Selbourne ‘Live’ from Ventura

[TigerB]

@Selbourne, do me a favour please while you're still on the ship; I expect you will be as you're an hour behind us.

Please look at the drink menus on My Holiday, and check at the bottom to establish the date of publication, and reply to me on here. All of ours have a publication date of May, so are showing old prices; there has been a recent price increase of all drinks, which is reflected in the physical menus. Consequently, and as an example, a pint of Punk IPA is now being charged at £5.55 whereas it is still showing as £5.30 on the My Holiday app/non-app. 

I have asked for an appointment with the Food and Beverage Manager about this issue.

 

Thanks, young man👍

[Interestedcruisefan]

7 minutes ago, TigerB said:

@Selbourne, do me a favour please while you're still on the ship; I expect you will be as you're an hour behind us.

Please look at the drink menus on My Holiday, and check at the bottom to establish the date of publication, and reply to me on here. All of ours have a publication date of May, so are showing old prices; there has been a recent price increase of all drinks, which is reflected in the physical menus. Consequently, and as an example, a pint of Punk IPA is now being charged at £5.55 whereas it is still showing as £5.30 on the My Holiday app/non-app. 

I have asked for an appointment with the Food and Beverage Manager about this issue.

 

Thanks, young man👍

Something tells me you will be paying 5.30 for yours Tiger!!!

 

Lol

[TigerB]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

 

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”) 

 

Same here, not had it for two days. That appears to support my theory that it is compiled at home and emailed to each ship for printing.

[TigerB]

59 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Something tells me you will be paying 5.30 for yours Tiger!!!

 

Lol

 

Damn straight!

#Yorkshire 🤭

[Selbourne]

5 minutes ago, TigerB said:

@Selbourne, do me a favour please while you're still on the ship; I expect you will be as you're an hour behind us.

Please look at the drink menus on My Holiday, and check at the bottom to establish the date of publication, and reply to me on here. All of ours have a publication date of May, so are showing old prices; there has been a recent price increase of all drinks, which is reflected in the physical menus. Consequently, and as an example, a pint of Punk IPA is now being charged at £5.55 whereas it is still showing as £5.30 on the My Holiday app/non-app. 

I have asked for an appointment with the Food and Beverage Manager about this issue.

 

Thanks, young man👍

Yes, May price lists on here as well. 

[TigerB]

59 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Yes, May price lists on here as well. 

 

Thanks!👍

I'm not sure how it works at sea, but if it were an establishment in the UK I would expect that Trading Standards would be interested.

 

I'll report back later, after my meeting.

[Selbourne]

5 minutes ago, TigerB said:

 

Thanks!👍

I'm not sure how it works at sea, but if it were an establishment in the UK I would expect that Trading Standards would be interested.

 

I'll report back later, after my meeting.

Can’t say I’d noticed it myself, but I agree the conserves thing is daft and unhygienic. I don’t understand why they have a different approach to retaining unfinished bottles of wine by ship. We are in club and have wine waiters, yet they don’t do it 🙄 

[purplesea]

Thank you, for your posts.

We are in the Canary Islands on Azura in January so am finding it interesting to read about your visits to the various islands. 

We tried the Silk and Spice wine when on Azura last May and can say we also enjoyed it.

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

[Winifred 22]

30 minutes ago, TigerB said:

 

Same here, not had it for two days. That appears to support my theory that it is compiled at home and emailed to each ship for printing.

They are compiled by some news agency. I suppose CUK just has a licence to print them. The USA today looks just the same with different articles. Similarly with the ones in other languages. I always find them out of date too. 

[Selbourne]

3 minutes ago, Winifred 22 said:

They are compiled by some news agency. I suppose CUK just has a licence to print them. The USA today looks just the same with different articles. Similarly with the ones in other languages. I always find them out of date too. 

Yes I can’t say I’ve ever learned much from them that I hadn’t already heard, but I have retained every Horizon and Britain Today from every cruise we have ever done, with a view that when we can no longer cruise we can look back and reminisce 😂 

[terrierjohn]

30 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Can’t say I’d noticed it myself, but I agree the conserves thing is daft and unhygienic. I don’t understand why they have a different approach to retaining unfinished bottles of wine by ship. We are in club and have wine waiters, yet they don’t do it 🙄 

I have no problem with the way they serve the marmalade, at least not in the buffet where the portions are small but just about right, for us ar least, with no wastage, and no likelihood that it will be re-used.

