Ventura Cruise - Food and Drink

[Pringles]

I would be grateful for advice and answers to a few questions about P&O.

 

1.What drink in the buffet restaurant is included in the price of your cruise?

Is it just tea and coffee or can you get water and squash?

 

2. What is the cover charge for East (speciality restaurant) and does it get booked up quickly?

 

3. Is there a charge for room service?

 

4. What sort of food does the Beach restaurant serve?

 

My wife has booked us all on a Genoa to Venice cruise in August and I have 3.5 months to start thinking about food! After a year of curly sandwiches, I can't wait (fortunately she does not read my posts):o

 

Thank you for any help you can offer.

[asda]

Hi. Same cruise itinerary we are doing in June.

 

At breakfast tea coffee.water,juice,milk and sometimes smoothies. In buffet and MDR.

Lunch and dinner and snack times just tea,coffee and water . Buffet and MDR.

Some were on here a few post down are all the recent ventura menus,

The beach house is excellent its in the evening in a part of the buffet. It's waiter service you don't book but its so popular you may have to wait. It's 3 courses with supplements for certain items .

Room service is mostly complementary just a few items with supplement.

 

The best place to look for all These type of questions go yo p&o website . Along the top there's a section called how we can help. Ask the question and the answers will appear.

But this is still a good place to ask questions and you will get loads of good answers.

[Pringles]

Thank you very much for this. I will have a look on the web site. It looks like a great ship and I am really glad my wife booked it. We have been with RCI a few times but P&O seemed to be going where we wanted and I am looking forward to exploring a new ship this summer.

[asda]

Thank you very much for this. I will have a look on the web site. It looks like a great ship and I am really glad my wife booked it. We have been with RCI a few times but P&O seemed to be going where we wanted and I am looking forward to exploring a new ship this summer.

 

Hope you will enjoy p&o. We have been on rccl a couple of times and really enjoyed them. I'm not stuck to any cruise line I like bits from each . All have good bits and some not so good. I like ncl as well that's more like a land holiday but on a ship. Enjoy your cruise.

[davecttr]

For breakfast and lunch the Beach House serves the same menu as the Waterside buffet and in the evenings part of it turns into a waiter service american diner, mostly free. The other half is used as an overflow for the Waterside buffet evening meals.

 

You might want to try The Glasshouse as well and it does not just serve wine. There are 'tapas' offerings plus a nice menu. You pay per dish but there is no need to book. you can use it just as a bar if you wish.

[ep1987]

Is there a dress code for the Beachside waiter service? I read somewhere that someone was turned away for wearing a t-shirt without a collar. This would seem to suggest that someone wearing a nice designer t-shirt, smart jeans and fashion plimsolls (which would be fine at 99% of restaurants) could only ever eat at the buffets in the evening?

 

Am thinking of cruising on the Ventura in Jan 15 (Caribbean) so any help would be appreciated.

[davecttr]

Is there a dress code for the Beachside waiter service? I read somewhere that someone was turned away for wearing a t-shirt without a collar. This would seem to suggest that someone wearing a nice designer t-shirt, smart jeans and fashion plimsolls (which would be fine at 99% of restaurants) could only ever eat at the buffets in the evening?

 

Am thinking of cruising on the Ventura in Jan 15 (Caribbean) so any help would be appreciated.

Basically evening casual code applies and that means a shirt with a collar, for example a polo shirt is fine. So it is best to avoid t-shirts. Plus no shorts including intermediate length ones. Smart designer jeans and plimsols would be OK. i usually wear chinos and a short sleeve fancy shirt.

 

On Ventura formal nights the evening casual code applies to the whole of the ship except the main dining rooms, East and The White Room, the Red Bar and Metropolis. There black tie code applies.

 

ps - I am not sure what the definition of 'evening' is. What happens if you turn up in Metropolis in your evening casual stuff after midnight on formal night? Is it still formal night? do you get thrown out? Do you turn into a pumpkin? :confused:

[davecttr]

Is there a dress code for the Beachside waiter service? I read somewhere that someone was turned away for wearing a t-shirt without a collar. This would seem to suggest that someone wearing a nice designer t-shirt, smart jeans and fashion plimsolls (which would be fine at 99% of restaurants) could only ever eat at the buffets in the evening?

