Triplalot

To be honest I was not impressed with my purchased wine package. The wines were all very nice, but more than one was not available for the duration of my cruise, and alternatives of a similar type of wine were not offered. Also, service was very slow, other people purchasing wine at the table generally received their wines first, sometimes we were into our main course before our wine arrived.

No there are no packages for other types of alcoholic drinks, just for wine, sodas and coffees. I must say though that most of the onboard bars do mix a good g&t :)

Was that connecting to ships Internet?

Yes the router was connected to the ships internet and we only got charged for the time the router was connected no matter how many devices we connected to it. It is one of those credit card sized routers so perfect for travelling.

We took a little router on board with us and used that to connect to the internet and then connected our devices to the router. We found it quick enough for our purposes, and even uploaded some photos to FB and sent some by email. Sometimes we had 4 devices connected to the router synchronizing emails.

They look like good cabins and should be reasonably quiet being on a deck between 2 passenger decks so no noisy venues below or above. I've not seen the cabins on Ventura however the Pullmans are usually designed not to be obtrusive when not in use.

Excellent advice offered by Brian1 which is almost exactly what I did in my recent visit the only difference being I walked to Piazazale Roma (15 minutes) and the route is well sign posted. However it will be very hot and so the People Mover might be the sensible option. I enjoyed the walk though :)

Christmas cruises with all cruise lines are very popular and often sell out very quickly and therefore my advice is to book it now to avoid disappointment. I also like the look of the Ventura Canaries cruise, maybe 2016 for me though.

Using this link a one way journey ranged between €50 and €70 and is pre bookable. https://www.bravodriver.com/en/index.html?gclid=CLrqkp-_-cYCFfHHtAodRuIFig#/!path&nation=Italy&nationid=IT&from=Pisa,%20city&fromid=92&to=Livorno,%20Port/City&toid=206&date=2015-09-06T15:05:00&pax=2&go=true

I was in Livorno from Oceana recently and when disembarking in the terminal building there were booths offering taxis and tours to Pisa and Florence, and even car hire. We were on an organized tour and so just walked straight past so I didn't make a note of the prices.

I'm going on what was available on Oceana which is a smaller ship so you may have an even better selection on Azura since it has more bars. We found on Oceana that the bar staff were happy to make cocktails not on the list, and yes there was a bigger cocktail list in the cocktail bar anyway (magnums on Oceana) which I think is the Blue Bar on Azura. There should also be an English style pub wit a larger selection of beers, some of which will be in bottles.

I remember my husband drinking a Stella, and they definitely had Heineken and some others. Prosecco is about €19 per bottle and is very nice. They also sell it by the glass.

Found this information on the P&O website.....

 

 

 

Dry cleaning is also available, there is a charge per item, price lists will be available in your cabin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please note that with the exception of Oriana where conventional dry cleaning takes place, the 'dry cleaning' service on board is an eco-friendly gentle wet cleaning service called Aquatex or Wascomat and this is suitable for some items which require dry cleaning, however the laundry master on board will assess each garment on an individual basis to see if it is appropriate to use the Aquatex / Wascomat system.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brian

Yes this happened to us on Oceana where they couldn't dry clean my husbands trousers which are a cotton based material (like suit trousers) so there is a risk that the suit might be deemed unsuitable for the cleaning method available. I would have them cleaned before you set sail to be on the safe side. Can't remember the prices, but they were not really any more expensive than the high street dry cleaners.

We've just come back from the 2 weeks and we hardly queued at all and we found it quite easy to avoid the crowd. At a push I would say the Genoa to Venice leg is the best because of the Stunning Venice Sail in and the visit to Dubrovnik, which doesn't mean you will be disappointed with the other leg which visited some lovely places too, and of course included the stunning Kotor sail in (you have to get up early to see it). We had a great time and 14 days flew by :).

we enjoyed this trip especially since it was a very hot day and there was not very much walking involved. It included a 20 minute coach journey to a national park where we picked up the trolley which took us to the centre of pisa (circa 15 minutes) where we stayed and did our own thing for about an hour before re boarding the trolley which then took us to the river arno to pick up the boat. The boat trip is very scenic and ends back in the park where the coach was waiting to return to the port. The guide was very good and informative. Pisa historical centre is quite a walk from the train station so we were glad that we didn't opt to take the train in the heat. Since we didn't want to go inside the tower an hour was enough and included time for gelato and a beer in the square whilst we waited for the guide to rejoin us. Pisa historical centre was stunning, better than i expected.

