Old Moaner Travel
I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list
Azura and Ventura
Cruise Details:
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Azura: April 2017 3 day mini-cruise to Belgium from Southampton
Ventura: October 2017 11 day Canary Islands cruise from Southampton, August 2019 7 day Norwegian Fjords from Southampton
Azura and Ventura are being included in the same review as they are, more or less, identical ships. The only substantive difference being the Skyscreen on the open deck of Azura for al-fresco big screen viewing.
The two ships were P&O's initial move towards larger ships to get as many passengers on board, although they are now trumped in size by Britannia and the upcoming Iona.
Ventura crams in more passengers with a capacity of 3,597 compared to Azura's 3,096, even though she's slightly smaller, guess which one I prefer?
One feature on P&O ships, which other lines try to copy without success, is the sail away, an on deck party / sing song as you leave moat ports They are somewhat addictive, even if you're a miserable old grouch like me. Even if a sing-a-long doesn't appeal it's great for people watching.
One of the Sail Aways on each cruise, usually the final one, is a Last Night Of The Proms style one with flag waving and favourites like Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory.
On both vessels the majority of cabins have balconies, both have a number of suites including two family suites on each, which get booked very quickly.
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Balconies are not particularly large but comfortable enough for a couple to get away and catch some rays in privacy.
Both ships have two main dining rooms with two sittings each. There are also two additional dining rooms for passengers with Freedom dining, who can choose what time to eat - this is available for passengers who choose the Select Option.
The same menus in all those restaurants they offer five course meals most night, six on the gala nights. If those courses are not enough to sate your appetite you can easily negotiate extra - especially useful if you cannot decide what dessert you want.
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The Buffet is always popular, especially at breakfast time, with a good selection of food, although timing is important as there are often fewer tables than diners at times. People ll usually share a larger table but there are exceptions. On the second Ventura cruise there were two ladies sitting on a table for six. I asked if the other seats were free and they said no. Luckily I managed to find a table nearby and guess what, nobody joined them they just wanted the table for six to themselves.
Both have speciality restaurants, which are sublime, especially Sindhu which offers Indian / British fusion food from Michelin starred chef Atul Kochhar - there is a £15 a head surcharge but it is worth every penny. There are two menus which change once a week so on a longer cruise you can dine there twice and get different menus.
On the first Ventura cruise Kochhar was on-board, supervising the cooking.
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The Epicurian, again on both ships, has Eric Lanlard as the headline chef.
On sea days they serve surreal, but excellent afternoon teas - think High Tea meets Heston Blumenthal and you would be along the right lines. In the evenings the restaurant serves high end British cuisine, with organic meat and fine seafood.
Both ships are family oriented so if you are not a fan of sprogs these ships are best avoided, especially during school holidays. For those with children clubs, segregated by age bands, provide activities for children fro 18 months through to 17.
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On the second Venture voyage I sailed with family who had a 3 year old and 5 year old and they loved the activities and, more often than not, had to be dragged away.
There is a dress code, which is enforced - those who don't want to dress for dinner will have to settle for the buffet on gala nights. Gala nights, two on a seven day cruise, three on the 11 day, stipulate dinner jacket or dark suit with tie for the men, elegant for the ladies. Other evenings are smart casual, which is quite broad but excludes items like ripped jeans and football shirts.
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Drinks are moderately priced and drinks packages are available, although you would need to be a pretty serious drinker to get full value.
There isn't too much hard sell, although it was practicably more pronounced on the latest Ventura cruise.
Also, as discussed in the main P&O review, standards on Ventura had dropped significantly on the last cruise, enough to actually put me off cruising with P&O again.
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