This cruise has been a long time coming. Its been so busy of late that I have had little time to think about it, but the day has arrived. Todys cruise is even more special because Mum is coming with us, that means military precision packing of the car with cases, a wheelchair and  mobility aids, but thats Mr C’s problem, nothing to do with me. Dam….. there was room to spare, I could have packed yet another case!

The journey to Southampton was a sunny one. I think summer has arrived at last. I had expected some delays but the drive down to Southampton was a breeze. Not that I was driving, I had the easy job of just sitting, which involved closing of eyelids and eating the occasional Jelly Baby supplied by Mum in the back. I instructed to Mr C to drive down the Avenue into Southampton, as the M3 was a little bit stop start and I would imagine the M27 & M271 could be much the same, so didnt want to risk it. The Avenue was a breeze and cut out the need to drive through the busy Southampton front road, plus we arrived straight at Dock gate 4. There she was, sitting in the sun, Ventura. Last time I saw her a couple of weeks ago she was drenched in murkey grey drizzle sat in the very same place. We were directed to a holding queue of cars for CPS parking as it was already busy even at 11.20am, but it moved quickly and we were soon being greeted by a very nice lady from CPS. We had a disabled sticker already on the Ventura carparking sticker in the windowscreen, so she dealt with us swiftly , hung a wheelchair sign in our window screen so they knew to park us by the key collection point, and I had no sooner signed the car over, then the porters had taken the cases away and we were ready to go. It was a little bit of a logistical challenge with the hand luggage, walking frame, two wheelie cases, a laptop bag, camera bag and a soft bag containing Mr C’s DJ’s. We did struggle but I caught up with a ‘Wheelchair assistant’ and asked where we could find such a person? (I knew really that they are usually assigned once upstairs at check in, but sometimes blonde hair comes in really useful) seeing that we were a bit overloaded he advised us to stand just inside the doors and he would send a colleague down to us, and sure enough Dave arrived liked the cavalry. I have to say that Dave was an absolute star from start to finish, he really did go the extra mile. He had already spotted my Portunus Gold card in my hand, so he knew we were regulars. We went upstairs in the lift, which is huge by the way unlike the one at Mayflower, and out of the lift we were immediately given Priority boarding cards and asked to wait as check in had not started. There was not a seat to be had anywhere, so much for getting here early, so he asked us to just stand for one minute. The next thing we knew we were whisked over to a check in desk and given ViP treatment as we checked in and were shown to the other end of the embarkation lounge. We had not been sat for 5 minutes and we were invited to board the ship just as the call was put out for Golds to commence check in. We went through security without all the usual pushing and shoving and we had chance to move through at a leisurely pace, removing laptops from bags etc and then repacking again at the end. Next thing we knew we were miraculously the first to embark! So now you can see what a star Dave is, obviously a man with contacts! Gold Portunus drinks were in Tamarind and naturally we were the first to arrive so we were meeted and greeted and sat with champagne before I had time to think about it. Daves help was very much appreciated and I hope he went on to make a lot more peoples day in the same way. Goldie drinks was possibly the quietist I have ever seen, and we were told that there is actually only a very select amount of Golds on the is cruise. Im sure Helen said that there were only 47 of us, which does seem incredibly low, but s he did advise that we will be having a ‘special’ special Portunus Gold event this cruise. Yippee, about time too! Hardly any Goldies or suite passengers turned up while we were there, which was for well over an hour. Maybe they were all sat outside enjoying the sunshine, while we were sat enjoying the champagne? The sandwiches though are getting worse. We were presented with 4 fingers of very dried up excuses for a sandwich, with a couple of lettuce leaves, which were embarrassing really and I think P&O should not bother if thats the best they can produce. We did eat them though because we were hungry and they did bring another plate after that as demand for them was not high today. Mum drank tea but was not impressed when Mr C ordered the third glass of fizz, lol. At 1.00pm we were advised that our stateroom was ready. I was tempted to nab a Butler as two had turned up to escort passengers but there didnt seem to be any suite passengers to assist. Instead Mr C went ahead with one lot of hand luggage and put them in the cabin and then came back for us.

Oooh Im liking my choice of stateroom. We had two Superior deluxe balcony cabins right at the aft of D deck, just as far back as you can go on the port side, and we have an extra bit of balcony which was even more of a bonus. The balcony is huge! Love it! The stateroom itself is exactly the same ‘pod’ as our Queen Victoria Princess Grill suite last December so I’m more than familiar with the layout, although it doenst have quite the luxurious feel that the one on QV did. But its cool. Its larger than the standard balcony cabins and we have a larger bathroom with bath and shower above, sink with plenty of space and shelves to stash all my essential items. We have a different piece of artwork on the wall at the foot of the bed to any that I have had before, and I have been on here a few times now! Outdoor scenes of a cricketer and a kite. The room has sort of a virtual divide between seating and bedroom area. Big king size bed, dressing table, bedside cabinets, in one area and 3 seater sofa and coffee table and chair in the other. The rooms divided by a half moon shaped unit housing two flat screen TV’s the tea and coffee making facilities, plenty of glasses, and the fridge. Additional benefits of the superior deluxe balcony stateroom are fluffy bathrobes, slippers, champagne, flowers and chocolates on arrival. Use of binoculars and an atlas, plus a magazine rack of recent publications. You also get canapés delivered twice a week.  As I said the balcony is massive with the extra bit tagged on. D deck balconys are not liked by many as theoretically they are overlooked by the balconies above, but I feel more as if I can sit up and look at the entire ships length of balconys and dont feel looked on at all. Infact I feel in a very commanding position from my reclining chair. Mum is only next door and Victor is soon in to introduce himself. He has the balcony partition open in a jiffy with the aid of the corkscrew but I didnt see what he did. The sun is absolutely beating down on our balcony and its scorching. Too hot for mum and she has to move across to the shade. We had a lovely  hour sat out on the balcony watching them load stores, which didnt look easy as we seemed to be sitting low in the water and they were having to almost crane the stuff down in cages to the loading bays from the forklifts. Mr C was despatched to the Waterside for a tray full of lunch and we sat in the sun and filled our belly’s. Cases have arrived! Things are going more than smoothly and efficiently for us today. We set too and unpacked for Mum and  sorted all her stuff out, hopefully where she can find it. For some reason Mr C felt he had done enough and chose to go and rest his eyelids on the balcony while I tackled our stack of luggage. Times like this when I wish I hadn’t packed so much, but I really do need it – all of it!!

Oooh we have a big brass band on the quay side. Its been ages since I experienced a proper Sailaway in the sunshinbe. All that was missing really was the streamers. Now that would have been an impressive sight from our balcony looking the entire length of the ship! Quite a few people had turned out to watch us sail on this scorching hot afternoon so there was plenty of waving going on. I bet we looked impressive from where they were stood with the lovely blue sky and the sunshining, but I was glad I was stood where I was and not down there. Mum decided it was time for a lie down, so me and Mr C headed for Breakers Bar. As suspected it was busy up there but the atmosphere was good. By the time we got back Mum had decided a visit to the shops was in order so that she could buy her perfume, so Mr C was dispatched with the wheelchair, while I looked at the inside of my eyelids for half an hour. They were looking good and the rest was more than needed. But I had to drag myself out of bed at some point and decided to go for a nice soak in a nice bubbly bath. I was tempted to open one of the many bottles of champagne that seem to have all ready accumulated in our cabin, but decided to wait for another day. Smart casual of course this evening and I had a little bit of trouble selecting a dress but I managed.

The slots on deck 6 were calling to Mum and she felt the need to go and feed a couple of £5 notes into them. We deposited her there and headed for Ramblas for a pre dinner drink to see our friendly waiter Brian. We sat chatting at the bar to Carol and Pete, who were sat next to us and I confess we over ran our promised time to go and collect Mum. We found her sitting on a seat waiting for us. Ooops! Must watch the clock better next time. We were dining in Saffron Restaurant, table 96, and were greeted on entry by non other than Executive Purser David Shepherd, who seemed very surprised to see me. Its lovely to be welcomed back onboard when the officers seem genuinely pleased to see you. We were shown to our table for 3 and Im impressed. I would have liked a window table, but instead I do have a prime people watching seat, which is one of my favourite ship board past times. We are receiving lots of attention this evening. Edrich the Restaurant Manager is over to welcome us back onboard, closely followed by the F& B Manager. The section waiter Krishna, is next over to introduce himself (now nicknamed ‘Harry’) the waiters could not be better and make such a fuss of Mum. I will clock their names again tomorrow evening, but I know one is now nicknamed ‘Achhooo’ for no other reason other than thats what it sounds like, lol. Mike was the next over to take our wine order and got half way through his speal and stopped himself as he knew he had seen us before, he couldnt believe that it was only 3 months ago in the Caribbean when he was last serving our wine. Mum can not believe the amount of attention we are receiving but I think she had better get used to it.  Mr C did a bit of a Darren and ordered double prawn cocktail, followed by lamb and lentil soup, followed by stuffed cheese chicken and than a ginger pudding and custard. I had prawns, minestrone and the pork. The pork was beautiful and just melted, very nice indeed. I finished that off with a kiwi pavlova, then a cappachino and some millionairs shortbread. No complaints at all.

Mum was ready for her bed straight after dinner so I made sure she was settled and into bed, before we headed upto Metropolis. Theo has made it to a descent bar after his stint in the coffee shop in February. Yay my favourite cocktail maker in a bar I can sit at the bar at. P&O have introduced a whole new bar menu at long last and I have lots of new ones to try. Thoeo recommended the new orange Cosmo’ and it sounded good to me so a large one of those was in order. Im liking the look of the entire new list so I can see I have a lot to get through in the next 14 nights. I cant remember what the next one was called but it was Jack Daniels muddled with Raspberries or something. Another of Theos  recommendations and its now one of mine too.

We have had a lovely, but very tiring day so its down in the lift to deck 9 and into D732. Mr C is knocking out the Z’s before Ive even had chance to get my make up off, although it has to be said, I was very impressed with myself for even managing to remember to take my make up off, cleanse my face and clean my teeth! Good night!!

Sunday 23^rd May – at sea

And what a glorious sunny morning it is too. The sun is behind us and just starting to move around the port side as it rises higher in the sky. I nip around to Mums next door and shes awake but has slept well, which is more than she has done in a long time. We have ordered breakfast for 8, which is still another hour away so I make her a cup of tea and she chooses to laze in bed for a while longer. Breakfast arrives dead on 8.00am, thankyou Ross. He asks if we would like the same every day but we are undecided as yet so decide to keep him posted. We dined in Mums this morning as the sun shone through onto the sofa and kept us nicely warm. Mums decided she still hasnt had her full quota of sleep and declares she is going back to bed for an hour, so Im back to my ‘office’ to catch up with some work.

Work done and Im out on the balcony to soak up some of that lovely warm sunshine, oooh bliss. Its not long before mum wants to get out and do some exploring so after a little browse in the shops we decide its nearing lunch time so head to the Waterside a nice salad and fishcake washed down with a glass of wine just hits the spot. Then its back to the balcony to lay in the sun and sip champagne cocktails. The Bay of Biscay is flat calm today and the sea is a lovely aqua colour glistening in the sunlight. Im mesmerised just watching the patterns in the gentle waves and sat there quite happily for most of the afternoon with mum until the sun disappeared over Metropolis and I retreated to underneath my duvet for some well earnt sleep.

Pre dinner drinks in the Red Bar this evening with Mum. After a very enjoyable 45 minutes people watching we head down to Saffron for dinner. Mum is given the ViP treatment again and wheeled across to the table. The waiters are waiting to greet her and she is lovin the attention. I had a lovely meal and chose the turkey roulade for main which I have to say was delicious with the apricot marmalade. Ooh and the banana soufflé afterwards was to die for. Yummy indeed. Its getting late for mum, so after making sure she was safely tucked up in bed it was time to go see Theo in Metropolis. I have set him a mission to see how many different cocktails he can invent me with my Hibiscus flowers so he is giving that one some thought and will produce his first offering tomorrow. In the meantime I just settled for a Hibiscus champagne before selecting a couple more cocktails from the new list to try. He did give me an incy taste of a new one on the list which contained balsamic vinegar, and while I will admit it had a good afterkick, the taste was quite shocking so I wont be purchasing one of those. No idea what all the other ones were that I tried but they were all very nice

Monday 24^th May – at sea

Ooh dear I really must stop sampling the new cocktails, my head hurt this morning! And I took a bit of convincing that I could actually stand up, lol. Round one of breakfast arrived dead on the dot of 8.00am which consisted of pastries and tea, then an hour later we dispatched Mr C to Waterside for bacon, egg, sausage mushrooms and beans. Thats better. Im ready to face the day now, but maybe a little snooze first.

Its rather cloudy today and more than a little windy out on the balcony so when we eventually get organised we head out and down to decks 7 & 6 for a nosey around. We stopped by reception for some Euro’s and while waiting the queue I’m kept entertained by the various questions that people choose to queue to ask about. Most asked question today seemed to be about the Captains Welcome Onboard cocktail party. Why are they invited? Where is it? Will there be food was the most amusing question I heard asked! Another one that amused me was the lady complaining that she couldn’t read the print on the daily news sheet and had asked for one in large print, which still hadn’t been delivered. So the assistant purser behind the desk asked which bit she was having difficulty reading, to which the lady snapped that she didn’t know because she couldn’t read any of it to know what it said. The young girl behind the desk was trying to be helpful by reading the list of the days activities out but the woman didn’t want to listen. Getting to and from the reception are via the shops on deck 6 was not easy as the shops had insisted on putting out the market stalls either side, making it very congested and not passable in places with a wheelchair as people gathered to look at the wares. We decided to head to the coffee shop on deck 5 but so had half the ship by the look of it and there was no chance of a seat, so it was back to the lifts and upto  deck 7 to Ramblas for a coffee and more people watching. Mum was fascinated by the little restaurant so we decided to take lunch in there. Ham & figs, orange chicken…. mmmm delicious, but after a couple of drinkies im ready for my bed again. The sun was making a real effort to get out but it wasn’t quite fast enough for me and after a little bit of work catch up, I was under my duvet. I woke up late afternoon to find the ship bouncing about a little bit, which is never good when you are trying to get ready for a night out. It doesn’t help that we are right at the very aft end I suppose, but it was nothing major.

Captains Cocktails in the Red Bar and Mum amuses herself with some frock watching, while I do pretty much the same. Captain Julian Burgess addresses us all from his balcony and introduces his senior team, followed by Noddy, but hes very camera shy and I wasn’t quick enough with the camera for that one. The boys are ready and waiting to attend to Mum when we arrive at dinner and a few more people have turned up this evening. We have had a quite a few empty tables around us the last couple of nights but all but one are occupied now. I had some delicious strawberrys to round off my meal and Mum is sent on her way with a rather full bowl of chocolates! Mum is ready for her bed and after making sure she is settled we head to Havana for the Freddie Mercury Tribute. We bump into Marion who is onboard to help out the tours department and I cant believe she has never been on Ventura before. Like most of us though she is impressed. Freddie Mercury was excellent and is one of the few tribute acts that I haven’t seen onboard. Havana was packed out. In complete contrast Gerrard Kenny was playing in the Areana theatre so there really is something to suite all tastes. Dancing in Tamarind and the duo in Metropolis. Mr C has bumped into an old work colleague from home so hes happy to have found a drinking buddy. As soon as Freddie Mercury finishes his last song I make sure we are out of the door before the masses and in a lift heading for Metropolis. Its rather quiet up there and I guess that could be due to the bit of a bouncy thats occurring at the aft end. Theo has waited for my arrival though and immediately launches into his first invented cocktail with my hibiscus flowers. Im impressed as it made me a purple coloured martini type drink, well it was in a Martini glass anyway and it matched my purple dress this evening, which was pretty impressive. No random men around at the bar to come nagging at us. Mr C learnt all about porcelain hip replacements last night, and the night before I learnt how one bloke came to be travelling alone after ditching his girlfriend the week before. But its ok he has someone else lined up to fly out to Nice for Cannes! Mr C’s buddy comes up for a drink and so I feel obliged to have a Margaritta with salt rim before heading for my bed while he heads to the Exchange and Casino with the boys.

Tuesday 25^th May – Lisbon

I woke up briefly in the middle of the night wondering if Mr C had made it back to the cabin ok, but the bed is so big I couldn’t really tell if he was in residence or not, so I rolled over and didn’t give it another thought lol. Next thing I knew it was daylight and the coast off the river Tegus was passing the balcony. I nipped out for a look and then suddenly remembered that there were balconys above.  Good job I had a nightie on, lol. Thats the first time I have seen anyone on the balconies since the sailaway in Southampton. I soon nipped back in for my fluffy while bathrobe before going back out again. Its a really dull cloudy morning so I hope it clears. I always get scared as we pass under April 25^th bridge and from where I was stood, aft and below Metropolis it really did look like we were going to hit, but of course we didn’t. Mr C was despatched for breakfast collection shortly afterwards and after a little bit of work at the laptop I sneak back into bed while the clouds decide what to do with themselves.

It stayed warm and pleasant all day but the sunshine didn’t make much of an effort. We headed off into town at about 11.00am giving any chance of queues for the shuttle buses chance to die down. I was very impressed to find loads of shuttle buses available and a wheelchair accessible bus available. There were two in operation all day departing every 20 to 30 minutes. The shuttle bus didn’t drop us in Black Horse square like it always has done in the past, but instead took us right to the top of the town and dropped us opposite Hard Rock Cafe. We were advised that we could book the return shuttle for our journey back to the ship or we could just turn up on the hour or 30 mins past, and we opted to do the latter. We walked all the way back down to Black Horse square which has now been pedestrianised at the sides, but you can still get the trams from there and the open top bus. We then walked back up through the main shopping street, stopping for a good supply of the famous custard tarts and then made our way to Bon Jardim for chicken & chips. Having Mums wheelchair meant we had to sit outside and thankfully it wasn’t cold. Mum loved the chicken and chips and really enjoyed the meal. But the entertainment was something else. There was what can only be described as the local lunatic ejected from the restaurant after a couple of bottles of wine had taken hold of him. He continued to stand outside the restaurant for the duration of our meal ranting and gesturing at anyone who would listen or make eye contact with him. He kept mum entertained anyway. Then there was the sunglasses seller who came harassing diners so the waiter grabbed his arm and told him to leave. The sunglasses seller then decided he was going to have a go at the waiter for putting greasy finger prints on his shirt sleeve. As if that wasn’t enough a local girl came and stood just across the pavement, took a guitar from her guitar case and continued to gesture as if she was playing it, but not making contact with the strings, hence no noise was produced. It was fantastic entertainment all round and must be unique to the barking locals of Lisbon. We were at the right end of town for the shuttle bus back to the ship so boarded straight onto the 2.00pm wheelchair adapted bus back to the ship with no queuing, which was impressive as the queue was very long. Back at the ship I could not believe the behaviour of some of our fellow passengers. We were on deck 4, had a wheelchair and clearly needed to go up in a lift. Fully able bodied people came and crowded every lift door, giving no consideration to wheelchair or pushchair users. What was wrong with them taking the stairs up one flight and going along to the next set of lifts to their chosen deck. We stood and waited for several lifts to come and go all the way to deck 15 and back until we finally got in one. Im not as patient as Mr C who was pushing the chair and if I had been in charge I would have simply taken a few people legs out and perhaps that would have made them think twice about being so selfish next time! Grrrr!

