7 night Azura Canaries Cruise

[senior lady]

On 12/21/2023 at 5:45 AM, sweep2907 said:

I totally agree and always one person's opinion can be different from another. Food a massive improvement on Britannia 2022 and not had one bad meal so far. Britannia was so bad we ended up eating in speciality dining 10 nights in the two weeks which shouldn't have to be the case.

 

However the downside to great food this cruise is pretty miserable waiting staff. I always try have laugh and interact with them but most simply not in the mood for it and not experienced this unfriendliness in all my years with P&O. Not all of them of course as some have been lovely but too few. 

sounds like the food has improved since my cruise in Sept.   It was awful.

[sweep2907]

54 minutes ago, waggie said:

Hi, I booked last night when the booking opened - is it a deposit for all the restaurants ?- it read as if only Sindhu was price per item, but the majority of dishes on the other menus were included in the price I paid. Have I misunderstood?

Sindhu is per item. EPICUREAN is one fee £30 pp from memory but superb! Beach House adds extra for things like steaks or seafood kebab. Glasshouse per items and just turn up.

[waggie]

11 minutes ago, sweep2907 said:

Sindhu is per item. EPICUREAN is one fee £30 pp from memory but superb! Beach House adds extra for things like steaks or seafood kebab. Glasshouse per items and just turn up.

You have been so helpful- hopefully for others too. Epicurean was £24 pp. and Beach House was £7.60 pp. yesterday. I can’t wait!

[amurray88]

2 hours ago, sweep2907 said:

Sindhu is per item. EPICUREAN is one fee £30 pp from memory but superb! Beach House adds extra for things like steaks or seafood kebab. Glasshouse per items and just turn up.

Any issue getting a table at Glasshouse? Alot of people saying there's no way you're getting a table unless you're on a 14 night cruise and book for the 2nd week during the first week?

[amurray88]

2 hours ago, waggie said:

You have been so helpful- hopefully for others too. Epicurean was £24 pp. and Beach House was £7.60 pp. yesterday. I can’t wait!

Very helpful!

[sweep2907]

1 minute ago, amurray88 said:

Any issue getting a table at Glasshouse? Alot of people saying there's no way you're getting a table unless you're on a 14 night cruise and book for the 2nd week during the first week?

No bookings allowed on this last week and we had no issues on the evening we chose. No one mentioned they'd had trouble getting a table and was often busy when I walked through. My tip is go in 530ish for pre dinner drink and let them know you want to eat which is what we did. When kitchen opened, Maria came over and took the food order.

[amurray88]

5 minutes ago, sweep2907 said:

No bookings allowed on this last week and we had no issues on the evening we chose. No one mentioned they'd had trouble getting a table and was often busy when I walked through. My tip is go in 530ish for pre dinner drink and let them know you want to eat which is what we did. When kitchen opened, Maria came over and took the food order.

Brilliant thank you! We'll need to work it round our 6 month old sleep schedule 😬 but apart from that, that sounds great!

[sweep2907]

Summary

 

Although I tend to cruide with Celebrity these days, I am still a fan of P&O and this was my first cruise on P&O for 12 months since Ventura and Britannia.

 

Have to say food in MDRs was excellent and a lot better than the other ships mentioned a year earlier. Epicurean was as good a meal as I'd had in that venue ever as was Glasshouse.

 

As mentioned the moodiness or lack of warmth from staff in MDRs was noticeable this cruise and a far far cry from the interaction you get on celebrity. I've never experienced this before on P&O and wonder if the company are not looking after them as well??

 

For what we paid the cruise was amazing value, and I wouldn't hesitate to do this cruise again every winter! Azura and ventura remain my favorite ships in the fleet. I asked a lot of other passengers about Arvia and was put off from trying it so for now will stick with the older ships in the fleet. Well done P&O for a great cruise with good entertainment all round, good food and overall a positive experience. 8/10 

[waggie]

8 hours ago, sweep2907 said:

Summary

 

Although I tend to cruide with Celebrity these days, I am still a fan of P&O and this was my first cruise on P&O for 12 months since Ventura and Britannia.

 

Have to say food in MDRs was excellent and a lot better than the other ships mentioned a year earlier. Epicurean was as good a meal as I'd had in that venue ever as was Glasshouse.

 

As mentioned the moodiness or lack of warmth from staff in MDRs was noticeable this cruise and a far far cry from the interaction you get on celebrity. I've never experienced this before on P&O and wonder if the company are not looking after them as well??

