Live from Azura Cruise 12th October - 28th October positioning to Tenerife

[carlanthony24]

Captain has announced after our departure from Palma we will have moderate to rough seas wind 30-35knots then tomorrow wind will increase to 40-50 knots with rough seas. Further update will be made tomrrrow while we are at sea, it sounded like he is not sure if we will make Malaga.

[carlanthony24]

[carlanthony24]

I do like the way Valiant Lady is lit up.

[carlanthony24]

[9265359]

4 hours ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

ps,,is Curry becoming the British National dish?

Every cruise ship buffet I go in seems to be taken over by Curry.

Once left over Chicken,Beef,Lamb from the night before dinner was next days lunch casserole or stew,,,now it seems to go into Curries

The green beans go into the Veggie Curry.😏

 

"becoming" - curry has been around in the UK since 1598, so it has been around far longer than other non-British dishes that are considered 'British' such as fish and chips.

 

And if someone is putting left-over meat of vegetables in curry then that's certainly something to avoid.

[carlanthony24]

Singaporean chicken satay decided to get extra and have gone for the 6oz sirloin steak other mains include leg of lamb, salmon fillet, confit duck leg. The waiters gave us extra on the mains without even asking. 

[JeanieC,Aston]

15 hours ago, 9265359 said:

 

"becoming" - curry has been around in the UK since 1598, so it has been around far longer than other non-British dishes that are considered 'British' such as fish and chips.

 

And if someone is putting left-over meat of vegetables in curry then that's certainly something to avoid.

Hi

’Left over’ as in ‘not used’ not left overs from a plate.

 

Have you never heard the story told by Liverpool seamen on Cunard voyages to USA or Canada.

The purser had so much money to feed the crew on the crossing but instead of 7 days he would only buy food for 6 days and pocket the rest in cahoots with the galley staff.

On day 7 with no food left they would lift the duckboards and brush up all the meat and put it in a mixer to make pasties.

The first thing the crew did in Liverpool would be to throw all the mixers into Canada Dock,,,there must be hundreds down there.

I know some of those old timers they would never eat pasties calling them ‘lucky bags’.

Remember that when you next choose a pasty in the buffet.😏😂

Edited October 19, 2023 by JeanieC,Aston

[kalos]

1 hour ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

 

’Left over’ as in ‘not used’ not left overs from a plate.

 

We used to guess what was on the menu the next day ,if the carrots were not going down in the buffet or the chicken thighs ,we were not surprised to see

carrot & coriander soup and chicken curry on the menu the next day.

Certainly not the scrapings off some body's  plate.

I think the origins of the roast beef dinner has been around quite a while.

Old Henry 8th was partial to a bit of roast beef back in the 1400's as was his royal body guards who were also partial to it as well ,hence the name Beefeaters .

Edited October 19, 2023 by kalos

[sweep2907]

Great review so far thanks. Do you know if Glasshouse are doing their wine pairing night still? Usually offer 1 night per week or used to. Always enjoyed those offerings.

[pete14]

2 hours ago, kalos said:

 

I think the origins of the roast beef dinner has been around quite a while.

Old Henry 8th was partial to a bit of roast beef back in the 1400's as was his royal body guards who were also partial to it as well ,hence the name Beefeaters .

I don’t know whether there is any truth to the tale that in the early days of P&O, there was an accountant on board to check that there were only a limited amount of vegetables served to the crew and guests. Hence the birth of the term ‘beancounters’. 

[Harry Peterson]

4 hours ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

Hi

’Left over’ as in ‘not used’ not left overs from a plate.

 

Have you never heard the story told by Liverpool seamen on Cunard voyages to USA or Canada.

The purser had so much money to feed the crew on the crossing but instead of 7 days he would only buy food for 6 days and pocket the rest in cahoots with the galley staff.

On day 7 with no food left they would lift the duckboards and brush up all the meat and put it in a mixer to make pasties.

The first thing the crew did in Liverpool would be to throw all the mixers into Canada Dock,,,there must be hundreds down there.

I know some of those old timers they would never eat pasties calling them ‘lucky bags’.

Remember that when you next choose a pasty in the buffet.😏😂

And thus was born the Great British Fray Bentos Pie…….

