We decided on this cruise for the ports of call, and it was great choice. September can be dodgy with the sun/rain, but this was sunshine all the way, with temperatures around the mid 20's. This was our first time on Azura but we have been on the sister ship Ventura, but we did find Azura a more happy place - not sure why but it might have something to do with the Captain - a great bloke. Yes if you look hard you can see the ship is showing some signs of age and work on maintenance is visible but no complaints. We decided on an inside cabin as we wanted no excuse to get involved (the balcony is a great excuse not to go anywhere) and we did - my wife joined the choir and I learned how to juggle...

We were allocated the main dining room first sitting and a table of 8. It is a great way to get to know your table mates but it does depend where about's in the dining room your table is as to how much noise there is - which in turn can determine how much of a conversation you can have across the larger tables. On a longer trip, I think the waiters do get to know you better and give a better service for it - I always think there is not enough vegtables in the normal meal and always ask for more - only needed to do this a couple of times and the rest was automatic. The only small thing with the food is that we found it lacking in change, the same stuff (although nice) for most meals.

The ports of call on this cruise were excellent - not just the wonderful sun be the places we visited. The greek islands are a bucket list tick off. We only took two organised trips (both included drinking wine - not sure where that came from...) and can't fault the organisation or the standard of the guides, we had a great time. Read more