24 Nights to the Black Sea

[Solent Richard]

My wife and I completed Azura's 24 night cruise to the Black Sea in October 2012. This proved to be an excellent cruise and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was our second cruise on Azura though double the length of our first cruise on her.

Embarkation at Southampton was very efficient including the car parking arrangements handled by CPS. Being Peninsular Club 'Caribbean' members we had priority check-in and we're quickly on board just before midday. During check-in we were handed a letter of notification informing us of one port change and a number of port visits being rescheduled. More about that later.

Once on board we were directed to the Peninsular Restaurant where champagne and a top class light lunch was available to 'Caribbean' members. Also in attendance was a representative to take bookings for the two speciality restaurants, Sindhu and Seventeen. We were aware of the popularity of these venues and found this facility particularly good. Indeed, an excellent facility that again rewards loyalty.

Cabins became available just before 2.00 pm. We had booked a Deluxe Balcony Cabin on 9 deck and were more than pleased with our choice. Indeed, the Deluxe Balcony cabins are only slightly smaller than our normally favoured Princess Grill suites, when travelling with Cunard. Features included a separate living area, walk in wardrobe, twin flat screen TVs for each section of accommodation and a full size bath in the en-suite. Numerous other nice touches were also available including a bottle of champagne, box of chocolates, binoculars and a particularly comprehensive world atlas.

A selection of photographs can be found at... http://www.silvertravelforum.com/forum/ ... 170&t=1577

The Southampton sail away party was the usual well attended and good P&O affair. It continued as we transited the Solent and well past Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

Our requests for both dining time and table size were met and we were well pleased with these arrangements: always a good start.

Azura has ten dining outlets, eight of which are available for evening dining. During the day there is a Grill Bar and separate Pizza station where all foods are cooked to order. There are 12 bars spread around Azura though The Blue Bar, Manhattan and Malabar only open early evening. One 'new to us' innovation was the opening of a lunchtime carvery and sandwich bar in the Meridian Restaurant during sea days. This was on an open seating arrangement and proved a popular alternative to the scrums in the Verona and Venezia buffets.

P&O maintains its tradition for Black Tie Cocktail Parties though I did notice it had been renamed a 'Gala Reception'. To accommodate the numbers on board two venues were available, the Atrium area and Manhattan. It was interesting to note that the the Captain mentioned during his welcome speech that all but 70 of the 3,200 passengers were not P&O repeat passengers. Some measure of P&O's loyal support which was again later proven by the necessity to stage the Peninsular Club Caribbean Tier lunches over 4 days.

We found the food on board most acceptable no matter which dining venue we used. There was an excellent choice at dinner and in the event a change or addition of vegetable was requested this was provided without fuss.

Azura has three speciality restaurants that charge a supplement. The Verona buffet also converts to a full service Italian style Trattoria each evening. There is no supplement to use this facility though some dishes like fillet steak do carry a small surcharge. Reservations are not required for Verona.

Sindhu is an Indian ‘fusion’ style restaurant based on Atul Kochhar’s British restaurant chain and a total joy to eat at. Two separate menus alternated over our cruise. We found both the food and service in Sindhu to be exceptional. In addition to the Sindhu evening Dinner there is available a classic 'Sindhu Nashta' during lunch and afternoon. Similar in style to tapas there are choices of 18 different dishes, again alternated in groups of nine over different days, at a charge of £4.95 for three.

‘Seventeen’, a fine dining restaurant on Deck 17 aft, fuses classic dining with the best of modern British cooking. The restaurant itself has 70 covers and an additional terrace extension for ‘al fresco’ dining in warmer climes. Again two separate menus are alternated and we found each to be both interesting and to a very high standard. Two of the starter dishes are hand carved at your table, Loch Fyne smoked salmon and the Jamon Pata Negra: each highly recommended. We were lucky to have chosen our first 'Seventeen' evening of the cruise for the evening that Azura transited the Strait of Gibraltar and enjoyed a balmy warm evenings dining on the 'Seventeen' balcony.

The Glass House is a quirky yet relaxed wine bar and restaurant which was certainly a most popular drinking and eating venue. Styled by TV wine expert ‘Olly Smith’ it quickly takes on a buzzy atmosphere and, despite being well spread at the forward end of 7 Deck it was always pretty full with passengers enjoying themselves, not to mention the odd champagne cork popping. A changing menu of tapas style light bites and larger more traditional dishes are on offer: a small supplementary charge is made for the food.

