Ventura N207 Review

[DamianG]

Sorry, this ended up being a bit long winded but here goes...

 

25/03/2012: This was a last minute booking for us, something we’d never done before but although Ventura is far from our favourite ship it was the right itinerary at the right time at a ridiculously cheap price. There was little Sunday traffic on the drive down and we arrived around 12pm. We have priority embarkation so went straight through the check in process but there was quite a queue for the security checks and we were on board around 12:40. The embarkation lounge for Gold members was at The Tamarind Club and we enjoyed the complimentary drinks and sandwiches whilst we waited for our cabin.

We had booked JC grade on a guaranteed basis but actually ended up in a JA grade cabin on deck A of the starboard side. We were also waitlisted for freedom dining but there was nothing in the cabin to indicate what we had been allocated so we tried reception who directed us to the Maitre D’. He advised that freedom dining was fully subscribed and placed us in 2nd sitting on a table of 8 which would have been our next choice anyway so we were happy enough. After unpacking we were going to sit on our balcony but we had a smoker next door which wasn’t pleasant so instead we enjoyed the sail away at the Terrace Bar aft though the champagne didn’t seem to be discounted much at £4.25 a glass.

We went for a pre-dinner drink in Metropolis and the venue was just as good as on our previous cruise on this ship in 2010. We then went to dinner in the Bay Tree restaurant and we were eventually joined on our table for 8 by a young couple dressed in t-shirts and light blue jeans. They seemed pleasant enough and we tried to engage them in conversation but it was difficult to say the least. They were first time cruisers so we hoped that maybe they’d get into the swing of things but it wasn’t the best dining experience. At one point we were still on the soup course and the waiters served them their mains, so the whole thing felt a bit rushed. One question they did ask of us was whether we do “all that dressing up stuff” and they were surprised when we said that we did and that there was a code for each day which would be in the Horizon newsletter. At the end of dinner they shook hands with us “in case they didn’t see us again” and we went our separate ways. On our way out we thanked the waiters and they assured us that the table would be full tomorrow. We went to the show “Blame It on the Boogie” by The Headliners and it was fabulous. Unusually there were more vocalists than dancers and it was a very high energy performance.

 

26/03/2012: We don’t really enjoy the hustle and bustle of the buffet so went to the seated breakfast instead. This time we were on a table for 6 and once again it was very quiet. We tried our best to start conversations and once again it turned out that we were with first time cruisers, and funnily enough we were asked if we did “all that dressing up”. After breakfast we went to the cookery demonstration then found a quiet spot at the aft where I think the breeze had put off the sunbathers and we enjoyed some quiet reading time. We skipped lunch and held out for afternoon tea where we joined a table for 8. Lots of conversations this time dominated by 2 ladies travelling together, but after they departed we got talking to a lovely couple and ended up staying well past 5pm which was probably a bit naughty as the waiters were starting the set up for 1st sitting. It was a formal evening with Captain’s welcome on board drinks but bizarrely we had a 6pm invitation even though we were on 2nd sitting. We ignored that and went for the 8pm reception instead, but it was a little bit of a free for all with some passengers enjoying 2nd drinks whilst some of us hadn’t had one yet. We were clearly stood in the wrong place! We eventually did get a drink each but didn’t really hear the Captains speech as there was a lot of chatter around us. Afterwards we went to dinner and were surprised to see the couple from last night, smartly dressed but the gentleman wasn’t in a dinner jacket or suit so not strictly in accordance with the dress code. Once again conversation was limited and we flew through the courses. After dinner we went to “The Beatles Celebration” show by a tribute band and it was one of the most amazing live performances we’ve seen on all our cruises. They were fantastic musicians and played for almost an hour, pretty good as they played 2 shows in the evening. Most passengers were stood dancing for the last few songs, it was that good.

 

27/03/2012: We went to seated breakfast again and had some great company, in particular a couple who had lived in Spain for 20 years and were very enthusiastic about the country. We swapped stories and discussed our plans for the day in La Coruna. We disembarked around 10am and strolled through the streets to a park near Palacio de la Opera where we got lucky and happened upon a science museum with just a €2 admission fee. Inside there were lots of interactive exhibits which kept us occupied for about an hour and though we don’t have children I would imagine that they would love it. Afterwards we visited the Riazor football stadium then strolled down the promenade next to the beach. We also made a couple of stops for drinks and tapas and eventually ended up in the Plaza Mayor stopping at a bar called Pulpeira where they served us white wine in what looked like finger bowls! I don’t know if that is normal or if they were having a laugh at our expense but either way it made us smile and we took photos to show everyone at home. Back on board it seemed that we had struck lucky with our starboard cabin as we had full sunshine and it was nice to sit out. One thing though, the A deck balconies are well known for overlooking those on C and D deck and though we aren’t really nosy people you can’t help but look down. My wife did this then ran back into the cabin saying that there was a chap laid out 2 decks down with no clothes on! I thought that she was joking so I went out myself and sure enough there was a guy (I’d estimate in his 70’s) laid there with nothing on! Although our balcony was fairly small I pulled our chairs as far back as they would go and we then enjoyed the sunshine with our eyes firmly fixed towards the sea and city! In the evening we went to dinner and once again there was just the other couple, though the gentleman disappeared twice in the first 10 minutes. I wondered if he was ill or something but in fact he was going out to make telephone calls and spent the whole of the service sending text messages. It was another disappointing dining experience. After dinner I was keen to see Rob Lewis as “Phil Collins” but after a couple of songs we decided that he didn’t sound too great and looked more like Omid Djalili. Maybe we were just sat in the wrong place but anyway we moved on to Ramblas, another venue that we really like and we enjoyed the guitar music by Amigo.

