Review Azura Xmas/New Year

REVIEW AZURA 2016 XMAS / NEW YEAR CRUISE

We are a couple in our mid 50s and have cruised many times before mainly P&O and Princess, Celebrity (x2) and Norwegian (x1). Last Christmas we were on Britannia, and have previously done Caribbean cruises at this time of year on Azura and Ventura.

This cruise was different for us as we flew to New Orleans, then cruised to Florida Keys and San Juan, before the Caribbean islands and ending in Barbados. Some folks were on a 4 week cruise having arrived 2 weeks before us (lucky things). We were really looking forward to visiting places we’d never been to before, and having some sun and relaxation.

I’ll say here that we don’t “do” the entertainment or shows, the pools or sunbeds and we don’t tend to eat now in the specialty restaurants (last twice we’ve done these we were both disappointed). I know this probably makes us sound boring, but our cruises are mainly for us to relax and read, enjoy the warm weather, and spend time together. We always have a balcony cabin and spend most of our time sitting out here, something that I so look forward to doing when we book the cruise.

I’ll write my review under headings so you can pick ad choose what you want to read – or not. I’ll apologise now as I just know it’s going to be long. Sorry.

FLIGHT:

Charter flight from Birmingham on Thomson. At the airport the staff informed us that an hour before they’d been told that our luggage would go straight from plane to ship and would be next seen in our cabin. This is usual practice for Barbados, but as it was USA, I’d expected that we’d have to collect cases and go through customs / immigration etc, so this was a real bonus. We were asked by different 3 staff before we got to check-in if we had our ESTAs (we had), as they said there was about 50 folks on this flight who hadn’t done theirs. Oops.

We’d booked our seats at £20pp each way, and although its an extra cost, I’m much happier knowing where I’m sitting and we got seats on the side (2-4-2 arrangement). Previous experience has been that Premuim passengers turn left and the rest of us go right. On this plane we also turned left (although we weren’t in premium class). Up front there were the premium seats, then 5 or 6 rows of economy seats, separated by a curtain. In the middle row of 4, there was no “wall” to separate off the premium cabin, just a short curtain that was drawn across after take off. Unfortunately, when the curtain was drawn, it covered the top half the TV screens of economy passengers, so that caused a bit of an issue. It wasn’t so much as a separate cabin of premium seats, but just the rows up front with a bit more room (and the usual “extras” of drinks etc).

The same style plane was used on the return flight, but I noticed that the short curtain in front of the 4 seats in the middle was no longer there. Better for the folks on those seats wanting to watch their TV screens anyway. The seats were quite narrow and John found his particularly uncomfortable on the return journey. I thought the leg room was good, although my hand bag was under the seat in front which restricted my feet a little. I was cold on the way out even in my fleece, and John said he was really cold on the return by the window.

On the way out we were given a pair of earphones which we had to keep for the return, and a newspaper, pillow and blanket was on each seat for the return overnight. When I asked for a blanket going out, I was told they’d all gone, so my advice is to ask to one as soon as you get on if you tend to get chilly.

The flight out felt really long and we were flying into a strong head wind, while coming back was much quicker at around 8 hours 20 mins. Meals were included and water / tea & coffee with meals, but other drinks were paid for. It was £5 for two teas!

We landed in New Orleans at 7.10pm, and as we were among the first ones off the plane, we went through immigration quickly - didn’t have to show the ESTA - but got all fingers and eyes scanned, then on the bus to the ship. We were in our cabin at 8.15pm. My last experience of entering the USA was 3 hours to get through the “system” in Los Angeles, so I was delighted with this experience. Luggage took much longer though.…arrived at 11.30pm. By that time I just wanted my bed and sleep. As I’d packed the anti-bacterial wipes in my bag, we gave the cabin the “once over”, especially cleaning those places that I’m sure don’t get cleaned very often, such as door handles, lights switches and the TV remote.

CABIN:

We’d chosen our cabin on C deck mid ship, as we love the larger balcony. The cabin stewards were nowhere in sight when we arrived, having long since packed up for the night. I’d asked for non-feather bedding due to allergy, and this had been done fortunately.

