Review of week on azura

[Vampiress88]

Thought I’d do a trip report for you guys. Let you know how it went. 

 

This cruise was for hubby’s birthday. There was me,hubby and my two girls. Scarlett 4 and Georgia 3. 

 

We are going with P & O on the Azura for a week 4th May. 

Cost us £1000 for the week for cheapest inside cabin (kids will be on bunk beds) and includes the food (and drinks such as tea coffee and juice while in the restaurants). We also got £50 cash back. Have also booked parking for £95 with cps. 

 

Day 1. Drive down. Board at Southampton 
Day 2. Cherbourg. France
Day 3. At sea. Birthday dinner at The Beach Club
Day 4. La Coruña. Spain
Day 5. Santander. Spain
Day 6. At sea 
Day 7. St. Peter Port. Guernsey 
Day 8. Dock at Southampton. Drive home. 

We literally have no plan for any docks. We have €300 for the first 3 ports and £100 for Guernsey. Credit cards as back up. I think it’s just going to be a case of get off the boat and explore. Take in the culture and views that kind of thing. We chose this cruise as it ment hubby was on holiday on his birthday. Should be warm ish. It was a cheap cruise for 4 of us or at least it seems like a good deal to me. There’s not actually any of these ports I want to visit. Saying that when we went on our last cruise hubby chose it specifically as I had always wanted to go to Rome and Pisa. Turned out that out of the 6 ports we went to on that cruise the worst ones where Rome and Pisa. Some of the other ports that I’d never heard of were the best. I kinda like catching one of those little trains or open top buses to sightsee and go to a local little cafe and look in random shops. 

I’m hoping this will be a nice easy relaxing holiday. The kids have said they may try the kids club which sounds amazing (movies and popcorn I wanna stay in there!) They said that as they caught us lookeing on YouTube at boats so had to fib that “nanan” might be going on one instead. 
That might mean we actually get some couple time, don’t think I’d know what to do with myself without the munchkins. 

It was a long drive down from the north. Supposed to take us 3.5 hours but it took us leaving at 9.30 to get at the cps at around 2 but we were through security and onto the boat by 3pm. Scarlett had to stop twice for bathrooms. The kids sung all the way down driving me nuts. 

 

First thing was to head to Verona. This is a buffet restaurant. Bought a coke and marstons. As we were passing by we booked for hubby’s birthday at the beach house it’s £7 each then extra depending on if you have the specials. They also said there is a special offer on tonight for sindu if we went before 6.30. 

While hubby finished his drink I went down to book sindu then up to the children’s club. Georgia came with and she was straight in there play area. They both had a snack from the buffet then we went off to see our room. Took some pictures too. 

 

 

 

Had to do the muster drill. This took an hour for some reason. 

Quickly we dashed back and changed and straight up for kids tea at the buffet. They had chips hotdog and beans then a donut so they were happy. 

 

As we planned on sindu we took them to the kids club. Both ran in no problems. We had a lovey dinner. Not been here in 7 years and don’t often get a meal out together so that was good. Did worry about the kids but didn’t need to they were fine when we picked them up. This is the meal we both had and these are the photos. Didn’t remember to take photos at first. Hubby actually remembered I was doing this and reminded me to photograph. 

So we had complimentary popadoms with dips and little chicken with something green. No idea was very nice. No photo. Fail. 
Hariyali Jhinga
Ginger and Mint Tiger Prawns, Pineapple Chutney 

Karara Kekda
Crisp Soft Shell Crab, Celeriac and Apple Slaw, Passion Fruit Chutney

Kalyera Mappas
Lobster, Seafood Biriyani, Spiced Coconut and Mango Sauce
Tandoori Murg
Tandoori Half Chicken, Mixed Leaf Salad, Makhani Sauce 

Passion fruit sorbet 

Chocolate Textures
Chocolate Truffle Mousse, White Chocolate and Mint Sorbet, Mint Chocolate Soil

Cardamom Bread and Butter Pudding
Ginger Custard

Then cuppa and some afters. 

Hubby also had a cocktail called fruit salad. Tasted like pineapples to me. 

 

 

 

Was a very nice meal. Very posh. Definitely feel a bit out of place there. Glad she told us it was a hand wipe it looked a mint to me. 

We had a wander around the ship. Think I’ve seen inside every toilet so far. 🙄

 

Back to the cabin. Put all the clothes away. Quick shower then bed. 

 

Beer and soda =£6.50
Sindu = £26.60
Cocktail = £6.65

 

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Cherbourg 

 

Alarm woke us up at 6. As usual I was the first up and showered followed by Georgia. Hubby and Scarlett are the type that struggle to get out of bed in a morning. 

Straight to the buffet. Didn’t think it was very good to be honest. I can’t stand snotty eggs and these were. Sausage was nice and so was the blueberry muffin. 

Went to the gangway at 8am. They let us off almost straight away. There were lots of coaches waiting and we couldn’t work out where to go. There were a lot of armed men too. So I asked someone and they told me to get on the shuttle bus. This was our first mistake. Cost me £12 for a 5min bus ride that we could have walked! Lesson learnt I hope. 

Scarlett and Georgia said bonjour to anyone who would listen. 

My god Cherbourg is boring. We took €150 out with us and guess how much I spent? Not even a euro. Not one. 
We walked around for about 2 hours. We saw a navy ship and submarine in the harbour and also the l’hermoine ship which is a replica. There were lots of shops with lovely patisseries in them but it was too early for those. 

