Elliejay

Ey up! As the title suggests, we're here on board Ventura. It's a 7 night cruise to France, Spain and Portugal. So, I'll start with a little introduction. We are a couple from Leeds. I'm Mrs Elliejay (mid fifties) and my OH is Mr Elliejay (mid forties). Our first P&O cruise was on Oceana 13 years ago where we got married on board. I did a blog on the old P&O site and that was the first and only live report I have done so please be gentle with me, I will be no competition for Selbourne, Tiger, Andy, Damien and all the other brilliant live reporters we have on here. 2 days before we were due to travel I received an email from P&O informing me that on the current cruise, they were having an outbreak or reports of gastroenteritis and that boarding was going to be delayed due to additional cleaning. They also said those travelling on coaches needn't do anything. The coach company would adjust their arrival time. Saturday 4th May Again, we had chosen to travel down to Southampton on the (Intercruises) coach. We made our way down to Leeds Bus Station and we were there in plenty of time. Our pick up time was 07.45. The coach arrived about 10 mins early and we were greeted by 2 lovely young ladies. I didn't catch their names, but they are a credit to intercruises. Our first stop was at a service station in Leicester for a 30 mins break. We were told 2 people were joining us. When we got back on the coach, we were told that the 2 people joining us had been mis-informed by their TA. They'd been told to meet 90 mins later. The lovely coach drivers told them not to worry and to get to the service station as soon as they could and we waited for them. One of them looked quite upset when they arrived. Not a great start for them but thankfully the coach waited and absolutely everyone on the coach sympathised with them. The rest of the journey was unremarkable. We arrived at the docks at approx 14.45 and the queue to get in the terminal was absolutely huge. As we were on the coach, we were put in a different queue and sort of fast tracked. Once in the terminal, the queue to check in was 5 lanes long, but it went down really quickly and we were on board in about 25 mins. We usually book a balcony cabin but this time we opted for a restricted outside cabin. The reason being this is a 'cheeky in-between cruise' and we thought the weather wouldn't be that good and we wouldn't use the balcony anyway, how wrong were we, the weather is lovely and looks to be getting even better! This is the view from our window. Its really not that obstructed. I'm really happy with the location and would book it again. We didn't have anything booked for tonight so just went to the Saffron restaurant. To start we both had Dutch style Chicken Croquettes and then I had Lamb and Mr E had the steak for main. We decided after getting on board to buy the drinks package. Mr E rarely drinks alcohol but I drink enough for both of us so it was a no brainer😂. After a few drinks in The Exchange it was time for bed. Totally shattered having been up since 05.00. I'll leave it there and will catch up with Sunday 5th's update soon. Hope I've not bored you all silly. Si' thi Elliejay xx

Another here had a flutter on Dutch Decoy. I backed each way so thank you Megabear2. Currently sat in The Exchange on the lovely Ventura. I thought it was called Brodies but my OH corrected me. I'm not bothered what it's called. I'm just happy to be on board.

Snow Hill, have a look at The National Railway Museum. It's really interesting and best of all, it's free! #yorkshire. I also recommend the McArthur Glen outlet. As Grapau says, there's lots of shops and the parking is free and there's plenty of parking spaces. If you've time, a trip to Harrogate is highly recommended. It's a really nice town. Fountains Abbey is about 1 hours drive from York and is again well worth a visit. Its not cheap though. Its £19 for an adult. The Royal Armouries in Leeds is about 40 mins from York Centre. It's brilliant and best of all again, it's free!!. Have a great time wherever you decide to go. Janine

Thank you for the replies. I rang Intercruises just incase it was a printing error and they confirmed that the pick up is 09.45. They said P & O have asked the coaches to arrive later for Arvia and Iona sailings. They also said the reason for it only taking 5 hours to get to Southampton is because there will be less comfort breaks. Take care everyone and have a great week.

Can anyone who has travelled from Leeds recently, please let me know what time the pick up was? I received an email from intercruises on Friday telling me the pick up time is 09.45 and getting into Southampton at approx 14.45. 09.45 seems really late to me. I travelled with them last Oct and the pick up was 07.45. Also, it says the journey to Southampton is 5 hours but coming home it's 6 hours. Thanks in advance.