mrsgoggins

No, it's an infinite veranda stateroom and yes, the top window comes down (push button). Essentially what is your 'balcony' becomes part of your room, but can also be closed off if that makes sense. They are lovely rooms but I missed a traditional balcony. I believe the suites at the back of the ship have 'proper' balconies.

We are doing it with 2 android phones and an iPad on Ventura.

I you are on a shared table with 5 others there's barely enough room for everyone's food, juices, toast etc as it is. Nice idea though.

My take on Celebrity v P&O - I appreciate that this will only be of interest to a few, so a warning, it’s wordy so don’t even start it if easily bored 😉 As I have declared that we are taking at least 2 more P&O cruises, I hope you would take it that I have no intention of talking P&O down! This cruise is our fourth time on Ventura and we have also been on Azura and Iona once each - less keen on the latter but have enjoyed our time on them all. However we are Elite plus with Celebrity, and find the loyalty perks very useful. We are happy with either international passengers or mostly British, but the things we do value about Celebrity are: 1. Hardly ever needing to share a table - tables for 2 can be close together but there are no banquettes as far as I can recall. Even if your preferred table is occupied, they like to keep you with the same servers even on Anytime dining unless you request otherwise. My DH is quite deaf and so in a noisy MDR sharing a table can be difficult as I’ve previously said. 2. The morning breakfast service is usually very slick with someone constantly going around with tea and coffee, another with juices and another with a tray of pastries, in addition to your own table wait staff, who take care of the items you order from the menu. It’s also the same on Princess btw. On P&O trying to get refills at breakfast is a bugbear of ours, as I do believe I have already mentioned! 3. I’m not a fan of buffets ever, but the Celebrity buffet before it get crowded can be a thing of beauty whereas the P&O ones on this class of ship have a poor layout in my opinion. I’ve heard others speak well of the Iona buffet, but we were not impressed when we tried it - the fish and chip counter being the exception. 4. Being able to wander into the theatre 10 minutes before start time and get a good seat. On this Ventura cruise especially, it’s common to stake your claim to a seat 40 minutes before a performance with hardly any left 10/15 minutes before the show. I do put this down largely to the timing of the theatre shows, which are 8.30 pm and 10.30 pm on Ventura with the vast majority of us wanting the 8.30 show, unsurprisingly. Both shows would be much earlier on Celebrity (and Princess). 5. I like the Celebrity cabins and bigger bathrooms (no shower curtains) but miss the wardrobe/dressing area of P&O. I like that Celebrity does not have fiddly theft-proof hangers (but Princess does 🙄). Celebrity still offer a nightly room service with a chocolate on your pillow. I would prefer not to have this so a win for P&O. Photos are from Celebrity Apex, which will be berthed in Southampton this coming season. The 2 things that most often come up in comparisons are food and price of the cruise. Our take is that meals are going to be better presented on Celebrity and geared more to American taste, but we are happy with both. Over on the Celebrity boards they complain of it not being what it was with regard to food, much the same as some do on P&O! Price is an interesting one. I have a spreadsheet of every cruise we have taken, price, what is/is not included etc and I would say it’s not always as clear cut as it might seem. I have posted a few times before that one of my Celebrity AI Caribbean cruises last year cost less per night than my 2 week Canaries cruise on Iona, booked on opening and with little OBC but with parking! I accept that Celebrity is usually more costly than P&O for similar itineraries once you have added in gratuities if not on AI, but not always. As elite plus on Celebrity we get free drinks (from a menu) between 5 and 7 pm, 125 free high speed internet minutes each, 2 x free bags of laundry each, and the perk I value most of all, free specialty teas and coffees. We also get diamond status on Royal Caribbean (Celebrity parent company), so good loyalty perks I think. There are no laundry rooms for personal use on Celebrity but I’m not sure they have many cruises of more than 12-14 nights. A P&O laundry room is a big bonus. Celebrity ships IMO are quite classy with art works on display throughout the ships. We have sailed on the Millennium class, Solstice class (favourites) and the newest Edge class. Different classes of cabins can have different dining rooms, with the majority using the MDRs, but Aqua class guests dine in Blu restaurant (a favourite with DH, not so much me) and suite guests in Luminae restaurant (we’d never see the value in a suite for us). The speciality restaurant prices can bring a tear to the eye, but that was not always so before the pound ‘tanked’ against the dollar (🤐 @Harry Peterson) and we have dined in them all, but would not pay the prices now. Epicurean on P&O however, would be good value in my book even without generous OBS, and certainly Sindhu and the Beach House if you care for them. I’ll stop now and try to add a photo of a Celebrity stateroom/cabin (who do they all think they are kidding with the ‘stateroom’ nonsense?) If anyone is still with me and wishes to ask anything specific, please feel free. Thanks to those who lasted to the bitter end 👏😉

