Portugal & Spain 15 – 25 Oct 2014

This was our 12th cruise but first time with P&O. What took us so long? How impressed were we? How did it compare to other cruises? What was good? (and not so good?) And would we sail with P&O again?

Embarkation was very quick ƒ?? dropped off the car to CPS at Southampton Dock, straight up to the check-in desk and on-board within 20 minutes. Couldnƒ??t be better! Weƒ??d booked at quite short notice with a ƒ??Guarantee Cabinƒ? fare so, although we knew our cabin grade and stateroom number (good), the dining arrangements were not to be confirmed until we were on-board and this could not be changed (not so good). Unfortunately we were assigned to 2nd sitting which at 8.30 – 8.45pm was way too late for us. But you pays your money and takes your choice so we couldnƒ??t really complain. We had a deluxe balcony cabin which came with full bathroom (i.e. bath and shower); very spacious with bedroom and separate lounge area; good wardrobe space; safety box in a sensible position; large balcony; Champagne (and I mean real Champagne!) on ice; kettle and mugs for tea/coffee; large fridge that didnƒ??t have all the mini-bar paraphernalia; use of binoculars and atlas. The only disappointment was the rather dull bedside lamps ƒ?? useless for reading. Our steward, Sam, was professional, efficient, discrete and polite in every way.

Now ƒ?? late booking = lack of research into ship and size of. 3,000 passengers! But, even so, surely a vessel of Azuraƒ??s size should cope better with the challenges of the Bay of Biscay! Never before have I seen so many ƒ??Motion Discomfort Bagsƒ? displayed ƒ??ƒ?? and in use.

Once we got to Lisbon, however, it was a different story and that was where the holiday began for us. At all the ports of call ƒ?? Lisbon, Gibraltar, Malaga, Cadiz and La Coruna ƒ?? we had great weather and the journey back to Southampton wasnƒ??t anything like as choppy as weƒ??d encountered the week before.

?œ3 per person each way for the shuttle bus in Lisbon and Malaga was a bit steep but, again, it was part of the ƒ??Guarantee Cabinƒ? deal ƒ?? otherwise the service would have been ƒ??freeƒ? (but paid for in the fare). We did not take any shore excursions on this cruise but all the ports were easy to explore on foot or by local hop-on/hop-off bus tours.

As we only ate in the Venezia and Verona buffets, our comments regarding the food are hardly likely to be representative of Azuraƒ??s full potential. Whatever the time of day, it was hard work to find vacant seats/tables and perhaps the rules that apply to saving sunbeds should also cover the saving of seats in the buffet. However, breakfast in these locations was consistently good but I wish Iƒ??d never discovered those chocolate muffins!! Delicious! Great coffee too. There was different themed buffet fare on each evening, of varying standards, but the Indian and the Carvery nights were the best of the bunch. Overall I think weƒ??d award 6 out of 10 for food quality. The crew here seemed a little subdued ƒ?? hard to get them to smile or engage with them at all. Hand sanitizers were well located; sometimes the mugs and plastic ƒ??glassesƒ? showed lipstick marks.

The bottom line is always how much it cost and, a few moans aside, we felt we did get value for money on this cruise and are very likely to book with P&O again (and I still donƒ??t know why it took us so long) ƒ??ƒ?? but on a smaller ship.

Thanks, as always, to the staff at Bolsover Cruise Club for their excellent service and super-efficient staff!