Azura Cruise Blog – Part Six

Read the final entry of my Azura Cruise Blog.

Today was our final day aboard P&O Cruises’ Azura as we sailed on a southerly course through the North Sea back towards Southampton. After an early start I headed to the Venezia buffet for a leisurely breakfast before grabbing my book and my laptop and heading to the Java coffee bar on deck five where I sat for a couple of hours or so by the window and did a little bit of reading and a little bit of work too.

Once a few hours had passed I wondered up to the shops to see what the last minute bargains were before giving in and purchasing two teddy bears, some Vanilla Fudge, Galaxy Chocolates and a fridge magnet. I’ve managed to get a teddy bear or soft plush on almost every cruise I have been on, so I simply had to get one.

Once I dropped my shopping back to my stateroom, I decided that it was time to do a little bit of packing. I know it is the last day of the cruise, however I prefer to get the packing out of the way early and then I only need to put in a few more bits in the evening before putting my case outside my stateroom.

Once I had packed the majority of things I went to have a look at Sindhu for lunch. If you haven’t read some of my earlier blog posts about this cruise so far, Sindhu is Atul Kochar’s first restaurant at sea; and during the day the venue offers a series of small plates for a set price – known as Nashta plates. Unfortunately I am not a lover of spicy foods and the options on the Nashta menu were quite hot, so I didn’t enjoy it that much – but it seems as though everyone else did.

After lunch it was the usual routine for me; that’s grabbing a table by the pool (preferably in the sunshine) and sitting there for a while and soaking up the atmosphere. I had a little look through the Horizon – which is the ships daily newspaper and noticed that a Chocoholics Buffet was taking place between 15:00 and 16:30 in one of the restaurants. Now I do like chocolate, so I simply had to attend. Picture chocolate fountains, brownies, doughnuts, cookies, macaroons and everything sweet – it was ALL there. I even walked past some people who had piled their plates high – but I was good this time and only took a couple of things.

After the Chocoholic Buffet, I headed back to my stateroom for a little rest; well deserved I think after I’ve done quite a lot this holiday; plus taking the stairs from Deck 7 to 15 is a LONG way. This evening I will most probably head to The Planet Bar and then enjoy an evening meal in the main restaurant or buffet before a fairly early night for me. Azura is scheduled to arrive into Southampton around 07:00 in the morning and I have to be out of my stateroom by 08:00!

All in all, my cruise aboard P&O Cruises’ Azura has been interesting; I’ve noticed a few changes since I last cruised with them – some of them for the better and others perhaps not. Will I choose to sail with P&O Cruises in the future? Possibly.