Overall impression of the Azura

To be honest the whole party (there were 12 of us of which 8 are regular cruisers) were disappointed with the standards of service on this trip. It is obvious that the costs cutting measures by P & O are having an impact.
The decor on the Azura is tired and there does not appear to be enough bar and food outlets (and staff) in relation to the numbers of passengers leading to long waits for service at the tables and even longer at the bars. We also had to queue for our second sitting in the restaurant which was most undignified and certainly did not impress the new cruisers among us! Often the service at the table was incredibly slow both for drinks and food. The staff were often often surly and unhelpful. Most unusual as compared with previous cruises on Arcadia and Oriana. It appeared that as there tips were guaranteed there was no incentive to be attentive- sad really.
Off the back of this the drinks were noticeably dearer- they should have been free to compensate for the service.
In fact the only plus point was the cabin which was first class- even if we struggled to sleep due to several noisy hen parties!
Overall our opinion was that this was an expensive booze cruise for many and we have been more impressed on cross channel ferries!!
Certainly we will be avoiding the Azura and Ventura in future as I simply do not believe that the smaller ships can be as bad as this!