Ventura bungee trampolines removed

[littlesteelo]

According to those on the P&O forums, P&O have finally removed the bungee trampolines from deck 19 on Ventura. I heard back in July that they were going to do this, so it was expected, especially as the trapeze was removed a couple of years ago for the sports court.

 

Seems a bit of a shame really, they were very fun, and everyone seemed to enjoy them. Just one less reason for families to book Ventura over an RCI ship I guess. I know it doesn't matter to most people on here, but it shows that the whole family focus they were raving about back in 2008 seems to be slowly going down the pan.

[marylizcat]

Yes, I agree. Our son loved them and went on it every day. It was something which gave Ventura an edge over the other ships. We couldn't go back on Ventura now. He would be too disappointed that they were gone.

 

It seems such a shame, simply to put out a few more sunbeds.

[littlesteelo]

Yes, I agree. Our son loved them and went on it every day. It was something which gave Ventura an edge over the other ships. We couldn't go back on Ventura now. He would be too disappointed that they were gone.

 

It seems such a shame, simply to put out a few more sunbeds.

 

I think if I had to do P&O again, it would be Azura, as she has the outdoor movie screen, which gives her the edge now.

[littlesteelo]

Plus I sailed on her at the height of the summer holidays, and there was no problem with sun loungers at all. I don't see why they needed to add more.

[Denarius]

Plus I sailed on her at the height of the summer holidays, and there was no problem with sun loungers at all. I don't see why they needed to add more.

Unless they are compensating in advance for those they will take away when the front end becomes The Retreat - I would not put this past P&O!

[MattyBarlow]

Unless they are compensating in advance for those they will take away when the front end becomes The Retreat - I would not put this past P&O!

 

This plus the addition of sea screen and glass house will come in March 2013.

[mrspjotter]

In my opinion P&O could never be compared to RCI with regards to great ships for kids to cruise on - they need to look at their pool depths for starters!

[littlesteelo]

This plus the addition of sea screen and glass house will come in March 2013.

 

Glass house yes, sea screen probably not. Where would they put it? I know on the early grand class they put it above the outdoor pool, but there is a huge curved steel wall there which they cut cut out a section and attach it to. On Ventura, this is a glass surrounded section with sun loungers up there. I don't think they could put a screen up. Also, removing the magrodome to put it in is not really an option.

[littlesteelo]

In my opinion P&O could never be compared to RCI with regards to great ships for kids to cruise on - they need to look at their pool depths for starters!

 

I agree about the pool depths, they are ridiculously deep. The deep end of the beachcomber pool was over 2 metres!

[Longislandtea]

I agree about the pool depths, they are ridiculously deep. The deep end of the beachcomber pool was over 2 metres!

 

 

Yippy a pool I can dive into. About time! .... I'm booking on Ventura now. :p

[William Hartnell]

Yippy a pool I can dive into. About time! .... I'm booking on Ventura now. :p

 

No Jumping and No Diving signs will have to be removed first :rolleyes: otherwise the old grumpies will have you removed by security! :eek:

[littlesteelo]

No Jumping and No Diving signs will have to be removed first :rolleyes: otherwise the old grumpies will have you removed by security! :eek:

 

The trick is to go swimming at midnight like I did - whole pool to yourself and nobody around to stop you jumping! :D

[MattyBarlow]

Glass house yes, sea screen probably not. Where would they put it? I know on the early grand class they put it above the outdoor pool, but there is a huge curved steel wall there which they cut cut out a section and attach it to. On Ventura, this is a glass surrounded section with sun loungers up there. I don't think they could put a screen up. Also, removing the magrodome to put it in is not really an option.

 

Where there's a will there's a way :-) retro fitting stuff these days is a piece of cake. As you say star and Golden Princess have it.

[littlesteelo]

Where there's a will there's a way :-) retro fitting stuff these days is a piece of cake. As you say star and Golden Princess have it.

 

True, but retrofitting a seascreen wouldn't make them money. The glass house and the retreat yes, but P&O aren't like Princess and RCI, they don't add things which won't directly make them more money from their ships. Their drydocks tend to consist of general refurbishment, not big jobs. The only recent big job I can think of was adding those extra balconies onto Arcadia, and that was to make more money.

[MattyBarlow]

True, but retrofitting a seascreen wouldn't make them money. The glass house and the retreat yes, but P&O aren't like Princess and RCI, they don't add things which won't directly make them more money from their ships. Their drydocks tend to consist of general refurbishment, not big jobs. The only recent big job I can think of was adding those extra balconies onto Arcadia, and that was to make more money.

 

I guess we will have to see what the final plans turn out to be.

[William Hartnell]

The trick is to go swimming at midnight like I did - whole pool to yourself and nobody around to stop you jumping! :D

 

As long as you don't jump into an empty pool or get caught in the net like a fish you'll be OK ;) :p

[marylizcat]

According to those on the P&O forums, P&O have finally removed the bungee trampolines from deck 19 on Ventura. I heard back in July that they were going to do this, so it was expected, especially as the trapeze was removed a couple of years ago for the sports court.

 

Seems a bit of a shame really, they were very fun, and everyone seemed to enjoy them. Just one less reason for families to book Ventura over an RCI ship I guess. I know it doesn't matter to most people on here, but it shows that the whole family focus they were raving about back in 2008 seems to be slowly going down the pan.