 

Kids just complained all the way. They were cold. They were bored. When could they go to the kids club. To be honest we were bored too and cold so we called it a day at that. Was really regretting setting an alarm. Would have been better to stay in bed and have gone to Cherbourg later in the day. 

Back on the boat we went to java and hubby had a chocolate flake tea pig. He said it was nice. I didn’t think it was. 
Kids had an apple. Georgia managed to drop hers on the floor so Scarlett decided to apologise for her sister to the waiter about the apple. Bless her. 

Was about lunch time but we decided to go check out Brodie’s which has a pub type feel to it. 

 

I ordered a g&t and hubby wanted a sour beer. Well turns out they don’t have that beer and neither did they have the tonic I asked for so back to the drawing board. I ordered a different tonic and hubby got a lemon beer instead. 
Georgia was shattered. I think she’s coming down with something. She crawled up on hubby for a cuddle and she was gone. Couldn’t keep her eyes open bless her. 

Scarlett asked if she could order a special drink so she read the cocktail menu herself and chose one. Ordered it with the waitress and even signed her name for it herself she was well impressed with herself. Was apple and lemonade with mint I think. No alcohol obviously even though she did ask me if she could have some of my gin. She’s counting down the years before she can have proper ones. 

We decided it was time for lunch. Headed up to the buffet but kids wanted to try the outside grill.

 

Got chicken chips burger and hotdog to share between us to see what we liked. Didn’t like any of it to the honest. Hubby and I decided to start on the cocktails. It was only 12 degrees but we were sat out of the wind so was nice and warm. I had a daiquiri and hubby a pina colada. Didn’t rate these at all. Girls wanted to try the kids cocktail so we got a crush and it was nice. We’re going to get an ice cream sundae but again we’re told they didn’t do that one and we didn’t fancy any others so I left it. Kids were pretty disappointed. 

There is a couple of things niggling at me about this cruise so far. That’s now 3 things they don’t have and there was also a wine missing for a lady in sindu as we heard every word about it. Also kids were supposed to get special bedding pink I would assume and jellybeans on there bed to make it special for them. Didn’t get this on first night. Thought I would wait and see if they did this tonight. (They didn’t) There is also I horrible smell of what I would say between very bad fart and sewage. They say it’s just to scheduled maintenance but they never told us prior that this would be going on and also the internet is full of stories about it so I’m thinking is not just the maintenance. 

Anyway. We went back to the room after our drink hoping Scarlett would nap but she didn’t. After tidying up a little and putting my bag down with all my millions of coats in it decided to go back to the bars in the sun and make most of it. 
Tried to sit on the top bar called breakers but I couldn’t stand the smell. Back to where we sat for lunch in the nice sun and ordered the best cocktail, the kids section ones got a crush and punch. I liked the punch best. Then tried the mint chocolate one and another crush. Kids did some drawings. 

 

By this time kids wanted to watch the boat sail away so we went to the back of the boat and sat there for a bit. 
Was very boring and the kids were playing up so we went back and got showered and changed. 

This was buffet menu. Didn’t fancy it at all. 

 

Had decided to try the sit down meal tonight in the meridian restaurant. I had prawn cocktail then mustard ham with mash and hubby had same. I then had a chocolate thing for desert. Can’t remember what pudding hubby had. Kids had chicken nuggets and chips and cookies. I was so fed up during this meal. I had to get up 4 times to take the kids to the toilet. Don’t know if it was because they were trying the cocktails or just messing about but I was fed up. Meal was ok. Better than the buffet but nothing special. I forgot to take photos again though. Good job I’m not doing a good report cos it’s hard remembering to take photos. Hubby also had a wine that’s exclusive to this ship. He said it was nice. 

Kids decided they wanted to go to the kids club. Yay! So they went there but only for an hour cos we were knackered. While they were there we went to the planet bar which is always the quietest. Hubby got a Tropicana and I got a daiquiri. Both non alcoholic ones this time as we had enough for today. 

Me and hubby don’t usually do photos anymore but we managed to take a lovely one just outside this bar. 

Picked kids up, back to cabin for pjs and bed. Everyone apart from me was straight to sleep. 

Tomorrow is a sea day and hubby’s birthday. 

Bill today 
Shuttle £12.00 
Tea £2.15 
Lemon beer £4.20 
Gin £3.45 
Tonic £2.15 
Cocktail £3.05 
Daiquiri £6.25 
Pina colada £6.25 
Crush £1.60 
Crush £1.60 
Punch £1.60 
Crush £1.60 
Mint £1.60 
Wine £5.65 
Daiquiri £3.05 
Tropicana £3.05 

£59.25

 

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Sea Day-hubby birthday 

 

Decided not to set an alarm this morning. Have a lie in. 

Yeah that didn’t happen. 

5.20 and there was an announcement in the cabin. I absolutely papped my pants thinking the worst and that the boat was going down or something. This is what I fear every time we are on a boat. 
Someone was taken ill and has to be airlifted to mainland somewhere in France. We were told to stay indoors and off balconies. Then 6.30 another announcement to say that the airlift has gone well and that everything can resume. So I literally panicked twice and I hate that. 

Hope the person is ok. 
We woke up at nearly 9. By time we were dressed only buffet for breakfast was open. Only problem now was no tables. So 3 laps of the two restaurants and I found a table. Just got to it and so did someone else an older couple with another lady. Was very annoyed but I gave in as they glared at me. Was definitely counting to 10 at that point. Luckily I found another table afterwords. 
We got our breakfast and I left most of mine. Was freezing cold and I was fed up already anyway before 10am. This didn’t set us up for a good day. Hubby had face on about the seating also. After breakfast kids wanted to go kids club. So after we dropped them off we went to java for a coffee.

