Azura A322N - Black Sea - Part 4

Reports about cruises on Azura
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Gill W
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Azura A322N - Black Sea - Part 4

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Post by Gill W »

Day 10 - Kusadasi

Marvellous meal in Sindhu last night, and the desserts were out of this world. I had the Lavender Scented Yoghurt cake and Mr Gill had the Warm Five Spiced Chocolate pudding.

Today we arrived in Kusadasi at about 8am. There were stacks of tours going out early today and I understand that only one of the buffet restaurants was open with massive queues. You'd think they'd adjust the opening times in line with potential demand.

We have been to Ephesus before, and had no real desire to buy a carpet, so we have stayed on board today. So when we turned up at the buffet, after the rush, all was quiet and calm and we had a leisurely breakfast, seated outside overlooking the Terrace Pool.

We had thought about using the Retreat today, but in the end didn't bother. We sat near the Coral Pool for a while but it's very hot today, so we've once again retreated to our shady balcony. Queen Elizabeth is berthed to our starboard side, but here on the port side I have a good view of the town.

We are trying to get some exercise each day, using the stairs, and doing laps of the prom deck, but if I'm honest, we've done much less than I planned.

We'll go to the buffet for dinner tonight. The Headliners are performing Hitzville USA in Manhattan at 8.45, so we'll get there early to bag a good seat. The Headliners fill the main theatre 20 minutes before the show starts, so it'll be heaving in Manhattan tonight!


(A bit more about Freedom dining to follow, just for Moby :lol: )

Day 11

We passed through the Dardanelles this morning between about 4am and 7am, but unfortunately I slept through it, hopefully I'll see more on the way back.

We began our Bosphorus transit at around 1pm. It was amazing to approach Istanbul, with the Muslim call to prayer echoing across the water.

Later on, after we had passed into the Black Sea, I was sitting on my balcony, reading my Kindle, and saw a movement out of the corner of my eye. When I looked, it was a pod of dolphins, just below my balcony.

I wanted to see the 8.30 Headliners show, so we knew it would be best to eat early. As I've said previously we like a table for two...... So even though I said I wouldn't queue for a table at 5.45, we went down to the Meridian at 5.45, only to find a queue of at least 50 people! The queue must be starting at 5.30 - it's all a bit crazy!

We thought 'stuff this for a lark', and made our way to to The Glass House, where we enjoyed another delicious meal. We arrived at the Playhouse in good time to get a seat - by about 8.05 the theatre was nearly full.
Gill

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Manoverboard
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Re: Azura A322N - Black Sea - Part 4

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Post by Manoverboard »

I'm even more keen to opt for ' FD ' now. Just love the idea of turning up, seeing a queue and saying " stuff this for a lark " as we head off for some place else. :thumbup:

As an aside ... we also thoroughly enjoyed the Bosphorus transit, once on a cruise ship but better still on one of the local boats that sail these waters. The Dardanelles, for us, were not so much spectacular but were instead an opportunity to pay one's respects to those who perished in this area, partly British but mainly ANZAC forces.
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GillD46
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Re: Azura A322N - Black Sea - Part 4

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Post by GillD46 »

I do agree about Freedom Dining, it's far more flexible, allowing us to do what we want, where we want, when we want.

Very much enjoying your reports - thank you.
Gill

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Jan Rosser
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Re: Azura A322N - Black Sea - Part 4

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Post by Jan Rosser »

Loving your reports Gill - it brings back memories of one of my favourite cruises. I agree about freedom dining - not being tied to a time is my ideal :thumbup: I'm eating those meals in the Glass House and Sindhu with you ;)
Janis

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GillD46
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Re: Azura A322N - Black Sea - Part 4

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Post by GillD46 »

Last time we were on Azura, we didn't eat in the main dining room once! LOVE Sindhu and the Glasshouse.
Gill


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Re: Azura A322N - Black Sea - Part 4

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Post by Dorset Buoy »

With reference to freedom dining, i was on this cruise and as i was passing passed the entrance to the restaurant one evening at 5.20and i could not beleave the amount of passenger queuing, so the next few nights i did the same, and again the same amount of passengers. Surely this defeats the object of freedom dining. After speaking to a number of passengers who booked freedom dinning not one said they would do it again. Who wants to turn up for dinner then given a pager to tell them it could be up to 60 minuets before you get a call.


