Bruges on Ventura 30th Aug 09 (sorry it' a long one)

[Cruise_Kitten]

In our Crew: Myself CK, my Boyfriend C, boyfriends mum L, boyfriends dad J, boyfriends dad's best friend M and his wife K.
Cabins: CK+C= L205
L+J = L202
M+K = L206
Embarkation: me and C traveled to Southampton by train and bus so met up with L,J,M and K at the Ocean Terminal. Walked up to the terminal and stood right at the side of Ventura. She is a good looking ship I'll give her that. We dropped our bags off at the bag drop off area. They didn't weight them as we were fully aware the me and C had packed a big suitcase well over the 23kg per suitcase limit, which was my fault but a girl has to have an option. Walked into the terminal and was given a orange card with the letter G. Apperently we were meant to sit in the waiting lounge to be called forward by letter to check in. It was a free-for-all and no one really did bother, but it didn't take us long. They opened up a new line of desks and me and C were first at them (a little dash saw to that) We filled out a health form, handed over our tickets and passport and within a few minutes we had our cruise cards and were then through waiting to be called to security. So we sat reading our Horizon newsletter and before we knew it we were being called off to security. Me being so excited forgot to take the camera out my pocket and set the alarm off, my face went slightly red as i had to explain to everyone what i had done. It was the first of many little "doh" moments. Well after being checked by a very tall woman i was through and no problem. Down the gangplank and we were met by yet more security. Another check of the cruise cards and we were sent the rest of the way. Stepped on to the ship and once again was asked to produce my cruise card, a quick scan and there was a cheerful "welcome aboard". So that's 3 security checks in 5 minutes.....a little hassle but they have to do it i guess.
First Things first: a trip to reception was made as we were all going to pay in cash so we had to "load" our money onto our cruise cards. Its a simple process, all you do is say "I wish to load £XX.XX on to my cruise card" hand over the money and a few clicks and an autograph and your off ready to spend.
Off to the Buffet: as we had all had a long journey down and mine and C's McDonalds breakfast was a thing of the past. By this time it was 12 pm which was excellent timing really and our crew headed off to the buffet. We walked through the Waterside buffet and to the back of the Beach House, both being Ventura's Self Service resturants. In the broucher it is stated as the Beach House was a family resturant, but to be honest there was no difference to either the Waterside or the Beach House appart from the colour changed from blue to red. Both had the same food selection and layout. There was a great selection of food and desserts. I had a selection of cold meats with a few rolls. Nothing really special stood out from the main food but we all enjoyed. Desserts wise this got us into a mass discussion, we all picked a selection of desserts and tried a little of everyones. I picked up a "trifle" it was plain and tasteless. the "custard" on top had no flavour, the jelly was green but again no flavour and the sponge again no taste, so that got a thumbs down. Then it was the turn of a sponge like cake, it was great, it was like a cinnomon jam spounge which had so much taste to it i wanted more but couldn't find it. The chocolate mousse cake thing was just the right amount of chocolate without being sickly. Then there was the citrus cheesecake/pie, what citrus it was we couldn't actually tell as no flavour really stood out from it. Me and L came back a little later as we had gotten hungry again an it was a change of food and desserts. The kids lunch had just finished but it didn't bother us one bit. All the food was good and the desserts were once again nothing to really write about. I was starting to hope that it wasn't going to be the same for the whole ship. But that's later.
Let's take a walk: as we still had plenty of time until the cabins were ready we explored. So off our crew went. first was the pool at the back as it was closer. It was (as we later found out) incredibly cold and windy at the back, what it was like in Bruges I'm no sure as we didn't get a chance to try it. There was ample sunbeds for people and this was a little more of an adult area or so it felt. Above that was the kids area so an adventure that way was not needed. so back through the buffet and out to the Beachcombers pool. While in Zeebrugge they opened the roof and it heated the ares nicely. On to the next pool and once again it was a nice size. Then in the lifts and down to the promanade. This is where i felt a little let down by her. Her layout felt at times a little cramped. To me it felt as if they had tried to put so much in, that there wasn't a lot of space to enjoy your surroundings. We walked from the Arena Theater, through Rambles, The Red Bar and Eternity, The Tamarind Club and to Havana, round Havana and back to the Atrium. Down to deck 6 and went to check out our resturant, We were going to be eating in the Saffron Restaurant at table 8 right by the window on the port side. Then it was back to the Atrium and we were done. a slow 40 minute walk and we had pretty much covered the whole ship. We decieded to go back to The Exchange (we ended most of our nights here) for a drink. I had a bucks fizz and everyone else had a beer or a cola. Then the tanoy went off "your cabins are now ready" which was 2pm by this time so they were very much on time by this point. We all headed to the lifts and had a slight wait so C decided to run up to our deck. So by the time we had gotten the lift to deck 15 we stepped out to find the C was laying on the floor our of breath.
The Cabin: We got to our door and pulled out the cabin key and opened the door. The cabin was a good size for 2 of us. Apperently there was meant to be a door to the Thermal Suite opposite us but we couldn't find it and never heard anything. So we went in and got straight on to our balcony. It was a good size for us to sit out on for a chat but there was no real space and at times we found ourselves bumping into the table or stool we had. But for what we needed it was perfect. One complaint would be the floor on the balcony, you had to wear shoes as the floor hurt your feet after a while because of the shape of it. The bed was a great size, C is 6'2" and sleeping in that bed i hardly knew he was there. The pillows were so soft and fluffy, the duvet was thin but not so you got cold and the bed was comfy even though i ended up on the moveable bed which was slightly harder then permantent bed. I had a fantastic 2 nights sleep and it was so hard to get out of bed both mornings. Shower was slightly cramped even for me so how C managed i don't know. And i have to say the toilet reminded me of an airplane toilet with the massive suck that actually created a draughed when flushed, gave us a giggle though. Then we had a knock at the door and in came Roy, our cabin steward. He was a nice guy and we hardly saw him but he did a great job. Turndown service was prompt and quick, one the first night i went across to L=J's cabin to help L get ready and I had forgotten my perfume, run back to the cabin and Roy had done our turndown service already, i was gone about 10 minutes, I'm guessing he was sat watching and waiting lol