It was packed. No tables at all. Mega queues. We decided to order them go up to the buffet restaurant that was closed as there are loads of seats there and good view. Hubby ordered latte and I wanted red berry cooler. And they didn’t have mine. So got hubby’s and walked off in even more of a huff. 

Was lovely to sit in the empty restaurant. I sat writing yesterday report and hubby did the crossword. As kids club closes for lunch we collected them and got something to snack on. We thought we would then try one of the bars. Again it was packed. We walked round and round to find somewhere to sit. After 20mins we finally found somewhere in the glass house.

Unfortunately that’s when Georgia decided to try and race to get to sit next to hubby. Cue all glasses that hadn’t been cleaned away go flying. 

This was last straw so we went back to the cabin in a mardy. 

We all had an afternoon nap. Felling a bit better we started to get dressed. This was the first black tie night. I hate wearing dresses with a passion but when in Rome etc. 

Girls looked beautiful in there dresses as always. The first stop was to go get the formal photo taken. I don’t take good pictures at all and Georgia always seems to pull a strange face. After we did this we went to the beach house. Now I’ve failed immensely at taking photos especially of the food. I don’t know if this is because I am on a ship with the majority of people not using technology or what but I don’t seem to dare take any photos. Suppose I don’t wanna be that person they talk about look she’s on her phone again etc. 

As it was hubby’s birthday we were booked in at 6.30 for the beach house. Went to take some photos on the balcony at the atrium before. Photos did not go well. Georgia and I looked awful and really spoilt them which was a shame. 

At beach house I had potatoes skins, beef sizzler and carrot cake. Hubby had prawns in panko, hanging fish kebab and carrot cake. I really enjoyed my sizzler. Was really very nice. Hates the potato skins though they were disgusting. The carrot cake cake with honey ice cream and it was delicious. 

Mental note to take more photos. Will try but it seems weird having a phone out here. Like I’m gonna get it confiscated or something. 

Kids had chicken nuggets and chips. Both ate them and were reasonably good ish. Then Eton mess ice cream to finish. 

They both wanted to go to kids club so we let them go there for an hour and we went to planet bar again as it’s always quiet. I had a daiquiri virgin again and hubby had mango mule. These were both nice. 
We did say that we didn’t think dinner had been that great so decided we wouldn’t go there again. 

Went back to collect kids then showered and bed. Georgia took a while to fall asleep because of the nap they had earlier but went after about 15mins. I was super excited to go to sleep tonight. The pillows they have are massive very podgy so kids had the green throw pillows as they were flat I had slept with no pillow the first night and my hoody as a pillow the second night. Tonight they had left me a lovely thin pillow. Lovely. 

Scarlett however was wide awake. I hadn’t napped earlier and was shattered. Scarlett literally did everything she could to annoy me for hour and half. Every time I fell to sleep she woke me up. She went to sleep about 12.30ish. Lesson learnt she won’t be needing a nap tomorrow.

Latte £2.95 
Beach house £22.70 
Tropicana £3.05 
Sea breeze £3.05 
Tropicana £3.05 
Daiquiri £3.05 
Mango mule £3.05 

£40.90

 

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La Coruña 

 

Alarm set for 7.30 this morning. I got up and ready then woke everyone else since they can’t seem to move their bums. 

When we were finally ready we went down to the peninsula restaurant for a sit down breakfast. Was lovely. Got seated straight away no messing about scrambling for a table.

I fancied something light so I got a cheese and ham omelette. Hubby had poached eggs and bacon on toast and girls had pancakes. Dunno what it is with this ship but the portion sizes for kids are ridiculous. Three pancakes the size of saucers. Other day it was 2 cookies for pudding rather than one. Even 7 chicken nuggets. They usually eat 4 at home. 
Anyway rant over. Would be moaning if it wasn’t enough. Never pleased. 

Breakfast as I say was lovely. Waiter service. Toast. Blueberry muffins we ordered to share. Nice juices. Was happy with this especially compared to yesterday’s. 

We went straight ashore. The kids found a playground after about 2 mins and so we did that for a while. 

Come to Spain and all my kids want is a playground. 
Walked round the port. Decided to try and go look at a beach think it was called orzo or something. Well 30 mins and complaining kids later we found we were back near the ship. We had walked up these little side roads and somehow gone in a bit of a circle. We found the centre Prit Maria I think it was called. Was some kind of square with an official building. 

So we walked down the little road everyone was going down. Was lined with shops and businesses but nothing looked good. So back to find the beach. 
20 mins later and we were there. However it was cold and windy on that side. Beach was full of people with dogs so didn’t end up going on it. Kids wanted to go back to the sweet shop we had found. Tried to retrace our steps but nope we couldn’t find it at all. 
I was starting to get fed up. My euros burning a hole in my pocket. Scarlett was moaning about being tired. Georgia had to be carried. Now I think that maybe this was more to do with boredom than the walking. They wanted to go back on the ship. So back we went. 

Off to Brodie’s which I think is my favourite bar. Was about 11.50. They should have been open but they were having extended drill so weren’t yet. 

Scarlett made a friend. A receptionist heard her whistling and asked Scarlett to teach her how to do it. Must have spent 10 minutes speaking to her and Georgia. 
That’s definitely ones thing about the azura. All the staff are wonderful. I haven’t come across any so far that haven’t been and they seem to love the kids. 