Quizzical Bob
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Re: Azura A322N - Black Sea - Part 4

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Post by Quizzical Bob »

Dorset Buoy wrote:
With reference to freedom dining, i was on this cruise and as i was passing passed the entrance to the restaurant one evening at 5.20and i could not beleave the amount of passenger queuing, so the next few nights i did the same, and again the same amount of passengers. Surely this defeats the object of freedom dining. After speaking to a number of passengers who booked freedom dinning not one said they would do it again. Who wants to turn up for dinner then given a pager to tell them it could be up to 60 minuets before you get a call.
That's one of the problems with Azura. With so many people on board you tend to get queues. Try another ship.

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Manoverboard
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Re: Azura A322N - Black Sea - Part 4

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Post by Manoverboard »

Perhaps it is sending a message to P&O to say that first sitting should kick off at 5:30 ... if only on sea days ?
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Grando
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Re: Azura A322N - Black Sea - Part 4

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Post by Grando »

We were also on this excellent cruise and have to disagree with your comments on freedom dining. We were a party of four and most nights went down to eat around 7.30pm and never once had a pager. Maybe it was because we were willing to share a table, we looked forward to meeting different people each evening, in fact we joined up with another four on three occasions. Everyone we met were happy with freedom whether it was their first time or had done it before as we have. Much prefer to choose our own time to dine rather than a fixed time, makes it much easier to plan the evening entertainment. Doreen

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Gill W
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Re: Azura A322N - Black Sea - Part 4

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Post by Gill W »

Quizzical Bob wrote:
That's one of the problems with Azura. With so many people on board you tend to get queues. Try another ship.
I've been on Ventura a couple of times, and Azura once before, and didn't have problems with queues before. We tended to change our schedules slightly to avoid the bottlenecks on this cruise
Dorset Buoy wrote:
With reference to freedom dining, i was on this cruise and as i was passing passed the entrance to the restaurant one evening at 5.20and i could not beleave the amount of passenger queuing, so the next few nights i did the same, and again the same amount of passengers. Surely this defeats the object of freedom dining. After speaking to a number of passengers who booked freedom dinning not one said they would do it again. Who wants to turn up for dinner then given a pager to tell them it could be up to 60 minuets before you get a call.
Hope you enjoyed your cruise apart from the queuing!

I'm a committed freedom diner, and would do it again. On days where we wanted to dine early, we tended to avoid the MDR. If we didn't want to see the show in the Playhouse at 8.30, sometimes we turned up at about 6.15, got a pager and had a drink in the bar, and our table would be ready at around 7 to 7.15.
Manoverboard wrote:
Perhaps it is sending a message to P&O to say that first sitting should kick off at 5:30 ... if only on sea days ?
Then the queues woulds start at 4.30 !
Grando wrote:
We were also on this excellent cruise and have to disagree with your comments on freedom dining. We were a party of four and most nights went down to eat around 7.30pm and never once had a pager. Maybe it was because we were willing to share a table, we looked forward to meeting different people each evening, in fact we joined up with another four on three occasions. Everyone we met were happy with freedom whether it was their first time or had done it before as we have. Much prefer to choose our own time to dine rather than a fixed time, makes it much easier to plan the evening entertainment. Doreen
Agreed, freedom dining everytime for me, but on this occasion quite a few people wanted to eat early. It wasn't a problem though, we just adapted to the circumstances.
Gill


Jacknian
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Re: Azura A322N - Black Sea - Part 4

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Post by Jacknian »

How strange that you saw queuing at that time, we were on Azura in August and always went down to the freedom dining restaurant at 6.15 - 6.30 and never once waited more than a few minutes to be seated. We usually asked for the same table each night and got it every evening except one.

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Dark Knight
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Re: Azura A322N - Black Sea - Part 4

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Post by Dark Knight »

we saw the early queing lark on Azura
I would say that that is down to the people not the system
for some reason people want to dine at the same time as they do at home at between 5 and 6 pm, hence the trail of bodies
however if you are a bit more flexible and prepared to share and eat a bit later, then there is no issue, this is based on my experience of Azura on our last cruise.
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arrbee
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Re: Azura A322N - Black Sea - Part 4

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Post by arrbee »

When we were on Oceana a few months ago we couldn't believe the queues for freedom dining on numerous occasions and which started well before the dining room even opened. Whatever time the dining started I do agree there are some people who will want to get in first and make sure they get their table for two. We feel we're on holiday and we NEVER queue! There's much better things to do!

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