Ventura and Cruising in the Caribbean

[Juscrusin]

The Ventura and Cruising in the Caribbean

Just a brief overview and a few bits of info hope you find it useful. (Some info I emailed first time cruisers last year)

Arriving
When you fly from the UK once your luggage is checked in you will not see it again until after boarding the ship. It will be delivered to your cabin a couple of hours after you arrive. We always pack a light change of clothes in our hand luggage in case of delay and it will be 20+ degrees hotter there than home.
Once you land in Barbados you do not even go through arrivals in the airport but are taken straight to the port by bus about a 30-45 minute drive depending on traffic. Once at the port you go to an arrivals ‘shed’ where your passport is scanned, your photo is taken etc and your cruise card is issued. The ships photographers also try to take your photo we try to avoid this, as after a 9-hour flight we are not usually looking very photogenic!!
The ship has a cashless system your credit/debit card is swiped on arrival then your cruise card is used for all purchases onboard. You can see how much you spend by logging into your account on the interactive TV in your cabin. You can pay off some or your entire bill anytime at reception or it is automatically charged to your card at the end of the cruise.
Once you have your cruise card you then board Ventura, your cruise card is scanned each time you board or leave the ship by security and the photo taken on arrival is linked to your card. On arrival onboard there are usually demonstrations and information set out to help you get to know the ship and what is available. Someone will show you to your cabin and help you get your bearings.

Your cabin
You will have a dedicated cabin steward who will look after your cabin for the cruise. They make up the cabin and beds daily, replace your towels, clean the bathroom/shower etc they visit you twice a day in the morning to make up the cabin and when you have gone to dinner come and turn down the beds and replace wet towels and tidy round. You have a tea tray that is topped up daily with tea/coffee and biscuits; we make tea and sometimes fetch a cake from the self-serve restaurant. You can also order breakfast to have in your cabin (continental) but useful if leaving the ship early when in port or sitting on our balcony when arriving. You order this via your interactive TV and there is no charge apart from tipping the waiter on delivery (£1 or £2). There is a safe in the wardrobe area you just set it with your own number for the duration of the cruise.
If you need extra hangers, pillows, ice etc your steward will get them for you.
You can buy a bottle of your favourite tipple if you want a drink before dinner in your cabin, either ashore and bring back onboard or in the duty free (although this does not open until you are at sea on the ship) or you can order food and drink via room service the same as in a hotel.
Laundry, you can have it done for you at a cost but on most decks there is a self-service laundrette with washers and dryers. No charge for this facility you just need to buy a couple of soap tablets or take a couple.


The Ship

Ventura is a big ship but you will soon get your bearings. The atrium is the centre of the ship with reception and shops, the rear of the ship is the self service restaurant and terrace bar and pool, the front of the ship you have the spa, gym and oasis pool with lots of other bits in-between!
Dining
If you are on freedom dining you will eat in the Cinnamon restaurant you can choose to eat anytime from about 6.30 to 9.30, the menu is exactly the same as club dining, if there is no table a pager is issued and you are ‘buzzed’ when there is one. You can share tables or just have a table for two; we go freedom when on Ventura because we enjoy an early evening swim or sit on the balcony and watch the ship leave port etc. We have also club dined where you are allocated the same table and dine with the same people for the duration of the cruise either on first sitting 6.30pm or second at 8.30pm we have had a great time and made some good friends doing this.
There are also three other restaurants onboard but there are cover charges in these. There is East an oriental style restaurant and menu we love the food here last time it was £15 each cover charge. The White room a fine dining restaurant we have not tried this one as the menu did not appeal to us last time it is £20 or £25 each I think. The Beachhouse this is one side of the self-service restaurant that becomes a waiter service restaurant between 6.30 and 9.30 and is very popular. There is no cover charge but you pay extra for some items on the menu etc if you want fillet steak or lobster that was about £5 last time I think or choose items that have no charge. Again if the restaurant is full you will be issued a pager and buzzed when one is available we usually eat here 2 or 3 times when on Ventura. The menu is posted outside the door but is mainly steak, fish, sizzling plates of chicken, prawn with noodles etc

