Elliejay

I'm back! Yesterday's date should have been Sunday 5th. I got my husband to proof read it and he didn't notice either. Never mind.

Monday 6th May.

We had another good nights sleep and were up and ready by 07.45. As we were making our way down to Saffron for Breakfast, we were directed to The Bay Tree Restaurant.  Apparently Saffron was so busy, they had decided to open Bay Tree as well. It was a lovely start to the day.

Before we came away, I had the bright idea of treating us to a nice relaxing couples massage. I thought it would be a lovely way to just chill out. How wrong was I?

I think the Oasis Spa should be renamed The Torture Chamber!. I can honestly say, I don't think I have ever experienced anything like it in my life. Considering I've had 4 kids, giving birth to my little darlings was a walk in the park compared to what I was about to go through!!. 

First I was rubbed down from head to foot with what felt like sandpaper. I then had hot oil poured on me. To be honest,  that felt quite nice. Then the real 'pain' started. I swear she had marbles glued to her hands.  She started with my shoulders- kneading,  kneading and more kneading.  She said she had found a "knot' and was trying her hardest to get rid of it. Well it wasn't budging. The pattern continued throughout my body. 

I was laid face down gritting my teeth throughout the whole process 😫. It wasn't what I was expecting when I parted with my hard earned £188. 

Before it all started,  I'd informed/warned her I have particularly sensitive feet. Well,  I think she must have forgot , because she spent ages prodding and poking my poor feet. I spent the whole 75 mins willing my time to be over. When she started on my toes, that just about finished me off. 

These involuntary noises kept coming out of my mouth and I could hear my husband laughing at me. 😃 

Finally my time was up and I could get dressed.  I was that traumatised I couldn't even fasten my pumps and my husband had to do them for me. 

He, on the other hand loved the experience and said he wished we had booked for 100 minutes. He's a sadist!.

As soon as I'd escaped,  I went straight back to the cabin for a long, hot shower to recover. 

We then got ready and went for a mooch around the port for an hour. We've been here lots of times so 1 hour was enough. 

Back on board we went up to Breakers Bar for a much deserved Voddie and Coke or 2. 

I'll leave it there for now and catch up with the rest of the day later.

Take Care

Elliejay.

Hey everyone. Thanks for the positive wishes. We're having a great time. Here's an update.

Sunday 6th May. Sea Day.

We had a really good nights sleep. We managed about 8 hours which is really good for us. We're used to getting up early either for work or being woke up by our 18 year old cat! He rules the roost and when he wants to get up, we obey. 

Mr E decided we should go to the Waterside Buffet for breakfast. I should say now, this is my least favourite place on any ship at any time. Mr E likes it so he can fill his plate with whatever he wants. He fills his plate so high that its nearly falling off.... but he eats it all. Nothing is ever wasted with him. Once he's had breakfast, he won't eat again until teatime. Me, on the other hand, would much prefer small meals/snacks all day long. I'm a nibbler and will pick at food all day. 

Anyway, due to the previous cruises outbreak of Gastroenteritis,  the buffet wasn't a free for all that Mr E likes, instead it was rightly so, being served by the staff. My OH came away from the serving area with a very small plate of food, telling me he didn't want to tell them to give him more bacon, another sausage etc cos he didn't want to look greedy. Just one look at his belly will tell you that he is haha. It was mad busy and took us ages to find a seat.  Anyway, that did the trick. He said for the rest of our cruise we were going to Saffron for our brekky. Result.

To us, sea days are a chance to relax and not do too much apart from eat, drink and maybe join in with a few quizzes and that's exactly what we did. After breakfast we had a mooch through the shops and then went to the 10.00 quiz in The Exchange. It was a Food and Drink quiz and we did appalling. After another couple of laps of the ship we went back to The Exchange for the Battle of The Exchange and for once, we were on the winning side. I really like this quiz. Its good fun and it gets people talking. 

Our fellow passengers are a mixture of all ages.  There's quite a lot of children on board of all ages. From young babies and up to teenagers. The kids we have come across have all been very well behaved and well mannered. We've witnessed some really rude adults though, It costs nothing to be polite. A please and thank you it seems is beneath some people. Its a good job I don't work in hospitality that's all I'll say. 

