thinking of cancelling venturer

[stopgo]

have you seen the review on Ventura over on cruise.co.uk?

 

 

Very amusing, 75 replies at the moment!

 

 

Not sure if posting a link works, but I'll give it a go anyway.

 

 

http://www.cruise.co.uk/cruise-reviews/read_review_12394/

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers

 

Gerry

Nice one Gerry, but it would have been better posting it on the Ventura Bashing Thread. The replies are better really having a pop at the old biddy.

[Gerrym]

Nice one Gerry, but it would have been better posting it on the Ventura Bashing Thread. The replies are better really having a pop at the old biddy.

 

 

Sorry Mrs. Administrator, I will know for next time.

 

 

 

:D

[Gerrym]

She's also written a letter, published in today's Telegraph Travel Supplement.

 

Mary

 

 

 

Really?

 

I'll have to pop down the petrol station and see if can get a copy.

 

 

Thanks Mary.

 

 

Gerry

[lostinvegas]

Well I am on the ship posting this from the cyber cafe. Only been on board 2 days but so far I have been very impressed.

 

I don't know what this pop music is the reviewer is talking about most of the music played on board so far has been 70's and 80's stuff.

 

Its nothing like butlins at sea and so far we have not come across any moaners :) just great friendly people having a good time.

 

Its not much different to our last P&O cruise which was a number of years ago, the ship is just bigger and tbh has more to offer entertainment wise.

 

Sun beds were plentifull yesterday but it was a port day, we are at sea today so I am going to go up on deck and have a look later.

 

Anyway just jummped on here while Anna is shopping, so I better go and find her so I have some money left for the rest of the holiday.

 

Chris

[daiB]

Chris,

 

You are clearly a troll:D. You cannot go about telling people how good the ship is.

 

There must be at least 2000 people you are having a terrible time.:rolleyes:

 

Come on tell the truth;)

 

Is it possible that some people have been leading others down the garden path & Ventura is a good ship.:confused:

 

BTW I think you left Anna for far too long, 6 paragraphs. I hope you confisicated her cruise card.:eek:

 

 

Happy Cruising

 

 

:cool:

 

 

Dai

[lostinvegas]

Just popped into the internet cafe as the weather is terrible today, plenty of sunbeds free on deck at the moment :D

 

Its been an eventfull few days, we hit an un charted sandbank yesterday but after a dive inspection we only lost 5 hours and are making it up today.

 

We also have the dreaded Noro Virus on board so everything is being constantly cleaned, looks like we could be out of the woods soon though as there have been no reported new cases in 2 days.

 

But despite the above I cannot find anyone who has moaned, everyone is loving the ship me included. There is just a great atmosphere on board, better than the other cruises we have been on. We have been eating breakfast and lunch with new people of all ages everyday and its been fantastic.

 

Anyway I must go because backjack is only a £1 minumum bet today and Anna has got her cruise card with her. I will do a full review on my return.

 

Black and White night tonight so the bow tie is coming out.

 

Chris

[capnpugwash]

Sorry to hear of the troubles and I am happy that you are all enjoying yourselves. As a matter of interest, are there a lot of children on board?

[Rick O'Shay]

Hi, my wife and I have just come back from a 14 night cruise on the Venturer to the Caribbean. We are in our 50s and have no children and have cruised 20+ times before. We were VERY worried beforehand given the bad publicity and with it being half term and so went expecting the worst- we even tried to cancel before going but P&O wouldn't refund our money! So we were not in the best frame of mind when we arrived!!

It was fine, we do not see what all the fuss was about!! The food was fine- as good if not better than some other P&O ships, the entertainment was OK ( we have found that the standard of entertainment has fallen on all ships ), the entertainments team and director were good, the ship was good ( although it does not sail so well in bad weather as you would expect - seems to wobble more than anything else ), the rest of the passengers were well behaved with just a few exceptions, getting a sunbed was ok unless you insisted on getting one near the pools or were not prepared to have one in the shade for a while ( although I understand that P&O are addressing the problem of sun beds ). We had no real gripes. We were even able to do some ballroom dancing which we did not expect- proper formal balls on the formal nights ( although the floor was small ). We did have a balcony which helps if the decks are busy or if you want to see the sailaway without having your ears blown out by the loud music on deck ( we could still hear the music ( which we liked ) on the balcony and all the fun going on without being there and as we were on D deck where we had a balcony that juts out we enjoyed our cocktails whilst chatting to our neighbours each side of us and above us- we had a nice little community!!!!!). We were also prepared to spend the extra and sometimes eat in the "posh" restaurants or the Tapas bar, although we often ate in the American restaurant ( free ) or buffet where the food was excellent ( although there was not a great deal of choice ).

We really did not see what the problem was, it was NOT a Butlins at sea, and the vast majority of passengers behaved and stuck to the dress code on formal nights.

We would normally prefer a smaller ship but a larger ship has certain advantages, more choice of entertainment, eating places, bars etc.

However anyone hoping to sit in the quiet or in the dark or on their own, or in the library all day snoring away will be disappointed!!!

HOWEVER, like on any ship ( unless adults only ) in the summer there are bound to be more children and this could cause issues. One thing we did notice was that the children were often jumping into the pools and no one stopped them, and they did tend to take over the pools now and again ( although there are 2 pools which are basically adults only ). The children seemed well looked after by the staff, but their parents sometimes seemed to be off duty!!!!!!!!

