• 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.

We weren’t assigned a room until embarkation so had no idea where we would be on the ship. Having checked out the deck plans and pictures online of ocean view rooms we knew roughly where we might be on the ship and what the room was like so I was already puzzled when we were given our cruise cards and told we’d be staying on the Riviera deck in room R209. I couldn’t remember there being any ocean view rooms on that deck but didn’t express my hopes to my wife until we opened the door to our cabin. It was a lot brighter than we thought it might be.

“I think we’ve got a balcony,” I said.

“What!?” said my wife in a tone that carried with it an unsaid “Don’t be so bloody stupid” with it.

“I think we’ve got a balcony,” I said again, stepping into the room and heading straight past the bed towards the half-drawn curtains and fully-closed net curtain in front of the bright window behind it.

“I thought we were only supposed to get a porthole,” said my wife with a more puzzled tone as she too began to realise things didn’t look quite how we thought they might.

I pulled open the curtains. “We’ve got a balcony,” I said.

“You are fucking shitting me,” said my wife, but she knew I wasn’t.

“Yay! We’ve got a balcony! We’ve got a balcony!” I may have danced a little jig as I opened the door and stepped out.

With the benefit of hindsight we have to applaud the Princess Cruises people here because this single upgrade for us was directly responsible for us parting with far more money over the years than we otherwise would have had we not had it. We decided we really liked balconies as a result of this cruise and room, far more so than we liked trying to save a few quid here and there with cheaper selections. This is not to say that once we retire and find ourselves able to take more trips each year we might not consider less expensive rooms to make our money go further but while we’re of working age and limited in the amount of annual leave we can take we figure that if you’re going to have a holiday then make it the best you can.

As is nearly compulsory we went on an explore of the ship’s deck areas, finding it to be very familiar to us despite the half-decade gap between cruises on Princess ships. The small, adults-only Sanctuary Pool turned out to be one of our favourite outside areas providing a reasonably decent location for a quiet swim on most days. Quiet in terms of people being around, that is; when we had the current machine switched on to provide resistance for swimming against I think it would be best describing the atmosphere as anti-quiet.

Walking around the promenade deck became a regular event for us on the sea days or around dinner time in the evening. Some people use the promenade deck walk as a means to get fit or burn off some calories but I don’t think we ever achieved that critical pace that would enable either of those two results to have taken place. For us it was enough that we could look out at the churning sea and feel the wind in our faces and simply feel that we were right where we needed to be.

In terms of inside areas we spent a lot of time in the Explorers Lounge thanks to quizzes (we won some) and art auctions (we bought some art), and a lot of time in Crooners because of the ambiance and great cocktails.

Mostly the cocktails.

Our evenings always ended with us visiting the Grand-class Princess Cruises ships’ nightclub, Skywalkers. It took me a long time to realise that the name of the club was not referencing anything from the Star Wars universe but instead was because on the original Grand-class ships the nightclub was farther back on the ship and accessed via a travelator known as, you guessed it, the Skywalker. Later ship designs removed the travelator and shifted the club into the position it was in on Crown Princess for stability and improved fuel efficiency but the name stuck.

Skywalkers was prone to a little bit of vibration on Crown Princess. We didn’t mind it at all and it seemed to add something to the venue.

We’re not the world’s greatest dancers and we’re probably not even in the top 98%, nor do we actually dance unless we’ve had a lot to drink (has been known to happen) or something exceptional is played by the DJ (chance would be a fine thing). What we do enjoy, though, is listening to music and people-watching plus critiquing their dancing and coming up with back stories for them. Three people stood out for us on this Crown Princess cruise to Norway, all of whom were regular attendees in Skywalkers.

Firstly, there was the man who was perhaps in his sixties, bald, moustachioed, built like he’d fought a bit in his youth and potentially even recently too, clearly travelling on his own but gregarious with people he bumped into, always sporting his cruise card on a lanyard (a pet hate of ours) which showed he was Elite-level (a pet desire of ours). We called him Bronson on account of his resemblance to the prisoner and effectively assumed he was a similar character, just escaped from prison, and who had assumed the identity of a suite owner so he could get out of the UK and into the heart of Norway where he planned to join a wolf pack.