Tuesday, 23 January continued We dined in Epicurean for the third time this cruise and again it was a good experience with excellent food and great service. DH had the miso-glazed rack and slow cooked lamb belly, which he said had the best lamb chops he had ever had! I had the Australian Black Angus sirloin, which was perfectly cooked for me (medium rare) followed by Crepes Suzette, prepared tableside of course. The Entertainments manager, Leon, made an early evening announcement regretting that tonight’s theatre performance by Harrison Treble, a piano vocalist, had been unable to make it to the ship due to the weather in the UK. The theatre substitute was the film Avatar, which I quickly googled and just as quickly discounted! I keep reminding myself that the reasons we are on this cruise begins and ends at January weather! And so …… drum roll …… not only are we booked on next year’s 35 night cruise which takes in New Orleans and Miami, but also the Caribbean cruise for January 2026! So, despite the thread’s title, I’ve obviously decided that I can cope well with 5 weeks away 😄. I know that the weather could be very different on next year’s cruise, because like @Megabear2 we have spent time in Florida each January for the last 15 years (with the single exception of 2021 of course) and have seen frozen fountains (only once but never to be forgotten) to temperatures in the mid 20s and everything in between. Which is why we have also taken at least one Caribbean cruise each visit. I believe I have mentioned earlier that I intend to avoid flying home overnight from the USA ever again. With that in mind, we are sailing back (with Celebrity) in April of this year and next 🤞. Back later with some observations about P&O v Celebrity, as it was mentioned in another thread. Meanwhile, here’s the other end of the rainbow 🌈 as we were leaving Dominica - the supermarket is the large illuminated building to the left of the picture.

I'm so sorry to read this despite understanding the reasons it was necessary. Key West is one of my favourite ports and as your wife has never been, I'm not surprised she was disappointed. You have definitely had a few challenges and poor weather on your cruise and I do hope you continue to be able to tell us that you are still enjoying it overall. And no, it's not just you who would not enter a theatre late whilst at the same time disturbing others! We are now 3 weeks into our 5 week cruise and I'll still be following yours long after I'm home, so thank you for the time you put in to allow us to share, I especially enjoyed the Miami photos, which were fabulous 👍

Monday, 22 January in Dominica We only went for a walk around at this port. There were many stalls right in front of the ship, along with very many trying to persuade you to take one of their excursions in a variety of open-topped and small bus type vehicles - $20 appeared to be the going rate for each of them. They all seemed to be good natured and were not pushy after a 'no thanks'. There is also a supermarket within 100 yards. It was doing a good trade with passengers during our visit. I was surprised to see some Waitrose branded items on the shelves. Who knew? At departure time we were treated to a magnificent rainbow 🌈 where we could see the full arc vividly. I know my phone's camera won't do it justice, but here goes

For those interested in activities mid cruise, here is yesterday’s Horizon. It was a sea day.

