Having cruised on the P&O Arcadia earlier this year we decided to give the P&O Azura a try which would be our 29th cruise. The embarkation in Barbados went OK, our cabin and the ship in general was very good once we had got used to the more unusual layout where it seemed very easy to lose your way and ending up in the wrong place. Food and service in the Peninsular restaurant was excellent and the bands and musicians were also good.

What let the ship down very badly were the entertainment staff who organised the deck parties. The terrific volume that they were using for the recorded music on deck made it a no no for many passengers so the parties were not very well attended. It was so loud that any form of communication was impossible and it was most difficult to even recognise a tune. Ear plugs should be used to prevent damage to the ears at that volume.

Some fellow passengers had complained about this to Customer Services and they told that if they asked either an officer or a member of the entertainment team when it occurred it would we corrected. At the start of the next deck party we found the noise still unbearable so I asked a member of the entertainment team if it could be turned down a little. His response was both unexpected and surprising, that "if we didn't like the noise we should go to the back of the ship" adding "far from reducing it, it's going to get even louder". At the first opportunity we purchased earplugs but we also decided not to attend any further deck parties due to this wall of distorted sound they were creating, We did however take some video of one party where most of the guests looked miserable, the only people enjoying themselves seemed to be the 5 entertainment staff up on a high platform dancing. Read more