ann141

Thank you for your replies.We mainly cruise for the itinerary so as long as our cabin isn't one with constant problems we will probably enjoy the cruise. Ventura had poor reviews but when we were cruised on her in February we thought she was ok and we enjoyed our cruise.Like you Jean as long as the food is edible that is ok with us( we don't tend to book speciality restaurants) Hopefully as we won't have high expectations we won't be disappointed .

30 minutes ago, gillme said:

We’re recently back from 16 nights on Arcadia and it was really good. There was one occasion when our toilet wasn’t flushing properly but we rang reception and 15 minutes later when we left the cabin the engineer was already in the corridor fixing it.

 

We’re on her again for 30 nights in September and looking forward to it.

 

Hope this reassures you in some way.

Really reassuring to hear thank you 

45 minutes ago, Sarah1974 said:

I did a 16 night cruise on Arcadia last August / September.  I had read the reviews after booking and prior to the cruise and was anxious about the issues I'd heard about.  I have to say we had a fantastic time and did not encounter any of the problems I'd read about.  Wouldn't hesitate to cruise on her again.

 

A refit is scheduled for November this year.

Thank you. That's encouraging to hear 

Thank you for your replies. The cruise we are considering is in October so before the refit but it is for 19 nights so hopefully too long a cruise for large groups on a stag/hen party

We are thinking of booking a cruise on Arcadia. We have sailed on her pre COVID and thought she was fine but recent reviews seem to imply lots of problems with leaks/ blocked toilets etc. We were on Ventura in February this year and although P and O have stopped certain things we still enjoyed our cruise. Has anyone sailed on Arcadia recently who can offer an opinion. Thanks

1 hour ago, Sarnia 432 said:

We don’t sail until September, so any information you glean on shuttles, excursions etc would be greatly appreciated.

 

we have not sailed with Ambassador before, so are keen to hear your experiences.

It will be our first cruise with Ambassador too

10 hours ago, nigkar said:

Thanks for the information.

we will be on the Ambition in May also.

Perhaps the same cruise leaving Bristol on May 23?

3 hours ago, Sarnia 432 said:

We are going there with Ambassador too.

No excursions available yet, but we will either get a shuttle to Bordeaux and follow a GPSMyCity guide, or do a DIY walk in the port area.

In my planning notes, I have put the following - 

 

Le Verdon coastal walk to points of interest

Points of Interest - Le Verdon
  Saint Nicolas lighthouse
  Grave lighthouse 
  Cordouan lighthouse (rocky islet at sea)
  Pointe de Grave
  Church of Notre-Dame du Bon Secours et de Saint-Louis
  Town Hall

Thank you. That's helpful as we are going there in May too on Ambition 

It's a requirement for P and O cruises to have travel insurance,not just a good idea. Although they don't often check that you have it before you board they sometimes do and if you didn't have it you would probably be refused boarding 

It was easy to find a taxi at Cork station as there was a taxi rank outside. I'm afraid I can't remember the cost- obviously dearer than the bus but we wanted to get there early 

We sailed on Norwegian star last may and caught the train into Cork from Cobh. We then shared a taxi with another couple to Blarney castle which meant we arrived early and didn't have to queue. We then caught the 215 bus back to Cork and the return train to Cobh

We are considering booking an Ambassador cruise that departs from Bristol. We will be travelling by train but the Ambassador website states it's best to get a taxi from Temple meads station. As it's a distance of about 12 miles to the port I wonder if anyone has experience of getting there from central Bristol by public transport 

On 11/21/2023 at 1:43 PM, Cristaltips said:

I’ve just received a new itinerary from P&O with confirmation of the application of my shareholder benefits. It appears that we just overnight in Hamilton, Bermuda and leave by 9.00 am the following day. That would explain why no second day trips are available !

Thats disappointing.Still hopefully we will have a warm day at sea. By the way have you realised that some of the shore excursions and also the wi fi packages are discounted for Black Friday? I cancelled my wi fi package and have re booked at the new price

3 hours ago, Cristaltips said:

We’re on this cruise too. We have three r trips in total booked but most are now sold out. I find it strange that there is nothing at all listed for the second day in Bermuda. I hope there’ll be trips offered for that day as most of the previous days trips are sold out 

I'm a bit concerned that it may mean we won't be staying overnight or leaving in the morning on the second day.. We already have plenty of sea days

On 11/12/2023 at 11:02 PM, yorkshire traveller said:

Thank you   I couldn't see the roll call. I will have another look.  We were supposed to be going to Brazil and Carribean but had to cancel because of the yellow fever situation.  There wasn't a lot of options to choose from as a replacement so have opted for this one.  The itinerary does look good but Ventura isn't our favourite ship 

I think if you click on Ventura rolls and scroll down you should see the roll call. I notice it isn't listed if you select February but that could be due to the way it has been titled?

3 hours ago, yorkshire traveller said:

We booked this  cruise today. Can't access excursions yet

Welcome! Hopefully you will be able to book some excursions in a day or two though some of the more popular ones are sold out. There is a roll call for this cruise 

3 hours ago, Scar-face said:

Has anyone going on cruise on the PO Ventura 11 February 2024 been unabe to book excursions due to them being sold out?