Secondly, there was a couple, in their forties. She was a former disco dancing champion who’d found the love of her life and tried to teach him her disco ways. He was a detective who was keen to ditch the life of criminal investigations in favour of dancing to the sounds of Chic and Kool And The Gang but on a final case he was attacked by a mysterious assailant which resulted in him needing crutches to move around. By day the pair of them pursued the attacker who had wrecked his dancing career, following leads that would take them to far-flung places such as the fjords. By night they would find a dancing joint where he would hobble and sway while she shook her tail feathers at him. We called them Crutchy And The Mandrill and if you know your MST3K as well as us then you’ll know where we got that name from.

After three incredible and unforgettable days in China we gathered our belongings from the hotel, boarded our coach, and started off on the journey towards Tianjin where we would be starting the cruise portion of our honeymoon on Princess Cruises‘ ship Diamond Princess. What should have been a straightforward trip to the port, however, involved a few diversions as some of the roads were suddenly closed due to the arrival of a dignitary of some sort. Nevertheless, our driver knew what he was doing and found another route that got us to the port in plenty of time and we even had time for a rest stop in the middle of nowhere at some toilets which was handy (Peking duck may not have agreed with me) and an experience to try to overlook (cubicles but just a shared trough running along the floor through all of them to squat over and no toilet paper (luckily we had some tissues)).

Inside Cabin

It was our honeymoon and we were spending a lot of money (for us at the time) on the cruise so we were making savings where we thought they wouldn’t matter. For that reason we had chosen an inside cabin as we’d been told (and we’d assumed anyway) that we wouldn’t really spend a lot of time in it. Our later cruise experiences indicate this is not really true; if you get an inside cabin you may not spend much time there unless you’re a fan of four walls and lots of mirrors but if you have a balcony and decent views then it’s somewhere great to sit so our preference is not for inside rooms these days.

Not too easy to get any decent photos of the inside room on the Diamond Princess because of all the mirrors and our aversion to seeing ourselves or having anyone else see us either. Anyway, double bed, side cabinets, lots of desk space, lots of room to hang up and store clothing, and a perfectly fine toilet with shower.

Atrium

The central point of the cruise ship covering decks five through seven was the atrium. The lower two decks both served dining rooms and shops and customer services while the upper deck of the atrium was the place to filter out to find the bars and lounges.

The Plaza deck (deck five) of the atrium often hosted events such as music or food demonstrations or the champagne waterfall. We’d seen a talk by a magician in one of the lounges on one of the days (history of Houdini although I can’t remember the magician’s name) and attended his close-up sleight-of-hand demonstration in the atrium a couple of days later. We arrived early and picked a chair at the back but were immediately singled out, dragged to his table, and took part in the show. Mortifying, but fascinating.

Crooners Bar

Along one side of the top of the atrium was Crooners, a piano and Martinis bar, home to Sammy Goldstein. We had many very enjoyable evenings listening to his music and trying the various cocktails from the extensive list, and we bought a deck of playing cards with recipes on them that we still take on board every ship we cruise on. Crooners was also a good place to sit and read during the day while at sea on the cruise, something you can’t really do these days on the larger Royal-class ships as the noise from the atrium destroys the peaceful atmosphere.

Wheelhouse Bar

The bar in which we spent the most amount of our time was probably the Wheelhouse Bar, also on deck seven. The lighting and seating was very cosy, they occasionally had trivia challenges, sometimes had musicians performing, and at other times it was quieter than elsewhere so provided a welcoming place to sit and talk with friends we’d made on the trip.

Club Fusion

Still on the same deck at the aft of the ship (and the very first location I took a photograph of while on board the Diamond Princess) was Club Fusion, a large area not typically used as a club as such on our trip but more for dancing lessons (we watched but didn’t take part), exercising (likewise), some musical performances (nope), and bingo (not our thing either).

One of the funniest memories of our Far East honeymoon cruise was entering Club Fusion late one evening and seeing a mad rush of waiting staff trying to run without actually running in our general direction to be the first to take a drinks order; the reason for this was that we were possibly the youngest people on board and by 21:00 most nights almost the only people not in their cabins. We were told that on the longer cruises to more exotic locations it was typically older, retired people who took them and they apparently needed lots of sleep. Almost every evening we would take a stroll from lounge to lounge and bar to bar and have our pick of music, drinks, and seating location.

