Caribbean Ventura Cruise

[sarar]

I will be going on a Caribbean cruise in November on the Ventura and have been allocated cabin A515. Has anyone else stayed in this cabin before?

Are the extra beds pull down from the ceiling or roll out sofa beds?

[LEESRE]

I think you will find that it is a pullman berth that pulls down from the ceiling.

 

It does say in the P&O brochure page 184 that Suites and Superior Balcony Statrooms have single sofa beds only.

[MattyBarlow]

What date are you going?

[sarar]

We are flying out on 21st November 09 to Barbados.

[MattyBarlow]

We fly out on the 20th:D

 

And ive just noticed you are in Chichester as well!! Small world!

[sarar]

Yes indeed it is a small world, you must have one night on the boat in Barbados at the start, we have a nightat the end of our cruise.

 

Never know we might bump into each other, I will try not to run you over!

[retiredbrit]

The extra night on board in Barbados didnt work for me. Our extra night was at the end and the last complete day on board was in a way spoilt because of the number of people sitting about with their hand lggage waiting to be called to disembark. You knew it would soon be your turn!

In my opinion it was a strange feeling as if your holiday was really over a day early.

I know with a ship the size of Ventura this is the only way to move passengers to and from UK but thats my impression.

I didnt like Ventura - I think its the extra deck of cabins - more people but no more deck space.

Thats apart from the fights and arson attempts over last Christmas.

There is of course no middle ground with Ventura you eithe love or hate her.

regards Alan

[capasamari]

We are on her this Christmas and have booked C-deck balconies to have a bit of private outdoor space. We plan to have our last day out and about in Barbados, have done the "sitting about waiting" before and yes it is a bit of a non-day. Hoping there won't be any fights this year!

 

We were on the August weekender and were really impressed with the ship, though not so sure about the evening entertainment. We ate on early sitting, went to the show, very good so far, then seemed to drift from bar to bar looking for something to happen. Wanted a dance/disco but couldn't seem to find anything much before 12.45am in Metropolis, so it made it rather a long evening. Any suggestions? Did we miss something??

 

Hoping for some livelier nightlife for Christmas and New Year!

 

Carol x

[MattyBarlow]

The extra night on board in Barbados didnt work for me. Our extra night was at the end and the last complete day on board was in a way spoilt because of the number of people sitting about with their hand lggage waiting to be called to disembark. You knew it would soon be your turn!

In my opinion it was a strange feeling as if your holiday was really over a day early.

I know with a ship the size of Ventura this is the only way to move passengers to and from UK but thats my impression.

 

We have things planned on shore so it wont really bother us.

[sarar]

Yes we will go ashore as well. Might even take the parents clubbing, if they behave themselves!!

[vizzog]

To all those who have that last day in Barbados. We have always either walked along the seafront into Bridgetown and on to Carlisle Bay beautiful huge sandy bay. If you want some action checkout The Boatyard they do have there own web page if you google it. A day package is " Beach Lounge Chair * Complementary Cocktail, Juice or Soft Drink * Rope Swing from Pier * Ocean Trampolines * Iceberg Rock-climb and water Slide * Bar * Restaurant * Fresh Water Showers * Changing Rooms * Beach Games * Free Shuttle back to Cruise Ship" If its too busy for you there is about 2 miles of white sand bay to find yourself somewhere more quiet. It takes about 20/30 mins walk from the cruise pier to get here.

 

We have also gone the other way from the cruise ship and taken a taxi to Malibu Beach Club and distillery its about a 10 min taxi ride from the ship, you can see the cruise terminal from the beach. Again it cost us about $5 dollars each for a tour of the distillery a few free rums and a malibu cocktail included and a beach chair on a beautiful beach! (3 yrs ago so might be more now) The taxi returned at an agreed time think we paid about $20 for 4 of us.

 

Another time we sailed with "Cool Runnings" a catamaran along the coast to Sandy Lane beach and swam with the turtles they run excursions about 5 mins from the cruise pier think you can book independently or through the ship. We went on the all day cruise drinks and lunch included about $50 each tho but probably one of the best trips we have ever done. (might have had something to do with the endless rum and cokes!!) The crew were fantastic and the kids onboard had a ball.

 

How can anyone sit onboard waiting to go??? What are they missing on this beautiful island in the sun. Apart from the Turtle trip we have done the others on our last day before our flight home!!

[BrianI]

On Ventura you always get three days in Barbados, one full day, which is either at the beginning or end depending whether you fly Fri or Sat, one day when you travel out, albeit short, and one day at the end when you fly home late in the day.

Brian

[honeymooner2009]

hi we fly out this year on 19th dec {n929a} and we get the extra day at the end of the cruise as you seemed to do.found it interesting that you seem to get quite a long day with plenty of opportunity to do as you please,can youtell me what sort of time then do we actually dis-embark on the last day ?

[sarar]

We get back to Barbados on Friday 4th Nov at 8am, stay on the ship in port that night, and catch a flight next day at 5.55pm from Barbados and get back in to Gatwick on Sunday morning.

[stopgo]

On Ventura you always get three days in Barbados, one full day, which is either at the beginning or end depending whether you fly Fri or Sat, one day when you travel out, albeit short, and one day at the end when you fly home late in the day.

Brian

Not sure on your definition of three days Brian. I would say one full day and a few hours for the other two days. Last year flying out the flight was delayed, flying from the north your's one of last anyway. So by the time we reached the Ventura it was ready to set sail. On the return the flight it went just after lunch, so had a few hours between breakfast and lunch. Sorry to pull you up on that Brian, but I think it's misleading to say you get three days in Barbados when it's nothing of the sort.

[jenniwreni]

hi we fly out this year on 19th dec {n929a} and we get the extra day at the end of the cruise as you seemed to do.found it interesting that you seem to get quite a long day with plenty of opportunity to do as you please,can youtell me what sort of time then do we actually dis-embark on the last day ?

 

Our flight back home was late afternoon, so we managed a trip out on the catamaran swimming with turtles, a little shopping in the terminal, then thankfully, fellow travellers who were staying the extra day lent us their room to shower and change (rather than using the facilities in the spa which we heard later were a bit cramped that day!) and then a leisurely lunch before leaving for the airport about 3ish.

 

We didnt realise pick up would be so late, and therefore we hadnt booked a trip/tour for that day, but thankfully there were some places left on the turtle trip by the time we realised this!

 

Jenni

[retiredbrit]

Originally Posted by retiredbrit

The extra night on board in Barbados didnt work for me. Our extra night was at the end and the last complete day on board was in a way spoilt because of the number of people sitting about with their hand lggage waiting to be called to disembark. You knew it would soon be your turn!

In my opinion it was a strange feeling as if your holiday was really over a day early.

I know with a ship the size of Ventura this is the only way to move passengers to and from UK but thats my impression.

 

To clarify of course there is plenty to do on a complete day in Barbados - our day was at the end of our cruise and the first thing we noticed as we went to breakfast was people sitting waiting for their departure slot to be called, usually dressed in their UK "fly home" clothes, and of course the announcements "passengers with blue tickets make your way to the dock for your coach". I imagine this goes on all day at least it was when we got back on board later. For mne it created a strange feeling of a cruise ending a day early!!

It is the first time we had experinced this, in fact I didnt realise what was happening. I did see two different departure dates being advertised after we had booked - but ignored it by that time I had booked.

I dont know if any other ship / cruise line operates this way or only Ventura where all / majority of their flights from the UK are charter. I suppose to moving 3000 plus people to and from UK on a single day is more than they can cope with.

regards Alan