Jo's Final Post from Azura...

Hello from Azura!

As mentioned in the title, this is going to be my final instalment for James Cusick’s blog. I’m going home when we get to Southampton for a well anticipated rest. I’ve absolutely loved helping to set up this incredible new ship, and have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of a wonderful inaugural team.

I have to be honest and say that I didn’t know what to expect from Azura. I’ve worked on every one of P&O Cruises’ current fleet of ships, and we all secretly have our favourites, our likes and our dislikes. But I don’t think I ever expected this ship to be so breathtakingly spectacular.

It’s a massive cruise ship (but never feels big), it carries over 3000 passengers (but nowhere ever seems busy), there are 1,159 cabins (yet they are all a lovely size and beautifully decorated), and the officers and crew work extremely hard (and yet never let it show because we all thoroughly enjoy being here).

I’ve spoken to many of our passengers, and the only negative comment I’ve heard is ‘that it’s a long way from their cabin to their favourite dining room’. As Azura is advertised as P&O Cruises’ newest and biggest ship, I don’t think anyone can expect anything other than a fair walk from one end of the ship to the other, so I look at this as a great opportunity to work off a few calories before tucking into an extravagant dessert or an extra glass of wine with dinner!

If you get the opportunity to sail on Azura in the future, I don’t believe any of you can be disappointed. She’s everything that P&O Cruises wanted from her. She’s stylish, sophisticated, has all of the latest technology to offer passengers the ultimate in luxury service and quality, and yet she recognises what our loyal passengers have always loved about cruising.

I’m going to hand the blog over to Carol Marlow (Managing Director of P&O Cruises) for a short time before James Cusick returns from his break, but in the meantime, I’d like to thank you so much for taking the time to read and reply to my posts, and I thoroughly look forward to meeting many of you on your forthcoming cruises with us.

Have a wonderful day and I hope to see you soon!

Jo