Just back from fly-cruise to Malta, taking in the Greek islands, Italy, Croatia and Montenegro.
Fabulous itinerary which is what attracted us to this cruise on Azura.
Although, on embarking we were informed our first port of call, Mykonos was cancelled due to the weather forecast predicting rough seas for a tender transfer, this was a disappointing start to the cruise as it had been one of our highlight ports.
Heraklion didn’t prove a great alternative unfortunately.
The cabin B729 was spacious but a little dated.
The shower lacked any power but was usable.
We did have a problem when in the cabin as whenever we docked or departed at the eleven ports, the thrusters caused a great deal of noise and vibration, which woke us up much earlier than we would have liked, one example being at 2:00am!!
The Azura has a really good layout opposed to some of the larger ships, I.e Iona which we sailed on last September.
Days at sea we still managed to get sun beds even though there was a lot of ‘reserving’ with towels and not using the seats for several hours!
The entertainment was really good, most nights we went to the theatre.
Peter Howarth from The Hollies was brilliant and the magic show created by Stephen Mulhern was exceptional.
It did pay to get to the theatre early as seats were quickly taken on the first show each night.
We were on first sitting in the dining room and although we felt a little rushed to finish some nights, we enjoyed the experience, although the food was a little ‘samey’ each night with little choice if you didn’t want meat every night.
We didn’t go to the speciality dining areas as we feel you are already paying for good food.
Some of the people from our table of 8 did decide on several nights over the fortnight to go to the buffet for more variety.
Drinks were reasonably priced, much the same as in a pub here.
The staff were all very friendly and our cabin steward Peter was very diligent and always smiling.
All in all we had a lovely cruise, however it may be a while before we choose to fly to Malta again, as our return flight proved a nightmare.
We had to be out of our cabin by 8:00am, fair enough.
Our transfer to the airport was 11:15am for a 1:35 flight, again ok.
However on getting to the airport, check in was ok, then once through to departure the flight status showed delayed.
We eventually got told that we would be some time as the plane only set off from Gatwick at 12:30pm.
After more than three hours with only a message to collect a meal voucher, which some passengers missed, we were through to the boarding area only to wait again.
We actually took off more than four hours late, after being kept stood on the bus waiting to board the plane and watching luggage being dropped onto the tarmac before being put onto the flight.
It wouldn’t have been so bad if we could have got a hot drink, food and maybe duty free whilst we were flying, but apparently the passengers on the flight out ha eaten and drunk everything, and there had been no time to replenish! All in all we were something like seventeen hours from leaving our cabin for the last time and putting the key in our door at home.
Not the best way to end a lovely holiday.