[Interestedcruisefan]

Lobsters used to just wash up on the beaches of West Coast USA and the locals would eat every day but were embarrassed to serve such cheap food to visiting guests

 

Bouillabaise like paella used to be peasant food and now it's considered a treat 

 

Russian fishermen used to consider caviar to just be a peasant food (barely above waste) and they would mix it in with porridge in their daily meal

 

Oysters were also a peasant food

Edited October 19, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Megabear2]

19 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Oysters were also a peasant food

Wiped out half of London, though! The poor wouldn't touch them after that.

[gsmt47471015]

1 hour ago, pete14 said:

I don’t know whether there is any truth to the tale that in the early days of P&O, there was an accountant on board to check that there were only a limited amount of vegetables served to the crew and guests. Hence the birth of the term ‘beancounters’. 

Green beans obviously😆

[carlanthony24]

Azura left Palma De Mallorca and turned towards Valencia to hug the coastline before turning towards Malaga. Captain announced he will continue to hug the coastline to avoid the worst of the weather but said we are due to arrive into Malaga on time at 8am temperature expected to hit 31 degrees for our port of call. 

 

Coffee shop was full. People just sitting and reading while others are waiting for tables. If people are just going to take a table just for reading or playing games and not having a drink, they should just go to the library or elsewhere. It’s rude in my opinion. 

 

Glass House is offering wine tasting. 5 wines for £15. We are not really wine drinkers so declined to take the offer. 

 

MDR food includes Asian Platter and Slow-cooked beef rump.
 

We arrived into Malaga early at 6:50am we have two gangways in use one airbridge and one of the ships being used. The 2nd airbridge is broken.

 

Edited October 20, 2023 by carlanthony24

[9265359]

22 hours ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

’Left over’ as in ‘not used’ not left overs from a plate.

 

Yes, that was what I assumed you meant, but that would still be something to strongly avoid as any curry where the meat is cooked separately to the sauce (as an awful lot are) is going to be pretty poor.

 

17 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

And thus was born the Great British Fray Bentos Pie…….

 

'Great British'?

 

German chemist, Justus von Liebig, set up the company Liebig's Extract of Meat Company in the city of Fray Bentos in Uruguay to manufacture Oxo before moving on to manufacture and sell corned beef, using the name of the city where it was made as the brand name.

[carlanthony24]

Azura left Palma De Mallorca and turned towards Valencia to hug the coastline before turning towards Malaga. Captain announced he will continue to hug the coastline to avoid the worst of the weather but said we are due to arrive into Malaga on time at 8am temperature expected to hit 31 degrees for our port of call. 

 

Coffee shop was full. People just sitting and reading while others are waiting for tables. If people are just going to take a table just for reading or playing games and not having a drink, they should just go to the library or elsewhere. It’s rude in my opinion. 

 

Glass House is offering wine tasting. 5 wines for £15. We are not really wine drinkers so declined to take the offer. 

 

MDR food includes Asian Platter and Slow-cooked beef rump.
 

We arrived into Malaga early at 6:50am we have two gangways in use one airbridge and one of the ships being used. The 2nd airbridge is broken.

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, carlanthony24 said:

Azura left Palma De Mallorca and turned towards Valencia to hug the coastline before turning towards Malaga. Captain announced he will continue to hug the coastline to avoid the worst of the weather but said we are due to arrive into Malaga on time at 8am temperature expected to hit 31 degrees for our port of call. 

 

Coffee shop was full. People just sitting and reading while others are waiting for tables. If people are just going to take a table just for reading or playing games and not having a drink, they should just go to the library or elsewhere. It’s rude in my opinion. 

 

Glass House is offering wine tasting. 5 wines for £15. We are not really wine drinkers so declined to take the offer. 

 

MDR food includes Asian Platter and Slow-cooked beef rump.
 

We arrived into Malaga early at 6:50am we have two gangways in use one airbridge and one of the ships being used. The 2nd airbridge is broken.

 

IMG_1960.mov 51.98 MB · 0 downloads IMG_1961.mov 57.68 MB · 0 downloads

 

A more interesting set of main courses but for me, overall the mdr menus are very much a weak point in P&O's offerings these days. It is one of the reasons I haven't been tempted to book anything for the next two years...