 

28/03/2012: It was my wife’s birthday so I had ordered a champagne breakfast for the cabin and it was delivered right on time. It was quite substantial so we ended up keeping some for the next day. We disembarked around 10am again and there was a shuttle service into the city of Bilbao. The lady at the Tourist Information office advised that the city had changed a lot since our last visit in 2002 and they were really helpful locating a particular restaurant on the map for us. It was warm and sunny and we strolled round combining shopping and sightseeing before ending up at Restaurante Mina on the river bank for a special birthday lunch. We enjoyed a leisurely tasting menu lunch over 2 hours which was expensive but worth every Euro. Afterwards we had a bit of a rush to catch the last shuttle bus which we had all to ourselves and we made sure that we tipped the driver! In the evening we went to East where the service and ambience were superb. It was just a bit of a shame that we had stuffed ourselves at lunchtime otherwise we may have enjoyed it even more. We’d had enough for the day by the time we’d finished so took a short stroll then had an early night. Incidentally I should mention that as we were leaving the cabin around 8:30pm to go to dinner another couple came out into the corridor and although the lady was smartly dressed the gentleman (I’d guess late 40’s) was in a t-shirt and bright green beach shorts. So much for the dress code!

 

29/03/2012: We had a leftovers breakfast in the cabin then disembarked with lousy timing as there as a huge queue for the shuttle buses to La Rochelle. We waited around 25 minutes but it was clear that the port was a long way from the town and there was simply no other means of getting there. Just as we were about to get on a bus there was a bit of commotion as a chap and his wife bypassed the queue and headed to the security gate saying that they were going to make their own way there. The tourist reps stopped them and insisted that they got on the bus, which meant that they had bypassed hundreds in the queue! I don’t know if that was a deliberate ploy but they certainly saved themselves a long wait. The journey took about 30 minutes and on arrival we made our way to the Aquarium where we spent an interesting hour. After that we bought some sandwiches which we ate at the quayside whilst waiting for the model museum to open at 2pm. Unfortunately the museum was a little run down and disappointing although the model railway layout was impressive. After that we strolled back to the shuttle bus and it seemed like a long ride back to the ship, probably made worse by a family which included a particularly noisy grandma who seemed to be provoking the parents and children. In the evening we enjoyed a lovely dinner at Ramblas then finished our wine whilst listening to Amigo again.

 

30/03/2012: This was our second sea day and once again we were blessed with lovely sunshine. We spent most of the day on the balcony reading, and luckily our neighbour only came out once for a smoke. I went out to get us some pizza for lunch and by contrast the port side of the ship seemed to be freezing cold in the shade. Late afternoon I visited the gym for the second time and really enjoyed the session, no doubt helped by the calm sea and ready availability of equipment. After I had showered and dressed I went down to see the Maitre D’ as we had decided that we really didn’t want to persevere anymore with our dining arrangement. I politely explained our situation and he immediately transferred us to freedom dining which made me wish that I’d done this sooner. We went along to the Cinnamon restaurant around 8:30pm and enjoyed a pleasant dinner with good company on a table for 8. Later we went to the 3rd performance of The Headliners latest production “Reel To Reel” and once again it was excellent.

