Selbourne

Thanks. Yesterday was significantly better. A bit of movement but nothing like the preceding days. We have been in far worse conditions on 2 or 3 previous cruises, but there are quite a few people saying that it was the worst they’d had in X number of cruises and a lot of people had suffered from sickness. My wife was only poorly for one day and I’ve been fine throughout. I don’t think that Ventura and Azura ride rough seas as well as some other ships (the worst we ever experienced was on Azura).

It’s an odd one, as the port side exits to the promenade deck (forward and midships) have been closed most of the cruise so far, BUT most other exits were open and you could walk around the entire promenade deck other than the raised forward section, so the door closures were completely pointless! There are a lot of smokers on this cruise, so I suspect that they felt that they had to allow access to the starboard (smoking) side to avoid civil war 😂

Remember that if you don’t book speciality restaurants pre-cruise you won’t get the early booking discount. You will also miss out on any loyalty discount if you have on board credit that you could have used for other things (drinks etc). Personally, I’d book pre-cruise.

Just to say that my trial 24 hours WiFi comes to an end in a few minutes. We have 5 port days in a row after today, so I will have free coverage as part of my mobile phone package.

Works fine on Essential. I’ve even managed voice and video calls on Essential, and have posted short video clips on WhatsApp and Cruise Critic as well. The above relates to Ventura, but I’m sure it’s as good on Iona (probably more users though).

Not on here Jean - I’ve checked. Currently cruising at 18.8 knots (the last few days had slowed us down to as little as 10 knots at times) and wind has dropped to 28 knots. It’s warm and sunny at last, so folk are venturing out on to sun decks. Still some movement but minor compared to the past few days. Cabin still managing to creak though 🙄

Thankfully I’ve been fine and my wife only felt poorly for one day, but we sat next to a lady at lunch yesterday who said that the prolonged motion had triggered her labyrinthitis and she had been suffering.

Strangely, although every announcement so far has referred to the rough seas, no mention has been made of what ‘force’ we are experiencing. I’ve certainly seen far worse seas than this, but this ship seems to move around more than most. I shall be kissing the tarmac when we disembark in Funchal tomorrow 😂

Yes, thanks Eddie. I purchased the full cruise package for our 65 nighter just before this cruise (to combine all the offers), with a view to cancelling it and getting a refund if we found it to be poor on this cruise. As I say, it works brilliantly on Ventura. Just hope it’s as good on Aurora.

