Azura Information

[tom_uk]

I've now seen the complete set of Azura's European itineraries for 2010, and all the Med cruises are 16-nights. There are 7 16-nighters to the E Med (including the maiden voyage); 2 14-night Baltic cruises; 3 12-night Canary Islands; 2 7 night 'European Cruise Break' cruises; 1 7 night fjords cruise; and 1 mini cruise.

 

So that rather blows my hopes to bits: I was hoping to do a 14-night western Med cruise in her. I'll either have to wait a few weeks for the launch of the main P&O brochure, or book with Celebrity eclipse.

 

No real indication on the general level of Azura pricing, I'm afraid.

[stopgo]

I wonder why they have gone on to 16 nights ? if you travel Saturday does the mean traveling back home Monday.

Where has Humpy got his prices from, he posted them on the Azura prices topic. As far has I know no prices have been released

[tom_uk]

I wonder why they have gone on to 16 nights ?

 

One thought that occurs to me is that this is a definite disincentive to families: these cruises are more expensive, the dates are likely to be awkward, there will be more sea days... Perhaps it's all part of the marketing strategy to push families away from Azura, unless they're really determined.

[somewheresoon]

Is it not just because Turkey is further away than Spain?

[stopgo]

Tom, its seem alot of trouble to discourage families from going on the Azura. Wouldn't it be easier if they wanted to do that just make the Azura adults only. It would appear if Humpys prices are correct [ ? ] the Azura will not only be way more expensive than Ventura but also Arcadia as well. It seems risky for P/O when other cruise lines are marking their prices down.

[Gerrym]

I wonder why they have gone on to 16 nights ? if you travel Saturday does the mean traveling back home Monday.

 

 

 

Nothing gets past you does it?

 

 

:D

 

 

:D

[stopgo]

It depends Gerry when Azura departs maybe Fridays will be departure day.

 

Is there any need to be so sarcastic Gerry ?

[somewheresoon]

Personally I thought Gerry was just sarcastic enough.

 

Mind you, chaps, everytime I check these boards for info, being new to P&O, all I see is one of you acting as some kind of self-appointed hostess/moderator, the other one being sarky about it, and then a fight starts and the point of the thread gets lost - on those rare occasions where there was one to start with.

 

This is one of the least populated boards on CC, and I'm sure it has much to do with this.

 

Just a suggestion (I don't actually really care, because it's quite entertaining and I can get info elsewhere, but for the sake of new cruisers) why don't you stop being so bossy on the one hand, stop picking fights on the other, cyber-shake hands and shut up for a bit? That would mean NOT posting your personal verification or otherwise of every single post, stopgo.

 

I know, I know. It's them, not you.............

 

Ah well. Only a thought. I'll go and chat with the posh nutters on Cunard........

[Gerrym]

Personally I thought Gerry was just sarcastic enough.

 

 

 

LOL, thanks, could not agree more.

 

It always makes me smile when people have no problem dishing out sarcasm but don't like the boot on the other foot!

 

 

Anyway, enough already back to the subject in hand.... that Azura is bl**dy expensive for the maiden!

 

 

 

 

 

 

:D

[stopgo]

Personally I thought Gerry was just sarcastic enough.

 

Mind you, chaps, everytime I check these boards for info, being new to P&O, all I see is one of you acting as some kind of self-appointed hostess/moderator, the other one being sarky about it, and then a fight starts and the point of the thread gets lost - on those rare occasions where there was one to start with.

 

This is one of the least populated boards on CC, and I'm sure it has much to do with this.

 

Just a suggestion (I don't actually really care, because it's quite entertaining and I can get info elsewhere, but for the sake of new cruisers) why don't you stop being so bossy on the one hand, stop picking fights on the other, cyber-shake hands and shut up for a bit? That would mean NOT posting your personal verification or otherwise of every single post, stopgo.

 

I know, I know. It's them, not you.............

 

Ah well. Only a thought. I'll go and chat with the posh nutters on Cunard........

The thread never gets lost, if you look through this thread you and Gerry are the only two who have deviated from it.

[somewheresoon]

Breathtaking. I'm lost in admiration. Clearly you deserve each other.

