John Heald - 2 day Adventura

Hello Everyone,

What a great honour for me to welcome the most  famous blogger in the Cruise ship world to this blog!  John Heald is Senior Cruise Director for Carnival in the US, although he is proud to be British himself.

John kindly asked me to write an article for his blog some time back. John and his family have just come off the two day party cruise - which our blog fan Elaine (auroabore)  was also on!

Here is John's report on his cruise...................................





Heidi, Kye and I got to experience why P&O Cruises is Great Britain’s favourite cruise line when we sailed on Ventura for 2 days. And………….here she is.




This was a 2-day cruise and the demographics were truly representative of every generation. Believe it or not there are still British people who think that cruising is just for people of 70-plus and their parents. One of the stereotypes that go along with this misconception is the image of the nearly dead playing shuffleboard on deck before they have a cup of cocoa and take their afternoon nap.

That image is slowly being eradicated and shuffleboard has been replaced with activities in the form of the Circus School located on the top open deck at the aft part of the vessel. This involves a circus trampoline set where passengers are strapped to a harness and with views of the Med or the Caribbean bounce, somersault and generally have fun.

The ship is simply stunning and has a wonderful “at home” feeling about it. The decor is that of something that would not look out of place on the front cover of Country Living or Homes & Garden with just the right amount of traditional P&O Cruises traits with the latest groundbreaking technology.

The lobby reminded me of a 5-star boutique hotel oozing with comfortable sofas and chairs which are highlighted by sleek mood lighting. It was therefore no surprise that many passengers used this as a place to relax and read as they sank into the over sized sofas and enjoyed a cocktail or a crapafrapacino and scone and cream from the coffee bar.

Ventura has been designed to maximise the public space to the full. I know I keep banging on about comfortable seats but it is a pet hate of mine. You can have the most up to date lounge brimming with plasma screens and gadgets galore but if the chairs are as uncomfortable as using sandpaper instead of toilet paper…..what’s the point..…Ventura’s lounges are some of the very best I have seen on any ship. Take Ramblas…..designed around the famous cosmopolitan centre of Barcelona, complete with tapas, paella and huge jugs of Sangria.

There is a British pub, the gorgeous Metropolis Bar which has the most perfect views of the sea and so many public spaces and lounges that I have to say, 2 days was not enough time to explore them all. Smoking is not permitted inside any areas of the ship including passenger staterooms. Smoking is, however, allowed on stateroom balconies and on certain areas of the open deck.

Us Brits love to eat as my beach ball stomach shows and the food on Ventura is both varied and brilliant. There are 11 restaurants in all, including four reserved for family dining, and the service was superb. There are early and late dining options as well as freedom dining. The first night Heidi, Kye and I ate in the dining room and being adventurous I had the roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding.

Now I am not just saying this but honestly, next to my Mum’s, this was as good as I have ever eaten. Yorkshire Pudding is supposed to be big and fluffy but many restaurants make it as flat as Kate Moss’ chest. P&O Cruises makes a brilliant Yorkshire Pudding and the traditional pass around service made it extra special.

Heidi had the salmon which she said was excellent but reserved her highest praise for the sticky toffee pudding which she described as………. mmmmmmmmmmm …………and with a glint in her eye asked Ronald the waiter from Goa for some more. He obliged bringing her an even bigger portion...

The second night we ate at the Pan Asian restaurant called East. There is a small surcharge for this as in most cruise ship speciality restaurants and for me, the meal here was simply divine. East serves a wonderful mix of spicy food from India, Thailand and beyond in the most relaxing and inviting environment.

The ship is bristling with activities and I have to say that probably one of the most impressive areas were those designed for the kids and teens. These are broken up in the usual age brackets with special rooms reserved for the youngest to the teens. However, there were two areas where I came away thinking……this is just brilliant. Along with the regular dining rooms and East there are two more dining areas. The first has a menu designed by one of the UK’s most famous celebrity chefs, Marco Pierre White, whose reputation as one of the most adventurous chefs in the world has made his restaurants the place to be and to be seen. The same can be said for his restaurant on Ventura which again has a small surcharge…….but it’s the price of an appetiser in land based eateries and the food is spectacular.

