Alcohol

Our first drink on board was in Azura’s “pub”, Brodie’s. If the drinks featured in the photographs below show beer (for me) and cider (for my wife) then they were bought there too. The cocktails were bought either in the Planet Bar, the Blue Bar, or Malabar. Planet Bar was our preferred location for drinking in the evening with the gentle accompaniment of the ship’s guest duo (High Tides) or the pianist and the relaxing TV screens showing off locations from around the world. Malabar was a one-off; we’d have loved to spend more time there but the smell of sewage that other people seemed to ignore was just too much for us.

Our formal night tradition was carried out on Azura for this cruise too with a pre-dinner Vodka Martini (shaken without asking me; I’d have preferred it stirred) and a few olives (to be discarded once half the drink was sipped) for me with a G&T for my wife.

We only drank in the Glass House once, I think, and this was a glass of Argentinian Malbec for my wife with a Uruguayan Tannat for me while we read our books. These drinks were selected for their memories of our 2016 cruise to South America and were excellent. Wine is one area where P&O absolutely excel and where, for some reason, Princess absolutely fail. The variety of wines along with the quality on the Azura on both of our cruises has far exceeded anything we’ve had with Princess cruises; thin, tasteless, not kept very well seems to be the order of the day there. We’ll keep testing and comparing for science, of course.

We’d tried beer flights on our first cruise on Azura (we noticed that there were far fewer offerings of the flights and of beers in general on this trip but we also noticed that we had no problem getting any beers too so that evens out) and this time we went for whiskey and rum flights. With hindsight I should have selected the premium, sipping rums rather than the household ones with a glass of flat Pepsi but you live and learn. The whiskeys were lovely.

No complaints about the drinks selection on board Azura this time around. As noted, it did seem that the menus had been scaled back on some choices but if this was to stop the disappointment of ordering things that were unavailable then it was a good move. I did try on two occasions to get one cocktail that proved tricky because it contained egg whites. The first time I was told it might take 15 minutes as it would need to be retrieved from the kitchen area so I chose something else instead; the second time I was told flat out that there were no egg whites. Right. Not too big a deal. I’d still prefer the larger drinks measures you get with Princess but overall a good drinking experience on P&O.

Epicurean Restaurant

My wife’s not a fan of Indian food and neither of us like spicy things but we’ve been tempted to try Sindhu at some point regardless. However, for this cruise we selected a night at the Epicurean to test out P&O’s more conventional specialty dining options. We’d tried to get this for the formal night but that was understandably booked solid so went for the final night after our unexpected sea day instead. There didn’t seem to be too many diners there.

Service was friendly and after an initial fairly extended wait to be asked what we wanted it was efficient. The food was good, but not great. Both my wife and I found our main courses slightly tougher than expected and my wife was a little disappointed with her dessert as the specialised preparation effectively rendered what she had anticipated eating into something else entirely. A case of style over substance here. We’re possibly spoiled a bit as we have a wonderful restaurant in our home city and we thought the food would be closer to that. It was still good, as I’ve said, and other people we talked to were immensely impressed. For the cover charge it was very reasonable and I’d recommend it at least once on any cruise of more than a few days.

We picked a Rioja to go with the meal. As with other wines on board Azura, it was absolutely lovely. A basket of a variety of warm bread rolls was also added to the table and they were wonderful too.

My wife had Wild Mushroom and Champagne Velouté with Crème Chantilly and Salted Caraway Cheese Straws for starters. I went for Smoked Apple Wood infused Duck Liver Parfait with Caramelised Black Figs, Gingerbread Toasts, and an Apple and Fig Jam.

My wife’s main course was Loin of Wild Boar with a Smoked Pork Cheek Croquette and Lancashire Black Pudding, Beetroot and Blackberry Cabbage, Vanilla Charred Pear, and Boulangère Potatoes. My main course was Herb Roasted Poulet de Bresse, Chicken Pastilla, Vegetable Dauphinoise, Baby Leeks, Morel Velouté, and Chorizo Foam. As stated before, we both thought the meat in our dishes could have been more tender.

A pre-dessert for us was presented in the form of lipstick for my wife and a fried egg for me. The thing that most amused us about these were that they were presented on the same slate coasters we use at home.

Dessert for my wife was Crème Brûlée and White Chocolate Sphere, Raspberry Pearls, Chocolate, Candy Floss, and Caramelised Popcorn. This was presented with a great show but the use of blowtorch was overdone and ended up not really resembling the Crème Brûlée she’d actually wanted. I chose the Glazed Banana with a Caribbean Demerara Rum Tot, Peanut Butter Parfait, and Aerated Dark Chocolate.

