Back from Ventura, some changes noticed.

[kevinyork]

Just back off another very enjoyable cruise on Ventura. Had a great time and still love the ship but did notice a few differences to previous trips that may interest people:

 

Menus

 

This was the first time we have experienced the new menus in the MDR. *The changes are not enourmous. *As has already been reported the 'always available' Chicken, Salmon and Steak options have gone. *As has the prawn cocktail, unpublished, but always available starter. *We found the choice of starters a little more difficult than previously. *Many were simply trying to be too fancy and we did find we were trying them but leaving our choices more than previously. *The soups however were extremely good and better than before.

 

There is extra choice in the mains sections which now usually features a from the grill section and/or local produce option dependant on your port of call. *Also the veg served seperately has been reduced from three to two options but this is still plenty and always nicely cooked. Fish appears much more frequently, in fact on one evening fish formed 3 of the 7 options. *Two of our party love fish so this pleased them however it has to be said the fish portions were very small but nicely cooked. *For those who dont like fish their choices have been reduced. We did crave a simple steak or piece of salmon from the always available section on occassion and it is a shame this has been dropped (we did find out half way through that the chicken option remains always available but I am unsure why given that its not mentioned anywhere and only offered when we enquired). *Tried a couple of new dishes including Chicken Kiev and Chicken stuffed with cream cheese both of which were superb.

 

Showtimes

 

On previous trips on Ventura and Azura, the evening show in the main theatre usually had three performances at approx 7pm, 8.30pm and 10.30pm. *This allowed a choice of performance for any club sitting passengers. Those on first sitting could choose the 8.30 or 10.30 show and those on second sitting could choose the 7 or 10.30 show. *You could also coordinate it to fit in the a performance in Havanna or Tamerind. *

 

However, things had changed on this trip. *The theatre only had two performances, 8.30 and 10.30. *This doesnt affect those on first sitting so much but if you are on second sitting you only have the option of the last showtime. *It also means you cannot get to fit in a performance in Havanna as well as the start times clash with those in the main theatre. * Its a bit of a double whammy for second sitters and also meant those on freedom dining may have needed to be more selective in their choice of dining times in order to fit in performances. *Also as there was one less theatre show per evening the other performances in the theatre and elsewhere were much busier. *One one evening, we finished our second sitting meal at *9.50, went straight to Havanna for a 10.30 act and there were no seats left. *We walked though to the theatre and again could not get in at 10pm.

 

We chose second sitting based on our previous experiences so we could see an early show, have dinner and then take in an act in Havanna or Tamerind alas this was not possible on this trip. As we had seen many of the shows and acts previously this did not impact on us as greatly as it may impact on others but it is a major change to the way in which the evening entertainment is scheduled and I overheard others complaining.

 

I did get to speak to one of the entertainment team about this and they advised that as this 2 week cruise included a lot of people who had opted to take the 1 month cruise they decided they would not need three shows per night for our 2 weeks. *I pointed out how it affected us and others particularly those on 2nd sitting and she advised she had just come off Azura and had found the 7 o'clock show to be quiet and therefore it was better to concentrate people into two shows per evening. *I hope this is not permanent change they implement. *The theatre holds 700 for a ship of 3000+ passengers and therefore only two performances isnt good enough.

 

Drinks prices

 

Some prices have risen. *For example in Dec 2010 a pint of Stella was £2.95. *It is now £3.50, a rise of 18%. *You could previously buy a litre caraffe of house wine in the MDR for £11.95. * This has now gone and house wine is in 75cl bottles at £12.95. Thats a rise of 50%. *Other drink prices have also risen incl some cocktails but these are the prices I noticed as they are the ones we have previously partaken of. *Bottled water too has risen in price. *Now P&O still have good value drink prices however such sharp price rises appear to be more than simply reflecting inflation and may hint at a subtle change in direction for P&O onboard pricing. *

 

Going to publish a full review soon on the reviews section and as I say the cruise was still excellent but thought I would flag up these three areas where I did notice a difference.

[bazzaw]

 

pFor example in Dec 2010 a pint of Stella was £2.95. *It is now £3.50, a rise of 18%.

 

I guess that 3.50 UKP would be about what you would pay for a pint of Stella in any pub in UK - certainly in London??? What is the price for a draught pint of bitter now??? Still serving that horrible Boddingtons?? Surely they could do better -something like London Pride for example??

 

Barry

[kevinyork]

I guess that 3.50 UKP would be about what you would pay for a pint of Stella in any pub in UK - certainly in London??? What is the price for a draught pint of bitter now??? Still serving that horrible Boddingtons?? Surely they could do better -something like London Pride for example??

 

Barry

 

Dont drink bitter but noticed it is still Boddingtons, £2.95 if I remember correctly.

[NSWP]

With the price rises, sounds like more pax will bring on their own booze. Pity the Giraffes of house wine are no longer available in the MDR, was looking forward to those.

 

The grog prices are now similar to Princess. Maybe flat prices across the Carnival Corp ships.

[Somerset Cruiser]

Surely they could do better -something like London Pride for example??

 

Barry

 

Draught real ale has a short life, it is at it's best when drunk within 7 days of production. No good for cruise ships, sadly.

