P & O Azura – Inaugural Cruise

Everyone has a different idea of what luxury means to them. An offering of contemporary and indulgent ambience. Impressive service. Outstanding levels of comfort. Fine dining with elegant formal evenings.
Since our first voyage many years ago, the cruising experience has improved immensely, providing many new features but still maintaining the old and well loved traditions, and P&Oƒ??s newest fleet addition Azura is no exception. 115,000 tons, 3,100 passengers, 1,226 crew and 19 decks. She is the sister ship of the Ventura and was named by Darcy Bussel at a no expenses spared ceremony in Southampton on 10 April, with P&O management, celebrities, travel agents, and gold tier cruisers experiencing a spectacular overnight stay onboard.
Our Azura story started in April 2008; we had never experienced a maiden cruise and therefore made our booking a year in advance. You can then enjoy the choice of cabins, 1st or 2nd sitting for dinner and extras that may be offered such as free parking and on board credit.

Why a maiden voyage?

Many regular cruisers tend to stay clear of maidens as they would rather cruise later in the inaugural season, when any teething problems have been corrected but this inaugural seemed devoid of any major problems and was a very memorable experience. Letƒ??s face it P&O have been doing them for 160 years.
Our accommodation was excellent, a balcony cabin on B deck. Azura offers a range of state rooms from spacious suites, deluxe balcony, outside and inside cabins, together with a number of state rooms suitable for disabled passengers. She is the first ship in the fleet to have single cabins.

On our tour of this vast ship, built in Fincantieri (Italy) we discovered an array of new and innovative ideas ƒ?? Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochharƒ??s fine dining venue Sindhu and the Glass House, a restaurant and wine venue with fine wines selected by expert and extrovert Olly Smith.
Azura has three main restaurants (Peninsular, Oriental and Meridian) offering four-course silver service dining with restaurant Seventeen providing a venue for that special occasion.
The casual style Venezia and Verona buffet for breakfast and lunch is also available in the evening when the Verona becomes a Trattoria restaurant and the Venezia is a themed buffet area. Food is also available from the Poolside Grill and Pizzeria between 13:00 and 19:00.

Children will be in their element on board. The Sea Bed (for toddlers), the Beach Hut (2-4 year olds), Frontiers (5-8), the Hub (9-12) and Apartment 16 (13-17).
The superb two-tier Playhouse Theatre seats 800 with three performances each evening. The players work hard. Amazingly in times gone by Broadway offered up to five shows per day. Get to the theatre early. It does fill up!
For those passengers who like to be pampered you will be surprised with the expansive Spa Retreat and fitness areas at the front of the ship.
The shipƒ??s pub is Brodieƒ??s, named after Brodie McGhie Willcox (1786-1862), the co-founder of the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) and a Liberal Member of Parliament. This popular area was well used and at times very crowded with passengers watching live sports, playing pool or playing the machines, roulette, black jack or poker in the adjoining casino.
Manhattan and Malabar were well utilized areas for lectures, classical recitals, dancing and general music venues.

The Atrium is the hub, around which are numerous shops, the library and internet centre, reception, coffee lounge, cruise sales with the central floor area for dance classes and dancing. I feel that this area is far too ƒ??busyƒ?, selecting a book in the library to the music of the line dancing class, (two to the right, two to the left then clap your hands!) or maybe wishing to have a quiet moment having a coffee.
If you venture to the photo gallery or the walk through art gallery, but definitely the shop area, you become a P&O merchandising opportunity with trays of trinkets and sale items. Watch the wife. You only have to offer your cruise card . It does not seem so cash draining!

The cinematic experience on Azura is special, a large outside screen suspended above one of the three pools on the ship. Bars there are a plenty.
The evening entertainment on board was wide and varied, trying to cater for all tastes. An array of stars were lined up for the cruise including Ronnie Corbett, Brian Conley, Kev Orkian, Clair Sweeny, Adrian Walsh, Westenders, John Martin, Gary Wilmot and Mike Alexandra. Owing to problems with flights due to the dust cloud from the Icelandic volcano, Russell Watson and Donald Sinden were unable to join the ship.
The shows from the Headliners Theatre Company was excellent, a talented group of multi-talented singers, actors and dancers who performed three shows; Destination Music, Blame it on the Boogie and When Swing was King. The versatile team of 14 included Valerie Murzak, a speciality artiste who amazed audiences with her fantastic acrobatic skills.
Azura is a worthy edition to the P&O fleet, P&O is proud of its history.