I'm considering booking on Azura for 4th May 2019. Can anyone help with some input?

[sidekick180]

I am looking at the possibility of booking a cruise on Azura for 4th May 2019 and I would like to ask what you seasoned cruisers think of this ship.

We went on Ventura this year (4th May 2018). It was our very first cruise and I have to say that we thoroughly enjoyed pretty much all of it. The only couple of negatives were the fact that there were some technical issues as soon as we set sail and this meant that we had to miss out on one port. The other negative was the amount of days that all the pools were closed due to the amount of rolling and pitching of the ship. As this was our first cruise we didn't know whether this was normal or not, but since getting home, we found out from people that had cruised a lot, that the amount of movement was quite severe considering the seas were so calm. I filmed the sea showing how calm it was and then the swimming pools, which were sloshing about from one end to the other, splashing water up quite high at the end of each pool. A few people asked me if they had wave machines in the pools. Everyone of the seasoned cruisers I spoke to, said that unless there were heavy seas, none of them had ever seen the pools closed during the day.

My other half suffered quite badly from the motion of the ship and initially it put her off ever cruising again. I am now trying to convince her that the next cruise might not be so bad. Obviously if we hit bad weather, we would expect a lot of movement but at least it wouldn't be every day.

I know that Azura is a similar size to Ventura and nobody can say that we wouldn't feel that much motion again but I am hoping that the technical issues on Ventura might have been the cause of the heavy motion.

I am hoping to find someone on here that has cruised on both these ships, to perhaps let me know how they have got on and whether the Azura is a nice ship to cruise on.

As I said at the beginning of this post, We really did enjoy most of our trip on Ventura. The entertainment, brilliant, the service, superb and the food excellent. Not sure if we were spoiled on that cruise b ut I would like to think that the Azura would be at least on par with Ventura. What do you think cruisers?

Thank you for your input in advance!

[EJMcruiser]

I have cruised a fair bit over the years and I hate to say it but the Azura was the one ship that made me really sea sick :-( The Aurora is really nice. Since you have done the Ventura perhaps worth trying something different? Also I made the decision a few years back that sea day equal sea sick tablet and never looked back. All you need is one in the morning and they last all day. Enjoy your cruise wherever you end up going.

[P&O SUE]

Azura is a lovely ship and virtually identical to Ventura. I have a soft spot for as she was the first ship I went on.

As for your concerns about the movement, I went on Ventura in June and I can honestly say I felt no movement at all so I think the technical issues you mentioned must have been the reason for your problems.

Where is the ship going in May ? On my Ventura Cruise we went through the bay of Biscay which has a bad reputation but as I said very calm in early June. ( I have had a rough crossing in June before)

 

 

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[Selbourne]

We have experienced a severe storm when on Azura and I have to say it was the only time in 15 Cruises that we have ever felt quite scared. It was overnight and the ship would go up, hold for a second, then come down with loud creaking and grinding noises that made you wonder how it was staying in one piece! We were in bed but were really being thrown around. Apparently, many passengers had unilaterally decided to assemble in their muster stations. Frankly, with the sea as it was, I would have rather gone down with the ship than enter the water in a tender!

 

The next morning a number of passengers disembarked and asked to be flown home! We knew it was a one off and the rest of the cruise was like a mill pond. Bizarrely, this all happened in the Med!

 

Ships like Azura and Ventura are more susceptible to movement than the older ships, which are more liner like. The very high sides act like a sail and the wind makes a massive difference. We swear by Stugeron tablets which, having discovered them thanks to this forum, means that we have never suffered any sea sickness since.

 

We don’t particularly like Azura and Ventura, but if you have been on Ventura and liked her you will like Azura. Azura was always our least favourite ship until we went on Arcadia recently! Aurora is our favourite (and copes with poor weather much better than the bigger ships) but our favourite big ship is Britannia.

[hollyjess]

Hi. We have sailed on Azura and her sister ship Ventura many times. We always book a cabin on P deck midship and have never had a problem. On saying that I do take stugeron just in case!

[sidekick180]

Azura is a lovely ship and virtually identical to Ventura. I have a soft spot for as she was the first ship I went on.

As for your concerns about the movement, I went on Ventura in June and I can honestly say I felt no movement at all so I think the technical issues you mentioned must have been the reason for your problems.

Where is the ship going in May ? On my Ventura Cruise we went through the bay of Biscay which has a bad reputation but as I said very calm in early June. ( I have had a rough crossing in June before)

 

 

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Hi Sue,

Thank you very much for your reply. If we do go on Azura in May, we will be travelling to France, Spain and Guernsey so we will be going across the Bay of Biscay. We already knew before we went this year that BoB can be notorious for choppy seas etc. but unfortunately all the movement we felt was pretty much most days. Don't quote me on this but I think out of the 7 nights we were on the ship, the pools were only open 3 days. The rest of the time they were covered because the water was sloshing about so much. I did notice from reading lots of reviews and looking at videos and pictures of Azura, she is almost identical to Ventura. I am just hoping that the stability will be a bit better. Neither of us actually suffered with sea sickness, although my girlfriend did end up taking a tablet each day after the first day. It was just the constant movement of the ship and the creaking of our cabin at night that made us feel uncomfortable. Don't get me wrong, it didn't ruin the holiday because there was so much of it that we enjoyed, it was just one of those niggles that we would have preferred not to be happening.

