Azura basic but important questions

Hi Guys,

I'm booked on the short 3 night cruise (22nd April) on Azura.

I am a regular cruiser but have never sailed with P+O, so I would really appreciate some easy answers from anyone who has been with P+O before.

Speciality Dining : Where do I go on-board to get the best steak meal with good wines ? Can I pre-book this before I go or just book it when I get on-board ?

Alcohol Prices : Beer Pint ?

Bottled Beer ?

Glass of Wine ?

Spirits by the glass ?

Do they sell Cider ?

The Casino : As Azura is a British ship, is the casino currency in English Pounds or American Dollars ? Are the Slots 10p's or American quarters ? Can you just put your cruise card into a slot and spend directly from it ?

Also at the tables can I throw a £20.00 note onto the table and get chips from the dealer ?

I have a few more questions that I will ask later, I just don't want to bug everyone with too many questions that are no doubt asked every week.

Many Thanks :cool:

Hi Stephen,

Can't help with the casino as don't use it. It is sterling on board everywhere.

Speciality dining on Azura is varied. For us the best steak is in the Italian. During the day this is part of the buffet but at night becomes a Trattoria. No booking but it does get busy. The best steak on board is served on a very hot stone and you cook your fillet steak to your preference. There is a supplement for this of approx £6.50. Most of the menu in there is FOC.

The restaurant XVll also does good steaks but at £28 pp and possibly more on shorter cruises it does not represent value for money to me.

Drinks are about pub prices at home. Cider yes. Wine approx £4.oo per glass. Try the Glass house for some really nice wines served by the glass.

Hope this helps.

Sue

Thanks Sue, I do want to try the speciality restaurants but at £28.00 per person !

That is not a supplement - that is a whopping bill.

Can anyone else tell me more about fine dining on-board Azura, exactly what do I get for my £28.00 ? :cool:

Thanks Sue, I do want to try the speciality restaurants but at £28.00 per person !

That is not a supplement - that is a whopping bill.

Can anyone else tell me more about fine dining on-board Azura, exactly what do I get for my £28.00 ? :cool:

The XVII restaurant is very nice on board, I found it good value for a special treat. Here is a good review of the specialty restaurants on board, although prices are out of date. Also, if you have a little search, there are sample menu's on the P&O website. Casino is in £, and I 'think' I recall being able to put cash on the table, and yes, you can put your card into the machines.

Link to review....

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=539&pgtype=dining

Thanks Sue, I do want to try the speciality restaurants but at £28.00 per person !

That is not a supplement - that is a whopping bill.

Can anyone else tell me more about fine dining on-board Azura, exactly what do I get for my £28.00 ? :cool:

OK in my opinion one of the best meals I have had in a fine dining room is to be had at 17. However on a 3 night cruise it will get very busy.

If it is the steak you want go along with the suggestion by Kersh. The glass house does an excellent mixed grill for £5.00 and all the wines recommended by Olly Clark. They use a system which allows you to buy, by the glass, about 40 wines. Which are as the bottle has just bee opened. It has a name?????

Casino you will use £'s and put your cruise card or notes in the machines, no coins on Azura. The tables are like any casino on shore. You give them your money. Oh I see what you mean, yes put the money down get chips back.

Prices of booze. Go online to the company site and there you will find a price list. Being t-total of course I would not know the prices off hand:rolleyes:

Any other questions just ask away

Gan Canny

Dai

:cool:

Thanks Dave for your input, I do have to say I would be very annoyed if I had paid £28.00 and had to ask for the waiter twice. Surely the whole reason for paying for this service is that you get 'over the top service' with the best food available on the ship.

I have had the pleasure of fine dining with Princess, Royal Caribbean and on the QM2 and I do have to say it was an amazing experience each time.

Can anyone else shed some light on their experience eating in the afore-mentioned restaurant. :cool:

We were not overly impressed with 17 last month, we feel it is overpriced, the service was good but the steak had to be sent back as it was not cooked as ordered and they sat the four of us on a huge table, no ambience..much preferred Sindhu :)

Thanks for a very balanced and fair report, I shall have to maybe look at dining in the Glass House. :confused:

The glasshouse is fantastic, my favourite place to eat!

For something different try the supper club in The Glass House, but it does get booked up. It basically a tasting menu, they match the wines to the food. We heard about it via this forum and went along when we embarked and asked about it and booked. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and will try it again when we are on Azura next year.

For something different try the supper club in The Glass House, but it does get booked up. It basically a tasting menu, they match the wines to the food. We heard about it via this forum and went along when we embarked and asked about it and booked. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and will try it again when we are on Azura next year.

Not sure if this will be available on a 3 night cruise. With regard to 17. I did not mean busy as I overcrowded more that it is very popular and will get booked up quickly. The service is impeccable.

Gan Canny

Dai

:cool:

Hi Stephen,

The first time we used XVII was on Azuras 2 nd cruise. It cost £20.

We chose the night to go as Chateau Briand was on the menu. We got a phone xpcall from the restaurant manager the evening before saying unfortunately this had been taken off the menu.

We till went and ordered a different type of steak only to find once ordered that others were ordering Chateau Briand. We queried this and was told that it was back on the menu and we should have been informed. The service was fine up to the desert. It was a good 1/2 hour between table being cleared and the desert menu arriving and another 1/2 hour before the desert was served. We ordered coffee and liquor a but they forgot the liquor.they eventually brought it with another coffee. Not a great evening.

We did try it again on a cruise a few months later. The price had increased to £28. The food was good not great, the service was okay better than last time but not excellent. On this occasion we were in the Caribbean and when we booked we asked for a table outside. When we got there they said it was too windy and sat us inside. We took their word for it so was surprised 1/2 later when the outside tables were being used

The other select dining venue is Sindhu. £15 pp person and worth every penny. Never had an okay meal here. Always excellent and excellent service as well.

We are on Azura this Thursday and our friend is on board now. She has booked Sindhu 3 times for us.

We havnt eaten in the glass house as the menu doesn't appeal but we have heard it is very good.

Have a great cruise,

Sue

We didn't like the Glasshouse with all the people continually walking through on their way from one end of the ship to the other. Just our opinion of course.