Mr C got us back to the cabin and then he felt the need for a swift one in the Exchange. I made some tea and me and mum sat and ate custard tarts on the balcony. But work was calling me from my laptop so I nipped back inside to do a little bit of work, but my eyelids got tired so I went and sneaked under the duvet for half an hour. Next thing I knew Victor was at the door with canapés and more fruit. We had a large bowl of fruit the other day, and todays is just a smaller one. Everyday something seems to arrive for us, compliments of one person or another. I can just hear the Captain making an announcement outside the cabin to say all pre departure checks are complete and we are about to leave. Im almost beginning to miss Captain Paul Browns 6.00pm announcements blasting through the cabins, but I guess I wont be saying that next time our paths meet lol. The sailaway sing along up on top deck has been cancelled for some reason? It might be inclement weather, but its not really inclement. I hear Leon announce it will be back on for Barcelona. Ventura has now let go her lines and turned and we are heading back under the April 25^th bridge along River Tagus and should be passing through Gibraltar straights at around 9 tomorrow morning.

I must decide what we are going to do this evening. So much choice on here its fab. Annie Lenox is on in Havana. Jayne Curry, singer is on in Tamarind. Grande Illusion is on in the Arena Theatre. A night at the Races in Exchange. Sophistication, duo, in Metropolis. Plus there is decisions to be made about where to dine!….I will let you know what we decide.

Well, we decided on pre dinner drinks in Ramblas with first class drinks service from Brian. Mum had a prime people watching spot so she was easily sorted. We had a look at the menu and decided we would to the Saffron. Mr C had the lamb shank which did look excellent and he said it was. Mum had the baked salmon fillet and I had the grilled Sirlion which was beautiful and tender. Although I did struggle to cut it and when I asked for a steak knife Viresh informed me that they didn’t have any on the ship! A smaller knife was found which did make it easier.

It was Annie Lennox tribute in Havana this evening so Mr C went and got some seats at the bar while I helped Mum to bed. Now I know we had chosen to sit at the bar so were bound to get people stood infront of us, but when when a couple stood with there backs to be practically an inch away from my knees I was a little cheesed off! So Mr C got up and went and stood directly infront of them. Instantly the woman dared to tap Mr C on the shoulder and inform him that she couldn’t see, so I felt obliged to pipe up and tell her I was not over impressed with the back of her head either!! People!! Annie Lennox was good although I did think her songs were a bit long, then it took me a while to work out she was doing a bit of a mashup with them, lol. We got out before the end and headed for Metropolis. Theo was on a break so the Head Wine waiter did the fatal mistake of taking our order. Lets just say that cocktails are not his speciality but the entertainment value was first class as he put it together.  Some of it even made it into the glass lol. Theo was not impressed with his efforts when he returned. Its a shame he didn’t choose to come back 3 minutes earlier just as the wine waiter was making a frozen Margaritta. He ended up with a full blender full for one little glass, lol. Theo couldn’t wait to get stuck into my Tuesday night creation with the hibiscus flower. It had a purple tinge to it this evening again, but was more of a champagne mix. Tomorrows challenge is something red to match the dress.

Wednesday 26^th May – at sea

Ohhh I so wish I hadn’t asked Theo for something milky and calming to send me to sleep last night. It was lovely but my head was pounding this morning. I eventually dragged myself out onto the balcony and tucked myself into the aft corner to catch the rays while the fresh air bought me slowly back around to the land of the living.

We headed upto BeachHouse for breakfast but that was closed, but decided to take advantage of the plentiful supply of empty tables in there and walk back to Waterside for trays of breakfast. Easier said than done. One side open one side closed, resulting in open side being rammed. Then just as I about ready to get out of there wise waiter decides that section is closed and puts a rope across the entrance so I cant get out! Did he expect me to jump? Mr C was an eternity getting his breakfast so Im guessing he was trying to find which bit was open and which bit was closed. Im not a lover of the self service places, one reason being the tray rammers who get you in the back or those that think it is their right to go in the opposite direction to everyone else. I decided to go on a hunt for some sunloungers. No chance!! Well not in an accessible spot with a wheelchair thats for sure. Loads of books, bags ad towels out doing their thing though. Mr C didn’t believe that I had looked everywhere, so he went to do a reckie after me and sure enough everywhere was rammed. You would think the balcony would be the perfect choice for some lazing in the sun, but the sun popped above Metropolis at about 5 past 9 and stayed directly above the ship practically all day. We found two seats at a table out by the aft pool and thats where we stayed until about 3.00pm. There was a barbeque up by the midship pool but the effort involved in getting there with a wheelchair was too much so we opted for some salad from Beach House. I kept nipping back to the cabin to do a bit of work and do some washing in the laundrette just along the corridor. People do worry about cabin locations alongside or opposite the laundrettes onboard, but on Ventura they do have and external and internal door so noise really is to a minimum and it is only open 8.00am to 10.00pm. I don’t think it would bother me being opposite or next door. Same goes for the inside cabins that look as if they are directly behind the lifts. You don’t even realise as you walk down the corridor.

I kept checking the balcony for sun but it still want there at gone 3.00pm so we had pretty much given up all hope of it making an appearance all day. But at just gone 4 we had sunshine from the stern so at least I got a couple of hours benefit from it.

Portunus Party in Tamarind this evening. We were greeted by David Shepherd Exec Purser on arrival and then bumped into Ian again, Chief Engineer who was very pleased to see us again. Not many attending the party as the ship is mainly made up of newcomers, which is unusual these days, but Ventura does tend to attract those new to cruising. Plenty of nibbles and drinks flowing and we didn’t win the set of silver goblets (not that we want another one!) but its about time they changed the prize along with those dam miniatures that they give us as a Goldie gift.

We were a little late for our arrival into dinner and I was serenaded by a chorus of Lady in Red! I had the spicy prawns tonight which were really enjoyable and Mike had selected the wine which seemed to go down rather fast. We rounded it off with an after dinner port and a baileys. I have no idea what entertainment was on this evening as I tend to make the mistake of reading Horizon the night before when I get into bed, which is not recommended after a few sherries. I know there was a Ladys Night Ball on in Tamarind but other than that I have no idea. We chose to go straight to Metropolis and it was rammed in there. Standing room only. Couldn’t hear the duo or hear yourself speak it was so busy. They even had to call for reinforcements behind the bar. Theo mixed me a triple layers creation of a cocktail this evening and used the Hibiscus as a garnish – very creative!

We only stopped for a couple this evening. We were both tired and needed a big sleep. Back at the cabin Mr C set the camera up for a romantic balcony shot of us together with my lovely red dress flowing in the breeze. But just as the camera set up was ready, a man with a high power water jet appeared on the high decks above doing a bit of deck cleaning and I had a very lucky escape from a drenching. Not good timing for a photo!

Thursday 27^th May – Palma

Not a good nights sleep at all and I think I must have dropped off at about 7.00am for a couple of hours sleep. I think we found a bit of a storm in the night as the rain was lashing into the balcony doors and when we got up there were lots of flakes of white paint on the balcony floor. The sun is shining and its shining on our balcony, Yay!!! Mr C ordered some breakfast for the balcony and we sat and soaked up the rays while we waited for Mum to stir from her sleep.

We ventured ashore at around 11.00am and there were loads of shuttle buses lined up so we never witnessed any queuing but we did opt to wait for the wheelchair adapted bus, which was about 20 mins returning from town the wait in the sunshine was a pleasant one though. When the coach did arrive it was a vey high tech one with individual lift platform and the coach itself took about 6 wheelchairs all lined up and locked down in position along one side of the coach, so it was a fairly lengthy process getting it loaded, but at least they had safety in mind. We were dropped in the usual place opposite the cathedral. The Cathedral and surrounding area has really been cleaned up during recent years. We walked along the main street and then tried to cut into more of the old town, but every alley we went up we were met with the steps to take us a little further up a hill so we were defeated by the wheelchair. We opted to come back to the ship and have lunch on the balcony. There was nearly wheelchair rage on the shuttle bus. Last but one person to be loaded was in a motorised scooter and he would take no assistance from anyone as he tried to manoeuvre it around the bus into position. The driver was only trying to help and indicate where he needed him to make his scooter go and then the bloke decided to stand up in a bit of a rage, which nearly sent the driver over the edge! The point the driver was trying to make was ‘if you can walk, walk onto a non adapted shuttle bus and let some of the less aided  use this bus’ the passenger was not a happy man and the port rep had to be called to calm the situation down! Takes all sorts I suppose!

We were soon back at the ship and decided to bring burger and chicken burger from Frankies, plus a couple of Pizzas and have a bit of a picnic in the sun.  I was sure as hell that the Spanish were not getting 7% off me for anything today! I had booked a British ship so cant see why they should have 7% of what I spend onboard today. We had thought ahead and bought a bundle of Corona beer on the in cabin special offer for Mr C, I sipped champagne and mum made do with a lemondade. Mum needed her 30^th nap of the day so she was off to her bed, while Mr C assisted with the removal of my toe nail polish and I applied a new colour, lol. Only a little snooze for me this afternoon, then a big hot bubbly bath, and out onto the balcony intime to see the sailaway from Palma

We had decided to eat in the Beach House Diner this evening, but not before pre dinner drinks in Metropolis. Theo mixed me possibly one of the best ever champagne hibiscus flower cocktails and we sat on the starboard wing looking down the entire length of the ship. I went down at 8.15 to see about a table of 3 and within 10 minutes we were called to be seated via a bleeper. I do love it in the diner, but this time the ambience wasn’t right. I have only used the diner when in the Caribbean before which has usually meant fewer kids onboard so I had never noticed the fact that the kids teen rooms were above us. OMG what a din and a lot of thudding about. I can only presume there was a rock school going on above our heads. We could even hear the background music in the restaurant and the lighting was too bright, again it has always been dimmed and made use of the candle lighting on the tables in the past. Having said all of that, the meal its self was faultless. I have my favourite combo sizzle plate, although the request for rice did translate to fries, but I did end up with both eventually. Mum certainly enjoyed her fish n chips! She soon wanted her bed as is usual straight after dinner but we decided to take her on a brief excursion through to the early part of the deck party. Bless, I think she thought everyone went to bed when she went to bed. It was already busy out there though. After helping mum into bed, we headed back upto Breakers Bar supposedly just for one, but it was so much fun we sort of stayed, lol. It was possibly the busiest deck party I have ever seen on Ventura, although it had list its Pirate theme apart from the odd one or two people in pirate costume. Annie Lennox and Freddie Mercury tributes both did a stint on stage, not that I could see through the mass of people, but thats my own fault for wanting to sit at the bar. I think half the ships bartenders were behind Breakers Bar and were bumping into each other as they attempted to serve the masses of people that hadn’t had a drink for 5 minutes, lol! It was a lovely warm evening and as the ship was barely moving there was barley a breeze either. A lovely evening too for just coming back to the balcony and reflecting on the day, with the distant music of the deck party in the distance.

Friday 28^th May – Barcelona

We were the first of the big ships in this morning, closely followed by MSC Fantasia and Costa Concordia which berthed either end of us. Mr C ordered breakfast and hooray, for the first time this cruise we got warm milk for mums cornflakes!! It was gone 11 again before we made it ashore and the boarding of the bus was a little bit of a struggle with no wheelchair adapted one available. When we arrived in town there was a lot of tutting going on as mum had waited to be the last to get off the bus, but the queue of waiting passengers on the pavement appeared worried that there would be no seats left by the time they piled on the bus! Barcelona was rammed as usual. Mum took great amusement in spotting a man by Nelsons Colum wearing nothing but a tatood pair of pants with not anything left to the imagination!!!  Trying to negotiate La Ramblas was a nightmare as the entire city seemed to be heading towards us, plus we were watching for pick pockets and dodgy looking characters amongst the crowd.  We walked the length of the the Ramblas before heading back down the main precinct and back towards the shuttle. We decided it was easier to wait for a new bus back so mum could occupy the front seat, letting others go before us to fill the last coach. When the new coach arrived there was almost a siege as they had to wait for mum to board! Whats the rush!! Then of course we had lift wars on boarding the ship again. Mum and another lady in a wheelchair waited for an eternity while others piled into the lifts, being in the right place at the right time and quicker off the mark. Even when the lift that mum was blocking arrived, able bodied people tried to pile in and I had to suggest that they step aside and let the other lady in a wheel chair enter!

We headed upto deck 15 for some lunch and the sun was beating down on the pool area. We had some very nice fish goujons from the grill – excellent!

Then it was back down to the balcony to sample another bottle of champagne. I cant describe how hot the sun was today, but it was a scorcher of an afternoon! I am loving my balcony. Personally Im finding the decks a little too crowded this time around, so am really glad of my own little bit of Ventura down at the aft of deck 9. I still don’t feel overlooked by any of the decks above me and I rarely see anyone directly above us.

A nap was out of the question this afternoon as work kept me busy. Sometimes wish I was mum who manages to fit in about 40 naps a day! Instead I had to make do with a laze and a soak in a hot bubbly bath. We decided on pre dinner drinks in Red Bar this evening, and the waiters were falling over themselves to serve us. Im sure we had 3 on the go at one point. The V factor was going on in the Atrium which did spoil the ambience in Red Bar somewhat with someone constantly blasting over the mike telling us to book a spa and get 20% off! Buy a photo package etc. No, I will never be a fan of the V, A, O or anything else Factor!

Ashu was waiting for Mum at the restaurant door this evening and an inquest was held as to where we were last night. Don’t think we will be let out again, lol. I really enjoyed the meal again this evening, although I did select the wrong choice of sweet but Viresh had bought back up for me so saved the day with lemon and treacle tart. It was our usual haunt of Metropolis after dinner and Theo was there with his Hibiscus cocktail of the day for me. Full marks again tonight to Theo and his cocktail skills.

Saturday 29^th May – Cannes

What a beautiful backdrop greeted us this morning. Clear blue sky, deep blue calm flat sea, panoramic coast line and white yachts glistening in the sunlight. No wind, just lovely calm warm air. Perfect morning for sitting on the balcony and waking myself up slowly. Mr C did the breakfast run this morning, because I fancied something hot for a change, so he was dispatched for a full English while I made the morning  tea – never drank so many cups of tea on a cruise! I nipped down to see what the score is with getting Mum and wheelchair onto a tender but the purser assistant in charge of tender tickets assures me it wont be a problem and to just come down when we are ready and they will do all they can to assist. He suggests that after 10.30 or 11.00am will be a quieter time to give it a try which suits us fine. We went down to Tamarind at about 10.45 and were directed straight down to a tender. Mum was taken from us on deck 4 and taken down to deck 3 in the lift and wheeled out onto the pontoon. She is very unsteady on her feet but received first class help and assistance form 3 of the ships company. At the end of the journey across to shore we simply waited to be the last to disembark and again she was given assistance back into her chair. The lift up onto the upper level of the harbour was broken, and we had been warded that there were approx 10 steep steps up to the next level, but the port authority escorted us through 3 locked gates and out of the secure dock area on the flat, which bought us out by the main harbour. It was a glorious hot sunny day and we strolled all along the harbour, round to the famous red carpet of the film festival and along the prom past all the posh hotels and lovely restaurants on the beach. We walked as far as the Carlton Hotel and then back via Louis Vutton and other such named shops! We looked but didn’t bother to go in to any of them , lol. We browsed the shops of the old town before strolling back around the harbour and through the security gates of the tender berthing area. Surprisingly there were no  queues for the tenders and we were straight back onboard and back to the ship. Straight upto Breakers bar for a spot of lunch and a cooling drink before retreating to the cabin to cool off. I flitted between balcony and cabin to keep up with a bit of work, but didn’t over exert myself.

Mr C took a bit of motivating out of his slumber this afternoon so he was late getting himself ready for pre dinner drinkies. It was still gloriously hot and sunny at 7.45 so me and mum sat out on the balcony watching the South of France glide by. We were barley moving and there wasn’t even a hint of a breeze.  Just as we arrived into dinner I could see that we were just passing Monaco really closely, so it was a shame we didn’t see that glide past the balcony.

Dinner was superb again. Pumpkin soup followed by roast beef and I swear Viresh is psychic as he bought me extra gravy!

We headed to Metropolis for our usual post dinner drink, but Theo was on a break so I missed my personal cocktail of the day. We decided to go and check out 60’s & 70’s night in the Tamarind and ended up staying for a drink and lots of chattering, lol. Why they didn’t have the party out on deck is beyond me as it would have been ideal this evening.

Sunday 30^th May – Livorno

I woke up at some ridiculous hour and spotted the most stunning sunrise from the balcony doors and somehow managed to summon the energy to get outside and take a photo, before climbing back into bed for a couple more hours sleep. By the time I opened my eyes again we were docked. The sun was beating on the balcony and we decided against going a shore today. With it being a Sunday, there was little point in going into Livorno. We had been to Pisa many times and it was too far to venture with Mum to Florence. The port authorities were also charging 5 euro per person for the shuttle bus into Livorno so I was about as impressed with that as the dam Spanish and their 7% tax. We opted for a day up on deck, in my usual spot by Breakers Bar, and judging by the amount of people still onboard I think the Sunday call and 5 euro charge had put a lot of people off going ashore. Mr C fetched himself the most enormous breakfast of full English with two omelettes!! I have no idea where he puts it! I had a bacon roll!! We lazed around soaking up the sun until lunch time and then I fetched fish goujons and fries from the grill for me and Mum. Mr C was full up from breakfast! We managed another couple of hours sunshine but it was just too hot so it was time to retreat to the cabin and balcony and just take it easy!

Nearly had a bit of a dress crisis this evening when two of my dresses appeared to have shrunk a little. Thank goodness for the many spares I had packed thats all I can say! Mr C made the wise move of getting out of the cabin and taking Mum to the jewellery sale, where she made a purchase or two, and was a happy bunny. We went  for Tapas in East this evening, just to experience a change of scenery really. Mum likes it! She even partook in the tapas much to my surprise. I have no idea why we went to dinner as none of us were really hungry and the only thing that appealed was battered fish and chips. The table next to us is so loud, I am beginning to think that they think they are the only ones in the restaurant. I know its nice to have fun, but being so outrageously loud is a little unnecessary. We went for drinks in Metropolis where Theo made me possibly the nicest Hibiscus cocktail to date – excellent!

