mrsgoggins

Hope you are as lucky! We had both the amuse bouche and an apple sorbet - both very good.

Monday at sea update The clock went back an hour last night so there was a lengthy queue for 8 am breakfast opening even at the Bay Tree restaurant, which P&O don't even publish as being open! Again it moved quite quickly so I only mention this as part of my head's up to those who might be considering it. Last night was our first Epicurean meal of this trip, and was excellent. The same server who did my crepes Suzette last May did so again, and even remembered where we had sat then - how do they do that? The prime rib was medium rare as requested (overcooked on our previous visits) and the celeriac soup was delicious. We have been very impressed with almost everything we have eaten on this ship so far 👍. I'll attach photos - the crepes Suzette tasted great despite not looking great when served. @Interestedcruisefan I'm still pondering your posts, because despite taking very many cruises since 2016 (eg 6 last year, only 2 of which were P&O), this is the first time I have ever encountered the very lengthy queues for dining and the theatre being completely full 20 minutes before a performance. I did ask 2 days ago why the App was abandoned for dining - it having (or so I believe) been in use on the similar long cruise on this ship last year, and definitely when we were on her in May. I was told by a Senior Waiter that 'it didn't work on this ship'. My cabin number was taken and I was told the Manager would contact me later in the day. He didn't! This was a laid-back exchange btw - I would have liked to know that's all. I may raise it again but right now we are enjoying the cruise and going with the flow!

They are fabulous photos - I'd be sticking to food shots only from now on had we shared more of the itinerary - you put me to shame 😁

I am going to try harder, they weren't very inspiring but then down came the rain! Thanks to your tips (and inspiration - you know how much I love those coffee and breakfast pics by the sea) I now know how to post but I can't see how to place a comment beneath. In fact, totally unrelated to this trip Graham, here's a photo taken at my favourite Italian restaurant 😆 Not especially Italian being salmon, prawns with rye bread and butter, but although a starter, it was one of my best Christmas meals.

I have not seen anyone in masks. Hopefully you will get some sun on your Iona visit to Funchal 🤞

This thought did occur to me - that it could be a non-infectious condition that was causing it and that the person doing the coughing was also probably stressed. That is why we said nothing and left without any fuss. But, had it been me, I would still have used some sort of handkerchief or removed myself temporarily until the coughing subsided.

On previous cruises, it's been at the end of the attractive road near the roundabout with the fountain and gardens. This time it was at the other end of the street, close to the cable car and old town.

Only in the next to last photo might our paths have crossed 😊

Greetings from an overcast, drizzly Funchal! I'll attempt to add a photo or two later. We have been here a few times and done a tour or two, so we were quite happy to take the ship's shuttle (free to Select or £4 each way otherwise) and have a pleasant wander around until the drizzle began about 11.30 am, when we made our way back. I read @Selbourne's excellent account this morning and one item in particular touched a nerve. Last night we were on a shared window table when about halfway through our meal a party were seated on the next corner window table. Then it began - incessant hearty coughing from a woman behind me. At first we all pretended not to notice but soon we were all giving each other meaningful glances. I asked DH if the person was using any sort of handkerchief and he confirmed my suspicions that they were not, and was turned away from their own table and facing my back! A lady on my table commented that she should have gone from the dining room it was so bad. It made us depart early from our good dining companions with a comment of 'don't blame you'. Gripe aside, something has surprised me about this cruise and others considering a lengthy cruise on Ventura should note - the early performance in the theatre can fill up fast! We arrived at 8.10 pm for the 8.30 pm performance and people were coming out saying 'no seats'. It was a singer (Josie McCormick) doing a Divas show and she had been on previously as Cher, and was good by all accounts. People at breakfast told me there were only a few single seats by 8 pm. Blimey! On Celebrity they only open the theatre half an hour before a performance. It all makes sense of course. Older passengers = greater demand for the earlier performances and early dining. We went down to dinner at a few minutes after 6 pm and joined the line at the Future Cruises spot, from where it wound all the way around the atrium. It did move fast however, and we were seated in around 10 minutes (no twos available by that time). I add this more as a 'head's up' rather than as a complaint, because I do understand, but I am with those who preferred to use the App and come along when your table is ready, as was the case on my last Ventura cruise last May. Again, I can see why they might not use the App as it keeps that table empty for up to 15 minutes. Tonight I shall be Speciality dining and look forward to a table for two in relatively quiet surroundings and will take photos to share. DH is happy that the outdoor pool was available for his (very) early morning swim from yesterday as, of course, it had been drained during the rough seas. I've been on this ship 3 times before and yesterday I discovered the Glass House! Obviously I knew it was a favourite but had thought it was a only bar! Nice place to sit and read the paper or play games (note to self, take Rummikub? on next long trip and persuade DH to learn). We are both avid readers and so don't have a problem filling our time. Attempt at photos coming up 🤞😊. The first is of Ventura with Aurora behind

