We chose P&O due to previous experience with the cruise line and reputation. Also this was my partners 1st time cruising, so I wanted to book with the knowledge that he would love it (so I can go again in the future).

TRAVELLING: We flew from the UK to Barbados, we had an 11 month on baby with us, and I have to say that from the moment we boarded the plane we were impressed with how well we were looked after. P&O chartered a Thomas Cook airlines flight, and the staff were great, also EVERYONE had their own seat, including our 11month old. This was a real bonus for us, for the 9 hour flight the extra space really did help us out! Once we landed in Barbados we just got off without hand luggage, our check in luggage was all sorted for us and travelled separately to the cruise and arrived in our cabin! That really is great service, especially when you have a buggy and all the trappings of an 11month old. We boarded a traditional Caribbean bus and travelled to the cruise port on this. I would say the transfer was around 30-45 mins. At the cruise terminal you then go through the checking in process, this was very smooth, no long queues, and the staff were lovely. We were then directed to board the ship!! We were each given a flower garland to wear and made our way to the top deck for a drink.

SHIP: The ship is beautiful, very impressive to look at inside and out. Azura is one of the larger P&O ships, this is what we wanted when booking, I prefer the larger ships. She is also classed as a family friendly ship and I would 100% agree with this. Even though the Azura can hold 3,100 passengers and 1,250 crew it never felt busy to us in the public areas. The atrium is a lovely area to wander around in the evening or sit down and relax with a drink listening to the live music that is very often playing. The pool decks are where we spent most of our time when on board. The main pool area was rather busy, and very lively. We spent our days at the terrace pool area as there was also the kids pool there. This area was a lot more chilled out compared to the main pool areas as there was always games etc being played and lively music, which just wasn’t for us, we wanted to chill out and relax. Plus the pools were quite deep, so I was not able to stand up which meant I couldn’t take the baby in, whereas at the kids pool (which is very small) he could stand himself. Throughout the entire 2 weeks the ship was spotlessly clean, we did not notice anything out of place, or any mess once, really impressive with the amount of people on board. Read more