I’ll include here how we found our cabin experience and our steward. I was a bit “miffed” when we arrived (probably made worse by being so tired) to find a number of Issues:

- The balcony dividing door was unlocked to the next cabin and was left open. I assume that the previous guests had asked for it to be opened, but I would have expected this would be locked before we arrived.

- The plug socket above the desk by the phone was hanging off the wall and should not have been left in that condition as it was potentially dangerous.

- One bedside light didn’t work (needed new bulb).

OK I appreciate that the stewards have a lot to do on turn around day, but she could hardly miss the plug socket hanging off the wall and should have made sure that was sorted. I wrote a list to remind me to remind her the next day, and added a few things that I usually ask for when we cruise. These are:

- Change shower curtain. I know it’s probably just me but the curtain always seems to be “manky” at the bottom. Speaking of bottoms, there is not much room in the shower and its difficult to move without “hugging” the curtain. I’ll rest my case there and say no more. I now always ask for a clean curtain.

- Extra bar of soap (to keep in shower).

- Ice bucket in the morning, Don’t need ice in the evening thank you.

- Please remove drinks from fridge / counter top. Gives us the space for our own stuff.

When we met the steward the following morning, I asked her about the things on my list (at my age unless I make a list I forget), and she took my list with her as a reminder. John reiterated that the plug socket was potentially dangerous and needed fixing soon please.

Over the next few days, our steward was hit and miss: The balcony dividing door was locked and the shower curtain replaced, but the socket was still hanging off the wall; Bulb not replaced - so for the first couple of days John had to do without a bedside light as he’s moved the working bulb to my side bless him; No extra soap; and No ice. The sugar sachets were only replaced when there were only 2 or 3 left (I thought we were going to have to get some ourselves from the buffet) and biscuits didn’t always get stocked up.

One morning I asked her about the socket and the lamp, and her response was “well I’ve reported it” in a sharp tone, as if that was the end of the matter. When nothing had been done by 4pm that day, I took matters into my own hands and went to Reception. They said they didn’t know about the issues, but would send someone up. When we returned from dinner that evening, the plug socket was now firmly fixed to the wall – “hurrah” - but no working lamp - “booo”. A call to Reception and I even offered to do it myself if they gave me a bulb, but we got the man back to the cabin again 10 minutes later. He said “I’ve been in here earlier”, and we said “yes we know. Thank you for fixing the socket”. He then said he didn’t know about the bulb otherwise he could have done both at the same time! You have to laugh.

I had to remind our steward about the extra soap and the ice, and then we started to get ice in the evening and not in the morning. At that point I’m sorry to say that I started to think that she was probably the worst steward we’d ever had in all of our cruises, and we were now on day 4.

We don’t get up early and generally left the cabin between 10 and 10.30am for breakfast. A couple of times she’d done our cabin before we returned, but other days we were among the last to be done around 1pm, which we didn’t have a problem with. We went to dinner usually between 6.40 and 7.10pm, and we put the “Make up Room” card out whenever we went out in the morning and evening. We’re not ones for evening entertainment or shows, so we generally returned to the cabin after dinner. I love to sit out on the balcony in my PJs after dinner, listening to the sound of the sea and looking at the stars. That’s my entertainment. Our stewards in the past have got used to our times and our routine (I’d put the “Resting” card in the door when we returned after dinner), but I felt that she didn’t really get used to us.

One evening in our second week, I waved to her as we went to dinner around 6.45pm, and when we returned around 8.30pm, our cabin hadn’t been done. We went away and returned later and she’d just started it. So we hung around by the lifts until she’d finished which was now 9.15pm. OK so its not the end of the world and its no big deal, but it just irritated me a bit as this had never happened in all our cruises before, and if I’d been a steward, I’d be more aware of my passengers routine. On the 2nd night, the “Resting / Make up Room” card went AWOL during the night, never to return. It took 3 or 4 days before we got a new one as I was told “we don’t have any”. I find it very strange that a ship doesn’t have spare cards as it’s not something they can buy in port! One turned up 3 days later though.