Muster: we were Muster Drill point A on Deck 7, it was over and done in 10 mins and then we found out it was a bad idea to run from deck 7 to 15 but we wanted to get up for Sail Away.
Sail Away: Sail Away was cold and breezy. There was no complimentary drick, Champange was £3 per glass then £6 after Sail away so we went champangeless. They tried to make it a paryt atmosphere but it was so cold and windy it didn't realy work. We stayed out on deck until we got inline with the Isle of Wight and went in.
The Semi-Formal Dinner: The Semi-formal Dinner wasn't a big deal to us or anyone for that matter (except the odd few that seemed to have forgotten the Semi part, there were a few tux's and evening gowns about) The food was amazing, I had to start the Lamb and Pearl Barley Broth: Fantastic but could have bigger chunks of lamb but i was full of flavour and so smooth. Then as nothing took my fancy on the menu i had a Ceaser Salad which was huge!! It was the most flavoursome salad i have ever come across, I couldn't even finish it. The dessert, I had strawberry ice cream with hot chocolate sauce.....blew me away, the ice cream had bits of real strawberry in it and was packed with flavour. So the desserts at dinner had redeemed the earlier desserts. It was L+'s 28th Anniversary on that day so we had a cake and the waiters sang congratulations which was nice and the tables around us joined in.
After Dinner Activities: I went back to the cabin to get out of my shoes and quickly changed to flats and it was back out to The Exchange and Fourtunes. I ordered the promotional Cocktail which was a Blue Lagoon which tasted just like lemonade but by the time i finished it i realised how much alcohol had been put in it C and J hit the Casion to play poker. C lost and J walked off with £160 The Exchanged seemed to be the place that had al the activites going on, there was the band playing, then a quiz followed by music and dancing. It got to about 1am and it was time for bed....
Zeebrugge, Blankenburg and Burges: When we woke up we were docked at Zeebrugge. not much to write abot this place as it's a working port, so it wa just full of ferries and containers. We got dressed ad met at the Beach House for breakfast, had a good fry up ready to set us up for the day. It was down to Deck 6 and through security and down to the free transfer to Blankenburg. We hadn't booked any excursions as we waned to do things at our own pace. Me and C wanted to go to Bruges and climbe up the Belfry...more on that later. We were dropped off not far from Blankenburg station and had an hour to wait for the train to Burges. So we went to walk round Blankenburg. First thing we noticed as how expensive the place was, 80 Euro for a t-shirt, 45 Euros for 200 ciggies absolutly shocking!!! So off to Bruges we went, it was a nice journey there and we got in at the station. It was a short walk from the station into the center of Bruges but a dangerous and uncomfortable walk. there were taxis, scooters, bikes and horse-drawen carriages all trying to kill anyone walking on the road, either you moved or you got hit...simple. Also wear some very comfy walking shoes, everything is cobbled and walking around all day on this hurts your feet. So we wandered around Bruges, and then me and C went to go up the Belfry....8 euros it cost both of us to go up which was great. Unortunalty though i wish someone had told us that it was a long way to climb and it was very steep and tight in places. so we got to the very top and the view was well worth the climb. You could see the port and Ventura lol but for every up there must be a down and it took me a good 10 minutes to get down. It was back to the ship after that and in to the pool for me and C and a meal at Frankies Grill, a definate must. then it was sail away which wasn't a big deal and we were off again. it was in and ready for the Formal Night.
The Formal Dinner: It was a great dinner all dressed up. So it was into the dinning room and sat at our table, menus at the ready and off we went. Now i had a problem with this...the menu had everything me and C didn't eat. I don't eat seafood or game and the menue was pretty much this. I had a Chicken and Lean Beef soup to start with. After you get used to it was incredibly good. As i didn't eat anything off the menu i oredered a Steak and OMG it was fantastic i asked for it medium rare and it was more on the rare side but it wa so juicy and cut so easily i had no need for a steak knife. The cauliflower cheese that i had with it was fab...there was the nice mild cheese sauce with a tangy cheese on top which added a small punch to it. dessert was a no go as everyone was extreamly full...even though i was tempted but the fresh strawberrys with cream, toasted almonds and hot chocolate sauce.... After a quick change it was off to The Exchange and Fortunes, i had a play on the roulette and wone a few £'s back but came off soon after. C+J had a hand or 2 at the poker. We did the tv quiz and almost won the cheap bottle of wine. C and I headed off for a stroll outside and by the time we came back everyone had moved on to Havana. We went back to the cabin quick to pack our case and by this time it was 0130. So we took a quick walk to Havana and was gad we gave this end of the ship a miss as it was not really a young place to be. We bid our good nights and off we went.
The Final Morning: I woke up at about 7 and looked out the window to find us slowly floating past the Ocean Terminal. So it was a sit out on the balcony as we came in to dock moment. I was soon joined by C and then it was back in dressed, gather up the suitcases and off to the buffet breakfast. We were not the only ones who had this idea. We found that people were making the most of the final buffet and they were eating everywhere there was a space to sit, even over the side of the pool. but we managed to get a table for the 6 of us and we ate our final breakfast. It was the same as the first morning so we had the same but over did it slightly as we had a long journey back. We stopped off at reception to get the unspeant money off our cards which was quick and easy. We decided to carry our luggage off the ship, well we didn't L,M and K did as me and C had to get the train home. we got the free shuttle back to the Ocean Terminal with J wo was picking up the car to pick up the others.
Disembarkation: Simple and easy, handed over our cruise cards, which we couldn't keep and then walked all the way down the gangplank out the baggages collection area, past customs and then we were out.

