SeaJane

3 hours ago, Notebook64 said:

Hi

Visiting ports - 

Santander

Vigo

Lisbon

Porto - Leixoes

St Peter Port

 

any info appreciated regards leaving the port - 

eg - walk 200m and you are in the town

catch tube / train at port

catch hop on hop off bus

hire a cycle etc..

Electric scooter

Thanks

 

Vigo - is a very short walk into the town.

Lisbon - there is a shuttle bus which takes you to a square in the city, however due to traffic and one way systems it takes about 30 minutes. It is much quicker and more pleasant to walk into the centre if you are able as the ship is docked very close. 
Porto - P&O shuttle into city takes about 40 minutes, but is certainly the best option if you have not been before as Porto is well worth a visit. Alternatively there is a port shuttle to the dock gates at Leixoes and you can then spend time in this small town or visit the beach. 
 

We did a similar itinerary on N313 a week ago and St Peter Port was cancelled due to forecast high winds making tendering dangerous. The Captain made the decision early and substituted La Coruna.

Just now, Presto2 said:

Thanks both - is this the one P&O recommend ? Hubby can't remember off the top of his head.

 

No it isn’t. P&O always used to recommend Holiday Extras, but not sure if that is still the case. 

15 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

 

We do have cruise insurance. It just says between £150 and £2,000. Do you just get a standard amount for mussing the port? That's what is confusing us. 

Our insurance is with LV and we can claim £150 each for a missed port.

5 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

What is a breast of chicken wing bone? Sounds a bit odd although I'm sure it's very tasty.

Sadly on Ventura last week the chicken was very dry and overcooked - not at all tasty. Very disappointing as that always used to be my go-to when nothing else on the menu appealed.

4 hours ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

Did get them on Ventura in April although not presented as well as on previous cruises. Were signed by our waiters, although a fellow passenger on our table thought that they had made a error as our names were on their menu's. Turned out that they had signed both the same. Didn't for the first time ever keep ours, except for the page signed by our waiters as was so disgusted with the poor quality and repetitiveness of the fare dished up that we threw the rest of the menu's away. I did feel for our waiter as he seemed to continually be apologising about the food which was bland, varied between warm and cold, brocolli with everything, thin custard, poorly cooked steaks which never seemed to be done as requested and the quality of desserts were nowhere near what we had been served on previous cruises. 

Your experience of the food on Ventura sounds similar to ours last week. We made a formal complaint on board and have since written to Paul Ludlow’s office. I feel very strongly that anyone unhappy with the deterioration in the quality of food in the MDR should make their voice heard. In view of your comments above have you also formally complained? 

13 hours ago, Holidayforever2 said:

Do they still serve Lobster in MDR  on Ventura . 

Not on our Ventura cruise last week. 

3 hours ago, ParisHilton said:

How would you rate MDR? 

Pizza hut , Pizza express, local italian?

Have to factor in who little you've paid for it for a fair comparison obviously.

On Ventura last week I wouldn’t rate the food in the MDR as highly as any of the above. Unfortunately we didn’t take any photos, but it didn’t look anything like the photos posted by ICF of his Iona experience. 
i can cope with the reduced choice and ask for extra to mitigate the tiny portions, but the food was tepid, poorly presented and definitely not freshly prepared or cooked. A particular low point was the beer battered fish and chips! 

2 hours ago, Denarius said:

The problem with Ventura and Azura (and their Princess equivalents) is that they are based on the Grand Princess but with an extra deck of cabins added, increasing the passenger capacity by about 20%. But there is no more public space, indeed some has been lost to fit in yet more cabins! So when the ships are full they feel overcrowded as there are 6 people using space and facilities designed for 5.

We had lovely weather so the open decks were indeed very crowded. The prom deck, which on Aurora and Arcadia are popular seating areas, felt claustrophobic and did not seem to get any sun at any time of day so apart from the smoking area it was deserted. We were very glad that we had our balcony to retreat to! 

4 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

No waiters in the theatre or any tables to put your drinks down.

Ventura has small tables that fold out of the arms of the seats.

8 minutes ago, Palaceman said:

Comments on dining are always subjective but that said I was surprised to read Seajane's comments re the mdr on Ventura. During March this year we dined in Saffron restaurant (freedom) 32 nights out of 35 and did not experience any of the issues mentioned. Food was always well presented and hot, including soups, which often come in for criticism, good portions and tasty. I can only speak of our experience and how we found it.

By the way the other 3 nights we dined in Epicurian and enjoyed each visit very much. 

 

7 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Makes you wonder if the chef is different on the OP's cruise.

We ate in both Cinnamon and Saffron and both were as bad as each other.
The Head waiter who eventually spoke to us about our complaint did say that the Head Chef had only recently joined the ship. However surely if he is joining a well trained team preparing the same food that they have been serving for months it shouldn’t deteriorate so badly. It does certainly cast some doubts on his ability to manage his kitchen though! 

