excursions weren’t all that great. Loved Corfu, Cephalonia, and Corsica. Valetta is unique and stunning. We are planning another cruise on Azura but this time Miss out Italy and her huge ports. We were in a balcony cabin on B deck - ,we may choose C or D deck next time for a bit more space. This was our 10th cruise - 8 with P&O . I do miss lovely little Oceana though . - my first love!

Enjoyed every Moment- good itinerary

This was our fifth cruise on Azura and the first ' post re-fit ' . We had an inside cabin A Deck midship, carpets were new, as was the desk chair, and the wash basin unit in pristine white with an actual ' plug ' rather than the old style plunger. Beds were comfortable great nights sleep the whole week, perhaps aided by calm seas, although never had any problems sailing on Azura, when windy. Captain Karl was fine, but always always enjoy Captain Neil Turnbull, P&O no 1 captain in our opinion. We dined in the Peninsula for most of our dining, waiters knew us from previous cruises, we asked maitre'd could be have the same table and this was no problem. We found the menus updated from the February cruise, always something we liked. The second formal night we opted out, as this was the menu that was not to our taste - so to the ' glass house ' which was very good as always. We had one lunch in the buffet, and always go for the ' salad ' with the cold meats. Entertainment - just went to one ' Headliners ' night, which we enjoyed. Gym - All new ' Technogym ' equipment and the carpets new too. On Azura ( and Ventura ) there are separate male and female sauna/steam rooms, unlike the new ships where one has to pay the extra !!. Good to note the male sauna has the new unit and is working fine as well as the steam.. As we travelled outside school holidays- just a handful of pre school passengers on board, the reserving of sunbeds was not as pandemic as previous cruises, but yes does still exist. Ports :- Athens - from the port walk strait ahead for 50yards - Bus 843 - pay with debit card on entry 1 eu/20c, for 6 stops, train station is up on the left... get a return ticket 2 eu, an get off at ' Monastiri ' - from there we waked up the hill !!! quite steep to circumnavigate the Acropolis. ( we had been before ) so did not book a ticket ( these are timed ) if you want to go to experience the monument. Instead we walked up Philipo Hill opposite where the coaches park, for the good views of the Acropolis, then down to Hadrian's arch, and then through the Plaka- coffee/cake stop, on route back to Monastiri station' Kusadasi - We did the P&O tour '' Ephesus on your own ' - just walked down to pick up the coach at the allotted time. Rhodes - Too windy for Azura to pull into port so a sea day added, accept that the weather rules. Heraklion - Bus station is a 5 min walk, we took the bus to Agios Nikolaus.. 1 hr 45 mins !!! sit on the left for lovely coastal views. Lunch by the marina, then walked to to harbour and then up the steep steps - to the bus station for the 1,30pm return. Buses are every hour - on the half hour each way - 7eu each way. Do make sure you know where the bus station is, as Ag Nik is quite a large town, not the village it once was. Did we enjoy our cruise .. YES YES ........ super team on board, always enjoy the peninsula restaurant... and will return on Azura in January !!! please do not listen to the moaners and groaners perhaps they should try RSS, or RCL... we will stay with P&O.

Traditional Cruising Still Exists

AZURA REVIEW It's important when giving a high score to provide some context. If you had just jumped off a RC or MSC mega ship and loved it. You would probably be very disappointed with Azura. Also, if your previous cruise was on a premium cruiseline. You may also be disappointed with Azura. However, if you like traditional cruising at an affordable price. You will be highly satisfied. The main dining room, entertainment and decor where in keeping with the age of ship and price point. Entertainment is cruiseship standard. There is a reason why the are not working on Broadway or the west end and watching them is free. And that Is the context. I was able to bring the equivalent of three bottles of wine on board. Which meant we had enough wine for each dinner of the cruise - Excellent Embarkation was very smooth and only took a few minutes - Excellent As a Christian, travelling on a tour of St Paul's missionary journey. Having a Bible in the cabin was brilliant - Excellent On some ships, even the top suites don't have a walk in wardrobe. With the cabin design on Azura and Ventura, it is Standard - Excellent. I don't like cruiseship buffets. However, the Azura provided one of the least painful buffet experiences I've had. Always easy to find a place to sit and even the ‘latenight snacks’ had hot cooked food. The Azura didn't seem to handle groups very well. Despite having a group of almost 50, they only offered us a corner of a restaurant to meet. In fact we had to persuade them to even give us the corner of the restaurant There was no app or any way to communicate with fellow group members or family. Again probably down to the age of the ship. However, i do think p&o could figure out a away to use same aeroplane mode WiFi, so people can communicate. The online cruise planner was fairly good. But I found it very difficult to login without the QR code on theTV screen in the cabin. The QR code was not displayed anywhere else in the cabin or ship. Silent disco was awesome. Unlike on a mega ship we went on. There seemed to be an unlimited amount of headphones. Also, the free WiFi for an hour was a really nice gesture. There was wifi at every port or roaming. So all you needed for each roommate or Spouse to use the free hour on each Sea day and you would have Internet every day - Excellent Probably my favourite aspect of this ship was the promenade deck. It served 4 purposes, found on bigger or more modern ships. Walking/Running Track A Park for a walk or sit A Balcony Deck chair for relaxation Excellent + The entertainment was ok. I found some of the acts did too much talking between songs. You had to arrive 25 minutes early for each show, to get a seat. The audience were very subdued. The performers deserved a bit more than that. However Leanne Jarvis (The voice Runner up) was outstanding and Adele standard 10/10 - but still didn't get a stand up from a very reserved audience. I will review the ports separately. Long excursions i would do through the cruiseline for safety. I won't enjoy my day, if I feel there is slight chance I will miss the ship. I will pay the extra for peace of mind.