Selbourne ‘Live’ from Ventura

[yorkshirephil]

2 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I always assumed the bigger the ship the less it would be impacted?

It doesn't work that way, talk to one of the officers and they will explain about keel shape, wind shear/speed depth of swell wave height, stabiliser function and the multitude of other things that affect the ships movement.

[Selbourne]

17 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I always assumed the bigger the ship the less it would be impacted?

Quite the opposite at times. The very tall ships act as sails 😂 

[Megabear2]

I've had a couple of pretty rough ones on Azura, particularly with cross currents in the English Channel, but never experienced a bad BoB to date. 

 

Some ships just handle things better I guess. Certainly the older ships seem to have less movement.  A good northern crossing to New York in the autumn months is often an interesting experience unless it's on QM2, I remember Anthem of the Seas relocation in 2015 where she really struggled. 

 

 

 

[jeanlyon]

43 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I always assumed the bigger the ship the less it would be impacted?

Definitely not.  The new big ones have far more height, therefore far more windage.  Also, the ships like Aurora are built a bit like liners, so more likely to be stable.

[jeanlyon]

We had an awful time on Azura near the south of France.  Never known movement like it.  Only a Force 9.

Edited October 30, 2023 by jeanlyon

[jeanlyon]

Just read on FB that Arcadia is delaying departure from Southampton for 24 hours due to weather forecast.  This is the picture on Wed/Thurs

 

https://www.windy.com/?2023110212,50.283,-3.790,4

Edited October 30, 2023 by jeanlyon

[CarlaMarie]

11 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Definitely not.  The new big ones have far more height, therefore far more windage.  Also, the ships like Aurora are built a bit like liners, so more likely to be stable.

 

Yes. Arcadia is quite tall and slim for her size, which is why she gets more affected than say a smaller ship. I had a cruise to nowhere on her a few years ago. It was meant to be a 2 night Christmas market cruise but we couldn't reach Bruges as the 5 tugs they had on standby couldn't reach us nor the pilot boat. The storm was already in the channel the day before we set sail and here on the Dorset coast we were getting battered and thought the cruise would be cancelled. When we got onboard the Captain said he would go for it and try and get ahead, but it wasn't possible. 

 

Also, a Captain once told us that if a ship creaks it shows she was built well and can withstand what the ocean throws at her. 

Edited October 30, 2023 by CarlaMarie

[Selbourne]

3 minutes ago, CarlaMarie said:

Also, a Captain once told us that if a ship creaks it shows she was built well and can withstand what the ocean throws at her. 

Apparently, if they don’t creak they crack, and that’s never a good thing 😂 

[Megabear2]

3 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Apparently, if they don’t creak they crack, and that’s never a good thing 😂 

Well you're on the right ship for that.  Wasn't it 2012 or thereabouts she demonstrated how cracks are of no relevance?

[jeanlyon]

OK well just done 3 nights in a Force 10 with high seas on Aurora and no cracking in our cabin!!

[Britboys]

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Yes Canaries. I swear by Stugeron and that has kept me feeling OK, but it hasn’t saved my wife this time. She’s now on Avomine and feels fine today. 48 hours of this is enough now though thanks 😂 

Hope you find some calm seas soon...

[Selbourne]

15 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Well you're on the right ship for that.  Wasn't it 2012 or thereabouts she demonstrated how cracks are of no relevance?

No idea, but please save that story for when we are safely home 😂 

[carlanthony24]

35 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Well you're on the right ship for that.  Wasn't it 2012 or thereabouts she demonstrated how cracks are of no relevance?

Was that when she was coming back through the bay and it was that bad? We was on the cruise after it had happened and the mention of it would be inspected and the cruise may get cancelled worried a few people.

[carlanthony24]

1 hour ago, jeanlyon said:

We had an awful time on Azura near the south of France.  Never known movement like it.  Only a Force 9.

Crossing from Barcelona to Monte Carlo on Ventura Captain Simon Terry mentioned it was the worst he had ever experienced and predicted force 12. Azura in the North sea heading to Haugesund slowed us down being in a bunk bed was not fun at the time.