I had to return to my earlier post to say that after this being the first day when I’ve walked around many areas of the ship, inside and out, I now doubt the above as ‘fact’ - Chinese whispers at work maybe? Certainly it’s an older demographic on board for sure, but that seems like a high number. So, @TigerB, you and your lass may not be the ‘teenagers’ on your cruise 😉

Good for you - an independent spirit! Not crazy at all 👍

Another interesting post, so thank you. Sorry about the box above, it's from an aborted post and I don't know how to delete from my phone 🥴 Just a couple of points I wanted to share with you. On my Ventura 35-night cruise, the high tier lunch (Caribbean and above), despite being held over 2 days because of the numbers involved, was a proper sit-down affair and not the buffet you were given. Attendees I have spoken with seemed to enjoy it greatly. Last night at dinner, a 'young' chap (all relative, he was under 50 😉) shared that a member of staff he'd spoken with said the average age of passengers on board our cruise was 77, which I can imagine being accurate. I hope you get some attention for your excessive cabin noise. Like you, we are now in calm seas and so that should help at least.

I have very little to add about yesterday on the ship, as I was staying safely midship with reading and snoozing to make up for a poor night’s sleep on Wednesday. The seas remained rough, as you will have gathered from Selbourne’s excellent, detailed account. Thanks I believe to Stugeron, I felt okay to manage both lunch and dinner in the mid ships restaurants and both times enjoyed our dining companions on shared tables. I had hoped to get the same table for 2 we had on Wednesday night for dinner. We joined the sizeable queue at 6.05 pm, only to be told there were NO tables for 2 left! Not the end of the world and as previously mentioned, it’s mainly due to DH’s hearing that I make this request, and it had a good outcome, but anyone considering this cruise on Freedom dining hoping for an early table for 2 should bear this in mind - early dining is very popular. Before leaving home I had booked one Epicurean and one Beach House experience with the intention of using my OBS to book more. Today I booked a further 5 Epicurean and 3 Beach House and may yet book more, although I doubt we will bother with Sindhu, having tried it on here and Iona and not been especially taken with it; but then my experience with Indian food at home runs to M&S butter chicken! Although I did make Mary Berry’s excellent Malayan chicken recipe for friends over Christmas and that went down well. Not Indian I know, but near enough 😉 This morning there were 2 guest speakers: Jamie Hayes on The History of the Musical in the theatre, and later Paul Castledine on Life as a Visiting Actor in Havana. As the seas had calmed a little we went to the latter and found Paul Castledine’s tales of his work as an extra on film and TV interesting and entertaining. @Cathygh the activities mostly do not interest us but if you want to work on your fitness with stretch classes, fit steps, dance classes etc then you will be well catered for. Then of course there are all of the ‘lead in’ activities which are essentially sales pitches in disguise etc. Apart from the speakers, I may attend the odd quiz (today’s themes are capital cities with a later Jukebox music challenge) and DH is about to attend his 2nd French lesson, which seems like a good addition to the activities. @PurpleMoonlight as you will have gathered, the weather and sea conditions are now improving, but reception could not say when the pools would be refilled, much to DH’s disappointment. This ship has had quite a list to port and I’m pleased that the captain mentioned it as I would have been tad concerned otherwise 😳. @TigerB I will try to be mindful of your ‘lass’ (love that term of endearment btw) when I do the Death in paradise tour, and will report back. I’ll add Cabot Cove to your list of places not to live 😉. @pennib I will be sure to let you know how disembarkation goes in relation to Eavesway. We normally self-disembark to be on the road as early as possible and so we will be interested in how soon we get away, but I guess it will all depend on if we have stragglers amongst us. Tonight’s entertainment choices are Headliners performing On the Horizon, vocalist Josie McCormick or the Comedian Phil Melbourne. We will go to the theatre. Yesterday and today P&O put on their special lunch for the Caribbean (I think) and above passengers. There was a very long line when we left Havana around noon; I assume they were heading for the stairs to go to the Bay Tree restaurant. We spoke with people who attended yesterday’s event who said it had been very good. Just shows how many P&O stalwarts are on board that they needed to host over 2 days. We have, as expected, been very happy with the food. I’d say the presentation of the main course is more akin to how I would serve at home, which is fine with me, compared to the American lines we have sailed with (Disney, Princess and Celebrity) where presentation is often more elaborate. Definitely an observation rather than a criticism though. I’ll save my criticism for the slow breakfast service (toast brought and butter following 10 minutes later etc) and difficulty getting refills of hot beverages. The refills has been an issue on each P&O cruise we have been on - I think this is the 6th time - but a small thing in the scheme of things. Thanks for your nice comments, unless someone asks something I can answer, I’ll leave it for a few days. Tonight is Celebration night so almost time to get ready. We do comply, but are not fans of dressing up nights, although I feel we are possibly in the minority on a cruise such as this. I’ve booked the Beach House for the next 2 😁