[sidekick180]

We have experienced a severe storm when on Azura and I have to say it was the only time in 15 Cruises that we have ever felt quite scared. It was overnight and the ship would go up, hold for a second, then come down with loud creaking and grinding noises that made you wonder how it was staying in one piece! We were in bed but were really being thrown around. Apparently, many passengers had unilaterally decided to assemble in their muster stations. Frankly, with the sea as it was, I would have rather gone down with the ship than enter the water in a tender!

 

The next morning a number of passengers disembarked and asked to be flown home! We knew it was a one off and the rest of the cruise was like a mill pond. Bizarrely, this all happened in the Med!

 

Ships like Azura and Ventura are more susceptible to movement than the older ships, which are more liner like. The very high sides act like a sail and the wind makes a massive difference. We swear by Stugeron tablets which, having discovered them thanks to this forum, means that we have never suffered any sea sickness since.

 

 

We don’t particularly like Azura and Ventura, but if you have been on Ventura and liked her you will like Azura. Azura was always our least favourite ship until we went on Arcadia recently! Aurora is our favourite (and copes with poor weather much better than the bigger ships) but our favourite big ship is Britannia.

 

Hi,

Thank you for your reply. I definitely wont let my girlfriend read your reply to my post as I think it will scare her off completely, especially when you said you were being thrown around in your bed, but thank you for your input. After what you said about the ships high sides, it does make quite a bit of sense and I will have a look at the Aurora to see what cruises she will be doing around the same time. I assume that Aurora is smaller than Ventura and Azura? I will have a look at the stats.

To be honest, I think we were under the misconception that it would be better to go on a bigger ship as it would be more stable. Obviously this is not always the case. Why did you say that your least favourite ship is now Arcadia. Did you have a bad experience on that one? I had better start doing some more research and try to find a different cruise, maybe on Aurora. thanks

[sidekick180]

Hi. We have sailed on Azura and her sister ship Ventura many times. We always book a cabin on P deck midship and have never had a problem. On saying that I do take stugeron just in case!

 

Hi,

Thanks for your reply, we also went for a midships cabin on our last cruise but it didn't seem to make a lot of difference and the motion was still pretty bad. Neither of us actually suffered with sea sickness, although my girlfriend was taking a tablet each day after the first day. it was just the constant motion and creaking of our cabin that made us feel uncomfortable. I assume that when you went on Ventura and Azura, you didn't feel a lot of motion?

[sidekick180]

I have cruised a fair bit over the years and I hate to say it but the Azura was the one ship that made me really sea sick :-( The Aurora is really nice. Since you have done the Ventura perhaps worth trying something different? Also I made the decision a few years back that sea day equal sea sick tablet and never looked back. All you need is one in the morning and they last all day. Enjoy your cruise wherever you end up going.

 

Thank you for your reply.

You are the second person that has replied to my post saying that the Aurora is better than Azura or Ventura. Guess i will need to start looking at cruises Aurora is doing next year. I didn't suffer with sea sickness on our cruise but I think my girlfriend would have if she hadn't taken a tablet each day. not sure which tablet she took but a lot of people are suggesting Stugeron. I haven't heard of that one before now but will see if we can get some if I eventually manage to talk the other half onto going on another cruise. Thanks

[Selbourne]

Hi,

Thank you for your reply. I definitely wont let my girlfriend read your reply to my post as I think it will scare her off completely, especially when you said you were being thrown around in your bed, but thank you for your input. After what you said about the ships high sides, it does make quite a bit of sense and I will have a look at the Aurora to see what cruises she will be doing around the same time. I assume that Aurora is smaller than Ventura and Azura? I will have a look at the stats.

To be honest, I think we were under the misconception that it would be better to go on a bigger ship as it would be more stable. Obviously this is not always the case. Why did you say that your least favourite ship is now Arcadia. Did you have a bad experience on that one? I had better start doing some more research and try to find a different cruise, maybe on Aurora. thanks

 

Others on here will explain the physics far better than I can, but whereas logic might suggest that the bigger the ship the more stable it is, the opposite is often the case.

 

The smaller ships tend to have a greater proportion of the ship under water then the very tall floating blocks of flats that modern cruise ships are. They are also buffeted far less by wind.

 

There are also different propulsion methods and stabilisers. Some ships are more like liners and cleave their way through the water in a very smooth way, but if the sea conditions are bad, you will feel quite a bit of movement on any ship.