 

For what we paid the cruise was amazing value, and I wouldn't hesitate to do this cruise again every winter! Azura and ventura remain my favorite ships in the fleet. I asked a lot of other passengers about Arvia and was put off from trying it so for now will stick with the older ships in the fleet. Well done P&O for a great cruise with good entertainment all round, good food and overall a positive experience. 8/10 

Thank you for such an informative review - we are new to P&O having cruised exclusively with Celebrity. I am doing my best to stay open-minded and have got a lot from yours, and other cruisers comments. Flying to the Canaries for a bit of winter sunshine has to be good - and so far P&O  and our TA have been good to deal with. We are on a scheduled Jet2 from Stansted, our local airport  and I hope that works well. Thanks again and have a lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year. Ruth

[amurray88]

12 hours ago, waggie said:

Thank you for such an informative review - we are new to P&O having cruised exclusively with Celebrity. I am doing my best to stay open-minded and have got a lot from yours, and other cruisers comments. Flying to the Canaries for a bit of winter sunshine has to be good - and so far P&O  and our TA have been good to deal with. We are on a scheduled Jet2 from Stansted, our local airport  and I hope that works well. Thanks again and have a lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year. Ruth

When do you go Waggie? We were told all London flights are from Gatwick for the winter season to Canaries 😱

[waggie]

16 minutes ago, amurray88 said:

When do you go Waggie? We were told all London flights are from Gatwick for the winter season to Canaries 😱

We leave on January 5th. We were on the Gatwick charter but when they moved the flight to later the return was very late. I asked our TA if there was an alternative and was pleasantly surprised that our local scheduled flight had space - P&O kindly moved us. I am not sure about the transfer to and from the ship as our flight times are different to yours, but we will wait and see. Compared to your cot and drink package issues with the cruise this has been simple!

[tring]

23 hours ago, sweep2907 said:

Summary

 

Although I tend to cruide with Celebrity these days, I am still a fan of P&O and this was my first cruise on P&O for 12 months since Ventura and Britannia.

 

Have to say food in MDRs was excellent and a lot better than the other ships mentioned a year earlier. Epicurean was as good a meal as I'd had in that venue ever as was Glasshouse.

 

As mentioned the moodiness or lack of warmth from staff in MDRs was noticeable this cruise and a far far cry from the interaction you get on celebrity. I've never experienced this before on P&O and wonder if the company are not looking after them as well??

 

For what we paid the cruise was amazing value, and I wouldn't hesitate to do this cruise again every winter! Azura and ventura remain my favorite ships in the fleet. I asked a lot of other passengers about Arvia and was put off from trying it so for now will stick with the older ships in the fleet. Well done P&O for a great cruise with good entertainment all round, good food and overall a positive experience. 8/10 

 

Thank you for the comments on this thread. 

 

We were on Azura in autumn 2022 and there was a lot of very loud music on the ship, particularly in the buffet restaurant and around both pools.  Breakfast in the buffet was really very unpleasant as we could not escape that incredibly loud noise, wherever we sat, yet we did not want to use the MDR for breakfast. Was that still the case when you were on board?

 

[amurray88]

3 hours ago, waggie said:

We leave on January 5th. We were on the Gatwick charter but when they moved the flight to later the return was very late. I asked our TA if there was an alternative and was pleasantly surprised that our local scheduled flight had space - P&O kindly moved us. I am not sure about the transfer to and from the ship as our flight times are different to yours, but we will wait and see. Compared to your cot and drink package issues with the cruise this has been simple!

Ah amazing - we've booked a hotel at Gatwick now but very handy for you to be able to change!

[sweep2907]

1 hour ago, tring said:

 

Thank you for the comments on this thread. 

 

We were on Azura in autumn 2022 and there was a lot of very loud music on the ship, particularly in the buffet restaurant and around both pools.  Breakfast in the buffet was really very unpleasant as we could not escape that incredibly loud noise, wherever we sat, yet we did not want to use the MDR for breakfast. Was that still the case when you were on board?

 

Loud music? I cannot say I noted any loud music anywhere at anytime. If you aren't keen on music, it probably best not to sit around main pool, Breakers Bar area as they do play music all day but wouldn't have called it loud. Never noticed any music in buffet? All I heard was indistinct chatter from the masses in there. Not a buffet fan to be fair on P&O as I feel I am at war and need protective equipment and my stress levels and intolerance of rude people is far better managed by being waited on in MDR and a less stressful experience all round.

[tring]

59 minutes ago, sweep2907 said:

Loud music? I cannot say I noted any loud music anywhere at anytime. If you aren't keen on music, it probably best not to sit around main pool, Breakers Bar area as they do play music all day but wouldn't have called it loud. Never noticed any music in buffet? All I heard was indistinct chatter from the masses in there. Not a buffet fan to be fair on P&O as I feel I am at war and need protective equipment and my stress levels and intolerance of rude people is far better managed by being waited on in MDR and a less stressful experience all round.

 

Thank you for the reply.  There must be a difference there as the volume in the buffet was really high, you certainly no chance of hearing general chatter through that, so sounds good to me.  We have booked on her again, but not for a while yet.  We are never up early enough to go to the mdr for breakfast and do like the chance to have a lot of fruit  then anyway.  We have other meals according to what we want at the time, but enjoy that flexibility.  Everyone has their own choice though, which is good.

 

Glad you seemed to have enjoyed the cruise overall.

[purplesea]

On 12/25/2023 at 11:43 AM, sweep2907 said:

Summary

 

Although I tend to cruide with Celebrity these days, I am still a fan of P&O and this was my first cruise on P&O for 12 months since Ventura and Britannia.

 

Have to say food in MDRs was excellent and a lot better than the other ships mentioned a year earlier. Epicurean was as good a meal as I'd had in that venue ever as was Glasshouse.

