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Pre-cruise: Wednesday 16th August 2023
All packed and suitcases just under the weight limit. By 5pm, Jon had finished work, the car packed up and were on our way to Gatwick.
We had booked the Premier Inn at North Terminal as we had a very early flight. We could fall out of bed in the early hours and just walk across the road into the terminal.
The roads weren’t too bad. Just a bit sticky on the M25 due to roadworks. 90 mins from home to car park wasn’t bad going.
Jon had booked the Summer Parking which came with Priority Security at the airport (cost less than getting a taxi)
From the car park, a short bus ride took us to the North Terminal and made our way to the Premier Inn.
The restaurant was fully booked so we ate outside in the “garden” … more of an atrium. You could tell you were close to the airport with the occasional whiff of jet fuel!
Here, you could order burgers or pizzas … and drinks were limited to how well the little bar area was stocked.
Very early start in the morning. Callum set his alarm for 3.30am … Jon and I for 4am. Fingers crossed we would get a little sleep.
Cruise Day
Callum’s alarm went off at 3.30am … Jon and I were already awake but Callum managed to sleep through it until our alarms went off at 4am!! Jon and I managed around 90 mins of sleep each whilst Callum got 4 and a half hours.
It was just a case of getting dressed, and setting off for the terminal. Once outside, everywhere was so much busier than when we arrived last night.
Into the terminal and found the Tui check-in desks pretty quickly … and resigned ourselves to joining a fairly long queue. We then saw the P&O Angel (rep!) who diverted us over to the P&O check-in desks. Bonus – no queue here so checked in and sent our suitcases on their way. Thankfully their scales agreed we were just under the 23kgs too!
Then it was a case of going through security – no dramas here!. The duty free area was laid out in IKEA format – follow the path that wends it’s way through each section of duty-free, trying to tempt you!! Alcohol, cigarettes, perfume, make up, toys, electronics then into the holding area.
Callum decided it was time for breakfast – it would be afternoon before we would be onboard. Where to go – decisions decisions. In the end, we joined the queue at 4.47am for The Red Lion (Weatherspoons) and were seated within five mins.
Traditional breakfasts for the boys and breakfast muffin for me. Tea and cranberry juice. Five mins from ordering on the app to arriving at the table. Even though quick, it was all pretty good.
Then just waiting until our gate number came up and head there. We were all headed into a little waiting area to get a bus over to the plane. Bonus of being squeezed onto the bus was that we were one of the first to hoard.
We boarded and managed to get our bags into the overhead lockers. Booked extra leg room seats 16 D-F which were greatly appreciated. We sat on plane for 1 hour whilst luggage is loaded. Callum in charge of door in case of emergency. The flight was only 3 hours and thankfully uneventful. From landing, you got an idea of how hot is was in Malta. It took a while to get coaches to the plane and the plane quickly warmed up in the sun.
Once off the plane, the coaches were held until the plane next to us to taxied to the runway. We were some of the last off the plane … those off first were starting to melt. Chap driving the luggage carts was a Lewis Hamilton wannabe. He took the corner a little too quickly, scattering the suitcases over the tarmac – some unfortunately broke open.
A short wait to get through passport control and getting our passports stamped and then to retrieve our luggage. We headed out of the terminal and found the P&O coaches. Luggage loaded and we wouldn’t see this now until we got to our cabin.
The coach was a 20 minute drive away and the closer your got to the docks, the more you felt you were heading back in time with the old buildings. You could see why Valetta was a great choice for movies.
The cruise check-in was really cool – it was set in the city walls. A bit of a queue to clear security but it wasn’t long before we were stepping on board the lovely Azura.
Our cabin was ready when we boarded so we dropped off our bags in the cabin and headed to the buffet. We had every intention of exploring Valetta this afternoon, but the truth was we were pretty tired and couldn’t be bothered. We ended up in the Glass House, I had a glass of the Peller Ice and we then headed back to our cabin to unpack and get ourselves sorted in the cabin. We’d also forgotten how much earlier the sun sets in the Med – it was getting dark by 6pm.
We again couldn’t be bothered with eating in the main dining room this evening, so headed back to the buffet for tea.
There was an early evening quiz in Brodies run by Courtney. We got 14/20 … just off the joint winners. We guessed closer on the tie break question.
Just as the quiz was finishing, we heard the engines start up and by 8.40pm, Azura was pushing back from her berth. Great news that all the flights had arrived and everyone was onboard.
We headed out to the bank of the ship for the sail out of Valetta and joined the others with the same idea … it was dark, we watched the lights fade on the horizon.
A shame that we missed seeing the set of the new Gladiator film being built by the harbour entrance. Hopefully it would be light when we return back here in a weeks time.
By 10pm we were shattered and headed back to the cabin. Tomorrow’s Horizon had been delivered and we would lose another hour over night which sets us up for visiting Greece and Turkey.