Hubby decided we should call virgin and see how much it might be to change our booking to a villa for our Disney holiday. As the kids have been annoying we were thinking a villa may be better. Was £133 difference including all the charges. I love the free breakfast at hotel but have a private pool and washing machine. 

We ordered some drinks. I had coke. Hubby had appletise. Was getting about 1pm so decided to have lunch. Had some curry and rice from the buffet. Wasn’t brilliant but can’t have that many table service meals a day. 

Georgia was starting to get a bit ratty so we went back for a snooze. Well she slept none of us did. Scarlett chilled out on iPad for half hour. While we went through tonight’s menu. 

After nap they decided they wanted to go to kids club. So while they went there we went to glass house. Again no pictures. I am really very useless at this point. Really it’s gonna be me just waffling on. 
Ordered s fruity wine and s sweet champagne. The champagne one was ok. I don’t really do wine or beer. I had a water. 

Collected kids. Then went for dinner. Was 60s-90s night so put them in skater dress hoping that would be ok. Needn’t have worried. There were plenty of people more dressed down than us. 

Dinner at the meridian was really good. Kids had sausage and chips. Scarlett wanted carrots. Georgia asked for lots of broccoli. They were both quite good in here. They are annoying kids but they do try very hard to do everything right. Georgia just has a tendency to shout st the minute. They had jelly got after. 
I had calamari,salmon then lemon tart. Hubby had calamari,cod then peanut butter meringue tart. We both enjoyed our meals. The restaurant manager came over to make sure it was a good meal. Talked mainly to the kids. Didn’t see him talk to anyone else. I have a theory that it’s the girls that they seem to gravitate to. 

We were surprised at another table with a boy about 3 same as Georgia and he didn’t eat instead had the iPad the whole time while both parents were on phones. 

As promised as kids were good we went to Malabar. Coke for me. Banaberry for girls and Tropicana for hubby. 

Called it a night at that. 

Alarm set for 7.30 in morning. It’s kedgeree for breakfast and we are at port of Santander. Do you think I will actually spend a Single euro yet?

Appletise £2.15 
Pepsi £1.95 
Local tax £0.41 
Wine £4.75 
Wine £4.50 
Local tax £0.93 
Pepsi £2.95 
Tropicana £3.05 
Banaberry £3.05 
Pepsi £1.95 

£25.69

 

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Santander 

 

Alarm set for 7.30 but I woke up 10mins before. No one else seems bothered to get up. Thinking it’s because it’s so dark in the room. 

Georgia up first as usual. Then hubby. We all got dressed and Scarlett was still dawdling. 

Finally got to the peninsula and ordered kedgeree and muffin. 

Kids had cereal and porridge. Didn’t like the kedgeree at all and shared muffin with kids so still hungry. Hubby asked for an extra poached egg on a side plate and he ended up with 2 poached egg on toast fetched straight after the kedgeree. Not one to waste food he ate it all. Said it was lovely. 

Went ashore at 9am and had a walk round. I dunno if we have just chose a cruise with rubbish ports or if we are just mardy but we walked around for 2 hours and
Another port another playground The kids went in which was the highlight and that was it. No cafes took our fancy nor did the shops. 

We have spent €0 at THREE ports! 

Looks like there is more left for next year now. Wish I hadn’t changed over so much. 

Off to Brodie’s. Back to our pog. 

We have a sofa that we sit on every day it seems. Ordered a masquerade beer and a coke. Had to pay 10% Spanish tax again. 

So glad I fetched a new pad of paper and three pens cos this is keeping everyone quiet. The girls are drawing and hubby is doing the daily ship crossword. 
Made a plan for the rest of the day. There was a show on at 7pm called astonishing it’s a magic show so we decided we would get some light lunch now, I wanted to do afternoon tea then feed kids about 5 and we would have buffet after show. 

So off to the buffet. I really don’t rate the buffet at all I think it’s a bit pants but got something light and a cuppa. 

 

After lunch we went and sat on sunbeds near breakers bar.

Kids didn’t seem settled they seemed bored. The wanted to go swimming. Now I hadn’t fetched their costumes. One because the weather was supposed to be pants and two I wasn’t going in but we had found the kids pool other day and I thought they could go in there without me so thought stuff if we on holiday so I let them in with just pants and vest. They loved it. Scarlett was practicing holding her breath under water. 
They played until 2pm which was when the kids club opened on that level. 

We decided to have a cocktail so went and got a table. It was packed and the table was in the shady so hubby decided he’d rather have a nap me and the girls stayed. Didn’t enjoy the cocktail but the girls did. After we went and found a sunbed. Stayed on it for nearly two hours and the kids with very behaved I was surprised. Ordered a coke cos it was absolutely boiling. Didn’t expect this kind of weather at all and it was only 17 degrees. I didn’t put suncream on so managed to burn my parting forehead nose and arms much to the amusement of everyone since I always go on about the suncream. Another lesson learnt. 

So it was 4oclock and we were supposed to be having afternoon tea. It was that hot now me and girls weren’t hungry and they said they wanted to go back to the cabin instead. Hubby was still asleep when we got there. He’d obviously forgotten the plans and decided not to set an alarm. 