Monday 31^st May Civi

For once I hadn’t woken as we had gone into berth, and had no idea if we had arrived or not. We had, and were port side too. Mum was up and ready to go. We disembarked at around 10.30 after a breakfast in the sun up by the pool. There was a shuttle service, including a wheelchair adapted bus, to the port gates, but the non adapted bus had just turned up and nobody knew how long until the next one, so we decided to walk. It was quite a route march but felt slightly better for the bit of exercise afterwards. We were on a mission to find the market for mum this morning, and found it half way up the precinct, up a steep flight of stone steps which was too difficult for mum, so we walked one street along and up and were able to approach the market with no steps. Oh mum loved the market, but if she asked how much the 5 euro bags were one more time, either of us could have hit her around the head with one! Several items were purchased and Mum left a happy woman. We strolled back down to the prom and along the front. The sun was glorious. There was a lot of redevelopment work being done to the prom front and I think it will be really nice when its completed, not that they seemed to be working very fast.

Back to the balcony where we were in full sunshine. I ordered ham baquetts for me and Mum and Mr C fetched himself a pizza (although pizza is available on the room service menu) lovely afternoon on the Chadwick suite balcony extension. I sipped my way through a bottle of Boli, while Mr C finished off his Budd collection and then started on the Portunus miniatures with anything he could find to mix with it. I had the bright idea of painting mums nails, which is not easy on arthritic fingers after a bottle of boli! I then went onto apply diamantes to them for her! The sun was just glorious. All in all a fab afternoon on the balcony. We stayed there right up until sailaway. We sailed passed the Disney Magic which was berthed behind us, but she didn’t return our horn blasts with a ‘wish upon a star’ blast back – miserable things!

Senior Officers Private Party on the upper tier of the Beachcomer pool this evening but that meant no access for wheelchairs unless they went all the way forward by Breakers bar and back along a very wind open deck. Understandably Mum was not impressed, but at least I got to enter via the steps inside while Mr C pushed her the other way. No doubt about it, if it had been raining outside we would not have been able to attend. At least Ian Chief Engineer, realised that mum had to enter via the ‘back door’ and ensured that all senior officers came over to greet her when they had finished greeting all other guests. Very poor showing of officers again, and those that were in attendance tended to keep themselves to themselves. A few medics in a gaggle, and a few techno engineers in their own group. Drinks were plentiful though, as were nibbles and long chats were had with Captain Burgess, Exec Purser David Shepherd and Ian Marks Chief Engineer. We were one of the last to leave as we had booked a table in East at 8.45. Thankfully they had given us a table in the bit of the restaurant where we could look out on the photo gallery walkway, which meant there were plenty of people watching opportunities for mum to keep her occupied. The waitresses were falling over Mum. One referred to her as Mamma, one as Grandma, and the other thought she was Rose out of Titanic! I know East wouldn’t have been one of mums choice of restaurants but she did well, especially as it was so late. Mum and I had pumpkin soup, pork and pear followed by pineapple and lychee cobbler. All was lovely, but the desert was massive and enough o serve four! Mr C just wanted his bed as he had been on a bit of a drinking mission today. I made him suffer though and gave him the impression we were going for more drinks in Metropolis and got him all the way to the bar before I decided to turn and head back, lol. But not before dragging him through Havana to see what the Phil Collins tribute was like, very good, then through Tamarind to see some bloke singing who again seemed excellent.

Tuesday 1^st June – at sea

Hells Bells! What a flaming night! I don’t know if the Captain just wanted some fame in my blog or what, but he must have gone the wrong way around the islands and found every pothole possible last night. Even I thought that there were times that we were not going to make it. I woke up at about 2.00am and the balcony doors had blown open and the wind was making the curtains billow. I struggled to get to the balcony doors and back, the ship was pitching and rolling and juddering. It was relentless all night and there was never a moment let up. At about 2.30 we hit an almighty pothole and down and over we went, along with half the contents of the ship. I immediately dispatched Mr C to Mums cabin because I was sure it would have scared her half to death but he came back and reported all was well. We suffered at least 3 of those massive jolts throughout the night although the Captain only laid claim to two, one at 2.30 and one at 7.30. Maybe it was worse at the back end but it was the worst I have ever experienced on a ship this size. Twice I dispatched Mr C to mums, the second time he had to pick up all the glasses from her floor, but he reckons she was asleep, lol. I certainly wasn’t. The bathroom looked like a bomb had gone off with every bottle rolling around the floor. We lost all the glasses from the shelf in the cabin, the flowers went over, anything on the bedside tables was gone. I have known it to be choppy coming out of Civi before but that was just beyond anything I thought possible in the Med. I just wanted it to stop so that I could get my sleep. I couldn’t believe it when mum appeared at the balcony door fully dressed and ready for her day. I snatched about an hour before I could drag myself out of bed. It was actually quite pleasant on the balcony but there was a strong wind with some salt spray still reaching the balcony.

Gold Portunus Gourmet Feast in the White Room at noon, so that was breakfast. I was really looking forward to something different but left a little disappointed. We were greeted by many officers, and the usual trays of champagne and bucks fizz, but there was little room to stand and socialise due to the buffet being arranged in one area. It soon became more than clear that because of mums wheelchair we were blocking most of the way, so decided to be seated. None of the tables had the usual place named place settings which I found odd given the small number of people invited. As people began to sit at the tables it became clear that there was little room left for many of the officers in attendance. This resulted in many of the tables, including ours having no host at all, while other tables had at least two hosts. Very poor planning, and just that little bit more effort could have made all the difference. The buffet was lovely, which was basically mainly seafood for cold and roast beef or stroganoff for hot. Many seemed confused as to whether they were supposed to go for one or the other, or both. There was a lovely display of deserts on the other side of the room, including plates of chocolates, presumably for the coffee that never arrived, which again was disappointing.

After lunch we took mum to the ‘Massive sale’ in the Cinnamon restaurant. But even she declared it a load of tat, just as I had done last cruise, so it really must be tat. Why do they bother? After last night we all needed some sleep so thats where we headed and I managed a couple of hours which still doesn’t feel nearly enough to make up for last night.

B&W night tonight, so we decided on Red Bar for pre dinner drinks. Mum is intrigued by my Melontini and asks for a taste, which is a bit of a shock as she has never had any alcohol in the last 50 years, judging by her reaction she wasn’t impresses and will be sticking to her one can of lemonade, no ice, from now on. Dinner was ok tonight but nothing special, not one of the most enjoyable meals. An half hearted attempt at cherries Jubilee too – how come they flambé it on Arcadia but not on Ventura? We headed for Metropolis where Theo concocted one of his now famous cocktails, Rainbow Margaritta, I think it was called. Nice!

Wednesday 2^nd June – Gibraltar

We don’t actually arrive in Gibraltar until 1.00pm and Captain Burgess has been worried that we wouldn’t make it on time due to the storm the other night, but he tells us we will be there on time and asks that all 3000+ don’t descend on the gangways at once. He has warned its going to be a hot one. We sit on the balcony all morning, and its hot and sunny so we soak it up. We berth starboard side too which puts us in the shade, but as we step ashore we realise just how hot it is. Its baking, intense, sun. There was the shuttle into town for a few euro per person, but the queue was huge. We were walking anyway, but even the pavement into town was packed. The main High Street was just rammed, oh and the heat, it was all a bit much. Mum wanted to see in every other shop, which with a wheelchair was difficult. We went as far as M&S and then turned back, I couldn’t take anymore – I’m not a lover of Gib! We headed across the road to Ocean Village complex and found a nice bar in the shade where we had a couple of ice cold drinks before heading back to the ship. Back on the balcony the sun had come over so we felt obliged to sit and take a few more rays as they could be our last as we head for Blighty. We were constantly being called to the Great British Sailaway, but it wasn’t for us today. As soon as we let go our lines and turned, the wind got up and within half an hour we had gone into a thick pea soup fog. The fog horn was blasting and we stayed in the thick fog until 30 mins or so into dinner.

I had bumped into Carol Marlow as we went into dinner. Carol had embarked today to sail home with us to see the ship from a passenger point of view and chat to passengers for opinions etc. I was highly amused to see her escorted to our ‘Maiden’ cruise table, table 47 in Saffron. She even sat in ‘my’ seat so it must be a good one, lol. But what amused me most was the OTT service that the table received. The Head Wine waiter to serve the wine. The section waiter checking the meal was ok with each individual person at the table, not the standard question to the table in general. Im sure Ms Marlow was quite unaware but two section waiters were observing from a distance for most of the meal, must have put the waiters right on edge.

I was in no mood for going out after dinner and just wanted my bed, so Metropolis was not graced with our presence this evening.

Thursday 3^rd June – at sea

Its not the brightest of days, but I can see blue under the clouds so things could improve I guess. We spent the morning strolling, browsing the shops, stopped for coffee in the Atrium where I was asked to be the model for the ‘pain clinic’ eeerm I think not, not even a miracle worker could cure my back problems! Then we headed for Metropolis for a quiet drink in the wing. Mum swears we have never taken her up here before, but we have and sat in the very same spot with her. She was spellbound watching the game of shuffle board below. Mr C magically produced a lovely pair of earings I had my eye on in the shop earlier which was very impressive of him.

We had lunch in Waterside, eventually. I say eventually because we started off on the port side of Waterside, walked all the way through to Beach House, all the way down the other side, and back through the other side of Waterside before we managed to find a seat. I will never be a lover of self serve restaurants.

Mum had another lie down, so I agreed to a drink in Exchange. I don’t normally drink in Exchange, it just seems so dark and gloomy in there, but I stayed for a Breezer. At some point I knew I had to face a bit of packing today so I did two cases without really thinking about it and Mr C tucked them away under the bed again. I even fitted in a bit of lost sleep and a deep bubbly bath with a glass of Baileys! Last formal night tonight. Mr C was despatched early to the slots with Mum for half an hour while I got ready. Pre dinner drinks in Red Bar which was busy as I knew it would be, but first class service from Zeny as always. I didn’t get my choice of dinner right this evening, so cant say I enjoyed it but that was probably down to my own hasty selection. Parade of the Chefs and we were in prime position to see it all for once. Mum thought they were never going to stop coming out of the galley! We had a stroll through deck 7 to see what was happening and while mum was getting ready for bed I packed her case, so that was another job out of the way. Metropolis was rammed and oh so hot! So hot in fact i had to ask for a glass of iced water! Where do all the people come from on the last night? Another walk through of deck 7 and suddenly I found myself part of the ‘Boys Club’ in Exchange. I didn’t stay too long as I don’t really fit into the category of ‘Boys’

Friday 4^th June – at sea

No idea what time Mr C got in from ‘The Boys Club’ last night but it stinks like a brewery in the cabin so Im out of bed to throw open the balcony doors. The Bay of Biscay is being more than kind to us again and is flat calm (unlike the bits between the Islands outside Civi! Wont forget that in a hurry!) If only the sun could get through those clouds it could be the perfect day. We spend most of the morning in the cabin. The sun is coming out and the sea is so calm. I get most of the packing done and then we vacate the cabins for Victor to whizz over with his magic duster. Victor has been superb this cruise. He seems to look after so many cabins, all of them superior outsides and insides, many being occupied by 3 or 4 passengers and some of them resemble a tip inside. Why they have to go into try and straighten things out like that is beyond me. I hope he just makes the beds and bunks, cleans the bathrooms and gets out. He also has a suite to attend to at the aft end, so like I say he does seem to have an excessive amount. Having time to stand and chat with passengers just isn’t an option these days, they have far too much to do.

We have a browse around deck 7 before deciding on lunch in Saffron. Viresh and Ashu wave us over to their section and we are seated at our usual table. We have a small round table which obviously is usually made up for 3, which is just about right and comfortable. But today its made up for 4. Its driving me nuts, there is no room at all for anything. I feel like the three of us are eating ontop of each other and dread to think what it is like at evening dinner with wine etc on the table. Lunch was very nice and it made a nice relaxed change from the hustle and bustle of the buffet upstairs.

Back to the cabin we find that the sun is on the balcony, and its warm. In fact its glorious, so a bit more organising of the packing and I settle down by the rails and just watch the sea dance around in patterns as we glide through it.

The bags are as packed as they will ever be so I have one final long soak in the bath full of bubbles. Ive loved having the larger bathroom with bath.

Our final pre dinner drinks are in Red Bar, one of my two favourite bars onboard. Zeny is ready to take our order when she see’s that we are settled. One of my pet hates is a waiter pouncing on you for an order before your bum even hits the chair. Im sure they have targets to hit and every order is important to them, but I like to be seated, and choose my drink at leisure. Zeny is about the only person that has cottoned onto this. We have to get mum out of the wheelchair and seated, but even while we are struggling to do that other waiters will still ask ‘Drink Madam’ ? Needless to say they never get my order.

Dinner in Saffron and the boys are on form. There has been a lovely assistant waiter at the serving station next to us who has been lovely to Mum and always seems pleased to see us. But Ashu has been a star. He waits for her at the entrance, wheels her to the table, seats her, parks the wheelchair, tells her how lovely she looks, he has just given her the attention she needs right now.

After taking Mum on a tour of deck 7 to see all the nightly activities we get her back to her cabin where I complete her packing and get her case outside ready for home.

We make our final journey upto Metropolis to see what Theo can construct with my final hibiscus flower that he has saved. The last one is a good one, he is a star cocktail maker if any of you ever need a cocktail making!

Saturday 5^th June – Southampton

5.15am and Mum is on our balcony, fully dressed for home. Sliding open the balcony doors to ask if we are up yet. Not a wake up call that was greatly received!! I suppose I might as well get up then and watch us sail up the solent. Grand Princess is just ahead of us and we are just approaching Isle of white. I keep nipping outside, then nipping back under the duvet. But I have to face facts, we have to go and face the reality’s of home so I get up and washed and we are one of the first into 6.30am breakfast. Yes, 6.30am!!! Very unsocial able time of day. Ashu and Viresh thought they had seen the last of us, lol. Mr C has his traditional full works breakfast for the last day. Pancakes and maple syrup followed by a full English breakfast plus a ham and cheese omelette. We are just about docking as we eat breakfast, but we know it is going to be ages until they get all the cases off. Mum, being the impatient sort thinks otherwise and cant see why we cant just get off now. The Atrium is already pretty full with a mixture of those doing self disembark and those sitting with hand luggage waiting to disembark when main disembarkation starts. We head back to the cabin for an hour but mum is restless. Outside the balcony doors, we are back in Southampton exactly where we started, with all the dock workers and baggage handlers doing exactly what they were doing 14 days before. The sun is beating down on us too, just has it had on the 22^nd May.

We needed to get mum down to cinnamon Restaurant on deck 5 for the wheelchair assistance, which we always knew was going to be a logistical nightmare. The lifts get rammed on disembarkation day. We are deck 9 aft so that means aft lifts to 7, along to midship, midship lift to 5. Well we waited, and we waited and we waited for a vacant lift going down. Every time the doors opened they were full. In the end we got onto a half empty lift going up and went along for the ride. It was quite a process getting her down to Cinnamon and despite being an hour early there were already a fair few in there. I booked mum in with clipboard lady and we headed back to get our things. But first I had a mission. I needed to see the difference between midship and aft suites and also between AC and AD grade suites. The difference between the AD midship and aft suites was minimal, just very slightly different layout and deeper balconys with a sunlounger on the one I entered. The AC grades were larger, had a dining area and a larger balcony with sunloungers and table and chairs etc.

We got back down to Cinnamon in plenty of time and by then it was rammed. Loads of people seemed to have been assigned a wheelchair pusher but we hadn’t which was odd as we were in the first group off. A call was put out to say that there was a slight delay with disembarkation and not to crowd the stairs and atrium. I tried to nip out for some air and I literally had to fight my way through to the stairs. People can be so ignorant and have no concern for others around them. If there had been any sort of general emergency there would have been total chaos. Every where I went was just rammed. Prom deck, the stair wells, the public rooms, people even sat on the floor outside the shops. Ridiculous really.

Eventually the call went out to allow the first set of passengers to disembark. I had to go and request a wheelchair pusher and was eventually assigned one. The fleet of wheelchairs formed a line and were instantly stopped at the restaurant doors. Hundreds of passengers had seiged the disembarkation point and there was no way forward for us. The gangway was a stones throw away and none of the wheelchairs could get to it thanks to the blinkered approach of those with fully functioning legs. Lucky I wasn’t pushing a wheelchair as I’m sure by taking a few peoples ankles out I could have made a path for us all! P&O really need to sort out a more efficient way of getting the wheelchairs off because we queued in that restaurant for a further 35 minutes just to get near the door. But once we were out it was all plain sailing through to the baggage hall. Not without a bit of trolley rage though. There are hundreds and hundreds of self help trollies available in the baggage reclaim area, and I went over and collected two for our use. For some reason a woman tried to take one of my two (we were right next to stacks of 100’s of them at the time) but I politely informed her I was sorry but I needed both of them. Well the amount of tutting that she did she almost choked, and mumbled something about greed. I just had to laugh at her!

The keys were swiftly acquired from CPs for the car and the car was nice and convenient as it had displayed a disabled tag. The car was loaded in the beating down sunshine and we were on our way.

All in all we had a fantastic cruise. For us, everything was spot on. The food, the service, the crew, everything exceeded my expectations. It hadn’t been long since we stepped off her in the Caribbean, and for me that cruise experience wasn’t right in many areas. Given a choice I would have opted for one of the other ships in the fleet when booking this one, but I’m glad we chose Ventura again. A lot of the things that I felt weren’t right last time, were a lot better this time this time around. The choice of Deluxe balcony stateroom was an excellent one and I would choose that grade again. As I have said in my report I did not feel overlooked at all, infact I felt in the more commanding position and felt I could watch the rest of the ship far easier than they could watch me. The balcony was fantastic. I loved the fact I could see both the wake at the aft, and the entire length of the ship infront of me.

The 7% tax on all onboard purchases made onboard whilst in Spain I just dont get it, and maybe I should have asked? But at the same time I didn’t let it bother me, because I worked around the ‘spending money while in Spain bit, by thinking ahead and pre purchasing some of the in cabin special offers for beer and cans of soft drinks. Ive read reports that on the next 27 night cruise out of Southampton the shops were charging VAT ontop of the prices displayed. Well, I have checked our receipts for purchases made in the shops and all were exactly as per the ticket price, so unsure what that was all about. Whilst talking about the shops. Its a well known fact that the stalls they insist on setting up all over the Atrium are a bug bear of mine, but they are even more so now having taken a wheelchair passenger onboard. The shops sales make it a nightmare to get in and out of the restaurant at night, they even had tables set up in the midship lift areas!! Why cant they keep the shops inside the shops? I think we had three ‘spectacular’ unveilings during our cruise. The first was keeping the Wardrobe shop closed for the first two days for the amazing unveiling of the Joseph Ribkoff new collection. They always seem very outdated fashion to me so I didn’t give it a second look, but did become a bit frustrated when I wanted to see inside that particular shop for something else. The second big unveiling was for Guess bags, and what a build up they got – it went on for days! Again I couldnt see what all the fuss was about? And lastly there was of course the great unveiling of the Tanzenite collection with all the jewellery display cases mysteriously shrouded for the first week of the cruise. Not sales techniques that work for me. I was quite amused by the fragrance and make up specialist in Eternity. I went in one evening to get Mr C some of his aftershave as he had ran out, but they had non in stock, so I as she was displaying a ‘specialist; badge I asked for some advice re similar smelling fragrances or nice ones to sample. You would think I had asked her to recommend a restaurant in Timbuktoo! She was lost, so I left empty handed. A couple of nights later I went back in for a certain Clinique product and I couldnt see any stacked so again I asked her for assistance. She clearly had no idea what I had asked her for and wasn’t familiar with the range at all. Just a gripe of mine, if you claim to be a specialist in something then you should be! In general I found the prices in the shops to be pretty good. Mums perfume was cheaper than any we saw ashore at any of the ports, plus she got her 10% onboard discount. The earrings that Mr c bought me were £10 cheaper than any internet prices I have seen. OK, general things like toiletries and sweets were overpriced to what we would pay at home, but I for one expect that when in a restricted environment.

