• pretty cheap as cruises go,
• we were familiar with the ship layout having cruised on Grand-class ships before so were intrigued to see what differences the decor would make,
• with an upcoming cruise on Princess in June and an arrangement where P&O cruises count towards Princess loyalty (but not vice versa) this would allow us to advance a level before that and gain a few perks.

We had a balcony room, A610. Identical layout to a Princess standard balcony room with slightly different colours used inside, as you’d expect. Differences included the UK plug sockets, a kettle to make your own tea and coffee, and a bowl of sweets. Fully intending to steal the sweets before disembarking we discovered the bowl was emptied before heading to bed on the second night. A couple of bottles of water were provided free while a larger bottle of water and a stocked mini-fridge would incur additional charges if used.

The view from the balcony was what we expected: we weren’t overlooked on our deck but could see down onto the deluxe balconies (mini-suites on Princess) below; the balcony was a good size allowing the chairs to be moved and positioned easily (as opposed to Royal-class ships operated by P&O or Princess).

Dropping our carry-on luggage in the room we then headed off to orient ourselves and see what the ship had to offer. One of the first things we discovered was that the ship’s deck was dotted with various pieces of art sculptures by Andrew Sinclair.

The rest of the top deck was very familiar to us – swimming pools where you’d expect them, for instance – and a band was performing live as part of the pre-sailaway party.

Inside the Azura things were less familiar on account of the names, functionality, but mostly decor of the various spaces. The atrium, for instance, felt very enclosed on account of its dark colours and bold, black columns. There was definitely the sense that you were in a flashy, modern hotel in some big city rather than a luxurious ship. Some seating at the bottom of the atrium did look appealing, though.

Malabar was Azura’s equivalent of Explorer’s on Princess. The decor here was pretty decent but we can’t comment on the venue itself as the trip was too short to experience any event in it.

Manhattan was the larger venue on the same deck, equivalent to Vista on Princess. There were plenty of New York-style and deco references in fitting with the name of the place and a cabinet with some interesting shoes on display which caught my wife’s eye. We very briefly wandered down to Manhattan on the first evening and very quickly left again as it was very noisy and fully-packed. The short cruise encouraged a bit of a party atmosphere on board and it felt like most of the ship was present. While it might have been fun and probably great for people-watching we suspected getting a drink would prove to be nearly impossible and we’re fond of the odd drink.

The Planet Bar would prove to be the place where we spent the ends of both evenings on board Azura. Equivalent to Skywalkers on Princess this was more of a quiet, live music venue than a disco with its strangely compelling feature being the wall-mounted screens showcasing various vistas from around the world.

A few more interior shots of the cruise ship Azura.

Like many industrial ports that cruise ships use Zeebrugge was… not particularly exciting to look at, although some naval vessels did provide a slight distraction from the typical cranes and containers you come to expect.

A few years back I started a tradition that for any formal occasion on ship or special meals when out I would have a Vodka Martini with three olives. I don’t like Vodka Martinis and I despise olives but it just feels right. You have to leave the olives in the glass until about halfway down it, then throw the olives as far away as possible. Those are the rules. I carried on my tradition aboard Azura although, as with all the other cocktails we were drinking, I instantly discovered that the difference between drinks measures on Princess as opposed to P&O was very, very noticeable. Now, you do pay more for drinks on Princess but you get more too. Quite a bit more as it turns out. My Vodka Martini looked quite petite next to my wife’s gin and tonic.

A surprising – pleasantly surprising! – discovery were the beer and wine flights offered on the ship in, respectively, Brodie’s Bar and The Glass House. Some of the beers are shown in menu photos further down the page. We were a little disappointed that not all the beer flight offers were available. Had we picked up the ship in the Caribbean we could have understood this but we embarked at Southampton and all the beers were British; there didn’t seem to be a decent excuse for a non-fully-stocked bar. For the wines we originally simply had the intention of reading our books with a single glass each but the lure of finding the flights available – three 125ml glasses of a particular theme (e.g. South American Reds) – was too hard to resist.

A few shots of some of the bar menu pages showing a sample of what was available and prices for the drinks on board because I’m now a seasoned travel blogger and know that this is the sort of information that makes people weak at the knees and giddy with excitement.

Since this short cruise on the Azura took us to Belgium and since we visited Ghent and since we happened to find ourselves in an alehouse in Ghent (as you do) it feels only right and proper to include a picture of that establishment’s interior and the beers we ended up getting after asking advice from the barman as to what suited our tastes too.

In addition to traditional wall-daubed graffiti and street art there was also a sculpture that could be used as an artistic canvas.

In truth the graffiti was not of a fantastically high quality but we appreciated that a place like Ghent had it.

It was grey at first but the sun did pop out for a bit as the day wore on. Ghent was architecturally stunning with much of it being medieval although the Dutch influence on the region was clear to see as well. St Bavo’s Cathedral was gorgeous inside; one of the most attractive cathedrals I’ve ever been in. Sadly, no photos were allowed and we abide by rules even if other visitors to the place ignored them completely. Gits.

After the cathedral we passed through Graffiti Street and made our way to Gravensteen Castle. After our climb to the top of that structure to look out over the rooftops of Ghent we felt in need of a beer so hit the one you can see pictured below. Pictures of the beer we had as well as the inside of the place can be found here.

As we met up with our guide and headed out of Ghent to find the coach that would take us back to Azura docked in Zeebrugge we passed a wedding photoshoot taking place making use of a drone. I couldn’t help but take a few shots of the happy couple too.

After our initial drop off in the centre of Ghent and our visit to St Bavo’s Cathedral we wandered through Graffiti Street, crossed over one of the bridges spanning the canals in the city, and found ourselves face-to-face with the structure. With Ghent’s architecture being the way it is the presence of a castle in the network of streets didn’t look too out of place.

We paid the entrance fee and wandered inside. In terms of rooms and things of interest in the castle there were plenty to explore and many explanations and examples of the types of torture equipment typically used in Ghent. Lovely.

The route through the interior of Gravensteen inevitably leads to its rooftop which affords great views over the surrounding city of Ghent and plenty of wide, sweeping photographs. The climb up was fairly steep but not the worst or longest one we’ve done when we’ve visited castles back home.

After descending there is another walk around the inside the walls that can be taken. This allows for some views from the archery points in the walls outwards as well as unobstructed views and photo opportunities of the main keep of Gravensteen too.