This is our second cruise the first was with Royal Caribbean with our teenage children, this time we were child free. We were given a embarkation time of 3pm but we got to the cruise terminal at 2ish there was bit of waiting around and we eventually got on board at 4pm, they were struggling to get everyone through and the muster drill was later than planned. With RCI last year we parked our own car and and we were on the ship very quickly so that was a better system.

Our cruise was for 5 days stopping at Guernsey and Amsterdam. We had an inside cabin on deck 12 (Australia) it was perfect for us, a good size with plenty of hanging/storage space, the bed was very comfortable we liked the chocolates on the pillows at night and the tea and coffee and making facilities, something you don't get with RCI. We thought the Azura was a lovely ship we especially liked the eating and drinking areas out on deck and the layout of the ship meant all the bars theatre etc were near each other so in the evenings you could easily move from one to another.

We ate in the Meridian restaurant almost every night where the food was excellent, on the black tie night there was also a Marco Pierre White menu available at no extra charge which my brother in law said was very good, on RCI on black tie nights it was the same menu with no noticeable difference, the buffet was a bit disappointing, not the choice or quality we had RCI. The entertainment was very good with so much packed into a short cruise, we thought the Headliners put on some good shows and were very professional, we especially enjoyed the 80's 'Electric Avenue' show, the guest artists that we saw were a Bruno Mars tribute act, the Beatles Experience and a fantastic jazz/soul singer who were all far better than the sugary naff entertainment we had on RCI so well done P&O, the entertainment team worked hard and were fun to watch. Read more