Blogging from Ventura, N114 to Venice

[tom_uk]

I'm on a cruise so I'm blogging! You can find the posts here (newer posts at the top).

 

I'll be adding more posts as the cruise progresses.

[u2cruiser]

I'm looking forward to cruising along with you Tom. This is an itinerary that we fancy. Thank you for the blog link.

 

Have a great cruise and hope the Claret was good. :)

[littlesteelo]

I'm on a cruise so I'm blogging! You can find the posts here (newer posts at the top).

 

I'll be adding more posts as the cruise progresses.

 

Awesome! I loved reading your reviews and am definitely looking forward to this :D

[tartanexile81]

We're doing the same itinerary on Azura in September so will be following your blog with great interest.

[dj_spud]

Looking forward to reading the rest of your reviews as we are on the next cruise (N115). It will be our 2nd time on her so it will be interesting to see if much has changed.

 

John

[davedex]

grat blog - My parents are on the cruise with you, so this makes interesting reading - keep it up & have a good trip!

[u2cruiser]

Thanks Tom, I'm enjoying the updates. Interesting about the large amount of dinner suits as I estimated exactly the same on my cruise on Ventura.

 

Pleased the sun shone for you in Malaga :)

[tom_uk]

Thanks Tom, I'm enjoying the updates. Interesting about the large amount of dinner suits as I estimated exactly the same on my cruise on Ventura.

 

Pleased the sun shone for you in Malaga :)

 

Unfortunately it hasn't shone much since then!

 

I'm still blogging and you can find the posts here.

[u2cruiser]

Unfortunately it hasn't shone much since then!

 

I'm still blogging and you can find the posts here.

 

Thanks for the new updates.

 

Costa coffee was definitely onboard Ventura for our October 2010 TA. They didn't have my favourite Costa coffee; flat whites and they didn't take the Costa loyalty cards.

 

I really like the promenade deck on Ventura. We missed it on Equinox last month. The jogging track on there is just too busy.

 

We had disappointing weather in the med too, last month. It was very chilly and wet at times. We always used to go to the Med for Spring Bank when the kids were little and had nothing but wall to wall sunshine. Not anymore. In fact, the weather was better here in the UK!

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise. Wish we could join you at Breakers bar for a beer. :)

[tom_uk]

The problems with the Internet login seem to have been resolved, and I've been able to post several new posts covering Dubrovnik, Venice, and a meal in the White Room. As before, you can find them here: http://tomtotley.wordpress.com/category/ventura-2011/

[Janey]

Love reading this blog Tom. We are off on Saturday to Venice on a similar cruise, but on Star Princess, oops!

[u2cruiser]

Just caught up with your latest blog entries Tom. Had to smile at the Corfu shuttle bus mix up. They could make life a whole lot easier by giving you more information. This type of thing always happens to us.

 

Corfu sounds a little disappointing, especially as we are considering a short land holiday in Corfu Town. Guess you were too tired to enjoy it to the full after such a busy port itinerary?

 

I have to agree with you about Celebrity's Muranos. I honestly thought we were the only pax on the Equinox who didn't enjoy the evening there. Interestingly the Eastern European lady serving us (it actually seemed more like she was acting out a dramatic character part :eek:) did her restaurant training in Rotherham!! When we told her where we were from she immediately went into a broad Yorkshire accent :D. We enjoyed MPW's better, but we had some service issues. It's nice to try something different.

 

Dubrovnik sounds perfect. We really enjoy places that are easy to do on your own.

 

Enjoy your sea days :)

[MattyBarlow]

I have to admit, i'd quite happily byepass Korcula and Corfu. Had the same issue with the busses in 2009 onboard OV2.

[tom_uk]

I think the only real problem with Corfu was that it was the sixth port day in succession. There's a lot there in fact, and plenty of people think Corfu is next door to paradise. We just weren't in a suitable state to appreciate it.

 

Korcula was an unexpected gem, and there is a lot around there - the town opposite, the Peljesac peninsula. That place did impress us a lot.

 

We're now in the middle of three sea days so I'll probably do a single blog entry to cover all three days tomorrow.

[bogofman]

Tom,

We are on Ventura next week and it will be back in Vigo next wednesday, i'll be intersted in your thoughts,

[tom_uk]

I'm on a cruise so I'm blogging! You can find the posts here (newer posts at the top).

 

I'll be adding more posts as the cruise progresses.

 

I've added a few more posts as we approach the end of several days at sea, and indeed draw near to the end of the whole cruise. Just two more full days to go after this - Vigo tomorrow, then a final sea day, and then Southampton.

[u2cruiser]

Interesting stuff about the fuel and fresh water supply.

 

What's with the wine shortages? Have they got substitutes?

 

It's a good job the cruise is coming to an end before you burst from all the food ;)

[DamianG]

Hi Tom

Thanks for another very enjoyable blog and hope you had a good trip home to Yorkshire.

The disembarkation tickets for independent travellers do seem to be allocated without any thought. On our recent cruise we were given a 10:45am time slot (for our 240 mile drive home) compared to our table companions who had 9:15am for their 11 mile journey to Winchester! Of course we managed to change the tickets at reception but it would be nice if some thought went into the distribution process. I guess that it is just too much to organize?