 

Carry on, do excuse the interruption.

[stopgo]

Tom, its seem alot of trouble to discourage families from going on the Azura. Wouldn't it be easier if they wanted to do that just make the Azura adults only. It would appear if Humpys prices are correct [ ? ] the Azura will not only be way more expensive than Ventura but also Arcadia as well. It seems risky for P/O when other cruise lines are marking their prices down.

I thought I would bring the Thread back on line, I would like the Azura to be adult only which with the single cabins would seem likely.

[Norfolk Brit]

I would like the Azura to be adult only

 

But then you wouldn't be able to go:confused:.

 

Sir Martin:cool:

[tom_uk]

Is it not just because Turkey is further away than Spain?

 

Well yes, that's true, of course, and a cruise to the E Med must take longer unless here are hardly any ports of call. I think what I was hinting at is that it seems to me that P&O have purposely decided to deploy Azura on 16-night E Med cruises rather than 14-night W Med cruises, and accept the issues with schedules that result. So the question is 'Why?'; and I think the answer is that it's to discourage families.

 

It also make me wonder just how much P&O have felt the criticism of Ventura over recent months. If they can position Azura as a ship that accepts children but doesn't actually have that many on board for many cruises, then a lot of Ventura's problems with overcrowding, etc, will go away.

 

Here's another thing: Azura is not doing 7 night cruises on Bank Holiday weeks. In fact, for each of the b/h periods she'll have started her cruise at least the middle of the week beforehand. Again this seems to me to be deliberate scheduling by P&O to avoid large-scale family trade. Please note that I'm not complaining, just interested.

 

Now we wait for pricing details.....

[stopgo]

Hi Tom, Why not just make the Azura adult only, as regards overcrowding the Ventura outside school holidays does not seem to be overun with children. Perhaps the answer lies with the amount of Cruise Ships touring E/Med, having 16 night Cruises means they are not clashing as much with other Cruise ships in particular at the start and finish of your Cruise.

[Gerrym]

but then you wouldn't be able to go:confused:.

 

Sir martin:cool:

 

 

 

:d :d :d :d

 

 

:d

[LibraLass41]

There is only ONE short cruise of 3nights and no 2n weekenders which is a great shame, as these are good as a taster cruise and a chance to try the ship before commiting to a longer more expensive one...and the Azura is very expensive. The 16n cruises go to Venice and Croatia - they need 16n to get there, I did this cruise on Arcadia last year and its always 16n... I was looking for a cruise in early September, and Azura is doing Venice again then , so no good for me. Dear too, a reasonable balcony is £2230 - thats £4.5k for 2 people...very dear...

 

Here are the cruises:

 

A002 ~ Azura Maiden Cruise

12th April 2010

16 nights Mediterranean

Southampton ~ Malaga ~ Katakolon ~ Corfu ~ Dubrovnik ~ Venice ~ Korcula ~ Gibraltar ~ Southampton

A003 ~ Azura ~ Portunus Cruise

28th April 2010

12 nights Canary Isles

Southampton ~ Madeira ~ La Palma ~ Gran Canaria ~ Tenerife ~ Lisbon ~ Vigo ~ Southampton

A004 ~ Azura ~ Tate Britain

10th May 2010

16 nights Mediterranean

Southampton ~ Malaga ~ Katakolon ~ Corfu ~ Dubrovnik ~ Venice ~ Korcula ~ Gibraltar ~ Southampton

A005 ~ Azura ~ Portunus Cruise

26th May 2010

14 nights Baltic

Southampton ~ Kristiansand ~ Stockholm ~ Tallinn ~ St Petersburg ~ Helsinki ~ Copenhagen ~ Oslo ~ Southampton

A006 ~ Azura

9th June 2010

16 nights Mediterranean

Southampton ~ Malaga ~ Katakolon ~ Corfu ~ Dubrovnik ~ Venice ~ Korcula ~ Gibraltar ~ Southampton

A007 ~ Azura

25th June 2010

7 night Fjords

Southampton ~ Stavanger ~ Cruise in Nordfjord ~ Olden ~ Cruise in Nordfjord ~ Geiranger ~ Cruise in Geirangerfjord ~ Bergen ~ Southampton

