Anyone returned yet from Fly cruises in mediteranian

[Host Hattie]

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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[supergran]

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.

[Diane2495]

Just returned from two week cruise on Ventura. Luggage went straight to ship. We were on the 6.30 am flight from Gatwick so we were onboard before noon. Our cabin was ready but we were told that some would not be ready until 2pm. We dropped our cases and caught the bus into Genoa, cost about three euros for the two of us for a ticket valid for 110 minutes. We wandered the streets and caught the funicular for the views out over a Genoa and the surrounding area. Back onboard for afternoon tea. So tired as we had driven through the night to be at Gatwick by 3.30 am for checkin. Decided to take a nap and slept through dinner. Woke up at 8am.

 

Shuttle buses were free for Select fare passengers but charged for Saver fare passengers. In Livorno you have to take the shuttle unless you take a taxi or hire a car at the port. In Dubrovnik you can go to the bus station just outside the port gate. Bus fare is half the price of the shuttle but you do need kunar which you can get from the ATM with your debit card. We went to Cavtat then stopped in the walled town on the way back.

 

In Venice take the people mover to Piazalle Roma. You can buy vaporetto tickets for 12, 24, or 36 hours. We went into St Mark's by several different routes so we saw quite a bit of Venice. All the stations have route maps like the Underground in London.

As to drink prices, a G & T was £3.80 if that helps. Cocktails were around a fiver.

 

Enjoy your cruise, we certainly did.

 

Hi,

Where did the bus go from in genoa? Could you walk through the docks? Was it all ok? I'm going with my mum on the 30th so would rather know before we go!

Was it easy to find the right bus back?!

Sorry for so many questions! :)

[supergran]

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.

[tom_uk]

Here's a slightly different question about these cruises: what's the feeling, from this who have already returned, as to how popular they are? Essentially, is Ventura full or not? And if she is, to what extent is this due to generous Late Saver offers?

 

(I know that responses to this will be suppositions and anecdotal, but it's interesting nevertheless.)

[sjcsviola]

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.

 

 

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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[davecttr]

Here's a slightly different question about these cruises: what's the feeling, from this who have already returned, as to how popular they are? Essentially, is Ventura full or not? And if she is, to what extent is this due to generous Late Saver offers?

 

(I know that responses to this will be suppositions and anecdotal, but it's interesting nevertheless.)

Well the flight for my early May cruise was not even half booked a couple of days ago, even at only £5 to reserve a seat.

 

Surprisingly the cruise will be more enjoyable if the ship is not full as the Ventura/Azura have a couple of hundred passengers too many for the ship.

[supergran]

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.

[sjcsviola]

Ah that's cool- I hear the tourist hop on hop off bus stops at the stazione maritime too :)

 

 

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[Janet-]

Hi

Can anyone tell me how many sockets are in Ventura's balcony cabins please

[she11ey]

So, does the luggage go direct from plane to ship?

 

David.

 

 

 

 

Handed luggage in at manchester airport and didnt see it again till it was delivered to my cabin on ventura at genoa.:)

[she11ey]

Hi

Can anyone tell me how many sockets are in Ventura's balcony cabins please

 

 

 

 

Only had a outside this time, but i dont remember more in the balcony last year. We had a double over the desk/dressing table. We always take a 1 metre 4 gang extension.

[Flowerpower22]

We got back yesterday from a week's cruise from Venice to Genoa. Travel arrangements were fab. Really enjoyed The White Room, Glass House & East food. Loved the pianist in the Red Bar. Because of an unlucky upgrade we were allocated E102 forward (not complaining - we knew we were taking a chance) and because of a heavy swell I simply could not tolerate the movement and spent two nights partly on deck and partly camping out on a sofa in the Red Bar. A shame really, but after approx. 25 cruises, I'm hanging up my hammock and have vowed never to set foot on a ship again!!

 

Ports were excellent guys, I'm sure you will enjoy them. The tender into Kotor was a pleasure, Ajaccio was a little gem, sailaway from Venice beautiful as always, Corfu Town we had heavy rain but nonetheless enjoyable. Didn't go to Rome as we've been many times before, but Civitavecchia was pretty nice and first time we've spent time there.

 

Happy cruising everyone.

[newtocruiseagain2014]

Got back on the 7th from Ventura' Genoa- Venice Med Cruise

 

We had a fantastic time; check in was at 3am which was hard work but it did mean that after our 6am flight we were on board by 11.30am. It was only about 15 minutes from the airport to Genoa Cruise Terminal. The longest time was waiting after check in at the terminal some for some mobility help. The mobility help was very hit and miss in both Genoa and Venice. We were dropped off in a very dingy section near to the Cruise terminal and then walked to the terminal. As we were very tired and could not see any nearby supermarkets (I had been keeping an eye) we decided not to go into Genoa and just spent the afternoon on the boat. The cabins were available at around 1pm and our luggage arrived at about 4pm. By this time we were having a massage at the spa ! Muster was at 6pm and we sailed at 9pm - no sailaway. We had booked a late saver and had been given a late sitting which we didn't mind but there were some people who had booked after us who were on freedom dining so I think it is just the luck of the draw. We were very lucky and shared the table with a great group of people.

