Christmas Comes to Ventura

We have been on Ventura since lunchtime yesterday. It was raining earlier, but this afternoon there are glimpses of sunshine on the horizon.

Ours is just a 3 day mini-cruise with friends, so it was great that we could get onboard really early. We arrived at Mayflower Terminal yesterday just after 11.30 am for a 12.30 pm check in and were sent straight to the priority desk. In fact, embarkation was so swift, that by midday we were sitting in the Cinnamon restaurant with a complimentary glass of champagne and a plate of hot food. I didn’t even have time to take my usual photographs.  I’m afraid you will have to imagine the P and O check-in staff all wearing their Santa hats, apparently an obligatory addition to their dress code from yesterday until after Christmas.

Cruise ships look lovely when dressed in their festive finery, and Ventura is no exception.

The main Atrium is twinkling with lights.

A variety of Christmas trees are to be found in all public spaces.

I rather like this one, colour matched to the décor in the Epicurean Restaurant.

Today is a sea day. The sea is remarkably calm, and Ventura has been making a large navigational loop to prevent us reaching Zeebrugge too early.

There has been plenty of time to wander round the ship. This morning there was an onboard festive market in the Atrium. I found nothing remarkable in the Christmas selection, but it seemed to attract a fair few shoppers.

I eventually returned to our cabin empty- handed.

Although we have cruised many times with P and O, and once before on Ventura, this is our first time in a P and O suite, (thus the priority embarkation). We just wanted to try out a suite, and 3 days seemed a good way to do so without breaking the bank, so in my next blog post, I will include some ‘suite’ photos, and a bit more about the 'suite' experience. For today, I leave you with a photo of the last remaining treats from the plate which our butler delivered to our cabin prior to dinner. I think they may have disappeared by tomorrow.....

     

   

For more details about Claire's Writing go to www.clairebaldry.co.uk

Different Genes
A Novel by Claire Baldry


Simply Modern Life
A Poetry Booklet of Amusing Poetry
by Claire Baldry

Delay Repay (Journey from Bexhill to Southampton)

Many great philosophers have asserted that our journeys through life are more important than the destinations. This is a belief which I largely embrace. However, when you strip away the metaphor and examine the day to day practicalities, the philosophy tends to wobble. I am talking, of course, about Southern Rail.

But before I embark on a travel weary rant, I think I should confess that I am an ardent supporter of public transport, especially the railways. This is not only because I think it is good for the planet. I also enjoy travelling by train.......at least I did. It would be great if my status as a train lover somehow conferred travel privileges, but it doesn’t. My hometown of Bexhill sits in an exclusively Southern Railway network. I suffer with the rest of my fellow passengers.     

There are, of course, some positives. The coastal route from Ashford to Southampton is very scenic, something I have blogged about before. And, compared to travel into London, it’s relatively inexpensive.  My Tesco points are quite sufficient to convert into tickets for most of the longer rail journeys I undertake, though perhaps this says more about my shopping habits than it does about my travel needs.

So, clutching our £17-25 railcard reduced off peak returns, yesterday Chris and I set off to Bexhill Station for a trip to Southampton to visit family and take a short cruise with friends.
 As always, the journey was planned for ease as well as speed. With just one change needed at Brighton, we envisaged an enjoyable start to our break, and imagined ourselves enjoying our picnic and two small bottles of wine on the train to Southampton.

Alas, our train to Brighton was cancelled, apparently due to over-running engineering works. Not a big problem, we were told, because we could catch the slightly later train to Eastbourne and still make our connection. In reality this proved impossible because to catch the Brighton connecting train we would need to disembark at Hampden Park and climb the steps of the footbridge to cross the line. This would be difficult enough on a good day, but for Chris, an older passenger with a visual impairment and two suitcases, it would be impossible. Now I come to mention it, why haven’t they installed a lift at Hampden Park? It’s a really busy interchange.

So we travelled on to Eastbourne, by this time beginning to bond with our fellow, long suffering passengers. There is nothing like a common enemy to encourage us Brits out of our usual reticence and into enthusiastic moaning conversation.

“I’m on my way to Manchester” explained a middle aged lady. “My ticket cost over £100.”

 “Well at least you’ll get your money back, or some of it” I replied “if your delay is over 30 mins”. 

“On Southern Rail, the partial refunds start at 15 mins delay” added a young man. And I began to wonder whether anyone on Southern Rail actually travelled without being eligible for a refund. It was then that one of the station staff told us that ice on the line had caused earlier delays. We resisted the temptation to mention that it was November, a time of year when ice might have been anticipated. Finally our train from Eastbourne to Brighton appeared. The tannoy then announced delays between  Lewes and Brighton due to animals on the line. “Probably stick insects” mumbled a fellow passenger with the great British humour which we seem to prefer to formal complaints.

We climbed aboard our train to Brighton. The Onboard Supervisor (formerly known as a guard) proudly announced that the train would arrive in Brighton on schedule….but not of course my schedule. By the time we reached Brighton we had missed our connection and had to wait 40 mins for the next train to Southampton. We ate our picnic in the cold November temperatures on a bench in Brighton Station.

Eventually we found ourselves sitting on the Southampton train. After an announcement about a short delay due to signalling problems we were on our way, finally arriving in Southampton some 62 minutes later than planned ..... but with the anticipation of a £17-25 refund.                   

Delay Repay



To find out more about Claire Baldry visit www.clairebaldry.co.uk

Different Genes
A novel
by Claire Baldry

Simply Modern Life
A lighthearted booklet of poetry
by Claire Baldry

Bits And the Poet Go Travelling AGAIN

Just over a year ago, Chris and I returned home from an eventful cruise on Arcadia. The combination of outrunning a hurricane and a broken propeller severely cut down the number of ports we actually visited on our USA and Canada cruise.

There were, of course, highlights, such as our wonderful sailaway from New York.

However, despite the considerable cruise credit we were given in compensation, we did feel the need for a break from cruising for a while. In reality we have travelled very little since then. Our travel budget for much of 2018 was consumed by my daughter's marriage and our new bathroom......in both cases, money well spent.
But if, like us, you enjoy a bit of travel, you'll know that the 'stay at home' desire is very short lived. A few of our social group announced that they were going on a mini-cruise this November. Well we couldn't let them go without us, now could we? And once I started looking at the P&O cruise website, I felt the need to book a second cruise, then a third, oh and yesterday I booked a fourth in 2020.
Sorry, kids, looks like your inheritance will take another hit, but we can promise to show you lots of digital photos of sunsets.

I bet you can't wait.
And then there's my travel blog......yes the blog I finished 'forever' at the end of 2017; the one that got thousands of hits because the ship broke down, and people were curious.  Like a phoenix I have lifted it from the ashes.
In less than a month we will be on Ventura for three nights, for a little festive trip to Zeebrugge, and I feel the need to blog as we go. The last time I went to Zeebrugge in November, we spent an extremely chilly afternoon in Blankenburg.

I think the temperature may be similar this time, but the addition of good friends and a not inconsiderable amount of wine feels very promising.
So that's all for today, just a little taster to get me back into the travel blog habit. With further cruises on Ventura, Azura and Aurora already booked until mid 2020, you can expect to see the blog popping up from time to time. I'll see you on the train to Southampton.......

     

www.clairebaldry.co.uk