Ventura 29th Jan 2010 for our honeymoon with 13 others tagging on!

[Ventura2010]

We are going on the Venura on 29th Jan 2010! We are going on our honeymoon and will have our daughter (2 n 3/4) 8 other adults (four couples) and four other children aged 10 to 15! Have seen that Noddy is on board....is the young kiddys club as good as its says it is? We may use it on days out at sea and maybe the odd night.

We are coming from Oxford and flying out of Gatwick. Cant wait. Any tips? And is anyone taking Maleryia tablets? for Dominica?

 

Thanks x

[Suebiker]

We are going on the Venura on 29th Jan 2010! We are going on our honeymoon and will have our daughter (2 n 3/4) 8 other adults (four couples) and four other children aged 10 to 15! Have seen that Noddy is on board....is the young kiddys club as good as its says it is? We may use it on days out at sea and maybe the odd night.

We are coming from Oxford and flying out of Gatwick. Cant wait. Any tips? And is anyone taking Maleryia tablets? for Dominica?

 

Thanks x

 

The kids club on Ventura is fantastic. The staff are great. The security is good and the range of activites is huge. When you board make sure you go to the family meeting which will tell you all about the kids club and the activities and then you will need to fill in all the paperwork. Once you have done that then it's just a case of signing the kids in or out . You may stay with them in the club or leave them it is up to you. You can phone them at any time to see if you child is ok or if you are worried ask for a pager.

Noddy frequently visits the kids club and there will be different activities daily - cooking,talent shows, circus shows, magic shows , fancy dress, art and crafts, Noddy Olympics, Noddy's Birthday Party to name but a few!!!!

 

They have a special kids tea every day at about 5pm - we found this ideal as we would take our daughter there for her tea and then take her to the magic show in Havana. This meant we could eat our meal in peace ( TBH - we never intended doing this but she got bored in the main dining room) After the show the staff would take DD up to the kids club where they would do activities til about 8pm ish. They then pull out beanbags and put on a film and turn the lights down to wind the kids down for the night. We found it possible to eat , watch a show and then pick DD up just after 9pm. You can leave them in the kids club til 10pm but after that you have to sign them into the night nursery. (something we didin't use).Our daughter loved it and can't wait to go again next year - she hasn't stopped talking about it!!!!!!!!

 

With regard to the Malaria tablet - check with your doctor - we never took them when we went several years ago. But things may have changed since then

 

Hope you have a fabulous time - good luck for the big day

 

Sue

[Johnthed0g]

Was going to say exactly as Sue did, but I haven't done it myself so I waited for someone who had, but you see so many reports along these lines that it must be OK most kids, it seems, don't want to leave the kids clubs! Another interesting comment is that "we left her there so we could dine in the restaurant as she got bored" I have told people this loads of times, the kids don't want to sit through a 2 hour waiter served dinner, & suggesting this doesn't make you a child hater!!....kids eat & move on

[lancashire_cruisers]

Hi

 

I'd echo everything Sue said. We've cruised as a family with P&O since our daughter was 2 (she's now 10) and been on all of the family friendly ships in the fleet.

 

The staff in the children's clubs are second to none and do a fantastic job in keeping them entertained - in fact you may struggle to get them off the ship to come home!

 

One thing that Sue didn't cover I don't think is that the older kids from 9 upwards are allowed to sign themselves in and out of the kids club and therefore wander freely around the ship. Now I know I'm stating the obvious but Ventura is a big girl and it's very easy to lose your bearings on her. Our daughter had her 9th birthday on board Ventura and she was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer size of the ship.

 

We agreed some ground rules with her before we went about where she could and couldn't go and how we would contact each other if needed. Some people won't like this but we bought a set of walkie talkies to take on board so that she was always able to get hold of us, but in the end she wasn't too confident in going off on her own and didn't want to sign herself in and out of the clubs. We explained this to the 'youthies' and they kept an eye on her.

 

Congratulations on your forthcoming nuptials and have a wonderful honeymoon.

 

Debbie:)

[Johnthed0g]

Good point, I wouldn't want a kiddie wandering about on a ship, the whole point of a kids club is that they are kept there I would think. (my wife thinks a "husbands club'' would be good!)

[Ventura2010]

Wow thankyou guys for your help.

 

What do the little ones do in the club. Painting ect? I know that Noddy is there!

[lancashire_cruisers]

Good point, I wouldn't want a kiddie wandering about on a ship, the whole point of a kids club is that they are kept there I would think. (my wife thinks a "husbands club'' would be good!)

 

Hi John

 

How are you? I hope you had a good Christmas. I must admit I'm not comfortable with P&O allowing the 9 to 11 age group to sign in and out of the kids club and think it would be better if they had the same rules as the younger children. Once they start high school they tend to become a bit more streetwise but primary school children generally aren't.

 

Our daughter was a bit more confident on Jewel of the Seas last August but some of the American kids were quite wild compared to their UK counterparts so DH and I kept a very close, but discreet, eye on what was going on.

 

Perhaps Mrs JTD should invest in some walkie talkies for your Azura cruise?:D

 

Debbie:)

[lancashire_cruisers]

Wow thankyou guys for your help.

 

What do the little ones do in the club. Painting ect? I know that Noddy is there!

 

Anything and everything is the short answer! They tend to have theme days for example pirate day, captain's coketail party, dinosaur day etc.

 

Normally there's a little party in the afternoon every couple of days or so and at the end of the cruise you'll get a cardboard folder with all the artwork they've done during the cruise.

 

Oh I nearly forgot there might even be magic shows as well. And pool olympics.

 

Debbie:)

[Johnthed0g]

Walkie talkie...she wants me somewhere she knows where I am, she doesn't need to talk? if she did it would be one way!! I mentioned the Husbands Crèche she said that the bar isn't it!

[lancashire_cruisers]

Walkie talkie...she wants me somewhere she knows where I am, she doesn't need to talk? if she did it would be one way!! I mentioned the Husbands Crèche she said that the bar isn't it!

 

OK then what about an electronic tag? She could restrict the areas of the ship you're allowed to go:D.

 

Debbie:)

[Johnthed0g]

More like her! keep out of the shops, I don't think she will fall for the " they don't sell this stuff, just for display" one again

[Ventura2010]

ummm can we get back to my post lol. Im a newbie and possible a one and only as its a special occasion

[Johnthed0g]

What else do want to know?

[jocap]

2 lots of grandparents complained to us that they'd come on the cruise to see more of their grandchildren.....and couldn't get them out of the kid's club! They were obviously well-looked after.-jocap.

[tom_uk]

Just one thought - there might not be that many other school age kids on Ventura at that time, it not being in the school holidays.

[lancashire_cruisers]

ummm can we get back to my post lol. Im a newbie and possible a one and only as its a special occasion

 

I'll consider myself well and truly told off:o! What else do you want to know??

 

Just saw Tom's post about maybe a lack of school age children on board if you email P&O quoting your booking reference they will be able to give you a breakdown of the numbers of children in each age group for your cruise.

 

Debbie:)

[jenniwreni]

No need for any tablets, we didn't last year and we went tramping through the "jungle", and suffered no ill effects.

 

Enjoy your cruise!!

 

Jenni