 

Livorno

We decided not to go to Florence or Pisa and took the shuttle bus into Livorno - it was May Day everywhere including the restaurants were closed - we had a wander around and managed to find somewhere for a drink. I wouldn't bother again even if it wasn't May Day - there is a huge amount of public works going on in the centre whch makes it very difficult. I would only go ashore here if I needed to stock up on soft drinks or similar which I hadn't managed to get in Genoa.

 

Naples

Sorrento and Pompeii - an early start on a rainy day; torrential rain in the morning in Sorrento and the same in Pompeii in the afternoon but it was still well worth it. We had about two hours or more in Pompeii and were lucky as we had a fantastic guide who really knew her stuff.

 

Dubrovnik

What a beautiful city - got up early and took the shuttle in (4.5 Euros) and just wandered about on our own; we took a boat trip and had lunch and then returned to the ship. I would recommend you get in early whilst it is quiet as it was heaving after lunch. Huge queue for the shuttle bus on the return trip and nowhere to sit nor was there any shade - it was scorching.

 

Venice

One of the highlights was sailing into Venice - amazing. Because of my mobility issues we decided to book a trip and so booked the Gondola trip and then we could wander around ourselves. This was the best thing we did - people were queuing for over an hour to get on the shuttle boats whereas we waited in the arena and then got onto our prebooked one. Whilst waiting in the arena several people came to the ticket desk and had missed their trip as they had been queuing in the shuttle boat queue and had not known to go to the arena - it had been made quite clear both in horizon and over the tannoys that prebooked tours had to go to the arena. We did not return with the group but just wandered around Venice - had coffee in St Mark's Square and then a meal overlooking the lagoon - wanted to take in the atmosphere.

 

We ate in the White Room twice - amazing. Drinks on board were around posh pub prices. The wine by the glass and by the bottle were very reasonably priced - £17.50 for a very decent Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and even less for a Rose.

 

The ship did not appear full to us - but of course appearances can be deceptive. The two shows we went to were full houses and still had people trying to come in and the clubs were the same.

 

Disembarkation - was very well organised on Ventura's side. We were supposed to leave the cabin at 7am but we were a bit later; we had breakfast and then waited for our turn to leave the ship - which was 10am - our flight was at 12.30; if you are on a P & O Charter flight you're luggage is taken from your cabin to the airport and then on to the UK - you don't see it until baggage reclaim. If you are not on a P & O Charter flight - you collect your baggage from the cruise terminal baggage hall and then check it in at the airport yourself. The flight was an hour and a half late arriving and so was late departing. Very little information from the airport or from P & O staff who were in the departure gate section.

 

Overall we had a brilliant holiday and wish we could go again !

Edited May 13, 2014 by newtocruiseagain2014

[asda]

Thanks for the lovely review you have just done.

[newtocruiseagain2014]

My pleasure

[twighlightstar]

We flew to Malaga on the first med fly cruise. Because it was a p&o charter flight the luggage was checked in at Manchester and we didn't see it until it was outside our cabin. The return was from Venice and again the luggage was taken from outside our cabin and we just collected it when we reached Manchester. They have people on the ship who deal with the flights so if you want you can pre book your flight seats for the return at a cost of £5. Manchester was chaotic as there were 3 p&o flights all leaving within 10 minutes of each other. Venice on the return was very disorganised too many p&o flights within a short time and not enough airport staff for the gates. At least we were able to go straight to security as no bags to check in.

I don't know if they will do it for Venice and Genoa but when we flew to Malaga they took us on a tour of the town by coach to avoid big queues at ship check in, but to be honest everyone just wanted to get the ship after the very early flights.

Edited May 20, 2014 by twighlightstar

[molecrochip]

No tour on arrival in Venice but speedy check in by ship staff. Genoa airport was dreadful - managed to 'delete' (their words not mine) entire plane seat reservations. Barely any couple was sat next to each other.

 

 

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[Host Hattie]

No tour on arrival in Venice but speedy check in by ship staff. Genoa airport was dreadful - managed to 'delete' (their words not mine) entire plane seat reservations. Barely any couple was sat next to each other.

 

 

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Were you on a P&O charter ? We got our boarding cards on the ship, I thought the airport was fine, small but perfectly formed ! Much better than the chaos we had in Venice last year.

Edited May 20, 2014 by hattie the cattie

[molecrochip]

No, it was BA but local Genoa staff doing then check-in.

 

 

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[Cruiserjules]

Can I ask if P & O still do the commentary on deck as Ventura sails into Venice?

We had this two years ago, and it was very professional and gave us a good insight. It was early in the morning, and we sailed in through a pink mist shrouding the buildings. It was magical and we can't wait to sail in again, albeit later in the day.

[newtocruiseagain2014]

Hi

 

We were up in the Retreat whilst sailing in and there did not appear to be any commentary. Sailing in was an amazing experience. Watched her sail in yesterday on the web cam - wish I was there !

 

Thinking about trying to persuade my other half to do the other leg of the trip in September ........hmm