We got ready and went to the kids buffet so that they could eat at 5 as we were going to see that show at 7 and decided to have a drink in the glass house while we waited for the doors to open. 
Hubby has a champagne like wine that tasted like pink candy floss again. 
Scarlett’s friend from reception saw us. Another 10min conversation with Scarlett about cocktail and Scarlett gave her the drawing of a red one she’d made.

Captain made an announcement. We were changing course due to bad weather on the bay of Biscay. It shouldn’t affect our arrival time at at Peter port but to be careful when walking etc. 

At 6.30 we went to go get our seats at the theatre to realise that due to the bad weather it had been rescheduled to 10th instead. 

Well that had messed all our plans up now we didn’t know what do for the evening. 

So we went to our usual pog at Brodie’s. Got some drinks two Pepsi for us and pussyfoot for girls. Georgia was shattered and had another snooze on daddy’s lap. We decided we would go to the meridian sit down meal. Had potted shrimp, paella and chocolate ganache. I chose the desert cos I wanted to try the salt and vinegar ice-cream. Shimp was awful. Paella was nice. Pudding was just weird. Had cheese board which was nice and a cuppa. 

During dinner a waiter rushed over to tell the girls to look out the window. There were dolphins and one popped up right next to our window. Kids were ecstatic. Still don’t have any photos. I am really awful at this. No way am I gonna be able to do a food report for Florida. 

Went to Malabar last and hubby and girls had a Tropicana each. I still had coke from dinner. 

Then it was bed time. We were in bed for 10. Now this is where everything started going wrong. We were in cabin D103 so we are the first cabin right under the front of the captain just a few decks down. Now you may remember the announcement for bad weather. My god was is bad. I have only ever been as scared like that before once in my life and that was the night Scarlett was born. 
As we were under the front of the boat I suspect we had it worst at our end. I couldn’t leave the bed without feeling sick. The boat was rocking so bad I was replaying titanic in my head. Is was awful. Couldn’t sleep. Sounded like a big boom every time we hit a wave. I seriously did not think the boat could stand it and we would sink. 
Luckily the kids slept through it all. My hubby doesn’t get scared very often and even he was. It was impossible to sleep. We basically laid there panicking for hours. Last time I looked at the clock it was 6am and neither to us had slept yet. There seemed to be a lull and off we drifted. 

Masquerade £4.25 
Pepsi £1.95 
Tax £0.62 
Crush £1.60 
Tax £0.16 
Pepsi £1.95 
Tax £0.20 
2 Pepsi £3.90 
Wine £4.50 
Pussyfoot £3.05 
2 Pepsi £5.90 
2 Tropicana £6.10 

£34.18

 

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Sea day

 

Woke up at 8.10. I’d had two hours sleep and I was fed up now of trying. Had a nice shower before my sea sickness started again. I usually feel it a bit and it’s not usually too bad. It feels to me like how my morning sickness was with the girls. This however as the seas were rough was awful and way more than what it’s felt like previously. 

Advanced warning. This was a boring day. 

Kids got up at 9.15 and hubby got up too. All dressed we had missed sit down breakfast so went to the buffet. The weather was still awful and the pools on board were showing it. It was splashing about everywhere. 

Kids and hubby had something to eat. I literally couldn’t. I got a cuppa and managed half. Luckily we had just finished there was a teenager being sick. Now if I see hear or smell sick then I end up sick too. Can’t help it. It’s automatic. Literally said to hubby we got to leave right now. Grabbed the kids and went. 

Plan was to go to Brodie’s. I couldn’t. I said I’m going back to the room and everyone followed. I did say hubby could just leave me behind but he was flagging through lack of sleep too. Poor kids couldn’t put them in kids club due to time and back at cabin it must have been boring. I just laid in bed for a few hours cos laying down was the only time I didn’t want to be sick. 

Kids were getting hungry now and fed up. We had missed lunch as it was past 2.30 so we went for pizza. At the pizza there were no plates. I waited a while for them to fetch some but got fed up. Couldn’t stand there feeling sick. 

Hubby had ordered me a ginger beer and him dandelion burdock. Was a bit like taking medicine but it definitely settled my stomach at least 50% better than it was previously. We had three bowls of chips between us. Kids then also had something from the afternoon tea on the buffet. 

Due to lack of photos I took some of the kids club leaflets etc instead. 

We headed to manhattan. There was a talk on watches but this was the quietest room. Sat in there for a while deciding what do do next. Scarlett was having a “moment” luckily she calmed down. 

Thought best go home and get ready for black tie night. So got all dressed up. Kids were going to kids club and we were going sindu again but it was full price tonight. Hubby says it will be worth it. I don’t think it will as I’m not sure I will enjoy it as much still feeling a bit sick. 

First stop our pog. 
Noooooo! 
The pog has been taken we had to take the brother to our pog instead. Never mind was comfy but I sank into the seats. 
Ordered Pepsi and dandelion burdock. My Pepsi tasted awful so kids drunk it. 
Took them to kids club they practically raced in. Off to sindu. 

I had ground flatbread, korma, banoffee applie pie. Hubby had ? And banoffee apple pie. Only managed picture of dessert. 

Was just waiting for cuppa and woman came over saying we have a phone call. Oh god I thought could only be about the kids. 

It was. Scarlett had been running and face planted into the floor. Has a bust lip and bust nose. We had to go get them. Apparently Georgia had also got upset cos Scarlett was upset. Georgia is very empathetic like that. She doesn’t like it very well when Scarlett gets hurt. 

So we collected them. They were a bit hungry so had fruit and cream from buffet. 

We were shattered after no sleep so went home and straight to bed. 