There were nine ports of call on this 24 night cruise with an overnight stop at one, Istanbul. Our first port of call, Oporto, was in fact a change from the original itinerary and was substituted for Lisbon due to industrial action. Other ports of call were Valletta, Rhodes, Odessa, Yalta, Constanza, Izmir, Piraeus and Palma. The weather was most kind to Azura and two days after sailing sandals and shorts were the general daytime dress through till the final two full sea days before arrival in Southampton.

Azura boasts plenty of good deck space and there are no shortages of sunbeds throughout the days at sea. The Retreat also proved popular on sea days though there were numerous 'offers' on for port days: understandable as the port itinerary was so good that most passengers were off the ship for best part of the port days.

To say that Azura's entertainment stole the show would be an understatement. The joy of Azura's entertainment is in its variety of venues and styles of entertainment. There really is something for everyone and there is often a conflict as to which performance, which artist or which venue to attend.

Over the 24 nights the Headliners Theatre Company put on 7 full shows. Each show played 3 times each evening and on other evenings the lead singers with the Headliners Company gave solo cabaret performances. Variety there certainly was: from Tom O'Connor to Jimmy James of Vagabonds fame there was something for everyone. The three highlights for us, notwithstanding apart the Headliners Production Shows were the outstanding Steve Larkins with his Mercury Rising double show, Gary Ryan and his Neil Diamond tribute and Tracy Quinn, the ever popular and dynamic vocalist.

On port visits where a shuttle service was required P&O provided an excellent complimentary service with an additional coach dedicated for the disabled wheelchair users.

Much is written about rip-off prices for internet usage on all cruise ships. This cruise was the first real occasion I had used my new Ipad. There was good wifi coverage throughout the ship and with careful planning while using one of the ship's internet time packages there is no reason not to extract a more than reasonable and cost effective service.

In summary this was one great and enjoyable cruise that lived up to all expectations. An element of luck with the weather, a super itinerary and a good balance of sea days - just the way cruising should be and good value for money.

[Kendhni]

Interesting review SR. I know that Azura often gets criticised for deck space but we have never had a problem ... I agree totally with you about the entertainment

[Solent Richard]

Interesting review SR. I know that Azura often gets criticised for deck space but we have never had a problem ... I agree totally with you about the entertainment

Thanks for that Kendhi. I have never had a problem with deck space on either of my Azura cruises. Once or twice it was not possible to get a 'Retreat' reservation (shows that is popular too) so I usually get ensconced on my next favoured position...



PS. Have we met somewhere else?

[Suekersh]

Great report. I love Azura and have also never had a problem with deck space. Love the choice of entertainment and the select dining venues. Next on board in March but the 7 sept 2013 cruise is on our wish list. All depends on work commitments.

[Manoverboard]

Thanks for the report, I certainly agree that the SDL cabins are superb.

Not too many people seem to manage to get that close to the Swallow's Nest.

The Black Sea is a new destination for some so may I ask if you have any thoughts and information to share regarding the Black Sea Ports that you visited. A new Destination Topic would be ideal and of course appreciated no doubt by those who aim to consider this interesting Region.

[Marlin 48]

We were also on the Black sea cruise on Azura and i completely agree with Richards report. All the staff were great and the food was good but what made the cruise great were the other passengers of all ages and the highlight was Istanbul, if you ever get the chance to go don't hesitate it's absolutely fabulous and that's coming from someone who was dubious about going. Our next cruise in May/June calls at Malta which was a port of call on the Black sea cruise and has become our favourite holiday spot. 4th visit in 4 years.
Martin.

[oldbluefox]

Many thanks for your report and great photos.

There is quite a lot of useful information there about Azura. I wonder if it might be an idea to copy parts of your report into 'About Azura' as I feel it may be interesting for anybody going on Azura or thinking about it for the first time.

Just a thought.........

[jay-ell71]

Thank you very,very much for your excellent review of your cruise to the Black Sea. I have not been on Azura and you made the ship come to life for me. Jay

[SaraMs]

Richard, thank you for your work. It only fueled my belief that it is necessary to go on a cruise. If possible, write the approximate budget cruise for one person. Thank you.

[arrbee]

Glad this thread has reappeared! We're on this cruise in September and reading this again brings it closer. Enjoyed the photos too. Had forgotten how lovely Azura was.