P&O Azura

The Azura is P&O Cruise's newest ship and was our first experience of cruising. After 16 nights, sailing over 6000 nautical miles around Europe, we're utter converts to the cause. We had a balcony stateroom which was particularly spacious as it could also accommodate disabled guests (the whole ship is very disabled friendly). Our seven year old slept in the double sofa bed in the separate lounge, which was made up every night by our cabin steward, and the balcony was big enough to sunbathe on which was nice if you wanted some quiet time. This was a 'family cruise' and there were loads of children on board and more than 300 teenagers who from what we could see were having a ball, hanging out in their own den, organising discos and setting up rock bands. Our seven year old absolutely loved her children's club (there are four in total) which ran all day up to midnight with slumber/movie parties for kids to snuggle under duvets with their friends while lucky parents enjoyed a night out in the restaurants or nightclubs.

Activities were incredibly varied and inventive - much more so than many family friendly hotels we've stayed at. There's also a night nursery where babies and toddlers can sleep under the watchful eye of Reef Rangers staff, although you could also use a baby listening service from every cabin.

Our cruise took in Malaga, Ketakolon (near Olympia), Corfu, Dubrovnik, Venice, the Croatian island of Korcula and Gibraltar. There were loads of organised tours to choose from, but it's just as easy to roam around on your own at each port with well-organised shuttle bus services bringing you into town for free. We loved our port stops, but what surprised us was how much we enjoyed the sea days too. Watching whales and dolphins in the Mediterranean with no land in sight made London feel a million miles away.

Food-wise we plumped for club dining which gave us our own table in a set restaurant every night. But there's plenty of alternatives including two fine-dining restaurants, a pizza cafe, burger grill and two cafeteria-style restaurants should the kids get hungry at any point during the day (and night). Most room service items are also free under the full-board option and alcoholic drinks are VAT and duty-free (so around