If like me and you have enjoyed your last seven cruises then you have a quality bench mark set within your mind. My wife and two other friends arrived at the airport twenty four hours early to take advantage of the 'hand your luggage in early option, as stated in the brochure. We were informed politely, that as we were travelling with P & O, Thomson was now a chartered flight and they were not allowed to take our luggage. 'Check brochure,' we exclaimed! The Thomson representative told us she had spent all night telling other would be passengers the same story. Having dragged our suitcases from the car and deliberately passing our hotel, we now found ourselves re loading them back into the car and paying the unnecessary parking charges. This was an omen of the things to come. We arrived at Barbados after a very good flight and were greeted by the awaiting coaches to take us to our ship, the Azura. This is a very good service and makes the journey so much better. We had paid to renew our vows earlier in the year and we had completed the paperwork months in advance. The form asks you what date you would like the ceremony to take place and where would you like to dine. I could write a very long list of the total farce this became. We were told there were no tables left in XVII the day of our renewal and yet we'd given four months notice. The ridiculous thing was, when we arrived on board we went to look at Seventeen and was told by the person taking bookings that we should not book as we had a co-ordinator handling our requests. Just as a heads up for all those people reading this thinking they can book when they arrive on board, think again. We arrived a day earlier than our sailing date and struggled to book anything. We managed to book Sindu for a meal but struggled to book other venues. The retreat could not be booked as it was already fully booked from online bookings and you needed to have a spa package to get a place (strangely enough the retreat seemed empty, even on sea days) some people even cottoned on that you only needed to lean over the small deck gate to unlock it and walk in, as no one checked who should actually be in there. Here are some tips for you to know in advance and may help for plain sailing. The Italian resteraunt which is actually the buffet is very good and the food is good too. However above this dining location is the children's play club and the thumping noises that came through the ceiling was incredible. Just outside from this location is the back of the ship. There is a bar here which is a good chill out area in the evening. Unfortunately the smell of smoke and fat coming through the doors drifting over you is obnoxious. Sea days are when P & NO s shows it's true Butlins spirit. Overcrowded, sunbeds blocking walkways, loud rock music,people eating in the pool. Other ships have carribbean music, steel drums,something that tells you why you chose the carribbean. The ships carpets are dirty, the lifts are dirty and there is never any visible cleaning taking place. When it rains it doesn't just pour coffee in costa it rains inside too. Leaky parapet over counter area. The staff in Costa love watching the dancing in the atrium which is were they are based. In fact all five staff behind the counter had to be coerced into serving waiting people. On the top deck we ordered drinks from a waiter who never returned. We became concerned as we had an appointment to attend and so went to the bar to see what had happened to our service. We found the barman with a cluster of about twenty sea passes and a trolley full of drinks. We cancelled our drinks but we noticed some time later we had indeed been charged for these drinks. My friends also spotted that they had been charged for not attending the resteraunt Seventeen. They had not made a booking and questioned this, they were told it was an error. You may think that this review has completely focused on the negatives we'll let me explain this justification further. When you see a woman seated playing roulette in the casino while holding on to a two year old child and this is viewed as perfectly normal then I'm at a loss. If you see this as acceptable and your list of priorities fall in the order of labour club home from home. Sausages must be English mate, karaoke, bingo and choice language, then you will be right at home. The sunbed stampede starts around 6am (don't you dare tarnish the Germans until you have witnessed this) every sea day. If you snooze you lose,your punishment is to walk for eternity looking at empty sun-beds with towels, books and clever clues to say 'hands off.' This has got to be the closest thing to carry on cruising you will ever see. Never again will I want to be surrounded by so many Brits. The crew are not the happiest bunch of people you will ever meet either. Cabin staff were marvellous and the back of the ship had some friendly staff too. Another piece of important information is to consider the following. My friends and both my wife and I took a ship organised tour, kayak and snorkel,Curaçao. When we finally arrived at our destination we were asked to line up and sign a piece of paper. I thought this was for a head count as we were going out on the sea. My friend was last to sign it and noticed that on the other side of the paper was a disclaimer which we were not advised we were signing. We asked about this on our return to the ship at the excursion desk. I will not make a comment regarding what I was told but I would certainly check your own holiday insurance regarding any activities you plan to do. Could be a legal loop hole ahead, don't break a leg!

My advice to P & O is simple, clean up your act fast. You may be launching a new ship soon but Azura will still have it's paying passengers, who if not first time cruisers, will turn out to be your last time cruisers. Incidentally, my friends had travelled o. The Aurora and commented on the stark differences.

You pay for ice cream Read more