Dandelion burdock £2.75 
Ginger beer £2.75 
Dandelion burdock £2.75 
Pepsi £1.95 
Sindu £40.00 
Pepsi £2.95 

£53.15

 

———————————————————

 

St. Peter port

 

I had five solid hours of sleep without moving. Now for me that is good sleep. Alarm was set for 8 but we were up at 6.30. As St. Peter port is a tender (little boat ride to shore) we heard the metal winches getting them out. 

Showered and ready we went down for table service breakfast and I took pictures for once. Kids had pancakes. I had sausage and egg. Hubby had bacon and egg. My eggs were snotty. Don’t do snotty eggs ☹️

Got a ticket for the tender and made our way across for about 10am ish. 

Didn’t know what to do and the petit train I wanted to go on wasn’t running. So we walked around again. This was the prettiest out of the places we had been. Reminded me very much of Cornwall. Cobble streets tight together etc. Had a look at a few shops. Stayed till 12 so that we could hear the cannon at midday. 

Finally people we spent some money on land. Spent a grand total of £5.80!
Bought a bottle of water and two hot chocolates banoffee and rocky road flavour. 

Sat on a nice park bench while we had those then made our way back to the ship. 

Kids wanted to draw and hubby wanted to do the ships daily crossword so we sat in java and I ordered a pot of tea. Hubby didn’t want anything. Got 3 cookies for me and kids. Well turns out hubby did want a cookie and he snaffled mine straight away followed by a cup of my tea I said he could try. 

Headed back to cabin to finish packing. We were on deck 5 and cabin on deck 9. Just got to the lift/stairs, hubby and Scarlett went a different way to us and as I was just there all the lifts were going up with hubby and Scarlett inside I could hear them giggling. Me and Georgia walked instead and they thought it was hilarious until they realised they had no card for the door so they were stuck outside anyway. 

Scarlett finished writing. She loves to write and since we took her out of school for this we asked her to write about it so I could send it to her teacher. They have this thing online called dojo and you can send the teacher photos or messages. 

As I had used my card earlier for the grand total of £5.80 then I had a £100 cash that I had put aside for St. Peter port so thought it best to pay off some of my bar bill now with that £100 rather than it go all on my card. It was Scarlett’s friend on reception that sorted it for us. Her name is deepika. 

Afternoon tea was calling. I’ve wanted to do this for ages. I want a scone and tea mmmmm. There were loads of buns. Did manage to get a photo this time. 
What I didn’t photo is the turkey and cranberry sandwiches and sausage roll and tea cakes. We ate all the buns that were on the table apart from the cupcake as it was a coffee one and it was awful. I got my scone and we even had another round of cakes. I had chocolate moose. Scarlett had raspberry moose topped cake and hubby had lemon meringue which was the best bun there. 

Georgia was too full. She had been saying this all holiday which is a surprise to us as she is always hungry. She’s always the one who asks for something half hour after breakfast. 

We were heading back to the cabin to get ready for the evening. Rolling back really. 
Wanted to go and have a look at the photo of us took last night at sindu. As I hadn’t taken many photos of around the ship me and Scarlett headed off to take a photo of the manhattan that we were in yesterday but it was closed for some kind of rehearsals. 

Me and Scarlett got back before hubby and Georgia. No idea how but they must have been side tracked or something. 
Now hubby has this thing about making me jump all the time. Creeps up on me and stands behind me to make me squeal etc so me and Scarlett decided to get him for a change as nothing usually makes him jump. 

We hid in the dark as we heard Georgia coming down the corridor. As the door opened I said boo and he jumped a mile. It was hilarious. I was crying with laughter. I don’t remember the last time I made him jump it was awesome. 

Got changed and went to the glass house. Hubby had a pint of something or other. 
Kids were being pains and fighting. Scarlett seems to be getting fed up as she was teary. 

6.20 and I jump in the queue with Georgia to see “Astonishing” this is a magic show created by Stephen mulhern. Heard good things about it. It started at 7 and was the first showing and was packed. Glad I got there before the doors opened. Tried to take a good picture of the stage but you will know by now that I am useless at taking photos. 

Small rant here and I had to count to 10 but there was a family sat in the row behind us. I was in an aisle seat and Georgia next to me then hubby then Scarlett. The family was mum dad and two boys about 9 and 12. One of the boys was letting off wind at least 5 times which really if that was my kids I would be saying that they should be going to the toilet. Then one of the boys not sure if it was the same one put his feet on the back of Georgia’s chair with no socks on. It was awful really and it’s a good job his mother told him to get them down because I was just going to turn round and say it. Really don’t think he should have had shoes off in a theatre! 

Now the show was quite good especially as your not paying extra. It was about 40% magic the rest was dancing musical type which is fine but I wanted more magic. Would definitely recommend it though. There was a trick in the middle where you have to open an envelope and do it yourself now mine didn’t go right as I wasn’t listening and muddled up some of the instructions but it worked for hubby and Scarlett and hubby who is the biggest sceptic was a little bit baffled which amused me greatly. 

Show over and off to the last sit down meal. 

On holiday I usually try and go for things I wouldn’t normally at home so with that we had the satay skewers,mahi mahi and hubby had carrot cake cheesecake and I had the apple pie Sundae. I did not like this food at all. The satay came out cold but I couldn’t be bothered to moan about it. The mahi mahi I have had once before. I had it at a restaurant in Epcot “coral reef?” Sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong, had it years ago and it was beautiful. This I was served was awful. Don’t know if it just wasn’t cooked how I liked or what but I left the majority. The sundae was nice though. Hubby agreed with me about the fish and the kids had chicken nuggets and chips. 