However I will say in her defense, that after day 4, it was just as if a lightbulb had gone on and our steward improved considerably. Maybe she hadn’t been feeling well initially but she redeemed herself in my book (give or take the odd niggle). When she smiled her face lit up and she was lovely to talk to.

The TV was a bit “steam driven” but you generally got there in the end. I noticed a few days in that our OBC hadn’t been applied (we’d booked Select Fare so should have had £70pp OBC), so I visited Reception who advised me to see the Loyalty staff, as there was nothing on their system saying we had it. I had to wait until the next day and spoke with Chris, who I must admit was very good. Long story short:

• He emailed my TA (as he said we should have it as Select Fare) saying they “just need to put the code in and then its sorted.” WRONG.

• Took Thomas Cook 5 days to reply to him (OK I make allowances for weekend / holidays). Message basically said there was nothing they could / would do as “I’d signed the contract”. Implying as the OBC wasn’t specified on my contract then I wasn’t getting it.

It’s a part of the Select Fare and as all the benefits of this fare are NOT on my contact (it only says Select Fare), that is a very lame excuse IMHO.

• I emailed my friend and asked her to go into Thomas Cook for me to try to sort it out. She was brilliant – my friend not TC. They said they couldn’t talk to her as it was my booking, so she put her phone in front of the woman with my message and asked again. Strangely they then did tell her that Head Office was trying to sort it. I have a brilliant friend.

• Chris spoke to P&O Head Office and emailed both them and my TA again.

• Days of waiting while both TC and P&O try to sort it out.

• Finally got confirmation on the Wednesday of the 2nd week (we left on Friday) and the OBC was applied. Phew!

• Chris had checked the other 2 cruises we have booked and the OBC has been applied to both of these so good to know.

• My only gripe is that Chris said he would send me a copy of the emails to my cabin and also as an email attachment for “my records”. Despite 3 requests to him, I never did receive anything. As it was sorted on board I decided not to persue this, but would have been different if I’d had to ‘fight it’ when I got home.

• Chris did say that there were other passengers in the same boat as us (excuse the pun), so it may be wise to check your OBC has been applied before you set sail.

DINING:

Main Dining Room:

We chose Freedom dining as we prefer to eat when we want to and have a table for 2. There was a letter in our cabin on arrival inviting us to a meeting in the dining room at 10.30 the next morning to meet the Head Waiters and discuss our food allergies (we’d informed P&O by email). This was a nice touch and a number of the Head Waiters were there, and we were introduced to the one who was for our allocated dining room. They also provided tea and coffee which was welcomed.

We were assigned the Meridian restaurant, although for some strange reason only known to P&O, we were assigned to the Peninsular restaurant for the formal evenings of Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. These evenings had two fixed dining times – 5.30pm and 8pm. We’d received an email a few weeks before the cruise asking us to choose which time we would prefer, and which table size (from 4, 6 or 8).

On our previous cruises, these dining times had been different, and I rang P&O to check that the 5.30 time was not a misprint, as for me this was far too early. I also mentioned there were no tables for two offered, and I don’t know whether this had anything to do with the outcome or not, but we were allocated a table for two on both these dates. We’d also requested the 8pm slot which we got. We had booked on the day that the cruise went on sale to most folks, so that maybe helped us get the time we wanted. I did hear one or two complaints on the ship from folks who had been allocated 5.30pm. They didn’t open the doors on Christmas Day until 8.15pm as the early diners were still coming out.

I didn’t see a notice this time anywhere about meeting the Maitre d’ to discuss changes to dining allocation or table size. Maybe there was on the cruise before for those staying on the 4 weeks, or maybe it was because it was so close to Christmas (we arrived on 23rd) that they decided not to offer it. This is just an observation and not a criticism or moan.

There were 4 formal evenings including a ‘black and white’ one in the 2nd week, although I wouldn’t have known this through what people were wearing. The food I thought was generally very good, and although I only eat 3 types of meat (and not fish), I managed to mostly order from the main menu and only resorted to the “anytime available” 2 or 3 times for my main dish. P&O handle our allergies very well, and the Head Waiter brought the next days menus to us at dinner, so we ordered for the next day. He also brought the lunch menus for the main dining room, but as we tended to have a late breakfast in the buffet we didn’t need these.

