Selbourne ‘Live’ from Ventura

[terrierjohn]

 

 

My son's girlfriend is vegetarian and family in Sicily bought meat free arancini for her, which contained ham!

 

 

 

 

Is that the Italian version of meat free?😄

Edited November 6, 2023 by terrierjohn

[lincslady]

My daughter's Jewish school friend came for lunch, and I realised she could not eat ham, so I suggested sausages instead - I hasten to add this was very many years ago, when we were all less aware.  I got teased about it for years.

[Selbourne]

On 11/5/2023 at 9:02 PM, TigerB said:

 

Interesting information, thanks. We dock in Lanzarote for the first time next February. It will be on a Saturday for us though.

At least, on the way back home we will have an overnight stay in Lisbon.

Spoke to a couple yesterday who walked from the ship but turned right at the port exit, rather than left toward Arrecife, and said it was a nice walk and a better bet than Arrecife. Can’t confirm that though. 

[Selbourne]

14 hours ago, DamianG said:

 

We had a creaking cabin on Aurora many years ago. It was resolved by an engineer spraying WD40 in multiple places where the furnishings (e.g. wardrobes etc.) met the ceiling. 

Interesting because I’m hoping to have a positive story to tell in a day or two on a similar vein 😂 

[Selbourne]

 

Day 9 - Sunday 5th November (Part 2)

 

Very soon after departure from Lanzarote the sea became quite choppy and the ship started to move around a lot. Sickness bags appeared around the ship again. We didn’t risk Metropolis for our pre-dinner drink, as being located on deck 18 aft the movement and vibration up there is very noticeable. 

 

We decided to go the atrium on deck 5 as it is low down and midships. Clearly many other people had adopted the same strategy, as it was very busy and getting a seat was a challenge, but we eventually found a a space on a table with a couple that we had enjoyed lunch with previously. 

 

When we arrived for dinner our waiters were most concerned that my wife might have been feeling poorly the previous night, so were very relieved when we explained that the reason for our absence was purely because we had been to the Beach House! There are still only 13 of us dining in a section with 28 covers, so this is clearly how it’s going to be for the whole cruise, yet for some reason the waiters still have to lay and clear these unused tables every evening! 

 

The evening theatre show was the two guys who do the Morecombe & Wise tribute act and usually appear in the Limelight Club on the larger ships. They’ve never appealed (I didn’t find the real Morecombe & Wise terribly funny even back in their heyday) but, as it was free, I decided to go (my wife wasn’t interested at all, so went to bed). As impersonators, they had both their mannerisms spot on and, in the case of the chap playing Eric Morecombe, the voice as well. I’m afraid that’s where the positives ended for me. I just didn’t find the act funny in the slightest, but the chap behind me clearly enjoyed it immensely. It just goes to show that we all like different things. I wasn’t alone though, as I noticed a few people leaving throughout the performance. I stayed to the end and then went to bed. The amount of rocking (and creaking) was almost back to the levels that we’d endured on our outward crossing of the Bay of Biscay. A most likely choppy sea day awaits tomorrow. 

 

 

[Selbourne]

Day 10 - Monday 6th November (Sea day)

 

The sea had been rough all night with a lot of rocking, shuddering and creaking again. In spite of this we had managed to sleep, albeit somewhat on and off in my case. Clocks have gone forward an hour overnight in readiness for our final calls in Spain and Portugal. I hadn’t appreciated before this cruise that Madeira and the Canaries were in the same time zone as the UK. 

 

With the combination of the clock change and the choppiness we decided against breakfast and thought that we go to the  coffee shop in the atrium for a drink and pastry. As with the night before, we were not alone in this thinking and we had to pounce on a shared table when one couple left. The remaining couple got chatting to us and asked if we had seen the Eric & Ern act the night before. Sensing that they might be fans, I just said that as impersonations I thought that they were very good, but I was probably in a small minority that didn’t find the act very funny. I was rather surprised when the chap replied that he suspected that I was most likely in a significant majority 😂 

 

Before we knew it we had to dash off to the Caribbean tier Peninsular loyalty lunch in the Bay Tree at midday. Those who read my ‘Live’ blog from Britannia in July may recall that this was a real highlight of the cruise for us and that we had enjoyed it immensely. Unfortunately our experience on  Ventura today wasn’t quite in the same league. 

