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Azura or Britannia?


babs135
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Looking at Caribbean cruises and for the dates I have these two ships are available.  A quick search of reviews on Google reveals more negatives than positives, and although I tend to take reviews with a pinch of salt they did make me sit back and think.  So who can reassure me that the negatives were wrong and tell me which of the two ships they favour.  Cruise would be over new year and we are 2 senior citizens who will be sailing with adult daughter (if this has any bearing on your thoughts).

 

Thank you

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They're very, very similar, but not identical. I'd personally regard them as pretty much interchangeable, but others will disagree.

 

The main differences are likely to be when the last refit was, how comprehensive it was, and the general levels of customer service onboard.  How much difference individual captains make to this is arguable, but when you encounter Customer Service Managers refusing to speak to customers about quite serious issues (Azura last March) you do wonder how they get away with that, and who's ultimately responsible.

 

Azura is due for 'refurbishment' next April, and needs it.  The suites, for example, are in a pretty poor state, but I doubt they'll get the attention they need.  At least, I suppose, the smell of sewage in one part of the ship reported for so long will finally be dealt with.

 

Ventura is due in March 2023.

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We have just come off Britannia and, post refit, she is in fabulous condition, in fact like a new ship.

Not being big ship fans previously we are now converted. We did 7 nights on her in April, and 14 nights on the Caribbean transatlantic so have had a reasonable taste of her in different weathers and seas.

I think the range of entertainment and entertainment venues (even better since they reconfigured the Atrium), and range of dining options and venues really makes for an excellent cruise.

On this last cruise we evening dined in the Glass House twice, the Beach House twice, Sindhu once, the Limelight Club 3 times (3 excellent dinner shows), Horizon buffet once, 4 formal nights in the Meridian dining room, and not at all on one night following an excellent Caribbean tier lunch. So an enjoyable variety!

We like Azura but prefer Britannia now.

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Sailed on both and much prefer Azura. She feels like a ship, with a proper promenade deck and plenty of connection with the sea. Britannia on the other hand, to me feels like a hotel with a keel. Almost as though they were trying to keep that nasty wet thing out of sight and mind, it is even difficult to see the sea from the "rooftop" swimming pool. Britannia has a much better buffet than Azura, whose buffet is too small and always overcrowded. On the other hand, the Glasshouse on Azura is a proper self contained wine bar with plenty of seating whereas that on Briannia is merely a part of the atrium balcony and is more focussed on dining than socialising. The absence of stairs in the centre of Britannia makes waiting for lifts a pain in the behind as she has only the same number of lifts as Azura for 500 more passengers.

Edited by Denarius
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It depends on the cabin category you intend booking, Britannia has only inside and balcony, Azura also has ocean view ones. All Britannias balconies are much smaller than Azura, especially C and D deck on Azura which have larger balconies although they are overlooked from above.

If going for an inside then you might find Azuras promenade deck beneficial. Britannia does not have a full prom deck.

The recent refit on Britannia should mean it looks fresher, but as long as Azura is being kept clean and tidy this should not be a major issue.

Whichever you chose hope you have a good cruise.

 

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6 minutes ago, Denarius said:

Sailed on both and much prefer Azura. She feels like a ship, with a proper promenade deck and plenty of connection with the sea. Britannia on the other hand, to me feels like a hotel with a keel. Almost as though they were trying to keep that nasty wet thing out of sight and mind, it is even difficult to see the sea from the "rooftop" swimming pool. Britannia has a much better buffet than Azura, whose buffet is too small and always overcrowded. On the other hand, the Glasshouse on Azura is a proper self contained wine bar with plenty of seating whereas that on Briannia is merely a part of the atrium balcony and is more focussed on dining than socialising. The absence of stairs in the centre of Britannia makes waiting for lifts a pain in the behind as she has only the same number of lifts as Azura for 500 more passengers.

I agree that Britannia is more of a quality hotel concept than the usual cruise ship blueprint, but her upper decks are quite vast, and the quiet (non fee paying) adult only Serenity pool area is a nice change from the noise bound central pool area.

The Azura buffet is badly designed and could do with a major revamp. Since the Britannia refit the buffet is even better with improved partitioning in the seating areas. Perhaps Azura's refit might follow that.

I agree about the Glass House although it's now been enlarged on Britannia to cater for both drinking and dining.

The central staircase is annoying but previously the extra side lifts were not connected to the main select control system and worked independently, whereas now they are all on the same system and seem more efficient. We were mid deck 14 and always seemed to be able to get a lift with minimal delay.

One downside of Britannia for us was the shallowness of the balconies but the quality of accommodation was very good.

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I think the above posts all highlight several of the pro's and cons of both ships. It might help if we knew your cruise destination, as if the weather is likely to be mixed it might affect peoples views.

 

For the right ittenary I'd happily travel on either. My personal view was that I preferred that the Azura felt more like a ship, but I did miss the crow's nest of the Britannia. In my mind the rear facing bar on Azura is worse.

 

hth

 

 

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Oh dear, at the beginning of this thread and having done a bit more research I was leaning towards the Azura, but now I'm not so sure  🙁🤣.  The choice is between A932 Azura or B934D Britannia, fly cruises both over New Year.  There would be three of us in the cabin so would need a balcony at the very least.  Britannia's itinerary is slightly more appealing but tbh Azura is cheaper which cannot be ignored. We have not visited any of the ports so no help there.

It really shouldn't be this difficult should it?!!  🤣

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1 hour ago, babs135 said:

Oh dear, at the beginning of this thread and having done a bit more research I was leaning towards the Azura, but now I'm not so sure  🙁🤣.  The choice is between A932 Azura or B934D Britannia, fly cruises both over New Year.  There would be three of us in the cabin so would need a balcony at the very least.  Britannia's itinerary is slightly more appealing but tbh Azura is cheaper which cannot be ignored. We have not visited any of the ports so no help there.