The food was excellent throughout the ship really. We used room service a few times for both breakfast and lunch and even afternoon tea, and all were delivered swiftly in no more than 20 mins. I was forced to use the buffet area more times than I would have liked to get Mums lunch etc, and I will never be a lover of any buffet dining on a ship, but it has to be said, there was always plenty of choice, if you had the patience to stick with it in there. I thought the food in the main dining room was vastly improved from when we were on in the Caribbean. We dined in East and the cover charge was still £15 per head. I think it was only £10 if you had a table booked upto 6.45pm, so excellent value. Im hoping they will do the same to East as they have done to Sindhu on Azura and open up the bar area. We do go to East bar for drinks during most cruises, but it does feel like you are inside a restaurant so it would be nice to see more of the bar are opened up and be a little more inviting. We still haven’t tried MPW, but the cover charge for that also remained unchanged. I would love to try it, especially eating al fresco, but the timing is just never right for us, so its still on the ‘to do’ list. It was nice to see a new cocktail menu at long last and I had an enjoyable time sampling a few of those.

Deck space was a bit of an issue this time around for us. We were never up on deck early enough to get prime position sunloungers so often missed out. Having mum in the wheelchair meant that we couldnt get up in the goldfish bowl or wings of the aft decks where there did always seem to be seats available. On one of the days we were in port we did go up on deck by Breakers and sat for ages at a table waiting for one of the many books or towels to decide they had had enough sun for one day. After over an hour of watching too many towels enjoy the sun, Mr C did go and dump 3 towels on the floor so that we could all lie down and relax. What amused me was the glares of some of the ‘regulars’ up there, who obviously knew whos towels had been moved. It wasn’t until about 3.30 in the afternoon when a man, who had clearly just returned from ashore, stood at the foot of our seats and muttered something about he was sure his wife should be here. Thankfully Mr C never heard him, or words could have been exchanged!

The entertainment. There was something for everyone and always seemed to be something going on during the day and evening. From Gerard Kenny to the more upto date tribute acts. We didn’t see any shows in the theatre having seen most of them before but all were getting very good reviews from those that did go into see them. I enjoy the tribute acts and prefer the more lively and informal setting of Havana etc. there always seemed to be a guest speaker or the classical pianist in Tamarind earlier in the day/late evening. The one or two cabaret artists that we caught sight of in there also seemed very good. The cruise director informing us twice a day over the tannoy of the things we really shouldn’t miss irritates me as much as the art directors used to. Why they feel the need to give us a blow by blow account of the Horizon today is beyond me, plus Leon speaks so fast anyway that you cant grasp a word he is saying. If you stood the entertainment team infront of me now I wouldn’t be able to pick any of them out, they were a different troop to the ones in February and stuck me as not being very professionally groomed, but then part of me is still stuck in the 70’s with the social hostesses of Canberra! Claire Jane Sweeney was onboard for a few days, and I believe she was filming a competition for GMTV, so look out for that soon!

I cant fault the wheelchair access on Ventura. They seem to have thought of most things. Mum didn’t have a wheelchair accessible cabin as she is not 90% confined to a wheelchair, but with our aid we could get her most places. I always knew the logistics of being at the very aft of the ship could make it a little more complicated for getting to deck 4 forward for disembarkation in ports etc, but we managed. At every port the wheelchair was taken from Mr C and at least two wheelchair assistance would take her safely down the gangways. Even the tender port of Cannes had faultless service from the tender assistance and wheelchair helpers, superb service. I have been on one of the larger Royal Caribbean ships with Mum in a wheelchair and nine times out of ten I had to ask for assistance at gangways and was always made to feel a little uncomfortable for doing so, so 11 out of 10 to P&O. It didn’t matter which restaurant we used onboard, the waiters always had a solution of where to put the wheelchair out of the way and assisted with making sure mum was comfortable at the table. Poor victor, our cabin steward, must have dreaded hearing us leave our cabins though. When he was cleaning in the morning, or turning down at night, his trolley would be half way between our aft cabin and the stairwell exit. It was always stacked high with clean towels and supplies, but every night he and Mr C had to move it to right infront of someones door to allow the wheelchair to pass, then carefully put it all back again. Just two more inches of room in the alley way and we could have passed the trolley no problem. Needless to say we never went aft to fwd on our deck when it was trolley time. I still dont think mum has got her head around why sometimes when we came out of a lift the cabin was just a few doors away, and other times the cabin was a few hundred doors away (or seemed it) she used to go crackers if we came out of the forward lifts and walked her all the way along the length of the passenger cabin deck. She accused Mr C every night of ‘messing around’ lol.

So would I go back on Ventura now, after having returned in February with feeling that she was no longer the right ship for me? Yes, I would. As I said at the end of my previous Ventura report I think the ship reflects what senior management team they have onboard and this time around there was a first rate team in place and it showed in the onboard experience offered. Ventura earnt herself a few more positive marks from me this time around and I would happily cruise onboard her again. But for me I want to give Azura a try sometime soon. She has those little tweaks that I think Ventura needs, but it wouldn’t do to have all ships the same.

To view the full set of photos for this Ventura cruise please click on the “Photo” tab at the top of the page and select Ventura Western Mediterranean

please feel free to post a comment and I will do my best to answer them

Tomorrow we fly to the Barbados to join Ventura for her Paradise Isles cruise.

The planning of the packing etc has been like a military operation. As someone who doesn’t normally choose a fly cruise I have been paranoid about the weight restrictions for luggage. How was I going to fit all my essential items into 23kg of suitcase? Well, 3 weeks last Saturday I decided to get all of my clothes and shoes that I would like to take on this cruise out of the wardrobe. I looked around the room and decided that no way would all that lot fit into one case and weigh under 23kg only one way to find out and that was to pack it. So that’s what I did, I carefully folded and packed and placed little items all around the edges of the case. Well, it all went in, but how much does it weigh? 21kg, I’ve cracked it. Ok makeup etc needed to go in but Mr C should have plenty of room in his case for things like that judging by what I have just rammed into mine. As I say there is still 3 weeks before the cruise so I stood and unpacked again and hung everything back up around the room, that highly amused my daughter and confirmed to her that Mums do the strangest things! A week later I decided I couldn’t stand the mess in the room with all these clothes hanging about, so I decided to pack! Well there is only two weeks to departure now, lol. Both cases were packed. I have everything I need, plus some spare outfits. I have the same even mix of cocktail dresses and smart casual dresses for the evenings plus my 4 formal dresses. I know I only need to take smart casual wear, but I prefer to dress up not down. I have more shoes than I could have hoped for and a good range of accessories and evening bags etc. Ive also packed Mr C’s snorkelling gear and fins and they were not light! Over the next few days I am constantly adding little must haves to the cases. You know the sort of things that don’t weigh anything. Ive just folded my four long dresses into the top of one case and Mr C’s white tux into the top of the other, but oh dear, the weight has crept up ever so slightly. How did that happen? I wonder what sort of reaction I will get tomorrow at check in if I decided to go with it? Im going to have to wait and find out, because the hassle of looking through the cases to see what I don’t need doesn’t bear thinking about.

Friday 13^th February 2009

Well, so much for being super organised. Im still not organised to be in bed before midnight, and I’d not been in bed five minues and already I have remembered something I need to pack. That plays on my mind for the best part of the next hour then I must have drifted off to sleep. At 3.00am I am wide awake, so I had better get up and remember what I have forgotten. In fact I have forgotten three things but by the time I am down stairs I have already forgotten what one of them is. Old age! Mr C pulls himself out of bed at 5 and and 5.45 we are on the road en route to East Midlands Airprort.

My tummy is going through hoops. I don’t think it’s excitement I think its filled with the dread of the whole process of actually getting to the ship.

30 mins later we are at the airport and so the process begins. Remember I am not used to flying or fly cruising. We had parked the car with Prestige which is ‘walking distance’ to the terminal. Lets just say it’s a good job it wasn’t snowing or raining. We went through the doors into Departures and it was deserted, but oh, wait a minute, there is a queue, that must be P&O and sure enough it was!

We had arrived about 4 and half hours pre flight but we only stood chatting to the couple in front for about 30 minutes and we were checking in. Why the heck did I worry and constantly weigh my suitcase? Many people had obviously done this before and some of the cases were huge. 23kg my ass! We checked in, my cases were over and nothing was said, although they did get a big read ‘heavy sticker’ applied to them. We could have had 3 pieces of hand luggage each because nobody asked or checked. Onto security and a very nice security lady decided she would do a random search of my handbag, lol, I think she was beginning to wonder how much stuff I had fitted into all the pockets and compartments of my sport billy bag! Well, it amused her and I understood she was only doing her job. Another lady wasn’t quite so obliging when she was selected for a search and was most p’d off when her washing line was confiscated! I kid you not.

We had booked the Executive lounge for our time at the airport and oh thank heavens we did. East Mids has a few shops but not enough to keep me occupied, and the seating was not looking too comfortable. We were greeted with a lovely welcoming smile in the exec lounge and told to help ourselves to drinks etc. I needed my breakfast so I helped myself to a large vodka and diet coke and a fruit n fibre bar. Delicious!! The next 3 hours or so passed pretty much the same. I think I had a slice of lemon cake with one vodka and some crackers with another. A large brandy in coffee also went down very well.

The lounge was very quiet and relaxing away from the maddening crowd and well worth the £15 it cost us. We were watching the screen for our departure but it just kept telling us to ‘shop and relax’ me and Amanda did try but there really wasn’t much retail therapy choice. However we let the boys out for 5 minutes and Mr C came back with a new camcorder! And they say women are bad.

What seemed like all of a sudden we were being called to the gate, but we slipped in another drink thinking we only needed to go to the foot of the stairs? Wrong, when we eventually decided to go to gate (when they announced boarding) it was miles away up and down stairs and along a long wing. But relax, when we got there, there was a massive queue. You see that’s what I don’t like, queue to check in, queue to board, queue queue queue!

We were allocated row 8 in the plane and that was 3 rows away from Premium which was divided only by a curtain.  They hadn’t even started the safety announcement and Mr C had closed his eyes and started to snore. Try as I might I could not wake him to listen to the briefing, he just grunted. I had better pay attention then as he certainly isn’t going to save me. We haven’t even levelled out and the bloke behind starts snoring his brains out! Flippin heck, this isn’t the exciting romantic start that imagined. From what I can see in premium class they only have larger tv screens to shout about. In actual fact they have about 3″ extra leg room but our 33″ pitch is perfectly adequate’ also they have more choice of TV chanels and they can stop start and pause, whereas we have to watch from where ever it is in the programme when we turn over and the films are rather limited, but you can upgrade to the same TV chanels for £5. oh and they have headsets as apposed to earpieces. And they had a glass of fizz before take off.

Within an hour im bored. Ive tried the TV but its not for me. Dr Who is showing on drama, Brideshead Revisited is the film and ive seen the lifestyle cookery programme. It’s a beautiful sunny day outside and for ages I could see the fields and a bit of snow. We went up over Liverpool and then Ireland and than across the Atlantic. Don’t know why people worry about the Atlantic, it looked as flat as a pancake to me.

Drinks are flowing quite regularly. I had a couple of vodkas the first time he passed. Lunch seemed like and eternity away and Premium class got served a good hour before us. My heart sank when she put the tray down as the main course said chicken in mustard glaze and I just cant stomach mustard, but Mr C assured me you couldn’t taste the mustard and he was right. It was all very tasty and even the tea at the end was nice. I also managed to slip in a couple of glasses of chardonnay.

I tried the tv again and this time tried doing the ‘who wants to be a millionaire’ quiz. No, I cant concentrate and keep forgetting to use my lifelines. Ooh and that’s another thing, considering P&O want to reduce the risk of norivirus im not impressed with the cleanliness of the table, seat Back and touch screen TV. Good job I had a wet one to wipe it down.

We are coming upto 5 hours into the flight now and jeepers im bored. I already have nicknames for a few people around me. I was having a snoozle and could feel my head snapping off my neck (you know the feeling) then all of a sudden I heard ‘Any drinks please’ ooh the drinks trolley has arrived again. Can I have a large Baileys please flowed out of my lips before my eyes had even opened! She looked a bit gobsmacked at first as she had to send out for more Baileys but then I ended up with 3 bottles, lol. My mini bar is coming along nicely! Well, I do feel at the moment that P&O owes me one or two drinks!

The stewardesses handing out drinks were chatting about ‘feeling a presence onboard’ the one felt as if she had been tapped on the shoulder twice and the other one was in the galley earlier and turned to speak to a gentleman who wasn’t actually there! I wonder what that is all about? I will keep my eyes peeled and see if I spot any spirits. Wonder if he will come on the ship with us? You would think so wouldn’t you? He must be here for a reason whoever he is?

Lets have a look at the inflight info and see how much further we have to go? Dam its its gone off and needs a reboot. Last time I looked we were about a third of the way there, its now 20 to 5 uk time and I think we are due to arrive 10 to 8 UK time so, oh heck there is hours to go yet.

Amanda has just popped down for a natter so that has past best part of 40 minutes away. They have had an exciting game of eyespy, but nothing much else has happened. Amanda trys to convince me that this is a good flight experience but im still not convinced. Why people like flying is beyond me. Lap top is going away now so next bit will be reported from onboard the big white shiny Ventura!

As we approached Barbados we flew straight over Ventura, back to back with a sister Princess ship, and being the ships anorak that I am I could also identify the Braemar, but the other ship had me beat. Turned out it was Island Star so know wonder I didn’t recognise it, as its not really a cruise ship to me!

We landed at 5 to 4 Barbados time only to be told that we had arrived at the same time as another plane load of P&O passengers so we had to wait while they were put into coaches. Thankfully we were near to the exit doors so we were soon down the steps and in the hot Caribbean sunshine, not for long though as we stepped straight onto a small coach and whisked off to the ship. We had just been told to expect a transfer time of one hour but our drivers was taking no prisoners and anything that dared to get in his way or attempt to get in front of him was more or less bumpered out of the way. In little over 30 mins we were checking in and stepping onboard the ship. Phew, door to door that was hell of a long journey.

No assistance to cabins, not that I needed or wanted anything and we were straight into our new home for two weeks. Wow the cabin is huge. I love it, and the balcony is massive, but more about that later. I dug out some summer clothes straight away and we were straight upto Breakers Bar for that ice cold drink in the sun that I have been dreaming off all day. It went down very quickly, so that was followed by two very nice and aptly named ‘Caribbean Cruise’ they have sorted me out and despite it being 11.00pm at home im not tired.

Back in the cabin I unpack the hand luggage but I do something really weird. I always sleep on the right of the bed and yet I unpacked and set the room up with all my stuff on the left of the bed. I cant be bothered to change it so I will have to see how I get on with life on the other side.

Rendevouz in Metropolis Bar at 7.30pm so I slip in a nice Belini followed by a Pimms cup as its London night. Ahhh its good to be back.

Dinner tonight is in the Bay Tree for all arriving Friday passengers. Tables are not reserved but certain flight numbers are allocated either early or late. We were one of the later flights in so we are allocated 8.30 sitting. It was hard work getting a lift outside Metropolis as most passengers seemed to have left their manners behind and get to every lift before us and make sure we cant get in. We got down to Bay Tree and there was a little bit of a queue while people were waiting to be taken to tables. The old lady behind us threw a fit when someone came down the stairs and joined the people in front of us. I tried to explain to her that the men had walked while the ladies took a lift, but she was having none of it. Honestly some people! Its not as if they were going to run out of food. Then a snooty lady piped up “this is ridiculous, get me an officer with stripes” well I just had to laugh, who the hell do some people think they are? I don’t want you getting the impression we were in this queue for 20 minutes or something, we were actually there for probably just over one minute.

It was the usual fist night menu (oh dear do I do this too often?) fan of melon, mushroom soup, roast pork or lasagne. All very nice. Mr C cant keep his dam eyes open. How much sleep does he want? He spent most of the 9 hours on the plane asleep. So hes off to bed. The rest of us retire to Red Bar for a quiet drink, and turn in at gone midnight. That’s over 25 hrs I have been up for today.

Back at the cabin the cases have arrived so I unpack mine and climb into bed. I open my Bon Voyage card from a very good friend who I know wishes she was here. Never mind Im sure I can have a few drinks for her.

Im being a rebble tonight and sleeping with the balcony door wide open. I know you’re not supposed to and the Engineers would tell me off for messing up the air con, but I cant stand the thought of getting aircon cough and throat so soon so fresh air it is.

Saturday 14^th February ~ Valentines Day in Barbados

Its dark and im wide awake. Dare I look at the clock? Im feeling like its 8.00am but im guessing its not? Correct its 4.00am, oh no! im going to be tired if I don’t get back to sleep. Try as I might I just cant do it, so we are up sorting the room out, unpacking Mr C’s case and drinking tea. Royal Clipper came in at about 5.00am in the dark and all light up. One day I will get back on her.

The sun came up at 6 and im just hoping those clouds move away. My plan for today is to go ashore, find a nice beach and fall asleep for the morning, a nice light lunch and then back to the ship to await the Saturday arrivals.

Well we ashore fairly early and it didn’t seem like 5 minutes since we were last in Barbados Duty Free area. Everything looks just the same, but we are too early for most shops, lol.

The taxi drivers are all touting for business left right and centre and it can get a bit much with them all heckling you. We tell one, Thomas,that we quite fancy Mullins Beach and he tells us he already has a couple waiting to go there, but he has to find some others to fill his mini bus and off he goes again. We know the more he finds the better our fare will be but the wait in the heat is quite painful. We give him plenty of stick, in a friendly way, and tell him to hurry up. Eventually after much jumping in and out of his seat we eventually get on the road. We have to drop a few at Holetown but why anyone would want to go there is beyond me, its just a Columbian Emeralds and a few gift shops. It was ok as somewhere to walk to the times I stayed in Barbados but not for a special journey out – just my opinion. Mullins Bay was only a short distance from here on the way to Speightstown. The beach was very close to the road and m initial reaction wasn’t good. Probably a bit too commercialised for me, but it was a nice bay, one nice bar and restaurant and very comfy looking beach chairs. We found our spot and I lay on the comfiest sunlounger ever! Thick padded mattresses, just what I needed for a good snooze. We were instructed to put our flag out when we wanted a drink, ooh very civilisied. We thought the prices would be a little OTT for the service but they weren’t that bad at all.