Our Captain is James Brown. I've heard him giving out his announcements but I've not seen him yet. Mostly the staff seem to be happy in their work. Our Cabin Steward is a really lovely lady. She goes out of her way to talk to us. I won't publish her name yet. I'd rather ask her for permission first. Also one particular waiter in the Exchange is standing out to us. Again, I won't publish his name without consent but I'll be putting their names on the recognition forms. 

Tonight's meal was the 1st of 3 bookings in The Beach House. My husband is a creature of habit and always gets the same thing! He is very picky with food.  No cheese, no pork, no lamb, no chicken on the bone, no ribs. The list goes on. That's why he fills his boots with breakfast. Well that's when he's removed the black pudding and egg yolks! 

I, on the other hand will eat absolutely anything. As long as its cooked properly.  After The Beach House we had a few drinks in Tamarind and then called it a night. The sea air is knocking me out!

More to come.

Take care all.

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. 

On 2/24/2024 at 10:33 AM, Snow Hill said:

A cold but sunny morning, currently 3C, most of early morning frost has gone.

 

Have been watching the Test Match this morning with 20 year old England spinner Shoab Bashir confusing the Indian batters, he has 4 wickets so far and considering he only made his debut for Somerset last June he has come a long way in such a short time. 
 

Will be booking a 4 day break in Yorkshire this morning, have found a place just outside York, ideal location for visiting the city, Castle Howard and few other places. 

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.

janny444

We have booked cabin 10.201 for the Maiden. I will let you know what it's like. Still a long way off yet though. More details might be available before then.

Thanks for all the replies, some interesting thoughts and a lot of valid points made. Regarding the posts about the 7 hour coach journey back from Southampton to Manchester, i'm hoping this was an exception to the rule, we've got a transatlantic booked for next year and i won't be looking forward to that part of the holiday if that's the average travel time. :eek:

Janine

We have just returned from a family holiday in Crete.The trip included me and my DH, my 4 children, their partners and my 2 Grandsons. It was a special holiday to celebrate my 50th Birthday.

The last time we all went away together was 2011 when we got married on board Oceana.

When we were planning this holiday, we discussed whether we should go on a cruise or go land based.

Our youngest (now 16) absolutely loves cruises. She has made so many friends over the years and still keeps in touch with many of them.

My other children (27, 28 and 31) were not as keen so we decided on a land based holiday in Crete.

We have been cruising (DH, me and our youngest daughter) for the last 10 years doing 1 or sometimes 2 cruises a year since 2008. So this was always going to be different for us.

The hotel complex that we stayed in was very nice. The areas around the pool etc. were kept clean and tidy and the entertainment was good for the children. That's where the nice bits for us ended.

The behaviour of a lot of the other guests was disgusting. We actually observed a Russian woman scooping up potato salad, smelling it, tasting it then putting the serving spoon back in the dish.

The food was vile and the drinks were weak rubbish. We were all inclusive but spent a fortune eating and drinking elsewhere.

I got what I think was food poisoning. I was ill for 3 days and still not right now after returning home last Friday. There were no hand washing facilities or hand gel in any of the eateries. Luckily I always have a pack of baby wipes and a travel hand sanitizer with me.

My husband, youngest daughter and I kept saying how much we missed being on a ship for our holiday. Maybe we have got used to being spoiled on board. It made us realise how much we enjoy our cruises with P and O and we are so much looking forward to our 2 future cruises booked with them.

Our Daughter made 1 friend the whole time because there was nowhere the teens could meet. She is used to meeting lots of friends on board.

That's just our opinion of course and many of you may have a different look on things. Ours was a 4 star water park hotel. It wasn't cheap and we could have had a cruise for less than we paid.

For us, it will be a long time before we stray from cruises again.

Having said all that, I had a fantastic time with my lovely family. Just wish it had been on a ship.

Anybody else feel the same about cruises vs land based?

Janine x

Hi Boobasimcha,

I had the same problem and eventually found the email verifying my account in my Junk mail. Really don't why as every other email I receive from P & O goes to my inbox. Hope this helps.