Sunday, a sea day and time to catch up. First off my huge thanks to @TigerB for your patience and laughter (don’t make me have to fly out …… I chuckled at the thought 😄). Now I must follow up with apologies since I have cancelled my Death in Paradise tour in Guadeloupe and as expected, was told that the places would go to people at the top of the list. I had hoped to take many photos and assess suitability for you and your lass, but in the end, events made me decide to cancel, after wrestling with the decision. More later. On Friday, 19th January we were on the Dutch island of Bonaire, where we had pre-ordered a golf buggy, something I first saw mentioned on these boards, so thanks to whoever it was. The tent where we first checked in was easy to find from the instructions given. From there, we and another couple, were directed to the office and storage place for the buggies, a 5 minute walk or so away. By the time we had reached this place we had probably been walking for 15/20 minutes or so from leaving the ship in 29C temperatures, and that’s when I realised that I would find the Death in Paradise tour too much from the description given of the 1.5 hours of walking necessary. (I had been to Shorex to see if they could shed some light on the tour, but they merely read out the printed tour description back to me). My disability is hidden (no walking stick or aid but I do stay close to mrgoggins when walking on uneven ground) and there is hope of improvement so, if we visit Guadeloupe again, you never know! The 2.5 hours it took to drive around the island - some of it one-way - had many places where it was easy to stop and take in the glorious scenery. On our return, we took the golf buggy through the main colourful shopping street and went back via the waterfront (Silver Dawn was docked in front of Ventura). Mrgoggins offered to drop me off close to the ship but I declined and we strolled back together. We would do this again if we return (likely), but may just pay on the day to allow for the chance of wet weather. As it was my right arm is now a different colour to my left, as is DH’s left leg 🤭. This was my favourite day of the cruise so far and my pleasure extended into the evening when we dined outside at the Beach House where we enjoyed a scenic, if windy, departure from Bonaire. The tablecloths had to be removed it was so windy. I had the lava rock steak and himself had chicken tenders. All good, but such a lot of food following on from filled potato skins and boneless spicy chicken wings (too spicy for me). We shared a dessert, but only had a spoonful each just to taste it, and I don’t even recall what it was! A photo from our pool view table; it felt very atmospheric. The evening was rounded off by another excellent performance by the Bluejays, this time playing 60s rock music. Again, theatre pretty full half an hour prior, and standing room only by the time the show began. Now with fingers crossed, I am going to press send, in the hope that the photos are not enormous. If it works, thanks again @TigerB and if it doesn’t, our next port of call is Dominica tomorrow 😉.

We had the lamb dopiaza at lunchtime and I'll definitely have it if it appears again. Not too spicy for me - DH says I'm a wuss! Edited to add that I posted this just moments after you without having seen your latest post, which is an interesting and fair assessment. Add me to the list of those who think that given your circumstances, your issues should have been handled a lot better.

Yes they are 😊

Now I was imagining you to have supernatural powers as my good friends all know I love a good cat photo - and on my birthday my cards are all either cakes or cat themed 😄

Apologies, that should have been prices from £2449, a good deal for those who don’t mind/like inside cabins.

You have given me a little glow of happiness! Thank you, I love the photo 😍

The same/very similar cruise for January 2026 shows prices starting at £2499 per person. Currently, if you book on board you can get 10% off that price. As to how much it has gone up; no idea. We didn’t book early and so could book for around £1K per person less, for the same mid-ship balcony by booking now - 2 years in advance! Many on this cruise are booking their long cruises for 2026 on board and Future cruises desk is always busy. No excuses necessary for ‘butting in’ by the way 😉.

My elderly neighbour, with whom I keep in touch when away, likes to tell me her meals for the day and asks about ours, and so I send her the occasional photo and I'll be sending her the ones below for her approval (she will approve 😄). Tonight's meal doesn't pretend to be fine dining but we both agreed that it was all very tasty indeed - it was liver, onions and bacon followed by apple streusel and custard. Our excellent waiter took it upon himself to bring a side order of ice cream 😋. I'll be resembling today's statue even more by the time we disembark!