One of the great places to visit once we realised it was there was the intimate Wake View Bar, accessed by a spiral staircase near the stage in Club Fusion then heading down.

Explorers Lounge

Situated about halfway between Club Fusion and the top of the atrium was Explorers which served as the location for most daily trivia quizzes (of which we won quite a few, brag, brag) as well as some smaller shows, some live music, and art auctions. We got to see comedian Kelly Monteith one evening who was good but who clearly found the somewhat elderly and quiet room a tough crowd.

Art Gallery

We like art so enjoyed the art auctions and walking through the art gallery regularly on the lowest deck. Sadly, we couldn’t afford any pieces at the time but we would rectify that in later years and on later cruises.

Skywalkers Nightlcub

Every night without fail we ended up in Skywalkers Nightclub, sometimes the only people there and only once with anything even remotely close to a crowd being present. The DJ would sometimes leave his booth to come ask us for music choices and seemed put out that we mostly left it up to him to decide. My regular late night of Jack Daniels and Coke became well-known with the crew very quickly and I would sometimes only have to enter a bar or the nightclub and give the nod for them to be able to bring my drink and to have memorised my card number, much to the annoyance of some other people we had befriended at the time who were elite level, in a suite, yet still had to produce their cards and were never remembered; just another of those little memorable things for us about the cruise.

One the best memories of the cruise, or any bit of travelling, was leaving Singapore and sitting up in Skywalkers Nightclub. As we looked back across a mostly black sea and sky with distant lights of the country just visible a storm started up that lit up the horizon; drinking, listening to music, and watching flashes arc across the sky and huge clouds become lit from behind was mesmerising.

Other Interior Locations

On the landings of every stairwell and in many hallways there were artworks displayed and there were self-service laundromats on every deck with significant numbers of cabins. Some of the other places inside the Diamond Princess cruise ship were the casino, theatre, and smokers/sports lounge, all on deck six, and the dining rooms on decks five and six. We only visited the theatre as part of our muster drill and for one show, not really enjoying it enough to consider trying to arrange dining around it from that point on. We’re not gamblers so the casino held no interest but we did use the slot machines once and we did drop some coins in the machine that pushes money on shelves until something drops off, winning some dice in the process.

The big draw about cruising is that you get to see different sights every day even if you never leave the ship you’re on. For most cruise ships the two main outside spaces from which to gaze out at the always changing view (assuming you don’t have a balcony cabin or room with a sea view, of course) are the promenade deck and the top deck with its pools and loungers.

Promenade Deck

With Diamond Princess being a Grand-class cruise ship the promenade deck was deck seven, accessed from several locations along each side and circling the entire ship. We tried to make a point of walking the promenade deck once a day after dinner and we spotted a lot of people using it as a walking track, completing multiple circuits to build up their miles. We’re not quite that crazy.

It was interesting to contrast the different conditions when walking the promenade deck on Diamond Princess during our honeymoon cruise in the Far East. We found that at the start it was quite windy and could be chilly as you walked around (hence us buying hoodies from the stores on board) but as we got towards Vietnam and Singapore near the end of the cruise the conditions changed to nearly flat seas and high humidity making stepping out from the air conditioned ship to the deck like stepping into a sauna.

Swimming Pools

The swimming pools always look lovely even if it seems strange at some level to be swimming many metres above the sea level when you’re surrounded by sea as far as you can see. They weren’t utilised a huge amount by other passengers or us on the cruise although I can’t remember why exactly; certainly, as mentioned before, it was quite windy on the South China Sea, especially at the start of the cruise, but there was still a measure of protection from the wind and there was an inside pool as well. However, it did get a little rough on the seas so that might have scared people off and they did sometimes put netting over the ship’s swimming pools to prevent their use altogether.

The swimming pool areas were also used to house some ice sculptures on one of the sea days during the cruise.

