Return to tell the tale…………

I returned from my week on Azura on Saturday and I must say it went by in a flash. A great time was had by all even though the weather could have been better, as the saying goes ” The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain”.

After recieving a text from P&O the day before the cruise to inform us of Azura’s pending late arrival into Southampton we were told not to arrive before 1.30pm. After setting off at 10.30am for a leisurely drive to Southampton we arrived about 1.15pm only for it to take 2 hours to get to the docks with the back log of traffic! In future I will set off and aim to arrive as normal, about midday, as others who did this were on the ship without any problems. At least we were still in time for the Champagne Sailaway!!

Champagne Sailaway.

As usual P&O’s standards did not disappoint and the cabins were ready and luggage delivered by the time we had embarked.The service in the restaurant was excellent and the menu had plenty to choose from, with some different menu’s, as they had become quite predictable, having cruised with them a lot it was beginning to get a bit repetitive. The 3 shows that the Headliners Theatre Company put on were first class with Blame it on the Boogie, a decade of 70’s floor fillers , Curtains Up with hits from the musicals and Reel to Reel with music from the films. I’m afraid the same couldnt be said for the comedians which were pretty poor, I think its time for P&O to have a rethink on this!

So what we did……….

Sunday was a day at Sea  so a day to relax and look forward to the Captains welcome onboard reception with everyone turned out in their best finery.

Does anyone else think he looks like a young John Travolta!!

La Coruna was the first port of call and as the sun decided to make an apperance it was a day on the ship for me, on deck with “50 Shades of Grey” on the kindle, a definate must holiday read. Next port of call was  Bilbao where we visited the Guggenheim Museum. We took the free shuttle bus provided by P&O and paid 13 Euros entrance fee, a bargain. This is something you can do on your own without paying P&O excursion prices.

Raining as you can see!!

Next port of call was La Rochelle where we spent a lovely day walking around the town and little harbour and had the added bonus of meeting up with my uncle who live in the Cognac region. All I can say is the last 10 years have been kinder to him than to me, he didnt look any older! And of course in true P&O style we had the “Great British Sailaway” which of course is proper cheesey but lots of fun too with the old tunes playing and eveyone dancing on the decks, Pimms in hand of course.

La Rochelle

Be rude not to have a Pimms in hand for sailaway!

Last port of call should have been Guernsey but unfortunately due to rough seas we had to go to Cherbourg instead and we ended the holiday as it started … with rain! It was a perfect time to finish the book!!

Roll on 30th June and its Ventura here we come! With sunshine I hope.