A008 ~ Azura ~ Tate Britain

2nd July 2010

14 nights Baltic

Southampton ~ Kristiansand ~ Stockholm ~ Tallinn ~ St Petersburg ~ Helsinki ~ Copenhagen ~ Oslo ~ Southampton

A009 ~ Azura ~ Family Choice

16th July 2010

7 night European Cruise Break

Southampton ~ Dublin ~ Cork ~ Bilbao ~ Brest ~ Southampton

A010 ~ Azura ~ Family choice

23rd July 2010

16 nights Mediterranean

Southampton ~ Malaga ~ Katakolon ~ Corfu ~ Dubrovnik ~ Venice ~ Korcula ~ Gibraltar ~ Southampton

A011 ~ Azura ~ Portunus ~ Family Choice

8th August 2010

12 nights Canary Isles

Southampton ~ Madeira ~ La Palma ~ Gran Canaria ~ Tenerife ~ Lisbon ~ Vigo ~ Southampton

A012 ~ Azura ~ Family Choice

20th August 2010

16 nights Mediterranean

Southampton ~ Malaga ~ Katakolon ~ Corfu ~ Dubrovnik ~ Venice ~ Korcula ~ Gibraltar ~ Southampton

A013 ~ Azura ~ Tate Britain

5th September 2010

16 nights Mediterranean

Southampton ~ Malaga ~ Katakolon ~ Corfu ~ Dubrovnik ~ Venice ~ Korcula ~ Gibraltar ~ Southampton

A014 ~ Azura

21st September 2010

7 night European Cruise Break

Southampton ~ Dublin ~ Cork ~ Bilbao ~ Brest ~ Southampton

A015 ~ Azura ~ Portunus

28th September 2010

16 nights Mediterranean

Southampton ~ Malaga ~ Katakolon ~ Corfu ~ Dubrovnik ~ Venice ~ Korcula ~ Gibraltar ~ Southampton

A016 ~ Azura

14th October 2010

3 nights Cruise Break

Southampton ~ Bruges ~ Le Havre ~ Southampton

A017 ~ Azura ~ Tate Britain

17th October 2010

12 nights Canary Isles

Southampton ~ Madeira ~ La Palma ~ Gran Canaria ~ Tenerife ~ Lisbon ~ Vigo ~ Southampton

A018 ~ Azura

29th October 2010

15 nights Transatlantic Caribbean

Southampton ~ Tenerife ~ St Kitts ~ Antigua ~ St Lucia ~ Grenada ~ Barbados

A019 ~ Azura

12th or 13th November 2010

15 nights Caribbean

Barbados ~ Curacao ~ Aruba ~ Catalina Is ~ Tortola ~ St Maarten ~ St Kitts ~St Lucia ~ Grenada ~ Barbados

 

A020 ~ Azura

26th or 27th November 2010

15 nights Caribbean

Barbados ~ Curacao ~ Aruba ~ Catalina Is ~ Tortola ~ St Maarten ~ St Kitts ~St Lucia ~ Grenada ~ Barbados

 

A021 ~ Azura ~ Christmas & New Year cruise

10th or 11th December 2010

29 nights Caribbean

Barbados ~ Antigua ~ St Kitts ~ St Thomas ~ San Juan ~ Port Canaveral - for tours to Orlando ~ Port Everglades - for tours to Miami ~ Key West ~ New Orleans ~ Grand Cayman ~ Montego Bay ~ Catalina Is ~ Tortola ~ St Lucia ~

St Maarten ~ Dominica ~ Grenada ~ Barbados

A101 ~ Azura

7th or 8th January 2011

15 nights Caribbean

Barbados ~ Curacao ~ Aruba ~ Catalina Is ~ Tortola ~ St Maarten ~ St Kitts ~St Lucia ~ Grenada ~ Barbados

A102 ~ Azura

21st or 22nd January 2011

15 nights Caribbean

Barbados ~ Curacao ~ Aruba ~ Catalina Is ~ Tortola ~ St Maarten ~ St Kitts ~St Lucia ~ Grenada ~ Barbados

