Selbourne ‘Live’ from Ventura

[yorkshirephil]

7 minutes ago, gsmt47471015 said:

Hoolie , there's a word I use to hear as a kid, , thanks Jean for refreshing my childhood 😃

I have always thought it was a scottish word but one we use in Yorkshire. Some of the youths use it as an abbreviation for hooligan.

[Clodia]

In Southampton now. Barely a breath of wind. 

[Selbourne]

 

DAY 14 - Friday 10th November (Sea Day)

 

Well it was a rough old night and it got worse as the morning went on. It was nigh on impossible to stand still in one spot without hanging on to something and, when you did walk, one minute you were walking up a steep hill and the next running down the other side 😂 After our outward crossing there were a few first timers vowing not to go on another cruise, so I suspect that those views have hardened rather than softened as this cruise has gone on! I don’t think it’s helped matters that Ventura and Azura don’t seem to handle rough weather quite as well as some of the other P&O ships. 

 

As hardened seafarers we braved the aft MDR for breakfast 😂. I’ve now discovered that they only accommodate 100 covers in the Bay Tree MDR at breakfast, hence why it’s never advertised as open and a request for a table for 2 usually involves a wait. I even managed a cooked breakfast! 

 

We couldn’t really do anything during the day as it was so choppy, so we just relaxed in our cabin and after lunch in the MDR we broke the back of our packing. We then went to Tazzine for a drink and, when returning the library books, I noticed that the future cruises desk was free, so I enquired about on board offers. The current deal is 10% discount plus triple OBC on all cruises of 16 nights or more, up to Autumn 2025 (plus low deposit). We got quotes for 2 cruises (one each for Arcadia and Aurora) but, even after all these discounts, they were still more than we are prepared to pay, so whilst the offer may sound good it may be an expensive time to book those cruises. 

 

Pre dinner we went to Metropolis and were

delighted that the pianist did a James Bond melody that he’d mentioned earlier in the cruise. As it was our last visit I tipped the drinks waiter who’d managed to keep me supplied with Doom Bars that hadn’t been spoiled in a fridge 😂.

 

Our final dinner of the cruise was in Epicurean and after a fortnight where the food in the MDR has been a highlight, I’m saddened to have to report that, put simply, the food in Epicurean wasn’t good enough. Yet again, my starter was poor. This time I had what was supposed to be a cheddar ‘mousse’ that, in reality, was hard and tasteless. We both ordered the “whole lobster” and, following the separate thread that someone has started on this subject , I specifically enquired if it was a proper whole lobster including the claws (best part). I was assured that the claw meat is included within the dish, but it wasn’t. One half of the lobster was reasonably OK but I would struggle to fill a tea spoon with the amount of meat from the other half. I mentioned this to the manager and he offered to get me a different main but I knew that I wouldn’t manage it. He kindly gave us both a complimentary aperitif. We both had the crème bruleee with white chocolate sphere, which was just sensational. The ambiance in the restaurant is lovely and the service was good, but given that a meal in Epicurean costs a couple £60 on top of what you have already paid for the included MDR meal, it really should be better than this. 

 

Thinking back over our 3 P&O cruises this year, our first meal in Epicurean on Britannia was poor but the other 3 meals were good, so a 75% success rate. On reflection, having had my steaks cooked more than I’d asked and with the lobster being poor, plus two out of three starters being poor,   I’d say we had no more than a 50% success rate on Ventura. The only ship where we had a 100% success rate in Epicurean was Iona. By contrast, I’d say that our success rate in the (no extra cost) MDRs has been 95% on all 3 ships 🤔

 

We didn’t bother with the final show, but I swung by reception to fill out a recommendation card for our deck manager. I also did a final lap of the promenade deck and was pleased to see the lights of the south west coast of England. Tomorrow disembarkation and home, from where I shall post my final report and our final thoughts. 

 

[bobstheboy]

I hope the 10% discount and  triple OBC is on offer in January. I have got my eye on  Arviia, Sep 25,  22 nights to Caribbean

[Ilovemygarden]

15 hours ago, Clodia said:

In Southampton now. Barely a breath of wind. 

Hope you have a lovely cruise.  

[Selbourne]

3 hours ago, bobstheboy said:

I hope the 10% discount and  triple OBC is on offer in January. I have got my eye on  Arviia, Sep 25,  22 nights to Caribbean

They implied that the offers change monthly Bob and that the current offer was somewhat exceptional but, as I pointed out, whilst the discounts might be good, the start prices are very high, so I didn’t consider the prices they are asking to be a good deal. Also, the OBC offered was more than we’d spend. Makes more sense for us to have a much lower headline price with no OBC and then get loyalty discount on on-board spend. 

[jeanlyon]

Interesting what you say about Ventura and Azura.  Only sailed once on Azura and we had a Force 9 in the Med and it was just awful.  I would rather be on Aurora any day and even she didn't take kindly to Force 10 and high seas!