It seems like they are turning Ventura into a clone of Azura and making her much less family friendly than when she was launched. I supose they have decided to leave the families to go on Independence of the Seas and just aim at the adults and those with babies, for which they cater well. We have been on Azura and much preferred Ramblas to the Glass House too - a much more cheerful decor! They seem to have decided the new style of Ventura was a mistake and to revert to the old traditional style of ships.

[MattyBarlow]

They would be better off taking venturas best features and putting them on Azura!

[littlesteelo]

It seems like they are turning Ventura into a clone of Azura and making her much less family friendly than when she was launched. I supose they have decided to leave the families to go on Independence of the Seas and just aim at the adults and those with babies, for which they cater well. We have been on Azura and much preferred Ramblas to the Glass House too - a much more cheerful decor! They seem to have decided the new style of Ventura was a mistake and to revert to the old traditional style of ships.

 

The thing is that it wasn't a mistake at all. I'm 17, and spent most of my time on the ship in the teen club. That was good, but there were times we were a bit bored of the activities and things like the bungee trampolines were a good option to have. Unfortunately towards the end P&O had cut down the times to an hour each morning, so there was sometimes nothing to do.

On Independence you could go and climb the wall, go ice skating, play mini golf or go on the flowrider, and I definitely missed that on Ventura, where you were constantly stuck in the teen club.

 

Honestly, there is no comparison between the two ships when it comes to kids. One had loads of activities and fun things to do, the other has very little. You should never be bored on a cruise, but sometimes I was on Ventura. I suspect Carol Marlow has something to do with this...:rolleyes:

[Denarius]

True, but retrofitting a seascreen wouldn't make them money. The glass house and the retreat yes, but P&O aren't like Princess and RCI, they don't add things which won't directly make them more money from their ships. Their drydocks tend to consist of general refurbishment, not big jobs. The only recent big job I can think of was adding those extra balconies onto Arcadia, and that was to make more money.

Agree, sadly, that any alterations that P&O make will be aimed at enhancing revenue rather than enhancing the cruise experience. So a Retreat is a real (unfortunate) possibility, as is the conversion of Ramblas to Glasshouse with more emphasis on extra charge dining and high profit margin wines.

As regards extra cabins, when Oriana was to be made adults only I had hoped that the space presently occupied by the childrens clubs would have been used for a bar lounge opening out onto the deck behind it. Instead we are getting, surprise surprise, additional cabins. Azura has additional cabins taking up half of what on Ventura is the Excange. Will Ventura eventually follow suit? It would not surprise me in the least.

[Denarius]

I suspect Carol Marlow has something to do with this...:rolleyes:

You could well be right. Since her arrival P&O appears to me to be a company in chaos, unsure of which part of the cruise market it is in or which it wants to be in. A clear marketing strategy appears to be totally absent.

[MattyBarlow]

You could well be right. Since her arrival P&O appears to me to be a company in chaos, unsure of which part of the cruise market it is in or which it wants to be in. A clear marketing strategy appears to be totally absent.

 

Clearly she has managed to do what all the other dinosaurs didn't!!

[littlesteelo]

Agree, sadly, that any alterations that P&O make will be aimed at enhancing revenue rather than enhancing the cruise experience. So a Retreat is a real (unfortunate) possibility, as is the conversion of Ramblas to Glasshouse with more emphasis on extra charge dining and high profit margin wines.

As regards extra cabins, when Oriana was to be made adults only I had hoped that the space presently occupied by the childrens clubs would have been used for a bar lounge opening out onto the deck behind it. Instead we are getting, surprise surprise, additional cabins. Azura has additional cabins taking up half of what on Ventura is the Exchange. Will Ventura eventually follow suit? It would not surprise me in the least.

 

Couldn't have put it better. I thought Ramblas was nice, but the food didn't seem that good. Maybe something to do with having the same menu for 3 years. The pictures of the food in the Glass House look fantastic though, so maybe it won't be too bad. This isn't a Carnival Corp. thing, as they have just announced massive upgrades to all their ships, and Princess have been adding loads of features to their older ships over the past few years. It's just P&O's ship refurbs which are lacking. I know we are all just money machines, but they should at least make sailing with them worthwhile, and start adding features instead of removing them.

[CruiseLuvver]

Plus I sailed on her at the height of the summer holidays, and there was no problem with sun loungers at all. I don't see why they needed to add more.

 

Particularly as the glass section mentioned hardly ever had anyone using the sun loungers. Great place for a nice quiet read, and had shade as well.

[marylizcat]

The thing is that it wasn't a mistake at all. I'm 17, and spent most of my time on the ship in the teen club. That was good, but there were times we were a bit bored of the activities and things like the bungee trampolines were a good option to have. Unfortunately towards the end P&O had cut down the times to an hour each morning, so there was sometimes nothing to do.

On Independence you could go and climb the wall, go ice skating, play mini golf or go on the flowrider, and I definitely missed that on Ventura, where you were constantly stuck in the teen club.

 

Honestly, there is no comparison between the two ships when it comes to kids. One had loads of activities and fun things to do, the other has very little. You should never be bored on a cruise, but sometimes I was on Ventura. I suspect Carol Marlow has something to do with this...:rolleyes:

I agree. We have also been on IOS and there was so much for my son to do, as you say. P & O should be thinking about adding more things like water slides and climbing walls, not taking away things like the bungee trampolines. They are moving in completely the wrong direction if they want to attract families with teenagers. And they should remember that those teenagers are the adult cruisers of tomorrow.