The first evening we went to the dining room (xmas eve), we requested a table for 2 and were given a pager and told it would be about 40 minute wait. This turned into 1 hour and 20 minutes wait! Never have we waited that long ever before. Some other evenings we went in straight away and other times we had a pager with an average wait of 20 – 30 mins. A few times folks who wanted to share a table were also given a pager.

I personally don’t like sitting in the bench seats tables for two, so I asked for a table by a wall if possible, which we got most evenings. I noticed a few times that the bench tables were all empty (or had just one couple), despite folks being given pagers. It seems that that they were waiting for them all to empty so that they could fill them together and the waiters could serve all at the same time.

Our waiters were generally good (a few excellent), but we didn’t find any exceptional ones this time. Our Christmas Day wait staff were very good and we looked forward to having them again on New Year’s Eve. This was a let down though – they “forgot” our sorbets and then tried to take the spoons away! They brought our main meals out before the sorbet, so by the time we did get them, the meals was warm and not hot. We waited 25 minutes after our desserts for the wait staff to bring our coffee and clear the plates, as they appeared to have “forgotten” us.

The dining room was very nicely decorated especially for New Year, but I generally find both these formal evenings something to get through rather than enjoy, as the room is noisy and the waiters often appear harassed and rushing about. I’ll mention here about a table for 10 near us. Xmas day – one man refused to order his meal until they’d brought his wine, which then held up the whole table (he’d also arrived about 10 minutes later than the others). New Year’s Eve – 8pm sitting but one couple came in at 8.30pm and then proceeded to hold up the whole table while they “dithered” over the menu. I’m sorry but I find this sort of behavior totally selfish and disrespectful to fellow diners. Ah well, moan over.

Buffet:

We generally went to the buffet breakfast after 10am, and there was the usual selection of breakfast stuff, although they didn’t tend to restock what had been used, such as berries and cereals. They also often ran out of bowls and milk, so folks were waiting and chuntering as only us British do so well.

I asked one morning for a boiled egg and an egg cup. I got the egg but a blank look for the egg cup! Even charades didn’t seem to help. When I said I’d had one before, I was met with the “no idea what you’re on about” look. I then found someone more senior, who at least knew what I meant, and he went in search of an elusive egg cup. Over 5 minutes later he appeared - goodness knows where he’d been - but he was out of breath when he proudly presented me with my egg cup like it was a gold medal. Ah bless him…that’s dedication for you. I should have thought and kept it to bring back another day but I didn’t. Obviously not awake enough to think that far ahead at that time. Sadly there were no tea spoons left (after I’d walked the whole distance of the buffet to the drinks machines), so I had to make do with a soup spoon. Oh well there’s always tomorrow….

We rarely ate at lunchtime (having only just had breakfast), but went for a snack at afternoon teatime around 3pm. They still had lunch food being served, but also plain and fruit scones, selection of cakes (the xmas cake slices were lovely), and some desserts eg. cheesecake / mousse. My gripe here would be that there was a lack of labels on these, so I had to ask what was in them due to my food allergy. I also wasn’t totally convinced that whoever I asked actually gave me the correct information, so I tended to avoid anything that could have been “dangerous” for me. I carry an Epipen as my food allergy is potentially serious, so sometimes I just say “no “ to myself to make life easier - better safe than sorry, although I am insured.

I also noticed at breakfast most days that the smoothies weren’t labeled. When I asked, I’d got a vague answer as to what was in it, so I gave up asking and just avoided them. A simple but accurate label would have been so useful.

The day we were in Port Canaveral though was dreadful. They would have known that there were a lot of folks going on trips (the Theatre was full of groups waiting to be called), and many would be up early. The Verona (the Beach House bit so hope I’ve got the title right) opened for buffet breakfast at 6am and the hot breakfast was supposed to be served from 7am. We arrived about 6,45 and got what we needed, but by 7am, there was a long queue of folks waiting for breakfast as they didn’t put the hot food out until gone 7.10am. They also ran out of cereal, bowls, milk, croissants, toast, jam and a million other things – well a slight exaggeration but you get the picture. As they could have guessed they would be extra busy early this day, they could have opened the Venezia main buffet earlier or at least been prepared better and filled up the stock. No end of folks were complaining and had to rush their breakfast – when they eventually got it.