Edited October 30, 2023 by carlanthony24

[Megabear2]

10 minutes ago, carlanthony24 said:

Was that when she was coming back through the bay and it was that bad? We was on the cruise after it had happened and the mention of it would be inspected and the cruise may get cancelled worried a few people.

Yes.

[terrierjohn]

5 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Bit of an odd one tonight. Formal night has been postponed to tomorrow due to the adverse sea conditions, yet we still have the formal night menu. Tomorrow we shall be in our best bib and tucker for a casual menu 🤔

It's a shame they clump so many good looking dishes all on the same menu, there are a few I would like to try, but with beef tenderloin on that menu, then I guess I would not be trying the porcini mushroom ravioli.

[terrierjohn]

4 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

And on that weird menu, I had the left hand side lobster claw and 3 prawns.  Very tiny, although nice flavour.  Why do they have 2 beef dishes on together.  

Because you complained when they had all 4 roast meat dishes on the same menu, roast lamb, roast loin of pork, roast beef and chicken. 😄

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I always assumed the bigger the ship the less it would be impacted?

It depends on the shape, we have found RCIs Indy the most stable ship we have been on, Ventura the least stable, and Aurora runs it a close second 

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

Definitely not.  The new big ones have far more height, therefore far more windage.  Also, the ships like Aurora are built a bit like liners, so more likely to be stable.

Not true Jean, Aurora was built at Papengerg and was assembled on a flat bottom modular basis just like all modern cruise ships.

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

No idea, but please save that story for when we are safely home 😂 

If you have walked around the sun deck you will have stepped over the crack.  Although being the top deck it was built of aluminium for lightness, and it isn't load bearing.

[davecttr]

9 hours ago, Selbourne said:

No idea, but please save that story for when we are safely home 😂 

This topic has  a little image of the crack

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/1652963-ventura-cracked-whilst-crossing-bay-of-biscay/

[Selbourne]

DAY 3 (Monday 30th Oct) - Sea Day

 

Although our deck 9 mid-forward cabin continues to creak, crack and bang (and the movement is very noticeable in it), we slept better, probably as we were so tired from the lack of sleep the night before. 

 

I did my usual pre-breakfast walk around the promenade deck and then deck 16, where the ORCA representative was on whale and dolphin watch. She had seen a whale blow just 15 minutes before I got there 🙄. I asked if anyone from ORCA was likely to be on our 65 night Caribbean cruise on Aurora, but she thought it unlikely. 

 

We decided to go to Saffron for breakfast as it’s midships and would be a bit more stable, but there was quite a queue and a lot of people milling around, obviously waiting for tables for 2, so we changed our approach and headed for the Bay Tree, where there was no queue whatsoever. However, on arrival we were greeted with “only sharing tables available”. I said that we would like a table for 2 and would wait for one. I was told to expect a 20 minute wait. The next four couples to arrive also wanted tables for 2 and. the last ones to arrive were told to expect a 30 minute wait. By this stage I’d grabbed a chair from a nearby empty table as it was quite challenging standing still in one place due to the movement. Anyhow, within less than 10 minutes we were seated, as were the next 2 couples, in the banquette style seats. We all said the same thing as we sat down - they just threaten a prolonged wait in an attempt to make people share. I realised that the intermittent noise that we could hear in the aft restaurant was the propellers. The ship was pitching up and down and as the bow goes down, the stern comes up and the propellers get closer to the surface, so every time it did this you could hear the even beat of the propellers! (Well that’s my theory anyway 😂)

 

After breakfast we made a very brief visit to the promenade deck, but we were getting covered in salt, as the wind was lifting spray straight off the water well before it even thought about turning into waves! We tried to get a seat inside, but after two unsuccessful circuits of the public areas on deck 7 and deck 5 we gave up and went back to the cabin. 

 

Annoyingly there are no guest speakers on this cruise, other than ORCA (whose talks, whilst interesting, are all about whales and dolphins) so there has been nothing of interest for us whatsoever during the mornings. That’s poor. So we just ended up chilling in our cabin until lunchtime. At lunch we shared a table and had a nice chat with some folk that we hadn’t met before. All 3 courses were very nice (food has all been pretty good so far in spite of the poor reviews that we’d read pre-cruise). Yet again, we didn’t leave the MDR until 2.20pm, so had missed the one thing today that was of remote interest - the Wavelength quiz show in the theatre - also timed yet again to clash with the sole talk of the day (ORCA). I despair at the way that the entertainment teams schedule things on so many cruises. 

