I recently took a cruise onboard Azura, one of the ships in the P&O Cruises fleet. I previously cruised on this ship a few years ago, and I was really impressed with the overall experience onboard back then. I was already looking forward to getting back onboard for this latest cruise, but then I found out that Azura had underwent a significant dry dock upgrade in 2025, which cemented and increased my excitement.

The ship underwent what P&O cruises branded a ‘revitalising refit’ in 2025, and so I was really excited to get back onboard to see what had changed since my last cruise. Given that I loved this ship the first time around, surely it was going to be the same again this time? Only time would tell…

I always find cruise ship refits interesting, because some of them I look at and think ‘I can completely understand why you’ve done that’, while others sometimes leave me scratching my head. Since cruising on this ship, I’ve seen lots of comments online from people who agree with some aspects of this refit, and also from those who don’t.

What’s really surprised me is that there are lots of people who are explaining that they think the refit has totally changed the onboard experience that the ship offers, and this is something that I fundamentally disagree with, and I’m going to tell you why in this post.

Throughout this post today, I’m going to show you what’s changed onboard Azura. I’ll show you what the ship looks like now, in order to hopefully help you get a feel for what the onboard experience feels like.

This post has not been put together in collaboration with P&O Cruises, so it’s worth highlighting that I’m filling you in on what seems to have changed during the refit from my point of view as a typical passenger. Nothing in this article has been reviewed by P&O Cruises prior to release - it’s all my own personal opinion based on what I saw onboard during my cruise.

*Azura underwent a ‘revitalising refit’ in 2025. In this post, I’m going to show you what’s changed onboard!*

I’ll cover the onboard updates across 4 key areas: Restaurants, Bars, Accommodation and then ‘Everywhere else’.

Let’s start on the topic of restaurants…

Restaurants - what’s changed?

The Glass House

The first venue that I’m going to show you today is The Glass House, which is a firm P&O Cruises favourite. The Glass House is the onboard wine and tapas bar, and it boasts a food and drinks menu that you’re not going to find available elsewhere around the ship.

This venue hasn’t changed a huge amount with the 2025 refit, but it is worth looking at. The most noticeable change in here won’t even be spotted by so many people. The furniture seems the same, the roof seems the same, the bar is the same, but what has changed is the carpet in some areas of the space. Here’s what The Glass House looked like before the refit:

*The Glass House on Azura, pictured in December 2022.*

So, what does this venue look like now? Well, it’s largely the same space, but with one main difference: the carpets. These are much more modern, and much lighter than what was there before. Interestingly, they reminded me of the colour palette used on ships like Arvia and Iona - could that be the aim of this refit - to make Azura feel like her much larger and younger sisters?!

Here’s The Glass House now that the refit has been completed:

*The Bar area of The Glass House on Azura, pictured in November 2025.*

*Seating in The Glass House on Azura, pictured in November 2025.*

The Epicurean

The Epicurean is P&O Cruises’ answer to a fine-dining speciality dining venue across their fleet. This is where you can expect the highest ‘cost per head’ of any of their onboard restaurants.

The position of this restaurant is great - it’s right at the back of the ship on Deck 17, which allows for some excellent views looking out across the back of the ship. There’s both indoor and outdoor dining here - it’s quite rare to see anyone eating an evening meal outside here, but fairly common to see some Suite guests enjoying breakfast out here in the mornings.

This restaurant has received quite a ‘glow up’ during the recent dry dock refit, with new carpets throughout, new upholstery on some of the furniture, and new cushions on the booth-style seating.

In my opinion, the Epicurean really does feel refreshed following the refit, and walking into here does feel like you’re walking into somewhere that’s significantly more ‘elevated’ than the rest of the ship.

Here’s some shots to show you what the Epicurean looks like following the upgrade…

*The Epicurean onboard P&O Azura, pictured in November 2025.*

The Buffet

Next, let’s look at the buffet. To be honest, the buffet restaurant spaces (which are called Venezia and Verona on this ship) have remained largely the same between my cruises. There are very few, if any, noticeable changes in here.