 

It took a while (and me asking) before those on our table were offered any drinks, the wine was the white and red House plonk which nobody on our table liked (I’m sure that on Britannia we had two really nice wines) and the food was not as good as we’d had at the loyalty lunch on Britannia. The latter surprised me, as we were in the MDR that we dine in every night and has been excellent. 

 

On Britannia the Captain had attended and welcomed us, thanked us for our loyalty and given us an update. We didn’t get that today, just a brief welcome from the loyalty manager.  Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a bad meal at all, and it was still a nice experience, but it didn’t feel anywhere near as ‘special’ as it had on Britannia. It’s odd how these things can vary so much ship to ship. We shall be interested to see how it is on Aurora in January. I suspect on that cruise the majority of passengers will be in high loyalty tiers!

 

As always, it’s nice to chat to fellow long term cruisers. The lady next to me also asked if I’d gone to the Eric & Ern show (it’s obviously a hot topic of conversation today) and she hadn’t enjoyed it either. She had an interesting perspective. She had seen the act twice before - one in a Limelight Club where she said it worked well and once in the main theatre on Aurora where she said it was embarrassing how many people were walking out. Her take was that the act doesn’t work on a big stage. That makes sense, as friends of ours saw their act in the Limelight Club on Britannia and enjoyed it. 

 

After lunch we went to the ORCA talk given by Holly. She is excellent, with a very engaging presentation style. 

 

I forgot to mention that at long last we have a guest lecturer on board. I cannot provide any feedback as the subject matter wasn’t of interest. The talk was entitled “Happiness: The Secret and Science of Joy”. It seems as though P&O are really embracing the whole “wellness” thing. On the basis that I suspect that this lecturers other talks will all be in a similar vein, I doubt we will be attending any talks this cruise! We really miss the excellent special interest talks that seem to now be as rare as hens teeth on P&O. 

 

The rough seas have continued all day and clearly are predicted to continue tonight, as the Headliners performance has been postponed and a comedian is stepping in. We went to Metropolis for pre dinner drinks and the excellent pianist was performing. 

 

It was the third formal night and the menu was very good. We both commented that our dinner had been better than the loyalty lunch. Our assistant waiter was missing. Apparently he is in the medical centre with some sort of virus. Hope that he’s Ok. Tomorrow is Cadiz.

[Selbourne]

Last nights menu

[Selbourne]

Iona is also in Cadiz today and as the biggest show in town has claimed pole position. As a result, we have been relegated to the further our berth where we have to use a port shuttle bus. First time that we’ve not berthed in the better spot. We are back here next year on Cunard’s Queen Anne, when I hope that normal service will be resumed 😂 

 

[Bin man]

What time do you sale tonight we go at 5pm on iona 

[sandancer]

23 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Iona is also in Cadiz today and as the biggest show in town has claimed pole position. As a result, we have been relegated to the further our berth where we have to use a port shuttle bus. First time that we’ve not berthed in the better spot. We are back here next year on Cunard’s Queen Anne, when I hope that normal service will be resumed 😂 

 

 

I like the look of that lovely blue sky. We were on Azura a couple of weeks ago and Cadiz was the only port where we had bad weather. It was so windy that the captain delayed sailing from 9.30 to 4.30 next morning. 

[Selbourne]

31 minutes ago, Bin man said:

What time do you sale tonight we go at 5pm on iona 

I think it’s all on board at 5.45pm so I suspect we will leave around 6.30pm. We have been cruising at 17 knots. I think that Iona goes slower so needs longer?

[Selbourne]

24 minutes ago, sandancer said:

I like the look of that lovely blue sky. We were on Azura a couple of weeks ago and Cadiz was the only port where we had bad weather. It was so windy that the captain delayed sailing from 9.30 to 4.30 next morning. 

Yes it’s glorious here. Still quite cool (13 degrees) but due to reach 18 degrees. 

[purplesea]

28 minutes ago, sandancer said:

I like the look of that lovely blue sky. We were on Azura a couple of weeks ago and Cadiz was the only port where we had bad weather. It was so windy that the captain delayed sailing from 9.30 to 4.30 next morning. 