Taken from my phone so not the best quality :)

We enjoyed this trip especially since it was a very hot day and there was not very much walking involved. It included a 20 minute coach journey to a National Park where we picked up the Trolley which took us to the centre of Pisa (circa 15 minutes) where we stayed and did our own thing for about an hour before re boarding the Trolley which then took us to the river Arno to pick up the boat. The boat trip is very scenic and ends back in the park where the coach was waiting to return to the port. The guide was very good and informative. Pisa historical centre is quite a walk from the train station so we were glad that we didn't opt to take the train in the heat. Since we didn't want to go inside the tower an hour was enough and included time for gelato and a beer in the square whilst we waited for the guide to rejoin us. Pisa historical centre was stunning, better than I expected.

I worked in a dry cleaners for many years and would advise laundering shirts, not dry cleaning. They will be much fresher. You could wash them yourself if you didn't trust the ship's laundry.

Caber I partly agree although some shirts are made of materials not suited to laundering. In view of my experiences with the in cabin laundering service On Oceana I would recommend using the self service laundry and doing them yourselves so you don't suffer any losses, maybe pop them into the laundry service for ironing though, even the damaged items were beautifully pressed and hung on hangers :). The dry cleaning was a problem because my husbands trousers for non formal nights were dry clean only and he only had a couple of pairs. I ended up spot cleaning where required and put them in the dryer on medium heat for 10 minutes with a clean wet flannel (hoping the steam would freshen them up) then pressed them and they came out fine. Didn't enjoy doing laundry, especially ironing on holiday though, especially the dress shirts :)

We had a Teddy go missing although not on a cruise, it was an holiday complex. Our then young daughter left the bear on a bed in a room we had been given for freshening up for our flight, and left it there. We noticed quite quickly but the room had already been serviced and Teddy had walked. The chambermaid denied seeing our furry friend. This was devastating for our daughter at the time. I think our cuddly friends appeal to anybody with children.

Ok, now I'm confused :confused: I've got my head round the evening wear but this quote has now made me question what I can wear on the ship (Ventura) during the day!! Does this mean that myself and my partner can't wear shorts on board? What about jeans, are they also not permitted?

 

 

 

Does the sandals only apply to men and not women? (my other half doesn't possess sandals so not an issue for him!) From the wording my understanding is that denim, sandals and sleeveless tops applies to men and not women.

 

 

 

We're off on our first cruise and want to make sure we get it right!

 

 

 

Thanks :)

You can wear pretty much what you want during the day, so shorts, t shirts and sandals are fine, even for breakfast/lunch in the MDR. I mostly wore my nice flip flops during the day, without complaint. The dress codes are mostly for after 6, but even then there are places to eat (buffet) and drink, but these are limited. My evening shoes were also sandals, albeit high heels, even on formal nights where they were sparkly :)

They didn't have any dry cleaning on Oceana (despite it being an option on the form in the cabin) and the 36 hour laundry service damaged one of my husbands good shirts and shrank an expensive polo shirt, both are now unwearable. The only positive was that they were returned within 48 hours. I reluctantly used the self service laundry thereafter to wash dress shirts and other items.

We're already booked for Oceana next August - may see you there ;)

 

 

 

Kotor is stunning - Oceana had the Great British Sailaway from Kotor in April and whether you love it or hate it, it was an amazing sailaway. :)

Have to agree loved the Kotor Sailaway in July, albeit no flags flying (or very few anyway). Other memorable parts of my cruise are also the Dubrovnik Sailaway (and sail in) and the stunning the sail in to Venice. Hopefully you are doing the 2 weeks back to back so that you can experience all of these :).

The biggest problem that we had on our recent Oceana cruise was that the waiting staff were very eager to clear plates if you put your fork down, or decided to go and grab something else from the buffet. We never encountered problems finding a seat, even on embarkation, albeit we only used the buffet an handful of times.

Another vote for the Singapore Sling, very nice, I also liked the fruity Maitai but fear although delicious it's kick may be too strong for a largely non drinker :)

Our 2 day ACTV tickets cost €30 per person for unlimited travel.

We arrived at about 1PM and the sail in was stunning, worth being on deck early for a good view or on the promenade deck 7 for an arguably better view. There were long queues of passengers both disembarking and for the boat/shuttle to St Marks and so it is doubtful you will make it in time. We actually walked to Piazalle Roma (15 minutes) and purchased ACTV tickets for the water buses and land buses for 48 hours bypassing the queues, which we also used the following day. These tickets are excellent value and a good way to see a lot of the city. You can also catch the People Mover train from the Port to Piazzale Roma if you don't fancy the walk for €1.30 per journey.

We had no problems disembarking in Venice basically just walked off the ship at our allotted time and our baggage was waiting for us, then took the shuttle to the port exit. All done in less than 10 minutes.

Just returned from Oceana and there is always food available. When lunch stops afternoon tea starts which is quite substantial. You will not go hungry :)