Chef White has also gone into partnership with the famous jockey (that’s horses not music) Frankie Dettori and they have a brilliant pizzeria and ice cream parlour on one of the open decks..….no charge here except to the tailor who you will have to pay to loosen your trousers.

British people still holiday as a family, it remains a strong tradition here which is why P&O Cruises truly are Britain’s favourite cruise line and kids…….well they are in holiday heaven. First of all there is a huge open deck space……just for teens. This included a life size chess set and other games as well as music and most importantly a place just to “hang” with other people away from Mum and Dad and hopefully to experience that first kiss.

However, the scene stealer was a room where parents can leave children aged 6 months and up while Mum and Dad enjoy a romantic dinner free from crying and being puked on. The room the highly trained staff do this in was just beautiful especially the little beds with the child’s name written above them….…..this was the first time I had heard of a cruise line accepting babies and I know for many parents this is one of the deciding factors when they book. Other lines could and should learn from this.

One thing is for sure…….on Ventura…..the kids are in a safe paradise all of their own and the facilities are quite simply………right up there with the best I have ever seen.

While the kids are having fun Mum and Dad are enjoying world-class shows and entertainment with three different shows a night at three different performance times. This is very clever scheduling and means that passengers always have multiple choices on what they want to see. Shows include lavish productions, comedians and on the second night of our cruise The Four Tops performed. Now I don’t know if they were the original Four Tops but who cares, they were brilliant and the Brits loved them.

Time is running out on this blog thingy and there is so much I still need to mention from the amazing spa complete with all the usual suspects plus new treatments designed to pamper you and relax you like never before. There is the beautiful art gallery…..no auctions on this ship ….…. just a very cool and relaxing way to walk among works of art and if you see one you like …………..you buy it. …………………very impressive.

Something else that impressed me was that the captain during his welcome aboard announcement described the voyage as “a party cruise.” This surprised me because the word party, quite incorrectly, has been associated with bad people doing bad things. But P&O Cruises were not afraid to call it that and there was nobody doing naughty things to each other on the middle of Lido deck and no outrageous behaviour.

There were people just………..well………..ummm….. partying or to put it another way, celebrating …………and yes…………….dare I say it…………….they were having fun. Look, I know that I have no right to call myself a travel writer just as Charlie Sheen has no right to entertain at a children’s party. However, I do know ships a bit and what works and P&O Cruises use of the words “party cruise” on this particular voyage described it perfectly. Oh and one more thing here. The last night of the cruise was formal dress code………on a 2-day cruise. When the girls and I left the cabin that night I thought that very few would be dressed formally but boy was I wrong. Not only was every ……. yes every passenger dressed formally but they were dressed formally properly. There were more tuxedos than I have seen in many years and the ladies all had beautiful dresses on. There were no free drinks to entice them to do this. Nope, the programme said “formal dress” and that’s exactly what happened……..everyone dressed formally. Now you know me, I am not a big fan of dress codes but here, on Ventura, it made sense and the ship looked even more splendid for them doing so.

Here are a few random photos as taken by my Mrs.

I know that most of my North American friends won’t get to sail on a P&O Cruises holiday so the final message then goes to my British blog readers. Life is simply too short to put up with traffic jams and cr*p hotels. You work hard. You only get one summer holiday a year. So go on, get your bottom on a P&O Cruises holiday……..because life is simply too short. Go on, book now, you deserve it and if for no other reason…………to try the best Yorkshire Pudding this side of my Mum’s kitchen.

Goodnight.

Your friend,
John

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Many thanks to John for your blog on our great ship Ventura.  If you want to read more of John's adventures, you can find him on http://www.johnhealdsblog.com/.

Well I best get myself busy again on the blog as I need to write up San Francisco and Acapulco. As I type we have just sailed out of the delightful Mexican port of Huatulco. The weather is perfect and everyone is back in 'holiday mode' after the cold days surrounding San Francisco. Thank you for all your Birthday Wishes - it was a most memorable day and one I will look back on for a long time to come!

Best wishes meantime.
James.

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