There weren’t that many people using the beach but what I didn’t like was the amount of jet skis and being asked if we wanted to go see the turtles etc, but having said that, they all only asked the once and then they left us alone. Mr C went off messing about in the water, as he does while I just laid there in total comfort, sometimes making it off my chair to walk into the sea to cool down and then lay back down with another cooling drink. We had wanted to go to a nice restaurant we had read about just round the coast, but we were told it was about a 20 minute walk away and that just seemed like miles in this heat. A jet ski operator offered to take us round there for $60 but that would have made it one heck of an expensive lunch. Instead we decided to stay put and dine in the very attractive looking restaurant on the beach. We were made very welcome and given a lovely table overlooking the sea.

It was perfect. We had the most wonderful lunch in perfect surroundings and washed it all down with a Mullins speciality cocktail. Just time for an afternoon nap on my lounger before Thomas collected us at 2.30pm as promised. He even bought Mr C a beer while he was waiting for some others to turn up.

We arrived back at the ship and had to go through the shore side security. We were amazed to find that we had arrived at exactly the same time as Karen and John & Co were just checking in from there Birmingham flight. They looked a lot fresher than I thought I did this time yesterday.

So it was straight upto Breakers Bar for us all. I got my sun lounger while they sat and drank (ok I might have had a cocktail of the day!) Mr C decided to show Mr Flowers where the pizzeria was and they came back laden with pizza’s etc. why Mr C needed more food after what he had eaten at lunch time is beyond me, but then why did  decide to try a piece of pizza too? Oh how I wish I hadn’t! Anchovy and fish paste, oh how they laughed when they seen me nearly choke on it. I couldn’t swallow it, and I had to dash around the corner until a tissue could be found. It was disgusting and I cant recommend it. The shock of it sent me to my cabin for a lie down.

We dined at our table in the BayTree Restaurant tonight. Table 112, and oval table that seats 10. I cant say I was over impressed with the service but hey it’s the first night. Afterwards we went to the Red Bar and Stan behind the bar has suddenly recognised me despite the fact that I sat right infront of him last night, I guess I must have looked really rough! We weren’t too late into bed. Everyone is still tired.

Sunday 15^th February 2009 ~ At Sea

Im so tired but as usual im wide awake early at 6.00am in fact. Mr C knew this would happen and has ordered breakfast for 6.30 to 7.00am, but at 20 to 7 I give up and head for my sunlounger. Oh how I love this time of day up on top deck. The sun is just rising at port side aft and there isn’t a sole up on deck apart from a little army of deckhands who are sweeping and mopping and wiping everything in sight. I confess I did expect to see rows of reserved sunloungers but I had the pick of every single one. I just had my usual one. Apparenty breakfast turned up at just gone 7 and I missed hot toast that was hot enough to butter  dam! Never mind Mr C bought me up a blueberry muffin and some fresh orange juice.

I love people watching and their habbits. Slowly the deck starts to wake up. One lady decided to have a right go at one of the deck hands because there wasn’t a walking track up there. He tried to direct her to deck 7 but she made it quite clear she didn’t want to go to deck 7. she then proceeded to march around the front of sun deck, back through the little chicane and around the back of the stage area so she seemed to zoom past my chair every 90 seconds. Another couple turned up and took the loungers at the end of my row, placed the books and towels in suitable positions and then went across to the bar steward who was setting up Breakers bar and asked him to keep an eye on her bags while she went fro breakfast! I know what I would have told her to do. All in all there wasn’t that much reserving of sun loungers going on, and there will still seats to be had later on in the morning. I thought the bar was never going to open. It took him forever to set up and by 9.00am it felt like I was stranded on a desert with a mirage of a bar infront of me. They weren’t fast in coming forward to offer drinks when they did declare themselves open, so Mick ended going to the bar for my 9.00am cocktail of the day. The morning passed with what seemed like a zillion announcements for any sort of excuse that P&O could think of. Meal times, shop opening times, cruise fitness suggestions, pool quiz, noon announcement, oh deary me, tone it down a bit P&O, I might as well be on a Carnival cruise.

A morning in the hot blazing sunshine is enough for me and at 1230 we pack up our belongings to go for some lunch. If only all passengers were so considerate and did the same when they went off for lunch. I returned to the cabin to find an army of stewards and two officers sorting out the bad smells coming from the bathroom drains, im sure it would have only took one woman to do the same pouring of bleach, but you know what men are like!

Pre lunch drinks in the Exchange and how lovely it is to be able to enjoy a drink in here. It’s a lovely room. We take lunch in the Cavern at Ramblas and I think our reputation goes before us, when we ordered a bottle of wine the headwaiter came over and suggested that one wouldn’t be enough. The cost of lunch in Ramblas hasn’t changed – £5 for 3 courses or the 3 tapas choices for £2.50. we had the 3 course lunch and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. I had ham and figs followed by the most delicious Seville chicken, I chose a side dish of salad and I really enjoyed it. The wine flowed nicely and we stayed for speciality coffees.

Someone has thrown down the gauntlet to a quoits challenge at 3.00pm, we might as well have attached our selves to a spit and roasted ourselves. OMG I thought I was going to pass out and the sun was just burning into my neck and shoulders. One game of the Chadwicks and Crosslands V’s Flowers and Robinsons was enough for us but we emerged victorious.

Can you believe that we went completely the wrong way back to the cabin and ended up at the aft instead of forward, we stopped by the photo gallery and I was surprised to see that our embarkation photo was actually quite nice, it didn’t make me want to buy it though. I did have my picture taken with Mr Bump though who I thought looked a bit angry.

Back in the cabin I have a little work to catch up with but it isn’t long before im under the duvet. Oh it was hard work waking up. I must have woke up 10 times but couldn’t convince myself to get out of bed. Darren had already phoned to arrange to meet pre dinner so I knew I had to get out of bed and make the effort.

Captains Cocktail reception tonight and as I don’t like cocktail party’s in Havana because of the room layout we attend the Atrium one. They didn’t start serving drinks until dead on 8.15pm. the steel band were playing in the atrium, but dont know why they choose to play hymns. We stood around looking for Darren but he never appeared, there weren’t very many officers in attendance at all and those that were there didn’t mix.

Captain Alistair Clark welcomed us all onboard but there was non of the usual meet the officers, so it was all a bit of an anti climax and we left shortly afterwards and made our way to the restaurant. I wast best pleased when I arrived at the table and had to start relaying it. The waiters had been told to lay it up for 9 and not 10, which is what they had done, but all they had effectively done is taken away the 10^th place setting and left the chair and empty place at the table. We all sat and waited for our host to arrive, but he never made it which was a bit disappointing as he had been given such a big build up. I knew there must be some sort of crisis going on though and he just couldn’t get there. Service wasn’t brilliant again tonight, very hit and miss and when im tired I get ratty, so thought it best to leave and go and do some work at my laptop. On the way out  had a word with the section waiter but I new he wasn’t on the same planet as me when he kept saying he would have a word with our waiters, but he hadn’t even asked me what the problem was! That made me even more cross as I walked away. I bumped into restaurant manager up on deck 7 and he said he couldn’t understand it as they were both experienced waiters and usually very good, but I know for sure that they will be 100% better tomorrow.

Im soon caught up with a bit of work and meet the other up in Metropolis. Flippin heck what have they done up here. I love this bar but they have the loudest, pub singer duo on in the world. You cant hear yourself think let alone talk. Why we stopped for two drinks is beyond me. We tried to get the waiters to go and cut the wires or pull the plug but they wouldn’t. The room was dead and they must know they are loosng custom in here. The bar area is totally empty and people are walking in and walking out again. The waiters are all tripping on something tonight, the one of them had us in stitches and the next one was almost as funny. The 15 minute break from the duo was like heaven on earth but the peace was soon shattered again and they were back to murder some more tunes, so we left.

There was plenty going on around the ship. Masquarades was on in the theatre, there was a packed ball in Tamarind and they all looked to be enjoying, and a Neil Diamond tribute act was on in Havana, oh and quiz and karaoke in the Exchange. We headed for a nightcap in Red Bar and yes the waiter in there was nuts too. He decided that Mr C was Micks son and that Mr C worked on the ship because he is always onboard. I was not best pleased when he suggested I was Mr C’s mother! Me and Mick were tying ourselves in knots trying to keep up the pretence. After about 30 minutes we took the hint that they wanted to close, the bar was being wiped down, the blinds went up and tables were cleared, so we headed for bed.

Monday 16^th February 2009 ~ Antigua

6.00am and we are both awake again. The sail into Antigua was picture perfect all the way. Probably my favourite Caribbean island. We have a lot planned for today so need to crack on and get some breakfast.

We are ashore very early and have to run the gauntlet through the taxi drivers ‘ you wanna go to the beach’ trouble is saying No isn’t and option as Mr C is carrying his fins and snorkel gear. I found it easier to walk on the other side and nobody harassed me, lol. The duty free shops weren’t open and the stalls were just opening up, we just had the briefest of looks and then stumbled across Charlie. He was no messing ‘where do you wanna go’ “Darkwood Beach followed by Nelsons Dockyard please” $80 and I will stay with you all day. Perfect, good price, no haggling, no hard sell on we will go here there and everywhere, and whats even better is when we got in his nice air conditioned people carrier he just drove the thing instead of ratting away all the way there. Bless him when we go to the beach he just told us to go and enjoy and have as long as we wanted there and he would sit and wait.

Dark Wood was just how I like it, deserted! Not a soul around. The boss lady had only just turned up as we got there. The sea was being a little bit fierce today with some big waves rolling in, but we had soon put footprints in the sand and I watched as the others tackled the sea. They all coached me in, but it was scary stuff to me with the odd wave threatening to go over my head. Getting out of the sea was a challenge, much to the others amusement. The rays from the sun were intense today and I had to cover my back and shoulders because they were frazzling. The rum punch was just hitting the right spot and cooling us down nicely. The morning passed with pretty much the same pattern of paddle in the sea, rum punch, paddle in the sea rum punch. Later in the morning a party of 4 couples arrived at the beach, oh no, who told them this was here? People on my beach. I must stop publicising it in my blogs.

We had decided to leave at around 11.30 anyway so we got ourselves sorted and went back out to Charlie and his van. Charlie was great, he took us everywhere we could have wanted to go, through the rainforest, up to Shirley heights and lots of photo opportunities on the way.

Nelsons Dockyard was worth the visit, what a lovely setting, Nelson did well! We went to Admirals Inn for lunch and what a perfect find. We stay outside under the cool trees and alongside the waters edge. Dolly the waitress was a character, one of those priceless little finds that you stumble across every now and then. We could see there was a large A frame blackboard on the courtyard but Mick asked to see the menu, so what did she do? She went and got the large A frame blackboard and dragged it down into the garden for us mumbling ‘Ive been doing this for 28 years so and extra day aint going to make much difference. Oh priceless! The choice of food wasn’t great but what came was delicious. I had club sandwich and fries, Mr C had crab salad and Amanda had a burger. We all ate up and left very satisfied. A stroll around the harbour to look at some of the most amazing yachts I have ever seen and then we headed back to find Charlie. He had hardly spoken all day, just pointing out the things that we really needed to know, and that suited us as we had all been here before. I think we all had 40 winks on the way back, but the journey only took about 25 minutes.Charlie had been no trouble so he got himself a nice little tip.

We went to look for the bright coloured little shack on the board walk where I danced my dance last time we were here, but it had gone! Instead we ended up in a nice cool covered terrace of a bar in the courtyard, with just one cool drink for the road. I had to go into my tanzanite shop today to check out his rings. Oh wow, he does have the best rings I have ever seen in the Caribbean, but they are not for buying today, not by me anyway.

Back on the ship I look down longingly at Silver Shadow alongside us and im remembering just how fantastic Silversea cruises are. Yes I must get back on there one day soon.

Its 60′s & 70′s night tonight and the three C’s are dressing up. Amanda & Mick are John and Yoko Ono, Mr C is a typical 70′s disco maniac.

Darren didn’t recognise us when we met him for pre dinner drinks. Well, of course he recognised me because I was just me! They obviously stunned a few people as we walked into dinner. Why are we the only table?

Dinner service was spot on tonight, could not be faulted. Infact we had three waiters instead of two and the lads never put a foot wrong, you could see them checking and double checking every step of the way. Darren was hilarious. What a perfect wind swept and interesting host he is. Even he admitted to having jaw ache at the end of the meal, and we have never laughed so much. There is no question of a doubt that we were the very last to leave the restaurant tonight, but then Darren did have about 20 courses in between the talking lol.

60′s & 70′s party up by Laguna is in full swing and Inspiration are excellent. Its not long before we were all bobbing away and singing our heads off because of course that was our era. Mr C had to sit it out though because of his poorly foot. Im shattered, I cant take much more and I am the first to cave in a crawl to my bed.

Tuesday 17^th February 2009 ~ At Sea

Oh dear lots of work to do this morning. I cant complain, look at where I am. Im at sea on one of the best cruise ships ever built for the British passenger. Its February and yet its touching 30 degs outside. Ive had enough sun of late anyway so I get my head down and get on with some work. I get outside for 11.30 and the deck is pretty packed but im not stopping. A quick drink to wake me up and we have Gold Portunus lunch at noon in the Cinnamon Restaurant. I big kiss and a hug from Neil and a very sincere ‘Welcome Back for Captain Alistair Clarke and we are directed to our table.

Chris the 2^nd officer is our host and he is an excellent one. Dermot and Susie are to my right and I confess that I never got the chance to ask the names of the older couple sat to Mr C’s left. I wasn’t going to attend the lunch as it does get a bit monotonous (P&O take note, I know you read but do you take action?) I cant think for the life of me what is special about sitting in the restaurant eating a meal, which is always the same by the way, with fellow passengers. Considering they don’t do anything special for Gold passengers on a fly cruise they do get off very lightly and a bottle of wine in the cabin would be welcome, and I can tell you now that will cost you a lot less than what Me and Mr C (and a lot of my fellow Goldies) can drink in a Gold embarkation session at Southampton! So yes, Gold lunch was very pleasant, but it wasn’t the same without Justin. After lunch we went for a wander to try and find Amanda and Mick but we might as well have looked for a needle in a haystack, So I just decided to walk slowly and eventually she would spot me which of course she did.

We had managed to book a slot in the thermal suite for 3.00pm, just to see if the experience could have possibly got any better since last May? Was I hoping for too much. A very senior officer knew I was attending and has asked for my feedback, oh he is going to be sorry he did. The reception manager who booked us in made a very big deal of the fact that they only allow a maximum of 6 down there at any one time, well I was no.4 and Amanda was no.5 but it took him a while to work out if 5 was before or after 6? We were asked if we would like a robe? Eeeeer yes please, we have paid our money and would like to feel pampered. A robe each was dumped into our arms and that was it. Luckily for Amanda I had been here before so I was able to show her where the changing room was and the all important Thermal Suite was. Couldn’t expect the spa staff to go to any trouble on our behalf now could we? Well we were greeted at the top of the stairs to the thermal suite by 8 passengers with their feet in a bowl of mud! Mmmmm nice! Bet they felt ‘special’ to be given such a special location. We got in the thermal suite and the hot beds were full, the vapour room was full so we went straight into the steam room to get our eyeballs burnt out! Didn’t stop long in there so we managed to get into the vapour room, mmm cosy! Then oooh the excitement now we could go on the hot beds and relax. Relax in Ventura’s thermal suit? I don’t think so! By now I had counted 9 people in here, so what happened to the limit of 6? It really is just a joke down here. Next thing that happens is a therapist comes bursting through the door and yell ‘Mr Watson? Mr Watson? Then Mrs Watson pipes up ‘Bert’ at the top of her voice. Oh it was all too much for Amanda and she started to giggle which is never good as that just sets me off! It is like faulty towers experience in here and at least we are lucky that there is no aerobics session in progress. We decide its time to calm down and enter the dry quiet room, but my screeching yelp when I sat down and burnt my ass was just the icing on the cake. We had to make the dry room wet in the hope of cooling the seats enough to sit on them.

Back upstairs we got out of our robes and went to reception to collect our keys. The Spa manager was behind the desk and I was waiting for that magic ‘Did you enjoy that Lady’s? would you like to book again? But a P&O smile as she handed back or cruise cards was all she could muster. Oh well!

We found the lads in Ramblas having a beverage. I had one but then needed to get back to the cabin to see what work awaited me. I managed to crawl into bed for a snooze at 6.00pm thinking whats the point, 2 minutes later Darren called to arrange pre dinner drinks so I was up and in the shower. I got to wear my new ‘caribbean’ formal dress tonight and Mr C noticed so I was impressed.

Pre dinner drinks in Rambals tonight but we soon realised that was a mistake. We waited 20 minutes for our order only for the lad to come over and ask if I wanted a Martini cosmo or a shot? What? I just want a cosmo, where did they get the bartender from? The waiter knew what I wanted so went to report back, only to come back with some other excuse from the bartender so I had to have a southern comfort because it was obviously too much for them, plus the fact that Darren was about to pass out from dehydration! We decided to play it safe and order a repeat round when he got back with the first.

Restaurant manager was on the door waiting for my feedback on the waiters performance, and I marked them with an excellent. Hope they didn’t get in too much bother. Ooh did I tell you Rikki Hatton the boxer was sat in my seat last cruise? Well he was.

I wasn’t over inspired by tonight’s menu so I had the sirloin steak and fries. Oh yummy really enjoyable. The Raspberry and marshmallow Mess was a disappointment though so I had a replacement soufflé and grand marnier sauce. Darren’s quite by comparison to last night. But he is fab, we love Darren, entertaining, witty, charming, and lots of stories to tell.

Lots going on tonight, a show, a caberet. Mr & Mrs, disco, deck party, but we went for drinks in the Red Bar. I was not the slightest bit impressed when me and Amada sat on the sofa and realised to our disgust 10 minutes later that we had sat on a wet sofa. Oh no what if it wasn’t a spilt drink? I had to lift my dress and smell it and I didn’t give a hoot what the rest of the passengers thought! I think it was beer but what ever it was we were not impressed. That was a brand new dress. I didn’t have to say anything to Stan behind the bar. He had already been to see the night manager and was writing me out a note to prove that the incident took place in Red Bar. Im not best pleased. But what can I do?

Wednesday 18^th February 2009 ~ Grand Turk

Mr C is going diving this morning so there is no chance of a lay in for me. Despite me telling him to put his gear ready last night, of which he took not a blind bit of notice, he is up early and rushing around like there is some sort of fire. Oh chill, we’re in the Caribbean. Ive just picked up the phone and ordered me some breakfast, I know he hasn’t got the patience to wait for any, and the view from the balcony is picture postcard stuff. We’ve arrived at what looks like a white sandy beach, palm trees and a wooden board walk. So here I am, sat on my balcony, with a bowl of cornflakes and my pot of tea, looking out at this perfect Caribbean setting, thinking Wow.