Your comments on Vigo were interesting too and there's been various threads recently discussing it's pros and cons. We enjoyed a week's coach tour around Galicia a few years ago and are definitely fans of the area in general. It's a shame that your tour guide for Santiago de Compostella didn't take you to the market which we found very different and interesting.

There are various things to do in and around Vigo such as visiting the art museum or catching a bus to one of the local beaches such as Playa de Samil.

Last time we were in Vigo it was a quiet Sunday but we still enjoyed a lovely seafood lunch in the old town (Casco Vella) and I think that the restaurant was called Picadillo. The experience was enhanced by a bottle of the local wine (Albariño) which is now a firm favourite!

All the best.

Damian

[tom_uk]

Interesting stuff about the fuel and fresh water supply.

 

What's with the wine shortages? Have they got substitutes?

 

It's a good job the cruise is coming to an end before you burst from all the food ;)

 

There were two wines missing from the six in the wine package, and we had to repeat two of the ones that were available.

 

As regards the eating & drinking, we're wondering if 17 nights is just one or two nights too long - we were both suffering from indigestion yesterday. We've just got home and have eaten, and enjoyed, beans on toast for lunch.

[jocap]

Tom- it was good to meet you on the cruise, and to have a final word whilst waiting to disembark....in the art gallery!

Costa coffee was there a year ago- it was one reason for us booking a cabin on deck 5, and Gavin had several breakfasts of coffee and the free pastries which come with it.....my favourite was the big Danish choc chip.....

When security were watching the African coast, as you said in your blog- a young security girl noticed a strange event from deck 7. The senior security officers were down from the bridge in a flash!- it was a small tanker in distress, being towed to port, as they explained to the interested passengers crowding the rails. As they returned the binoculars to the lass, they said "Well done!", and she was so happy with that.

We took the new P&O trip by ferry, from Vigo, to the Cies Isles, and it was the highlight of our cruise- after Venice. If you've ever been to the Hebridean Isles, with white sand and turquoise sea....but warm and inviting....the island is a nature reserve, with wonderful walks and view points, and the 2 modest restaurants are completely Spanish, without a mention of chips.....we will return when we next visit Vigo.

Thanks for an interesting blog, and we hope you had a good journey home....we arrived around 5pm.

Jo.

[u2cruiser]

Thanks Tom for taking us on your cruise. Are you missing your comfortable cabin? At least we have some nice sunshine for you today. :)

 

Thanks to jocap for the explanation of the security staff incident. The Vigo trip sounds interesting. How long was the ferry journey to the Cies Isles?

[littlesteelo]

Thoroughly enjoyed reading your posts, and I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise! Makes me even more excited. Just a quick question - Did you keep any of the menus or the horizon newspapers? If you did, I would love it if you could upload shots of them. I fully understand if this isn't possible though. :)

[jocap]

Thanks Tom for taking us on your cruise. Are you missing your comfortable cabin? At least we have some nice sunshine for you today. :)

 

Thanks to jocap for the explanation of the security staff incident. The Vigo trip sounds interesting. How long was the ferry journey to the Cies Isles?

It was 30 minutes, from the ferry stage just to the left of the harbour- near the fallen man statue. They seemed to be sailing every 30 mins or so, but were pretty crowded. The ferry chartered by P&O had 86 pax on a ship for 250, so we had no problems, but it would be cheaper on another ferry. It really was a dream of a place, but there's not much to do if you want sports, skis etc.....it's a walking/swimming island.

Jo.

[u2cruiser]

It was 30 minutes, from the ferry stage just to the left of the harbour- near the fallen man statue. They seemed to be sailing every 30 mins or so, but were pretty crowded. The ferry chartered by P&O had 86 pax on a ship for 250, so we had no problems, but it would be cheaper on another ferry. It really was a dream of a place, but there's not much to do if you want sports, skis etc.....it's a walking/swimming island.

Jo.

 

Thanks jocap. Sounds perfect. I'll keep that in mind in case we ever call at Vigo. :)

[caber]

Hi Tom,

I didn`t go online while I was on the cruise so did not realise you had a blog going. It was very interesting to hear someone else`s point of view on the cruise.

I met you at the cruise dot meet. Hi Jo and the rest.

 

We had a lovely cruise. I found the ports a lot more expensive than previously. We sat down in a bar on the main pedestrian street in Malaga and ordered two Bacardis and coke. The measures were good but when the bill arrived it was 18.40 euros. Serves us right for not asking the prices.

 

We took a taxi tour in Kefalonia. It went round the island to all the points of interest. The driver sounded like Tom Conti in "Shirley Valentine" and was very helpful and friendly. We then had a light lunch overlooking the bay.

 

Venice was the highlight. We also took the 36 hour vaporetto ticket. We took nearly 3 hours to get to Burano, waiting to pick up our tickets and the various changes we had to make, but it was worth it. Burano is lovely. We popped back into Venice in the evening to soak up the atmosphere.

 

The wine that we were drinking also ran out a few days before the end of the cruise.

 

We enjoyed our time in Vigo. We jumped on the open topped bus for only 7.50 euros for one and a half hours then wandered around. Sitting down for a drink was much more affordable there. It was a lovely last stop.

 

In all the weather was very good. It was a pity about the last day. I did not get a chance to play shuffle board for the last time.