DAY 3 (Monday 30th Oct) - Sea Day Although our deck 9 mid-forward cabin continues to creak, crack and bang (and the movement is very noticeable in it), we slept better, probably as we were so tired from the lack of sleep the night before. I did my usual pre-breakfast walk around the promenade deck and then deck 16, where the ORCA representative was on whale and dolphin watch. She had seen a whale blow just 15 minutes before I got there 🙄. I asked if anyone from ORCA was likely to be on our 65 night Caribbean cruise on Aurora, but she thought it unlikely. We decided to go to Saffron for breakfast as it’s midships and would be a bit more stable, but there was quite a queue and a lot of people milling around, obviously waiting for tables for 2, so we changed our approach and headed for the Bay Tree, where there was no queue whatsoever. However, on arrival we were greeted with “only sharing tables available”. I said that we would like a table for 2 and would wait for one. I was told to expect a 20 minute wait. The next four couples to arrive also wanted tables for 2 and. the last ones to arrive were told to expect a 30 minute wait. By this stage I’d grabbed a chair from a nearby empty table as it was quite challenging standing still in one place due to the movement. Anyhow, within less than 10 minutes we were seated, as were the next 2 couples, in the banquette style seats. We all said the same thing as we sat down - they just threaten a prolonged wait in an attempt to make people share. I realised that the intermittent noise that we could hear in the aft restaurant was the propellers. The ship was pitching up and down and as the bow goes down, the stern comes up and the propellers get closer to the surface, so every time it did this you could hear the even beat of the propellers! (Well that’s my theory anyway 😂) After breakfast we made a very brief visit to the promenade deck, but we were getting covered in salt, as the wind was lifting spray straight off the water well before it even thought about turning into waves! We tried to get a seat inside, but after two unsuccessful circuits of the public areas on deck 7 and deck 5 we gave up and went back to the cabin. Annoyingly there are no guest speakers on this cruise, other than ORCA (whose talks, whilst interesting, are all about whales and dolphins) so there has been nothing of interest for us whatsoever during the mornings. That’s poor. So we just ended up chilling in our cabin until lunchtime. At lunch we shared a table and had a nice chat with some folk that we hadn’t met before. All 3 courses were very nice (food has all been pretty good so far in spite of the poor reviews that we’d read pre-cruise). Yet again, we didn’t leave the MDR until 2.20pm, so had missed the one thing today that was of remote interest - the Wavelength quiz show in the theatre - also timed yet again to clash with the sole talk of the day (ORCA). I despair at the way that the entertainment teams schedule things on so many cruises. Another rest in the cabin before we headed down to Tazine for a Costa, which was a lot quieter than during the morning, so we had a drink in there whilst my wife read her book and I caught up on emails. My new mate Ray came and had a chat with us, which was nice. For the first time in 27 years of cruising, I have today purchased a 24 hour WiFi plan - just the Essential one, primarily as a test run to see if it’s worth getting for our 65 nighter. Leaving aside the cost (£18 for 24 hours if purchased whilst on board) I’ve been really impressed. It works absolutely fine in our cabin and also around the ship. I’d say that my emails and internet are just as fast as at home (where we have BT Superfast Broadband) and thanks to the tip from a few forum users, I’ve lost my What’sApp virginity 😂 I have found that I have even been able to make voice and video calls through What’sApp, even on the Essentials plan. As I can get the Essentials plan for our long cruise at less than £7 a day (after the 15% introductory offer, long cruise and loyalty discounts), that seems like a reasonable deal, especially as it’s £18 a day on board 😱. As well as being able to keep in full contact with family and friends at home (a worry for us on such a long cruise with lots of sea days), if the daytime entertainment is as poor as on this cruise then I shall be pleased to have access to emails and internet, especially as I will be able to bore you all rigid with a world record ‘Live from’ to give me something to do 🤣 We had our first pre dinner drinks in the Glasshouse. We really like the Glasshouse on Ventura as it looks and feels like a proper restaurant. We dislike the versions on Britannia and Iona that are basically extensions of the atrium. As previously mentioned, the first formal night has been postponed by 24 hours due to the rough weather but, oddly, we still had the formal night menu. Presumably tomorrow we will have a regular menu whilst all sitting around in our formal wear 🤔. My wife had mostly the Marco Pierre White menu (seafood items) and enjoyed them. I had the fried goats cheese starter and roast beef tenderloin main. When it was delivered the portion of beef was tiny and Alois (our waiter) said that he was unhappy giving me a portion that was so small, so he would order another. I told him not to worry, but he was insistent. I ended up with two main courses and really struggled, but they were delicious and cooked perfectly. Fixed (Club) dining has been hugely successful for us so far. Yet again the same 13 of us dining in a section of 28 covers and none of our neighbours are noisy. Out waiters are both superb and we even have a wine waiter. Apparently Ventura is the only ship that has retained them? We like just wandering in and having our nice table waiting for us. No queues, no pagers (I think I’ve mentioned that they no longer use the app for dining on Ventura). Tonight’s entertainment in the theatre was meant to be flamenco dancing but, yet again, as we are still rocking and rolling in rough seas, that’s also been postponed. Understandable as I’m struggling to walk in a straight line, let alone dance 😂

No idea, but please save that story for when we are safely home 😂

Apparently, if they don’t creak they crack, and that’s never a good thing 😂

Quite the opposite at times. The very tall ships act as sails 😂

It’s certainly not spoiling the cruise. It’s just a bit tiresome after 2 days and counting 😂

For the second night in a row, the planned theatre show has been postponed due to the rough seas and movement. Not surprised. Just standing up in it is challenge enough 😂

No

This was my yummy dessert in Epicurean last night. I think that’s the P&O logo?

Bit of an odd one tonight. Formal night has been postponed to tomorrow due to the adverse sea conditions, yet we still have the formal night menu. Tomorrow we shall be in our best bib and tucker for a casual menu 🤔

If the earthquake was in Jamaica any tsunami should head away from you, doubtless towards us 😂

Yes Canaries. I swear by Stugeron and that has kept me feeling OK, but it hasn’t saved my wife this time. She’s now on Avomine and feels fine today. 48 hours of this is enough now though thanks 😂

I don’t know if that last clip will play, but if it does put it on full volume and that’s what we had all night the first night. Still doing it today but not as prolonged.