A small plate of after-dinner chocolates and sweets was also selected and proved to be very nice.

Heading back the way we’d come into port I was able to grab plenty of photos of the northern banks of the canal to go with those I’d taken of the southern side of the North Sea Canal on the way in a couple of days earlier.

It was great to see shadows of the cruise ship being cast on the Dutch landscape as we slowly made our way westwards towards IJmuiden.

As we neared the northern side’s Velsertunnel Ventilation Towers (still a stunningly lovely piece of brutalist architecture to see up close) the sky cleared and the now-low sun created some fabulous light to really emphasise the nearby metallic structures and help the camera grab some deeply vibrant blues.

At the end of the North Sea Canal were the locks at IJmuiden. As we approached IJmuiden for the second time I got to re-experience the pleasure of seeing the industrial beauty of the area; the great clouds of water vapour created some wonderful, natural, soft shapes against the decidely manufactered lines and hard materials of the towers, and the dusk sunlight illuminating, while not perfect, was helpful.

We sat for a while in the lock gates as we had on entering and, as before, I hit the shower and missed us moving through. Never mind.

Before Azura left the Netherlands the ship did provide some excitement for a Dutch family (I assume) who gathered to wave at anyone leaning out of their balcony. Of course I waved; it’s only polite.

We’d been using the I Amsterdam city cards to visit places and luckily for us we’d bought the 48-hour versions. They were still valid for the entirety of our additional time in the city so we checked the map and elected to head towards the zoo. This walk initially took us back past the maritime museum we’d visited the day before.

Encounters With Dutch Cyclists

We had two interesting encounters with Dutch cyclists on our walk.

We didn’t get lost because I knew the approximate location of the zoo and figured it would be difficult to miss something that large but I did pull the map out at one point just to verify which of two roads would get us to our destination in the shortest time. This caused a woman on a bike to come to a screeching halt and immediately try to to help us out. This was very nice of her but as luck would have it she appeared to be the one person in Amsterdam who spoke no English. She did seem to have some German, or assumed we were for some reason, and I knew enough German words to pick out her directions and thank her even though I knew where I was going anyway.

Just as we arrived at the zoo we stopped and waited for another woman on a bike to come through one of the dedicated lanes. She did so at a fair speed but then her wheel seemed to clip the pavement, the bike wobbled, and she went flying. We ran across the road to assist and discovered she was bleeding quite heavily from her forehead, elbow, and foot. We handed over tissues we were fortunately carrying and asked if she wanted an ambulance; she said no and explained she wasn’t sure what had happened and that this had never happened to her before, that she was in her seventies and should know better, and that she just felt embarrassed. Another Dutch woman turned up to assist and we got her disentangled from her bike and on her feet. I picked up the things she’d dropped and broken (the frame of her glasses were detached) and another woman then also turned up from a nearby premises with a First Aid kit. Figuring she was in better hands with those people than with startled foreigners we wished her well, were thanked, and carried on. A shock for all involved and we hope she wasn’t too badly injured as a result. We were just glad we were there to help.

Artis Royal Zoo

To give it its full name Amsterdam Zoo is more properly known as Natura Artis Magistra but it’s recognised by the shorter name of simply Artis. The zoo is one of the oldest in Europe. We didn’t wander around with any particular plan, instead favouring just seeing where the winding paths led us. We were quite pleased to see so little fencing around as it makes taking photographs a lot easier.

I had to contend with bright backlighting and made some heavy adjustment of shadows and highlights in processing to save something of the following two shots but it was nice to grab some pictures of a mother with her baby up in the treetops.

We only saw one pair of animals exhibiting any signs of stress, those being the raccoons. For the very largest part this was a very relaxed-feeling zoo interestingly located within view of numerous buildings no doubt offering people living there great sights on a daily basis.

I like cats and I like brutalist architecture so it was lovely to see the former enjoying some of the latter at the zoo.

We can only assume there is something magical about elephants in the Netherlands as the excitement of the children who spotted the animals is difficult to describe. It was all we could do to stay standing as streams of kids thundered past and into us and around us shouting “Olifant! Olifant!” as their parents tried to hush them to little avail.

