Cruising is FUN

Ventura Maintained her easterly course throughout the night towards Livorno, passing to the north of the small island of Gorgona. Ventura embarked her two local pilots at 06.33. At 06.55 we entered the harbour, passing the breakwater on our starboard side. At 7.10 we entered the inner basin and commenced turning short round bow to port. By 8.10 Ventura was all secure port side to at Banchino Al Fontala Berth, Livorna.

Since departure Villfrance until our arrival in Livorno, Ventura steamed a distance of 129 nautical miles at an average speed of 11.5 knots.

With all pre departure checks complete and the local pilot on board, Ventura slipped her lines and commenced thrusting off the berth. At 19.06 we passed the breakwaters leaving the harbour and disembarked the pilot and set course and speed to Santa Margherita

Today we are in Livorno, the Port for Pisa and Florence.

As usual, Amanda and I just took the complimentary shuttle bus into the town. As first glance there did not seem much to do, then as if by magic, we rounded a corner and there was the market – Amanda seems to have a nose for it.

The fruit market was something else, the fruit was so fresh looking and everything smelly lovely.

We found and American lady who ran her own dog rescue shelter, as we are both suckers for a dog, we had to dig deep and let her have a few coins for the dogs, and Amanda had a photo.

We bumped into quite a few passengers from the ship who were also just having a lazy day wandering around the local port.

Back on board, we contemplated what to do that evening, we thought perhaps we would eat at “East” the oriental restaurant (with a cover charge)

but after looking at the menu decided that it was not really what we wanted, so we opted for the main restaurant again.

One of tonights acts was a singer called Robbie Allen, we what a vocal range, this guy really could sing everything from falsetto to Barry White. Excellent show.

There were still no takers on the electronic poker machine, so Simom, The casino manager set Amanda and I up with a demo game, and guess what, she 'Busted' Me :-(

Tomorrow we are in Santa Margherita.

As Ventura made her final approaches to the anchorage, the Captain rang "Standby Below" on the engines. Once in position, the order was given to let go the starboard anchor and commence lowering the boats. At 07.39 the anchor was "brought up" to seven shackles on deck. Once the boats were lowered to the water, pontoons rigged and SHore party established the passenger tendering was commenced.

Since departure Barcelona until our arrival in Villefrance, Ventura steamed a distance of 272 nautical miles at an average speed of 22.6 knots.

With all bridge and engine room departure checks underway, all tenders were safely hoisted and back onboard by 17.20. At 18.25 the order was given to start heaving the starboard anchor. The Officer in charge reported the anchor "aweigh" and the Captain manouvered the vessel to clear the bay. Once all boats were reported secure for sea and the anchor safely brought home, Ventura disembarked the local pilot and set various easterly courses throught the Ligurian sea towards Livorno.

Today we arrived in the pretty little fishing village of Villefrance, the ideal port for trips to Cannes, Nice and Monte Carlo.

Ventura anchored out into the bay and the mode of transport to the shore way by tender boat. Now being this was a maiden cruise and this was the first tender port, you could guess that there may be some teething problems?

Well you’d be right, we though it best to allow the people on booked excursions to get off first, then we wandered down a little later and go straight onto a tender – Little did we know at the time, but we were supposed to have gotten tender tickets from reception and waited our turn to be called – no one told us!!

Anyhow, we ended up on land and had a lovely walk along the narrow seafront where there were shops and restaurants. They even sent out a helicopter from MOnaco to have a look at the ship.

One street back from the front are the 14th Century catacomb streets, very picturesque.

Around lunchtime, we decided to head back to the ship.

On board our tender was a delegation from the local mayors office, who were having lunch with the Captain – very nice.

We spent some of the afternoon at the pool, but later on it clouded over so we adjourned to the pub instead.

That evening we saw the second of the Legends shows, this time it was Kylie Mynoge, Elton John, Robbie Williams and Freddie Mercury (although Freddy did look suspiciously like the George Michael we saw earlier in the week.

I would recommend this show every time, great fun.

Tomorrow is Livorna, the port for Pisa and Florence.