Georgia did have a little paddy in the restaurant luckily was brief. Did want to go to somewhere for a cocktail on the last night but both kids were shattered so back to the cabin to pack instead. Lights off and asleep by 10pm although I did try and get stuff typed up or else I would forget. 

Water £2.50 
Tea £2.15 
Pint £4.85 
2 Pepsi £3.90 

£13.40

 

———————————————————

 

Home

 

Alarm set for 7 but was up at 6 as I could hear the conveyer belt they use to more the bags. 

Got dressed and rest of room packed by 7.30. You have to leave your room by 8 so we went to the buffet got some muffins and pastries etc. 

We had to be in the playhouse theatre at 9.15 to disembark. We got there at 9 and they let us straight through. Was really easy, scanned card as we left, walked down to a big room that had our luggage and wheeled it out to the cps office to collect the car. We are about 3.5hours drive from Southampton and we got home for 1.30 which was good timing. 

Did have a thing about petrol on way home. Hubby thought one petrol staying too expensive at 137p so left it till there was nearly nothing in the tank to go to a petrol station that was 148p. Was a told you so moment but as he was driving I only thought it. 

Washing, unpacking and shopping was rest of the day. 

Couple of things to share. 

Can’t remember if I wrote about the awful smell on the first few day around the middle of the ship or not but it kind of ruined it for us those days. Luckily though it wasn’t there for free last few days. Hubby did say he saw them removing waste at one of the ports so this is what I believe the smell was. 

The amount of people commenting about our girls was astounding. I must have had more than 15 people speak to us and I over heard others too. 
They were saying how well behaved there are. Good manners. Polite. Glad to see them not on technology but drawing, playing games or writing. One couple literally stopped to watch Scarlett write, didnt actually say a word to us but just listening to the conversation we were having about what she could write. 

They both did have their melt downs and Georgia has by far the most, they also sometimes ate with there fingers etc but they both always tried to do everything in an acceptable manner and I am very proud of my girls. 

Georgia didn’t climb railings and she didn’t fall out of bed although I did put the suitcase as the end of bed so that would have called first and woke me just in case. 

The majority of the staff were really good. The took loads of time interacting with the kids. Always polite and helpful. Very hard working too. 

We spent way less money than we thought on board and I did drink just water a few times but the majority of time I just ordered what I wanted. 

I was sceptical about going to the main sit down dinner with the kids but that actually turned out to be a real highlight. Was much nicer than buffet. 

We do have two other cruises booked for next year which I am still not sure about due to a mess about on p&o side but I was a fantastic cheap cruise and definitely showed us what it would be like with the kids on a ship. As p&o have messed me about I am currently £400 down now plus I have lost £180 cashback so not a happy bunny. The cash back for this trip has also not tracked. 

£1000 cruise (£50 maybe cashback)
£95 parking
£45 petrol
£265 on board spend
£6 on shore spends
£1411 total ( €0 spent)

Now I’ve just got to get on with Disney planning. At 21 days countdown today and FastPasses are open. 

Eek! Girls are going on a plane!

These are Scarlett’s holiday notes for her teacher that we sent in.

 

Can’t seem to get these photos in order at all. 

 

 

Sorry if this has been a boring read. 

 

Thought id let you know how the week went. 

Even though we have put a deposit down for two other cruises with p&o I don’t think we are going to completely decide until we are back from Disney. 

 

Was a damn good deal for £1k!

[loupana]

Thank you for the post and photos.

[Harry Peterson]

Really enjoyed that review, Vampiress88 - one of the best, most comprehensive and most interesting I've ever read!   🙂

[Dermotsgirl]

Thank you for your review and all your photos.

 

It takes a lot of effort to write such a detailed report, and it is much appreciated 

[alija1960]

Wow what a great detailed review - wish there was more like this!!!!!

[silversurf1]

Interesting and comprehensive report, but would have been better posting on the review page. This forum is mainly for questions and answers.

[amfc_lenny]

Op

 

Thanks for posting.

We were at the very back of the ship on deck 8. The weather coming back across the bay of Biscay was not great.

 

Agree with your comments about some of the ports, but glad you all enjoyed it.

 

 

 

 

[AndyMichelle]

Loved your kiddies notes..

'I seed Dolphins'... How adorable.

Thank you for posting, if I'm honest it was a bit long winded for me, but very in depth.

Andy

[philred]

great review what were your general thoughts of the azura given all the recent comments on here 

[emam]

4 hours ago, silversurf1 said:

Interesting and comprehensive report, but would have been better posting on the review page. This forum is mainly for questions and answers.

 

That's not what it says on the topic page.

 

P&O Cruises ( UK )

Follow 247

P&O Cruises Profile & Ship Reviews

 

 

[emam]

Thanks for the review. Your girls seemed to enjoy it and that will have made a difference to your holiday. I haven't been to those ports, so can't comment on them. Your Disney holiday will be a completely different experience. Do you think you would prefer the ships with the shows on the back.

[emam]

56 minutes ago, emam said:

 

That's not what it says on the topic page.

 

P&O Cruises ( UK )

Follow 247

P&O Cruises Profile & Ship Reviews

 

 

 

Ignore this message, I see it's a link to a review page.

