Tom Burke’s Blog

   

 

 

 

Ventura at La Coruna

We were booked on a walking excursion around La Coruna, starting mid-morning and lasting until lunchtime. This was good, both interesting and informative. The guide was a native of La Coruna, and in his talks he took great pains to describe the links between Galicia & La Coruna and the British Isles, both in earlier times – he talked a lot about Galicia’s celtic heritage and its connections with other parts of the Celtic fringe such as Ireland, Wales and Brittany – and also connections with England and the UK in subsquent centuries, for example the period around the Armada, and the Napoleoni wars. There’s not much in La Coruna that’s actually really old – it’s been sacked on a number of occasions – but the town certainly seemed pleasant and certainly the views across the harbour were good.

We returned to the ship at 1 o’clock and went to the Waterside buffet for lunch. Once again, there was no real problem finding seats, and service seemed good.

After sitting on our balcony for an hour – we were on the sunny & sheltered side – and getting quite warm, we headed off to do some more exploring. We found the Oasis pool, the gym and the spa, and various other facilities located high up and forward. What we also found, and were quite suprised about, was several decks of lounger-space. I think that there is open deck space as high as deck 18 – that’s three decks higher than the main pools. Obviously these aren’t complete decks, but because there’s isn’t anything else on them except open space, they provide a lot of room for loungers. I’m surprised therefore by all those complaints that the decks are crowded. Yes, it is busy around the pools (where, to be fair, you also have hot & cold running waiters), but just go a couple of decks higher and there will probably be lots of space. We ended our exploration at Breakers Bar and drank a Perrier each before heading back to the balcony to catch some more rays before the sailaway.

[Later]

The sailaway was very windy and cold – during the afternoon the wind had picked up considerably, out of the north, and on Deck 15 and higher it was definitely chilly. Coming out of La Coruna the ship turns 180 degrees so what starts as the sunny and sheltered side ends up as the windy and shady side. We stood on the port side – shady & windy at the start – and hoped it  would get warmer as we turned. Well, we got sunny, but not really any warmer. The sailaway party was pretty much over by 6:20 and everyone was streaming below decks. But the views into La Crouna bay were attractive, and the north Galician coast west of La Coruna was beautiful and memorable.

That’s it for today – tonight’s a semi-formal evening so we’re getting ready for dinner.

Formal dinner tonight, preceded by the Captain’s Reception. We were in the location (Havana Club) that had the captain himself (supported by the Cruise Director) – there was at least one other, simultaneous ‘Captains Reception’ elsewhere in the ship. It was all a bit strange – the CD announced the Captain, the Captain gave his set speech, and then just finished and strode off, followed by the CD. Maybe, in fact, he was hurrying to the other Reception…. but he didn’t take the drink with him so that was OK.

Dinner itself was a good meal. I had pheasant terrine to start, followed by venison with a ‘Haggis Gateau with Neeps’, all of which was actually very rich and tasty. Val had a goats cheese & asparagus mousse-thing, then monkfish & prawn chowder, and a lamb main course; and we washed it all down with a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape. Service was good, and I was especially pleased that when I asked for ‘english cheese & biscuits’ for dessert (which was not on the menu) it was duly provided, complete with apologies that there was only a selection of 4 different cheeses.

Then we repaired to Metropolis for a couple of post prandial drinks – malt whiskies for me, including one (Scapa) I’ve never had before and scarcely ever encountered, and a couple of Pimms Royals for Val. When we returned to our cabin we discovered that Ventura, which had been so steady & stable up until then, had developed an entirely new motion – a sort of ’spinning’ effect. Most strange….

Breakfast this morning has been a careful and restrained affair. Now we have an hour or so to wait before we go ashore for a Historic Walk around La Coruna old town.

 We slept quite well – the cabin had cooled down – but not for long enough, especially as we had to put our watches forward an hour. Breakfast was taken in the Cinnamon restaurant – healthy option for me, ‘full english’ for my wife. Then we walked around the ship and took some pictures; had coffee in Tazzine; and went to a ‘port talk’ about the first three ports of call. This turned out to be mainly a description of the various excursions that would be available, but that was OK as one of the ports, La Coruna, was only put into the itinerary last week and we now know what our choices are. Sitting for a while on a lounger overlooking the Terrace Pool took us handily up to lunchtime which we had in the Waterside buffet (salad, mostly). Then we sat near the Laguna Pool for  while before joining an impromptu gathering of CC posters at 3 o’clock in Metropolis. A drink there followed by a sit by the Laguna Pool again took us to 5 o’clock, at which time we went back to the cabin and sat on the balcony – the sun now having come round to the west. A very pleasant and relaxing day at sea, in fact. The weather has been beautiful, and Bay has been kind to us.