A103 ~ Azura

4th or 5th February 2011

15 nights Caribbean

Barbados ~ Curacao ~ Aruba ~ Catalina Is ~ Tortola ~ St Maarten ~ St Kitts ~St Lucia ~ Grenada ~ Barbados

A104 ~ Azura

18th or 19th February 2011

15 nights Caribbean

Barbados ~ Curacao ~ Aruba ~ Catalina Is ~ Tortola ~ St Maarten ~ St Kitts ~St Lucia ~ Grenada ~ Barbados

A105 ~ Azura

4th or 5th March 2011

15 nights Caribbean

Barbados ~ Curacao ~ Aruba ~ Catalina Is ~ Tortola ~ St Maarten ~ St Kitts ~St Lucia ~ Grenada ~ Barbados

A106 ~ Azura

18th March 2011~ 14 nights Caribbean Transatlantic

19th March 2011 ~ 13 nights Caribbean Transatlantic

Barbados ~ St Lucia ~ St Maarten ~ Tortola ~ Tenerife ~ Southampton

[somewheresoon]

But then you wouldn't be able to go:confused:.

 

Sir Martin:cool:

 

 

That's a disgraceful thing to say.

 

Mmmffffffffffffffffffggggggggggggggggg

 

HA HA HA HA HA HA

 

Ahem. Please refer to the site guidelines.

 

AHAAAAAAA HA HA HA HA

[somewheresoon]

Well yes, that's true, of course, and a cruise to the E Med must take longer unless here are hardly any ports of call. I think what I was hinting at is that it seems to me that P&O have purposely decided to deploy Azura on 16-night E Med cruises rather than 14-night W Med cruises, and accept the issues with schedules that result. So the question is 'Why?'; and I think the answer is that it's to discourage families.

 

It also make me wonder just how much P&O have felt the criticism of Ventura over recent months. If they can position Azura as a ship that accepts children but doesn't actually have that many on board for many cruises, then a lot of Ventura's problems with overcrowding, etc, will go away.

 

Here's another thing: Azura is not doing 7 night cruises on Bank Holiday weeks. In fact, for each of the b/h periods she'll have started her cruise at least the middle of the week beforehand. Again this seems to me to be deliberate scheduling by P&O to avoid large-scale family trade. Please note that I'm not complaining, just interested.

 

Now we wait for pricing details.....

 

 

 

I'm not taking the pee, really, but I just think it takes longer to get there. I'm really interested, because we don't want to fly cruise. The reception elsewhere to this itinery has been negative; I tihnk its great - eastern med from S'ton - but the price will have to get na lot more sensible. Which it will. Watch these and other spaces.

[stopgo]

Thanks Sue for taking the trouble of putting all the cruise dates in your post, it looks like if you want to go to Croatia the Azura is the ship to go on. All we now are confirmation of prices.

[jeanlyon]

Hi there, wonder what the discounted price for an inside cabin is. I also want to do Venice and was thinking of Oriana or Aurora. I am loathe to try Azura as her shape looks just like Ventura, quite ugly and she just might be too big for my liking.

[stopgo]

Knock 45% off, if you don't like the shape of Azura might as well go on Oriana or Aurora looks like it will come in cheaper.

[LibraLass41]

Jean

Email a cruise TA they have prices now (after "45%" DISCOUNT OBVIOUSLY) they don't even bother quoting the expensive price in brochure 'before discount'. for Azura, then deduct a few hundred pounds pp for the other ships in fleet?

 

Or I suppose we will have to wait a few more weeks for the new brochure for rest of fleet.

[tom_uk]

Well, the Azura brochure arrived this morning. Having had a quick look at the deck plans the following things struck me:

 

a) the roof over the Aqua pool no longer seems to be retractable. Perhaps the presence of the screen (for the movies) prevents that;

 

b) the positioning of those famous Single cabins is really good! - definitely 'close to the action'. Stumble out of bed and you're right in the casino....

 

I've commented on the prices in the 'Azura Prices' thread.

[jeanlyon]

OK cheapest inside is £1540 - that's from three different TA's, all about the same give or take a fiver! I'm doing 26 nights this year for £1808!!!

 

Libra, do you really think the other ships will be cheaper. I want to do Venice & Dubrovnik and if you're right, I might as well wait.