At 6.30 "Standby BElow" was rung as Ventura approached the Catalonian Coast. At 7.02 the local BArcelona Pilot embarked as we entered Barcelona Harbour. All Bridge and engine room arrival checks were complete and at 7.05 Ventura swung bow to port off berth. At 7.34 the first mooring line was sent ashore and by 8.04 Ventura was all secure alongside Muelle Adosado Terminal B in Barcelona.

From noon until our arival in Barcelona, Ventura steamed a distance of 372 nautical miles at an average speed of 21.6 knots and from Southampton to Barcelona Ventura steamed a distance of 1743 nautical miles at an average speed of 21.1 knots

At 15.30 2 hours notice was given to the engine room for departure. Clearance was granted from the local authorities for departure and with all pre departure checks complete, the captain gave the order to let go the mooring lines. 17.14 with all the mooring lines clear we commenced thrusting off the berth, and 2 mins later we bagan to move ahead. Once clear of the breakwater, Ventura disembarked the local pilot and set a north easterly course along the Spanish and French coastline.

Day 5 Barcelona

After 3 days at sea, it was really nice to make landfall and where better than Barcelona. As most of you know, the cruise ships offer a huge range of tours that can take you from a couple of hours to all day. Having cruised as many times as we have, we are quite selective about the trips that we do, and often opt to stay around the port area, just having a short walk off to visit the local shops or markets.

Today we decided to do just that. The ship/port offered a complimentary shuttle bus into the edge of town, so we jumped onto that. I dropped us off just a short walk from the famous Barcelona street of La Rambla.

We spent the best part of the morning walking down the street and taking in the atmosphere of the souvenir stalls, pet stalls with ferrets, chinchillas and the meat and vegetable market.

La Rambla has many many street entertainers that dress up and pose with tourists for a couple of coins. I chose a Roman Emperor and Amanda chose an elegant lady.

By noon we were back on the ship and relaxing by the pool, where we spent a lazy afternoon.

Tonights show is Jimmy Carr the comedian and we are also eating in the special restaurant, The White Room, designed by Michelin cheff Marco Pierre White.

I had Salami To start and then the Pork, Amanda had Clams Then Lobster with Spaghetti, cheese board and Tiramisu for desert with coffee and for the first time I tried Chocolate wine.

Was it worth the extra money? Well for one time I would say try it but I don’t think that when you compare the standard of the food on the rest of the ship that it is worth the extra cost, but I think you should decide for yourself.

Jimmy Carr was very funny and unusually Amanda enjoyed the comedian which normally she doesn’t Later that evening I played in a Blackjack tournament in the casino and came a disappointing 4th – Oh well you can’t win them all.

Tomorrow sees us in Villafrance, the port for Nice and Monaco.

At 04.30 Ventura altered onto an easterly course to enter the traffic separation scheme of the Gibralta straight. She then followed various easterly courses throught the busy waters of the straight, with the lights of Morocco clearly visable on her starboard side and Gibralta and Southern Spain visible to port. Shortly after 6 o'clock the transit of the scheme was complete and courses were set through the Alboran sea passing cabo de Gata shortly after midday.
From noon yesterday untill noon today Ventura steamed a total of 526 nautical miles at an average speed of 22 knots. For the remainder of the afternoon and into the night, Ventura continued paralled to the coast of Spain en-route to Barcelona.

We were up early this morning (7.30) as it seems the clip clop spa girls upstairs had forgotten the barefoot rule after just a few days. We had to have a word with Sean the Spa manager who again assured us that it would be sorted out.

Today we did even less than the day before with a little time in the Gym, some bingo, a quiz, and a nap.

The evening was very entertaining, after a 5 course meal in the Cinnamon restaurant, we went into the production show in the Arena theatre.

The show was ‘Grande Illusion’ and was a mixture of dance, music, balance and magic. I thought it worked very well and for a ships company the performers were very good. Elsewhere on the ship was another comedian but after such a hectic day it was time for a few drinks in the bar with Phil and Maria before turning in.

Extract from Captains Log

Shortly after 1 o'clock Ventura entered the Traffic Separation Scheme off Cape Finisterre marking our exit from the Bay of Biscay. Once clear, we set southerly courses as we paralleled the Portugese and Spanish coasts.

