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SeaJane

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Everything posted by SeaJane

  1. Ventura has small tables that fold out of the arms of the seats.
  2. We ate in both Cinnamon and Saffron and both were as bad as each other. The Head waiter who eventually spoke to us about our complaint did say that the Head Chef had only recently joined the ship. However surely if he is joining a well trained team preparing the same food that they have been serving for months it shouldn’t deteriorate so badly. It does certainly cast some doubts on his ability to manage his kitchen though!
  3. We returned from 7 nights on Ventura from Southampton to Spain and Portugal on Saturday. It was our first cruise since October 2019 having had 2 cancelled. This was booked as a taster to see if cruising is still for us and also if we enjoyed a larger ship, having not been on anything larger than Arcadia before. We are next due to do 19 nights on Aurora in October. We had priority boarding and left the car with CPS, walked straight through check in and security and having visited our muster station were seated in Cinnamon restaurant for lunch by 12.30. We’d booked an aft suite on A deck and found this to be spacious with a lovely big balcony which we were able to make good use of as the weather was warm and sunny throughout the week. Overall the ship was in good condition and as usual the staff were hard working, cheerful and friendly. We had pre-booked Epicurean for dinner the first night and this being our first experience of this restaurant we were very pleasantly surprised with the quality of the food and the excellent service. We ended up dining there 3 times as well as breakfast every morning. As we had a large OBC on this cruise we would have eaten there more often, but unfortunately they did not change to the second menu during our week. This week was also our first experience of Freedom dining. We don’t like to eat too early and found that by turning up at one of the two MDR at about 8pm and being happy to share a table we always walked straight in. There was no need for us to join a virtual queue although the ‘app’ was being used by some. There were two formal nights on this cruise and the dress code was followed by the majority of passengers. The ship was full and we were surprised at how many families with school age children were on board as it was not yet half term for most of the country. This meant that the ship felt very busy and many venues and bars were full and noisy a lot of the time. The buffet was also a bit of a scrum and best avoided most of the time! Many people were first time cruisers. There were a variety of musical acts as well as Headliners performing. In the past we have gone to the theatre most nights, but this cruise a lot of the acts were performing in the smaller venues. This was because Jay Blades, Ross Kemp and Nadia Wadia were booked in the theatre for three of the nights. Booking on the ‘app’ was required for their performances, but not otherwise. Our major complaint was the quality of the evening meals in the MDR. We ate there on four evenings. We were prepared for the reduction in choice on the menu, but did not expect this to be a problem as we enjoy a variety of food. We did expect the food to be well cooked, well presented and hot. On the two formal nights my food was passable, but on the other two nights the offering was very poor, looked as though it had been thrown on the plate and on both occasions our dining companions sent food back. Many people that we spoke to during the week were similarly unhappy, but I’m not sure they had actually complained. Some first time cruisers were saying they would not cruise with P&O again. This was very disappointing and has made us concerned for our October cruise! We made a formal complaint whilst onboard, but it took perseverance to be taken seriously. Since we’ve been home my husband has emailed Paul Ludlow - we’ll see if we get a meaningful response! Overall we enjoyed our week away and had a good time in the ports. Bad weather was forecast for our visit to St Peter Port, but the Captain anticipated this and managed to arrange for us to call at La Coruna instead which impressed us. We were happy to be back at sea, but apart from Epicurean restaurant Ventura is not for us.
  4. We got off Ventura on Saturday and didn’t get them.
  5. We’ve just got off Ventura (will give full feedback when I get a chance!) In Epicurean the ham was served at the tables and the crepes suzettes were also flambéed at each table often in pairs. It was spectacular to watch and created significant heat.
  6. This was our first time on Ventura so I can’t comment on how the suites were previously. We were in A751 and the furnishings in our suite were in good condition. The surface of the bath was a bit “flakey” looking, but the rest of the bathroom fittings were modern and I would think must have been refitted fairly recently. The balcony furniture was new.
  7. We got off Ventura this morning and had an aft suite. We used room service several times for lunch on the balcony and ordered through our butler. He delivered our order himself each time and we did not tip him on delivery. He also provided our requested milk, wine and decaff tea and coffee. He was clearly very experienced and pro active and asked us on day one whether we wished to have canapés each day - we opted to have them and were pleasantly surprised that they had improved from 3 years ago. We had our two favourites of chocolate covered strawberries and smoked salmon too! We tipped him at the end of the cruise.
