The Dinner Party

Good Day,

It is always nice to have a good photograph to remind you where you would like to be!! This is a great shot of our sister ship and the latest edition to the P&O Cruises Fleet Ventura. The cruise ship was in the port of St Lucia when this was taken. St Lucia is a beautiful Caribbean Island. I like to lunch overlooking the beach at Spinnakers. For the past six winters I have been fortunate to be working on board our ships in the Caribbean. If I were to be living in the UK all year round I would definitely plan for a winter holiday after Christmas and fly off to the sun to join a
P&O Cruises Ship and escape all those dark dreary days of winter. I love to jet ski at Sugar Sugar -Mullan's Beach in Barbados and dine at The Cliff Restaurant where the tables are all perched on the cliff and you can hear to sound of the waves lapping the rocks,the water is turquoise blue and you never know who will be on the table next to you. We once sat beside Bob Monkhouse and Cilia Black!! May is my favourite month to be home with the long hours of day light and all the trees and hedges coming into full bloom.

P&O Cruises specialise in winter holiday's with the ease of chartered flights from regional Airports in the UK. This has the advantage that you can check your baggage in at the airport and have to handle it again until you see it in your cabin. My thanks to another of my good friends and colleague Patrick Harrison who is the Executive Purser on board Ventura. You can always find out all about what our great white SHIPS have to offer on the P&O Cruises Website - http://www.pocruises.com/.

Every ship is a winner in it's own right, they each have their own personality. Passengers always ask me what is my favourite ship and I reply the one I am on. No matter where I am working I have people to look after and see that all is well with them.

It is strange that when you take a train ride or a flight you are not really interested in who the Captain, Chief Technical Officer or the Executive Purser is? On our Ships it is very different as our passengers like to know who is in charge when they are travelling with us, whether it be 7,10,12,14,16,21,30,50,70,90, or 120 days at a time!! For P&O Cruises customers the JOURNEY is important to them.

Let me introduce my spectacular Shop Team.

Neil Buckland – Gift Shop Manager (Kneeling bottom Right) . Karen Hunter – Assistant Shop Manager( Standing top right on Staircase). Neil & Karen work alongside their Piccadilly team of “International Shoppies” (All pictured in the photo) who are all on hand to assist and advise on all shopping requirements during the cruise whether it be polo mints or Gucci! Neil has worked on ships for around 5 years in the retail business & Karen joined Arcadia (her first ship) in April. Karen started off on the Shop Floor however her talent was quickly spotted and she is now Assistant Shop Manager - from ZERO to HERO!! Neil and Karen are thrilled to be on Arcadia & looking forward to the Grand Voyage, and when the shops are closed they enjoy socialising with all the other members of the Ship's Company and Passengers.

Last evening at the Captains Gala Reception it was a new experience for me to have someone unknown come up to me and say "I've read your Blog!", what a compliment, I thought "Yes!! I've made it!". Once the party is finished and everyone proceeds down to The Meridian Restaurant you can feel the buzz, everyone is wondering what their dinner table companions be like and what delightful food will be served. I feel like I'm on the X Factor, I'm escorted to the table by the Restaurant Manager, everyone stands to greet me, we exchange names and greetings then sit down and let the Sancerre (Henri Bourgeois) be served........the dinner party is underway...

Here is another great picture of VENTURA enjoying her naming ceremony at Southampton last April when Dame Helen Mirren, Ventura's Godmother named the ship.

Another busy day in the life of an Executive Purser but I love it. On my way to work today walking along Promenade Deck we were sailing past the Rock of Gibraltar. Tomorrow Arcadia will be arriving into Palma in Majorcia. It is never dull and you never know what a day will bring.

Bye for now,

James.

'Great are the sea, and the heaven; Yet greater is my heart'

Heinrich Heine