It’s a winter in the Caribbean for Azura instead of cruising the world

/, Cruise News/It’s a winter in the Caribbean for Azura instead of cruising the world

azura1.jpgIt must have seemed like a good idea at the time . . . when P&O’s itinerary planners were looking at their schedules for 2013 they saw an opportunity to increase the number of passengers they could send on world voyages by adding 3,100-passenger Azura to join Aurora, Arcadia and Adonia sailing marathon three-month cruises.
The company even hired the Mahiki nightclub in London’s West End – one-time hang-out of Princes William and Harry – to launch the brochure, with managing director Carol Marlow promising fares as low as £79 a day for cruises up to 106 nights long.
But now there has been a change of heart. The company has today announced that Azura’s world cruise – not a true circumnavigation but a 110-night voyage round Australia and back, leaving Southampton on January 7 and returning on April 27 – has been cancelled. The ship will instead spend the winter sailing two-week cruises in the Caribbean.
A spokesman said: “Based on the success of our recent world cruise programmes, we added more world cruise capacity for 2013.
“Due to current economic circumstances however, we are seeing a growing preference for shorter cruises which leads us to believe that it could become more difficult to fill an enlarged world cruise programme next year. In order to recognise this situation, we have taken the decision to redeploy Azura from her scheduled world cruise in 2013 and instead operate her in the Caribbean.”
I was interested to discover the thoughts of travel agents selling the cruises.
Phil Nuttall, of Blackpool-based The Cruise Village, told me: “This is good news for me and my customers. Everything about Azura screams Caribbean, and that’s where it belongs in the winter. The ship was designed with warm-water cruising in mind. The outdoor movie screen and al fresco dining options are all well suited to the Caribbean.
“The switch did not come as a surprise to me, and I think we will pick up good business selling Azura in the Caribbean – despite the burden of Air Passenger Duty on flights.
“At more than 100,000-tons Azura is a big ship to take on a world cruise. P&O’s Arcadia and ships like Queen Victoria or the Holland-America ships are more suited for that sort of voyage.
“We had some passengers booked on the Azura world cruise, but P&O have taken care of them very well.”
Dave Mills, of fast-growing online agency Iglu Cruise added: “I have always associated world cruises with the likes of Oriana and Aurora, which have legions of fans throughout the cruising populace and seem to suit the slightly older demographic of world cruisers.
“Azura has been, and continues to be fantastically popular with families and new-to-cruisers, so possibly is better suited to the shorter Caribbean sailings. If they use the same direct flights into Barbados, from both London and Manchester I think they’ll be some of the most popular Caribbean sailings on offer for 2012 – especially over Christmas.
“Seems like a wise decision to me.”
And me, too. Check back to the piece I wrote after the launch party in June. “It will be interesting to see which voyages, and which ships, sell out soonest, and which are being discounted a few months later. I know what my forecast would be, but I’ll keep it to myself for now.”
P&O have made another wise decision – to redeploy Azura altogether, rather than opt for uneconomical discounts.
Although the Caribbean can get crowded – there were seven ships and about 19,000 passengers in port at Cozumel last week when I was there on Allure of the Seas – there’s still room for the addition of Azura and also Independence of the Seas which is being redeployed from Southampton next winter.

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:55+00:00 26 January 2012|Cruise Destinations, Cruise News|3 Comments

About the Author:

John Honeywell is a travel writer specialising in cruise ships and cruise travel. Winner of CLIA UK's Contribution to Cruise award 2017.

3 Comments

  1. Jillian and Ivor Carr 27 January 2012 at 8:11 pm - Reply

    P & O have looked after their customers well with this cancellation! I think not. . . We were contacted by our Agent today to say it has been cancelled and offered us an alternative with Aurora for the same price if we had booked in July 2011. However, half that itinerary we have already done, and the other alternative with Cunard had supplements for an equivalent balcony we had booked on the Azura. P & O receive 0 out of 10 for customer service, they did not even have the courtesy to write or email this news. We cannot even contemplate alternatives until our travelling friends return to this country in April by which time, no doubt all the best cabins will have been booked. No P & O you need to look at your customers before making such drastic decisions.

  2. Jillian and Ivor Carr 27 January 2012 at 8:12 pm - Reply

    P & O have looked after their customers well with this cancellation! I think not. . . We were contacted by our Agent today to say it has been cancelled and offered us an alternative with Aurora for the same price if we had booked in July 2011. However, half that itinerary we have already done, and the other alternative with Cunard had supplements for an equivalent balcony we had booked on the Azura. P & O receive 0 out of 10 for customer service, they did not even have the courtesy to write or email this news. We cannot even contemplate alternatives until our travelling friends return to this country in April by which time, no doubt all the best cabins will have been booked. No P & O you need to look at your customers before making such drastic decisions.

  3. VERONICA DUFFY 30 January 2012 at 10:51 am - Reply

    My Husband and I, had booked the world cruise on AZURA with balcony, back in July 2011. I agree with the above customer. As yet we have had no explanation or further offer from P.O. Out of the blue, our agents in Colchester informed us on Saturday 28th. I feel we have been left high and dry. We should have been planning a holiday of a lifetime throughout the year.Now nothing. Feel that they should be offering us an alernative, with balcony, at he same price.

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