The Sanctuary pool towards the front of the ship was the closest pool to our inside cabin. We didn’t know at the time (we would discover this five years later when on the Crown Princess cruise ship) but there was a means to generate a current against which to swim when in the Sanctuary pool so despite its small size it could have provided a reasonable means of exercise if desired.

Top Deck Areas

Around the main swimming pool were a number of food locations and a bar; the pizzas, hot dogs, and burgers prepared by the pool on a Princess Cruises cruise ship are outstanding.

In addition to a sports section there was a small golf putting area. Just like the onboard gymnasium that you’ll notice hasn’t featured in any photographs on the interior post about the Diamond Princess we don’t really do sporting activities so we didn’t engage in these parts of the ship.

The rest of the upper, exterior decks was lounging space or walkway spaces affording fabulous views of the sea from a high vantage point.

On one of the sea days while my wife was recovering from a little sea sickness I went for a wander up top and watched a large, dark stormcloud come in. People stayed out for as long as possible while the darkness enveloped the cruise ship but eventually the rain came down and drove everyone inside.

In Buenos Aires airport we were met by representatives of Princess Cruises (and I was offered a job because I helped out some other passengers having trouble understanding the process) and were taken on a slow drive through the Argentine capital city’s traffic to the port area to board the ship.

As with many places that cruise ships dock the port area of Buenos Aires was a commercial zone with not a huge amount of interest to look at if you’re not fond of shipping containers and cranes but the weather was gorgeous, we were in a foreign country, I had my camera to hand, there were some lovely pieces of brutalist architecture on show too, and photographs were quick to follow.

In addition to taking pictures from our mini suite balcony when we first arrived in Buenos Aires we took a walk up onto the top deck of the cruise ship and I snapped some photos of the commercial port and the Río de la Plata from there too.

We had a couple of issues with the ship and this particular trip that two of those images have reminded me of. Firstly, on our first cruise on Azura to Belgium we noticed a smell of sewage near the Malabar lounge. At the time we just shrugged it off as one of those things that can’t be helped; cruise ships have complicated systems for getting rid of waste and things can occur. You can’t expect perfection. You can expect not to be assaulted by the same smell in the same location on the same ship seven months later, though. At first we wondered whether we were the only people who could detect the stench as other people seemed to sit in the area without concern but we did eventually get talking to another couple one evening who seemed overjoyed that they too weren’t losing their minds. Definitely a problem there somewhere. The second issue was with the pianist in the Blue Bar. He was good. I have no problem with his skill on the piano. It just would have been nice to be able to hear yourself speak to other people during some of the songs. Just needs turning that volume down a bit; it’s supposed to be a bar to relax and grab a cocktail, not flinch on every piano key strike.

The Planet Bar was our regular late evening place to grab some final drinks. A guitarist and singer duo called High Tides, I believe, played there on a few nights and were enjoyable company.

We’d spent the previous day in Punta Arenas which was in the sheltered Strait of Magellan but out on the ocean things started to move. We were awoken in the morning by drawers opening and closing in the bedside cabinets and we’d already had to remove all the coat hangers from the wardrobe to stop them clattering around. I stepped over to the balcony window and leaned against the wall to support both me and the camera in order to shoot some video. You’ll have to imagine it because I’ve removed the video, temporarily, hopefully.

After we’d had some breakfast I then spent a little time taking video and photos of the swimming pools which had been netted off to stop anyone getting in and enjoying themselves. Spoilsports.

I realised I’d get a more interesting view of the waves in the pool crashing and splashing from the balcony above and was soon joined by another photographer trying to get some pictures of the enjoyable event too.

After we completed our day’s scenic cruising to see the Amalia Glacier we would return to the rough seas for the evening and we spent some enjoyable time in Skywalker’s Nightclub (which was surprisingly busy); being at the top and aft of the ship it was subject to large amounts of movement and we were highly impressed that the waiting staff never spilt a drink even when their trays were full and they occasionally had to stop and hold a hand out for support as they navigated the lounge area. Our drinks on the table were sometimes filled to the brim and top-heavy with garnish and had to be drunk immediately on arrival to stop from losing any liquid as the ship lurched. Immense fun.