I noticed that hot drinks and water (and juice at breakfast) can now only be found at one end of buffet – the other end now is cordoned off and used by staff. This meant a long walk for drinks for some, and when you got there, often there were no tea spoons or clean glasses. Unlike Princess, no one came round in the morning with a trolley of juices and hot drinks. I did occasionally see someone carrying a pot of tea & coffee, but if you didn’t have a cup on your table (which you’d got yourself) you’d be a bit stuck. Afternoon tea time had cups and spoons on the tables – that was why there were no tea spoons in the morning as they were saving them for the afternoon – but only occasionally did I see anyone come round with hot drinks.

Come on P&O take a leaf out of Princesses book and have staff with trolleys of drinks and cups / glasses at breakfast, especially as you’ve reduced the places we can get drinks from in the buffet.

We could always find a seat in the buffet, even if it meant going into the quieter “back bit” as I used to call it. One thing that did completely get on my nerves though, was that they were still playing Christmas songs in the buffet area every day up to the day we disembarked! Please – I am sick of these by boxing day. Enough is enough. Change the record – literally.

Pizza: I really fancied a piece of pizza one day, so left John in the buffet while I trekked off in search of a slice. When I got there, two slices were left of the one I wanted, but the man was making a fresh pizza which looked yummy. He looked at me once or twice as I stood there, but said nothing. I waited over 5 minutes and when he came over with the fresh pizza, I asked him for a slice. He muttered something about “help yourself”. Why didn’t he say that when he looked at me as I was standing there?? Whenever I’ve had pizza before on a ship I’ve never helped myself and had to be served it (granted I’ve not had that many pizzas on ships). Oh well I made sure I got the fresh pizza he’d just put out, but I could have saved myself the wait.

PORTS OF CALL:

I’ll say here that some P&O staff should have gone to Specsavers! The itinerary that was in our cabin the first day had us on a 13 (not 14) night cruise missing out Grenada completely and had Dominica instead of Martinique (which we knew had been substituted a few weeks before). Thank goodness we knew where we were going. Some of the info on the TV screen was not updated (it still had the dress codes for the cruise before ours) and the sunrise / sunset times, humidity and other stuff was never available. A little more attention to detail wouldn’t have gone amiss.

The ports we’d never been to before were New Orleans, anywhere in Florida and San Juan.

New Orleans: Loved it. We intended to have a short walk off the ship as we were still both recovering from our very long travelling day yesterday, but we did a lot of walking, ending up in the French Quarter. We found some of the areas where NCIS New Orleans was filmed (with the kind help of a local shop keeper) and it was nice for me to see these places like the garden and some of the buildings. We saw the paddle steamer on the Mississippi before we trundled back onboard, and the weather was hot and windy, so fine for me.

Key West: This was lovely and just as I had imagined it would be. We walked to the Southernmost Point in the USA where I managed to get a photo, but if you wanted to be in the photo yourself (or family / friends) you’d have a long wait as the queue went on as far as I could see and beyond.

We walked to the Lighthouse and Hemmingway House (but didn’t go in) and there were lots of shops and galleries with local art. It was sunny and breezy again, until it heaved it down with rain later in the afternoon.

Port Everglades: The ship was docked in a very built up area so the view from the ship was pretty boring. We had booked on an airboat ride in the Everglades (through P&O) in the afternoon. This had been on my “to do” list for a long time and I was excited to finally be there. I wasn’t disappointed! The ride itself was brilliant, with an alligator seen within seconds of us leaving the dock. They provide ear plus but I was useless at keeping them in, and when the guide talked to us during the tour I couldn’t hear him properly when he kept the fan going, even when I took the earplugs out. The times he switched the fan off he was informative and knowledgeable. Just seeing the alligators and birds in their habitat was what I’d gone for so I wasn’t disappointed, and the 45 minutes just flew by.

