As is often the case with cruises, the first day away from the embarkation port – that was Valletta for us on this cruise to the Adriatic on Azura – was spent at sea. Sea days are great for getting over any initial travel tiredness and adjusting to time differences for passengers, and cruise lines like them because they can open up the casinos and shops once they’re away from land. A cynical person looking at all the huge new cruise ships being built and the increasing likelihood that these ships can’t get into ports for various reasons might raise an eyebrow here.
A look at the programme of activities for this sea day on Azura in April, 2023.
We had cruised on P&O Azura two times previously, but both shorter durations than this week. Not only that, but with Azura being a Grand-class ship we were familiar with the layout and general decor aboard already. As such we had no compelling urge to walk around the ship and take photos, but I still did anyway just to see what, if anything, had changed noticeably in the six years since we’d last cruised on her.
Leaving my wife to read after breakfast, I went for a wander and the photos from that walk around Azura are below. For more pictures of this cruise ship you can take a look at those taken on our first cruise on Azura.
I started off with a look at Sindhu, the Asian speciality restaurant on board P&O Cruises ships. These venues always look great but it’s not a cuisine that particularly suits us.
I treated myself to a promenade walk on Azura since I was on my feet anyway. Even though the ship is always nicely air-conditioned it’s lovely to get out into the fresh air, feel the wind, and listen to the waves rumbling past as the ship cuts through.
I met up with my wife in the Planet Bar where I enjoyed a first drink of the day in her company and with views of the ship’s wake from this location. We also spotted something that’s become popular for some unfathomable reason over the past few years: a small, yellow, rubber duck. People generally find them, take a photo to share on social media, and move the duck so someone else can discover one. Sometimes people take them home. Families with small children, or duck fetishists, I guess. Sometimes the duck comes with contact information attached. You’ll need to make your own judgement as to whether you want to share contact details with someone who takes rubber ducks on holiday with them.
That marked the end of my gentle exercise around Azura. The afternoon saw us back in our room for a period to enjoy the balcony space and sea views from there, then some lunch and a few more drinks.
Formal nights tend to occur on sea days on cruise ships and that was the case for this first full day cruising up the Adriatic. We decided that we’d try to eat in the Glass House rather than the main dining room on the basis that a lot of people seem to think the menu in the main dining room is a little more special on formal nights so it’s worth eating there. It rarely is, though. It did take us a long time to get a seat in the Glass House but the food was fine and our waiter for the evening was very entertaining.
We took part in an individual trivia game in the evening which my wife tied for first in but then lost on a tie-breaker. That happens more often than it doesn’t. For the remainder of this sea day on Azura we hopped around between lounges, enjoying some tunes from Charlotte Chalkey then a little late night disco.
In the next post in this cruise travelogue series we’ll make our first visit to the country of Croatia as we head off on a cruise excursion to look at the town of Trogir and visit its cathedral.