Note, because visitors to this page are up, up, up: No, this isn’t the new Star Princess (due to launch in 2025). This is the better one that Princess let go before thinking “Hey, what if we made a new cruise ship look like it was swallowing a marble!? And added in restricted areas just for the big spenders!? And a central piazza that’s just a solid wall of noise all day long!? And what if we named it after another ship we’d only very, very recently sent down under just to confuse people using search engines!?” And then you turned up here. And now you’re disappointed. Don’t blame me.

One big difference in the three cruises we’d taken by the end of this cruise was in our rooms; we’d started with an inside state room on Diamond, got a free upgrade to a balcony on the Crown, and decided that since we were splashing out on a big cruise into the southern hemisphere and the difference in price wasn’t huge we’d go that little bit extra and grab a mini suite on the Star Princess. The state room we ended up picking was D201, close to the front of the ship and on the starboard side. The reason we chose the front of the ship was because we love seeing and hearing the waves breaking against the bow of the ship; you just don’t get that so much further back. Also, we love the movement of the ship so central positions where the ship’s movements are less pronounced don’t really appeal to us. The reason we chose the starboard side was because we would be cruising around South America in a clockwise direction which would then place land on our side of the ship whenever we were close enough to it; while we love a good, wide ocean view as much as the next person this would allow us to break up the constant view of the water on occasion, providing more interest.

The mini suite was larger, with an extended section with a sofa and a second television set. We hadn’t thought we’d make use of that section but surprised ourselves with just how much we did. The bathroom was larger and included a full bath over which the standard shower was connected. We never got around to using the bath itself but the extra long drying line came in very useful for our swimming gear as we swam a lot during that cruise. Outside, the balcony was very large indeed. The one downside was that it was uncovered and therefore both looked upon and at the mercy of the elements. This didn’t end up being a problem during our cruise but it’s worth considering if privacy on a balcony is important or you’re going somewhere that weather might play a part. Naturally, there were wonderful, unobstructed views and we saw a spectacular night sky leaving Buenos Aires where we could make out the Milky Way despite a fair bit of light pollution.

Getting anywhere on the ship involved use of the stairwells and elevators, all of which were very much what we’d experienced before. Having our room on the deck we were on meant we walked up and down to our room when heading off to the various entertainment options we were typically interested in on the promenade deck throughout the day. Usually we’re very much walk down, elevator up people.

The piazza was exactly what we’d come to expect as well. Light, bright, but warm colouring. We’ve seen other cruise lines’ atriums that have flashier elements but they always seem to pair them with darker, contrasting parts too that make the areas seem more claustrophobic. We do like the open, clean look on Princess ships. There were occasional demonstrations or activities taking place in the piazza but the only one we spent any time looking at from memory was an Argentine Tango being performed.

The first place we had a drink on Star Princess was in Crooners, the piano and cocktail bar on deck 7 at the top of the piazza. During the day and early evening this was one of the best places to come for a quiet chat and to experience the great cocktail-making skills on display. The bar staff on Star Princess remain to this day the best as a group we’ve ever had the pleasure of being with. Drinks were poured on glasses balanced on chins and elbows, funny chat was commonplace, names and what we’d drunk before were remembered, nothing was too much trouble.

Other areas off the piazza or on deck 7 where most of the onboard activities took place included the theatre where we had our muster drill, Explorer’s Lounge where quizzes, BOGOs (buy one drink, get another for a dollar), and art auctions entertained us, Wheelhouse Bar for more BOGOs and some pleasing jazz from an onboard group, and the art gallery.

The promenade deck on Grand-class Princess ships (i.e. not on the newer Royal-class ships) are full, wraparound decks allowing for complete walking circuits, and they were very popular, particularly early in the evening when it seemed a lot of passengers would work off some calories before going for dinner. We took our promenade walks at a far more sedate pace and always loved the views out to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

On the top deck the big draw for most passengers is naturally the various swimming pools. In common with every cruise we’ve been on getting a lounger anywhere near a pool on a sea day was next to impossible which I wouldn’t mind if the people near the water were going to make use of the facilities but they typically don’t. As a result, because we’re averse to getting out of a pool and dripping everywhere up two decks to get to the lounger we managed to find tucked away down the side somewhere, we tended to do most of our swimming in the small pool by the Sanctuary as most people don’t seem to realise it’s there; it’s not ideal for swimming because of its size but it does in a pinch.