As well as enclosures outdoors there were a number of interior spaces for butterflies (forgot to visit this; next time), insects, and reptiles. This proved handy to escape a sudden torrential downpour at one point although my wife kept well away from anything that looked like it might remotely contain spiders. While neither of us like arachnids I do find them fascinating and am happy to peer at the creatures behind the safety of glass.

A large building given over to an aquarium was very nice, very spacious. The tanks seemed very clean, especially when compared to various sealife centres we’ve visited around the UK on our travels. There weren’t a huge amount of creatures on display but what there were looked beautiful. The only slight blot on the visit to this particular part of Amsterdam Zoo was that a school group were in attendance in one of the larger rooms and the sound of several dozen children mostly shouting over one another in an echoing hall-like venue did affect the enjoyment of the fish in their environments.

Back outside we ran into the tail end of a sea lion-feeding show taking place.

Our bonus half day in Amsterdam was very enjoyable and thanks to the excellent I Amsterdam city cards, free. We’d have no hesitation in visiting the place again if we were in the city as it’s a nice break from museums.

Sculptures

Just outside the zoo entrance was a small grassy area containing some odd, metal sculptures that was what I’d been intending to photograph before going in until we’d been distracted by the cyclist coming off her bike. I quite liked their unsubtle nature. Make of them what you will, but these were the last photos I took during our lovely few days in Amsterdam on our P&O cruise before making our way back to Azura and heading away from the Netherlands.

Our full day in Amsterdam had included visits to the maritime museum, the botanical gardens, the Gassan diamond manufacturing tour, the Hermitage museum, and a 2-hour canal cruise excursion, all thanks to the wonderful and highly recommended I Amsterdam city card. We’d also had some lunch but had to pay for that; you can’t get everything for free. We concluded our day by hopping on the tram (also free thanks to the card) and heading back into the main area to locate a pub we’d been in the day before for a few local drinks.

The pub was called In de Wildeman and did a large range of ales. As you might be able to work out from the poster pictured above on the two nights we visited we happened upon a “Meat & Great” when a local butcher treated us to free meat dishes while we drank (and they were wonderful) and, on this night, a “tap takeover” where beers were being tapped and added practically every 20 or 30 minutes. Our success at ordering a different range of drinks was hampered a little by unfamiliar staff being drafted in to assist with pouring for the crowd and drinks not being quite ready to consume but dry hopped ciders and dark, local beers were imbibed and greatly enjoyed, even if they were a smidge pricey.

From the pub it was a short walk to the waterfront area of Amsterdam and the train station that served as a good destination point for anyone looking to tour the city.

We headed right from there along the water’s edge back towards our floating home, Azura. The clear evening sky and darkening dusk of the evening came together to produce some great light for photos of the buildings along Amsterdam’s waterfront. I know that a lot of people will see the historic buildings and think they’re worth photographing but will ignore modern office complexes and apartments but I’m a big fan of repetition and colour transition in structures and the patterns that these sorts of pictures produce can often induce a sense of serenity in me. I know, I’m getting all arty and will stop.

A running joke when walking past the building above, as we did several times in our few days in Amsterdam, was “Oh look! Bimhuis! It’s a huis full of bim!” I guess you had to be there to appreciate this.

We arrived back at the port and I snapped a quick photo of Azura and a short bit of video before we got back on board to shower, change, snap a shot from our balcony, and go grab something to drink in the Planet Bar to finish up the night. It was our expectation that this would be the last we would see of Amsterdam but those strong winds we’d encountered on our trip had other ideas as the next post in this portfolio will show.

The round trip itself, despite what the brochure said, took around two hours to complete. English commentary played at various points but due to the nature of the trip where people could embark or disembark at different points of the circular tour of Amsterdam’s canals some of the commentary was repeated several times. It was, however, overall very interesting.

At one point we crossed the main canal in which we had come down the day before so we got to see the P&O cruise ship Azura docked at Amsterdam port.

In addition to the interesting waterways and very typically Dutch buildings alongside them there were some other fine examples of architecture on display, the best of which was a wonderful piece of brutalism with struts supporting the main structure jutting out over the canal water and some fabulous hexagonal windows.

A canal cruise excursion in Amsterdam seems like one of those things that as a tourist you simply have to do and we weren’t at all disappointed with it. We’re somewhat fond of water-based trips whenever we go on cruises anyway and on this particular day it was a very pleasant way to get out of the wind and occasional downpours of rain.

The area immediately outside the gardens was suitably lush green with grass, most noticeably between the tram lines that ran along the curved streets.