It was! Good to know.

Well I've uploaded last night's meal I hope 🙏, but don't intend to do this too often - seeing if I can really. For the record DH had a mushroom mousse to start and I had chicken croquettes with a dip. Mains were red snapper for him, lamb for me and we finished with sticky toffee and vanilla sauce plus cheese and biscuits for DH. All were pronounced very good apart from the sticky toffee pudding which tasted nothing like I've ever made, or purchased before and therefore a slight disappointment, but overall a good dining experience! Now to press the send button ......

The heading, is meant to convey that despite having done lots of cruises over the past 8 years, the length of this one causes me a little anxiety. Just a little you understand because January in the U.K. rarely has much to recommend it. As I write it’s the first full sea day and force 8 gale was mentioned by the captain. I’m not a good sailor and so having taken Stugeron, nothing would get me away from my midship position. Only Bruce Springsteen himself could tempt me into the theatre at the front of the ship, since that is where my most embarrassing being ‘ill’ situation occurred, albeit on a much smaller (Viking) ship. I won’t be writing daily but as I so much enjoy reading others ‘warts and all’ accounts, thought I’d give it a go, and with @grapau27’s encouragement, I will try to upload a few photographs as he assures me it’s easy using an Android phone, which I have, although I’m starting this on my iPad for ease. Background done, I’ll make a start. It seems to me that @Selbourne’s poor boarding experience on Aurora yesterday had much in common with the embarkation on Ventura and the people I’ve spoken with at breakfast and lunch were all variations of ‘never known it to be as bad’ and most of them were P&O veterans. DH and I decided to come down by coach (we normally drive down the day before) after having had a really good experience with Eavesway when we did a one-way transatlantic last October, and they did not disappoint this time either. We were collected at 7.45 am from Burtonwood services (near Warrington) and the driver announced that in addition to his 2 pick up stops and 1 hour lunch stop, he would make an extra short stop because of the delayed boarding. In the event though, and despite very heavy traffic around the Ocean terminal, we were dropped off shortly after 2 pm. As our original boarding time was 3.15-4 pm, and we had been requested to delay by 2 hours, giving us a 5.15 boarding time, we took a quick glance at the 2 very lengthy outside lines and decided not to join them. I approached one of the Interlink yellow jackets to ask where I could pick up an Uber and she pointed out the dock gates but also told me that there were coffee shop and pubs just a short walk away ‘across the green’. We spent a very pleasant few hours in The White Star nearby in what I quickly identified as Ventura corner by the nature of the hand luggage of the other 6 people already there. There was much laughter and interesting conversation and when we returned to the ship shortly after 5 pm, the port looked very different and boarding was relatively fast and efficient. We definitely did the right thing not staying - my walking is not great, but my ability to stand for hours is even less good! Today, despite the rough conditions overnight, which continue, it’s been a pleasant day with a good dinner, not made by me, a good breakfast (but oh how I wish they came round more often with tea/coffee refills) and a good lunch, also not made by me - result! I had intended to go to a vocal workshop today but as it was in Havana and aft, decided against it. As it was, we shared a table at lunchtime with 6 other nice folk - one of whom left before her main course due to the motion - and again, laughter ensued. I enjoy chatting with others but because DH has poor hearing, often request a table for 2, but I should add that this bothers me more than it does him. Even after a short time, I feel that the atmosphere in and around this ship is good natured; people speak in lifts, banter in queues, etc. The vast majority of us are in the 60+ category and are seasoned cruisers and along with people from the bus, many appear to be regulars on these long cruises, although I’ve also spoken to others who share my concern of five weeks 🫣. That’s partially flippant I should add, because I do know we are very lucky to be able to do this. The entertainment in the theatre last night was a UB40 tribute band, who were okay - at least I knew the songs, unlike DH who has never really done pop songs (or popular culture for that matter) even when he hearing was good! They didn’t do ‘Red red wine’ however and so I suspect it will be included on their next outing. I know nothing of bars, being virtually a non-drinker but have pre-paid for Epicurean and the Beach House and will report back on my visits to them later. I’ve also pre-booked 4 easy ship’s excursions (well, hoping that the ‘Death in Paradise’ tour qualifies or can be made to be easy!) and also the hire of a golf cart in Bonaire. We did 2 back-to-back Caribbean cruises out of Fort Lauderdale last year (and have visited previously) so are quite relaxed about what we see and what we don’t. I had intended to be brief, but can see I’ve failed in that already 🙄. I’ll end by saying that the internet downloaded my newspaper relatively quickly and now I intend to swap my internet package over to my phone in an attempt to download pics from last night’s meal. Wish me luck!