The large screen for movies, some sports activities, sun loungers, and great views to the horizon made up the rest of the attractions of the top decks of the Star Princess cruise ship, and if it wasn’t raining then the Zumba classes were held there too.

Another new feature for us and one thing different on the Star Princess compared to the other Grand-class ships we’d been on (and still have been on) was the positioning of Skywalkers Nightclub. On other ships it’s a little further forward, directly accessible from the rear elevators and stairwell but Star Princess and a few others make use of advances in materials weight during construction to shift the nightclub back where it can be reached on a travelator. From the outside this looks like a long tube connecting the club to the rest of the ship. At night it was lovely to step onto the moving walkway and glide along looking at the ocean views through the glass while a smiling member of staff usually waited at the end to see where we would sit in order to hover for a drinks order.

Skywalkers Nightclub was our regular late night stop after dinner. We got to know the staff there pretty well and always enjoyed the disco despite the penchant of the resident DJ, Pedro, to play latin. He’d play requests that would fill the dancefloor then immediately switch to something he liked and everyone would vanish back to their seats. The inability of the DJ to read a crowd notwithstanding, it was a great end to every evening.

State Room

Nothing obvious to distinguish state rooms on Azura and Ventura other than the art in our room which felt more vibrant, youthful, fun in Ventura as you can just about tell from the comparison photos below. There was a more grown up feel in our Azura rooms. For reference we have stayed in cabins A610 and B237 on Azura and we’ve stayed in B215 on Ventura. Space and layout were identical.

The bed’s mattress on our Ventura cruise was on its last legs – very obviously suffering a dip but not enough to cause discomfort or give me reason to complain for the short trip we were taking – but there is a planned refit in 2018 that will hopefully refresh this.

Azura requires you to put a card in a slot to turn on lights in your room; Ventura does not. We prefer not having to do this and not just because we’ve almost walked out with our card left in the room on occasion. While the idea behind the card slot seems reasonable – reduces electricity usage for the lights in the room when you’re not in there – this is offset by finding all the TVs left on when you walk into cabins when you first arrive. I’m pretty sure they eat up far more power in that time than a handful of light bulbs for an entire cruise.

Swimming Pools

In terms of layout the pools on Ventura were the same as on Azura for all intents and purposes. To see pictures of the pools on Azura see here: P&O Azura or On Azura. The one big change was that one of the pools was covered on Ventura and that can be a big factor depending on the cruise ship’s itinerary.

Having a covered pool makes a lot of sense when taking a cruise in northern Europe late in the season and it’s certainly worth considering when weighing up Azura or Ventura for similar cruise ships depending on the time of year you’re cruising. As an added bonus the covered pool reduced the amount of space for smokers to light up on the starboard side of the top deck which made for a more pleasant walk to the buffet for breakfast in the mornings.

Late Night Lounge: Metropolis/Planet Bar

The late night lounge at the top of the ship, aft (and equivalent to Skywalkers Nightclub on Princess ships) is either the Planet Bar on Azura or Metropolis on Ventura. There’s nothing to choose between them in terms of their layout or functionality (either a pianist or the ship’s resident acoustic duo on alternate nights providing some gentle live music) but this is a location where Azura wins out over Ventura.

Metropolis, Ventura

Planet Bar, Azura

The Planet Bar has a sculpture related to the theme and large TV screens providing fabulous, relaxing views of the planet (naturally); Metropolis has some abstract piece of metal that could possibly be a deflated weather balloon and plain, black, glass panels. By way of comparison Ventura’s Metropolis feels colder, quieter, and duller than Azura’s venue and it was definitely less busy on our cruise.

Atrium

The big overall difference in the two ships to us is that Azura feels a little more modern than Ventura but Ventura typically feels warmer, cosier, and friendlier (Metropolis notwithstanding). This can be demonstrated immediately with a comparison of the atrium areas of both ships. While both are laid out identically and contain identical main features Ventura’s atrium has pleasing, relaxing, warm accent colours whereas Azura is more monochromatic and has a light sculpture that somehow feels a little oppressive in the space.