We were on Iona in January last year and Cadiz was the only day of the of the fortnight we had rain. It also happened to my birthday too!😒

[sandancer]

Someone on the cruise commented that it always rained when she was in Cadiz. We have been many times and never had bad weather before. We are on Iona at New Year so we’ll take a brolly haha. 

[purplesea]

24 minutes ago, sandancer said:

Someone on the cruise commented that it always rained when she was in Cadiz. We have been many times and never had bad weather before. We are on Iona at New Year so we’ll take a brolly haha. 

The say is always rains in Bergen, but we have always had good weather when we have docked there.

Edited November 7, 2023 by purplesea

[jeanlyon]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Last nights menu

That was another menu that left me cold.  I had the "always available" steak and it was tough!.

[jeanlyon]

Be thankful you weren't on Saga Spirit of Discovery in the Bay of Biscay between Bilbao and La Rochelle.  She did a violent lurch to the left and 100 passengers are injured, 5 badly.  It was on the BBC news this morning.

[Megabear2]

1 minute ago, jeanlyon said:

That was another menu that left me cold.  I had the "always available" steak and it was tough!.

Perhaps you should just give up or use the buffet. I get the impression these menus are fleet wide and probably here for the foreseeable.

[Fionboard]

3 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Perhaps you should just give up or use the buffet. I get the impression these menus are fleet wide and probably here for the foreseeable.

They are, and I always find something I like. If not, there is always chips and mayo! 

[TigerB]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Iona is also in Cadiz today and as the biggest show in town has claimed pole position. As a result, we have been relegated to the further our berth where we have to use a port shuttle bus. First time that we’ve not berthed in the better spot. We are back here next year on Cunard’s Queen Anne, when I hope that normal service will be resumed 😂 

 

 

Back at you....

 

We saw you on our telly earlier, backing in just after 07:00. It was dark but I could tell it was Ventura because of her big flat backside 🫢

 

I thought it looked like you were a little farther out. We've seen TUI coaches going back an forth, but there isn't a TUI ship in, is there? I wondered if they were being used for shuttles.

[JeanieC,Aston]

18 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Perhaps you should just give up or use the buffet. I get the impression these menus are fleet wide and probably here for the foreseeable.

Hi

I don’t know about the foreseeable,but that menu and others seem to have been with us for years.

On every P&O cruise I have the Asparagus and poached egg,,,,,Bouillabaisse,,,and Atlantic haddock every time I see that menu and very nice it’s been too.Those who cruise P&O know those menus off by heart yet still complain and book P&O.

 

If I disliked every menu all the time like some do I wouldn’t cruise with that line.

 

[JeanieC,Aston]

25 minutes ago, Fionboard said:

They are, and I always find something I like. If not, there is always chips and mayo! 

Hi

That saying is similar to the ‘the food no good but you won’t go hungry’..

Not good enough,if I’m paying a few £000 for a cruise I want better than chips and mayo.

[Selbourne]

35 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

That was another menu that left me cold.  I had the "always available" steak and it was tough!.

I had the Marco menu. Enjoyed it all. 

[Selbourne]

9 minutes ago, TigerB said:

Back at you....

 

We saw you on our telly earlier, backing in just after 07:00. It was dark but I could tell it was Ventura because of her big flat backside 🫢

 

I thought it looked like you were a little farther out. We've seen TUI coaches going back an forth, but there isn't a TUI ship in, is there? I wondered if they were being used for shuttles.

Yes the port shuttles are a mix of yellow busses, yellow coaches and Tui coaches. Don’t ask me why! Thought of you this morning. Had to go to the buffet for breakfast. Horrendous. Never mind preservegate, I have a buttergate story

to share later 😂 

[Fionboard]

6 minutes ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

Hi

That saying is similar to the ‘the food no good but you won’t go hungry’..

Not good enough,if I’m paying a few £000 for a cruise I want better than chips and mayo.

Chips and mayo is a treat for me as I rarely eat chips at home, and the ones on P&O are usually lovely. Otherwise I find the food very good and appreciate not having to cook or wash up!