 

31/03/2012: Ventura docked at Le Havre and we paid the price for poor planning as it proved to be one of the most disappointing ports we have ever visited. We caught the shuttle bus into the centre than made our way to the bus and train station hoping to catch a bus to Honfleur. Unfortunately there wasn’t a service until the afternoon and we would have had to come back early too so we gave up on that and tried the train station instead. None of the possible trips from there appealed either so we strolled into town and stopped for a coffee in a pleasant bar. After that we walked round a few shops but it was surprisingly quiet for a Saturday so we just bought some sandwiches and pastries for lunch. On our way back to the shuttle we came across a nice park so we walked through that taking photos and spotted a good looking bar and restaurant on the other side where we decided to stop there for a glass of Chablis. After that the shuttle bus back to ship seemed to take an age for what was a short journey and we were back on board around 2:30pm. We didn’t do much for the rest of the day though I did call into the buffet at 6:30 to get some more milk for the cabin and was amazed to see it packed out. In the evening we went for a pre-dinner drink in the Red Bar where we got talking to a nice couple. They had similar views to us about the cruise, i.e. it was the right itinerary at the right time but a very different experience to most P&O cruises. Bizarrely they asked us if we had any tattoos (which we don’t) which lead to them expressing some strong opinions about other passengers on board who did. Otherwise the conversation was good and we enjoyed their company. Dinner was a quiet affair as we just shared a table for 2, then afterwards we headed for Havana to catch the end of Gary Newbon’s after dinner speech. We sat towards the back and were amazed to see 3 young girls trying to reserve a whole section of seats by shooing away any passenger who got near. They were also quite noisy and several times another lady turned round asking them to be quieter. Lord knows why they decided to be there as they had no interest in the presentation whatsoever. Gary Newbon came across really well and we may have stayed for the 2nd showing but the rest of the young girls’ party arrived to take up their reserved seats. They were a mixture of young and old and were noisy and boisterous so we decided to move on. We saw a bit of vocalist Rob Linacre’s show in the Tamarind Club then moved on to comedian Dave Kristian’s show which was okay but nothing more, with most of the jokes and funny stories based on the battle of the sexes.

 

01/04/2012: We had decided to self disembark as we only had 2 cases and it was well worth the effort as we had originally been allocated a time of 9:40am. We made our way down to the Atrium and at first our hearts sank as we saw the big queue, but we soon realised that it was the seated breakfast queue and in actual fact the self disembarkation queue was moving much quicker. We were soon off and were in the car on the road at 8am. With it being Sunday morning the roads were quiet and we were home in record time.

 

Summary: Another passenger did a cruise blog on the P&O website whilst on board and I think that they summed it up really well. They liked a lot about the ship and the cruise itself but said that some of the passengers were plain rude or ignorant. They also said that Le Havre is a pretty poor port to visit which we agree with. We try not to let anything spoil our holiday but it is not nice when people are barging into the lift or on to the shuttle bus while you are trying to get off, as happened to us on a couple of occasions. Fortunately we did meet some lovely people as well who we will remember long after we've forgotten about those not so nice. Our cabin was great notwithstanding the occasional smoker on the balcony and unbelievable view of a nude old man! Metropolis, the Tamarind Club and Ramblas are great venues and East is very good though it was pricey on this cruise at £20 per person (we are sure that we only paid £7.50 per person back in 2010). Automated tipping made things easy and for us there was no noticeable difference in service which seemed excellent as usual. Dress code does not appear to be enforced in any way which is a shame especially when it is so flexible on this ship. The minimum casual wear for gentlemen “open necked shirt and tailored trousers or smart jeans” is still clearly too much for some but I don’t know what the answer is other than perhaps to just abandon the code altogether for this ship. However no doubt that would then upset many longstanding passengers. We would go on this ship again but as stated already it would have to be the right itinerary at the right time and would be our last choice after Oriana, Aurora etc.

[Scorpio41]

Thank you for your cruise report.

 

We cruised on the Ventura for the first time last year and our people opinions are the same as yours. It was the first time we had seen jeans and trainers worn into evening diner and shorts at MDR morning breakfast.

 

I agree about the Champagne breakfast, it's huge. I had it for my birthday and we were eating some of it days later. The champagne didn't seem to last as long. :o

 

We are back on the Aurora this year. :)

[tom_uk]

Thank you for the review - it was an interesting read. Your dining experiences must have been disappointing. Perhaps the cruise was attracting a lot of first-time cruisers? - low cost, not too long, and not too much investment in time or money if it wasn't what they wanted.

 

I agree with you about Le Havre. Last time we were there (on Arcadia) we didn't go ashore at all, just explored the ship thoroughly in the morning and sat in the Crow's Nest in the afternoon. It was interesting also to read about your experiences in the other ports. We haven't been to either Bilbao or La Rochelle. I got the impression that it wasn't possible to just go ashore, you had to go on a shuttle. Where were you berthed?

[DamianG]

Thanks Scorpio41, bet your counting down aready. Happy sailing!

Damian

[DamianG]

Thank you for the review - it was an interesting read. Your dining experiences must have been disappointing. Perhaps the cruise was attracting a lot of first-time cruisers? - low cost, not too long, and not too much investment in time or money if it wasn't what they wanted.

 

I agree with you about Le Havre. Last time we were there (on Arcadia) we didn't go ashore at all, just explored the ship thoroughly in the morning and sat in the Crow's Nest in the afternoon. It was interesting also to read about your experiences in the other ports. We haven't been to either Bilbao or La Rochelle. I got the impression that it wasn't possible to just go ashore, you had to go on a shuttle. Where were you berthed?