It really shouldn't be this difficult should it?!!  🤣

You may want to consider that if you want a sofa bed rather than a Pullman bunk, on Azura you will need to book a de luxe cabin, whilst I  believe that Britannia does have some standard balconies with a sofa bed.

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We've not sailed Azura, but have twice sailed Ventura, her sister ship and twice Britannia. If you know what to expect from the P&O brand and are happy with it then you'll be happy with either ship. We enjoyed both.

 

Personally, I prefer Ventura/Azura as it feels more like a ship than a shopping mall. They have a proper promenade - one of my simple pleasures is walking the promenade when at sea. On Britannia, what goes by the name of "Promenade" is a short track at the very top of the ship.

 

I'm not a huge fan of buffets as they tend to consistently disappoint, but Britannia's has more space and so tends to be less crowded.

 

Ventura / Azura have an adult only pool by the space. Britannia advertises an "adult pool" but when we were on there were always kids in it as they don't police it. In fact, when I asked why this was the case I was told that it's not adult only. Must be the easiest reply.

 

If you're a dancer, Britannia has a dance area rather than use the atrium or cabaret venue at the rear. 

 

That's my tuppence, but I stick with my opening statement - if you like P&O, you'll like either of the ships.

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We also had to decide between the two ships for a Mediterranean cruise. After much deliberation we decided on Azura, for two reasons the promenade deck and port of Naples rather than Livorno.

 

We haven't' been on Azura before but have been on Ventura 3 times. Some say that they prefer Azura even though they are nearly identical or so I am told. We had an inside cabin on both ships and they were probably both the same, no complaints from us on either. The crew were lovely on both ships. As someone else said, Azura will feel more like you are at sea, rather than on Britannia, which you seem to be far away from it. We both and especially my oh like to wander round the promenade deck and be able  to go to the front and back of the ship. On Britannia, you can't get to the front of the ship because of the retreat (where you pay for more privacy). 

 

I found Britannia to fell less crowded (than Ventura), with plenty of places to sit, despite the fact she has more passengers. Our cruise on Britannia was different to the others in that we didn't go to any entertainment on the night. After our meal we went out onto the lido deck and enjoyed lovely evenings on deck. It was very quiet with only a few people wandering about. I think it is the sunset bar at the back is a nice place to sit both during the day (with shade) and night. 

 

If the opportunity arrives, I would gladly go on Britannia again, but we are looking forward to our cruise on Azura. Not much help I know, but I'm sure you will have a lovely time whichever one you decide on. With regards to the buffet, when there wasn't anything we wanted from the mdr menu we used the buffet. Despite what people say (who have probably never even been to the buffet) as long as you don't go as soon as it opens on an evening and leave it until around 8.30 you should be fine.

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59 minutes ago, emam said:

 

I found Britannia to fell less crowded (than Ventura), with plenty of places to sit, despite the fact she has more passengers. Our cruise on Britannia was different to the others in that we didn't go to any entertainment on the night. After our meal we went out onto the lido deck and enjoyed lovely evenings on deck. It was very quiet with only a few people wandering about. I think it is the sunset bar at the back is a nice place to sit both during the day (with shade) and night. 

In the Caribbean they laid up tables for the Beach House outside adjacent to the Sunset Bar in the evenings. Warm Caribbean air, dim lighting plus (led) candles on the tables made it a wonderful place to dine.

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We have cruised on all the P&O ships, many of them more than once. As cruise ships, Britannia is our favourite in the fleet (we prefer to cruise on Aurora, but that’s more about passenger profile versus the bigger ships) and Azura our least favourite. As stated already, the main downsides of Britannia are lack of promenade deck and shallow balconies. I would add to that soot on rear balconies, but I believe that’s less of an issue in warmer climates, as long as it stays dry (wet weather causes the soot to fall before it clears the ship). The plus sides of Britannia over Azura are more significant IMO. The cabins are far superior on Britannia as Azura’s are somewhat dated now. More modern facilities, great interactive HD TV with on demand movies etc, glass shower screen rather than clingy curtains etc. The Epicurean on Britannia is our favourite restaurant in the P&O fleet. In fact, all the Select Dining restaurants are very good other than the Glasshouse (poor location and slow service for food). On Britannia you have The Limelight Lounge which has cabaret acts and an excellent meal. The theatre and public rooms are nicer on Britannia and it has a Crows Nest bar, which is a major flaw in Azura and Ventura’s design as they feel that a Gym with a view (which only appeals to a small proportion of passengers) is more important than a panoramic bar. Neither are bad ships, but we would chose Britannia over Azura every time. 

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21 minutes ago, jake 26 said:

In the Caribbean they laid up tables for the Beach House outside adjacent to the Sunset Bar in the evenings. Warm Caribbean air, dim lighting plus (led) candles on the tables made it a wonderful place to dine.

...but not to socialise. To me the Sunset Bar cried out to be a venue where you could relax with a drink on a warm evening, like the terrace bar on Oceana or the equivalent bars on the Celebrity Eclipse class ships. Instead, half of it was colonised by the Beach House and off limits to non diners, whilst the other half was a smoking area and covered by a fug of tobacco smoke. A missed oportunity imo.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Have just returned from the Caribbean having sailed on Britannia and there are now canopies over some of the rear cabins, so shouldn't be affected by soot, but can't comment personally.  Have sailed on both ships on several occasions but prefer the balconies on Azura as they are a bit wider. I also think that the theatre on Britannia seems smaller and tends to fill up more quickly. I happy on both ships, but have booked to sail the Caribbean on Azura next year.

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