Your pre-boarding experience was a disgrace. I felt your frustration when new arrivals constantly went ahead of you. What a shambles. Hoping that the U-boats speaker lives up to expectations. That would have pleased my husband. The Ventura speakers’ subjects today are ‘The history of opera’ and ‘A Royal Marine Musician - is it all Rock and Roll?’ and we may attend the latter. I hope they can do something about the bed height. That would really have freaked me out as I have a few issues myself and I was once happy to accept a disabled room in a Premier Inn until I saw the bed, when it was a trip back to reception!

I'm keen to know if Selbourne and his good lady are now on board. I'm sitting in a local hostelry with others who feel that P&O could have done better (we have a few suggestions 😉). The queues were horrendous outside Mayflower. We are all laughing though 😁

I may give it a go, but expect upside down pictures if I do manage it 😁. I've often felt I owe it to @grapau27 (and others) to join in with the food pics as I always enjoy them, but I'll have to swat up how to do it! 🥴

I've been on both of the ships you mention. From memory, Caribbean Princess is the same layout as Azura and Ventura, but it was 8 years ago we were on her in Alaska. Great cruise but I thought the cabins were a bit tired then, but could have had work done since. We've been on a few Princess ships and for us the food was better than on P&O but Caribbean Princess has the same poor (IMO) buffet layout as the 2 P&O I mentioned and was to be avoided at all costs! We were on Anthem during the first opening up of cruises on a Round the UK cruise with only around 1300 passengers aboard (less than a third capacity) and we're very impressed with it. Definitely a family ship with lots going on. The posters who have mentioned lots of Americans (and Canadians) onboard even from Southampton was quite correct. Last year's Celebrity and Sky Princess cruises out of Southampton sailed with an international clientele, which we enjoy. I can't speak to children's provision on either of your ships since we didn't have our grandchildren with us on either. I look forward to reading your cruising experiences this year 😊

@Selbourne I shall be following your adventure eagerly. We are sailing on Ventura tomorrow for the 35-night Caribbean jolly and this will be the longest cruise we have ever done and so I'm a tad trepidatious about it. Madeira is also our first port of call on Sunday so our paths may even cross. We have visited all of the ports on our cruise before, with the exception of Guadalupe, where I have booked the Death in Paradise tour. We've pre-booked only Epicurean visit during the first week and I'll think of you as my crêpe Suzette is flambéed tableside; I hope 😉 Thanks for taking us along with you. I also bought the internet package at a good rate. In our case we like to download our daily newspaper and enjoy keeping in touch. I wish us both good sailing and calm seas. As you know, we have a later departure than you due to the deep cleaning they are carrying out on Ventura so I will hopefully be on board when you leave and will give you a Bon Voyage wave 😁

Avril, I've only just seen your post of yesterday, and I'm so sorry to hear that you and Frank are going through trying times. I understand that you don't want to burden your children (though I doubt they would see it as such) and a forum like this can be a helpful way to share your anxieties, with people who do care. I'll echo others who say please do take good care of yourself. Hoping for good news from you before too long.

Never watched Eastenders and gave up on Corrie years ago, for the reason you give - doom and gloom. I enjoyed it when it was just 2 episodes a week and with a lot of humour - I give you Phyllis, Blanche, Norris, the Duckworths, the Ogdens, etc.

Beech's, a Preston company with a long history, also make dark chocolate brazils - my son gave me a box of those at Christmas and so far they remain unopened. Both the brazils and their chocolate ginger have a really thick coating of quality dark chocolate. The internet is your friend to source for a special occasion.

My Christmas treat (to myself) is a box of Beeches dark chocolate gingers. Difficult to find and expensive but Waitrose is second best IMO.