We are on this cruise. We have booked some excursions but still not sure what to do in Miami as the tours we are interested in are sold out. However I am checking tours daily and we have managed to book previously sold out tours in Port Canaveral and Belize.As the balance date is due( we paid yesterday) I am hoping more tours will become available if people decide to transfer or cancel their cruise.

4 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Well our next cruise has come around already and tomorrow (Saturday) we board Ventura for a 14 night cruise to the Canaries. We have a 1215 priority boarding embarkation slot and having had no issues whatsoever with CPS or embarkation on Britannia or Iona this summer we shall just turn up at around midday. We always travel down on the day, as it’s only a few hours drive for us, but we are all packed apart from last minute things. 
 

I was very surprised to discover that this will only be our third cruise on Ventura and the last time was in 2017. It’s very true that time goes quicker as you get older 😂 We are booked in an accessible Superior Deluxe balcony cabin. I’ve seen a YouTube video of it and it looks huge. Unfortunately the balconies with these cabins are completely uncovered, which I don’t like, so hopefully the weather will be kind for us. 
 

The big difference on this cruise will be that we have reverted to Club (Fixed) dining (2nd sitting), for the first time since Freedom dining was introduced. We took the decision after some frustrations with the app not being used properly in the MDRs on Britannia. We have requested a table for 2 and are hoping that, if we are successful, it will be a proper table for 2 and not one that’s 6 inches from another ‘table for 2’. Wish us luck 😂 

 

We have booked two dinners in Epicurean and one each in Sindhu and the Beach House. If the MDR disappoints then we may book more, but if it’s as good as it was on Britannia and Iona then we will be very happy. I fully intend to try the extra cost MDR dishes if the trial is still running 😋
 

I shall endeavour to post updates as and when I can, but will struggle on sea days. I have never paid for the ships WiFi before, but am going to try it for the first time over 24 hours to see if it’s any good, as a trial for our 65 nighter on Aurora in January. 
 

If anyone has any specific question about Ventura, or would like me to find out anything for you whilst we are on board, please don’t hesitate to ask. 

Hope you have a great cruise. We are booked on the 35 night cruise on Ventura next February. I have booked the wi fi for the entire cruise as there are a lot of sea days so I will be interested to hear how you get on. I can't remember how many restaurants are on Ventura and how many are allocated to freedom dining? We have booked a saver fare and would prefer freedom dining but may end up with 2nd sitting so I will be interested to see what you think of it.

2 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

The town of Sarande is one of the most dispiriting places I’ve visited in the Med. Take an excursion or private tour out of town to Butrint. Even if you’re not a “ruins” person, the site is picturesque sitting on the water as it does. 

Thank you 

Has anyone suggestions for what to do in Sarande

10 minutes ago, Equiferro said:

 

We responded to that offer. Bopth Terrace and Balcony cabins were available on it and we booked a balcony

We couldn't book a terrace on exactly the same offer as was available for inside and outside cabins but still booked at a considerable saving

5 hours ago, Dermotsgirl said:

Looking at their itineraries, most Saga cruises seem to have ports that rarely/never appear on P&O schedules.  It might appeal to people jaded with P&O itineraries.

 

For example, we have done several P&O and CMV cruises in the British Isles.  We go on our first Saga cruise, Round Britain, on Friday, and there are two ports new to us.  We've also booked another British Isles cruise with Saga for next year, and that one has 4 ports that we haven't visited before.

 

If people want different ports, Saga is worth a look 

I agree that Saga offer different ports to P and O. Not as varied as Fred's offering but we have now sailed with Saga twice and feel they are worth the extra money if the itinerary includes several ports of call that will be new to us. If P and O , Fred and Saga had identical itineraries at the same price we would always choose Saga.

3 hours ago, yorkshirephil said:

Some good prices too, I have my eye on the one around Ireland for next year

We cruised with NCL around Ireland in May. Although the itinerary was great we were not impressed with what we felt was a very disorganized offering and in fact there were numerous complaints both onboard and once home and we were given a small refund.I think it was the first year NCL had offered this itinerary and hopefully some changes will have been made so that it is better next year.

11 minutes ago, ann141 said:

We have 😊

I have set up a roll call for this cruise which you are welcome to join 

14 hours ago, yorkshire traveller said:

A couple of weeks ago I got an email from FO offering 2nd passenger sails free with a choice of 3 cruises in Septemer/October.  We had no intention of booking another cruise at the moment as we have got 42 nights booked with Ambassador for January 2024 and world cruise 2025 on Bolette to look forward to.  However, the offer was too good to miss.  We have chosen A Scenic  Exploration of The Adriatic & Dalmatian Coast.

The other 2 cruises were going to Canada which doesn't really interest us.

7 of the ports will be new to us and we are looking forward to revisiting the others 

Has anyone else taken advantage of the offer?

We have 😊