From Noon yesterday until Noon today Ventura steamed a total of 541 nautical miles at an average speed of 22.5 knots.

at 14.30 Ventura passed abeam Of Lisbon before setting a more south easterly course for Cape St Vincent. After rounding Cape St Vincent at 19.37 we entered the gulf of Cadiz, where we set a south easterly course taking us across the gulf and on to Trafalgar.

Had a lay on this morning until 10am and then a very lazy breakfast after a brief visit to the gym. Later this morning we had a go at Bingo in the exchange pub, a little pricey at £15 for a strip of 6 for 5 games but the payouts were quite good, going up each game until the snowball, each day, unless it was won in 44 numbers, it rolled over so by the end of the cruise it would be worth quite a bit..

Today we me Mr & Mrs Paget, this couple had won the cruise in the free prize draw in the Daily Mail. At least it’s nice to know someone does actually win these things. We also met Ted and his friend and their wives, Ted was a rather sprightly 72 retired RAF officer.

Tonight we watched 2 shows, we saw the comedian in the Arena theatre and then watched the Legends Show in the Havana bar. Legends is a tribute show and tonight we watched George Michael, Elton John, Abba and Robbie Williams.

We had one last drink in the Tamarind Club and went to bed tired and happy.

0200 - Ships clocks were advanced 1 hour to GMT+2 (Central European Time) Throughout the night and into the morning, Ventura followed south westerly courses therough the busy English Channel. Shortly after 9am an alteration of course to a more southerly track was made, marking our entry into the Bay of Biscay. We continued to follow these courses for the remainer of the day and into the evening. From departure untill noon today Ventura cruised a total distance of 307 nautical miles at an average speed of 23 knots.

19th April – Day At Sea

This was the first of 3 days at sea, a time when you can really explore your ship and get to know her. What I didn’t realise is that on this morning, my explorations were to start a little earlier that I had anticipated. What we did not realise when we booked this cruise is that our cabin is directly underneath the reception desk for the spa.

That in itself shouldn’t have been a problem, however, the two girls that worked at this desk start at 7.30am and both were wearing high heels, so from the early hours, we were treated to clip clop, clip clop as they walked backwards and forwards.

Combine this with the fact our safe was locked and no one from reception could open it and I started to think things were beginning to go wrong, but to be honest that was about the worst it ever got. The spa manager made the reception girls go barefoot until he could get some carpet laid in the spa reception and a great big Philippine carpenter came and ripped our safe out of the wardrobe and replaced it with one that worked.

We went up to breakfast around 9.45am and boy was it busy, we had trouble finding a seat. Then we went up to the White Room and booked for dinner later in the cruise, this speciality restaurant was created by Marco Pierre White and to eat there you have to book and pay a cover charge of £20 per person.

Then it was time to visit the very well equipped gym, in fact one of the most well equipped gyms that I have seen in a long time. During the day, they run a number of classes here, Pilates etc. You can sign up for these classes but there is a small extra charge for this.

Then I found a quiet corner and started to make notes for my blog, the quietest corner I found today was up in the Metropolis bar which is up on deck 18, this bar has a huge floor to ceiling video wall running the whole width of the ship and during the evenings various landscapes are projected such as Sydney Harbour, London, Paris, Las Vegas etc.

Just before lunch we went into the ‘Battle of the Sexes’ quiz in the exchange pub, that was fun.

After a little more exploring, we found Ramblas, a Spanish Tapas themed bar. Here you could order 3 different Tapas for just £2.50 or you could eat in the Chamber within Ramblas and have a 3 course meal for £5 per person from 11am to 11pm. The menu changes every 4 or so days.

At 13.10 we passed the Aurora which was returning to Southampton from it’s world cruise, there was plenty of waving as the two ships passed quite close to each other.

The rest of the day was spent being quite lazy. In the evening, we watched a singer called Kaye Weston. To be honest she was OK but did not really have the vocal range to be singing some of the powerful ballads that she attempted. She’s on again later in the week, but I don’t think we’ll bother.

After that was Karaoke in the Exchange pub which was quite good then up to the Beach house for a late night snack. Now I’m sure most of you will know but the average age of a P&O passenger tends to be a little older than on some other ships and most of these older passengers tend to go to bed early, so as a result, the late night snacks consist mainly of sandwiches and curly fries and not much else! – Compared to other ships that have say 24 pizza etc this is a little disappointing.

