Fun chance to experience Azura

It was Azura Experience day yesterday, and P&O took over the Belvedere restaurant in London’s Holland Park for the event. Last time I was there was way back in the Seventies, when Island Records introduced me to Jim Capaldi over lunch before whisking us off to the BBC’s Top of the Pops studios.
Fellow cruise writer and music journalist Barry Cain had even more reason to remember the Belvedere – he proposed to his wife there, with the help of an engagement ring cunningly concealed by a co-operative waiter, a story also remembered in his entertaining book, 77 Sulphate Strip.
I could tell it was going to be a good day when we were greeted by peacocks shimmering in the sun, and they weren’t even provided by P&O.
There was nothing new announced about Ventura’s 116,000-ton sister ship, which will sail her maiden voyage next April, but it was an opportunity for P&O to give members of the media, travel agents, and their families, a taste of what the Azura’s 3,000 passengers will enjoy.
Unfortunately, Athul Kochhar, who will mastermind Azura’s Sundhu restaurant, could not be there because he was attending a family wedding in India. But effervescent TV wine expert Olly Smith was much in demand for his informative wine-tasting sessions.
He is currently in the process of selecting the wine list for the Glass House, which will be Azura’s speciality wine bar, and he will also supervise the drinks available in bars throughout the ship.
Spa treatments from The Retreat were popular among the grown-ups, and children were entertained by staff from The Reef kids’ club, and in the Nintendo Wii room.
And of course there was classy food and seemingly unlimited Champagne, so there was fun in the park for all.