Hortus Botanicus

We had a short wait to get our free tickets through use of our I Amsterdam city cards on account of a woman ahead of us and a man with his son who complained angrily in Dutch about something, gesticulated at the prices, and eventually drove the ticket clerk to get so flustered she then started getting angry too and pointed in frustration at her computer monitor and had to be replaced by a calmer, younger man. We wouldn’t have minded so much but it had started to rain again and there was no shelter as we waited to get through the gates.

We headed immediately for the large greenhouse to our right on entering the gardens as the rain was still spitting enough to warrant getting under shelter. On the way we either passed evidence of plants knocked over by the high winds that plagued our few days in Amsterdam or it’s possible that even nature needs a sleep every now and then. I will confess to knowing next to nothing about gardening.

The first section of the greenhouse was warm – as you’d expect – but it was still maintained at a standard climate. Up a walkway and through some sliding doors we entered the tropical area. A lens cloth almost permanently wiping the front of the camera and very quick shots allowed me to grab some photos without having them completely fogged over (even though the eyepiece was fogged over and I had to rely on the camera doing a lot of the focus work and shooting effectively blind). Eventually, the temperature and moisture levels even out on photography equipment when you move from one climate zone to another so if you wait long enough you don’t have to take this approach to taking photos but there’s a little thing called impatience and I have it.

From the tropical zone we hit the desert zone. The transition from wet heat to dry heat, fortunately, has no effect on a camera lens so after one last clean to remove any remaining moisture I could put away my lens cloth to take photos in this part of the gardens’ greenhouse.

The weather had brightened considerably by the time we left the greenhouse. Just outside and over a small bridge we found a heron.

The final stop for us in the small but pleasant botanical gardens of Amsterdam was the Orangery. A few people were inside making use of its space to relax and sketch the small number of plants around. We took a few photos and climbed up a spiral staircase to a metal walkway to bring us closer to the glass dome of the building.

The walk to the museum was an easy one but the high winds and changeable weather that would sweep over us throughout our trip on Azura to the Netherlands meant that we couldn’t escape a brief downpour before arriving at the impressive maritime building. Built in 1656 the museum building consists of four blocks named after the cardinal points of compasss, forming a square; the courtyard area inside is bright, clean, and covered (handy for drying off while waiting to get our free tickets courtesy of our city card) and contains tickets booths, souvenir shops, cloakrooms, etc.

We only really hit three places in the museum in order to maximise what else we would see in Amsterdam, although we could have stayed for a lot longer and seen a lot more. The first of these was a reconstructed, 18th-century, cargo ship.

In the hold of the ship are plenty of crates and ropes. As the ship is only a reconstruction far from restricting touching anything people – children in particular – are encouraged to climb around if they so wish. We thought this was a nice touch. Many of the areas below deck seemed to have surprisingly high ceilings. Our experience on other, actual sailing vessels had prepared us for far more crouching. A section towards the rear of the ship with officers’ quarters was more what we’d anticipated. On the top deck it was possible to get some decent views of the city of Amsterdam and looking northwards in the direction from which we’d come we could also see the top of our cruise ship, Azura over the tops of other buildings.

Across a jetty from the reconstructed ship was The Royal Barge.

The Royal Barge was designed by C.J. Glavimans. The ship was built between 1816 and 1818 at the Navy shipyard in Rotterdam […] It was last used in 1962 for the silver wedding anniversary of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard.

The final area in the maritime museum that we ended up seeing (and surprisingly enjoying) was a showcase of cargo transportation around the world and a room that you entered (there was only my wife and me there), waited for the doors to close, then experienced what it would be like to be a case of wine with a virtual ride by crane, forklift, air transport, shipping, and carrying through the wonders of four large screens set in each wall. No photos, sadly, but quite a lot of fun for a few minutes.

Oude Kerk

We weren’t familiar with Amsterdam so initially simply followed everyone else walking off the ship. A quick show of the passport to customs in the port terminal, then outside, turn right, walk for ten minutes towards the large train station, then turn left, over a bridge, and you’re pretty much in the city centre. We got out our map and quickly found Oude Kerk. Oude Kerk is the oldest building in Amsterdam at over 800 years of age.

The curved, wooden ceilings were particularly impressive to me while my wife loved the spiral staircases that we sadly couldn’t climb. There had been an opportunity to ascend the building’s tower through an entrance on the southern side of Oude Kerk but this was an additional cost and we were keen to take advantage of our city cards as much as possible for this trip. If we return – and I’ve no reason to suspect we won’t – then I’d certainly consider doing that.