So far we haven’t had any problems getting space, either on the decks or in the buffet, so (on this cruise, so far) our worries about this aspect of Ventura have been groundless. So many other reviews mention this that we were getting quite concerned that this would spoil the cruise. Perhaps it’s the makeup of the passenger list – there are a lot of older passengers, including quite a number in scooters and wheel chairs. There are very few children on board, just 54 or so, and these are almost all babies, toddlers and infants; obviously the fact that it’s term-time has a huge impact. Neil, the CD, came to the Metropolis gathering, and he told us that on one cruise there were 600 children. I think the on-board experience for that cruise must have been different from this one. Certainly on this cruise it’s the internal lounges and spacs that looked busy – the shops were full, as were spaces such as Tazzine and the Red Bar.

Tonight is the Captain’s reception followed by the first Formal Dinner. I’ll report on that tomorrow.

Immediately after writing the first blog entry I went down to the CyberCentre on deck 5 to arrange some internet time. There several packages available; in the end I decided to go for the top package, 250 minutes for £40. (I know, I’m sad.) Doing so gave me a couple of extras: first, there was an embarkation day offer of an extra 20 minutes with that package so I’ve actually got 270 minutes; and secondly, again with that package, I was given a network cable to take back to the cabin, so I can connect my laptop from there, rather than having to haul it down to a wifi spot (basically, the public rooms only).

After arranging that, it was time to get ready for dinner – smart casual was the code for tonight. We’d booked Club Dining, and we’re on a table for 6 in the Bay Tree restaurant. Dinner was at 8:45; some people, including us, had read somewhere that it was at 8:30 but apparently on these first two nights it’s 15 minutes later. So after a bit of hanging around we were in the restaurant. We’re on a table ’round the corner’ on the port side, by a window, which is perfect fine. We met our table companions, two couples living in Peterborough & Oldham respectively, and had a thoroughly pleasant meal – good food and good company. I suppose you couldn’t say the food was ‘gourmet’ but it was tasty, hot when it was supposed to be, and in sufficient quanity without being too much. We left dinner pleasantly full but without feeling stuffed. Then we had a gentle walk round part of the promenade to look at the wake, and then back to cabin for bed.

Tomorrow is a day at sea, but finishing with the Captain’s Reception and a formal dinner. First, though, the clocks go forward – our first port of call (on Tuesday) is in Spain. And the cabin seems quite a bit cooler tonight.

Up early and (after a false start or two) in the car at just after 8:30. An easy relaxed journey with a couple of stops saw us turn into Dock Gate 10 at Southampton at 12:45 or so; we handed the car keys to the CPS people before 1 o’clock; and we were on board by 1:15. Then quickly to Lido deck for a cup of tea and a rest which took us to 2 o’clock and the announcement that the cabins were ready. We found our way to our cabin (C325, starboard-side balcony), dumped our hand luggage and had a preliminary explore. For this first sortie we wandered along deck 7 and quickly checked out the Tamarind Club, Ramblas, The Red Bar, and Havana. After this we definitely felt that a drink was called for, so we went back up to the Lido deck and the Terrace Bar, and enjoyed a beer in the sunshine. Then we explored a bit more of the upper decks – we briefly looked into the White Room, but took rather more time to check out Metropolis. This was followed by a very quick snack in the Waterside, a return to the cabin, the start of unpacking, and then the 4:15 safety drill (quite casually done, I thought – more so than on Oriana in the spring). Then sailaway! – flags flying, and, err, a Max Bygraves sing-along CD. But the afternoon was beautiful; very sunny, warm, and quite still. We started on Deck 15, starboard side (in the sun, you see) then went down to the Promenade deck and saw Hythe Pier and Fawley; then back to the cabin as we slipped past Calshot. Out into the zig-zags with the sun now quite low but still shining, the wind not too strong, and we stayed on the balcony all way past Cowes, and down to Ryde Pier. Strange to think that only a month or so ago we’d been on the pier watching Aurora go past us! Then back into the cabin to finish unpacking.

