Speciality dining on Azura.....Olly's Supper Club

I have already written about speciality dining on Azura in the past, but here is something you can't book.

Everyone has read about Sindhu and Seventeen and the fact that you can get food in The Glasshouse, but when I was on board and having a nice relaxing lunch in The Glasshouse, my wife and I were approach by the Manager, Nestor and asked if we would like to join him and a small select number of other passengers for 'Olly's Supper Club'. Something we could not turn down!

So what is it?

Well, an evening of about 10 passengers, with a meal prepared in The Glasshouse kitchen with a glass of wine specially chosen by Olly Smith to go with each course. Added to which you get Nestor's wit, charm and description to each of the wines on offer.

Yes it costs, but no matter with the company, charm and excellent food it was well worth it.

On most cruises they do 2 or 3 of these evenings, and you have to be asked by the Team but it was well worth it just to listen to Nestor's stories and tales!

Adapted cabins

Earlier this week I was speaking to a passenger who has just come back from a cruise, having had to use a wheelchair on board ship.

As we all know most of the cruise lines have a limited number of adapted cabins, with larger doors for access, more cabin space and wet rooms instead of bathrooms. However, these are limited and in the main are only release to people who are confined to their wheelchair for all of the time.

The pictures are of a adapted cabin on P&O Azura, showing the wet room.

So what happens if you need to use a wheelchair for only limited periods.

Well most of the cruise lines allow you to take a collapsable wheelchair or scooter on board, although you may have to complete a questionairre prior to the sailing and certainly need to advise your cruise consultant so that we can advise the specific cruise line as appropriate.

Fred Olsen Cruises do limit the number of wheelchairs on board for safety reasons, with 4 on Braemar, 6 on Black Watch and Boudicca and 9 on Balmoral, however subject to other quota they will store additional wheelcahirs/scooters for use off ship.

With the limited number of adapted cabins available on all the ships they are not on general sale and the crusie lines have their own rules in terms of who they can be sold to. So, give me a call and I will check up on availability for your prefered sailing.

Single travellers, is there a supplement?

As a Cruise specialist we try always to get the best price for everyone that call about a cruise, but the dreaded single supplement is one of the circumstances when the price will be the number one reason why the single passenger will choose not to cruise.


The cruise lines have typically charged up to double the fare for a person wanting to travel alone in a cabin, although this does vary from cruise to cruise and line to line. Fortunately, there is some good news for solo travellers thinking about taking a cruise in the near future.

In addition to those single cabins available on Fred Olsen ships, P&O Azura has 18 single cabins with a Pullman berth in 12 outside cabins and six inside cabins. Having seen these they are a little larger than I anticipated.

In addition, Norwegian Cruise Line launches Epic in June and this ship will feature a number of single cabins. There will be 128 studio staterooms within a separate complex accessed by keycard. The studio complex will also include a private two-storey lounge called The Living Room.

The staterooms will be off a private interior corridor down the middle of the ship on two decks. Spanning both decks, and located mid-ship, the Living Room will be where studio guests can enjoy morning coffees and evening cocktails.

Each of the 100sq ft studio staterooms will include a full-size bed, flatscreen-TV, storage spaces and colour-changing mood lighting. Since many of the studio staterooms are connecting, they allow friends to travel together while giving each their own private space.

'Research shows that 35 million adults take solo vacations but only five per cent opt for cruises,' said Courtney Recht, public relations manager for Norwegian Cruise Line.

All the single cabins that are available can be booked without paying a single supplement, but don't think that they will be the same price as the price for each single passenger in a double occupancy cabin. Additionally, there are a limited number on each of the ships, with the exception of the Epic so availability is limited.

The single traveller may now be able to get a cabin at a reasonable price, but might have to book early to get the cabin they want or take pot luck and take the only sailings that are available!

P&O Azura

So, as you probably know Azura was officially named yesterday by Darcey Bussell in a stunning ceremony and will sail on its maiden voyage tomorrow from Southampton to the Mediterranean.

On Friday I had the opportunity to visit Azura in Southampton for an overnight stay, together with others from the office, about 700 other travel agents from around the UK. In addition some members of P&O Portunus Club had the opportunity to visit the ship for the day.

A I woke from my doze, sat on the coach coming into Southampton glinting in the sun was the ship, or was it Ventura...... no we were not in the Caribbean, it was too cold - it was Azura!

The actual ship is the same, but Azura has been themed differently, further information and photos will follow.