I wonder how many people will get confused today? Grand Turk is one hour time difference but we are to stay on ships time. Oh well at least the bridge officer has just announced he will sounds the ships whistle 15 minutes before the gangway goes up.

I have just been ashore for a little wander round and I really love the place. Ok it’s a purpose built ‘Cruise Port’ but what an idyllic setting. White sandy beaches either side of the jetty, through a big duty free shop selling everything you could ask for and out into a shopping complex of purpose built gift shops and outlets. there is a pool complex with swim up bar, lots of music and everyone just seems to be soaking up the atmosphere. The shop keepers are friendly and don’t give you no hassle. Ive just bought my ‘holiday hat’ from a jolly lady sitting at her stall eating her breakfast and she was just so lovely. I believe she meant it when she said ‘have a nice day’

So what am I doing now? Well do you really want to know. Im sitting here on my balcony typing away think of all the poor souls stuck back in the UK on what im sure must be a pretty miserable Wednesday. Ive got an ice cold vodka and coke at my side and I am looking down at the most turquoise of seas that I have ever seen. Mr C must be having an amazing time out scuba diving, and I know he is going to come back and tell me all about what he must surely have seen in this crystal clear sea. I will report back on that later.

I don’t know why people whinge and whine about the balcony furniture on here? Ok the chairs are upright but so what? They are pretty dam comfy and maybe some people just need to learn to chill a bit and accept things the way they are. I have to ask myself ‘do I really want to have a reclining chair and lie there looking at a boring bulkhead and sprinkler valve system?’ No, I don’t, I want to look out to sea, down on the dockside to see who’s coming and going and across to the beach to see if I can see anyone I recognise.

Oh I must get back to my vodka and coke ….catch up with you all later.

Mr C arrived back from his dive very excited at what he had seen. Puffa fish and all sorts of things and a turtle swam right upto him, trouble was he had ran out of underwater film to take the turtles photo so he was a bit disappointed.

We wandered off ashore again to meet Amanda and Mick and Karen & John for a drink. What a lively little purpose built resort this is.

We had to sample the cocktail menu and I have a frozen margeritta, a hurricane and an incuminacado. We also decided to have some nice picky food in the form of nacho’s and honey barbeque wings, oh yum. I really like this little tiny bit of Grand Turk. Everything was there really, shops, pool, bar, music, flow rider, beaches,crystal blue sea, ship at the end of the pier. I do wonder what the rest of Grand Turk was like but I didn’t hear anyone say that they had been or seen anything other than the cruise centre. 20 minutes before departure the Captain sounded the ships horn as promised to say come back home and we were one of the last back onboard. Mainly because I sent Mr C back to take photos of the empty board walk.

Up to Breakers Bar for the sailaway party.Neil and his team must do the best sailaway parties, the amount of effort that they put into it is fantastic. I think its fair to say that everyone out on deck had a fantastic time and we all shouted for more, and got it, when the party ended.

For the first time in ages I had time to have a proper sleep before the evening commenced but oh boy was it hard work waking up. Im sure I could have stayed there for ever. We made it to Metropolis for pre dinner drinks and it’s a good job too because it was Las Vegas night. Cant remember what the cocktail of Las Vegas was but it was rather nice.

Darren was a little more hungry than usual tonight so had no less than four starters where does he put it? He keeps us well entertained though. Everyone was flagging a little tonight but I managed to convince them we should have one for the road in Red Bar

Thursday 19^th February 2009 ~ Catalina Island

We are up early as usual and decide to have a nice leisurely breakfast in the restaurant and be waited on. What a lovely way to start the day. People were already queuing for the tender tickets and we managed to get tender number 4 so once the boats were in the water we didn’t have much of a wait. We were some of the first ashore and it was defiantly the best way to see the island before it filled up.

Lovely clear blue sea again but it has jelly fish and already a few have been stung so I don’t venture past my ankles. Mr C did see a few when he was swimming but avoided their sting. Boat loads of people just never stopped coming all day, I didn’t know what 3000 people looked like but I do now! In all honesty it was too many people in one place for me, but it was a one off so I was happy to sit and people watch. The set up was excellent and obviously well practiced. The bar was set up in the middle and at the far end. The barbeque was under a large housing at the near end.

There was music and dancing blasting across the beach. The shop keepers and stall holders were a pain in the ass and couldn’t leave you to just browse which really bugs me. We spent the morning pretty much just sunbathing, paddling or snorkelling for Mr C and wandering around. The queue for lunch soon built up but to be fair it moved very fast. We decided to have lunch and make a move, both before I frazzled and before the boat queue got out of control.

Catalina Island is a fantastic stop but having done it once I have no desire to do it again. If I had disembarked the ship any later than we had done I probably would have turned around and gone back to the ship. If ever I am out this way again I would choose to stay onboard and enjoy the peace and tranquillity. It was a beautiful beach but not with that amount of people on it.

Once we are back onboard I am straight in the shower and crawl into bed for the best sleep ever! It was hard work lying in the sun and strolling around on the soft white sand.

Pre dinner drinks in the Red Bar with a nice Kir Royal and my Wind Swept and interesting officer.

Only Amanda and Mick and ourselves and Darren for diner this evening as the others are dining in East. Despite us advising the waiters that only 5 of us would be in for dinner he still laid the table for 9 and crammed us all down one end of the table. Mr C is flagging despite his big sleep this afternoon and he has to take to his bed (don’t let anyone tell you that cruising is relaxing!) me and Amanda and Mick check out the entertainment in Havana but im not into game shows at sea, so we moved onto Tamarind. There was a singer called Siobhan Phillips who people had said were good but she didn’t manage to capture us and so we drifted off elsewhere. We decided on the tranquiilty and coolness of Ramblas Tree and there we sat people watching and chatting and of course enjoying a drink.

Friday 20^th February 2009 ~ at sea

Im up on deck and on my sunlounger for 7.00am this morning. I might have said this before but it’s the best time of the day to be up on deck (pity the bars not open though) the night shift of deck hands are still about and doing their cleaning. Im sure they think I am the crazy lady of the ship, but they all greet me with a cheery good morning. The deck fills up over the next couple of hours and I spend the morning going back and forth to my laptop to do some work. Cocktail of the day is a Hurricane! I really have to concentrate on my bookings after 3 of those! The lads take to the shade, they say its for the benefit of Karen as she cant sit in the sun, but I don’t now what their excuse to carry on drinking is when Karen goes for her spa treatment. Funnily enough they are still there when she returns two hours later! For the fist time ever, I have seen the deck supervisor come up onto top deck and order the pool attendant to get every blue towel of the unoccupied chair. Fair play to the man. I could tell that the pool attendant was hesitant so the deck supervisor started pulling the towels off and passing them to the pool lad. Whish I could hang around for the fireworks but we have decided on a Ramblas lunch again today so I miss the people coming back to their chairs, shame I bet it was fun, but then they shouldn’t reserve sun loungers!

Menu has changed in Ramblas and today I had chicken in figs and ham. Very nice but not as nice as the orange chicken. We decide to have a coffee and hot chocolate in the Atrium. They have had a big crew change this cruise and the order of hot chocolate with marshmallows was a bit much for this lad but we got him there in the end.

Time for bed! Big sleep and oh thank goodness for the windswept and interesting one! If he didn’t give us a wakeup call every day when he finishes work I think we might sleep through dinner some nights.

Portunus Cocktail party in the Tamarind Club tonight. Well, I did think it strange that the invites said the Tamarind Club but hey what do I know? They have two people doing Justins job now so surely they know what they are doing? Oh what a surprise when we are directed to Havana instead of Tamarind! Im not a big lover of Havana as a room, its far to divided up for my liking.

We are served well with the drinks but the two trays of nibbles managed to avoid us. We didn’t win the goblets (come on P&O its about time you got a new gift sorted out, and please please don’t tell me that our Portunus gift is yet another ‘Ventura mug’ that would make 6 Ventura and 3 Aurora mugs we will have collected since last April. I’ll keep you posted on that one.

Its Gala dinner tonight but I don’t like lobster so I had the lamb. I enjoyed the starter of melon ribbons with ginger and the tomato soup with vodka the best. Darren was his usual windswept and interesting self but he got a million brownie points when he went and told the engine control room to whack up the air con. We were all melting in our seats up until that point.

Me and Mr C went for a very warm and romantic stroll out on prom deck after dinner and that was the first time I had set foot out there this cruise. it was quite breezy though and the front part of the deck was closed off due to high wind I guess. We had one for the road in Red Bar and then headed for bed. I couldn’t resist a look in the theatre as Chronicles was on. The usual acrobatic man and  lady weren’t on but they had two blokes in their place. OMG, I thought the others were good but these were amazing! I stood in ore and watched them for a while, it was quite rocky tonight but they only stumbled once, and when one bloke did a one handed handstand on the other blokes head it lft the audience gasping. Mr C had gone on ahead of me so was already under the duvet when I arrived at the cabin. I always go out onto the balcony when I get in, just to look at the stars and take in some air, but a always close the door behind me and let the air conditioning keep us cool.

Saturday 21^st February 2009 ~ My Birthday ~ St Kitts or not St Kitts?

Woke up to a beautiful sunrise with the hills of St Kitts as the back drop. Mr C had ordered champagne breakfast for me as it is my birthday and it was all set up on the balcony in the sunshine.

Perfect! I opened my cards sipping champagne and basking in the early morning sun. Captain tried to spoil the day by announcing we couldn’t get into St Kitts due to a bit of a strong cross wind but nothing is going to spoil my day. Ive been to St Kitts so it doesn’t really matter to me and Im all for a day at sea, but I dare say that there are some who might be a bit cheesed off. Anyway we are ‘hovering’ for a short while to see if we can get in later this morning.

I have just had Happy Birthday sang to me live from the engine room! They have some very wind swept and interesting people down there. I thought that was rather  nice and has made my day. Ive also just had delivered a lovely vase of yellow roses and then a helium filled tropical fish and Card arrived. The sun is beating onto the balcony down and I see we have started to break waves through the sea so it looks like he has made the decision not to stay at St Kitts today and we are on our way? Never mind, technically I did eat my breakfast in St Kitts and I feel as if I have been there even if I haven’t.

The deck was packed up by Breakers Bar despite the blustery wind, but I wasn’t in the mood for lounging around today. I was a little surprised when the Captain, Cruise Director and Exec Purser came out on deck, they must have know it was my birthday and I got a big kiss and a hug from Neil and a very formal greeting from the Captain. We had a couple of drinks in the sunshine and then went on a bit of a shopping spree. Met John Flowers buying his pirate accessories for tonights pirate party and he reminded me on an excited child who had just been to the market on a Saturday morning with his grannie and came away with a little treat, lol. Mr C has spotted another diving trip he fancies doing in St Maarten, diving with sharks, but Matt has advised that there isn’t enough takers for that one so he is going on another two tank dive there instead.

We had to make a decision between lunch in the main restaurant and lunch on deck in the sunshine. We chose chicken burgers from Frankies Grill on deck but chose to sit out of the sun. the steel band were playing and we all swayed to the tunes as we ate. We followed lunch with some Ice Cream sundaes from the other part of Frankie’s, we were supposed to be sharing with the lads but we didn’t do a lot of sharing!

After another little stroll around we decided on drinks in Metropolis. Me & Amanda nipped into the ladies and just as I was coming out I was thrown into another cublices door way. We knew were listing as we were practically in the wash hand basins washing our hands. Out in Metropolis the lads and the waiters were staring in disbelief at the sea, apparently it looked like we had been surfing. It later transpires that 60 knot gust of wind hit us side ways on like a bolt out of the blue and sent us listing to one side. Well it gave us something to talk about for the afternoon. Not content with just having lunch we decided we needed some nibbles with our Shanghai’s. now it must have took the waiter a good 10 minutes to give us his spiel about why we cant have any crisps or nuts in Metropolis, despite them being on the menu. In short he reckons that they don’t sell nibbles because nobody asks for them. Maybe because they ask once and never ask again? This whole ‘going the extra mile’ gold pin business is a load of twaddle because the room was empty, the barman, who has been around for years and I can never ever remember him greeting me or even smiling, was listening and he couldn’t be bothered to send out for some. If there is one barman who needs a boot up his deirier its him. Justin our waiter was very entertaining if nothing else. He bought John Flowers over his Bacardi and coke, Bacardi in one glass and coke in the other. When John questioned why he was told he needed to take a swig from one, a swig from the other and then stand up and wiggle to mix them up. He was very graphic and had us in fits of giggles. The entertainment was great but the sullen look from the barman was killing me so we had to depart. Time for bed and a big sleep.

My windswept and interesting personal wakeup call came in just after 6 this evening, what would I do without him? I must make the effort to be awake and actually chat to him one night. I get ready at a nice leisurely pace but Mr C is in a right old flap about his pirate costume. His parrot wont sit on his shoulder properly so there I am sewing the dam thing to his shirt for him!

We meet in Metroplois and oh don’t the boys and Auntie Amanda look fab! There is a lot ‘jim lad, oooarrrrrh’ tonight, its not going to be a quiet table that’s for sure.

Now then I had asked for a lot of balloons in the restaurant tonight, and wow had they done a good job. There were balloons on every window. I had two big bunches of balloons over the table and the girls had been busy with the table decorations.

We had a lovely meal with much chatter and laughter as usual, but then came the big finale. The boys had been told that I wanted the biggest choir and oh boy did I get it. The cake was presented to me and it took me a while to focus without my glasses on. What did it say? ‘Happy Birthday Giraffe’?? oh now I remember. Knowing just how difficult the reception desk can make it to order a cake (its not rocket science they just make it sound like rocket science at the time) so I had set the girls a challenge back on QM2 to get me a giraffe on the cake. So Karen and Amanda had been to reception to make this request and Karen thought it went very easily. She said she had requested ‘Happy Birthday Jane’ and then she sketched a picture of a giraffe for them to ice on there too. Easy? Wrong! What the pastry chef must have been thinking when he got the order for that one I do not know, or how it got lost in translation is beyond me. Well it made us howl with laughter. The section waiter hadn’t got a clue what was going on and when he read the accompanying gift card which read, ‘Happy Birthday Giraffe from Flower’ he thought it was some sort of code and was left scratching his head.

The waiters very carefully cut up the cake and gave me the section which said Giraffe. We all giggled as we ate. The Pirate deck party never really got going thanks to a bit of drizzly rain, so we made our own fun by conducting a real life Pirate Wedding

Then it was onto Red bar for a cosmopolitan, luckily Stan was still there as I can only get a Cosmo when he is on duty. We fancied a bit of a boogie but Havana was dead, and there was very little else on, so it was Metropolis time! We really did have a moving real life video wall this evening as we approached St Lucia and berthed for the evening. I had had a big day, what ith giraffe birthday cakes and all that, so it was time for me to go and find my duvet. I did pop my head into the back of the Areana theatre on the way and caught the very end of Neil Diamond tribute. Mmmmm…..? no comment. We were ‘starboard side too’ again, lol so I could go out on the balcony and see all the crew very excitedly going ashore for a night on the town, and they deserve it too. I bet its not very often that they get nights ashore especially during the Caribbean season. There were one or two passengers milling around on the dockside but I think that was more to look at the ship all lit up. I cant say that I fancied going ashore here. If we had been berthed over on the duty free side we might have ventured into the karaoke bar but this side of the port scares me in daytime so no way I was trotting ashore after dark. Im easily scared in the dark by the way.

Portunus gifts had arrived. Oh no not anther dam mug! That’s 8 we collected in less than 12 months. Come on Portunus get your act together and try to realise that some ‘loyal’ passengers do cruise more than once a year!

Sunday 22^nd February 2009 ~ St Lucia

The days started pretty much the same as usual. A bit of work at the desk. Breakfast on the balcony, just a different back drop today. We have decided that we want to go to Pigeon Island today. Mr C has been in charge of guide books and daily events and that is what he has come up with. So off we go to find a taxi. Oh why do all the taxi men go on and on and on so early in the morning. Think I need to ask the ‘windswept and interesting’ one for some ear defenders. Maps in your face, you wanna go to the beach? One after the other and you dare to talk to one and they all talk together. Have you guessed yet that Im not a morning person and being sociable isn’t an art I have mastered when Im tired and maybe have a little bit of a hangover? Anyway, we are almost out of duty free and one picks up on where we want to go and his price is 4 times less than the first bloke so we wait with some others while he finds enough to fill his mini bus and we are on our way. All of the others are going to the beach that he wants to take them too at Spinakers, but we have been there before. Its nice enough and Spinakers restaurant is in a nice little spot, but it’s the beach where everyone goes, and again its far too commercial for me, but taxi man is determined to try and convince us to go there. He tells us the sea is rough at Pigeon point and its $5 to get into the reserve etc etc, but no thank you we want Pigeon Point. He did agree to take us and he agreed to collect us at 3 which was good, although he was collecting the others at 2.30 which was only 10 – 15 minutes down the road so it seemed a bit generous to me, but hey.

Pigeon Point was lovely and I can highly recommend it. It had the rough Atlantic on one side and the calm Caribbean on the other. You do pay $5 to enter the reserve and also pay for sunloungers at the entrance. It was gorgeous. We walked along the Atlantic side up over the lawns, past a pub in a bit of a cave and through the gardens over to the other side, and what a sight before me. Royal Clipper was just coming into the bay to anchor.

Oh she is lovely. We found a little beach with nobody on, collected a lounger and that was my base for the day. Yes this will do nicely. There is a little shack type restaurant just along the path so I have everything I need. Mr C went snorkelling but he had to fetch me a rum punch first. I lay there looking at Royal Clipper and all the lovely little boats, and watched the people come and go on their dingy’s from their yachts to shore and back. Mr C took a hike upto the top of Pigeon Point but that was far too strenuous for me today, maybe next time?  I occasionally went into the calm blue sea upto my neck to cool down but that was as much as I did today.

For lunch we packed up and made or way along to the little shack at the edge of the water. It was a lovely setting and we ordered lunch. Wasn’t long before I was clock watching, and I forgot that everything in the Caribbean is in Caribbean time. Lunch did eventually arrive but I felt as if I rushed it as we need to be back at the entrance for our ride home. It was a very brisk walk back to find the taxi but Mr C was just telling me not to panic because he could see the white mini bus, but it drove off and we were dead ontime too! I knew he had left too bigger gap between pickups and he must have just wanted his next fare. I was slightly worried about how we would get back but there were too taxi men there, probably not official ones but they offered to take us back and it was half the price so we weren’t complaining. He had to drop us well away from the other taxi drivers too or he might have got lynched, but I was relieved to be back.

Oh bliss, the air conditioning of Ventura.

Big night out in East tonight for me and Mr C, Amanda and Mick and the windswept and very interesting Darren. I had booked the table that I had said I wanted last May for my birthday meal, and today was the 3^rd day of my Birthday celebrations so it was where I said I was going to be just a day later. I wanted the table with arm chairs and I got it.

