Wave goodbye to the crowds

It was not immediately love at first sight.

A brief sojourn in the Mediterranean with one of P&O’s newest ships, the Azura, had left me questioning whether cruising in a large ship with more than 4,000 other people was the ideal holiday.

Cruising has gained mass market appeal in recent years, but I no longer felt I wished to be herded...

However, two years on and an opportunity to swap the grey British winter for the Caribbean tested my resolve – and I’m glad it did.

Armed with that inside knowledge of a trip in Azura’s inaugural year, it was comparatively easy to escape the hordes – even though the majority of us were simply there with a shared mission: to enjoy the brilliant sunshine, golden sands and blue seas of nine Caribbean islands.

Yes, exclusivity does come at a price, but it is a reasonable one and certainly worth the extra money.

From my own experience, it’s possible to enjoy fine dining experiences, away from club dining, for about an additional ￡£170 per person (plus drinks) on a 14-day cruise.

We flew from Manchester to join the ship in Barbados – and were already dedicated to our mission, missing the hurly-burly of The North’s main international airport by investing an extra £17.50 per person for the Escape lounge where we enjoyed breakfast and newspapers at the all-inclusive price. Another £3.50 had fast-tracked us through security so we were able to join our Thomas Cook chartered flight in a relaxed frame of mind..

And, after a nine-hour flight, there was no Customs waiting for us at Bridgetown, we were simply ushered into waiting coaches to take us to the waiting Azura. So, with minimum of fuss, we were on board for the ship for our recce of those sun-kissed islands.

But first, we needed to eat after what had inevitably been a long and tiring day. Rather than wait for dinner, we simply chose The Glass House, the ship’s wine bar where TV wine expert Olly Smith has hand-picked 32 special wines.

A refreshing bottle of the award-winning Blind River New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, a positive bargain at ￡ £17.25, and a main course of fish and chips and goujons of salmon at £4.95 meant we had side-stepped the queues and could adjourn to our deluxe balcony cabin, located on the ninth of Azura’s 16 decks.

The Azura’s first day was spent at sea and after months spent wrapped in an English winter, the race was on for the sun beds on the outside decks.

But, by now I was feeling quite smug; we had booked sea days at The Retreat.

This spacious facility at the front of the ship, with beds in the sun and shade, is strictly limited and comes at a premium of £20 for sea days and £12 on days the ship is in port. Healthy food options and drinks are delivered to your sun bed and there is a dedicated swimming pool, the Oasis, available for the privileged 47 Retreat users.

Even in a full ship, the pool never had more than six people in it and, more usually, only a couple. And this, for most of us, will be the nearest we get to feeling like a yacht-owning Russian oligarch or TV celebrity Simon Cowell.

The ship called at the islands of Curaçao, Aruba, Grand Turk, Tortola, St Maarten, St Kitts, St Lucia, and Grenada before returning to Barbados, covering a distance of 2,761 nautical miles, with temperatures averaging 26C (79F).

Cruising is no longer the preserve of the retired – or retiring. On St Maarten, there was the chance to compete in an America’s Cup-style competition. Our opponents were another crew of passengers from the Azura and a second team from an American cruise ship.

It was hands on deck – and honour was preserved, despite the yacht tilting precariously, the P&O teams notched-up an impressive one-two.

On Tortola, we settled for something less energetic with an island tour by motor launch and then we headed to the hills in an open-sided truck.

With four formal nights, two semi-formal and eight casual evenings on board ship, there is also ample scope to make your cruise a more bespoke experience by varying your dining.

Apart from club dining in one of three restaurants, there is a self service cafeteria and – the Glass House apart – there are two other premier eating establishments. Michelin chef Atul Kochhar has lent his name and expertise to Sindhu, an Indian restaurant with a British twist, and Seventeen, for those who wish to dine under the stars.

Both carry a premium on your all-inclusive cruise costs – £15 at Sindhu at dinner and £4 95 at lunch and £25 at the more classic Seventeen restaurant.

My personal favourites were Sindhu and Olly Smith’s award-wining wine bar, the Glass House.

Here holidaymakers are able to enjoy three small dishes for under £5 or a main course from £3.50 to £7.50 for surf and turf. On a couple of nights, they stage a “supper club” for about eight couples where the sommelier is on hand to advise on the wines that accompany each of the four courses (£25 including wines).

And the excellent Clavar, the Glass House manager, was always available to offer his advice.

Yes, there’s still plenty to do if you want to join the revellers with twice-nightly shows, up-to-date movies and guest speakers, but it is possible to be far from the madding crowd when you choose to holiday with 4,263 staff and cruisers.

Two weeks on, I had managed to side-step club dining on all but one evening and also given the self-service cafeteria a wide-berth.

I, personally, found seeking out alternative dining options to be both relaxing and well worth the cost of those little extras... In fact, it is possible to be invisible in a crowd.

Getting there

P&O Cruises has announced details of 12 new cruises on board Azura for spring 2013. The cruises can be booked from February 29, 2012, and are priced from £999. These new itineraries provide a range of four transatlantic cruises, seven fly-cruises and one short city break. Cruises range from three to 22 nights in duration and highlight destinations include Barbados, Curacao, Aruba, St. Lucia, Antigua and Guadeloupe.

Example itineraries are:

15 night transatlantic cruise, set sail from Southampton on January 10, 2013, and call in Ponta Delgada, St. Maarten, St. Kitts, Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados for return flight, arrive UK January 25, 2013. Prices from £999 pp including return flight, equivalent to just £67 per person per night.

22 night transatlantic cruise, set sail from Southampton on January 10, 2013, and call in Ponta Delgada, St. Maarten, St. Kitts, Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, Curacao, Aruba, St. Vincent, Grenada and Barbados for return flight, arrive UK February £1, 2013. Prices from £1,599 pp including return flight, equivalent to just ￡73 per person per night.

15 night Caribbean fly cruise, fly UK to Barbados on January 24, 2013, and call in Curacao, Aruba, St. Vincent, Grenada and Barbados for return flight, arrive UK February £1, 2013. Prices from £1,499 pp including return charter flights from London Gatwick or Manchester, equivalent to ￡100 per person per night.

Three night city break cruise (before Caribbean cruises commence), departing Southampton January 7, 2013 and call in Amsterdam. Prices from ￡249 pp, equivalent to ￡83 per person per night.

For more information or to book call P&O Cruises on 0845 3 554 444 or visit www.pocruises.co.uk

Azura will be operating in the Caribbean next winter, but itineraries and prices are not yet available.

P&O celebrate 175 years

P&O Cruises is to stage “The Grand Event” on July 3, when the entire fleet of seven ships will be docked together in its home port of Southampton for the first time in the company’s history. This is part of a year of celebrations in 2012, marking the 175thanniversary of the Peninsular Steam Navigation Company being awarded the lucrative Admiralty contract to carry mail to the Iberian Peninsula and beyond. Each ship in The Grand Event will then depart on its own Grand Event cruise, with a spectacular send off with champagne deck party, flutterfetti and marching bands. The ships will then form a procession as they leave Southampton for the English Channel and beyond.

Safety first

Following the Costa Concordia accident, Carnival Corporation & plc, parent company of Costa Cruises and nine leading cruise lines, including P&O, announced a comprehensive audit and review of all safety and emergency response procedures across all of the company’s cruise lines.