Where in the World is Bob Jack?
Where in the World is Bob Jack?
Wedding and Honeymoon Aboard a Caribbean Cruise
(December 2017)
Introduction
I never envisioned going on a cruise until I was much older but while Wendy and I were discussing where to get married, she mentioned that you could now do it on a cruise ship. Wendy had already been married in a church and didn’t want a repeat. There was also the possibility of various family members trying to dictate the wedding planning. So I did some research and discovered that P&O Cruises (among others) did weddings at sea. We fancied the Caribbean where it would be warm and opted for a December 1-15th cruise. We booked the P&O cruise and wedding in February 2017 and choose December 3rd for our special day on MV-Azura.
The itinerary was originally flying to Barbados, then sailing to Antigua, St Kitts, St Maartin, Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic, Martinique, St Lucia, Grenada, St Vincent and back to Barbados. Then Hurricane Irma hit the Caribbean in early September and flattened St Maartin and the Virgin Islands. In November, P&O cruises amended their itinerary. St Maartens was out replaced by an extra day in Antigua and the Virgin Islands were replaced by Guadeloupe. We had already spent a week in both Barbados and Antigua and I had visited the Dominican Republic in 1996. Even so, I was happy to be able to tick off six new islands as part of our honeymoon.
The 3,100 passenger MV-Azura is one of P&O’s largest ships at 115 tons. It was christened in Southampton in 2010 as the second youngest of the fleet. There are 900 cabins with private balconies. In total, the ship has eleven restaurants and eating areas, twelve bars and places to drink, four pools, a gym, two spas, outdoor cinema, a theatre and two show lounges. The ship's main entertainment is an 800-seat theatre known as the Playhouse.
The ship's main dining rooms have the names of the Peninsular, Oriental and Meridian restaurants. The ship also features a dance floor in the atrium, a New York City styled show lounge and an English style pub called Brodie’s. There is an open-air cinema screen situated in front of the funnel.
In common with other ships in the fleet, Azura has 'select dining'; premium dining venues with passengers paying a cover charge to dine. Sindhu is an Indian restaurant. The Glass House is a restaurant and wine bar Epicurean at Seventeen serves classic and modern British cuisine with traditional silver service. Not a lot of people know that the Azura is the only Grand Class ship to feature a Duck Tail stern