 

I cannot overstate how transformative Stugeron has been for us. We have tried many things and feel that a lot of things provide a placebo effect, but if you are genuinely susceptible to motion sickness Stugeron is brilliant. We take two as we leave Southampton and then one before bed and one when we get up until we are clear of any ‘high risk’ areas such as The English Channel, Bay of Biscay and North Sea. We find that we can drink alcohol with them with no ill affects. They do make you feel a tiny bit drowsy, but it’s a nice chilled out feeling.

 

The main issue we had with Arcadia was the main dining room. We are great fans of the MDR on all the other ships, but really disliked the one on Arcadia due to the poor layout, small tables and some service issues (the food itself was fine). We also really missed having a Glasshouse and Beach House, as we really enjoy those on the other ships. The Ocean Grill (Marco Pierre White restaurant) was very good though. Here’s my review;

 

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=626325

[jeanlyon]

As a sailor on small boats as well as a cruiser, the simple fact is that if you have high topsides, then there is more for the wind to hit and it will roll and pitch. I have been in a Force 11 on Oriana and she handled it beautifully. We were in a Force 7 in the Med on Azura and she rolled around badly. Yes normally the bigger the vessel, then the more stable she should be, but the higher you build them, the more windage there is.

 

 

Also, ships like Oriana and Aurora are built like liners, so good on, say Atlantic crossings. the big ones built like blocks of flats are not the best in rough seas.

[yorkshirephil]

Sidekick, your story is similar to our first cruise, although we were on a small ship (700 pax) we hit a storm and it was pretty horrendous for 1 night, my partner was very sick. However we were hooked on cruising so ensured that we took travel pills thereafter, Stugeron is our first choice, we have tried others.

 

We have been on Azura in the Caribbean where the seas were very flat so cannot comment on her performance in rough seas. We have also been on ships where the pools were covered over and the sea wasn't particularly rough but there was a fair swell and the pool water was moving in time to the swell. I guess that the cruise line is stuck between a rock and a hard place, if they shut the pools some people will complain, if they don't shut the pools and someone gets hurt then people will complain.

 

As Selbourne alluded to it can get a bit complicated, how well the ship is stabilized, the depth and shape of the hull and keel, the height of the waves, height and length of the ship, the depth of swell or crosswinds, etc. Sometimes the stabilisers have to be withdrawn in very rough seas, we had this happen across the BoB, unfortunately one of the stabilisers was damaged and we had to stop overnight and miss a port for an inspection.

 

Personally I would go for it. if you do I hope you enjoy.

[Deeliteful]

I cruised on the Azura last year from Southampton to Norwegian Fjords. I loved the ship. It was my first time with P&O for a number of years and I was impressed with good, service and entertainment.

The North Sea was a bit choppy but no issues, certainly no sea sickness.

 

Of course you can’t guarantee the weather but I have just booked it again today for end August in Fjords.

Hope it is as good

[zoe sproodle]

One difference between Azura and Ventura is that Azura has a ducktail stern which is supposed to increase efficiency by deterring the ship from 'riding' its own bow wave; this also should have the effect of decreasing pitch. I'm not sure how well this works or how flat the sea needs to be, but I remember watching Azura from Ventura going through Biscay when it was quite rough and both were pitching quite dramatically.

[the english lady]

I would def. be looking at Aurora for cruises. She was built of round the world cruise, long cruises. so she seems to ride bad seas better. I always thought it depended on whether the hull is v or u shaped. Aurora have a v shape so more suited to cutting through the waves rather than bobbing a long on the top, Ref the pools. I think it is the swell of the sea that effects them, rather than actual waves and the ship going through them. As posted rock hard place..if they didn't net the pools and someone got injured it would be pando that got the blame .

[DamianG]

My guess is that the technical fault you referred to affected the stabilisers on this particular cruise. I completely agree with the other posters about the large ships being less stable in general so I can imagine even a minor problem with the stabilisers would have a big effect.

Personally I can get sea sick if there's a big swell but prescription tablets help and touch wood I've not been ill on board for our last 7 cruises (including 1 on Azura and 2 on Britannia). There's been a few windy days but only once can I recall the pools being closed and that was early evening. Given that P&O often seem to visit less ports than other cruise lines (e.g. our next cruise visits 7 ports over 14 days) the sea days are usually slow runs so it is surprising that the pools were closed so many times on your cruise.

Having said all that I'd thoroughly recommend the smaller ships for a variety of reasons (not only for the more stable sailing). It is just unfortunate that there isn't a family friendly smaller ship option for us right now hence our cruises on Azura, Britannia and Ventura.

All the best.

Damian

[Clodia]

Azura is not as stable as Aurora as the high sides catch the wind. I have been in Force 10-11 storms on both, and while I sat tucked away in the corner of my balcony on Aurora having a nightcap and enjoying it, on Azura I was thrown out of bed and the balcony furniture was doing a war dance outside! Having said that, the conditions only lasted a few hours before moderating. It's always a bit more scary when it happens in the middle of the night, but both are seaworthy! Aurora just copes better!