 

Another rest in the cabin before we headed down to Tazine for a Costa, which was a lot quieter than during the morning, so we had a drink in there whilst my wife read her book and I caught up on emails. My new mate Ray came and had a chat with us, which was nice. 

 

For the first time in 27 years of cruising, I have today purchased a 24 hour WiFi plan - just the Essential one, primarily as a test run to see if it’s worth getting for our 65 nighter.  Leaving aside the cost (£18 for 24 hours if purchased whilst on board) I’ve been really impressed. It works absolutely fine in our cabin and also around the ship. I’d say that my emails  and internet are just as fast as at home (where we have BT Superfast Broadband) and thanks to the tip from a few forum users, I’ve lost my What’sApp virginity 😂 I have found that I have even been able to make voice and video calls through What’sApp, even on the Essentials plan. As I can get the Essentials plan for our long cruise at less than £7 a day (after the 15% introductory offer, long cruise and loyalty discounts), that seems like a reasonable deal, especially as it’s £18 a day on board 😱. As well as being able to keep in full contact with family and friends at home (a worry for us on such a long cruise with lots of sea days), if the daytime entertainment is as poor as on this cruise then I shall be pleased to have access to emails and internet, especially as I will be able to bore you all rigid with a world record ‘Live from’ to give me something to do 🤣 

 

We had our first pre dinner drinks in the Glasshouse. We really like the Glasshouse on Ventura as it looks and feels like a proper restaurant. We dislike the versions on Britannia and Iona that are basically extensions of the atrium. 

 

As previously mentioned, the first formal night has been postponed by 24 hours due to the rough weather but, oddly, we still had the formal night menu. Presumably tomorrow we will have a regular menu whilst all sitting around in our formal wear 🤔. My wife had mostly the Marco Pierre White menu (seafood items) and enjoyed them. I had the fried goats cheese starter and roast beef tenderloin main. When it was delivered the portion of beef was tiny and Alois (our waiter) said that he was unhappy giving me a portion that was so small, so he would order another. I told him not to worry, but he was insistent. I ended up with two main courses and really struggled, but they were delicious and cooked perfectly.

 

Fixed (Club) dining has been hugely successful for us so far. Yet again the same 13 of us dining in a section of 28 covers and none of our neighbours are noisy. Out waiters are both superb and we even have a wine waiter. Apparently Ventura is the only ship that has retained them? We like just wandering in and having our nice table waiting for us. No queues, no pagers (I think I’ve mentioned that they no longer use the app for dining on Ventura). 

 

Tonight’s entertainment in the theatre was meant to be flamenco dancing but, yet again, as we are still rocking and rolling in rough seas, that’s also been postponed. Understandable as I’m struggling to walk in a straight line, let alone dance 😂 

[Eddie99]

I’m sure you’ve been following the “15% off internet packages” Selbourne?  It really seems that it may be withdrawn after today.  Best check it out to ensure you get the deal for your long cruise

 

I’ll cross my fingers for calmer seas for you, and for tasty fish & chips for your gala evening!

[Megabear2]

Yes, confirmed by my friend who added it yesterday to their Arvia cruise next August, today is the last day of 15% discount.  Suggest you add it to your booking online via the cruise planner if you wish to have it.

[Selbourne]

5 minutes ago, Eddie99 said:

I’m sure you’ve been following the “15% off internet packages” Selbourne?  It really seems that it may be withdrawn after today.  Best check it out to ensure you get the deal for your long cruise

 

I’ll cross my fingers for calmer seas for you, and for tasty fish & chips for your gala evening!

Yes, thanks Eddie. I purchased the full cruise package for our 65 nighter just before this cruise (to combine all the offers), with a view to cancelling it and getting a refund if we found it to be poor on this cruise. As I say, it works brilliantly on Ventura. Just hope it’s as good on Aurora.