IMG_0841.mov

We are very near the forward lift lobby on deck 9 and yes it’s still creaking! I filmed a clip of the noise in our cabin but as I’ve only bought the basic WiFi I can’t post it. I’ve noticed a list once or twice but we are going every which way at the moment, plus a lot of juddering. My wife feels fine today. It’s still very rough but yesterday we had the corkscrewing that made so many people feel sick.

DAY 2 - Sunday 29th Oct (Sea Day) We had a poor nights sleep due to the rough seas. Our cabin creaks and groans very loudly in multiple places. Usually I do a bit of investigating and find the source of the noise and stuff some toilet tissue in to suppress it, but this is way beyond that. There is extensive wooden coving around the tops of all the walls and this seems to creak loudly where it meets the metal ceilings and moves against it. I can’t imagine that the maintenance guys can do anything about it, so I fear we will have this racket until the sea calms down. I did a few laps of the promenade deck before breakfast and also went up to deck 16 as we have members of ORCA aboard doing whale and dolphin watches (as well as talks). We enjoyed that on our USA & Canada cruise (when several ORCA members were also on board). The lady reported that she’d seen some common dolphins but that it was far too rough to see anything else. The only MDR advertised as open for breakfast is Saffron, but we’d been given a hot tip that Bay Tree also opens and as it’s not advertised it’s much quieter. So that’s where we went. Unfortunately, as it’s an aft restaurant, there was considerable movement in there and within a short period my wife announced that she felt unwell, so I had to get her to the bathroom quickly. We returned to the table for breakfast (we had managed to get the table we have for dinner) but my wife ate just one mouthful and a dry slice of toast. After breakfast we did a lap of the promenade deck which was, shall we say, bracing 😂. It’s really nice being back on a ship with a proper covered promenade deck that you can use in all weathers. On our two previous P&O cruises this summer we either had no promenade deck at all (Britannia) or a completely exposed one (Iona). One thing that baffles me on Ventura (and seems illogical) is that in this rough weather the forward and midships exits to the port side of the promenade deck are closed, yet if you go out on the Starboard side you can walk all the way around (apart from the raised front section), including the full length of the the port side of the promenade deck 🤔 When we went back inside we decided to have a meander through the inside public areas on the lower decks. We first wandered into Havana, being unaware that a Sunday religious service was being held. Neither of us has a religious bone in our bodies, but a bit of me wished that we’d stayed, as there was a pianist present whose playing style was pure Les Dawson (for those old enough to remember). The bum notes were every bit as frequent and almost had the same comedic timing. Problem is I’d have had death stares from my wife, as I would have lost it and it would not have been the time nor the place. I really hope that we come across this pianist again though, as he or she beats many of the comedians we’ve had on board previous cruises 😂 After a bit of a hunt we discovered where the Britain Today papers are placed. Not at reception (like on Britannia), nor the coffee shop (like on Iona). On Ventura they are in the library. Forgot to say that we paid a visit to the Library yesterday. It’s very small and not well stocked. Ten times better than the pathetic effort on Iona but not a patch on the excellent library on Britannia. My wife was still feeling a bit out of sorts, so we went back to our cabin. Our steward was still working on it, but invited us in and we sat in the lounge area whilst he finished. Have to say he seems excellent. Very thorough, although he was struggling to do his job as the ship was moving around so much. I tried to watch the news but struggled to hear it over all the creaking noises in the cabin (yes it really is that bad - I have recorded a short clip of it which I shall post when I can so that you know I’m not exaggerating 😂)! I am feeling OK thanks to Stugeron. BTW many thanks for the advice of those on Saturday who advised me to buy some Avomine from reception, which I did whilst they still had some. I’ve never used it before but we only have enough Stugeron to last another couple of days and the sea seems to be getting even worse. I’m glad that our daughters and partners aren’t with us. Some of them thought that Iona was moving around when we couldn’t feel the slightest thing, but there’s no denying that we are in rough seas now. Talking of Iona, I’m pleased to report that the lifts seem bigger on Ventura (in spite of having around half the passengers) and normal lift etiquette is adhered to on here, so we’ve had none of the lift issues that we experienced on Iona. Fingers crossed that continues. There are a lot more kids on board than