This was our first fly-cruise for quite a while. We had booked for 14 days on Azura with Santa Cruz in Tenerife being the home port of the cruise. This was in effect two back-to-back 7 day cruises not quite going to all the places!
Day 1: Friday 3rd November 2023: Gatwick
Our trip started with an early pickup for Gatwick at 5:30 am. Our taxi driver had to be back for school runs this did mean that we’d be at the terminal very early for our flight.
We had a great surprise to find that the jet to charter desk was already open when we arrived in the terminal. So we had no hanging around landside and with a quick passage through security we were airside and having breakfast.
We chose to eat at Vagabonds. This was as expensive as usual at the London airports. My English breakfast had both lukewarm and very warm food coupled with £3s worth of crispy toast. Linda’s 3 poached eggs similarly ranged from cool to warm with soft to hard yolks. Definitely one to miss in the future!
Our gate was scheduled to be announced at 9:20 am and we settled down in chairs by the ground floor shops. These were at the side of the route taken by other passengers heading for their gates.
Jet2
Our gate when it was called was number 18 and we joined the mass of people walking out to the gates. After a cursory check of our passports and boarding passes we were sat in the holding area waiting to board. Our seats on row 14 meant we boarded the plane using the jetway. The rows behind us were all asked to board after walking across the tarmac and then to the rear door.
The plane was a 737-800 and was larger than the plane that we had reserved our seats on. Instead of being the row behind the emergency exits we found ourselves in the mid cabin. The really good news was that we had lots of legroom and the seats did not recline. On the downside the seat back had no flexible pocket, so my glasses case had to balance precariously between the magazines. The plane also had no onboard entertainment systems and no USB sockets for phone charging either.
Day 1: Friday 3rd November 2023: Santa Cruz, Tenerife
Our flight passed quickly enough and despite what seemed as a late start we landed earlier than predicted. Immigration was a two-stage process. First through passport checking barriers then queuing to get our passports stamped by a rather disinterested officer (who managed to multitask with his smartphone!)
The pilot had explained that the plane had been redirected to a different part of the airport and this would mean a delay for our steps to arrive. Later we watched as the steps were manoeuvred multiple times until finally, they were in position for us to leave the plane. On the tarmac there were coaches waiting to take us to the terminal. Jammed into the transfer coach it was a long ride from the plane to the terminal. A honey truck did do a brake check on our coach. This threw everyone standing forward luckily no one was injured
to the port
After just one case arrived off the flight there was a 10 minute wait for any more cases to appear. We were lucky and our two cases were some of the first to arrive. The baggage area was very busy and instead of searching for a trolley we opted to pull our cases off and out through the customs gates.
Landside we followed the directions from P&O helpers out of the terminal, up a slope to a row of coaches. The we had a 45 minute coach ride
Azura
At the port we the embarkation was process was quick and relatively painless.
Our cabin was a familiar one on Azura but was definitely the worse for wear.
Unlike the newer ships, like Iona, we at least had lots of drawers a large hanging space.
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After unpacking we went to the Glass House for a drink.
Again unlike Iona this Glass House does have a friendly feel rather than a large open space… Then we had dinner.
Day 2: November 4th 2025: Santa Cruz, Tenerife
After our early start the day before we went for a late breakfast in the buffet upstairs.
We had notification of a change of itinerary because of a strike in Madeira.
Into Santa Cruz
After breakfast we walked from Azura’s berth and turned left towards the Fred Olsen terminal.
We were surprised at all the empty retail units in the terminal.
We headed up into Santa Cruz to the supermarket – chocolate time!
The strike in Madeira did have an advantage for us as Sky Princess had had to divert to Santa Cruz overnight. In the afternoon we arranged to meet family who were on her in the afternoon for a drink!
It was great to catch and gossip over a beers in one of the many bars.
Azura in the evening
I was frustrated that one of the few UK sockets had not been repaired on an earlier cruise – we reported it at reception. Then booked a trip to see Mt Tielde when Azura was back in Santa Cruz halfway through our cruise.
Our evening started with drinks in Azura’s Planet Bar. Sadly the lack of repairs was evident here as one of the panoramic set of screens was not working properly. After dinner saw comedian, Jack Gleadow, in the Manhattan bar
The next port Las Palmas in Gran Canaria