Bars and Entertainment
For a sophisticated drink go to the Metropolis right at the top of the ship during the day the views are amazing and in the evening it is a nice place for a pre dinner drink. They have a video wall that shows views from different cities each night so one night you are in London the next Sydney!
There are (I think) 12 bars onboard, some busy and with entertainment going on some quiet so you need to find one that suits
There are theatre style shows in the evenings a resident band, a pianist, comedians you will receive a daily ships newspaper The Horizon that tells you what is on where and at what time
The dress code for Ventura for two-week Caribbean cruises is usually 4 formal nights where a dinner suit for men and evening or cocktail dress for women is worn. These nights tend to be sea day evenings the first one is normally the captains’ cocktail party and a gala dinner. People gather in the atrium where you are offered a drink and the ships officers mingle you will have an invite and suggested time in your cabin on arrival, we have only ever attend once though. The formal dress code is well adhered to and does give a special atmosphere throughout the ship, the other nights are smart casual where a jacket is not required.


Tipping there is a suggested amount P&O give in the brochure, we give our cabin steward between £40- £50 for a 2 week cruise, as we are on freedom dining about £25 each is charged to our onboard account for the dining room waiters. If you are club dining an envelope is left in your cabin on your last evening for you to tip your dining room waiter as the same one or two will have served you the entire cruise and they divide the gratuities, again the suggested amount is about £50 for a two week cruise (for both of you) but who and what you tip is really up to you. You do not need to tip drinks waiters as they receive a small percentage of the cost of your drink. (Tipping has now changed to being automatically added to your onboard account since April 2012)

On your last night your first suitcase is collected when you go to dinner and your other collected just before you go to bed you will not see them again until you reach the luggage carousel in the UK so you will only have your hand luggage etc for your last day onboard.
As you have to leave your cabin by 9am we normally book a day cabin for our last day as we walk into Bridgetown and go to the beach for a last swim. Passengers on flights to Birmingham don’t usually leave the ship until 3 or 4 in the afternoon, so we can leave our ‘going home’ clothes and have a shower in our day cabin before leaving the ship and being transferred to the airport. Some people just stay onboard, use the ships facilities and wait for their flight and transfer to be called. There are showers in the Spa and there is a room where you can leave hand luggage if you need it. You attend immigration onboard so when you get to the airport you can go straight to security and go through to departures you will receive details for all of this onboard.

Have a fantastic cruise and hope you have a great time, there is one problem though there is a real danger you can get hooked on it!! Our cruise in March will be our 15th!!



A little about some of the ports of call

St Maarten

Port:
Catch the water ferry ($6 for an all day wristband last year) to the beach from the cruise terminal. Great place we have always stayed in the bay so can’t comment on the island. It is very American lots of nice bars and the place to buy duty free, jewellery. Sunbeds and brollies on the beach usually in front of the beach bars so someone comes out and you pay them (I think it was $10 for 2 beds last yr) then they will run back and forward if you want drinks or snacks!





Antigua

Port:
The first time we came here it rained!! So we didn’t go anywhere but walked around the town and had coffee. There are a few nice arty shops if you like that as well as the usual touristy ones quite a nice place for a wander.
We have also been kayaking here out in the mangrove swamps! Also visited one off the small islands on the Atlantic side of Antigua, Bird Island the sea is very rough on that side not for the faint hearted. It is a very beautiful island so probably a good island to go out and about there are the English Harbour and Nelsons Dockyard, which are popular places to visit. If you are a cricket fan there is a cricket tour you and do which visits the test ground and you meet one of the Caribbean cricket stars. We have used the local taxi’s here but do look after your belongings, as this is where our youngest son ‘lost’ or had stolen his iphone. Please don’t be put off by this, as 99% of the people on the islands are friendly. On our last visit here we went on the Crusoe Island excursion this was fantastic, about 40 people on their own island for the day open bar, music and lunch thoroughly recommend if you are a beach bum.

Dominica

Port:
There is a warehouse where the ship docks, the locals set up a market there so ok for a wander. The town is about a 20-minute walk away not very much there though. We have also docked right in Road Town right in front of the local market depends if there are two ships in port.