Janine

Hi Retti

We are also on that cruise and the flight details are showing on Cruise Personaliser.

Tips should be included in the fare. That way everybody pays the same and if you think a member of staff deserves more, then tip them separately. I work 12 hour shifts 4 days a week and I'm in need of a rest when it comes to my days off. If I could pay someone £6 a day to come to my home to cook, clean; wait on me hand and foot, serve me my meal, get me a drink and everything else they do (you get the picture) then I would. They deserve every penny they get.

Janine

Great review Presto. Ventura is one of our favorite ships.

When we were aboard Oceana in 2011 we had a large family from the Traveling Community. Their choice of dress was a little different to ours but their behaviour was perfect. Unlike a so called regular family we encountered at Christmas on Azura who thought it was acceptable to drink themselves to oblivion and then fall asleep at the dinner table.

Hi Mandylennon, thanks for your quick response. It's not the price that's the issue really. It's £299 for us both which when you work out what you actually get in the package it's worthwhile. The wording of the package is Ultimate 180, which to me says it's a special package for the 180 years celebration of P & O. I may be wrong but that's how I am reading it because it states 'for 2017 cruises only' There is no option for me to book a package for my cruise in 2018.

Janine

Hi everybody. We have booked a mini cruise for February 2018 on Oceana, 4 nights to Amsterdam and Bruges,to celebrate a big year for me. It will just be me and my DH. As it's a short cruise we wanted to make the most of it and have been looking at the Little Luxuries packages. We both like the look of the Ultimate 180 Package but it says it's for 2017 even though it's on my CP, we don't go until 2018. Does anybody know when the 2018 packages will become available?

Thanks for reading

Janine

Fab1 - They didn't give an explanation. We just got an email from P & O saying for circumstances beyond their control we had been moved seats but looking on the seat planner afterwards it looked to us like a different Aircraft.

The Wilkies - No, we didn't get our money back.

We didn't even get an explanation from Thomas Cook. Just the e mail from P & O the night before. I forgot to put our luggage labels on the cases and only realised when we were in the hotel. So went on Cruise personaliser to print them off and that's when I saw the email otherwise we wouldn't have known until we were in the airport.

Elliejay

Be aware that just because you book your seats in advance doesn't automatically mean you will get what you want. We booked our seats on a Thomas Cook flight to Barbados for our Christmas cruise 2013. We booked for a '2 seater' at midnight when bookings opened only to be informed by email the night before our flight that our seats had been changed and there was nothing we could do about it. They changed us to a 3 seat configuration. We were not happy to say the least.

Hope you get what you want.

Elliejay

Thanks for that. I have just booked for 1 night at Eastleigh for our Christmas cruise. I looked last week and it was £78. I just paid £39. I love a bargain!. Thanks again:):)

Elliejay

We've pre registered for a 2016 cruise on Azura. Can anybody tell me if the price I was given will go up before we can actually book when it becomes available on the 17th April. I was told at the time that because we have pre registered we are now committed to travel on that cruise, which is fine by me as I won't change my mind but will not be very happy if I can't get the cabin grade I want and have to pay loads more. I was told at the time of booking that there are only 2 cabins for the 3 person cabin grade that i want so I'm a bit worried that I won't get what I booked for. I've pre registered with a T.A if that makes any difference.

Many thanks!

Elliejay.

Hi Everyone, I'm also new to this site but not to cruising. So a big Hello to you all.

I agree with the others. Go down the night before. We always stay at Premier Inn at Southampton West. It's not far from Marchwood where we park our car. Only once have we set off the same day and we came across a few accidents and a lot of roadworks, It really wasn't worth the stress worrying about not getting there in time. (we set off at 06.00 and hit traffic at 07.00)

We travel down from Leeds and usually go M1 M42 M40 and A34 and it normally takes 3 and half to 4 hours.

We loved Ventura. We were on her Christmas 2013 and New Year and have booked for Christmas this year. Please let us know what you think of Guernsey as we are going there in May on Britannia.

Have a fantastic cruise and I'm sure you will get the bug.