There followed an “alligator show” which I didn’t feel comfortable with, as I don’t like seeing animals in captivity, although he did give a good insight into these awesome creatures (the guide not the alligator). Lovely sunny day again with nice fresh breeze.

Port Canaveral: Soooo looking forward to this port too as we’d booked the ship’s “Up Close” Kennedy Space Centre Tour. This was absolutely brilliant – and I’m not really into space stuff. The up close bit took our bus to places the other tour buses didn’t go to, and the small extra cost was well worth it (around £5).

The tour started in the Imax Theatre with a film, then onto the bus for over 2 hours of tour around the ‘grounds’, where we were out for photos and to admire the views quite often and a great commentary. Back in for sort-yourself lunch, then the guide met us again and we had a short tour of the building, which included a rocket, space suits, and moon rock that you could touch. There was a simulated launch in darkened room with the original (but now old) computers and stuff (which was one of the best bits for me), and then back to the main visitor site where we had time to ourselves. We considered doing the Shuttle Tour Experience, but the queue was very long and as the guide said we’d only get about 10 minutes after that tour before we needed to leave, we decided to do our own thing for the remaining time we had. To be honest, I was a bit “spaced out” by that time anyway. We had a lovely meander around the rockets, and the Memorial Garden. Queues for other things were long, and it was nice to just have a bit of free time to wander and of course visit the shop.

Overall this was a fantastic day and so well worth getting up early for. Looking at the prices at the Space Centre, the P&O tour price was good value, especially as it included transport and a guide.

So glad I did this tour and I’ve got so many brilliant memories from this and the airboat ride, not to mention lots of photos.

Hot and sunny again today.

San Juan: We walked around in the morning. It rained ++ this afternoon. To be honest I can’t remember much about this port, so it clearly left its mark in my memory!

St Thomas: Docked in Havensight and we just had a walk around the local area. As it was New Years Day, some of the shops were closed. Hot & sunny again.

Martinique: Two other ships were in today - the Celebrity Summit and Fred Olsen Braemar. They were both docked in town, whereas we had a 10 minute walk to get there. To be honest it wasn’t worth the walk and I thought the town was a bit of a “dump”. Tatty shops and a disappointment. We saw quite a few geckos on the trees on the way to / from town, which was a good photos opportunity for the geckos.

St Lucia: Got up and went outside on the balcony and what a disappointment! Overcast!! It has always been ultra sunny here before. The sun came out though and we just had a mooch around the shops near the ship.

The afternoon got very noisy while we were sitting on the balcony, with “singing” from the local bar which got louder and louder as the hours went on. I know ‘Delilah’ by heart now! Silly me thinking that I’ll be glad when we get some peace and quiet when we leave, and stupid me for not thinking that most of those in the bar were from the ship, so the “singing and dancing” carried on into the queue to get back on board.

Grenada: When I looked out of our balcony door in the morning I was met with a wall of balcony cabins. Hey – it’s Britannia!

Went for a walk around the local area then back to the ship. So many folks were lining up to photograph the two ships together side by side…including me. The “sail away” started earlier than billed, and was very raucous. What a surprise …Delilah again! Now I know all the words I could sing along. Ha ha.

I must admit that it did get too noisy for me and I retreated into the cabin until actual sailaway time. Never thought of using the earplugs I’d bought back from the airboat ride.

The entertainment staff swapped ships apparently before coming back to their own, but I didn’t notice any difference, but maybe that was because I wasn’t up on deck.

We sailed away first and it was very noisy with lots of flag flying from both ships. Nice to look back on Britannia all lit up, and which we were on the same time last year and are doing again this next xmas / new year.

Barbados: We usually have an overnight here, but it was the folks who had done the two weeks before us who got that luxury. I missed my trip to the beach and my paddle here, but I’ll get it next year.

We were taken off to get our flight around 2.30pm (billed as 4.30 pm on the ship written info) and we had a couple of hours in the airport before our flight. When the flight was called, it was a trek to the end of the terminal, then onto a bus and to the plane. The premium passengers got called through first but we all ended up together at the end of the terminal and onto the bus together, so many didn’t get on first as they did on the way out.