[jocap]

The prices appear to have gone up this spring....I was on V. in May, and a passenger had been on a cruise on her in April, and could list the prices then, and the new ones! The prices were still not higher than in our medium hotel in Southampton.

Jo.

[kevinyork]

The prices appear to have gone up this spring....I was on V. in May, and a passenger had been on a cruise on her in April, and could list the prices then, and the new ones! The prices were still not higher than in our medium hotel in Southampton.

Jo.

 

 

That timing sounds about right. We were on here early May when the lower prices were still in force so they must have increased them mid May.

[Host Sharon]

With the price rises, sounds like more pax will bring on their own booze. Pity the Giraffes of house wine are no longer available in the MDR, was looking forward to those.

 

The grog prices are now similar to Princess. Maybe flat prices across the Carnival Corp ships.

 

The "giraffes" were available on Oceana last month so not sure why on some ships and not on others.

[Adammara]

Why do I get the feeling that P&O's drinks prices will eventually be around the same prices as the 'american' lines.

 

Richard

[jamiedog11]

We were on Ventura in October and we did not like the way they had took the 7pm show off for the same reasons as yours.

 

:(

[Brayman]

Why do I get the feeling that P&O's drinks prices will eventually be around the same prices as the 'american' lines.

 

Richard

 

I don't see why you should feel that. It looks to me just to be an alignment with current prices ashore.

[lostinvegas]

I have to say I agree with the Ents team on this one. When we were on Ventura the early shows were very quiet and we found they lacked atmosphere. I earn my living performing and it can be very difficult when your in a massive theatre with a small audience.

 

Having said that we did the early show in the theater, late show in Havana and it was frustrating no being able to get a seat in Havana. I think if they are only doing 2 shows they need to make sure everyone can get a seat in the theater or show lounge.

[LibraLass41]

What a great shame about dropping the 7pm performance, this was one of the big plus attractions for us too for going on a bigger ship, -lots of entertainment.

 

We too did the show 1st, went to 2nd sitting dinner and a club show after like a tribute band or a comedian,, now it sounds like we can only do one lot of entertainment and that will be packed and we will have the nightly stress of getting a seat, and that means leaving dinner early/missing coffee especially when a big name entertainer is performing....all bad news as far as I am concerned.

[kevinyork]

What a great shame about dropping the 7pm performance, this was one of the big plus attractions for us too for going on a bigger ship, -lots of entertainment.

 

We too did the show 1st, went to 2nd sitting dinner and a club show after like a tribute band or a comedian,, now it sounds like we can only do one lot of entertainment and that will be packed and we will have the nightly stress of getting a seat, and that means leaving dinner early/missing coffee especially when a big name entertainer is performing....all bad news as far as I am concerned.

 

I thought you might comment as I saw previous posts about this from you. It is such a shame. Yes the 7pm shows are quieter but with over 3000 people on board, two shows of 700 people per evening is not going to meet demand. Either they need to build ships with bigger theatres or have several shows. We felt our flexibility to plan our evenings entertainment went out the window and it became very constrained.

[kevinyork]

I have found the updated bar prices on P&Os site:

 

https://ask.pocruises.com/resources/carnivaluk/life-on-board/bar_menu1.pdf

 

Maybe people can see if their favourite drink has gone up.

[Brayman]

Generally about the same as my local, cheaper on some items.

[Pobman]

I have found the updated bar prices on P&Os site:

 

https://ask.pocruises.com/resources/carnivaluk/life-on-board/bar_menu1.pdf

 

Maybe people can see if their favourite drink has gone up.

 

 

Odly the "splash" sized soft drink is cheaper per ml than the next sizes up. I assume it sold as a mixer, but a double splash would do me :)

 

Though if the mixer is a real mini can that would be better, they never get fountain mix right.

[NSWP]

I have found the updated bar prices on P&Os site:

 

https://ask.pocruises.com/resources/carnivaluk/life-on-board/bar_menu1.pdf

 

Maybe people can see if their favourite drink has gone up.

Thanks for the bar list, quite reasonable prices in my opinion.

[silver wedding]

Is there still a library on board

[kevinyork]

Is there still a library on board

 

Yes, library and bookshop are off the atrium on deck 5.

[southwinds]

From the dancers point of veiw three full on shows after a rehearsal must have been very tiring...

 

We found on Azura that although we could do an early theatre show once out of dinner the other venues were rammed and so you then couldnt get in, many people from first sitting then stay on for the second show. We were freedom dinning so we could vary the times of our meals but it was a faff to do this and get out hoping to see the Magician and find that the venue was packed out. Its simalar on Adonia, friends found that first sitting folk would go to the show lounge and stay put all night so second sitting people couldnt get in. One soluition is to put the lights back up after the show like the theatre so people move away.. thus letting others come back in BUT this would mean loss fo revenue from drinks sales so I doubt this would ever happen.

[whelos]

Are drinks subject to the same duty and tax as in the UK? If not shouldn't the bars be selling drinks at duty free prices? ;)

[kevinyork]

Are drinks subject to the same duty and tax as in the UK? If not shouldn't the bars be selling drinks at duty free prices? ;)

 

No they are duty free. However P&O do have some of the least expensive drinks prices. If they sold at duty free prices then cruise prices would need to rise to balance out their profits.