One change that has been implemented during the 2025 Dry Dock is on the subject of hand-washing. As you enter these spaces, you’re met with hand-washing stations. If you’ve never been on a cruise ship before, don’t worry - this is completely normal!

These hand-washing facilities have been upgraded as part of the upgrade programme, with slim tiling being introduced - a nice and modern addition! I did think that an upgrade of these spaces could really raise the standard of the overall experience, as it’s such a heavily utilised public space. That said, everything here was in good working order, so no complaints at all!

*There have been very few, if any, key changes made to the buffet areas onboard Azura.*

*Here’s one change: new tiling around the hand-washing facilities. A nice, modern touch!*

The Peninsular Restaurant

As a final point on the topic of restaurants before we move on to look at the changes made to the onboard bars, let’s look at where I dined for lots of my breakfasts and lunches while onboard: the Peninsular restaurant.

This is an interesting one - it’s not clear on the P&O Cruises website whether or not this space was upgraded during the 2025 upgrades, but in my opinion it must have been. Either that, or its ageing incredible well in terms of soft furnishings. The furniture itself in here didn’t look brand new (infact, in some cases, quite the opposite…), but what I did notice was the carpets on the floors and the upholstered wall paneling - it’s all spotless!

I’ll not dwell on this venue for much longer, as I’m not actually sure it was upgraded during the refit, but here’s a few photos to show you the overall condition of this space - I was really impressed!

*The wall panelling and carpets in the Peninsular restaurant were in great condition!*

*While the furniture wasn’t new, the carpets certainly seemed to be!*

The Bars: what’s changed?

Breakers Bar

Let’s start at one of the most popular bars on the ship: Breakers Bar.

You’ll find this bar up on Deck 16, looking down onto the Coral Pool, which is one of the main swimming pools onboard Azura. This bar’s open most of the day, and well into the evening if you’re lucky enough to be cruising in good weather.

This space is home to a large smoking area on one side, helping to boost its’ popularity.

This space has changed between my cruises in 2022 and 2025, mostly thanks to the introduction of new lounging furniture and a general refurbishment of the bar itself. The new furniture is so modern, and it really does ‘lift this space’.

Here are some shots of the newly refurbished Breakers Bar.

*Breakers Bar onboard P&O Azura has been upgraded with a refreshed bar area, and modern seating.*

*There’s tables and chairs down either side of the ship here: one smoking-friendly, and the other not.*

*Breakers Bar looks down directly onto the Coral Pool, making it a fantastic people-watching venue.*

Manhattan

Next, let move to a bar that I think has MASSIVELY changed with this refit.

You’ll find Manhattan at the very back of the ship on Deck 7. It’s clear that the furniture, flooring and fittings have been modernised and upgraded in here - this is an example of a venue that’s sparkling when compared to some others that haven’t been updated.

Manhattan is a fairly quiet venue during the day, and it’s rarely used when the ship’s in port. On sea days, it does come to life, with various types of events being held in here. It’s in the evenings that you’ll find this space bustling well into the night - Manhattan becomes one of Azura’s key nightlife venues throughout any cruise.

If you’re new to Azura, you’re probably not going to walk into this space and be completely blown away, but if you know the ship well then you’ll really appreciate this update. My only point of frustration is the ‘artwork’ - it all feels so generic and low budget - I’d expect there would be MUCH better examples of New York (or Manhattan) imagery out there than what’s been chosen for this venue!

*Manhattan is one of P&O Azura’s key nightlife venues, allowing party-goers to dance into the small hours!*

*There’s lots of seating in here, and fresh carpets throughout!*

*An aspect of this space I’m really unsure about: the ‘art’.*

Accommodation - what’s changed?

Cabins & Suites

For this cruise, I was staying in what’s known as a ‘Fully Obstructed Sea view’ (ironic, I know…) cabin on Deck 8 of the ship.

It was clear that the carpets in here have been recently replaced, and I would assume that this was done as part of the Dry Dock upgrade programme. Looking back at my pictures from my 2022 cruise, this change does modernise the cabin, but it would probably be entirely unnoticed to most passengers cruising in here - I think I only spotted it as I was specifically looking!