Just a mention here about hand luggage. Most folks brought a carry on case so the lockers filled up very quickly. I noticed that some people put their luggage in lockers that were not above their own seats, which caused some fraying of tempers when others tried to move it. I thought one man was going to hit another man who tried to move his bag to another locker – both were in the premium cabin but their luggage was in our economy section. There were also quite a few “moans and groans” from folks whose luggage ended up being nowhere near their seat (put wherever it could be stored by cabin crew). One bag from economy ended up in the premium cabin lockers, so why they didn’t fill up their own lockers first I don’t know. It didn’t help that the staff had taken up half of 2 lockers with their own stuff I suppose, and few were putting their luggage under the seat in front, presumably as its taking up their leg room.

Food & Miscellaneous:

I’ve talked about food earlier but just a mention here about a few extra bits. There was a distinctive lack of fresh fruit in the buffet in the afternoons. They also seemed to “hide” bananas and would get one if you asked – but depending who you asked.

On a very positive note - one of the dining rooms desserts we both had was absolutely gorgeous. Bananas Foster. Wow! Soooo yummy.

I did notice that the portions in the main dining room for the main meals had reduced. This wasn’t an issue as there was more than enough food and you could order extra veg etc if you wanted to. I thought the quality was generally good, and the choice very reasonable for such a fussy eater as me.

Library: A small place on deck 5 but the staff member here was very helpful and pleasant. John had my kindle, so I picked up some books to go with the ones we’d brought with us. There was also a desk for ‘book swap’ and I borrowed a couple from here and left my own once read for others to enjoy. I thought there was a reasonable selection of reading materials in the library, but its getting less as many folks now have books on their own devices.

Borrowing a book involved putting your name, cabin number and book title on a sheet of paper, so no need for a member of staff to be there.

So……did I / we enjoy the cruise?

Yes of course we both did…very much. OK so it wasn’t perfect, but I never expected that it would be and I try to let any irritations wash over me. I’m sorry but I do get a bit annoyed when I hear folks moaning about things, but that’s normal I guess, especially for us British. Still, I try to make the best of what I’ve got and to spend two weeks being looked after and relaxing in the sun and warmth when its cold at home will do me thank you.

Hope this review has been useful and Happy Cruising to you all.:)

Glad to hear that you enjoyed your holiday despite all the negative's you seem to have found on the aircraft and the ship. Perhaps you ought to stick with Princess.

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Thanks for the review - I enjoyed reading it. My wife and I have never done a Caribbean cruise and I think we'd like to at some point. That said, the long flight does put us off a bit - we did a (non-cruise) holiday in Washington DC/Virginia this autumn and that flight was iong enough!

You don't know what happened to the people who didn't have ESTAs, do you?

I see that you stated the bedding was. Hanged from feather. Is bedding on Azura normally feather as I have an allergy too?

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Re : Feather bedding - We've had feather pillows in the cabin on previous cruises, but not sure if they've changed to all non-fetaher ones, so its best to contact P&O and ask them just to be sure.

Thank you. Will do that.

Thank you for the lovely review. As my mother-in-law used to say "nothing in life is perfect, just hope for the best".

Regarding your steward, we have found that if something has not been put right within a day, then it has been forgotten so a quick ring to Reception will get it sorted.

We had a steward once who was a bit "off", although very good at first i.e. getting more hangers, opening up cabin balcony to our sons next door and then getting a smaller pillow for my husband, within the first half hour, then as the cruise went on be became more distant. It was only on the last evening when I noticed his name tag disappeared from the dressing table that we asked him about it, he then told us this was his last cruise and that he had to go home and seek work.

We also went to the Kennedy Space centre (not on a cruise) and had a wonderful time, although is absolutely poured down with rain mid afternoon.

Thanks for posting this review, as we are on Azura this Christmas, from the 15th to the 29th and also have opted for freedom dining.

Like you, our cabin is on C deck, and I have heard much about these larger balconies. You don't happen to have any photo's do you?

We too are on the dreamliner for flights, and is premium a 2-4-2 layout too [premium was offered free, so who were we to refuse :p ]

Thanks in advance for asking what are probably stupid questions :D