we expected, considering that any school age kids will be skipping school for at least one of the two weeks. The first officer made the noon announcement and is clearly a well read fellow as we had countless Greek and Shakespearean quotes (all of which went above my head) but the gist of it was that we have just entered the Bay of Biscay and it is throwing it’s worst at us. We already knew that, but at least he was admitting that it was rough, as they often talk it down as being “a bit of movement” 😂 As my wife hadn’t really eaten any breakfast we decided to go for lunch in Saffron. We were told that if we wanted a table for 2 we’d have to take a pager, which we did. I asked how long we could expect to wait and was told around 30 minutes. Annoyingly, there is nowhere to sit and wait near the MDR on deck 6 so we had to get a lift up to deck 7. We grabbed some seats and I ordered a glass of wine. The couple sat next to us said that they’d been on Ventura last year and the ship had been using virtual queueing back then, but that now appeared to have been ditched and it was back to pagers. Thankfully we were paged after 15 minutes. We were seated close to a well travelled couple of gents, one of whom works for Saga cruises, so it was interesting to chat to him about the differences, when I was telling him that we fancied Saga but were struggling to justify their high prices. There were only two things of even the remotest interest on today and, Sod’s law, both were scheduled for 2pm 🙄 It’s a bit like all the good TV programmes always being on at 9pm, but at least you can record those! One was a talk on whales and dolphins by ORCA and the other was a talk on art thefts. As it happened, we didn’t end up leaving lunch until 2.20pm and by then we couldn’t get a seat in the ORCA talk! We went back to the cabin and my wife had 40 winks whilst I did another circuit of the promenade deck. The waves and spray are something else now. Bumped in to Ray who we’d had the priority boarders lunch with the day before and enjoyed a natter, before I went to Tazine for a Mocha, where I’m writing this. Although busy, service was impressively quick again. Whilst our cabin is huge, apart from the loud creaking there is another thing that is a bit unfortunate. You cannot see out unless you are stood in front of the balcony doors! There is a wall between the bedroom area and living area (which completely blocks any view from the bed) and when you are sat on the sofa in the living room there is a wall panel between the balcony doors and a separate fixed window pane that completely obstructs your view out from that area. Shame, as we spend quite a bit of time in the cabin and love watching the world go by outside. I’m rather relieved that we don’t have this cabin for our 65 night cruise to the Caribbean. The cabins on Aurora are smaller and the sofas are more uncomfortable, but at least you can see out from both the bed and the sofa! Plus the balcony on Aurora is covered, which makes it more usable. For this cruise (creaking aside) it’s fine though. My wife was continuing to feel sea sick and decided that she would remain in the cabin for the remainder of the day. I decided to give Steve Terry, a comedian who also sings, a try in Havana. A few segments were moderately funny quick fire humour but the majority was quite old fashioned and predictable (the type when you guess the punchline before the comedian delivers it). As my wife didn’t want anything to eat I decided to see if I could get in to Epicurean, as if I was dining alone I might as well go there! Unfortunately, on the way there I had to navigate gingerly through a stretch of the corridor on our deck where somebody had vomited profusely on the carpet. The stench clung to my nostrils for some time afterwards 🤮 Epicurean was extremely quiet and I was given a warm welcome. As the restaurant is on deck 17 aft the movement is quite noticeable and on a couple of occasions there was a sudden bang and lurch when my glass of wine nearly went over. I knew it was bad as there was a scream from the kitchen, and they are far more used to rough seas than we are 😂. Service was excellent. I didn’t like my starter at all (shredded duck leg meat with supposedly some form of caviar, which I didn’t notice at all - just a green foam). I had a sirloin steak which was OK and cooked perfectly, but wasn’t the leanest. The highlight was the crime brûlée with white chocolate spehere, which was my favourite pud on Britannia but is enhanced further in Ventura as it is prepared table side and is a work of art. The Headliners show had been cancelled due to the rough seas and as this is due to continue for another 24 hours, the captain has announced that Mondays Black Tie dinner has been put back to Tuesday. I hope that my wife copes better with it tomorrow and I continue to feel OK, if a little weary with the constant rocking, lunging and vibration.

Good job we both like roasts! Hoping we will be south of the next storm by then. It’s still extremely rough as I type, 48 hours in 🤢