So, what are my first impressions? Pretty positive, I have to say. The cabin is very good – our first balcony cabin ever, but quite apart from that we like the layout with the walk-in hanging space – definitely the best arrangement we’ve yet encountered. The shower looks pretty minuscule, but I’m sure it will do. Drawer space is OK, if you allow for the shelves near the hanging space. The cabin was very hot when we arrived – the a/c was not really on, and the cabin had been facing the sun most of the day, with the curtains open. It didn’t really cool down until early evening, after we had had the balcony door open for a while. We’ll see that how develops over the days to come.

We haven’t really made use of any of the main public areas yet, but we liked the  the look of Ramblas. The atrium was  bit smaller than we’d expected, but we haven’t really studied it. We liked the buffet areas, which were less busy than we’d expected on embarkation day.

And that’s it for now. Tonight’s dinner is ’smart casual’, and we’re in the Bay Tree (2nd sitting, 8:45). The tomorrow is a sea day, with a formal night. More to follow, tomorrow.

It’s the day before we go on our Canary Isles cruise on P&O’s Ventura. I shall be blogging from the cruise. I hope to give an accounts of each day, and perhaps some pictures as well.

Just to remind you of the itinerary:

Sunday 28/9 – embarkation at Southampton;

Monday 29/9 – at sea;

Tuesday 30/9 – La Coruna (a late change to the itinerary);

Wednesday 1/10 – at sea;

Thursday 2/10 – at sea, arrive at Funchal, Madeira, at around 7pm;

Friday 3/10 – Funchal;

Saturday 4/10 – Tenerife;

Sunday 5/10 – Gran Canaria;

Monday 6/10 – at sea;

Tuesday 7/10 – Lisbon;

Wednesday 8/10 – Vigo;

Thursday 9/10 – at sea;

Friday 10/10 – return to Southampton and disembark.

This time it’s the cruise on Ventura, in just a few days’ time. We got a letter from P&O today explaining that the port authorities at Funchal (Madeira) are worried about congestion. This year is the 500th anniversary of the founding of Funchal, and they have arranged a Tall Ships regatta from Falmouth to Funchal; this is scheduled to finish between 1 October and 3 October, i.e. during our call there. Funchal port authority have now said that there will only be room for one cruise ship per day during that period, and as a result our call on Ventura has been put back 24 hours to 6pm on the 2nd of October. The newly ’spare day’ on the outbound leg has been filled with a call at La Coruna (northern Spain), and to make up for that our call at Lanzarote in the Canaries has been cancelled.

This is a bit of a pity, as I’d much rather go to Lanzarote than La Coruna, especially as we are definitely still calling at Vigo, also in northern Spain, on the way back. Not many cruises call at both ports, usually it’s one or the other. Both are good gateways for the excursion to Santiago de Compostela, the main attraction in north-west Spain, but I’m not sure anyone would want to go there twice in a week or so.

But never mind: we’ll still be on a cruise, the number of ports of call stays the same, and we’ll enjoy it.

A quick update, the first for some weeks – the tickets for our cruise on Ventura have arrived. It’s a 12-night Canary Islands cruise from Southampton, starting at the end of this month. We’re looking forward to it immensely – it’s been a long (non)summer and we haven’t really had a holiday yet.

Why do I describe it as a ‘(non)summer’? Well, the Met Office issued this summary regarding sunshine (in England & Wales) for August:  “The provisional total for the month is 115.9 hours, which is 67% of the 1961-1990 average. Dullest August in series back to 1929. Previous dullest was 1954, when 123.7 hours was recorded.“  Then there’s the rain: the Met Office report for August was like this: “The provisional total for the month is 139.8 mm, which is 154% of the 1961-1990 average.” So it’s been gloomy & wet….. In fact it’s been wet all year: Yorkshire, where I live, has had 140% of average rainfall for the eight months this year to the end of August. We haven’t been walking to the shops, we’ve been paddling. And as for enjoying the new garden we put in last autumn: no chance!

We’re ready for our cruise.