[Sarah1974]

Thank you for sharing your review.  This is the first place I'd go to when looking for a review; the Royal Caribbean page is usually full of trip reports

[kerryincork]

Thanks for the review. I haven't seen many day by day reviews on P&O ships. Going on my first P&O cruise next month

😊

I thought your daughters review was brilliant. I especially liked how cocktails are her favourite part of the ship.

[P&O SUE]

On 5/23/2019 at 3:02 PM, kerryincork said:

Thanks for the review. I haven't seen many day by day reviews on P&O ships. Going on my first P&O cruise next month

😊

I thought your daughters review was brilliant. I especially liked how cocktails are her favourite part of the ship.

 

Yes I did wonder what her teacher thought of that 😀

 

Thanks for taking the time to do the review 

[jeanlyon]

have to agree about Cherbourg.  Went there many times on our own boat.

[Ergates The Ant]

What a fun review! Really enjoyed it. 

Your daughter is a very bright little girl!

[SquishTheWhale]

Just read it all, sorry I'm a bit late to the party! A nice summary of your week with some highs and lows. I had to say the itinerary wouldn't hugely appeal to me either, and often when a port is unappealing its hard to just walk off and find things to do. I really need to crack on and start at least making vague plans for our Fjords cruise but I was distracted by Florida for the last few months!

 

Where are the other two P&O cruises you have booked going? Could you consider something like Royal Caribbean instead- just a thought as they are so good for kids with loads to do onboard? Only a suggestion as it seemed you were struggling for something to do at points!

[Presto2]

Thanks for the great review. It must have taken you hours to write that !

As someone has already mentioned we find that the itinerary (and weather) makes a massive difference to a cruise and the places you visited didn't inspire me much. Like La Coruna (we love the long walk around the headland) but we don't have little ones to worry about. Guernsey is nice too on a nice day.

We had a fabulous cruise on Azura over Easter but the weather was stunning all week, as was the scenery.

If you are planning to go again I would give RCI a go as they tend to cater more for families. Just a thought.

 

Thanks again, anyway and hope you are your family are in part of the country where you can enjoy half term.

[davecttr]

If you are interested in such stuff there is an excellent maritime museum yards from the Cherbourg terminal exit. 19 euros for  3 exhibits, an aquarium. an evocative Titanic exhibition and a brilliant tour inside a real nuclear ballistic missile submarine. I popped into the museum first before visiting town and popped out again almost 4 hours later!, and that without using the café or restaurant.

[DamianG]

Great review and may I just say thank you for coming back to the forum post-cruise with your thoughts as often some posters ask loads of questions (pre-cruise) then never return so we don't know how they got on.

Not everyone has time for extensive research pre-cruise of course but since we've been taking our son on cruises we have found it more important than ever and all our efforts go into finding places to go ashore and activities to suit him. A lido (Madeira) and a camel ride (Lanzarote) are not really my cup of tea but that is what we'll be doing on our next cruise because he will love both! I am however, really looking forward to the interactive Science Museum in A Coruña which will suit everyone.

Well done with your girls, sounds like they were both extremely well behaved in a strange new environment. When you are deciding whether to take up your other future cruise options keep in mind the fact that you have this family cruise experience under your belt and you will all have a better idea what to expect and more importantly what works best for you. Our first cruise with our son was a bit difficult at times but knowing what works best and what to avoid makes a huge difference.

All the best.

Damian

[Vampiress88]

Thank you guys. 

Only just come back on here. We got back from Disney yesterday morning so haven’t even really thought about cruises. 

 

While in florida hubby upgraded Disney tickets so we are going back there. It was so amazing in Orlando the kids loved it but Georgia my youngest was a nightmare. The behaviour she had there at dinner tables versus the boat were completely different. Not sure if she is going through a phase or not but I wouldn’t have liked to go out every meal with her on a boat like that. It’s strange though she wasn’t bad like this before so I’m hoping it’s just a thing. 

 

Squish I get why your late to read too. It’s cos Disney gets so much in our heads that it’s difficult to get round it. I seriously don’t know how you take that many photos. Read all your report. Still see the “picture whale” 🐳 in my head every time. We are going to the canaries. Hubby has always wanted to go Tenerife but I don’t wanna go for a whole week. Don’t like having nothing to do that’s why I think it’s always been Disney or cruise for long holidays- every day is different. Looking forward to yours in September cos your doing the itinerary I had to cancel, might re book then. You planned your next Disney yet?

 

The teacher was very proud of her writing. She turns 5 in August I was just amazed at how she knew how to spell dolphin, her teacher says she showed her how to spell it a few months back but I didn’t even know she knew. Got her school report today though and she’s got outstanding, top of the class. She didn’t write much at Florida. Too busy in the pool. 

 

Even though we have booked Disney again we have kept one cruise. Still want to go exploring and I think cruise is best way to go for that but it can’t beat the Disney magic for a 3 & 4 year old. They both loved the boat too though. Then again I think they just like being on holiday. 

 

Didnt take that that long to write. Usually did it when those lot were sleeping. Long sleeps on the boat for them. 

 

Will still be around especially for

next years cruise but hopefully won’t have as many questions. Just like to keep updated. 

 

Thanks guys. 

[I_r_a]

Thanx for sharing, V.

 

Ira

[brian1]

I've got a theory.That bloke with the ginger false beard in photo 6,it's Docco.

[Vampiress88]

45 minutes ago, brian1 said:

I've got a theory.That bloke with the ginger false beard in photo 6,it's Docco.

 

Haha. Wouldn’t think he would dress in shorts in sindu tho so think that theory is out