supergran

A taxi from the Holiday Inn to the port will only cost approx £5. If you have booked the room with parking included then the taxi may be included as well. It is not a walk I would like to do ad you have to cross a busy road dragging cases.

I appreciate that you were being helpful and warning CC users. I was just trying to say that on our cruise P & O did warn passengers, by announcements and notices. They can only do so much but some people will still not listen. I wasn't getting at you as you took what you thought as suitable ID. :)

They tend to be stricter in Venice and Genoa because large numbers of illegal immigrants have congregated in those centres something that hasn't happened to any significant degree elsewhere.

 

Supergran you still have freedom of movement but as I mentioned earlier most European countries require everyone to carry photo I.D. but as we don't have that in the U.K. the nearest thing is your passport. You might not like carrying your passport but it is a requirement in the absence of a suitable alternative personal I.D. card.

I might not not like carrying it but we do always comply. I leave a copy of our passports in the safe onboard.

:)

Perhaps I should clarify. I did see the notice in Horizon but assumed (wrongly) that the photocopy of the passport which I have used in the past with no problems would be accepted - my fault.

What I could not understand was that there was no check entering the port but only when returning to the ship.

It also puzzled me why they would not accept a photocopy of my passport when all of us, including those with no ID at all were allowed through after complying a form which consisted of a place for our name and date.

The fact that many of us had to wait for over thirty minutes for a new batch of the forms after the first 150 had been used suggests that many people had made the same mistake and P&O could have perhaps learned from the previous cruise and emphasised that Venice was different and saved the crew and passengers a lot of hassle.[/quote.

 

If P & O tell you to take your passport with you and you don't listen you can hardly blame them when you, and all the others who didn't listen, have a long wait to get back on to the ship. I don't like taking our passports ashore in case we lose them but if that is the rule then we have to comply. I just think if we are all in the EU with its 'freedom of movement' we shouldn't 't need to do this.

Yes, it would alienate me as a select fare passenger if i was told i could not request a place because the saver fare passengers had grabbed them all.

 

Why should those saver passengers be unhappy? They knew when they booked that dining allocations were made aboard and could not be changed.

 

It is an example of them wanting to have their cake and eat it. As a select fare passenger i could pay many hundreds more than a saver fare and i want a lot more perks to reflect this. Enough to offset some of that subsidy I am giving to those saver passengers. I am willing to wait and see if the new system works but it seems the saver payers want something for nothing. Cheek :mad:

 

I doubt there will be many cruises with 1000 saver passengers. If so it will be P&O's fault for alienating Select payers.

If you booked early and got your dining choice why would you want to change once on board? If you booked early and got your choice why does it bother you if I booked late, didn't get my choice and was allowed to change? It doesn't bother us. We prefer late sitting. If we were given early sitting we would eat in the buffet if the times didn't suit our plans for the day.

We were on this Ventura cruise from 2 to 16 April. There was an announcement made at every Italian port that we should take our passports with us when we left the ship as it was a requirement of the Italian authorities. We had a day and a half in Venice and our passports were examined both days when we returned to the ship. I believe there was a notice in the daily port guide as well. We just thought it strange as we were still in the EU.

We booked a saver fare on our last cruise on Ventura. We asked for late dining and a table for six or more and we got exactly what we asked for. If they had given us early dining we would have eaten in the buffet or the Beach house most nights as 6.30 is too early for us.

I asked those questions about Venice and did not get an answer :(

Sorry couldn't help with Venice. I know the ship was berthed by 1.30 to 2 ish. Don't know what time flights arrived the next day as we were off the ship early to make the most of the day. We had talked about taking the train to Verona but after a late night in Venice we were too tired to be up at 7 to catch an 8am train. We toured the Doges palace on the Tuesday and St Marks and and the islands on Thursday and also the Lido.

Hi. Please can anyone who as returned from the ventura fly cruise genoa to venice cruise answer some questions for me please?

 

Once you arrive at genoa airport was it quick and easy on the coach to the port?

Once at the port terminal did you go straight onto ventura or do you wait like you do in southampton?

Did anyone get back off at genoa (if you had an early arrival )and go and do something. Did you ind a shop selling drinks and water if so were was it.and we're p&o ok you taking it onboard. Do you re enter ship at a differant point on checking in day

At genoa what time did you have the lifeboat drill, what time was sail away. And did they do a sail away party thing?

 

Any other tips for genoa 1st day. THank you.

We were on Ventura from 2nd to 16 th April. Our flight from Gatwick was at 6.30am. The flight was pretty much on time and the journey from airport to ship is quite short. Your luggage goes straight to the ship and embarkation is much the same as at Southampton. We were told cabins would not be ready until 2pm but on investigating we found our steward and he said we were able to access our cabin as everything was ready for us. Can't remember what the exact time was but we were able to leave our hand luggage, have an early lunch in the buffet and head into town. There is a bus stop just outside the port gates and also a Metro station. A couple on their way back to the ship gave us their bus tickets so we didn't pay to get into town. The tickets are valid on buses for 110 minutes after you first validate them. The bus we caught terminated at the Acquarium on the front. You can take an'elevator' which is like a glass lift that goes up over 100 feet and turns through 360 degrees to give you a view of the city and out over the coast. We then wandered up into the town and caught the funicular up even further above the city to Righi.This cost a couple of euros each. There is a fort at the top but we didn't go all the way to it. Came down and caught the bus back to the ship. Had to be back for muster at 6pm. Probably all aboard by 5.30 unless you embarked at Venice the week before. Ship sails at 9pm. Can't tell you if there was a sail away party as we went to our cabins after Muster to have a nap and woke up next morning at 7.30. In fairness we had been up all the night before as we had to drive to Gatwick to be there for 3.30 check in.

