Azura A320C Greece and Croatia
-
Topic author - Senior First Officer
- Posts: 2407
- Joined: January 2013
- Location: South Wales
Azura A320C Greece and Croatia
Well the cruise is now only 4 days away - we fly on Thursday from Manchester to Valletta to the good ship Azura for two weeks. I’m sharing a balcony cabin with my 16 year old granddaughter again - C deck - it worked very well last year. I’m driving north on Tuesday - can’t manage a suitcase on the train - absolute bedlam last time I travelled by train - two carriages from Cardiff to Manchester Piccadilly - stood part of the way - it was horrendous!
Just been watching the tv - Rhodes is one of the ports on the Greek leg of the cruise but not sure how or if we will be affected - no trips booked. Bit concerned about the temperatures in the area - this is one of those occasions when I hope the sun is on the other side of the ship so that we can sit on the balcony comfortably both at sea and ashore
My son has booked a few excursions - my granddaughter hasn’t been to Greece and they are supposed to be visiting Athens which seems to be closing the main attractions during the middle of the day - what will be will be and they’ll just have to go with the flow.
Looking forward to just chilling in the sun and getting away from the awful weather we’ve had lately.
Just been watching the tv - Rhodes is one of the ports on the Greek leg of the cruise but not sure how or if we will be affected - no trips booked. Bit concerned about the temperatures in the area - this is one of those occasions when I hope the sun is on the other side of the ship so that we can sit on the balcony comfortably both at sea and ashore
My son has booked a few excursions - my granddaughter hasn’t been to Greece and they are supposed to be visiting Athens which seems to be closing the main attractions during the middle of the day - what will be will be and they’ll just have to go with the flow.
Looking forward to just chilling in the sun and getting away from the awful weather we’ve had lately.
Janis
-
- Commodore
- Posts: 15988
- Joined: January 2013
- Location: Down Souf. The civilised end of the country :)
Re: Azura A320C Greece and Croatia
I think I prefer our current weather to that over in Europe at the moment Jan. I think you cabin air-con will be coming in very handy.
Hope things cool down a bit for you. Have a great time anyway
Hope things cool down a bit for you. Have a great time anyway
-
- First Officer
- Posts: 1839
- Joined: February 2013
- Location: Gower, Swansea
Re: Azura A320C Greece and Croatia
Have a lovely cruise with the family Jan.
I am on that rubbish train in the morning travelling to Crewe.
It's always over crowded. They need that third carriage.
Am off to Alvaston hall for 4 nights. Meeting up with my cruise friend.
Been a rough couple of months here,husband was thought to have heart problems but that's been ruled out. Waiting for full body scan ,son looking after him this week.
Take care
Lindsey
I am on that rubbish train in the morning travelling to Crewe.
It's always over crowded. They need that third carriage.
Am off to Alvaston hall for 4 nights. Meeting up with my cruise friend.
Been a rough couple of months here,husband was thought to have heart problems but that's been ruled out. Waiting for full body scan ,son looking after him this week.
Take care
Lindsey
-
Topic author - Senior First Officer
- Posts: 2407
- Joined: January 2013
- Location: South Wales
Re: Azura A320C Greece and Croatia
Have a lovely holiday Lindsey - hope the train journey isn’t too bad - I actually complained about the service which I thought was breaking all the health and safety rules but the response was very disappointing - all sorts of excuses! Pre pandemic was a good journey - more carriages - proper luggage space - tea/coffee trolley too. Oh well let’s hope they get their act together - the new valley lines trains are very comfortable now. Take care and enjoy your break.Whynd1 wrote: ↑23 Jul 2023, 20:12Have a lovely cruise with the family Jan.
I am on that rubbish train in the morning travelling to Crewe.
It's always over crowded. They need that third carriage.
Am off to Alvaston hall for 4 nights. Meeting up with my cruise friend.
Been a rough couple of months here,husband was thought to have heart problems but that's been ruled out. Waiting for full body scan ,son looking after him this week.
Take care
Lindsey
Janis
-
- Senior First Officer
- Posts: 2306
- Joined: January 2013
Re: Azura A320C Greece and Croatia
Have a lovely time on your cruise Jan.
Bon Voyage.
Bon Voyage.
Don't worry, be happy
-
- First Officer
- Posts: 1860
- Joined: January 2013
- Location: Hampshire
Re: Azura A320C Greece and Croatia
I hope you have a great cruise Jan. My daughter and son in law have just come back from a week in Turkey and they said they certainly wouldn't have wanted it any hotter and they can tolerate the sun very well. My son in law competes in the Iron Man competitions so he's used to running in heat. He even managed an early morning run in Turkey, mad! It's lovely though just to get away for a break and be waited on and to be with your family even more special. Enjoy yourself.
