Mini Cruise on P&O Azura to Guernsey
I decided it would be a fantastic sampler of this ship and a lovely way to travel to Guernsey with a few friends!
We sailed on Friday and arrived at Southampton around midday. Check in was painless and we were onboard in half an hour or so. What I really loved was the fact that my holiday started as soon as we were on board. No faffing around in airports, we boarded the ship and went straight to the restaurant for lunch!
Azura is a very family friendly ship but as the cruise was only two nights long not many families appeared to be onboard. Azura entered service in 2010 and the ship was quite modern but with the P&O trademark décor. There were around 3000 passengers onboard and 1250 crew but it did not seem crowded.
As the weather was pretty good (not quite the heat wave of the previous week!) we spent most of the Friday enjoying the sunshine with a pimms or two! Dinner was good and we went to the main waiter service restaurant both nights. One thing we discovered is that there is a whole menu for vegetarians available but you must order from it 24 hours in advance, otherwise the selection is poor on the main menu.
Entertainment was good with a Madness tribute band on the first night and an 80s dance troop on the second night. As well as this there were many bars to choose from with entertainment ranging from live bands to karaoke!
After a good nights sleep we arrived in St Peter's Port, Guernsey. This is a charming place with beautiful cobbled streets, natural swimming pools and great tax free savings among other things.
They accept mainland pounds but do also take Guernsey pounds. I could have easily spent longer at Guernsey and visited the surrounding smaller islands but alas we only had a day!
All in all, I had a great time onboard the Azura. Next time I would love a longer cruise to have a few sea days to do nothing but relax!