 

As mentioned the moodiness or lack of warmth from staff in MDRs was noticeable this cruise and a far far cry from the interaction you get on celebrity. I've never experienced this before on P&O and wonder if the company are not looking after them as well??

 

For what we paid the cruise was amazing value, and I wouldn't hesitate to do this cruise again every winter! Azura and ventura remain my favorite ships in the fleet. I asked a lot of other passengers about Arvia and was put off from trying it so for now will stick with the older ships in the fleet. Well done P&O for a great cruise with good entertainment all round, good food and overall a positive experience. 8/10 

Thank you.

 

Can I ask as you flew to and from Bristol, what was the return journey like?

As I have said earlier, we too are flying in and our of Bristol and my concern is the return journey. I realise that things can be different from day to day, but how long did it take for to get through customs and for luggage to be collected? The reason for my concern, is the last train home  leaves Bristol about 7.30 pm, which could make things tight. TIA

[sweep2907]

1 hour ago, purplesea said:

Thank you.

 

Can I ask as you flew to and from Bristol, what was the return journey like?

As I have said earlier, we too are flying in and our of Bristol and my concern is the return journey. I realise that things can be different from day to day, but how long did it take for to get through customs and for luggage to be collected? The reason for my concern, is the last train home  leaves Bristol about 7.30 pm, which could make things tight. TIA

You will love this! We landed on time around 1650, waltzed straight through passport control in under 5 minutes..then went to baggage carousel and I kid you not, our two bags were in the first 4 that came out. I've never seen such fast service, our bags almost beat us to carousel and we waltzed out door and bus was just pulling up for silver zone car park. We drove out car park half an hour after landing! Impossible to have done it any faster. I may write to Guiness Book of Records.....

[purplesea]

24 minutes ago, sweep2907 said:

You will love this! We landed on time around 1650, waltzed straight through passport control in under 5 minutes..then went to baggage carousel and I kid you not, our two bags were in the first 4 that came out. I've never seen such fast service, our bags almost beat us to carousel and we waltzed out door and bus was just pulling up for silver zone car park. We drove out car park half an hour after landing! Impossible to have done it any faster. I may write to Guiness Book of Records.....

Thank you.

Fingers crossed things are the same for us.

[RA10]

Thank you for sharing some very useful info.  Helps with our planning.

 

Can anyone advise how the luggage check-in is handled on the return flight?  I know we get luggage tags the day before and we put them on our suitcases and leave them out at night.  Do we see them again before they are checked in with the airline or are they sent off directly and we collect them when we get to our home airport (Gatwick for us)?  The reason I ask is if there is any opportunity to add the remaining stuff we had kept for the evening to the suitcases or do we have to keep it all as hand luggage.

 

Thank you

[terrierjohn]

20 minutes ago, RA10 said:

Thank you for sharing some very useful info.  Helps with our planning.

 

Can anyone advise how the luggage check-in is handled on the return flight?  I know we get luggage tags the day before and we put them on our suitcases and leave them out at night.  Do we see them again before they are checked in with the airline or are they sent off directly and we collect them when we get to our home airport (Gatwick for us)?  The reason I ask is if there is any opportunity to add the remaining stuff we had kept for the evening to the suitcases or do we have to keep it all as hand luggage.

 

Thank you

Unless you are a real night owl, then you could leave 1 case until you return at night and then put it out after you have packed your evening wear.

Edited December 27, 2023 by terrierjohn

[sweep2907]

On 12/27/2023 at 11:34 AM, RA10 said:

Thank you for sharing some very useful info.  Helps with our planning.

 

Can anyone advise how the luggage check-in is handled on the return flight?  I know we get luggage tags the day before and we put them on our suitcases and leave them out at night.  Do we see them again before they are checked in with the airline or are they sent off directly and we collect them when we get to our home airport (Gatwick for us)?  The reason I ask is if there is any opportunity to add the remaining stuff we had kept for the evening to the suitcases or do we have to keep it all as hand luggage.

 

Thank you

Bags must be out by midnight and won't see again until you get home at Gatwick etc. Always good to have small travel size toothpastes, deodorant, perfume etc so can take hand luggage. We tend to go out final evening and return to room 9pm and pack clothes we wore that evening and leave out clothes for travelling in. 

[RA10]

On 12/27/2023 at 11:54 AM, terrierjohn said:

Unless you are a real night owl, then you could leave 1 case until you return at night and then put it out after you have packed your evening wear.

 

2 hours ago, sweep2907 said:

Bags must be out by midnight and won't see again until you get home at Gatwick etc. Always good to have small travel size toothpastes, deodorant, perfume etc so can take hand luggage. We tend to go out final evening and return to room 9pm and pack clothes we wore that evening and leave out clothes for travelling in. 

 

Thank you for your suggestions, Terrierjohn and sweep2907.  It was more about the toiletries etc that we were interested in putting in the checked luggage.  We will take the advice of carrying small travel sizes for them.  Thank you.

[9265359]

13 hours ago, sweep2907 said:

Bags must be out by midnight

 

They make early morning sweeps of the decks to round up any bags that are put out later than that.