 

Am thinking of cruising on the Ventura in Jan 15 (Caribbean) so any help would be appreciated.

Basically evening casual code applies and that means a shirt with a collar, for example a polo shirt is fine. So it is best to avoid t-shirts. Plus no shorts including intermediate length ones. Smart designer jeans and plimsols would be OK. i usually wear chinos and a short sleeve fancy shirt.

 

On Ventura formal nights the evening casual code applies to the whole of the ship except the main dining rooms, East and The White Room, the Red Bar and Metropolis. There black tie code applies.

 

ps - I am not sure what the definition of 'evening' is. What happens if you turn up in Metropolis in your evening casual stuff after midnight on formal night? Is it still formal night? do you get thrown out? Do you turn into a pumpkin? :confused:

[scifimonkey]

What happens if you turn up in Metropolis in your evening casual stuff after midnight on formal night? Is it still formal night? do you get thrown out? Do you turn into a pumpkin? :confused:

 

I can vouch for the fact that formal night extends beyond midnight in Metropolis and that it is enforced.

On our last Ventura cruise my wife and I and our son were just finishing a late night drink on a formal night around 00.15 (my son of course had a non alchoholic drink! with special dispensation to stay up as there was a sea day the next day) There was a kerfuffle in the entrance to the bar. A couple were being asked to leave as they were in short sleeved shirts and jeans. In the course of the argument the chap pointed at my son and said 'how can you set such standards when you let children into the bar'. Quick as a flash the waiter replied 'yes sir but he is properly dressed!'

Note that Azura had a midnight curfew on children in The Planet Bar (much to our annoyance..though we abided by the rule) not sure whether since its Azurification, Ventura will now be operating this rule. Shame if it does, I would rather a specific bar were set aside for adults than have to rush my evening to a conclusion just because I have a family.

[soobs]

My OH always wore dark jeans on the none formal nights but with proper shoes not plimsolls and was always okay and a short sleeved shirt always with collar but a very casual shirt

[Happy_Girl]

A couple of nights on our recent Oceana cruise we couldn't be bothered with changing out of our casual clothes, so accepted that we could only use the buffet. There were 2 formal nights, and we did one of them - the other we are at the buffet and avoided the bars

 

On the final night (evening casual dress code) we went to Tiffany's in jeans and tee shirts and got served. Maybe they weren't bothered as it was the last night?

 

 

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[davecttr]

A couple of nights on our recent Oceana cruise we couldn't be bothered with changing out of our casual clothes, so accepted that we could only use the buffet. There were 2 formal nights, and we did one of them - the other we are at the buffet and avoided the bars

 

On the final night (evening casual dress code) we went to Tiffany's in jeans and tee shirts and got served. Maybe they weren't bothered as it was the last night?

 

 

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there is only one bar on Oceana where black tie code applies, Magnums, the rest are evening casual. Did your shirt have a collar? If so it counts as evening casual, otherewise they may have relaxed the code because it was the last night.

[lake5298]

Maybe they weren't bothered as it was the last night?

 

It's difficult to enforce any dress code on the last night, as passengers are expected to have packed their cases and left them outside their cabins for collection.

 

It is therefore implied that passengers wear their 'disembark and drive home' outfits. No doubt any attempt to enforce dress code would run contrary to the packing requirement.

[Happy_Girl]

Yes that makes sense

 

On the night we didn't partake of the black tie dress code, we kept a very low profile so as not to appear that we were taking the mick

 

I totally get there's a dress code, and I understand how not participating could be seen as disrespectful. For me it wasn't about trying to rebel, but that it took place on our first full day of our first ever cruise, and we'd barely adjusted to being there without the added pressure of black tie

 

It was a shame that all the captain fancy stuff only happened for the first one tho so we missed out on that

 

Next time we'll be much better prepared

 

 

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