At the end of the day, its the quality of the passengers that will make or break the experience of your cruise on this ship not the ship!!!!!!!!!!

[capnpugwash]

Rick, well said. It is the passengers that make or break a cruise. Parents have a lot to answer for some of the time. I think Ventura is a bit too big for me, but never say never.

[lostinvegas]

Almost no Children on board, we have only seen a few really young ones.

 

majority of people are 40-70 I would say. Lots of first time cruisers.

 

Went to St Martin today, so far its been my favourite island. :)

 

St Lucia tomorrow.

 

Chris

[stopgo]

Thanks for the updates Chris, glad your having a great time. It seems the amount of children aboard is only a problem [ if you consider it that ] during the school holidays.

[lostinvegas]

I have just read the ladys review on cruise.co.uk and its actually made me quite angry.

 

There are some quiet areas on the ship, I used Rambles bar in the day for reading which was very under used. The artium is busy but I found you could sit peacefully in there or in the red bar. There was no pop music in any of these venues.

 

As for tipping the staff I would have thought it was obvious that if they paid the staff more instead of tipping the cost of the cruise would be more and the staff would not be as motivated to provide first class service.

 

There is loads more, but don't let that review put you off, it was certainly not how I experienced Ventura.

 

Chris

[Beckyfaye-2008]

If you would like to see a cruise review of Ventura, try the following by a travel agent, telling how it has changed since she first went on it.

http://www.gocruisewithjane.co.uk/index.php/2009/03/cruise-review-ventura-caribbean-13th-28th-february-2009/

Just click on the link.

Also has details re Azura.:D

Happy sailing

Beckyfaye

[stopgo]

Chris, thanks for takeing the trouble to post a review of your Ventura Cruise.

[lostinvegas]

No problem I thank anyone who takes the trouble to read it, being a techie English is not my strong point.

 

Chris

[MattOsprey]

Hi,

We cruised on Ventura transatlantic in October. The cruise was great. The only thing that let it down was some "Chav" passengers. Hogging sun loungers, which becomes tiresome after a few days. Also a couple of little disagreements between some passengers. We however had great dining companions, and all the kids were very well behaved, and seemed too be looked after very well, all having fun.

She wasn't our favourite ship, and said we wouldn't rush back. Then yesterday we were offered a great price for a 14 day northern Europe cruise on her in May, and we booked it in a heartbeat.

I think you will have a great time, I hope you enjoy.

Matt

[stopgo]

Hi MattOsprey, With Azura prices being on the high side the Ventura is looking an attractive prospect again. Do you mind me asking what you paid for the Cruise in May, and where abouts the Cruise is traveling to.

[LibraLass41]

Hi MattOsprey, With Azura prices being on the high side the Ventura is looking an attractive prospect again. Do you mind me asking what you paid for the Cruise in May, and where abouts the Cruise is traveling to.

 

BUT!!! perhaps all the P& O fleets cruises will be expensive next year? We have only seen Azuras prices so far? WHO KNOWS???

[somewheresoon]

Well you either lower prices or offer a superior product, normally; we all know that. BUT these rules don't apply in a recession. Companies whose customer-base is recession proof don't have to worry. But P&O arn't amongst them: indeed, a customer base of pension-reliant folk points the other way at present.

 

My guess is that azura is being positioned as the up-market boat, and Azura as the six-pack, hey look how my belly wobbles boat.

 

Do they think we are that stupid?????

 

Azura: perhaps because I've only done 5 cruises, I think the itinary is fab. The prices are a joke.

 

So far..................

[stopgo]

Your right nobody knows what P/O are going to charge for the rest of the fleet. But I can't see P/O wanting to price families out of going on the Ventura, and why would they would want to but prices up. Inflation is low fuel prices are low I can't see why they would need to put prices up.

[MattOsprey]

Hi MattOsprey, With Azura prices being on the high side the Ventura is looking an attractive prospect again. Do you mind me asking what you paid for the Cruise in May, and where abouts the Cruise is traveling to.

Hi,

The cruise is to the Baltic. Stopping in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, St Petersburg for 2 nights, Tallin, Oslo, Kristiansand, and back to Southampton.

14 night cruise. 799 per person inside guarantee.

Couldn't turn this down.

If you need any more info then please feel free too ask.

Matt

[stopgo]

Thanks Matt, Yes that is a great deal no wonder you snapped it up, with that Cruise I would think there are unlikely to be many children aboard [ if children are a problem to you ] Only thing could be the weather depending if its early or late May, who did you book it through ?

[Norfolk Brit]

We had the best weather we have ever had on any cruise on a Baltics cruise early in May 2009.

 

Luck of the draw, but the Baltics sometimes sit nicely under a huge area of high pressure in April/May.

 

Mary

[MattOsprey]

Hi,

We booked through Sky travel. Never watched it before. I was flicking channels and stopped because they were talking about P&O, and I was listening to it in the background. Next thing I heard the price, and I got on the website. It said a lot more but then I saw a link. It tells you to call an 0871 number, but I called their 0800 from the main page. They said they would get the details and ring me back. They did and the price was right. There was a 2.5% cc charge which added another 40 pounds.

We are very happy bunnies.

Matt

[stopgo]

Hi Matt Thanks for the info.