Azamara v P and O

[ABY Chef]

Okay where do I start? 

3 weeks on Azamara Pursuit, south America in January, impressed so much that we booked another cruise while onboard for September just gone which yet again was so good we booked another but on Journey next year.

I'm a private Chef and can be a little difficult to impress but not on Azamara. The food in the main dining room was fabulous, the selections of wine were perfect (the malbec was impressive) the service the best so far out of the 5 cruise lines we have used. The included drinks package is much better than a paid for package on P&O by far and the list of cocktails included is extensive.

On a 12 night cruise you should expect An Azamazing night, a white night, an officers BBQ and the fantastic weekend brunch. 

We are actively looking at the same cruise for 2025 (all booked up for 2024).

My humble opinion, comparing P&O and Azamara is like comparing Waitrose and Lidl.

 

[Ilovemygarden]

2 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Booked it now. With some great extra discount from our TA as well

 

1738 per person 12 nights Cape Town Africa cruise inside cabin

 

We were already in Capetown for a month in a cheap but nice airbnb near Sea Point. Flying in and out with Virgin.

 

And I was looking to add a nice experience but had never imagined a 12 nights cruise would be the thing to add

 

It's not costing much more than 3 nights luxury train journey on Rovos Rail!!  Which would have been 1500 ish per person!

 

We will add in some Safari days out from Port Elizabeth and Richards Bay

 

Also going to do a couple of nights in the winelands and use the wine tram whilst we are there 

 

We've had a successful Christmas for our business so now is the time to enjoy the fruits of our labour! No point working hard then not enjoying it!!

 

Next target next few days is to do enough sales with our business to warrant upgrading to upper class on Virgin for our outbound flight. We've set ourselves a new target for that. 

 

Virgin have got an auction happening for upper class upgrades!!

 

Minimum bid 830 per person. 

 

 

 

 

 

Not in the least envious 🤢. Cape Town is fabulous - so many things to see and experience.    Hope you’ll take us along with you with some posts!   

[Selbourne]

We did a ships tour (and lunch) on Adonia whilst she was with P&O. We absolutely adored the ship and would have loved to cruise on her, but she was sold not long afterwards. 
 

We haven’t cruised with Azamara, but my understanding is that they are considerably more upmarket than P&O.

 

The combination of a lovely intimate ship with an upscale operator sounds like a winner to me. Enjoy your cruise. It sounds fabulous. 

[jh1809]

I loved Adonia. I only was able to cruise on her once. Two more cruises I had booked on her got cancelled because P&O loaned her to another part of Carnival before then selling her. I liked her so much that I was tempted to book a cruise on her when she became the Azamara Pursuit. But it seemed very expensive, so I didn't. Now, having read about how good Amazara are, I'm regretting that decision.

[lancashire_cruisers]

Adult only ships are very much not my thing but I was very lucky to be invited to Adonia’s naming ceremony. What a gorgeous little ship she is with such a nice feel to her, I can’t wait to hear about your cruise on her.

 

Here’s a photo from the naming of the motley crew invited by P&O

 

 

[Interestedcruisefan]

34 minutes ago, lancashire_cruisers said:

Adult only ships are very much not my thing but I was very lucky to be invited to Adonia’s naming ceremony. What a gorgeous little ship she is with such a nice feel to her, I can’t wait to hear about your cruise on her.

 

Here’s a photo from the naming of the motley crew invited by P&O

 

 

Is that Atul Kuchar on the far left?

[lancashire_cruisers]

23 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Is that Atul Kuchar on the far left?

Yes he was there with Ollie Smith and Hugh Bonneville. The godmother was Shirley Bassey.

[Interestedcruisefan]

22 minutes ago, lancashire_cruisers said:

Yes he was there with Ollie Smith and Hugh Bonneville. The godmother was Shirley Bassey.

We've worked lots of events with Atul lately. He's a really nice guy. That must be a while ago. Hes barely changed!!

 

I also met Olly Murs last week and told him I go on holiday on the ship he helped launch (Arvia)

[lancashire_cruisers]

42 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

We've worked lots of events with Atul lately. He's a really nice guy. That must be a while ago. Hes barely changed!!

 

I also met Olly Murs last week and told him I go on holiday on the ship he helped launch (Arvia)

Yes I’m definitely not as youthful looking now 😂😂. They spent quite a bit of time chatting to us, really nice people. Of course Ollie led the charge to the dance floor!

[Bloodaxe]

You will have a great time, we loved South Africa, did a escorted tour then went back for a self drive holiday.

Have also done many cruises with Azamara all over the world, has been out favourite line since it started in 2007.

[montythecat]

Do give Azamara a try. We have been with them five times and

Pursuit was our favourite.  Most of the contributors to this

thread have lots of good things to say about Azamara which I

would endorse although the bathroom is certainly on the small 

side.