Too good to say no!

[DevonianCruiser]

Not been on P & O since 2001. Tried loads of lines since and never thought I'd go back as I get excellent perks on RC and NCL, but the deal was too good to turn down.

 

Two weeks on Ventura in the Caribbean, December 6th, balcony cabin for under a thousand is fantastic. Managed to get the supplement from Cardiff wiped off and onboard credit. Incredible value really. Paod extra to upgrade to premium economy.

 

As its been so long and I've been on completely different type of ships ive no idea what to expect. Looking forward to two weeks in the Caribbean seeing some of my favourite Islands :-)

[samur]

did you book direct with P&O?

[DevonianCruiser]

No as they had an £80 supplement from Cardiff and no onboard credit. Living in Devon the flight was more appealing as its 1 1/2 less than Gatwick.

[Scuttlebutter]

I did this cruise last year as a single in a Superior balcony for the same amount as you. It was a great cruise.

[DevonianCruiser]

I did this cruise last year as a single in a Superior balcony for the same amount as you. It was a great cruise.

 

Nice to hear. Having mixed up our cruises were open to trying P & O again. The itinerary and flights is incredible value. Few questions if anyone can help:

 

How many formal nights on a 14 night cruise? And are dinner suits still worm by the majority or just dark suits?

Are prices for drinks, trips and the casino all still in sterling?

Do they have soft drink, wine or alcohol packages onboard?

 

Many thanks

[indiana123]

Sterling is used.

 

Dinner suits outnumbered lounge suits quite a bit, but lounge suits were fine and didn't look out of place at all. Indeed, they were not out of place.

 

Don't know about drinks packages at all.

[Turbofun]

Sterling is used.

 

Dinner suits outnumbered lounge suits quite a bit, but lounge suits were fine and didn't look out of place at all. Indeed, they were not out of place.

 

Our experience too, however I do think that rather than a dark lounge suit, a linen suit is more appropriate in the Caribbean.

I take a dinner suit and a linen suit, to wear as my mood dictates.

[the english lady]

Our experience too, however I do think that rather than a dark lounge suit, a linen suit is more appropriate in the Caribbean.

I take a dinner suit and a linen suit, to wear as my mood dictates.

 

A linen suit would be fine for jacket required nights, on formal nights tuxes/dark suits are what most of the others on the ship will be wearing.

Not sure how the bars that require dress code and the mdr would view a linen suit on formal nights..one is assuming you mean a cream linen suit.

A linen suit gets very creased very quickly.

You can purchase a wine package onboard, but that's about it.

[kruzseeka]

On the P&O website you can pull up their wine packages to see the price and which wines are included with the usual rider about being subject to availability.

[DevonianCruiser]

Great, thanks for all your answers ;)

 

Our flight back from Barbados isn't until 6pm, what time do they transfer us to the ship? Do we get to stay on the ship until the afternoon?

 

Looking at the booking options I'm going on the 6th but I could also have gone on the 5th, do half the ship go early and have a day in Barbados and the other half fly later and have their day in Barbados at the end of the holiday? Never known this on a cruise before. Thanks.

[kruzseeka]

Great, thanks for all your answers ;)

 

Our flight back from Barbados isn't until 6pm, what time do they transfer us to the ship? Do we get to stay on the ship until the afternoon?

 

Looking at the booking options I'm going on the 6th but I could also have gone on the 5th, do half the ship go early and have a day in Barbados and the other half fly later and have their day in Barbados at the end of the holiday? Never known this on a cruise before. Thanks.

 

They will take you at an appropriate time for your flight - about 3 hours before departure time(?). Until you are due to leave you can come and go as usual so have time to do something off the ship in the morning should you wish.

 

Yes you've worked out the difference between the 5/6th itineraries. Either a full day in Barbados to start your cruise or a full day before departure. I've not done a cruise like that before either but can see how it might assist the logistics of flying a lot of passengers to and fro plus I guess it staggers the cabin stewards huge work load at the end of cruises over two days. (Although they may prefer one very heavy day and get it over with - hats off to them though they do work hard!)

 

Well done on getting your bargain. Enjoy.

[Northern Miss]

Great, thanks for all your answers ;)

 

Our flight back from Barbados isn't until 6pm, what time do they transfer us to the ship? Do we get to stay on the ship until the afternoon?

 

Looking at the booking options I'm going on the 6th but I could also have gone on the 5th, do half the ship go early and have a day in Barbados and the other half fly later and have their day in Barbados at the end of the holiday? Never known this on a cruise before. Thanks.