Ventura Atrium

Azura Atrium

Cocktail Bar: Red/Blue

At the top of the atrium on both ships is the piano/cocktail bar: Blue on Azura, Red on Ventura. On Ventura the colours are plain to see and, being red, there’s warmth in the decor. On Azura it’s less obvious where the blue influences are and the carpeting looks like something from the 1980s: bold, bright, really not right for the area. The warmer colours on Ventura should have made the area feel more enclosed but we actually found the opposite to be true with the Red Bar seeming to have more space in it.

Ventura, Red Bar

Azura, Blue Bar

Both bars suffered from slow bar service. We’re not sure why but on three trips with P&O on their cruise ships we’ve yet to get a drink quickly from the Red or Blue bars even when there’s been practically nobody else around. Maybe that’s their signature move.

The Glass House

This venue is the main location to get wine (P&O keep a great range of wine very well) and it serves some food for a modest fee. As an aside we’ve only eaten here on Ventura but can happily say that the food was absolutely fantastic for the price; some of the tastiest, most succulent fish I’ve ever eaten, and plenty of it; far superior to the main dining room food, hence the additional cost, but highly recommended.

In terms of decor fitting the name of the venue Azura wins with its clean, mostly white, glass-like look. But, again, Ventura feels cosier even if the Mediterranean theme present looks a bit dated and was obviously prepared for the venue’s previous name on the ship, Ramblas. You’ll have to take my word on how the place looks on Azura because I don’t have any decent photos that show it off.

Glass House, Ventura

Midship Lounge: Tamarind/Malabar

There’s not a lot to choose between these cabaret lounges on either ship when it comes to functionality or appearance. Both have a touch of the exotic to them and both had similar events taking place during the days and nights. Ventura’s Tamarind lounge, however, was the clear winner when it came to not smelling like it had sewage running down its wall, an affliction suffered by Azura’s Malabar on both occasions we’ve sailed on her seven months apart.

Ventura, Tamarind Lounge

Azura, Malabar Lounge

Nightclub: Havana/Manhattan

The largest lounges on the ships, situated aft, were both pretty similar again, differing only in very slight aesthetic changes. Hence there being only the one photo from our most recent cruise. Manhattan on Azura was always rammed in the evenings when we wandered past so we never stayed; by contrast Ventura’s Havana was busy but there was always room on our trip so we made sure to pop in when the music sounded like something we’d appreciate and we had an enjoyable time listening to the DJ and people-watching tipsy passengers dancing.

Ventura, Havana

Azura, Manhattan

Miscellaneous Differences

The pub on board Azura is called Brodie’s; the equivalent on Ventura is The Exchange. The layout, available space, and general decor for The Exchange was quite poor compared to Brodie’s. The theatre is the Arena on Ventura and the Playhouse on Azura; we never went in the latter so cannot compare them although I imagine they’re identical.

I can’t remember what the carpeting looks like on Azura along the photo gallery section between Malabar and Manhattan as it didn’t seem interesting enough for me to photograph but on Ventura the corridor that runs from Tamarind to Havana is certainly bold and interesting to walk on if you’re drunk or the seas are rough, I imagine.

Verdict

Azura is the newer ship with the most recent designs and it’s targeted at a general cruiser. Ventura is older, seems geared towards families a bit more, and has some (some might say) dated looks and feels in places. There are certainly areas where Ventura could improve – the pub/casino layout could do with a shift around, the Glass House might benefit from a few design tweaks more in line with its name, and Metropolis would be improved with something more in line with the big city feel of its name too – but given a choice between cruising on the two ships with identical itineraries we would pick Ventura over Azura as it feels friendlier. That said, there’s very little to choose overall as you’d expect from sister ships run by the same cruise company, and from a purely practical perspective the only thing you might really need to consider when selecting Azura or Ventura for a cruise with P&O would be whether a covered swimming pool would be beneficial.