All in all i had a great first cruise. Shipwise i think i could only be on Ventura fr a week at the most as i found myself wanting a bit more activities that included my age. It was very much designed for the older cruiser and not the younger cruiser. She is a nice ship and i enjoyed myself even though i will never go to Belgium again but glad for the experience.
Roll on Oasis of the Seas next year.

[Pontius Navigator]

CK, lovely report and all the better for being virtually verbatim. Really makes you feel you were there.

[madison quest]

hi cruise kitten, great report, thanks. we loved ventura this summer and will be looking forward to going on her again in the future, haven't done the bruge criuse, but never say never! it sounded so good might have to think about it.

[timetravellers]

Great to read your review.
Out of interest, we were supposed to dock at Zeebrugge 2 days before you on the Artemis. The sea was so rough that the pilot station was closed. The pilot offered to come aboard by helicopter but the Captain declined saying he wouldn't put the ship at risk.
So we missed our stop at Zeebrugge and steamed onto to Amsterdam where we arrived about 18 hours early.
Looks like you had better luck with the weather than we did.
Artemis followed Ventura up the Solent on Tuesday morning.
Gail

[Cruise_Kitten]

Originally Posted by timetravellers

Great to read your review.
Out of interest, we were supposed to dock at Zeebrugge 2 days before you on the Artemis. The sea was so rough that the pilot station was closed. The pilot offered to come aboard by helicopter but the Captain declined saying he wouldn't put the ship at risk.
So we missed our stop at Zeebrugge and steamed onto to Amsterdam where we arrived about 18 hours early.
Looks like you had better luck with the weather than we did.
Artemis followed Ventura up the Solent on Tuesday morning.
Gail

I'm sorry to hear that timetravellers, we had excellent weather in Zebrugge and throughout the day. I have to say the port did look like a very tricky port to get into and i was shocked that you could get in and out of it so i can understand that in bad weather the Captian would rather miss the port then risk the ship. We did see you follow us in as we came into port at Soton.

CK x

[Gerrym]

Nice report, not my kind of itinerary but good to hear others views.

Gerry

[timetravellers]

Originally Posted by Cruise_Kitten

I'm sorry to hear that timetravellers, we had excellent weather in Zebrugge and throughout the day. I have to say the port did look like a very tricky port to get into and i was shocked that you could get in and out of it so i can understand that in bad weather the Captian would rather miss the port then risk the ship. We did see you follow us in as we came into port at Soton.

CK x

We saw you in the distance up the Solent but when we docked, there was a huge cargo ship between us and we couldn't see Ventura at all, even up on deck! Very enjoyable weekend despite the rough weather.
timetravellers