 

We did this trip in January and opted for the last day in Barbados. We booked the 'Farewell to Barbados' trip with P&O which included stops at places of interest followed by a visit to one of the old Plantation houses which is now a museum. After a guided tour of the house, we were hosted to a very nice lunch in the garden then taken to the airport in time for our flight home. It was magical, and left us with fond memories of Barbados.

 

Maggs

[NauticalMiss]

Last year, we had an extra day in Barbados at the end of the cruise. On our penultimate day, we went on the turtle excursion. It was an 8:30am start which meant that passengers leaving that day could do the excursion before they departed for the airport. Then on our last day, we did the Farewell to Barbados excursion which dropped us at the airport.

 

This year, we are having our extra day in Barbados at the start of the cruise. On our very last day, we have booked the turtle excursion again (we loved it!) which gives us something to do, and then we will return to the ship, get freshened up and wait for the journey to the airport. It's all very slick and easy.

[DevonianCruiser]

Thanks guys some useful info.

 

Just thought we have nearly two days in Barbados at the end of the cruise then which is a great bonus as its one of my favourite Islands. Nearly booked a week in Barbados the other day and it was more expensive than this entire cruise and upgraded flight. So glad I waited and found this :D

[soobs]

Check out the roll call for the Ventura 5/6 December cruise it needs to see a bit more activity

[DevonianCruiser]

Check out the roll call for the Ventura 5/6 December cruise it needs to see a bit more activity

 

I did yesterday, dropped by and said hello :)

[soobs]

You were lucky with the upgraded flight there were none left from Manchester when we booked last Friday. We have managed to get extra leg room on the inbound flight at a cost of £40 each, no extra leg room on the outbound unfortunately we are just going to take pot luck I think.

This is our 3rd cruise with P & O and we find the product is really good value for money.

We arrive on the 5th so have the day in Barbados at the start, we find the last day is nice and quiet on board as most people are off the ship, the one thing you couldn't do whilst the ship was docked in Barbados was use the washing machine's so if you want to do some washing don't wait till Barbados (this has been the same for all our days docked in Barbados)

[Wull92]

Nice to hear. Having mixed up our cruises were open to trying P & O again. The itinerary and flights is incredible value. Few questions if anyone can help:

 

How many formal nights on a 14 night cruise? And are dinner suits still worm by the majority or just dark suits?

Are prices for drinks, trips and the casino all still in sterling?

Do they have soft drink, wine or alcohol packages onboard?

 

Many thanks

 

There will be 4 formal nights I would imagine.You can pre purchase wine,soft drinks and coffee packages. Our wine has worked out at £15 a bottle that`s taking the 9 bottle package.

Have a great cruise.

Regards

Pauline

[DevonianCruiser]

You were lucky with the upgraded flight there were none left from Manchester when we booked last Friday. We have managed to get extra leg room on the inbound flight at a cost of £40 each, no extra leg room on the outbound unfortunately we are just going to take pot luck I think.

This is our 3rd cruise with P & O and we find the product is really good value for money.

We arrive on the 5th so have the day in Barbados at the start, we find the last day is nice and quiet on board as most people are off the ship, the one thing you couldn't do whilst the ship was docked in Barbados was use the washing machine's so if you want to do some washing don't wait till Barbados (this has been the same for all our days docked in Barbados)

 

Barbados is my favourite port so it's nice to have a couple of days there, ours at the end and yours either side. I normally only fly Virgin or BA as I use miles for upgrades, but a colleague did this cruise last year and said Thomson's were fine. He seemed to think that the seats were similar size to Virgin so hopefully flight will be good :)

[DevonianCruiser]

There will be 4 formal nights I would imagine.You can pre purchase wine,soft drinks and coffee packages. Our wine has worked out at £15 a bottle that`s taking the 9 bottle package.

Have a great cruise.

Regards

Pauline

 

Thanks Pauline, yes 4 formal nights. £15 a bottle seemed reasonable :)

[soobs]

Last time we only had 3 formal nights which were all on sea days and as one of the sea days was the last night for those people who arrived on the Friday it wasn't a formal night. Gettin formal clothes in suitcases and outside doors for midnight would be a bit of a pain.

 

Not sure if they will do this again we will have to wait and see what people say on the November cruises, they could do a fomal night on one of the early sailings after a day in port?