At large on the waves

Imagine a 20-storey luxury hotel complex, three football pitches long, progressing slowly along York's Lord Mayor's Walk, towering over the historic quarter of the city and being on eye level with the top of the three towers of York Minster. Fanciful? Not if you are a Venetian watching P&O's new super cruise linerAzura making ts wayalong the romantic city's Giudecca Canal, past landmarks like the Campanile and Piazza San Marco to its berth near the Tranchetto basin.

The Azura is the largest passenger vessel to have berthed at the Banchina Piave quay and in a way it was a bit of a homecoming for this latest addition to the P&O fleet because it was built by Fincantieri shipbuilders at their Monfalcone yard not far from Venice, andchristened in April this year by its "Godmother"prima ballerina Darcey Bussell. For P&O, it means a return to its core values of glamour, sophistication and elegance, values that have seen it attract 20 per cent of the total UK cruise market.

Two years ago saw the launch of Azura's twin ship the Ventura, a family friendly ship with a more youthful atmosphere, but to put it rather bluntly the Azura presents a much more upmarket cruising experience that will appeal to P&O's regulars. Not that the Azura is any way "posh", but it does offer the service, quality and entertainment associated with cruising at its very best. And although it is also open to families, there is an adults only area of the ship called The Retreat and one of the pools is also out of bounds to youngsters.

This summer, the Azura's maiden voyages were in the Mediterranean, Baltic,and Canary Islands before it repositioned in late October for just over four months in the Caribbean. We joined the ship for a central Mediterranean 16-night cruise (lead-in price of 1,624 per person) calling at favourite destinationsincluding Malaga, Gibraltar, Katakolon in Greece (for Olympia), Corfu, the Croatian island of Korcula, Dubrovnik and, of course, Venice.

Although the holiday industry has suffered a few setbacks in recent times, it seems that cruising holidays are going from strength to strength asgiant cruise liners are built to meet market demand. One of the big attractions for me is not suffering the inconvenience of flying, which has become a necessary evil rather than a pleasure. This year's problems with volcanic ash added to many holidaymakers' concerns about air travel, so departure from Southampton puts a very big tick in the P&O box.

The new Ocean Terminal at Southampton looks and feels like an airport terminal but is so much more civilised. There are some good P&O deals around that offer free parking, so with no restrictions on the amount of luggage you can take, just load up the car and go. At the terminal, the car is unloaded for you and luggage goes direct to your cabin,while your car is valet-parked to await your return. We were on board the ship and enjoying a late lunch within 35 minutes of pulling up at the terminal.

Make no mistake, the Azura is a big ship and for the first couple of days you might think that onboard satellite navigation is a good idea because there will be many occasions when you emerge from one of the ship's many lifts and wonder "where am I?", or "how do I get there?" But don't worry – there are some 3,000 passengers in the same boat, so to speak, and you will eventually get your bearings.

And, if 3,100 passengers and 1,200 crew make you queasy at the thought of so many people on one ship, rest assured that it never feels crowded, although I will admit that on sea days the big sun deck and pool areas can be a bit tightly packed with bodies anxious to soak up the rays. Butwe always managed to find a quiet corner.

The cabins have been rebadged "staterooms", all are en-suite, but some have showers only. If you want a bath too, it will cost you a bit more. There are inside, outside and balcony cabins and suites, many with third or fourth beds for families. The decor is pleasant, if not very inspiring, and the shower-only bathrooms are one-person zones. There is plenty of hanging and drawer space, and room to store your suitcases out of the way under the beds. All cabins are air conditioned and have tea and coffee-making facilities and a hairdryer. The subtle interior design style of the Azura's public areashas the feel ofa boutique hotel.Theheart of the shipis The Atrium; on one level you will find a dance floor (one of three) , on another a good array of shops, the ship's reception desk, the Java coffee bar, the library and picture gallery.

When it comes to eating, there is a host of options, and you can get something to eat or drink 24 hours a day. Passengers have a choice of either club dining or freedom dining. With club dining there are two sittings at the silver service Peninsular and Oriental restaurants. With freedom dining there are no set times or tables in the Meridian restaurant with a paging service if a table isn't free. On top of this, there are the Verona and Venezia buffets serving meals day and night; with the Verona switching to a first-come, first-served waiter service Italian restaurant in the evening. This innovation proved very popular on our cruise as it is supplement free. And if you can't tear yourself away from the pool or the movie beamed on to giant screens above the Aqua Pool, there is a poolside burger bar, pizzaria and ice cream parlour.

If all this is not enough, you can pay a supplement and eat at one of two signature restaurants. Sindhu is an Indian restaurant inspired by Michelin star chef Atul Kochhar, the fare is spicy without being fiery and is a real fine dining experience for around 15 a head. We met Atul on our cruise and, apart from anything else, he is a lovely bloke and really cares about "his" restaurant, so makes regular visits aboard. Do try the Indian wine as it is surprisingly good. The other fine dining experience is Seventeen (20 supplement), offering classic British favourites, many prepared at table-side.

There is a spa, gym and 12 places to drink, most notably the Glass House, a fun lounge created by wine guru Olly Smith, where you can buy your favourite tipple or try something new,with 32 different wines on offer by the glass.

An innovation isOlly's "wine flights" consisting of three 125ml glasses of different wines so that passengers can sample some they have not tried before. The glasses arrive in a special "cake stand" style holder with a full description leaflet.

There are seven wine flights and each one has a different theme, for example luxury, those from classic wine growing regions, those from new wine growing regions, and Olly's favourites.

Azura has enough varied entertainment to appeal to most tastes. I saw everything frompolished Elton John and Dusty Springfield tribute actsin the Malabar lounge to the top rate dancing and singing productions of Headline theatre company in an auditorium that puts many land-based theatres to shame.

Elsewhere, you can dance the night away to the dance band playing in The Atrium,listen toa pianist in the Blue Bar and late-night karaoke in Brodie's, the English pub. During the day, activities include dance classes, port talks, art auctions, various quizzes plus diverse guest speakers such as Matthew Collins, former special assignment man for the Travel Show, and Commander Jeff Tall on the "Triumphs and Tragedies of Life Beneath the Waves" for submariners.

But back to Venice.

As I sat on the balcony looking across at the cruise ships lined up like giant, white taxis, I realised what set the P&O experience apart from many of the rest. While passengers from other ships battled their way in the heat by foot, taxi or shuttle bus from the port to the centre of the historic city, for a small fee Azura passengers enjoyed the luxury of a small flotilla of private boatsrunning a ferry service through the day from beneath Azura's bows to St Mark's. Cruising with P&O is just like flying business class...

THE BIG NEWS...

Azura is the first P&O ship to offer single staterooms for solo travellers, without any single supplement costs. There are 18(12 outside and six inside). Quite a bit cheaper than a double stateroom for one.

The master of Azura is Captain Keith Dowds. There are 14 passenger decks. The ship is 290 metres long, 36 metres wide and 67 metres high. It weighs 115,000 tonnes. On every cruise 420-470 tonnes of stores are loaded.

The ship carries 142 varieties of fresh fruit and vegetables, 62 varieties of cheese, 60 varieties of fish and seafood.

On a two-week cruise passengers consume 308 kegs of beer, 10,000 bottles of wine, 2,570 bottles of spirits, 20,000 bottles of water, and 120,000 teabags.

Azura is home to a 6,000-piece modern art collection worth more than 1m featuring work from 45 British artists.

There are seven ships in the P&O fleet, with Adonia replacing Artemis in 2011. www.pocruises.com

YP MAG 27/11/10