Big Stevie

Thanks s&gsjollies, hope you have a wonderful cruise.

Sadly we haven't been able to afford any further cruises, but hopefully one year we will do another.

This time last year we were booking our first ever cruise. Sadly no cruise for us this year as we can't afford it. Instead we are having 2 weeks in the New Forrest in our caravan :)

We bought a couple of nice photos along with a P&O photo frame. On arriving home we noticed the photos are slightly too large to fit into the frame, and have to be trimmed down to size. Unbelievable :mad:

On our recent Ventura cruise our 8yr old son fell out of the top bunk in the middle of the night. There was a guard at the head end of the bed, but he wriggled out of the foot end.

We phoned reception and within minutes our room was filled with cabin crew who added extra guards.

I would suggest speaking to reception on the first day and ask for additional guards, or even take some yourself.

Im noticing lots of spelling mistakes in my original posts:mad:. I think I was rushing as I had to create many different posts due to restrictions on the number of photos allowed in any single post, and so that nobody would post in-between my posts. If that makes sense?

In fact I reckon we were sat close to Big Stevie in the Havanna as there was a very smart young boy in his tux and he was one of the very few children onboard probably because the cruise sailed in term time.

You are most likely correct, as I didn't see any other child in a tux and we did frequent the Havana bar on most nights. My son got lots of compliments from other passengers for wearing his tux.

We picked up our Rome tour guide as we entered Rome, and the coach stopped close to the Colosseum. When the foot tour of the Colosseum and Forum was complete, the coach relocated close to where our tour ended, and our guide lead us back to the coach. We were then dropped off at Piazza Navona for our free time.

Our guide suggested a restaurant for lunch, on a side street from the square. I would normally avoid any such restaurant in the belief the only reason its recommended is because the guide gets a free lunch there? But to save time we decided to eat there anyway.

Piazza Navona is located within walking distance of Trevi Fountain & Spanish Steps. Alternatively you can also walk to the Vatican, but with the amount of free time you are given there isn't enough time to do all three. Either choose to see the first two, or the Vatican. I would suggest the first two, as the coach drove past the Vatican on the way home. Piazza Navona is a an attractive square edged with rather expensive tourist restaurants. Wander along the back streets for somewhere slightly cheaper. Rome isn't cheap!!

If its a hot day then definitely take some bottled water on the Colosseum tour as there aren't any opportunities to purchase any during the tour, and there is quite a bit of walking to be done. It was blisteringly hot when we were there, and rather uncomfortable. You will sleep well that night!

Piazza Navona

Street map of Rome. Vatican is on the far left, across the river. Its about a 20 min walk from the Piazza Navona (depending on temperature) which is on the right hand side of the river.

I wore shorts in the evening when using the buffet restaurant, as did lots of other blokes. No problems at all.

Main dining rooms I wore jeans. Formal nights didn't allow jeans, but could always nip up to the buffet restaurant instead.

On our recent Ventura cruise I enjoyed the formal nights more than i expected. Lobster was served on one of the formal nights. I wasn't going to bother to be honest, but bought a tux at the last minute from a department store for £130. Even got one for our 8yr old son..

I never tipped them. I saw auto tips as covering that.

In any case, during our two week cruise they never once delivered the correct order.

But I still ate it :)

Thanks for the positive comments everyone :)

Was there any themed nights on your cruise? eg, Tropical nights or 60s/70s nights?

There was a Tropical night, and I recall there was a 70's or 80's night, but we didn't involve ourselves in these.

That was a great post to read. Absolutely love that your son got dressed up and delighted to hear he got so many compliments. I have seen a few youngsters dressed up (not with DJ's though) and I just think they are such a real credit to their parents.

Thanks, and heres the little man himself (I'm the one on the right :D)

Is there a specific order to the formal nights as I see from the brochure that one is black and white night - is there a normal pattern which is followed?

I didn't really notice any difference between the two nights, on either night gents were wearing either the usual black dinner suits or they were wearing black trousers, black shirt with white jacket and white bowtie.

I must say the old gents wearing the white jacket combination did look really good, especially if they had similar colour hair. Though its a look that wouldn't necessarily suit everyone.

Well the above answers to my original post certainly turned out to be true. The themed nights are displayed on the TV in your cabin, and they did occur mostly on sea days.

I was initially not interested in attending the formal nights, when booking tour cruise, but I purchased a cheap dinner suit from Debenhams department store at the last minute, and I'm really glad I did. I would have felt I was missing out on an opportunity to do something different had I not done so. My 8yr old son also wore a dinner suit and couldn't go anywhere without elderly gents approaching him and telling him how amazingly smart he looked, which we thought was extremely kind.

Heres a recent photo I took of the laundrette on Ventura E deck...

On the Tunisian port day, I'd be staying on the ship. The safest place to hide away might be in the Retreat. At £20/day/person I doubt even the terrorists will be prepared to enter!

Did you price the Retreat during your cruise.

On Ventura last month they were charging £20/day/person for the retreat. I was tempted to do it on the last two days of my cruise, but never did. The place was always empty, apart from one day when I think I did see one person in there. I guessed whist sat relaxing they would be constantly trying to sell you some treatment package?

Was there any themed nights on your cruise? eg, Tropical nights or 60s/70s nights?

If I recall correctly there was a 70's/80's night and a tropical night. But we didn't get involved in those.

Just so you know, and aren't disappointed, the short walk from the coach park to the tower is through a housing estate that isn't as nice as you'd expect it to be. I was surprised to find such a wonderful landmark that looked liked it had been plonked in the middle of a foreign council estate.

The tower and neighbouring church are as lovely as you'd expect, but surrounded by unsavoury men handing you a free but utterly useless gift, but then asking for money in return.

Just so you know.

I thought Lisbon was so dirty that I started taking photos..

Nice review. I was on the cruise prior to yours (see my signature) - N515 8th May to 11th June. I agree with your review, in particular Lisbon which we thought was a disgusting mess of a place.

Thanks:)

Does anyone have an address for writing to P&O with a complaint please?

On a cruise last year on Oceana I had a lovely new dress and we decided to have a portrait done on formal night, but when we came to view it on the screen it was priced at £26 for two. I only wanted one - why would I possibly want two the same? The young lady was quite rude and I had a bit of an argument with her, she even told me I could have one but would still have to pay the £26! So, of course, I didn't have any and they lost a sale. In the "old days" you just chose the one you wanted to buy and took it to the desk to pay.

To be fair to P&O, it sounds like they were charging £26 for single photos but were also giving away a second photo free of charge, which you declined?

The Boathouse has been previously recommended on this forum as a nice place to stay.