Azura 7 night Norwegian Fjords 22nd July 2017 Review

[paulrobs]

Just thought I'd post a few pics of our recent cruise on Azura to the Norwegian Fjords. Focus is on the cabin, views from the balcony and the places visited - Stavanger, Flam, Olden and Bergen. Our first cruise on P&O and we really enjoyed it, all of our previous six cruises were with RCI. How does P&O compare? Very well. We were a little concerned beforehand but we enjoyed the ship, food, entertainment and the ports of call. Don't think Azura has the wow factor that RCI ships seem to have - the Promenade is not that spectacular and neither is the Atrium in comparison. But we enjoyed the ship and would cruise again with P&O. This is good because it gives us more choices in terms of itinerary, for example RCI don't do the Norwegian Fjords in the summer holiday and because my wife works in a school we're a bit tied to these.

 

We'd always wanted to do the Norwegian Fjords and did they live up to our expectation? Yes and some more. Absolutely beautiful, awesome, spectacular and wonderful. We are so glad we did this and may do it again in the future. Not the same as a warm weather cruise with little chance to sunbathe but the scenery and beauty of this country more than made up for it.

 

Food was on a par with what we have experienced with RCI. Drinks much cheaper, noticeably so when paying the bill at the end of the cruise! Liked the freedom dining option, it gave us a chance to eat when we wanted to. Azura sets aside two main dining rooms for freedom dining and you are allocated one of these two when you board. There is sometimes a small queue of about 10 people as you wait to be seated but it does move very quickly. If you don't mind sharing you can go straight in but there is sometimes a wait if you want, for example, a table for 2/3/4 on your own. We shared 3 times and ate on our own 4 times. We only had to wait once and this was about 7 or 8 minutes. Clearly if you walk in at 7:00pm and ask for a table for two you'll likely have to wait quite a while until a table becomes available. They give you a buzzer and you retire to a bar for a drink and wait for the buzzer to go off. Easy. Not quite as good as we experienced on RCI Anthem of the Seas because on that ship you can pre-book times in restaurants for the flex dining option. We liked this because you can look at the daily programme and decide when to eat. We do like flexibility of dining times though. When we sailed away from Flam - aboslutely breathtaking as I hope my later photos will show, we sat on the upper deck and on the balcony for a long time and wouldn't have been able to do this if we were tied to an early dinner seating.

 

We had cabin B730 on deck 11 (Barbados Deck). Situated towards the stern (back) of the ship on the port (left) side. Slight judder experienced from the ship's propellors whilst underway but didn't bother us. Decor is perhaps a bit old fashioned but cabin was clean, everything worked and the guy who looked after the room - Christopher - was fantastic. Always polite, always helpful, always cheerful and a pleasure to talk to.

 

 

 

 

Day 2 at sea crossing the North Sea. Calm all the way and some wonderful views passing other ships and the oil and gas rigs. I'd done the crossing before in a Type 42 Destroyer in 1985 when serving in the Royal Navy and it brought back memories. Bit more comfortable this time as I recall!

 

 

 

Edited August 1, 2017 by paulrobs
typo

[paulrobs]

Day 3 at Stavanger. Beautiful place. The old wooden town should not be missed. I also had a look at the Petroleum Museum which charted the history of Norway's oil and gas exploration and production. Very informative and enjoyable. My wife and son walked around the town and visited the park area. Crown Princess, the same class of ship as Azura, was in port at the same time as Azura. Our cabin was the 4th from the stern on the third row of balconies down from the top and is the first row of balcony cabins that aren't overlooked - you'll see from the photo that decks 8, 9 & 10 all protrude a little and these balconies are overlooked from above. Worth looking at when you book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[paulrobs]

The Petroleum Museum had a mock up of a rig at the rear of the museum. Very interesting and some good views.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll post remaining photos later tonight or tomorrow some time.

[tinsoldier]

None of the photos display for me-they all show as broken links. Are they working for others?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[dave2]

Excellent review but photos not showing.:confused:

[carol58]

Thanks for your review. We are doing this cruise on 21st August. What did you do in Bergen. Did you go on any ship excursions? What was the weather like. Do we need to take warm clothes for trips off the ship?

Any more tips appreciated.

Unable to see photos.

Thanks

[groovechick]

Carol58, we've done this cruise in early August. Think typical British summer weather, i.e. light layers, and a light waterproof. When we were there the average temp was low 20s. Pretty much every day started out cool/cloudy/drizzly, then improved as the day wore on.

[paulrobs]

I'll try to fix the photos before posting anything else

[paulrobs]

Thanks for your review. We are doing this cruise on 21st August. What did you do in Bergen. Did you go on any ship excursions? What was the weather like. Do we need to take warm clothes for trips off the ship?

Any more tips appreciated.

Unable to see photos.

Thanks

 

It rained most of the day in Bergen so we restricted ourselves to a look round the wooden houses and shops on the quayside. Were planning to go to the Ice Bar.

 

The only ship excursion we did was at Olden when we did the Birksdal Glacier. We could have taken the open top sighteeing bus but we didn't want to miss seeing this one. Having seen the buses, I think we could have done it DIY. For Flam we pre-booked the mountain railway to Myrdal on the official website. Was more than £20 cheaper per person than doing it via P&O. Quite spectacular. For Stavanger, I'd recommend you DIY. Everything is close by and walking distance.

 

Yes re warm clothes. We had jeans with us. Also long sleeved shirts and a fleece and a raincoat. It rained for 23 days straight in June, it does rain a lot. Rucksack too to keep the raincoats and fleeces in when it gets hot. Temperature range each day could be quite significant so you have to be prepared.

 

Hope this helps.