1st ever cruise on Ventura 6/12/08 Caribbean

[macalifrog]

Hi everyone,

 

Terribly nervous at having booked a cruise (a) because it's our very first one and (b) because I have a fear of drowning (seriously) but managed to survive the Tsunami in 2004 so I reckon I can just about handle that bit.:eek:

 

Has anyone got any tips?

 

We have chosen the Freedom eating as I have to follow a gluten free diet and was advised that this would be the best choice.

 

I have read on here that you can ask your steward for booze at around £10 a litre and then special offers on mixers - is this true??

 

Formal nights is it worth taking a DJ / bow tie (for husband) just to experience one night like this?? We we hoping to keep it all pretty casual.

 

Any help and tips would be most very welcome.

 

Thank you all for reading.:D

[stopgo]

Libralass41 will be along in the next hour to fill you in with all the possible

information you need plus endless photo's.

[chyanmor]

Formal nights is always worth taking a dj and bow tie for, as they are pretty much adhere'd to on P and O cruises. Royal caribbean slightly less!

 

We are going to the caribbean in just over a week and have packed 2 DJ's (white and black, one is for white and black night)few formal shirts and bow ties and wasitcoat.

 

As for spirits if that is the case I will quite happily spend my on board cc with the room steward :D

 

Do you know what your dress codes are and how long is it. For a 14 night you can expect at least 4 formal nights. We have the rest as smart casual yet the cruise after ours seems to formal (still 4), semi-formal and smart casual which means added weight to the already small 23 Kg's of luggage :(

 

Huw

[jakethepeg]

Hi,

My wife and I are booked for the Ventura 21st Nov.sailing around the carribean,we did the same last year and had a great holiday.

I note you are on a gluten free diet,,my wife is the same and last year she was treated like royalty at the dinner table,every item on menu was explained

we were very impressed (we were club dinning which meant we had same waiter every night).

Dinner suit for men is must,very few dont wear evening gear.

You will have a great time,good luck.

[Elaine0138]

The dress code is for the whole ship on Formal nights everyone will be dressed to the nines. Your hubby will need his DJ for the 4 formal nights.

We are on the same cruise but we are flying on the Friday.

[macalifrog]

Thanks for all your help so far.

 

It just goes to show you what the agents actually know and don't know about cruises because we were told formal nights (ours is a 14 nighter, so 4 x formals) were a take it or leave it thing and we didn't have to do it if we didn't want too!

 

I am also now worried that we have chosen (again on advice of agent) the wrong meal plan as we have gone for the Freedom and with me being Gluten Free maybe we should change that to the club dining?? Is it just a case of phoning P&O and changing it do you think??

 

We are flying on the Thursday and staying one night in a hotel - again on the advice of our TA - I have now learnt that the ship doesn't sail until the evening of the 6th so I don't know why he has arranged this!!

[BrianI]

You should inform P&O of your dietry requirements via your travel agent before you travel. P&O are very good at dealing with this and it should not make any difference which restaurant you are in. Check with the head waiter of your restaurant when you get on board to see if they have received your details. However in club dining you have the same waiters every night whereas in freedom you will have different waiters. Other than that the menus and restaurants are the same. You will not be the only one requiring gluten free. If you are flying out independently you will be responsible for getting to and from the ship, and the ship will not wait for you if you are late for any reason. Using the P&O charter flights, transfers are taken care of and the ship WILL wait if any are late. We have just come back from a two week Med cruise on Ventura and we enjoyed it very much. Dont miss the Masquerade and Chronicles theatre shows.

Brian

[Elaine0138]

Macalifrog

 

Sounds like your TA gave you a lot of wrong info. I take it you are flying on a schedule flight and not the P&O charter flights, which are on Friday and Saturday.

No harm in ringing P&O and ask if you can change from Freedom to Club dinning.

[macalifrog]

Thanks BrianI & Elaine for your replies,

 

I have already informed P&O of my gluten free and when I checked my booking with them online yesterday whilst registering passports / insurance etc. I noticed that they had me as a GF traveller.

Elaine - (might bump into you!!) we fly out on the 4th and stay for 1 night in a hotel close to the port - TA done this as we didn't want to "miss the boat" with flight delays. We are flying with Virgin. The reason we are not travelling with P&O Charters is due to the fact that we are staying an extra 4 days at the end of the cruise as we have friends in Barbados that we want to meet up with.

I am going to phone P&O this morning to see if we have been advised correctly re: meal plans as this would be important to us.

Can anyone tell me what sort of times the shows in the evening starts??

[Marmaduke]

Macalifrog,

Sorry to hear about the misinformation you were given by your travel agent. I suggest when you are on your cruise you chat to as many people as possible and find out which cruise agents they use. There are plenty of specialist agents out there who can give sound advice and good discounts too. Hope you enjoy your cruise.

[thames_side]

It is true that black tie is not compulsory on formal nights and there will be some in dark suits. However if you have the gear it is more fun to dress up - you don't get the chance that often!

[thames_side]

Sorry. Double post

[BrianI]

There are three evening shows, 7:15, 8:45, 11:00. The 8:45 show is usually quite crowded so if you are freedom dining go to the early show. The shows last around 50mins. At the same time there are other events on in the evening, solo singers, comedians etc in the Havana and Tamarind. You need to study the daily programme (Horizon) that is delivered to your cabin each evening to decide what you want to do.

Brian

[bigpete47uk]

 

 

I have read on here that you can ask your steward for booze at around £10 a litre and then special offers on mixers - is this true??

 

 

We were on Ventura Aug/Sept this year and Vodka was £11 per litre and mixers could also be ordered from your cabin steward at a knockdown, never to be repeated, bargain price of £6-75 (12 for the price of 9).

 

Pete.

[Beckyfaye-2008]

Have just returned from a 2 weeks cruise on Ventura around the med. 99.9% of people on board dressed up for the formal nights, those that did not, looked the odd ones out. If you dont have a tux, a dark suit will do, but again majority had a black tux also a white jacket to alternate with.

Cannot answer your question about the food or drink. However we had freedom dining which suited us fine, booked a table normally 2 days in advance, through the cabin telephone for 7pm (book as early as you can 7/30am to 8am in order to get a table of your choice) 7pm suited us as it allowed us to get to the 8/45pm show and then a cabaret act in one of the other venues at 10/15pm.

Regards a GF menu, although in club dining you have the same waiter each night to deal with your requirements, in freedom dining it is the head waiter of that restaurant who deals with all the special requirements, so no matter weather its freedom or club you will be looked after.

Happy sailing, hope you have an enjoyable cruise as we did on such a lovely ship.

 

Beckyfaye.;)

[Gerrym]

Libralass41 will be along in the next hour to fill you in with all the possible

information you need plus endless photo's.

 

 

Sue, do you have your very own stalker? LOL

 

 

:)