There was a nice shop opposite the Acquarium called Eataly. It sold every type of pasta and other Italian food and drink. It was also a restaurant . Not sure if you could buy water and canned drinks. If you do find a shop P& O are ok about you bringing reasonable amounts of drinks onboard.

I believe you have to have a visa to wander independently in St Petersburg. If you are on a ships tour the group visa covers you. If you get a chance to visit the ballet then take it. It was a fabulous night.

And the CD on Ventura will probably be Hughie Taylor;:eek:

Also known as the Invisible Man. On two cruises on Ventura we have only heard him make announcements re activities. Never saw him introduce a show or any if the performers.

Thanks for the info. We will have to do some research to find out what there is to see and do before we decide.

Not sure why you bother to cruise P & O if you think it is so awful. It suits a great many people. It may not be 5 star but it is very good value for money. We paid less than £60 pppn on our last cruise. A 5 star hotel would cost a lot more than that with no food or entertainment.

Hi, is the terminal building the white square one you get on google maps when you search for the main cruise terminal? Is there only one terminal building? Just I've seen online that there's a new terminal and old terminal.... Just wasn't sure exactly where the ship stops!

 

 

 

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We were berthed at Stationi Marittime. As you come out of the buildings the Metro is straight in front of you. Buses go along the main promenade. The bus we caught terminated at the Aquarium.

You can eat in the Beach House in the evening with waiter service. We ordered Steak on the stone at £6.50 supplement per person. It was absolutely lovely. You can't book a table but if you turn up at a busy time you are given a pager.

Hi, there are a lot of ferry's running from the dock, you can get to Sorrento, Capri and iscia. I have traveled a lot in this area and found the best way is not to get a return ticket as this will tie you to a particular ferry line and there are several; the best way is to get a single ticket (solo andata) each way and keep your options open for coming back. You can also get the train from the main station in town, you will need to go downstairs for the local train, and Sorrento is the end of the line; so can't go wrong. It's a lot cheaper on the train and they are more often than the ferry, but remember to punch your ticket in the yellow box on the platform to validate the ticket. if you want a return ask for (andate e riturno)

I think many cruisers want the security of knowing they have a seat booked to get them back to Naples before the ship sails. Both the hydrofoils we travelled on were full and we were the only ship in port. With two or more ships it could become a problem with no booked return.

Do you know how long the trip to Ischia takes? I think we would like to try that one next time.

You walk out through the buildings where you checkin. It's not a long walk. When you get to the main road you will see the bus stops. There are boards telling you which buses go where. Look for something like Aquarium or Porto Antico. There is a TIC at the port where you might find a map. Th funicular we caught goes from Largo Zecca to Righi but there are several of them.

Our flight isn't until 3, 7am seems very early to be out of the cabin. Is that normal for P&O ?

 

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Our flight was 5pm but because we had a bus to Nice airport we left at noon. We still had to be out of the cabin by 7 officially but we didn't leave ours until 7.45.

Probably around 7.30. Have to be out of cabins by 7am. We flew back from Nice in the afternoon so can't help but you need to be at the airport two hours before the flight.

Don't forget that there's also a train (the Circumvesuviana) which goes from Naples to Sorrento and also stops at both Herculaneum and Pompeii - very cheap, google will help. It's about 20 mins walk from the ship but you could geta taxi.

Don't walk to the station. We did this twice and then discovered there is a tram that leaves from the port which goes directly there. Keep walking straight ahead from the port and you will see the tram lines. Buy your ticket at the news agent kiosk.

We really enjoyed The Four Tunes and Victor Michael. Headliners shows were very good too. Not sure if you will have the same programme as we did. The Elton John impersonator was awful this time but we have previously enjoyed his show. There were two comedians who were good too. Didn't see the ventriloquist but heard good reports. Daytime activities are usual assortment of quizzes, shuffleboard and deck quoits. Nothing exciting.

Just got back from Ventura. Weather was mostly 16 to 18 with one or two days just over 20. Quite a few people using the outdoor pool. We mostly sat by the indoor pool but for the last week the roof was open. Got a bit cooler by the time we sailed away at 5 or 6 pm. Some passengers were wrapped up in fleeces and some still in swimsuits. Bring one jumper or fleece just in case.

Just returned from Ventura. We were on deck five. There is a 'launderette' but it is only one washer and one dryer. Don't know about the others. They may be bigger. If you are going to Venice you can't use the launderette for about 48 hours as the ship can't store the water and is not allowed to discharge it.

Yes, the bus goes from the bus station. We only took 400 kunar out from the ATM. That is just over £40. You get the ticket from the bus driver, it was 25 kunar each way. Bus takes 25 mins and they run every hour but you get off near the Tourist information office and they will give you the exact times. It varies a little around 2 to 3 in the afternoon.

Thank you for reporting back on the Genoa 14 day experience. Some of those who did 7 days reported some chaos at Venice on the return leg - was Genoa OK ?

 

I love Cavtat, spent happy childhood holidays there.

We flew out to Genoa but flew back from Nice. We left Ventura around noon and had a bus transfer which took 2 hrs 20 mins. Nice views along the Côte d'Azur.