[bobstheboy]

16 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

They implied that the offers change monthly Bob and that the current offer was somewhat exceptional but, as I pointed out, whilst the discounts might be good, the start prices are very high, so I didn’t consider the prices they are asking to be a good deal. Also, the OBC offered was more than we’d spend. Makes more sense for us to have a much lower headline price with no OBC and then get loyalty discount on on-board spend. 

They change all the time. On Arvia in September it was a similar offer, a bit more OBC but 10%. I would be happy to pay the price currently asked, with 10% discount increased OBC. We will see what is on offer.

[jeanlyon]

I was very surprised by the £520 OBC plus parking for the inside cabin we booked on board Aurora and 10% deposit.

[yorkshirephil]

9 minutes ago, bobstheboy said:

They change all the time. On Arvia in September it was a similar offer, a bit more OBC but 10%. I would be happy to pay the price currently asked, with 10% discount increased OBC. We will see what is on offer.

They do and sometimes you have to go for it, especially as you will be likely to change if a better offer comes in later? We re-booked our 2025 Iona as you did with a 10% cut in cost plus more OBC than we can sensibly spend, we got to keep the same cabin and used the original £100 deposit on a new cruise, which was the 75 night Aurora to South America, we have wanted to go on this cruise for years and were first thwarted by covid and then by the fact that Aurora did a different cruise. Was it the right time to book? who knows but we got our cabin. We also have over two years hopefully get a better onboard offer.

[bobstheboy]

7 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

They do and sometimes you have to go for it, especially as you will be likely to change if a better offer comes in later? We re-booked our 2025 Iona as you did with a 10% cut in cost plus more OBC than we can sensibly spend, we got to keep the same cabin and used the original £100 deposit on a new cruise, which was the 75 night Aurora to South America, we have wanted to go on this cruise for years and were first thwarted by covid and then by the fact that Aurora did a different cruise. Was it the right time to book? who knows but we got our cabin. We also have over two years hopefully get a better onboard offer.

Exactly my thinking Phil. If I can get a cabin I want, position is important on a trans Atlantic crossing , I wil go for it.

[Selbourne]

DAY 15 - Saturday 11th November (Disembarkation)

 

We vacated our cabin just before the 8am deadline and went to the foreword lift area. There were already two other wheelchair users there who claimed to have been waiting 20 minutes. However, it rapidly became clear to me that they were being far too passive, and letting lifts go that they might have had half a chance of getting in, so I stepped in and after 5 minutes I’d managed to marshall a few lifts of passengers to get them on their way. We then managed to nab a lift that was going up, so we got in that to come back down again. Needs must. 

 

To get to the MDR for breakfast we had to walk through the pub, which was the accessibility assistance point. Packed as usual. We were given a pager for breakfast and whilst we were waiting I chatted to a couple of the assistance guys who were waiting for general disembarkation to begin. I mentioned that we don’t use the service anymore and explained why. Their response was interesting. They said that they had been told that it’s changing in December in order to try to minimise the abuse of the service and their understanding was that the only people who would be allowed to use the assistance service would be those who have submitted the on board needs forms declaring genuine mobility issues. We shall see. I was also interested to hear that the assistance staff no longer have passes to get lift priority and they prioritise those who are booked on coaches. 

 

Whether or not it’s true that the assistance policy is changing I don’t know, but it might explain why we have received emails this week for each of our forthcoming P&O and Cunard cruises, stressing that if we have any accessibility issues and haven’t flagged them in advance we might be denied boarding, and that they have actually been doing this with some passengers recently. 

 

I was quite relieved that we had a table for two for breakfast. I have no knowledge of whether or not we had any viruses on board doing the rounds, but it has been noticeable over the past few days that a number of people were coughing. If I had a cough or a cold on a cruise, I wouldn’t share a table, for fear of giving it to others, but some people can be less considerate.

 

Once we’d finished our breakfast I did as I now do on all our cruises. We got in the first lift, straight to deck 5, joined the very short queue and walked straight off the ship. When in the lift within the Mayflower terminal a couple of pushers, who had obviously been given horror stories by the couple that they were escorting off, said “you survived the rough seas then”? I replied that it had been a bit bumpy but that we’d had worse on previous cruises. By their scoffing reactions, the elderly couple clearly thought that it would not be possible to have experienced worse than we had just been through 😂 

 

We got a porter quickly and after getting stuck in a bit of congestion (caused by a chap who kept stopping in the middle of the main flow and faffing about with his trolley, oblivious to the throngs of people behind him trying to get past) I miraculously spotted our two cases within seconds. Exiting the luggage hall was much quicker than it had been when we’d disembarked Iona but for the first time in countless cruises there were actually customs officers doing checks on some people. According to our porter, they had caught a number of people who’d gone over their duty free limits. CPS pick up was lightening fast and our car was just a few spaces from the kiosk in a disabled bay, so we were loaded and off within minutes. No traffic issues getting out of Southampton and we were home just after midday. 

