Ventura adventure to Iceland June 2019

[kerryincork]

Well so it begins, I love reading day by day cruise reviews, I haven't seen that many for P&O, so thought I would do one.

 

I have been on plenty of cruises but this is the first one on P&O and to Iceland.

 

I am currently sitting in Cork Airport waiting for my flight.

 

For anyone thinking of flying to Cork, it is a very small airport.

 

There have been some reports recently of roudy passengers on the Ventura, I will let you know what I experience.

 

We booked a inside GTY cabin, so I will attach photos when I have them.

 

I will be relying on roaming and only 3 days of Wi-Fi, so I won't be the most religious poster.

[AndyMichelle]

Have a fantastic time.

Sun is shining in Southampton.

I guess you sail tomorrow as I didn't see Ventura in today?

Looking forward to reading your reviews, we are on Ventura in December.

Andy

[silversurf1]

Kerry. See you on board. We’ll try to behave ourselves.

[Eglesbrech]

Look forward to reading all your posts. 

 

I also didnt know there was a flight flight from Edinburgh or Glasgow to Cork which I see in the board, useful for an odd weekend away as we like your part of the world.

[kerryincork]

Yep I have flown to both from Cork, though those roots usually use a smaller propeller plane.

[happytravelleruk]

We sail on Sunday.  Really looking forward to it.  If anyone sees me tootling around on my little blue scooter, give me a wave.

[Host Sharon]

You may not have seen many because there is a separate area on Cruise Critic for reviews. It's welcome here too but it would be good if you could also post it there for others to read. Thanks

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/collect/

[AndyMichelle]

30 minutes ago, happytravelleruk said:

We sail on Sunday.  Really looking forward to it.  If anyone sees me tootling around on my little blue scooter, give me a wave.

Have a fantastic time.

Try not to run anybody over after a few cocktails😀

Andy

[P&O SUE]

Thanks for doing this, I look forward to your posts.

[Tommart]

Great idea - love Cork by the way. And the whole of Ireland - a beautiful country. I suspect you'll soon be re-unified with the north too, the way things are going.

[Goosebear Mum]

Thanks for doing this on here, I enjoy reading these live threads (rather than the post cruise reviews) on here. As you say they are rare treats.

 

Edit, I’d have liked to have been on this cruise, so I can try and imagine I am there! Maybe one day...

Edited June 22, 2019 by Goosebear Mum

[kerryincork]

A beautiful morning in London, a lovely view for a change. We stayed the night at the Ambassador Hotel in Knightsbridge. Cheap and cheerful.

 

We are going to Paul's are favourite cafe 😊

 

One lesson learned do not leave booking coach tickets to the last minute. £29 each way for the two of us. When I checked ticket prices a couple of months ago they were £11 for the two of us. I didn't think that coach ticket prices would change. 😣

[kerryincork]

Well today's the day 🎉😁

 

We spent the night in Ibis budget, next to Macdonalds and TFI, an easy walk to Odeon cinema and big shopping centre, so location excellent.

 

The room was very basic, a family room very small and not much privacy, OK for family but friends might find it a bit awkward.

 

The door on the right is the shower stall, so if you like sailing the Epic you might like it 😉🚿

[kerryincork]

The room was cheap at £106 for the room.

 

I went for a walk around Southampton everywhere was closed except for Macdonalds at 07:00 😉

 

I did spot one of Royal Caribbean ships in port, but could only see the emblem on the funnel and part of the bow, not enough to identify her.

 

Starting to feel excited now. Does anyone know what deck is 'B'?

 

We got a boarding time of 14.30, the hotel offers free baggage storage until 14:00 so for a change we are going to stick to our boarding time😊 and see how that works out for us.

 

We sailed out of Southampton about 7 years ago, so we will go for a walk around the old town and refresh our memories ☺️🙄

 

 

[AndyMichelle]

Explorer is in, along with 2 Cunard and  Ventura of course.

B deck is 11, so 2 below the buffet I think?

Enjoy Southampton, unfortunately I think you have missed the naked bike ride!!

Have a great time,

Andy

[kerryincork]

Well a quick Uber ride here and waited 5 min and we are in the queue for check in. Big crowds here, but seems very organised.

[AndyMichelle]

3 minutes ago, kerryincork said:

Well a quick Uber ride here and waited 5 min and we are in the queue for check in. Big crowds here, but seems very organised.

Now you are that close, you should be on board in about 15 mins.

Remember to take pics early to see the ship in all its glory (and your cabin at its finest).

Andy

[kerryincork]

Well I found the bar 😁😉

 

And the desserts

[kerryincork]

Well the boarding process was fab, one of the best. From cab to cabin  about 30 min. Also our baggage beat us to our cabin too.

 

Started a walking tour of the ship and got waylaid by demon drink.

[kerryincork]

We chose an inside saver cabi. Very happy with the cabi, more spacious than I expected.

 

It's been a while since we were last in an Inside.

 

Plenty of storage and hangers. Bed side lockers a good size there is also under the counter storage.

 

Unfortunately the last occupants of the cabin left the safe with the lock é gaged so we will have to call someone to unlock it.

[AndyMichelle]

Too many desserts to choose from, you better try one of each...

Enjoy,

Andy

[alija1960]

Thanks for doing this - it is so much more interesting when the post is live from onboard.  Enjoy your cruise!!!

[kerryincork]

Well I have bought 24 hours of Internet so you will get an update today and tomorrow 🙂

 

We got freedom dinning, which we were happy about. We were starving so went as soon as they were open at about 17:30.

 

A nice selection, we both chose the swordfish, which was delicious. We both had the sticky toffee pudding, which was nice but not the best I have ever had.

 

There was a four part harmony singing group on last night, they were singing famous songs from UK & Ireland groups. They will be performing again later in the cruise.

 

They were decent singers, I have found that sometimes the singers on a cruise ship can be a bit screechy. Also the volume in the theatre wasn't too loud. We have found this to be a problem in the past as well.

 

[kerryincork]

Later in the Evening we were at our first quiz, we were pretty pitiful.

 

The quiz was really crowded, we were lucky to get seats. Some were sitting on the floor or around the stage edge.

 

This was followed up by some dancing in the bar later on. Was in bed by 23:45

[kerryincork]