We returned from 7 nights on Ventura from Southampton to Spain and Portugal on Saturday. It was our first cruise since October 2019 having had 2 cancelled. This was booked as a taster to see if cruising is still for us and also if we enjoyed a larger ship, having not been on anything larger than Arcadia before. We are next due to do 19 nights on Aurora in October.

We had priority boarding and left the car with CPS, walked straight through check in and security and having visited our muster station were seated in Cinnamon restaurant for lunch by 12.30. 
We’d booked an aft suite on A deck and found this to be spacious with a lovely big balcony which we were able to make good use of as the weather was warm and sunny throughout the week. 

Overall the ship was in good condition and as usual the staff were hard working, cheerful and friendly.

We had pre-booked Epicurean for dinner the first night and this being our first experience of this restaurant we were very pleasantly surprised with the quality of the food and the excellent service. We ended up dining there 3 times as well as breakfast every morning. As we had a large OBC on this cruise we would have eaten there more often, but unfortunately they did not change to the second menu during our week.

This week was also our first experience of Freedom dining. We don’t like to eat too early and found that by turning up at one of the two MDR at about 8pm and being happy to share a table we always walked straight in. There was no need for us to join a virtual queue although the ‘app’ was being used by some. 

There were two formal nights on this cruise and the dress code was followed by the majority of passengers. The ship was full and we were surprised at how many families with school age children were on board as it was not yet half term for most of the country. This meant that the ship felt very busy and many venues and bars were full and noisy a lot of the time. The buffet was also a bit of a scrum and best avoided most of the time! Many people were first time cruisers. 

There were a variety of musical acts as well as Headliners performing. In the past we have gone to the theatre most nights, but this cruise a lot of the acts were performing in the smaller venues. This was because Jay Blades, Ross Kemp and Nadia Wadia were booked in the theatre for three of the nights. Booking on the ‘app’ was required for their performances, but not otherwise. 
 

Our major complaint was the quality of the evening meals in the MDR. We ate there on four evenings. We were prepared for the reduction in choice on the menu, but did not expect this to be a problem as we enjoy a variety of food. We did expect the food to be well cooked, well presented and hot. On the two formal nights my food was passable, but on the other two nights the offering was very poor, looked as though it had been thrown on the plate and on both occasions our dining companions sent food back. Many people that we spoke to during the week were similarly unhappy, but I’m not sure they had actually complained. Some first time cruisers were saying they would not cruise with P&O again.  This was very disappointing and has made us concerned for our October cruise! We made a formal complaint whilst onboard, but it took perseverance to be taken seriously. Since we’ve been home my husband has emailed Paul Ludlow - we’ll see if we get a meaningful response! 
 

Overall we enjoyed our week away and had a good time in the ports. Bad weather was forecast for our visit to St Peter Port, but the Captain anticipated this and managed to arrange for us to call at La Coruna instead which impressed us. We were happy to be back at sea, but apart from Epicurean restaurant Ventura is not for us. 
 

12 minutes ago, binman2 said:

Do we still get them

We got off Ventura on Saturday and didn’t get them.

On 5/23/2023 at 9:36 AM, Interestedcruisefan said:

No

 

Although it's on the trolley they didn't wheel it to us which was disappointing

 

Nor crepes suzettes. I had to go to the trolley to watch it being made

 

Health and safety gone mad!!!

We’ve just got off Ventura (will give full feedback when I get a chance!) In Epicurean the ham was served at the tables and the crepes suzettes were also flambéed at each table often in pairs. It was spectacular to watch and created significant heat.

Just now, Harry Peterson said:

Our favourite place to be - and I'm glad the canapés have improved!  

 

I'm curious - what's the general state of those suites now?  Last time we cruised they were in a pretty poor state and really needing some replacements of furnishings, along with the bathrooms.  Tired, I think, is the word, and in hotel terms everything would have been replaced.

 

Have they improved, along with the canapés?

This was our first time on Ventura so I can’t comment on how the suites were previously. We were in A751 and the furnishings in our suite were in good condition. The surface of the bath was a bit “flakey” looking, but the rest of the bathroom fittings were modern and I would think must have been refitted fairly recently. The balcony furniture was new. 

55 minutes ago, smokey01 said:

Yes they are, but on American style lines where you pay a very expensive daily auto gratuity, Americans always mention giving the room service deliverer a cash tip for each delivery. I’m hoping on P&O the server would not expect a cash tip as it is the more British version of ‘we are not great tippers’. Even though tips are included I do always give something extra to the cabin steward and waiters (if we are on traditional dining and presuming they did a good job) but it is only a small amount at the end of the cruise.