But first we had pre dinner drinks and Tapas at the bar. Has to be done, purely for research purposes of course and I can highly recommend them. Kir Royal was very nice too! So to or table and let the feast commence and what a feast we had, starting with the chefs complimentary, then a starter, the chicken soup is to die for, then the tenderest of beef and a pud to finish all off. I wanted a Rubis to really finish it off but guess what, despite Rubis being offered on the menu as the speciality after drinner recommended liquer, they ‘don’t serve in this bar’ Mmm….. no point dwelling on it. Oh how we sat and giggled at the table after dinner. I never knew that Darren could giggle like a girl but he can, and I think the entire deck knows that he can too now. The more he giggled the more we giggled. Oh and all the times I trecked out to the loo when there was one in there all the time just opposite the wedding booths where we sat last time. I never knew that! Eventually we decided to roll into Red Bar, but the ship was getting ready to go to bed. Its been a fun fun night.

Monday 23^rd February 2009 ~ St Maarten

A busy day on the quay side today, with Seranade of the seas across from us. HAL Maasdam infront  of us and one of those pretend sailing ships across from that. Mr C had another two tank dive booked so I wandered off the ship nice and early before the crowds of other passengers were awake and stolled upto the duty free area. I looked at some of the jewellery but looking was all I could afford. Decided to take the water taxi across to Phillipsburg and managed that quite easily without any queuing etc. it was $4 one way or $6 for an all day pass. Philipsburg was dressed and waiting for its visitors. This was the best part of the day to see the place.

The promenade was empty and all the chairs and parasols were lined up in uniform waiting for the sunbathers. I strolled all along the front to the other water taxi station and then went down and along the parallel shopping street.I was in full blown shop browsing mode when I found out that Mr C’s dive had been cancelled due to a problem with the dive boat so he was very disappointed. We eventually met up, (mobile signal is rubbish here) and went for a fresh fruit smoothie at Daphne’s, well ok I admit I had mine laced with rum, but they are so nice as she used only fresh fruit. We sat on the beach under the palm trees and it seemed rude not to have another one, and they were very cooling.

We wandered back upto the shopping street and just strolled along. Mr C got an absolute bargain of a dive watch. He managed to get the all singing, all dancing Citizen dive watch for less than half the price that it is in the ship shop. I was happy to just sit on a stool in the jewellers while he looked at it and soak up the cool air conditioning. For once I hardly said a word and Mr C isn’t that good at bartering, but there was no need. The shopkeeper never shut up, and he managed the unique art f bartering with himself. It is very very hot outside and there has been a few times when I have just felt like melting today. It was quite funny watching the shop keeper barter with himself though. Basically he could tell that Mr C was very keen to purchase but John hardly said a thing apart from when he was asking technical questions. The bloke in the shop just kept bartering with himself and shaved more and more off the price. He wrapped the thing up and started on the receipt which just set me off laughing. As we turned to leave empty handed he shook Mr C’s hand and the bargain price was agreed. Mr C is highly delighted and apparently the watch is so clever it tells the time too!

We had decided to go to The Greenhouse for lunch as recommended by the ‘Windswept and Interesting one’, but it was at the other end of town. I thought I was going to pass out getting there. I don’t know what the temperature is today, I like the sun normally but this was killing me. We arrived at the Greenhouse only to find Amanda and Mick and Karen & John already there. Oh give me a strawberry daquari, just to cool me down you understand. I had the jerk chicken wrap for lunch but there was far too much so Mr C had to eat the second half.

From here we moved back outside to Daphane’s and sat back in the coolness of the shade under the palm trees with the sea lapping on the shore behind us. I did have one very scarey moment when a ‘dinosaur’ came out of a tree and ran under my chair. I screamed and swore, it was the shock, but he was a massive lizard thing. And yes I do mean massive, it wasn’t one of those little geckho things.  Another frozen daquarri soon numbed the pain. The bar next door had two karaoke singers and althougt they didn’t look it they were fab. So we sat and soaked it all up, sometimes we danced in the sea but it was a fantastic day and we all had a superb time.

Sadly we had to get back to Ventura before she sailed and were on one of the last water taxi’s out of town back to the ships. I was straight into the shower to cool down and I could here the deck party blasting out across the top deck but I was happy to sit on the balcony watching the Seranade of the Sea passengers dancing to our sailaway music. There were some very latecomers to the other ship and the whole of Ventura and Seranade were hanging over the side of the ship clapping and cheering them onboard. I don’t think security were quite so impressed as they literally rolled the gangway up behind them. They were the first to depart and there was much blasting of horns and waving and cheering. She actually looked quite nice as she sailed off into the sunset.

Senior officers Private party up by Breakers Bar this evening. I thought it was going to be windy up there but I think Captain Clarke had slowed us down to just a few knots as there was just a very gentle breeze to keep us cool. The drinks always flow more freely at this function than any other on the ship, but I knew I had had enough and so just the one was more than enough for me. You also get the best canapés too and the spring rolls were delicious. Captain Clarke came over for a nice long chat and we talked about the progress of Ventura and the new Azura which always interests me.

I admit I don’t agree with him re the dropping of semi formal dress code on Ventura and Oceana but he assures me it wont happen on the other ships.

We were very very late for dinner tonight. Even later than the table that is always late. We did apologise and then blamed Darren, lol. I thought the menu was the worst ever tonight and I really struggled. I had the ‘always available’ prawn cocktail, then the chicken broth but then I was beat. Lamb was on there yet again! Where the heck do they get all these lambs from? I dared to ask if I might be able to have a jacket potato and yippee I can. Then I slipped in a request for some baked beans and yummy jacket potato with baked beans was born. I was happy with that. The sun and the drinks have drained most of us today and Mr C is falling asleep at the table so we head to our bed. I could have stayed out but I really don’t have the energy and anyway Im on holiday

Tuesday 24^th February 2009 ~ Tortola

After our early night we are both awake and on the balcony for 7.15am watching our arrival into Tortola. Its another perfect morning and HAL Maasdam is already along side. We go Starboard side too again opposite her and she looks so small, and the passengers look no fun at all.

Mr C has no diving booked for today and we are off quite early. We have been here many times but I have yet to visit Pussers Landing so that is where I would like to go. We ask at the taxi’s at the end of the Pier but the taxi drivers don’t seem to want to take us and tell us there is nothing there, and their prices are way over the top. We decide to walk beyond the port gate and run the gauntlet past another set of taxi drivers which are even more expensive than the ones inside. We got all the way to the end of the road by the little gift shops on the left and agree a price with Patrick the taxi driver. He explains why it is so expensive and shows us on the map where it is that we want to go to. Even he says I’m not going to need an hour at Pussers Landing, I think he is thinking ‘Mad tourists’ the drive along the coast was worth every penny. We drove right along the edge of the sea, and he pointed out what we needed to see like Jose Van Dyke and St Thomas etc. it was early when we arrived at Pussers Landing so we probably got to see it at its best. It was very very pretty, and the yachts in the marina were amazing. Pussers Bar wasn’t open, but when she realised that I wanted two Painkillers she soon opened up!

The rest of the P&O passengers that were on a tour seemed to be drinking coffee, lol. I could have quite happily sat there for a couple of hours just soaking up  the wonderful view. Back in the taxi we discussed whether to go to Smugglers Cove or Brewers Bay beach and in the end Patrick suggested Mr C would have better snorkelling at Brewers Bay. Again the drive was amazing, first going up and over a hill and approaching Cane Garden Bay from the left, and then driving along the back of Cane Garden and over another steep hill to Brewers Bay. The views of the aqua clear blue see were simply amazing.

The beach was perfect for me. A stunning bay, a little smaller than Cane Garden but far less commercialised so for me it was a lot nicer. I hate commercial beaches rammed full of rows of deckchairs and parasols. Brewers Bay is almost empty, there is one bar at the end near the road and as you walk along the chairs and people get even less. We walked around until I had a little spot up near the trees but still right on the water edge with nobody else around me. Mr C trecked back to get me a lounger and I was set up for the morning. He said the snorkelling down by the rocks was some of the best he has done and he saw the biggest fish he has ever seen while snorkelling. It was an idyllic Caribbean beech just like I imagine a Caribbean beach to be. We had arranged for Patrick to collect us at 1230 (I know that sounds early but remember we always start our day early) it was only a 20 minute ride back over the hill and he dropped us right outside Pussers Bar. It was really busy inside and the waiting staff were as surly as ever. I stood and talked to Amanda & Mick while Mr C went to the bar and they immediately put our drinks on their tab. We later found out that if you are ‘with’ someone its one bill for all, so moral of the story is don’t talk to anyone in there lol. It was an effort to get them to allow us to pay for our own food, just because we sat on a table with them by this time, and when the Flowers and the Robinsons turned up I thought the waitress was going to have a right fit! Food was worth the effort and we had spicey Pussers wings, spare ribs, potato skins and nacho’s. Mr C always goes over the top when ordering.

was so busy in there that we only had one further drink and then we left. I cannot describe to you how hot it is outside but I was melting a few yards down the street. We walked across to the little marina as I had never been before and decided that the bar there was worthy of a visit next time and they also looked to be serving nice food. Back out on the main street I was into the first modern shop just to benefit from the air conditioning, and half way down the street I was across the road into the jewellers again to feel the benefit of the air con. Mr C saw his dive watch in there 3 times the price of what he paid in St Maarten I browsed the jewellery and thankfully not one assistant tried to assist me which was good as we had only gone in to cool down, lol, perhaps they knew.

Back onboard I just passed out on the bed and stayed there until gone 4 when I managed to prise myself off the bed and get into a cool shower. Great British Sailaway up on deck so I couldn’t miss that. I know I have said this before but Neil and the team undoubtedly do the best sailaway party’s ever and I have never seen one under attended party this cruise. He had the whole ship waving their flags and dancing the decks. An unforgettable sight.

Mr C bought a beer back and we sat quietly on the balcony as we slipped away from Tortola past all the lovely little island dotted along the way.

We are dining in East again this evening but not until 9.00pm so we have time for later pre dinner drinks at 8 in the East Bar including Tapas for the hungry lads. It was the same menu tonight as the night before last and tonight I chose the new special with was more or less tikka meats, naan and dips, very nice. I had pre warned the waitress that I ‘was’ having a Rubis wine tonight and she must have sneaked out to get me one at one point because it was served to me only at the end of the meal, not something I would go mad to try again. It tasted more like a special Christmas liqueur chocolate.

It was very very late when we left East, so late that I thought the rest of the ship was in bed, but there were still people n Red Bar and Tamarind was just closing. We had a couple of drinks in Red Bar but we are all beat yet again and crawl off to bed. On the balcony I can hear the deck party in full swing again. There seems to have been music of some description up by Laguna or Breakers most nights, shame we never have the energy to get there.

Wednesday 25^th February 2009 ~ Dominica

My eyes must be trained now to open at 7.15 every morning. We are just approaching Dominica. In the past we have always docked out of town around the corner with HAL taking the prime town spot, but today it is ours. RCI is in the dock around the other side where we usually are. So today I have shops at the end of a walkway. Dominica isn’t one of the best places in the Caribbean, but our blue and yellow bar is a stones throw away so I’m sure I will be in there for a drink at some point during the day. Mr C is diving here this afternoon in place of his cancelled St Maarten dive. He has dived here every time we have been here so would have liked to try somewhere else, but at least he knows its good diving here.

We decided to go ashore for a bit of a wander this morning. Not one of my favourite ports but handy as its just at the end of the pier. We are starboard side too again which always makes me smile. We wandered from one end of the main street to the other looking at all the tat stalls to see what they had to offer, then as predicted we ended up in CocoRico the blue and yellow bar for a drink. I love the rum punch here so felt obliged to have one but it nearly blew my head off. It wasn’t exactly lunch time but I fancied one of the tasty looking baguettes being served so I had a delicious tuna mayo baguette washed down with a strawberry daiquiri. Mick and Amanda came along just intime for the second drink. We had a stroll upto the dive shop to get Mr C his 3^rd underwater camera (the pics had better be good after this) then Mick had a bar he wanted to take us to called The Ruins! Well me being all sweet and innocent I didn’t know quite what to make of this place. For a start off there was ghekko’s scurrying all over the walls which totally freaked me out and they had rather a large display of ‘herb’s & spices’ for sale, some of the herbs had very interesting claims. Mr C got told ff for taking a picture in there so something dodgy was going on. I was paranoid what was in my ‘special’ rum punch but it looked good served in a bamboo cane with a coconut shell lid.

Amanda and Mick were on Champagne reef snorkel trip this afternoon and Mr C was going on his dive so I had the afternoon to myself. Now it would have been nice to just chill out and relax but it wasn’t that easy. I had work to do and worse still I had the packing to start on. I just cant get my head around the logistics of where you can pack what, plus I have to leave out St Vincent stuff, Thursday night stuff, Friday daytime stuff and travelling home stuff, of my head spins with it all. I decide to get myself on deck, find a quiet spot and relax. I ended up in a chair overlooking the endless pool and it was nice and quiet away from the maddening crowd but oh heck it was hot. This cruise really has been very very hot. I had a stroll upto deck 19 where the trampolines are and I thought I would melt on the spot. How people were sunbathing up there I do not know. The trampolines and the two circus rings are the only evidence of Cirque Ventura now. The trapeze has gone and the space is filled with sunbeds. The trampolines are all caged off so its not a welcoming sight up there, but at least its quiet if that’s what you want.

I ended up back at the cabin packing another case, but because of things in boxes that have been collected during the cruise, like those dam Ventura Portunus mugs I don’t have enough space so I ended up buying a holdall from the shop to hold all the extras.

I spotted Mr C’s dive boat come back in so we waved. One of the tours was very late and were rushed back up the pier before we could sail. I tried to sleep but it never really happened plus it was getting late and I had no sooner laid down than my windswept and interesting officer was on the phone to make sure we were awake.Formal night tonight and pre dinner drinks in Red Bar. It was busy pre dinner and its more like Captains Welcome Aboard  lots of people standing.

Gala Dinner is the usual Beef Welington and a trio of chocolate puds that turned out to be four. Im so tired, I really want my bed but I cant, it’s almost the last night.

Late night disco in Metropolis and you might be pleased to note that children are not allowed. Oh and big news of the cruise, the bartender that was behind the bar, one i have seen for years, actually cracked a smile tonight, much to Mr C’s amusement. I wish I had the energy to have a really late night but the sun and the heat have drained me so it’s the very long treck back to the forward end to find my bed.

Thursday 26^th February 2009 ~ St Vincent

We are awake early again to watch our arrival into St Vincent, our last port of call before Barbados, which is sad. There is a little liquid sunshine around and a rainbow going into the sea, but the Deputy Captain advises us that its going to be the hottest day of the cruise today so that’s going to zapp me. And Aida Arura has just pulled alongside spoiling a little of the lovely view. But it was a lovely penultimate breakfast on the balcony.

Having never visited St Vincent before me and Mr C decide to go on a reckie and see what there is to see ashore. Well if I thought Dominica town was a dive this place is beyond words. Its certainly got ‘character’ I will give it that. We walked for quite a way in the hope that once we got out of the port area it would get better but it didn’t. The ferry terminal made it very busy both on foot and on the road. We had to turn back because it was just too hot and the sun was beating down, put that together with how busy the streets were and my head was spinning. There were plenty of taxi drivers at the port gate and we asked where there is to go and  Rodney the taxi man suggested Palms Beach, but be sure to ask for Rodney when we are ready to go to the beach.

Oh the tranquillity of Ventura! I was straight to the cabin for a full change of clothes, I was wet through it was so hot.

10.30 rendevouz with Flowers and Crossland under the tree in Ramblas with a nice mocha coffee to discuss where we can go and after checking through the guide books we decide Palms Beach it has to be. There was a Pirate water taxi to Palms beach but im unsure of the cost. We later heard some woman complaining because she got wet on the water taxi! Oh you have to laugh.

True to my word we did tell the taxi drivers we wanted Rodney, but Bugsy Malone came in half way through a conversation and wanted to take us to Palms Beach for $10pp return, so we piled into his min cab, but where had he gone? He was outside yelling for Rodney. Lol, he thought Rodney was one of our friends we had lost and hadn’t got a clue he was a fellow cab driver. The drive to the beach was hair raising to say the least and was much further than I thought especially for only $10 return. Now I had told Bugsy that we didn’t want a beach that was rammed with passengers, but he said that this one was the best, with facilities etc. we turned off the main road and into a steep picturesque drive way. Bugsy walked us through the most beautiful flower lined garden and out onto a terrace with pool and down to the beach all beautiful! OMG, the beach was rammed with Aida and P&O passengers, I knew it. We walked along the beach to try and find enough floor space for 6 but failed so headed back upto the pool terrace where we sat under a lovely pergola in the shade from the burning sun. it was hot, very very hot, just like the Captain said it would be hot, but a sunlounger in the sun was calling me.

First I had to completely cover the sun bed in towels to stop the mattress burning me. It was sheer frazzling weather today and It was hard work to try and sit in it. I had to sip ice cold cola, rum punches, dip in and out of the pool and sometimes even treck to the sea and back, but you had to be quick because the volcanic sand fried your feet. Oh boy was it hot! A heat I wont forget in a long time.

We decided to have lunch and luckily someone decided to order it well before we were over hungry. In true Caribbean fashion it took forever to arrive but it was worth the wait. Two freshly cooked Pizza, a selection of sandwiches and a few bowls of fries. There was so much. Good job Bugsy Malone was around to help us eat it all. We knew we were late but hey it’s de Caribbean and Bugsy instructed us to chill and take our time so we did. Another hair raising trip back to the ship with a lot of horn blasting between fellow road users. Despite the actual port area and town being the pitts, the roads were some of the best maintained that we had seen in the Caribbean and the places we drove through were very nice.  The gift shops in the terminal building are nothing really to write home about and sell some random stuff. I managed to get a fridge magnet to add to my collection so I was happy. As we walked back along the dockside to the ship Mr Flowers decided to start swinging his pants! I have no idea why? Maybe he feels liberated?

Drink, we need a drink! So we are straight through into the Exchange to flop out on the cool leather sofas. This bar is so much nicer and user friendly now that the smokers have been banned. We all just flake out on the sofa with rum punch or a beer to cool us down. Its CSQ form filling time so I use the opportunity to complete that ready for the draw.

As if we haven’t had enough food for one day, or even for a cruise we decide to do afternoon tea, just because we haven’t had time to do it any other day. You wouldn’t think that afternoon tea could be anything to laugh about but it was like a comedy sketch from the moment we stepped upto the table. All of a sudden we were descended on by 4 or 5 waiters, one with scones, one with toasted teacakes, one with warm crumpets, one pouring the tea and all this before the napkin had hit our laps! Oh how we giggled. Mr Crossland was a latecomer to the table and got himself all flumuxed amongst the laughter and asked the waiter for ‘uno Crumpo’ now the waiter was in fits of giggles, and told all the other waiters around that we were a bunch of nutters! Which of course we are.