An interesting fact about Oude Kerk that we enjoyed remarking to people with whome we talked on the cruise ship over the next couple of days was that the church was right in the middle of the red light district. We’d not been looking for it but it was difficult to miss once you stepped out of the church to get your bearings. I decided not to take any photos of the women in the windows. Numerous people on the cruise had apparently been hunting for the red light district but couldn’t find it; we’d decided to go look for some history and culture and found it as a reward. There’s possibly a lesson there.

Our Lord In The Attic

Not far from Oude Kerk was another museum, Museum Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder (or Our Lord In The Attic). This was a traditional Amsterdam house with various elements from different decades and centuries that also featured a Catholic church hidden in its attic. This was created during a period when Catholicism was technically not permitted in the Netherlands but it was tolerated for a number of reasons (mostly financial) so long as it wasn’t seen. This was a very interesting and recommended visit across many floors and up many tiny staircases with the accompaniment of informative audio guides. A combination of the general darkness and lack of seeing anyone else using a camera meant that I decided not to take any photos of the interior of the museum, restricting myself to one shot across the rooftops through a window on the balcony of the attic church.

We’d been there quite some time without moving so I made use of the time to take a shower and missed us exiting the locks by a few minutes. I’m sure it wouldn’t have been that interesting, anyway. I nipped back out onto the stateroom balcony to grab a few photos as we passed from the North Sea into the canal system. I expect that many of the locals see ships passing up and down the canal all the time but the Azura still got a few stares and was clearly the subject of some photographs as she made her way slowly towards Amsterdam.

It was quite interesting in places to see the roads and traffic on it passing under the canal. I’ve been on ships before where you cruise under a bridge and can see vehicles passing overhead but to be on a cruise ship on the water cruising over trucks and cars was something quite weird to experience. A bit like being in a car and passing over one of those tunnels under the road that are supposed to let hedgehogs through in case you’re struggling to comprehend the feeling.

Without a doubt the most interesting building that we cruised past on the North Sea Canal was what I later discovered to be the Velsertunnel ventilation tower designed by Dirk Roosenburg in 1957. This was a lovely piece of brutalism and it had a matching structure on the north side of the canal that we would pass on the way back out a few days later; photos of that to come in a later post.

Usually.

There are two big problems with the promenade deck on board the P&O cruise ship Azura:

• It’s not a full promenade deck. Unlike promenade decks on Grand-class ships operated by Princess the front of the promenade walk is closed off for some reason. We weren’t the only people to step out, walk along, then suddenly stop dead and look puzzled at the white, metal barrier in our way.
• Smoking is permitted along the promenade deck. At least, it was along the starboard side; I’m not sure if it’s permitted all the way around. Regardless, what this does is transform what is a pleasant place to stroll and get fresh air on other ships into something truly awful. Not helped by the high, cold wind, I’m sure, the sight of thirty of so people in multiple layers, huddling close to doorways, puffing on their cigarettes resembled how I imagine the outside of dole centres looked in the 1970s and 1980s. If this is the classy image that P&O are going for then well done for a resounding success but personally it looks dreadful to me and ducking and coughing my way through the crowd of nicotine addicts was not particularly enjoyable at all.

But back to IJmuiden…

On the port side of the ship there was no sign of any smokers, thankfully, and we got to watch the pilot board Azura before getting a decent look at IJmuiden approaching and other vessels departing its canal locks.

As you can tell from the pictures there was quite a bit of swell to accompany the gusting wind making for some lovely, rocking conditions on the approach to the Dutch port. I was particularly keen to get some pictures of the waves breaking over the bow of a container vessel that passed by.

IJmuiden probably isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but for me the place had a fabulous look and feel to it; there were elements of Blade Runner or numerous other near-future, dystopic movies in its industrial beauty. The heavy grey skies worked well to add to the mood of the brutal, functional monsters on the coastline as we neared the Netherlands and I was struck by the contrast between the dirty-feeling, belching steam and fire from the main buildings in the background against the modern, clean wind turbines dotted here and there.

IJmuiden was a nice surprise for me from a photographic perspective and I hadn’t expected that I would see it again as we were due to make the return transit through the North Sea Canal in the early hours of the morning a few days later. Fate had other plans, though, and it turned out that I would get another chance to photograph this imposing view, to appear in a later update.