Embarkation was as good this time as it was on our prior trip to Amsterdam on Azura. We used CPS and arrived to hand over our car about 40 minutes before we were scheduled to board. It took about 15-20 minutes to queue again before we could give our keys to the driver, grab the bag from the boot, and walk into the terminal where, because it was close to our boarding time, we were again given a fast track ticket to immediately queue instead of waiting around to be called. Check in was smooth, done quickly, and we were on the ship 5 minutes ahead of our due time. Dropping off our bag, unpacking and hanging things up, we then went for a quick wander to see what was the same and what was different on Ventura compared to Azura. We started up top.

Almost all of the outside space was identical to what we’d seen before with the main exception being the presence of two circus ring areas for the ship’s circus training!

Nobody really wants to see views of Southampton when they’re on a cruise ship but it simply can’t be helped and when I’ve got a camera in my hand I feel compelled to take some pictures of the city.

We wandered into Metropolis which wasn’t serving drinks at that time (otherwise we’d have had our first drink on board there) and were a little disappointed with the decor when thinking back to the impressive TV screens in Azura’s Planet Bar.

Heading back along the top deck we saw that one of the two main pools was covered. As explained in my comparison post about Ventura and Azura we liked this a lot even though we never got around to having a swim on this cruise simply because the wind can be a bit nippy in northern Europe late in the season and the covered section reduced the space for smokers who often make going for breakfast in the mornings a rather revolting experience.

The colour scheme on board Ventura is far warmer than its sister ship and the atrium in particular was a far more welcoming place than the same space on Azura. While some areas did look a little bit old fashioned (the Glass House most obviously) we found it overall a friendlier feeling ship to be on.

Our state room was exactly what we were expecting in terms of layout and facilities; we’ve been on enough Grand-class cruise ships to be able to move around these rooms in the dark without issue now. We did have a few problems with our cabin that needed addressing when we first got on board, though. The TV was reporting an error connecting to the ship’s network but that was soon remedied using the skills I’ve developed from decades in the world of IT (I rebooted the router). More irritating was that the connecting door on the balcony wasn’t locked and kept swinging open with a loud bang in the wind even while we were docked in Southampton. We didn’t know who our steward was (Princess usually leave a card explaining who your steward is and how to get hold of him/her but there was nothing like that on Ventura) so explained the situation to the first employee we saw in the hallway; he said he’d tell our steward without actually finding out what room number we were in which didn’t inspire confidence so we made our way to the reception desk off the atrium and decided to forget that too once we saw the queue of people waiting to have some issue or another addressed stretched out of sight. We eventually left a note for our steward on the bed knowing that it would be seen when it was turned down for the evening and this problem was rectified by the time we retired for the night.

We spent the first full day at sea, at times with some decent swell and high winds and occasionally just drifting in nearly flat conditions. It was a strange thing to be at the aft of the ship, at sea, with no apparent wake. I would guess that there is a tax benefit to having a mostly wasted day out of port and it probably doesn’t hurt to have a captive audience for all those bars on board but we did hear a few people complain about it. Personally, it was quite nice and I think not a bad idea for an introductory cruise to show people what a ship is like when it’s not simply in port; you really don’t get a real feel for cruising on a 2-nighter.

On the Sunday we awoke to find ourselves docked in Zeebrugge. There had been rain overnight with more forecast for the day in Belgium but with a clear sky initially it lent Ventura a fresh look as we headed off to breakfast. Breakfast on Ventura, I must point out here, was significantly better than that we’d experienced on Azura with a few more options each morning; it’s still pretty basic fare but we did appreciate the improvement.

We had a lovely day in Bruges (to be covered in another post) but were then delayed getting away from Zeebrugge partly due to high wind speeds that eventually required making use of tugs to get the ship out into the open sea.

Pools were emptied and covered over for safety during the ensuing return trip as the ship faced gusts of up to 62 knots and it spent a fair amount of time leaning to starboard. By estimating the difference in height of the drinks we had in the glass against each edge along with the diameter of the glass I was able to approximate the lean of the ship at 7 degrees which doesn’t sound much but made for entertaining “uphill” walking in places. We had dinner with a group of four, only three of whom were present due to one of them feeling the effects of the rough crossing. We’ve had worse; we enjoyed it.

Monday morning’s return to Southampton was early enough to see a lovely sunrise. It was, however, bitterly cold and a hell of a shock to the system.