I have put this off for far too long but I have to go and face the final bit of packing, which is always the worst bit of packing as I have to find space somewhere for everything. Mr C was a tired boy so decided that the floor of the cabin was the best place for a ‘deckhead survey’ and he was passed out before I had time to get anything into the cases.

Its all such a rush. I need a shower and want to attend the last sailaway party so decide shower and then deck party is the best order of the day as I can dry hair while drinking in sunshine!

I have to say, if I haven’t said it already that Neil and the team do the best deck party’s (lol, I think I have said that lots of times). I have never ever seen the deck parties attended like I have seen them this cruise and he gets the whole of the top decks singing and dancing and waving their arms. Im not a lover of the Ventura signature tune and there are other songs that will remind me of the deck parties. This deck party certainly was a memorable one and we blasted horns both to St Vincent, to Aida and to the incoming Ocean Village.

There is no getting away from it, I must go and stress over the last of the packing. And stress I do. So I decide to do what I can and get ready for an evening on the ‘ship of dreams’

Our last pre dinner drinks in the Red Bar is sad, but oh how we giggle with Darren the windswept and interesting officer.

That’s all we have done for the last two weeks really is roll around with laughter. I don’t know what we were all on tonight but once Darren started to giggle like a girl again at the dinner table that started me off and a bit of a chain reaction worked its way half way around the table. He was helpless with laughter and couldn’t even compose himself to give Vrach his order, so I think Vrach pretty much guessed that he would want a little of everything as usual. Jeeper how we laughed this evening. My tummy hurt I laughed so much and I couldn’t even look across to Mr Flowers without starting all over again., Darren needed coffee for the first time this cruise. I do hope he didn’t start chuckling on his way t his cabin or they might have called the medics to him. He has been an absolute Star and a fantastic host.

One final drink in ‘MickTropolis’ just to calm us down and then I have to go and face those dam cases! Im tired, grumpy and hot but it has to be done. All bags are sealed, tagged and locked and put outside our cabin door, lets just hope they make it to East Midlands airport at the same time as us and in one piece.

Friday 27^th February 2009 ~ Barbados

My eyes open at 20 to 6 and I can just see the sun rising. We approach Barbados dock as a very slow pace and its just like we have never been away. Island Star and Boudicca are across the way and Sea Cloud and another masted vessel are following us in.

One final breakfast on the balcony and Mr C wants to let my Mr Fish, my birthday balloon, go but I cant face it just yet.

We have our cabin until 9.00am and could have taken a day room, on a first come first served basis, starting at £40 for an inside cabin, but I couldn’t really see the point as we intended to be out for most of the day, and we could have showered in the spa, but thankfully we had nice friends onboard who let us use there facilities. I packed the final few things into the hand luggage while Mr C attended immigration in Havana. Forms had been sent to the cabin a couple of days earlier with instructions of how to complete them so it was all pretty straight forward. But then it was time to let my birthday fish go. Probably the biggest realisation that the cruise really was over. I know that its not very environmentally friendly to let a helium balloon go free, but there was an awful lot of them flying off to sea. Fish went on his way quite nicely, threatening to go onto Island Star at one point but I talked him out of it, and he made it over the breaker wall and out to sea.

Hand luggage could be left in the Areana theatre this morning, but we obviously arrived at the wrong time as the two queues were snaking back through Ramblas. Amanda and Mick had used the facility much earlier than us and had walked straight in without queuing. We decided to park our stuff into a friends cabin and were then free to go ashore. What amazed me was the amount of passengers just sitting around in the public rooms, in their going home clothes, with hand luggage at their feet, and sat reading a book or a newspaper! It was just like a Southampton morning. It left me scratching my head and asking myself why? Non of the flights departed the ship before noon, the sun was shining outside and Barbados was sitting there waiting to greet them. Bizarre!

We were undecided about going to a beach, but as liquid sunshine was threatening we decided to just walk along to the craft village on the main road. We thought we could chill out with a drink while looking at crafts but we forgot all about the laid back Caribbean opening times. We had almost given up when one bar decided to open and we spent the morning sitting in the blazing sun drinking ice cold drinks and browsing the local shops.

At noon we drifted back to the ship for a burger at Frankies, listening to the steel band by the Laguna pool, and drinking ice cold water! Water! Yes we could still use our charge card right up until disembarkation but we chose to drink water! Our flight should have disembarked at 2.15pm and we were a little concerned not to hear any announcements so we drifted down to Ramblas to check the plasma screens in the Atrium only to find we had a 3 hour flight delay. Oh big sigh, that’s all we needed. We sat in the coolness of Ramblas until it was finally announced that we were too disembark. Coaches were there on the dock side. We were lucky and had a small comfy mini bus but oh boy did he go the long way around! Obviously, instructed to kill some time. We had already done the check in bit onboard the ship so only needed to do the security screening. Then that was it. Reality hit. We were sat in a warm, stuffy airport for the next 3 hours or so waiting for news of our fight. Instead of a 5.15 take off we were scheduled for a 8.20 take off, and the board just kept stating delayed! Then all of a sudden we were called and we looked like we might actually take off at 8.20pm. we were first on the plane and sat in our seats. At this point I really thought there was going to be a bit of plane rage. The guy in the isle seat next to Mr C had a right whinge about his over head locker already being full, so he tried ours and that was full. I nearly screamed ‘the one next to it is empty’ but I knew it wouldn’t pacify him. Then he decided he had lost something and was insistent that the cabin crew went to find it, but they just wanted the plane in the air before they lost the slot. His wife was rambling on about the plane will have to wait! Oooh I think not! Thankfully the ground crew found his missing item and he stopped his ramblings for a while.

The flight for me was horrendous. I was very ill and just needed it to end as quickly as possible. But the air hostess was lovely and offered me the jump seat to sit in, but the thought of everyone staring at me made me to decide to just curl up n my own seat with a blanket over my head. How I got off the plane at East Mids I do not know, and the passport control man had to study my passport picture to double check that the wreck standing infront of him really was the person in the photo. Cases seemed to take forever but in reality I think it was the same amount of time that they always take. The walk to the car was freezing one, yes we were back in Britain on a cold and frosty February morning.

A few other notes……..

In all of the ports we chose to do our own thing, getting a taxi to take us where we wanted to go. Usually I consider most cruise lines organised excursions to be a little bit too pricey but the way the £ is against the $ at the moment the P&O prices were working out quite comparatively. However, if there a re few of you that can share a car or mini bus it will probably still work out more economically to get your own cab, that way you are in control of the day. Most places you can haggle for a price with the taxi operators and don’t take the first one that you speak to, usually the further away you get from the ship, the more desperate they are to give you a good price. Truth is I normally make up the extra in tips anyway so they don’t loose out. I confess that I will miss seeing Matt at the end of the pier every morning. He obviously loves his job in the Explore team and is always happy to give advice on what to see etc. he has arranged some fab diving trips for Mr C so he is one satisfied customer.

Dress code really surprised me. I really did think that because the main dress code was ‘smart casual’ and it was a fly cruise with restrictions on luggae allowance etc, that the majority would be in ‘daywear’ in the evenings. Wrong! Seems most ladies had the same thoughts as me and were going to wear their nice cocktail dresses in the evening. Dress code wise for ladies I didn’t find it very much different to what a Southampton cruise would be and there were as many informal cocktail dresses as there were smart casual type outfits. Majority of gents did wear a shirt with collar and smart trousers in the evenings and so it wasn’t as bad as I had feared. Formal nights were very well adhered to with some beautiful outfits emerging. If the dress code is as good as this for the Southampton sailings then the dropping of semi formal nights shouldn’t really be an issue. If inm honest I still do prefer to see gents in a suit and tie on informal evenings, but then im old fashioned. My Dad would wear a collar and tie every night of his cruise apart from tropical night so that’s the way I would prefer it to be. But each to their own. Yes I did see the odd one or two that hadn’t dressed accordinigly but I can only hope that they had eaten in the buffet dining and were simply en route from A to B when I spotted them. As long as P&O don’t allow the dress code to become relaxed completely, and maybe they could consider changing the suggested dress code wording to ‘elegant casual’ and then maybe they wont get quite so many different interpretations.

I say this everytime but I do wish P&O would shake up the Portunus benefits. Special event Goldie lunch in the restaurant, cocktail party, and a china mug. Being brand loyal leaves me feeling as if P&O don’t really care. A shakeup is long overdue. I did miss my favourite Loyalty Manager, Justn. He brings that little bit of a buzz to the ship, makes you feel welcome and special, but he was on leave.

The entertainment, well what can I say? Well done P&O. a step in the right direction. Where were all the tradional P&O favourites? The entertainers that have been telling the same gags and singing the same songs on a P&O stage since the year dot? Yippee, there was not one in sight. Instead we had tribute acts in the form of Neil Diamond, Elton John, Robbie Williams, Brian Connelly. Ok I admit I never quite found the time to go and sit through an entire show, but I did pop my head into Havana most nights and the place was packed to the rafters with a lot of people resorting to watching on the plasma screens at the back. I did think that some of them were literally murdering some of the songs but in all fairness that could have been because I wasn’t fully in the room and couldn’t hear the sound system correctly. I did stick my head in the back of the theatre a couple of times and what I saw was good, but I had seen every show and so had no desire to sit and watch them again. Although Chronicles does captivate me and I love the bit where the acrobats come on and do their balancing bit. If you ike theatre productions I can see no reason why you wouldn’t have been impressed with any of the shoes. There were some good bands, Inspiration were excellent both on deck and in Tamarind and the dance floor was always packed for them. For those of you that like ballroom dancing, yes there was two dance instructors onboard who were there hosting most evenings and held dance classes during the day.

The steel band were excellent and really added to the atmosphere. Some nights they would be out on deck and others they would be down in the Atrium so we go the benefit of them in Red Bar too. I often walked past and saw ladies dancing to them down in the Atrium.

The little Japanese pianist was  a delight to listen too she could play literally anything you asked for and could adapt to the mood. The Spanish guitarist in Ramblas was excellent and I enjoyed listening to him set the scene for us. He was always playing during the lunch time and evening.

Metropolis had found its little niche as the late nightclub of the ship. The small band that they sometimes had on were a little bit dodgy at times but I don’t think balsting it full blast out of every speaker was helping. The late night discos were always popular and for some reason they seemed to have the balance of music levels correct with it being quiet enough to hold a conversation over at the bar end of the room.

Noddy was a lot more visible and was often out and about for photos etc. Scalextric was very low key and I never even heard anyone say they had been to even look at it this time. Cirque Ventura as I say is more or less no more, with the trampolines still there behind its cages, it doesn’t look quite so inviting and is such a puzzle how to actually get to it now that im sure most people must give up before they arrive. I was very tempted to have a go but my back was really giving me some jip towards the end of the cruise and Captain Clarke assured me that it would be there for a while longer so maybe next time.

Oh dear, this is just about my only whinge. Public announcements. I thought it was great last year when we didn’t get Art auction announcements because there was no need for them as the art gallery was there 24/7. but now they have reinvented a whole new catalogue of things to make public announcements about. You get a bing bong from the ents team at about 10.00 am telling you whats going on, then early afternoon to tell you whats on in the afternoon and sometimes, bing bong they are back again early evening to gently remind you whats on. Tours might have a little bing bong and then shops would chip in with a bit, but oh the most annoying one of all was Bing Bong this is Mark Tomely your Food & Beverage Manager to tell you about this evenings dining options onboard Ventura’ Ok the first two nights I though, fair enough tell people whats on offer, but every night? It was the longest winded announcement of them all. He spoke so fast I thought a high speed train must have been on his tail and one night he actually nearly choked for lack of breath. Im sure there was some sort of bet on to see how fast he could say it.

The dining options now are excellent. I didn’t hear one moan about Freedom dining. When I used it last May I would phone each morning at 7.30am to reserve a table for us at our chosen time. It worked for me but didn’t work for the majority. Now they have done away with all pre reserving and you simply turn up to Cinnamon when you are ready.

The BeachHouse turned into an American diner at night time with waiter service and we were hearing very good reports about the steaks etc. but there were never enough days in the week for us and sadly we never got the chance to try it out.

I was determined to try MPW this time as that too was also getting excellent reviews and we spoke to disembarking passengers at breakfast who had gone there 3 times it was so good, but again we just never got around to it. I wanted to go on our first evening onboard and just chill out on the aft deck with a nice relaxed meal, but when we went along to book they were already full so it just never happened after that.

East As I have reported was superb. I love the place and highly recommend it. I have never seen East so busy as it was this cruise but it didn’t seem to affect service in anyway and the waitresses in there are lovely. The option of pre dinner tapas was a nice addition and although I couldn’t manage those as well as a meal Mr C really enjoyed them.

Afternoon tea is served both in the self service buffet areas and in the Saffron. We did manage to fit that in on the last day, but for me I would only need afternoon tea if I was giving up an evening meal.

Room service we used most days for breakfast and found it easier to pick up the phone and order when we were ready for it. Pre ordering the night before seemed very hit and miss with times. Mr C always used to amuse me because he always ordered 2 teaspoons and 4 pats of butter, but in all fairness if he didn’t mention it they never seemed to materialise. The lad always returned for the tray within the hour and we never had to place it outside the door. The only other time I recall using room service was when I was working and needed a cold drink so was extremely lazy and picked up the phone to order a couple of cans of sprite and fanta. ‘Oh we don’t have sprite and fanta mam’. Fair enough I thought, the room service cupboard below decks doesn’t stock everything I will have cokes and lemonade. I was really surprised when a deck steward turned up with my cans, so if he got them from a bar why couldn’t I have the sprite and fanta? Needles to say my lesson was learnt and I didn’t trouble room service again for a drink, I kept it stocked myself from the deck bars.

Im not the biggest foodie in the world so probably aren’t the best person to comment on the food in the main restaurants but I didn’t think that it was up to P&O’s usual standard. Maybe that was something to do with the act that she was positioned over in the Caribbean for months on end and access to usual suppliers was a logistical nighmare? But lamb was on the menu most days, where did all the lambs come from, im not a lamb lover so that always took out one main before I had had chance to look at the rest. Most people seemed to enjoy the meals so maybe it was just me?

Im tired of hearing about sunbeds on Ventura. I can tell you from vast experience that  the situation is no different to any other main stream cruise ship afloat. They are always lined up in rows, always have less than 0.5 of a centimetre gap between beds and always since as long as I can remember have been reserved by those with less manners. I had no trouble getting a sun bed when I wanted one, and yes when I had nothing better to do with my day I did stroll length and breadth of the main decks to observe if there were any beds available, and yes there were! You just need to not set your heart on sitting in any one specific spot. I saw plenty on the Lido deck and more than that on the smaller annexe decks above. P&O did police it as I witnessed it with my own eyes one day, and I have to say that if I was desperate and wanted to be at in a spot where I knew nodody had sat on that chair for a reasonable length of time I would respectfully tidy the book and towel away and sit on it. I was more than happy to sit on my balcony and enjoy the peace and quiet later in the day, but I never did see that many other people doing the same.

As someone who is normally bitten to pieces by the mossies in the Caribbean I was determined to find a good defence from them before I went on this cruise. I was told about vitamin B1. So I eventually tracked such capsules down and purchased a months supply. I started taking two weeks before departure and continued to take daily throughout the cruise. In addition to that I went out onto the balcony every port day morning and sprayed my lower legs and feet with a cocktail of sprays and potions that had been pre purchased. I wouldn’t like to have to spray them in a confined space because it was pungent stuff. I was very conscious of the fact that I did have quite a smell about me for the first couple of hours but as long as the mossies kept away, that was fine by me. In the past I have been bitten so much that it has reduced me to tears, and once you have the bites I find there isn’t much that will take the sting away. Others in our party had followed the same advice and purchased a supply of B1 tablets, but they all complained of horrid tastes and hard to swallow large tablets. Mine were in small capsule format and never gave me any problems so you might have to shop around.

We were on the Friday departure, which meant that we flew out of the UK on the Friday morning and our last day onboard was Friday, flying out on the Friday afternoon, landing back into the UK on Saturday morning. That left us with the first Saturday onboard to go ashore in Barbados, which im glad we did. The ship becomes like a waiting room to some people and it is very much a changeover day, even though all ship board services all operated in the same way. By the time we got back to the ship after our day out the Saturday arrivals were starting to embark and the last of the departure people were still dragging their overnight bags around with them. Some in our party had arrived on the Saturday and did say at the end that they felt like the last day of her holiday in Barbados had been taken away from them. There were constant flight announcements etc and a lot of comings and goings, plus they knew she had to pack and be ready to disembark tomorrow, so arriving in Barbados was a bit of a day in limbo for them.

Ventura has come a long long way since her Maiden. I was lucky enough to go on her for an evening event pre Maiden and as some of you might recall I was not the slightest bit impressed with her. But then I went on the Maiden and I could see that she had a lot to offer, so I nipped back on for two weeks in May and that’s when I really began to appreciate Ventura and her facilities. No she isn’t like the other ships but that’s a good thing in my opinion. Each ship in the P&O fleet has her own individual personality and offers different things to different people. That has to be a good thing. At least P&O don’t build ships on mass and make them all the same.I think she came into her own in the Caribbean. All those balcony’s all that sunshine. The atmosphere onboard was great and you could tell that the majority of the passengers were there to have a good time and to get on with their long awaited holiday. The age range was much lower than the average P&O Mediterranean cruise, some families but mostly couples. And it was obvious that most of these people were on holiday to have a good time as everywhere was always very lively.

Now, I have read quite a few reports from people saying that it is like Butlins at sea onboard. Well, I don’t know how they have made that comparison because Butlins it is not! Some people don’t seem to like the sailaway deck party’s and the ‘silly hand movements’ well, it’s a big ship, move away from the Laguna Pool and Breakers Bar at these advertised times and you can find peace and tranquillity just around the corner. Clearly there were more people that enjoyed this sort of fun that didn’t as the sailaway parties were always packed to the rafters and Neil and the Team did everything they could to get the whole deck dancing and singing. I love the deck parties, whether Im taking part, observing from the bar or enjoying from my balcony watching the ship alongside look in envy at us.

So the question a lot of people want to know the answer to ……. Which is my favourite P&O ship in the fleet now? Aurora or Ventura? ………………….

Well, without a shadow of a doubt its Ventura for me! She has so much more to offer, cabins are nicer, I have my internet access without having to leave my cabin, so many more dining options, different evening entertainment, a larger choice of venues, different zones and areas within the open deck space, all in all she gives me more choice! After my initial overnight visit on her pre launch I was one of the first to say, what the heck have P&O done. I openly admitted I did not like Ventura at all, and had made up my mind she was not going to fit in. Im fortunate that I have been able to go on her for 3 cruises now and oh how she has grown on me with each one. So what a turn around I have made. She has grew on me more and more with each cruise I have had on her, and now I have to be her No.1 Fan. Give Ventura a chance, dont judge her on first initial impressions or what you might have read about her. She is a fantastic ship with a lot to offer.

Im really looking forward to seeing Azura and I think she will offer all that Ventura does plus that little bit extra!