Selbourne ‘Live’ from Ventura

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

A couple more shots from La Palma plus tonight’s formal night menu (apologies for the poor angle, but the menus behind Perspex are difficult to photograph without getting your reflection all over them 😂)

 

 

None of the starters really work for me. Both soups sound nice (Two Soups?...🤣). Nice selection of main courses and could probably eat one of the vegan options. Desserts sound not bad but probably tasteless...

[Ukulele girl]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

3 hours ago, jh1809 said:

Have you consider ear plugs? Not ideal, but better than being kept awake by noise. I don't know if the toiletries shop would sell them.

The deck manager offered them. I don’t think they would have made a big enough difference in all honesty. 

The noises you are experiencing would wreck my sleep on a cruise. I think I will be tempted to bring the white noise machine with me that I use with my granddaughter. That at least would help to cover and remove the worst of the noises. Perhaps this is a thought for people who find it a problem. Our machine is very small and has a variety of choices for sounds. Bought from a well known on line company.

[P&O SUE]

Just catching up Selbourne, entertaining as usual! Glad you got the flambéed crepes experience ☺️

interesting enough my worse creaking on a cruise was our second cruise and it was on Ventura. It was just the one night (when it was quite rough) when we were going up to Norway. We were in a forward inside cabin on deck 14. I remember thinking it sounded like a ship such as the Victory the amount of creaking it was doing! I’ve been on Ventura twice since then and there was no noise but we had calm seas.

 

[Thedonkeycentrehalf]

3 hours ago, bobstheboy said:

Apologises, not wanting to highjack Selbournes thread but we are in a mid ship suite, Deck 14 on the Azura in January. Is there a problem with noise from the deck above ?

We were on Ventura Deck 14 earlier this year and had no issue with noise from above.

 

Although some people don't like these balconies because they are partially covered, we preferred them as you don't feel you have half the ship looking at you relaxing as you have with some of the other decks.

[Selbourne]

@Megabear2 I haven’t forgotten that you asked me to find out about on board offers for future cruises. Every time I pass the future cruise desks they are either closed (bit of a cushy number, if you ask me) or have people waiting, which is why I’ve never booked whilst on a cruise as I don’t do queues 😂. As far as I can tell, the ‘offer’ is extra OBC (possibly x3) and a lower deposit. This is all I’ve managed to get promo wise. I’ll check again later in the cruise but I know that they tend to get busier then

 

 

[Neecy1]

5 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Very interesting and I’m glad that I recorded ours as well, because there would be some who think that I’m exaggerating. The video clip is of course not as loud as it is in the flesh. Like you, we’ve done a lot of cruises and the movement and a degree of noise is all part of the experience, but when it prevents sleep it’s another matter. We also have a regular mechanical motor noise every few minutes, but that in itself doesn’t wake us. We are by the forward lifts on deck 9. Hopefully it will be OK where you are. We’ve had Superior Deluxe cabins before and not had these noise issues. We usually suffer from noisy neighbours, but thankfully those around us are as considerate as we are, so we wouldn’t want to move and replace one problem with another 😂 

We had an aft superior deluxe cabin on E deck on Azura in June. Lovely cabin but we'd never go for aft again. The noise from the thrusters was horrendous when docking and woke us each time. The vibration was terrible too. We had to laugh but never again. Is this the same on every ship. Weve only ever stayed mid ship before.

[Selbourne]

3 minutes ago, Neecy1 said:

We had an aft superior deluxe cabin on E deck on Azura in June. Lovely cabin but we'd never go for aft again. The noise from the thrusters was horrendous when docking and woke us each time. The vibration was terrible too. We had to laugh but never again. Is this the same on every ship. Weve only ever stayed mid ship before.

Yes I’m afraid that all the ships have forward and aft thrusters and they can indeed shake you out of bed at times 😂. I don’t mind them because they don’t keep us awake at night.  We like aft cabins but they do often suffer from vibration that you don’t get elsewhere. 

[SarahHben]

I've read through the whole thread this afternoon and thoroughly enjoy reading about your cruise @Selbourne sounds like it's the same itinerary as we did in August.

 

I'm saving off all your menu pics to show my brother in law as he's worried he'll find the food too samey on a 2 week cruise. He wouldn't use speciality dining more than once a week.

[bobstheboy]

The offers on the flyer don't tempt me so unless they are better in January I won't bother.

[Megabear2]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

I don’t do queues

Is ICF your alter ego then?

[Selbourne]

2 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Is ICF your alter ego then?

I’m going to suggest to my wife that we go down for a coffee shortly. Watching that enormous queue build up from 5.30pm yesterday and snake all around the atrium was quite a spectator sport. We’ve not long finished lunch 😂 

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

Is ICF your alter ego then?

I think so

 

We both recognise good food in MDRs when they rest  of the cruise world think the sky is falling in 

 

Lol

 

And we both like Epicurean more than once a cruise!!

 

Just need to convert selbourne so he doesn't need a balcony!!

 

Having a wall blocking the view must surely help with that!!