We got off Ventura this morning and had an aft suite. We used room service several times for lunch on the balcony and ordered through our butler. He delivered our order himself each time and we did not tip him on delivery. He also provided our requested milk, wine and decaff tea and coffee. He was clearly very experienced and pro active and asked us on day one whether we wished to have canapés each day - we opted to have them and were pleasantly surprised that they had improved from 3 years ago.  We had our two favourites of chocolate covered strawberries and smoked salmon too! We tipped him at the end of the cruise. 

10 minutes ago, kalos said:

 Part 3 

At last the holiday 😍  

 

We flew from East midlands airport to Funchal a place we have been umpteen times but 

always promised ourselves to stay but never did .

As we taxied onto the runway and all the runway lights were twinkling , all the emotions  of 

what we have had to endure brought a lump to our throat ..

We have finally made it, going on holiday and realising one of my dreams landing on the 

Funchal runway 05 or 23 , it did not matter we were doing it .

 

The hotel we chose was fantastic for us as we cannot walk far and do not cope with hills very good but we had a superb sea view of the comings and goings ,even of the cruise ships.

@Purdey16 I think was here not to long ago ??

 

The hotel suited our needs and we ate some lovely meals that they adjusted to our diet .

Will post some later should anyone want to see them .

The hotel is just coming up to two years old and in a fantastic location .

If they P&O did cruise and stays ,we would choose here deffo !

Will leave you with our sea view  and if you managed to read all of this , then thanks .

Take care my friends.

 

PS Mrs K says thanks to @Beckett and  @grapau27 for your kind words and to all the other posters ,posts I have read out to her ,she thinks you are a great set of people 🥰

 

 

 

 

 

NICE VIEWS TO WAKE UP TO 😀

Lovely photos Kalos and an amazing view from your hotel. So pleased to hear that you and Mrs K are well and have enjoyed a well deserved, relaxing holiday in the sun. 

We have always used CPS for previous cruises, but when trying to book for our October cruise on Aurora, a couple of weeks ago, found them to be fully booked. We phoned P&O and swapped our opted for OBS for free parking and were then able to book with CPS! They must keep back some slots for those with “free parking.” 

3 hours ago, Britboys said:

With the two newest ships now operating ex-southampton in the summer, booking early for CPS is now advisable I think... I have a parking-included fare and booked last month for August.

51 minutes ago, Astrajet said:

Totally agree.  We are also on this cruise and are very disappointed with this change of port.  Sincerely hope there aren't any more changes!

Oh, and we haven't had an email about this either!

Our email arrived at 01.06 this morning - in duplicate! Maybe we got yours as well as ours 🤣🤣

We’re not happy with the change either. We’ve been to Messina several times and it’s not one of our favourite ports. Also this cruise already calls at Palermo so that makes two days on Sicily.

6 hours ago, kruzseeka said:

Recommendation - Nico's for icecream along the Guidecca Canal.  Ice creams are superb but they also have a terrace on the waterfront where a Spritzer was extremely reasonable - probably gone up now but a favourite find of ours - just off the main tourist hotspots and therefore not a rip-off.  

We love Venice and have stayed for a few days on 4 occasions as well as several cruise stops. 
Nico’s has been our favourite spot for afternoon refreshments on the way back to the ship. Ice cream, a beer for OH and a spritzer for me - a delightful place for a rest after all the walking! 

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

Actually you would hope that for part of the year, at least,  she would not be based in Southampton,  in order to at least have some Eastern Med cruises. 

We’ve also done several 19 night Adriatic cruises from Southampton and several years ago went as far as Alexandria and Port Said. In October we are on Aurora from Southampton and she is going to Rhodes and Crete amongst other places.

We’ve done it - paid the final balance on our 7 night cruise on Ventura in May! It’ll be our first cruise since October 2019 and we’ve never been on such a large ship either. I’m a bit apprehensive, but we liked the itinerary and think a short cruise is a good idea before our 19 nights on Aurora in October. 
Just need to dig out the clothes that I used to wear and see if they still fit and try to  remember what to pack for cruises! 

We had an aft suite on Arcadia a few years ago and my cousin and husband had the balcony cabin next door. Our bookings were linked and as others have said we were allowed to board together. Although we asked very nicely they were not allowed to attend the embarkation lunch - the woman on the door was adamant about that! As Selbourne found the butler was happy to provide lunch on the balconies for all of us and free room service via our suite. 

5 hours ago, Scorpio41 said:

Renewed mine too. I wonder how long it will take?

Our passports expired in August 2020 and we didn’t bother to renew as we weren’t going anywhere! 
We completed the renewal online last month and were pleasantly surprised with the speedy and efficient service. Emails/texts informed us of progress and both the new passports and our cancelled old ones were received back in 8 days.

Our first cruise was on Adonia and since then we’ve been on almost 20 cruises, but all on Oriana, Arcadia and Aurora - I expect Ventura will feel huge!