zoe sproodle

I'm afraid I can't answer your question but have been wondering the same thing. I'd be grateful if you could share your experiences once you get it sorted.

I'd definitely go for it, we were on Oceana last new year and had a great time. Yes, it was busy inside for the reason you mention but it didn't spoil it - we were a group of 6 sometimes joined by a couple of others and always managed to get seats where we wanted to be. There were kids on board but they didn't seem to be in any way unruly, which was generally true of everyone as the "booze cruisers" you speak of certainly didn't seem to be on board. And Presto is correct, the ship looked stunning decked out for the occasion.

I've got a plastic cocktail glass from Ventura, does that count?!

Agree with Strawberry field's post but beware the A27 between Portsmouth and Fareham, this can have some horrendous queues but it's a bit hit and miss. It might be worth checking traffic and leaving the M27 at junction 11 for Fareham.

One of the diversions is 58 miles!!!

Absolutely! Which is why I should imagine many will be tempted not to follow it...

There's just been a report on BBC South news about this and how bad it could be if a lot of drivers ignore the diversions and try to go via the local roads through Southampton. I hope everyone joining a cruise this weekend makes it OK. We are joining Ventura next October when this happens again so will definitely be keeping a close eye on this, normally it takes no more than 30 mins to drive for us but who knows, it's a long way off yet but we're considering taking the train in for that one...

Thanks was hoping that would be the case.

Just booked this last night a sitter out an issue with flights this morning but to be honest P&O were great.

So now looking forward to the trip. It’s a fab itinerary what with Oman, Suez the To Dubrovnik and Venice. Hadn’t come across that combination before so though wow and booked what was left .😳😳😳

 

Are you on the roll call ?

Not sure there is a roll call? I did try to start one but it all went a bit wrong and it never appeared- I'll join if anyone else is good enough to set it up.

We're not as fortunate as you as we fly home from Malta on 4 April so aren't doing Venice etc, still really looking forward to it though.

Hi ZZRLAD,

We are on this cruise and I asked the same question to P & O. They basically confirmed what the other replies have said, UAE visas can be obtained on arrival and they will be issued on board for the Omani ports.

The paper towels on the deck is just petty and hardly P & O's fault as a passenger probably dropped them there or simply missed the bin, not anything to do with the material state of the ship. I'm sure both that and the full bin would have been soon dealt with by the cleaning staff.

Some nice shots of the ship at the beginning though.....

Well Ventura's fan club certainly does seem to have quite an exclusive membership! I'd like to mention that we don't actually dislike any of the ships, I compiled my list in the order that we've personally enjoyed them. We certainly won't be put off returning to any of them and have cruises booked next year on Ventura (top of our list) and Oceana (second bottom).

Funny the varying opinions of Ventura/Azura when they are same build just differing decoration. We cruised on Ventura and didnt like her at all and have never cruised on her since. We did Azura maiden cruise and loved her immediately and have sailed on her 5 times in total. Dont know what it was the atmosphere, the passengers or the crew but very hard to explain.

You're right, you just can't put a finger on why this should be. I know a lot of people don't like Ventura, but we've never had a bad experience on her. I think it's great how ships develop their own character, a 'soul' even, and it would soon become quite dull if you got an identical experience every time.

Ventura

Aurora

Oriana

Arcadia

Azura

Oceana

Britannia

I notice I'm the first to put Ventura top and I know she's quite different from the next 3 on the list but we just love her. Maybe that's because she was the first ship we cruised on but we definitely have a soft spot for her.....

Are you on fixed or freedom dining? We were on Oceana last new year on freedom and this was effectively suspended on New Year's Eve, we were offered a choice of 5.30 pm or 8.00 pm. We shared a table with friends and linked the booking with P & O but I guess otherwise you'd be allocated a shared table as per normal freedom dining. Sorry I can't help with fixed but would assume you'd have your usual table at a slightly earlier time.

Either way have a great cruise.

One difference between Azura and Ventura is that Azura has a ducktail stern which is supposed to increase efficiency by deterring the ship from 'riding' its own bow wave; this also should have the effect of decreasing pitch. I'm not sure how well this works or how flat the sea needs to be, but I remember watching Azura from Ventura going through Biscay when it was quite rough and both were pitching quite dramatically.

Not long ago I came across a receipt from Azura in 2014 which I had been using as a bookmark. A pint of Carling back then was £3.85, which compares with £4.10 for Fosters these days, so a 25p or 6.5% increase in the price of a pint in 4 years.

That's what we thought! Even if we had wanted to go it would have virtually doubled the price of the cruise for us. I'm not sure if anyone did do it but I certainly didn't hear any mention of it on board.

I'm afraid I can't tell you if this trip is any good or not but we're just back from Iceland on Aurora and the cost of the excursion was £1200 pp, which would be before any loyalty discount you have.

Thanks for the advice mandy I'll get it sorted. We've not been on Aurora before and so wouldn't have thought of that.

On Oriana, we found the food to be really good on both the ones we attended, only lacking in atmosphere. As someone said now they have Sindhu, they want money for it, but we enjoyed the buffet.

We love both and are intending to eat in Sindhu for my birthday in a few weeks on Aurora. Now what if that clashes with Indian night in the buffet?!

One of our favourite nights too. I don't normally enjoy eating in the buffet in the evening but will certainly make an exception for the Indian.

Thanks for pointing that out, Pegasus. Something's gone a bit awry there I think, probably finger trouble on my behalf. I knew I couldn't trust these new-fangled computer things....!

Hi, just recently back from Fjords cruise and we managed with a regular debit card. All shops and cafe's we visited took card payments. Much easier than exchanging money.

Have a great holiday :):)

 

PS. If going to Flam its very easy to overspend in the pub:o

So I take it the pub in Flam takes cards, and also that a pint isn't cheap? We're thinking of paying them a visit next month and realise we may need to budget....

Looking forward to a roll call and meet up!

Just tried creating the roll call and it hasn't appeared. Either I've done something wrong or it takes a while to update?

Hi Zoe! Maybe we will get to meet up! From FB I can see there are quite a few people who will be joining us! [emoji41][emoji41][emoji924][emoji924]

 

 

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In that case I'll kick off a roll call when I get round to it, unless anyone beats me to it!

Elviex, it looks like we are on the same cruise. We fly out overnight on the 21/22 march, with emirates leaving Gatwick I think about 8 pm. Not sure about return flights though as we are coming back from Malta, I think the OP is referring to returning from Dubai. I spoke to p & o about visas when I booked and they gave the same answer, I double checked this when I spoke to them to pay the balance on another cruise and they reaffirmed it.