*Here’s our cabin: a Fully Obstructed Sea view cabin on Deck 8.*

*There was fresh carpeting throughout this cabin, but no other clearly visible upgrades.*

While cruising onboard Azura, we were able to access a Suite. It’s worth highlighting that the overall condition of the Suite was MUCH higher than the cabin that we were cruising in. It’s a potential that some of the Suites have been looked at during this upgrade, but it’s really difficult to tell.

The furniture in here certainly looked much newer than anything that we had in our cabin. In the below image, pay specific attention to things like the chair under the desk, or the armchairs and the sofa - they look much newer than some of the fixed fittings in the cabin, which could suggest that they’re relatively recent additions.

*Here’s inside a Suite onboard Azura - the furniture in here was in very good condition when compared to our cabin further along the corridor…*

The final point that I would highlight when it comes to accommodation upgrades onboard Azura is the carpets in the passenger corridors. The carpets in most of the corridors matched the suspected new carpet in our cabin, and it was all in very good condition.

Additionally, there was (what seemed like) brand new carpeting fitted to the walls, and so I would suspect that this has been added or refreshed during the refit. This is completely normal on cruise ships - carpets will often be fitted to the walls to minimise damage to walls during processes like luggage being taken onto the ship, and off again at the end of the cruise. They also really help to absorb noise out here!

*The cabin corridors have been upgraded, presumably as part of the refit programme.*

What else has changed on Azura?

Loyalty and Future Cruise Sales

If you’d like to book a future cruise while onboard the ship, or if you’ve got a question about the P&O Cruises loyalty programme (which is called Peninsular Club), then you’ll be delighted to know that this space has been refitted. Here, there are now digital screens behind the crew, which are used to display various promotional content and offers.

The refit has also allowed for an additional desk, which should then help to reduce waiting times. There is also a new brochure rack, allowing any interested passengers to simply stop by this area to collect any brochures that they’d like to review in their own time.

*The Loyalty and Cruise Sales deck onboard P&O Azura.*

Top Deck Furniture

New top deck furniture has been installed as part of the refit. I’ve shown you some examples from Breakers Bar, and I do think that looks really good.

I found the general sun loungers to be in very good condition throughout my cruise - I didn’t actually see any damaged at all, which is a great result.

One space that I do feel has probably benefitted from new furniture is the Retreat - I thought it was looking particularly fresh while I was onboard at the end of 2025.

Whirlpools

During her refit, Azura has had six whirlpools replaced. Doing some simple deck plan checks, there appears to be two whirlpools at each of the main swimming pools (excluding the aft pool), so I’m assuming this is where they’re located.

It’s a real positive to see something like whirlpools getting replaced on ships - these are really heavily used throughout a cruise, and so it’s good to know that they’re being looked at prior to breakdowns etc begin to affect their availability!

*You’ll find 2 whirlpool tubs at most of the swimming pool on Azura, and these have been replaced.*

*The Terrace Pool on Deck 14 is the only swimming pool onboard Azura with no whirlpool hot tubs.*

So, I mentioned earlier about some of the strong comments that suggest the onboard experience has really been altered as a result of this refit, and I also explained that I don’t agree with this statement or claim. So, why is this, and where’s my head at?

In a nutshell, this refit hasn’t fundamentally changed Azura. She’s the same ship that she always has been, but with (what I would consider) some ‘lightly enhanced’ public spaces. She’s much fresher and brighter than she was before and - okay - she looks a little ‘different’ in some spaces, but she’s largely exactly the same ship that people have grown to know (and, in my case, love).

P&O Cruises could have really upgraded this ship to feel much more similar to the likes of Arvia and Iona, but they didn’t. They have, in my opinion, quite sympathetically upgraded the ship. In all honesty, I bet lots of people will cruise on Azura and go home with no suspicions that the ship’s even had a refit relatively recently - you’ve got to be looking for the changes to find them, as I’ve hopefully demonstrated throughout this post.

If you’ve enjoyed this post (I really hope that you have!), then why not come and watch my full ship tour from Azura? I filmed this during my most recent cruise, and I cover every single venue on the ship. You’ll find the link below!

Azura’s 2025 Refit: What’s New? Here’s a Full Overview, Including Photos!