 

I shall make one final post shortly with our final thoughts on the cruise and the ship. 

[Eddie99]

Just a quick Thank You and Welcome Home, Selbourne

 

I’ve enjoyed your blog very much, and look forward to “joining you” on your long trip in the new year

 

[Interestedcruisefan]

6 minutes ago, Eddie99 said:

Just a quick Thank You and Welcome Home, Selbourne

 

I’ve enjoyed your blog very much, and look forward to “joining you” on your long trip in the new year

 

Thanks Selbourne

 

Until the next one....

[Caullkhead]

Thank you for taking us along Selbourne.

[Purdey16]

Good to know you’re home safe and well , a big thank you for blog and finding out about the perfumes for me . Welcome home 

[bobstheboy]

Thank you Selbourne , followed throughout your cruise, very useful information.

[Angel57]

Thoroughly enjoyed your blog @Selbourne and I look forward to your Aurora postings from the 65 nighter!

[purplesea]

Thank you for your blog, as always an interesting and informative.

Good to hear you got home safely.

[Cathygh]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

DAY 15 - Saturday 11th November (Disembarkation)

 

They said that they had been told that it’s changing in December in order to try to minimise the abuse of the service and their understanding was that the only people who would be allowed to use the assistance service would be those who have submitted the on board needs forms declaring genuine mobility issues.

That explains why the  landlord of one of our local pubs was telling us he had just got the email about assistance for his next cruise, and didn't know why. Now we know!

[Astrajet]

Thank you @Selbourne for a very informative blog which I enjoyed reading.  We are sailing on Ventura next year, the first time on her since 2015, so this was very helpful.

[Selbourne]

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

 

Another enjoyable cruise. Having had cruises on Ventura, Iona and Britannia over the last four months, we have now firmly dispelled any fears that the post-Covid P&O may no longer be for us. Only one of the much publicised cut backs (guest lecturers) impacts significantly on our cruise experience, most others having just negligible impacts. In the case of evening turn down service, we actually prefer not having it.

 

We wouldn’t rush to do another Canaries cruise but this, like the weather, is nothing to do with P&O. We just prefer all the other ex-U.K. destinations. We loved Ventura as a ship and felt considerably more at home on her than we did on Iona.

 

I hope that my ramblings over the past fortnight have provided some interest and light relief. It is always my intention to be 100% honest, whether that be reporting good or bad things. Hopefully, whether you agree with my views or not, they come over as being balanced. 

 

So, here are our Top 5 likes and dislikes with Ventura;

 

LIKES

 

Traditional cruise ship ambiance. You feel that you are on a ship and we love the classic theming throughout.

 

Food. With a few minor exceptions, the food on the ship was excellent, especially in the main dining rooms.

 

Service. Again, excellent. Almost every staff member that we interacted with gave excellent service. Unlike Iona, we never felt that any area of the ship was under staffed.

 

Accessibility. The lifts on Ventura are large and reliable. The ship also attracts a clientele that is considerate to the needs of those with disabilities. We had none of the issues of lift access or poor behaviours that somewhat blighted our Iona experience.

 

WiFi. First time I’ve ever used it, but the usability and speed were both significantly better than I had anticipated.

 

DISLIKES

 

Stability. Ventura doesn’t seem to cope with rough seas as well as some of the other ships.

 

Guest Speakers. Not enough and poor subject matter. A cut back too far.

 

Air Conditioning. Insufficient cooling for passenger comfort. Many areas of the ship are too warm (inc cabin, even with a/c on lowest setting)

 

Restricted Promenade Deck Access. Frequent roping off of doors to the promenade deck for no logical reason, when the deck itself is actually open

 

Cabin TVs. Far too small. Poor picture quality. Woeful user interface. Fit for the bin.

 

In conclusion, I would say that the things that we liked the most (certainly the first four) are the most important aspects of a cruise for us (in addition to itinerary). Our dislikes were extremely minor points in comparison and do not, in any way, ‘balance out’ the positives. We would book Ventura again in a heartbeat, but next time it will be somewhere other than the Canaries!

 

[bobstheboy]

A very fair summary, if our cruise on Azura in January is similar I'll be happy. Thanks again.

[heatherb1958]

Welcome home ... amd thank you for the detailed reports.

We are back on Ventura to the Med on 5th December,  12 nights of some winter sun  we hope . We like rocky seas so long as the cabin is quiet , might add WD40 to my packing list  with some foam shoe insoles 😆 . 

[jh1809]

Thanks from me as well, Selbourne, for your interesting and informative posts. I've always felt that Ventura and Azura would be too big for me, and have stuck to Aurora and Arcadia, but perhaps I should reconsider.