 

Edited November 3, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Yes I’m afraid that all the ships have forward and aft thrusters and they can indeed shake you out of bed at times 😂. I don’t mind them because they don’t keep us awake at night.  We like aft cabins but they do often suffer from vibration that you don’t get elsewhere. 

I don't believe Iona and Arvia have aft thrusters, because they use Azipod propulsion, this enables them to use the azipods to achieve the same sideways movement that thrusters give to normal propeller driven ships. They do of course have fwd thrusters.

However I am not sure if this reduces the noise level.

Edited November 3, 2023 by terrierjohn

[jh1809]

2 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

I don't believe Iona and Arvia have aft thrusters, because they use Azipod propulsion, this enables them to use the azipods to achieve the same sideways movement that thrusters give to normal propeller driven ships. They do of course have fwd thrusters.

However I am not sure if this reduces the noise level.

I believe Arcadia has Azipods too.

[heatherb1958]

Enjoying reading your live report Selbourne ... we are on Ventura to the Med on 5th December,  our 3rd time on her , 2nd time this year . Keep the photos coming .

 

Observations :- Brandy and Port mixed in equal measure is called a Stabiliser  as told to us by a bar person on RCI.  We have it when feeling a chill or under the weather . 

Creaking cabins , rarely been bothered by one but OMG the creaking balconies on Iona in Jan 22 were horrendous . They were so noisy it put us off sitting out on it , it was like a Mexican wave of creaking starting at one end of the ship working it's way to the aft. Like you I took video.  We are back on Iona for New year so I am hoping she is bedded in now 😆.  

We visited the island of  Las Palmas in January from Azura , first time visit there though been  to the other islands for holidays and cruise visits many times . Las Palmas  was a delight ,  I did a ship island tour that ended with rum and gin tasting , fantastic .. 😋 

Enjoy the rest of your trip .

[Cathygh]

@Selbourne  in Lanzarote you can turn left out of the port and walk to the Arrecife Gran, there's a great coffee shop on the top floor. It's a bit of a trek with a wheel chair though. The town is not a pretty tourist resort, it's the capital city and is more business/industrial stle but the shopping area is great

[Peanut006]

3 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

@Selbourne  in Lanzarote you can turn left out of the port and walk to the Arrecife Gran, there's a great coffee shop on the top floor. It's a bit of a trek with a wheel chair though. The town is not a pretty tourist resort, it's the capital city and is more business/industrial stle but the shopping area is great

We did that this year, it is well worth doing. We had barraquito coffee - fantastic

 

Michelle

[TigerB]

23 hours ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

Hi.

Yes they do,,,,,thank god they also have John Smiths and Guinness😏

 

Just as I recall, the GF one. Our daughter liked it.

[Selbourne]

13 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Just need to convert selbourne so he doesn't need a balcony!!

 

Don’t waste too much time on that one ICF. Never going to happen 😉

[Selbourne]

13 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

I don't believe Iona and Arvia have aft thrusters, because they use Azipod propulsion, this enables them to use the azipods to achieve the same sideways movement that thrusters give to normal propeller driven ships. They do of course have fwd thrusters.

However I am not sure if this reduces the noise level.

You may well be right. We were midships on Iona though and felt nothing. We were aft on Britannia and there was a pretty constant low level vibration at sea. Can’t remember what the thrusters were like. As I said, I don’t mind them as they are infrequent and not in the night. 

[Selbourne]

9 hours ago, heatherb1958 said:

Enjoying reading your live report Selbourne ... we are on Ventura to the Med on 5th December,  our 3rd time on her , 2nd time this year . Keep the photos coming .

 

Observations :- Brandy and Port mixed in equal measure is called a Stabiliser  as told to us by a bar person on RCI.  We have it when feeling a chill or under the weather . 

Creaking cabins , rarely been bothered by one but OMG the creaking balconies on Iona in Jan 22 were horrendous . They were so noisy it put us off sitting out on it , it was like a Mexican wave of creaking starting at one end of the ship working it's way to the aft. Like you I took video.  We are back on Iona for New year so I am hoping she is bedded in now 😆.  

We visited the island of  Las Palmas in January from Azura , first time visit there though been  to the other islands for holidays and cruise visits many times . Las Palmas  was a delight ,  I did a ship island tour that ended with rum and gin tasting , fantastic .. 😋 

Enjoy the rest of your trip .

Many thanks. We had no creaking whatsoever on Iona (deck 10 midships on the ‘bump’). 

[Selbourne]

51 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

@Selbourne  in Lanzarote you can turn left out of the port and walk to the Arrecife Gran, there's a great coffee shop on the top floor. It's a bit of a trek with a wheel chair though. The town is not a pretty tourist resort, it's the capital city and is more business/industrial stle but the shopping area is great

Thanks Cathy. P&O go to Lanzarote on Sundays - when all the shops are closed! Suppose they have to be somewhere on Sunday, but it’s a shame it’s the ugliest place 🙄

[TigerB]

On 11/3/2023 at 7:57 AM, Selbourne said:

I just don’t get the switch from little jars of conserves to large open tubs. Makes no sense to me. There was nothing environmentally unfriendly about glass pots that could be recycled. The large tubs, which I’ve seen be moved around between tables, seem unhygienic and, as you say, far more wasteful food wise. Bonkers IMHO 😂 

 

We were speaking with our waiter this morning about this very issue, and he had an input from the perspective of the waiting staff, which matches the view of both you and I. 