  8. Lovely photos Kalos and an amazing view from your hotel. So pleased to hear that you and Mrs K are well and have enjoyed a well deserved, relaxing holiday in the sun.
  9. We have always used CPS for previous cruises, but when trying to book for our October cruise on Aurora, a couple of weeks ago, found them to be fully booked. We phoned P&O and swapped our opted for OBS for free parking and were then able to book with CPS! They must keep back some slots for those with “free parking.”
  10. Our email arrived at 01.06 this morning - in duplicate! Maybe we got yours as well as ours 🤣🤣
  11. We’re not happy with the change either. We’ve been to Messina several times and it’s not one of our favourite ports. Also this cruise already calls at Palermo so that makes two days on Sicily.
  12. We love Venice and have stayed for a few days on 4 occasions as well as several cruise stops. Nico’s has been our favourite spot for afternoon refreshments on the way back to the ship. Ice cream, a beer for OH and a spritzer for me - a delightful place for a rest after all the walking!
  13. We’ve also done several 19 night Adriatic cruises from Southampton and several years ago went as far as Alexandria and Port Said. In October we are on Aurora from Southampton and she is going to Rhodes and Crete amongst other places.
  14. We’ve done it - paid the final balance on our 7 night cruise on Ventura in May! It’ll be our first cruise since October 2019 and we’ve never been on such a large ship either. I’m a bit apprehensive, but we liked the itinerary and think a short cruise is a good idea before our 19 nights on Aurora in October. Just need to dig out the clothes that I used to wear and see if they still fit and try to remember what to pack for cruises!
  15. We had an aft suite on Arcadia a few years ago and my cousin and husband had the balcony cabin next door. Our bookings were linked and as others have said we were allowed to board together. Although we asked very nicely they were not allowed to attend the embarkation lunch - the woman on the door was adamant about that! As Selbourne found the butler was happy to provide lunch on the balconies for all of us and free room service via our suite.
  16. Our passports expired in August 2020 and we didn’t bother to renew as we weren’t going anywhere! We completed the renewal online last month and were pleasantly surprised with the speedy and efficient service. Emails/texts informed us of progress and both the new passports and our cancelled old ones were received back in 8 days.
  17. Our first cruise was on Adonia and since then we’ve been on almost 20 cruises, but all on Oriana, Arcadia and Aurora - I expect Ventura will feel huge!
  18. I agree completely with what you say. Most of our cruises have been for 19 nights each time and we always opt for table for 8 second sitting. We have met a lot of lovely people over the years and have really enjoyed getting to know them. We are booked for 7 nights on Ventura in May and have opted for Freedom dining as an experiment. We also have a high OBS so are thinking we will make use of the speciality restaurants. I must admit the problems that some seem to have with the “app” are making me wonder if we would have been better to stick with what we know!
  19. We’ve also done this tour and thoroughly enjoyed it inspite of it’s rather “cheesy” description. The coach trip took us through some lovely countryside. However I’m pretty sure this was only on offer from Messina and not Palermo or Catania.
  20. We did a tour from Palermo that took us to Monreale. It was a lovely town with a cathedral with the most beautiful gold mosaic ceiling. In the afternoon we walked around the sights in Palermo. I’m afraid Catania is our least favourite port in the Med as we have found the town dirty and crowded with quite a threatening atmosphere - I would suggest doing a tour from there perhaps to see Mt Etna. Cagliari is a nice place and easy to wander around on your own. It is a steep climb to the top, but pleasant to then have a drink or lunch looking down out over the harbour.
  21. You can obtain a letter from Reception onboard that details the port(s) that have been missed. We have always found that to be readily accepted by our insurance company.
  22. Quite agree - we enjoyed it very much even though one or two of the acts would not have been our first choice! Altogether a very pleasant way to spend Saturday evening with a couple of glasses of wine 🍷
  23. Zadar didn’t enthral us either, but we liked Koper.
  24. Additionally the heat of the water encourages any bugs to multiply more quickly than a pool making it even more important that the water is regularly tested and the chemicals used properly regulated - very difficult to do adequately when a tub is constantly used by many different people!
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