Sorry @daiB, I don't seem to be able to delete the above 🥴 Thursday, 18th continued Lest I give the impression that we are not enjoying ourselves, well, we are! But another gripe will follow. A daily early morning swim is what DH looks forward to most of all on our cruises. This is the first ship we have been on where pool opening hours have not been published, or displayed by the pool - and it's normally 7 am. This morning he returned at 7.20 am and no one could tell him when it would open. He did manage a swim after breakfast along with a trip to reception to find out what time it should open. If he had a time he'd work with it. I wasn't with him so I'm second hand reporting that the guy on reception looked everywhere for the information, made an unsuccessful phone call and when asking for an appointment with a relevant manager, was told that he would get back to him. Not happened yet, so guess we'll have to be a squeaky wheel. Anyone know the job title of the person responsible? On to the positives. Today we decided on a late short walk into Curacao as we were only here last year and did a ship's tour of the island. However, we ended up doing a local bus tour after we had asked about the leg room and were invited aboard to take a look. Eventually deciding it was okay, we joined 2 other Ventura passengers and later more came from Carnival Magic, which was docked next to us. The tour was $25 per person and included a couple of stops and a visit to the same Curacao liquor factory as last year. The guide, fellow passengers and driver were all friendly and it had a jolly feel to it. Sorry @TigerB I can already see that I've failed to insert the spaces I wanted beneath - I tried! The first photo is the liquor distillery, the second is a sculpture I felt an affinity with, and the third a scene from the colourful street market taken from inside the bus.

I am delighted to hear it 👍. We did once have a favourite Indian restaurant, so we are not averse to Indian food. Sindhu gets lots of good reviews but only an okay from us.

Yes, it was much later when the penny dropped 😁

Thursday, 17th January update Yesterday was a sea day so little to report. We took a walk around the deck, did a lot of reading and visited my newly-discovered Metropolis bar. We dined at Sindhu, which has never been a favourite of mine, and this remains so. At 6pm the service was glacial, the background music, a tad loud and the food just okay - this is probably due to our taste in food however. DH said he prefers M&S Jalfrezi (?). I'll attach a photo of my salmon and DH's Sindhu Signature for anyone who feels differently. I had the cinnamon bread and butter pudding to follow which was incredibly sweet and half of it got left. 'Astonishing' was the theatre show, which we enjoyed, despite having seen it a couple of times. The lone lady who sat next to me wanted to chat before the performance but I'm afraid to say it was a long list of complaints which she had brought to the attention of management but remained unimpressed. In a nutshell, she was a Cunard regular on her first P&O cruise, which would also be her last! Oh dear.

I wish you all the luck in the world. I've had my share of issues with US Immigration in the past - an uncomfortable 2 hour wait to enter Orlando airport about 6 years ago, followed by being taken to a side room, made me vow never to enter via that airport again, and I haven't, despite flying into the USA every year.

I'm so pleased to hear that because whilst not wanting to be a 'Debbie Downer', forewarned and all that, good news.

We are doing the 35-night January Ventura cruise next year, and I've lost count of the number of 'regulars' who have told me that when New Orleans is your first US port of call, as it will be for us, book an early tour to minimise the immigration wait, followed by some horror stories. I realise this might not be easy/possible for you so I wish you well with your ordeal and hope that you are able to post that I was wrong and that the port is now a model of efficiency 🤞

Wonderfully entertaining as well as informative. I laughed at the description of the woman who shouldn't be allowed to dress herself, and, like, the American girls!

I was prescribed this 18 months ago after my shoulder replacement op where they told me that the top figure (systolic?) was 200 just before they put me under anaesthetic, which I wouldn't have thought was too surprising. After the op, my BP was monitored regularly during the next 24 hours and was back to normal - top figure around 120, but I was still prescribed them. I assume because it can go high. No side effects that I can recall however. Agree, worth mentioning to your GP