I have asked for an appointment with the Food and Beverage Manager about a totally different issue, that being overcharging in the bars; I will ask about Preservegate also.

[TigerB]

23 hours ago, Britboys said:

Surely you mean Andrew Preview.....😁

 

Oh yes, of course!😂

[Selbourne]

DAY 7 - Friday 3rd November - La Palma

 

The creaking in the cabin started again last night, even though the movement was only slight. Nowhere near as bad as the first few nights, but still annoying. If this cruise was longer than 2 weeks I’d have to get engineers in here to see if they could do something, as it is disturbing our sleep in anything other than slight seas. There’s also a mechanical motor noise that we hear every 5 minutes. It sounds like a lift motor but it can’t be, because it lasts exactly the same length of time (around 10 seconds) every single time. Unlike the creaking, it doesn’t in itself wake us, but just adds to the aural delights! I’m just so relieved that we have quiet and considerate cabin neighbours, but I wouldn’t book this cabin again. I think we’d have been better off with an accessible standard balcony cabin. 

 

We were pulling in to La Palma when I got up at 7am and we have another sunny day. We are facing the ocean this time. The pier is very long and we are at the far end. There is a port provided free shuttle but it’s not really worth it when you can easily walk. 

 

We only just got to breakfast a few minutes before the 9.30 cut off and we had to wait 10 mins for a table but, to their credit, the waiters didn’t rush us at all. In fact, we haven’t met a poor waiter yet. 

 

After breakfast I made my usual trip down to the Library to pick up a copy of Britain Today but, for the second day running, they didn’t have any (“technical issues”) so we did our usual circuit of deck 16 to get our bearings. 

 

After sorting ourselves out we headed off into the town. Much the same as yesterday in that there are a some nice buildings, hemmed in by some ugly ones. It’s good to see these towns, but anyone who is coming to the Canary Islands for a one off cruise would be well advised to take tours to see what the wider islands have to offer (as we did many years ago when we came when our kids when they were young). The ports themselves have limited appeal. 

 

We were back on the ship for a late lunch at the Glasshouse. We both had the trio of small plates. Very good, but the giant prawns had far too much greasy batter on them, which we both cut off. I particularly enjoyed the Thai beef salad which had loads of beef for a small plate and tasted delicious. My wife wimped out on a pud but I had the Asian Fusion trio, which was presented differently to the other ships. As a result It wasn’t as good, but I’m still glad I had it. I enjoyed a large glass of ‘Money Spider’ with my lunch and my wife had a cocktail, which she also enjoyed. 

 

BTW, during this cruise a few people have said to us that they think that Ventura needs a refit and we have overheard a number of similar comments. In all honesty, I’m not entirely sure what aspects they are unhappy about, so I will have to ask when it next comes up in conversation. As far as we are concerned it all looks fine. Yes, it may appear a bit ‘dated’ to some after the likes of Iona and Arvia, but we significantly prefer what I’d call the ‘classic’ look of this ship to the more modern airport terminal / conference hotel look of her bigger sisters. We haven’t noticed any obvious maintenance issues or areas looking shabby. 

 

One thing I have noticed is that internal branding and signage is in woeful need of updating, and has been the case for many years. Sindhu is still branded ‘East’ and the lift directories still call Epicurean ‘The White Room’. Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t the names of both restaurants change around 10 years ago? Certainly more than enough time to update the signage 😂 

 

We went to Metropolis again for pre dinner drinks, as the pianist was back. We then headed down to the Bay Tree for dinner. It was the second formal night and branded as a Celebration Night. I had completely forgotten about the Signature Selection (extra cost) menu that is being trialed in the MDR on Ventura, as it had never been mentioned to us, nor is it advertised at all. It is still available and I ordered all 3 courses for a supplement of £14.95. I remembered to take photos of each course (see below). The starter was nothing special. I had expected a lobster claw but it was a small amount of chopped up meat. The main course was the best of the 3 courses and, unlike Epicurean, the beef was cooked exactly as I’d asked. I didn’t rate the pud at all. Far too rich and sickly, even for me. I’m glad I tried this menu, but wouldn’t do so again. I doubt very much that it will last, especially as it is kept a secret and the waiters don’t promote it 😂 It’s nice having a wine waiter. I was dithering over which wine to have and he recommended a Portuguese blend called Silk & Spice, which I enjoyed. 

 

After dinner we attended our very first theatre show of the cruise, the postponed Duo Esencias performance. A lively combination of a classical violinist and a flamenco Dancer. We always enjoy these unusual shows far more than the Headliners shows or the endless singers, and tonight was no exception. Tomorrow Gran Canaria. 

Edited November 4, 2023 by Selbourne