P&O Mediterranean cruise on azura

[namechangedyetagain]

Anyone been? Was looking at the med cruise from Malta next summer school hols.

I can't fathom if food and drink is included on board. I get that some restaurants you pay extra for, but could you feed 3 teens/tweens for free / cheaply?

Details on the website are sketchy! We have a little to spend as a complete one off holiday. We usually do camping!

Any advice or tips or suggestions would be great thank you

Main dining rooms, the buffet and normally a type of grill/burger place on the pool deck are all included. So you won't need money to feed the teens or yourself. Drinks are not included unless you buy the drinks package (which on p&o is rubbish to be honest). They are reasonable prices though and you can get tea, filter coffee, water and a still lemonade type drink in the buffet all day for free.

We have sailed on Azura twice and loved it both times. We did pay extra a couple of evenings for the glass house and the food was really lovely in there and not expensive (it was like £5 for a main) which was really nice as a treat. Your teens will most likely live in the buffet which will have so many different kinds of food for them to choose from.

If you did want to purchase a drinks package you can find the details below. It's £39.95 per adult per day and that includes drinks up to 6.95 in price and all soft drinks and coffees etc..... both adults in the cabin need to purchase it but you do then get kids drinks included. It's whether you drink a lot of alcohol and 2ill get your money out of it.

Link didn't work!

https://www.pocruises.com/onboard-activities/bars-and-lounges/ultimate-drinks-package

P&O food is included except specialty restaraunts I think. Squash, tea coffee is included. A good website to go to is Cruise Mummy, she has loads of tips. Enjoy

Thank you so much. It sounds good that food is included. The drinks package sounds expensive. The cruise mummy site is great so thanks for that tip.

Drinks packages do sound expensive but if you add up what you think you could spend in a day, it might be worthwhile.

When we cruise we have a couple of proper coffees (not stuff in and urn), freshly squeezed orange juice, bottled water (lots of), glass of wine if on board at lunch, a couple of cocktails by the pool in the afternoon, couple of drinks with/after dinner. It all adds up very quickly.

Yes, but on P&O the package only includes drinks up to £6 so it's not a lot of choice. And unlike other lines you can't pay the difference if the drink is more, than £6 they charge you for the whole drink! It's the worst drinks package out of all the cruise lines in my opinion.

You can also take 1 x litre of spirits pp on board to keep in your cabin and whatever soft drinks you can manage to carry. The cabins have empty decent sized fridges so we took loads of miniature coke / lemonade etc to have drinks in the room / balcony before and after dinner. There are plenty of mineral water stations dotted around the ship so take a refillable water bottle. The range of food included in the cabin price is really great value so no obligation to spend more on food but if you want to have a special meal for a small amount extra it's worth it, book once you're on board they usually do last minute offers depending on how busy they are. Have a look at the drinks packages, they might be good value for you, we decided it was unlikely we'd get through enough every day to make it worthwhile. You can get a nice bottle of wine with dinner for £20 ish. If you go for a 'select' fare you will also get some onboard cruise credit which can be spent on drinks, speciality restaurants, excursions, activities on board etc.

Have you thought about marella cruises? Proper AI - all food and drinks.

No I haven't. I'll have a look to see if marella go where we'd like to.

Just had a look. The prices 😱. I get its AI but coming in at over 2k per person. Worth a look though.

@namechangedyetagain
Can I ask which cruise you are looking at please as I'd like to take my kids to / from Malta by cruise next year

All food is included (except the "special dining experiences) buffet or sit down 3 course (or even both for big eaters, they serve late night snacks etc too). Drinks at breakfast are included, kettle in your cabin, some drinks in the buffet too - take thermos cups and water bottles to port the free drinks around the ship! You can bring drinks for your cabin onboard too. Entertainment is mostly included. At port stops it's usually possible to use public transport/walk/local tour bus for a lot less than the cruise line charges - just don't be late back!

@medianewbie it's the A421 trip starts and ends in Malta. Though we had a tricky time booking due to no kids spaces for the dates we wanted. Thankfully booked now
Couldn't believe it - summer next year! Hoping it is going to be OK, some of the stops look nice.