We have done the Arial Tram in the rain forest here I liked it. (OH fell asleep! had to nudge him in case the guide spotted him!) Great for seeing the rainforest, plants, trees and I did see hummingbirds. We have also been river tubing here twice we loved it but only great for those who love the water and getting wet. Tried the tubing on the Pagua River in the Carib territory but the journey there and back is very long and over very poor roads so if tubing on the Layou river is available this is a much better option.
We have also visited the waterfalls here and then went to a black sand beach for a couple of hours. Not an island for beaches it is a very much a tropical rainforest island with small narrow roads, mountains and valleys you do need to get out of the port to experience it but I would probably always do a ship excursion here due to the roads and terrain if you are late back on a ship tour the ship will always wait for you!

Barbados

Port:
The actual cruise terminal has lots of shops etc but walk (about 15mins) or taxi it to Bridgetown a lot more here. As far as beach you could get a taxi to Malibu on Brighton Beach ($20 return for the four of 5 years ago) it is about 10 mins from the ship and for about $5 you can have a tour of the distillery and There are beds and a bit of shade on the beach it is an absolutely beautiful beach
If you take a taxi anywhere on most islands you only pay the driver when he returns to take you back to the ship just give yourselves plenty of time to get back before the time they want you back onboard. There are lots of things to see and do in Barbados depending on whether you are beach fans, like the fauna and flora things or getting out on the water. My favourite time here was on a catamaran sailing down the coast stopping at Sandy Lane beach then out to a reef to swim with turtles. Most times here though we just walk into Bridgetown then out the other side onto Carlisle Bay for a swim and a beer. (check it out on Google earth)

St Lucia
We have always gone out here, there are two cruise terminals the one on the right side of the bay does not have much, on the left side it is much better with shops and bars. Lots of taxi’s offering trips
We have visited Pitons and the volcano. The last couple of times we have got a taxi to Wharf Bar on Choc beach. There is a small Sandals resort at one end but it is quite quiet there is never that many people there. We did go and have a look at Reduit Beach where all the taxi drivers try and take you, it was packed and so busy we got straight back in the taxi and went back to Choc Beach! Unfortunately now this beach is only half as lovely as our first visit as during the rainy season a river flows out into the bay, and a lot of sand and palm trees have been washed away. For a first timer in St Lucia I would probably visit the Pitons and the volcano whether you do it in an organised excursion or take one of the local taxi’s maybe share with someone else from the ship.

Aruba
On our first visit here our friends got married so our day was spent at their wedding! We did go to a beautiful beach for photos after it is an island much like Barbados of white powder sand beaches and resort hotels. Our second visit last year we caught the local bus to Eagle beach only about 2½ US dollars return for both of us! The sunbeds and straw umbrella cost us over $20 on the beach and a couple of beers were expensive at $6 dollars each though.

Bonaire
Again only been here once went to a coral beach for snorkelling as the reef is very close to the shore amazing for this as this island is one of the top dive sites in the world. We walked off the ship in the afternoon, as there is a small market and craft stalls set up on the quayside.

Grand Turk
This is an island set up specifically for cruise ships. Right off the ship is a cruise terminal with shops bars swimming pool etc. The beach/pool has sunbeds and brollies that are free to use. You can walk in to Coburn town along the beach I believe we may try this in March when we are there. There is a small museum dedicated to the space race as they used this area for splash down during some of the Apollo missions. It was also a missile station during the cold war, and used as a base to keep an eye on Cuba during the 50’s and 60’

[Romig1]

That's useful information, Juscruisin.

Just a quick question re the Beach House.... some people have said that it is not possible to book a table there, but when we went there last year (only on a mini-cruise) we were asked if we had a reservation!

Any ideas?

[Juscrusin]

They do not take reservations we tried!! They allocate tables on a first come first serve basis but a handy tip is to go down early before 7pm and ask for a table if they are busy we usually end up with a pager for later in the evening, if they are not too busy and offer a table straightaway we call back for a later table.

[karenandbob]

That's useful information, Juscruisin.

Just a quick question re the Beach House.... some people have said that it is not possible to book a table there, but when we went there last year (only on a mini-cruise) we were asked if we had a reservation!

Any ideas?

Hi Romig,

We have just come back off of Ventura and we used the Beach House 2 or 3 times as we were on for a month. It is true that you cant book a table, but people start queuing from abot 6.30p.m., they start with the people who want to eat straight away and then work their way round the clock, so for instance when they get to 7.30 they will ask if there is anyone who wishes to eat at that time and give them a pger, it works quite well and we were always paged before the time we had requested. Hope this is helpful to you, the food is very good in there as well as the service.