Tomorrow is another lazy day at sea.

The following is an extract from the Captiains Log:

With all pre departure checks complete, clearance was granted and the Captain made his departure broadcast. Ventura let go all her lines and moved off the berth with the band playing. She then proceeded down Southampton Water, slowing down at dock head for the firework display on our port side and again at Fawley Oil terminal before makinf two turns, first at Calshot Split and the other at Brambles Bank. Once complete, an easterly course was set along the eastern solent taking us between the two forts. Ventura disembarked her local pilot at 22:21 and once clear of Nab Tower altered to a south westerly course into the English Channel towards the north western tip of France.

Friday 18th April – the big day. After a hearty breakfast at the Southampton Hilton and another swim, it was time to take out taxi to the ship. When we arrived at Southampton’s Mayflower Terminal, we had our first look at the ship, the thought that sprang to mind at the time was, isn’t she big?

We queued (in the rain) for about 30 mins and then went through check in and security, then after the obligatory photograph, we were able to get onto Ventura.

Our cabin L259 was on deck 15 and we took the lift up with our hand luggage, the cases would be delivered to the cabin later. Needless to say, the lift took us up and upon exiting the lift, we went left, walked for several hundred yards and realised that we should have gone right. Our cabin was on the same level as the Laguna and Beachcomber pools as well as the Waterside and Beach House self service restaurants.

We spent the next hour or so exploring and getting lost around this amazing ship, before long it was time for lifeboat drill, and then the sailaway.

We were treated to a selection of songs from the Quayside by the band of the Lifeguards and after a blessing ceremony and lots of confetti, we were at last underway.

img src="http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk109/ukcruiseguy/VENTURA_CRUISE/Picture019.jpg" alt="" title="" />

As we sailed past the QEII with a police escort, we were treated to a fireworks display out in the bay and free champagne was available for everyone.

Later that night, after a 5 course dinner in the Cinnamon restaurant, we enjoyed entertainment from a mind reader and comedian. The night was rounded off with a little poker in the casino, where we met Phil and Maria, a couple from Cardiff.

We now had 3 days at sea to look forward to before we arrive in Barcelona

The day has finally arrived, well almost, because I get a little anxious about possible traffic hold-ups on the day, we often travel to Southampton the day before and this was no exception. However, our mode of transport sometimes varies. If it’s a short cruise of a week or less, we sometimes take the train as it’s so cheap, around £18 each return from Blackwood to Southampton. On this occasion as this cruise was for 2 weeks, we had 2 cases each and the train would not have been practical. The drive down to Southampton took about two and a half hours and we arrived just after lunchtime. Our room in the Southampton Hilton was ready so we checked in and went for a swim in the hotel pool.

After a relaxing day, we spent the evening with some friends of ours who live in Southampton, Simon and Julie, We met them last year on a holiday in India and they are a lovely couple, a few pints and a curry later, it was time to turn in ready for the big day tomorrow.

VENTURA

Before we start in earnest tomorrow with a blow by blow account on our cruise on the Ventura Maiden Voyage, I thought that I would give you a little taster of what’s to come by giving you a run down of the itinerary for the two weeks.

Sailing on 18th April 2008 and returning on 2nd May 2008

Day 01 – Embark Southampton
Day 02 – At Sea
Day 03 – At Sea
Day 04 – At Sea
Day 05 – Barcelona
Day 06 – Villefrance for Monaco
Day 07 – Livorno for Florence and Pisa
Day 08 – Santa Margherita for Portofino
Day 09 – Civitavecchia for Rome
Day 10 – At Sea
Day 11 – Alacante for Benidorm
Day 12 – Gibralta
Day 13 – At Sea
Day 14 – At Sea

Arrive back Southampton.

Each day for the next two weeks, I will tell you about one of the days above, if the day was particularly busy, I may spread it over 2 blog days.

Hi Everyone,

Amanda and I have just returned from The Maiden Voyage on Ventura, we have had a fab time and I have taken loads of pictures and made plenty of notes, over the next 2-3 weeks, I will be updating my blog every day with a step by step review of the cruise, please keep checking back and if there is anything you would like to know, please feel free to ask.

Regards

Derek