Carole
Carole
-
Topic author - Senior First Officer
- Posts: 2407
- Joined: January 2013
- Location: South Wales
Re: Azura A320C Greece and Croatia
Had an early morning start - alarm went off at 2.30 am ready for a pick up by the mini bus to take us to Manchester airport for the 7 am flight to Valletta. Raining quite heavily but the driver dropped us off right outside the departure doors of terminal 2 and we were met by hundreds of people queuing at various gates - I naively thought there wouldn’t be many people there as it was so early - how wrong can you be!
Check in took a while - not many staff but some passengers just took ages. The weight restriction of 1 case under 23 kgs caused a lot of packing and unpacking at my son’s last night but at the check in we were all okay - just
We then went to the food hall and Matthew “volunteered” to fetch the food and drinks. Four of us had a bacon roll, one had a croissant and the other yoghurt and fruit plus we all had a hot drink - £60 +. Worth the wait as we only had a cuppa before leaving for the airport.
The plane was slightly delayed - but not a problem - we had a tail wind apparently which made up time. All meals have to be ordered - we didn’t bother except for a cup of tea/coffee which was a silly price too but then isn’t everything these days.
We landed in Malta to glorious sunshine and this is where a fly cruise to the Mediterranean differs from the Caribbean - we had to get our bags off the carousel and take them out to a van which took them to the ship. Matthew jokingly said standards are slipping but it’s just a different way of doing things.
I must admit after travelling on Iona in June we thought Azura looked a bit “tired” but then it is an old ship now with far less to offer but a more manageable size to get around. Our cabins weren’t ready until 1.30 pm so we went up to the Horizon and things went downhill - it was so crowded principally because of the passengers waiting to disembark - we split up because a table for 6 was impossible and had lunch. An announcement that our cabins were ready came over the tannoy so we went down to find them.
We have balcony cabins on C deck mid forward - I’m sharing with my 16 year old granddaughter and next door are Matthew’s in-laws. Matthew’s cabin is on the same deck but opposite side to us - unfortunately when they decided to upgrade to a balcony they couldn’t get one next to us but they are very close.
Cases came quickly and we unpacked, met the steward and are now relaxing before dinner. It’s very hot - we had an email yesterday to say they are monitoring the situation and Captain Turnbull is going to keep us updated which should be amusing!
Sea day tomorrow hopefully the sea breezes will cool us down.
Check in took a while - not many staff but some passengers just took ages. The weight restriction of 1 case under 23 kgs caused a lot of packing and unpacking at my son’s last night but at the check in we were all okay - just
We then went to the food hall and Matthew “volunteered” to fetch the food and drinks. Four of us had a bacon roll, one had a croissant and the other yoghurt and fruit plus we all had a hot drink - £60 +. Worth the wait as we only had a cuppa before leaving for the airport.
The plane was slightly delayed - but not a problem - we had a tail wind apparently which made up time. All meals have to be ordered - we didn’t bother except for a cup of tea/coffee which was a silly price too but then isn’t everything these days.
We landed in Malta to glorious sunshine and this is where a fly cruise to the Mediterranean differs from the Caribbean - we had to get our bags off the carousel and take them out to a van which took them to the ship. Matthew jokingly said standards are slipping but it’s just a different way of doing things.
I must admit after travelling on Iona in June we thought Azura looked a bit “tired” but then it is an old ship now with far less to offer but a more manageable size to get around. Our cabins weren’t ready until 1.30 pm so we went up to the Horizon and things went downhill - it was so crowded principally because of the passengers waiting to disembark - we split up because a table for 6 was impossible and had lunch. An announcement that our cabins were ready came over the tannoy so we went down to find them.
We have balcony cabins on C deck mid forward - I’m sharing with my 16 year old granddaughter and next door are Matthew’s in-laws. Matthew’s cabin is on the same deck but opposite side to us - unfortunately when they decided to upgrade to a balcony they couldn’t get one next to us but they are very close.
Cases came quickly and we unpacked, met the steward and are now relaxing before dinner. It’s very hot - we had an email yesterday to say they are monitoring the situation and Captain Turnbull is going to keep us updated which should be amusing!
Sea day tomorrow hopefully the sea breezes will cool us down.
Janis
-
- Commodore
- Posts: 15988
- Joined: January 2013
- Location: Down Souf. The civilised end of the country :)
Re: Azura A320C Greece and Croatia
Captain Turnbull he’s a character
-
- Commodore
- Posts: 15359
- Joined: February 2013
Re: Azura A320C Greece and Croatia
Have a great cruise Jan. And enjoy Alvaston Hall Lindsey. We went there in May and really liked it.