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, TigerB said:

 

Preservegate 

😂 Here are the two tubs that greeted us this morning. Look as though they’ve done the rounds a few times already 🤢 😂 

[Selbourne]

8 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I have no problem with the way they serve the marmalade, at least not in the buffet where the portions are small but just about right, for us ar least, with no wastage, and no likelihood that it will be re-used.

Not been to the buffet, but in the MDR the new approach means one of two things - regular re-cycling between tables (🤢) or an awful lot of food waste. 

[zap99]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

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. 

The MDR ' regular ' food should be presented like that. I would try all three courses.

[Interestedcruisefan]

59 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Can’t say I’d noticed it myself

I take it you're not from Yorkshire?

[thornegirl]

17 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. 

We have been in an aft balcony on Arvia on deck 14, no noise or vibration at all.  Booked the same cabin for our next cruise to the Med in March '24.

[Interestedcruisefan]

5 minutes ago, zap99 said:

The MDR ' regular ' food should be presented like that. I would try all three courses.

Main course looks amazing but if they aren't promoting it then no chance of it lasting

[lancashire_cruisers]

An excellent live from as usual! Our now cancelled Iona cruise was also the Canaries so I’m living it through your blog. We’ve only been on the big V once and we also had a lot of crashing and banging when we hit a force 12 going through Cap Finisterre but we put that down to the ship being quite new - obviously not the case! 😂

 

Enjoy the rest of the cruise!

[TigerB]

29 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

😂 Here are the two tubs that greeted us this morning. Look as though they’ve done the rounds a few times already 🤢 😂 

If those have come from another table, and have previously had buttery knives dipped into them, that is outrageous.

Not pleasant for a vegan, with the dairy contamination, but potentially extremely dangerous for a coeliac. For the latter, it doesn't even matter if a knife hasn't been dipped in it; all it takes is a previous table user, who has touched toast or other gluten containing food item, to then touch the outside of the ramekin with the same hand. That small level of contamination is potentially dangerous for a coeliac, more so for one that has high gluten sensitivity like our daughter.

Not good at all!😠

[Selbourne]

Tonight’s MDR menu

[Selbourne]

1 minute ago, TigerB said:

If those have come from another table, and have previously had buttery knives dipped into them, that is outrageous.

Not pleasant for a vegan, with the dairy contamination, but potentially extremely dangerous for a coeliac. For the latter, it doesn't even matter if a knife hasn't been dipped in it; all it takes is a previous table user, who has touched toast or other gluten containing food item, to then touch the outside of the ramekin with the same hand. That small level of contamination is potentially dangerous for a coeliac, more so for one that has high gluten sensitivity like our daughter.

Not good at all!😠

In all honesty I haven’t noticed butter smears in any of them. If I had I would have sent them back. For me it looks unappetising, is wasteful and if someone else on another table has coughed over it or whatever…… 

[Interestedcruisefan]

7 minutes ago, TigerB said:

If those have come from another table, and have previously had buttery knives dipped into them, that is outrageous.

Not pleasant for a vegan, with the dairy contamination, but potentially extremely dangerous for a coeliac. For the latter, it doesn't even matter if a knife hasn't been dipped in it; all it takes is a previous table user, who has touched toast or other gluten containing food item, to then touch the outside of the ramekin with the same hand. That small level of contamination is potentially dangerous for a coeliac, more so for one that has high gluten sensitivity like our daughter.

Not good at all!😠

Spot on

 

Unacceptable

 

Even without contamination

[Interestedcruisefan]

13 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Tonight’s MDR menu

Just calling a soup

 

Tomato Soup 

 

Doesn't make it sound half as appealing as they could - poor effort there

 

Maybe

 

Classic Roasted Tomato Soup

 

 

 

 

Edited November 4, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Megabear2]

17 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Just calling a soup

 

Tomato Soup 

 

Doesn't make it sound half as appealing as they could - poor effort there

 

Maybe

 

Classic Roasted Tomato Soup

 

 

 

 

It's still tomato soup whatever you disguise it as.  If you give it a posh name people will expect more and be disappointed and complain. You only have to read the comments here of those who call it uninviting, boring etc.  Best not to try to dress up the pig's ear so to speak, it is what it is.

[Interestedcruisefan]

3 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

It's still tomato soup whatever you disguise it as.  If you give it a posh name people will expect more and be disappointed and complain. You only have to read the comments here of those who call it uninviting, boring etc.  Best not to try to dress up the pig's ear so to speak, it is what it is.

Roasted Classic Tomato Soup isn't really posh though and not raising expectations too high MB

 

It's just making an effort on the description like they have with the rest

 

As it stands it certainly seems the boring choice

 

The fact it's got  basil oil does elevate it slightly