 

Hi Tom

For Bilbao we were docked at Getxo which looked an interesting place in itself and had a nice beach for the sunbathers. The shuttle bus took around 20 minutes. We are big fans of mainland Spain and Bilbao was fantastic. It would be nice to return there some day as there is definitely a lot more to it that just the Guggenheim museum. For La Rochelle we were on what appeared to be a small purpose built port near an industrial area, not far from the old German U-boat base used during World War 2. It was extremely remote and accessed by a bridge which did not appear to have a footpath so I don't see how even the keenest of walkers could have made it into town. The shuttle bus took around 30 minutes but part of that was due to the one way system in the town itself which slowed it down somewhat.

I totally agree about the passenger demographic that this cruise attracted and the reasons for it, and we sort of knew what to expect but it was still dramatically different to our last 14 night Mediterranean cruise on Ventura in 2010. No doubt a Caribbean cruise would be different again.

Cheers

Damian

[marylizcat]

Thank you for your cruise report.

 

We cruised on the Ventura for the first time last year and our people opinions are the same as yours. It was the first time we had seen jeans and trainers worn into evening diner and shorts at MDR morning breakfast.

 

I agree about the Champagne breakfast, it's huge. I had it for my birthday and we were eating some of it days later. The champagne didn't seem to last as long. :o

 

We are back on the Aurora this year. :)

Please don't attack me!! But we always use the buffet for breakfast. I didn't know there was a ban on shorts in the MDR at breakfast and presumably lunchtime. I thought it was just at dinner. Is this true? Because surely people don't want to have to keep changing their clothes all day long! If it is a 'shorts' sort of day, they want to wear them all day!

[Scorpio41]

marylizcat sharpen your claws and let the fight begin. :p

 

I'm not sure if there is a code referring to shorts in the MDR for breakfast. It was just something I noticed happening on the Ventura and hadn't seen on other ships.

Ventura is a less formal ship than some of the others and the dress code seems more relaxed all round which suits many of the passengers. Her sister ship the Azura is more formal and the passengers tend to adhere to this but I saw it being enforced more ie: jackets must be worn on semi-formal nights and the MDR turning men away to collect a jacket from their cabin.

[davecttr]

According to the P&O web site during the day "casual shirts, shorts and beachwear are ideal."

 

"please do not wear swimwear in the restaurants etc"

 

Wearing swimwear in the buffet is fine but you need to cover up and no bare feet.

 

So it is fine to wear shorts in the main dining room for breakfast and lunch.

 

A moments doubt arose when i considered my M&S swim shorts. Dark blue or brown with white piping and come to just above the knee. Their purpose is swimming but they are longer than standard shorts some time ago. So i wore them anyway with deck shoes and a casual shirt.

 

So what is the definition of swimwear? Speedos for men i suppose?

[OldJerseycruiser]

It's funny though, on the Weekender just before your cruise, I would say 95% of people dressed according to the dress code of the day. A lot of the younger men were wearing DJs or smart dark suits.

[cclarke12]

It is interesting that there are lots of negative reviews of le Havre. We were there last April and apart from major problems with shuttle buses not knowing where to drop people, we had a lovely morning. Bright sunshine and as it was a Sunday morning there was a lovely market on with lots of tempting food, some lovely cafes and great enertainment from a marching band and some peole on stilts dressed as ladybirds. We joined the locals queueing at the bread shop and has possibly the best baguette I have ever tasted. It is one of the ports the kids still remember the best (there was a free bouncy castle in the Market!). We had a stroll from the market over the large square/gardens in the centre of town, which again was very pleasant.

[DamianG]

It is interesting that there are lots of negative reviews of le Havre. We were there last April and apart from major problems with shuttle buses not knowing where to drop people, we had a lovely morning. Bright sunshine and as it was a Sunday morning there was a lovely market on with lots of tempting food, some lovely cafes and great enertainment from a marching band and some peole on stilts dressed as ladybirds. We joined the locals queueing at the bread shop and has possibly the best baguette I have ever tasted. It is one of the ports the kids still remember the best (there was a free bouncy castle in the Market!). We had a stroll from the market over the large square/gardens in the centre of town, which again was very pleasant.

 

It was really cold when we were there last Saturday and part of the park was closed whilst they are building a tramway so there is no doubt we didn't see it at it's best.

Thanks for the positive comments and we would definitely would give it another chance, maybe including a meal at the bar near the park which seemed nice and friendly.

Cheers

Damian

[supergran]

We were on Ventura on the transatlantic just before this cruise. There was a BBQ on deck one day and the ladies who tried to queue for food in their swimwear were made to go and get a dress or wrap before they were allowed in the queue.