[Britboys]

3 minutes ago, carlanthony24 said:

Azura left Palma De Mallorca and turned towards Valencia to hug the coastline before turning towards Malaga. Captain announced he will continue to hug the coastline to avoid the worst of the weather but said we are due to arrive into Malaga on time at 8am temperature expected to hit 31 degrees for our port of call. 

 

Coffee shop was full. People just sitting and reading while others are waiting for tables. If people are just going to take a table just for reading or playing games and not having a drink, they should just go to the library or elsewhere. It’s rude in my opinion. 

 

Glass House is offering wine tasting. 5 wines for £15. We are not really wine drinkers so declined to take the offer. 

 

MDR food includes Asian Platter and Slow-cooked beef rump.
 

We arrived into Malaga early at 6:50am we have two gangways in use one airbridge and one of the ships being used. The 2nd airbridge is broken.

You are fortunate to be in Málaga today. The weather there yesterday was horrendous!

[Red Ray]

1 hour ago, 9265359 said:

 

Yes, that was what I assumed you meant, but that would still be something to strongly avoid as any curry where the meat is cooked separately to the sauce (as an awful lot are) is going to be pretty poor.

 

 

'Great British'?

 

German chemist, Justus von Liebig, set up the company Liebig's Extract of Meat Company in the city of Fray Bentos in Uruguay to manufacture Oxo before moving on to manufacture and sell corned beef, using the name of the city where it was made as the brand name.

Now owned & made by Baxters.

[carlanthony24]

2 hours ago, Britboys said:

You are fortunate to be in Málaga today. The weather there yesterday was horrendous!

Food wise has been fine tonight’s menu not much different to last night so I think we are off to the beach house again. Looking at windy wind is due to pick up in the Atlantic along with 5m waves we have another sea day before Cadiz so I wonder if we stay around the med for a bit longer. Looking at our arrival for Cadiz wind could be up to 30knots but for departure looking at 50knots so we shell see what happens.

[pete14]

1 hour ago, carlanthony24 said:

Food wise has been fine tonight’s menu not much different to last night so I think we are off to the beach house again. Looking at windy wind is due to pick up in the Atlantic along with 5m waves we have another sea day before Cadiz so I wonder if we stay around the med for a bit longer. Looking at our arrival for Cadiz wind could be up to 30knots but for departure looking at 50knots so we shell see what happens.

Probably about time to thank you for providing the information about what seems to be a good cruise, provided you don’t mind some iffy weather at sea. Menus and activities in Horizon don’t seem to have changed greatly from out last cruise which was pre ‘you know what’. I think that is a good thing and makes me look forward to our cruise on Aurora next month even more enthusiastically.

 

Thanks again.

[carlanthony24]

1 hour ago, pete14 said:

Probably about time to thank you for providing the information about what seems to be a good cruise, provided you don’t mind some iffy weather at sea. Menus and activities in Horizon don’t seem to have changed greatly from out last cruise which was pre ‘you know what’. I think that is a good thing and makes me look forward to our cruise on Aurora next month even more enthusiastically.

 

Thanks again.

If the weathers bad it’s bad does not bother us I would rather be on a cruise than in North Wales or the UK for that matter pretty much anything away from home is better.
 

We did the first repositioning on Azura after you know what, from Barbados to Malta only 500 odd onboard. A few people I know said it came close to being cancelled. We all had to do an anti gen first sea day and second sea day depending which day you arrived. A lot were actually isolated, we were lucky we did not have it. Captain had to fight for us to dock into Las Palmas for fuel, supplies and some crew change but no guests could get off. Cadiz cancelled because of the weather, I believe it may have been Britannia who also had Cadiz cancelled they were due to dock the same day so straight to Malta with an overnight. 
 

Side note the terminal at Malaga we have to walk through the mini duty free shop like you do at airports and one guest says why do we have to walk through why can’t they let us walk straight past. The coach got stuck briefly going into town police closed road off but let us through after about 5 minutes. We did have a cheeky McDonald’s.

Edited October 20, 2023 by carlanthony24

[carlanthony24]

Saturday 21st October Horizon

[carlanthony24]

Azura left Malaga 22:25PM bound for Cadiz but first a sea day at 8knots and looking like we could be heading back up the med for a little bit.