Ventura 3 Night Bruges Trip

So last week i was lucky to be invited on board P&O Ventura for their 3 nights Sailing to Bruges and Back.

I arrived at the Port much earlier that my scheduled arrival time, i always like to set off as have a long drive and didn’t want to be late, needless to say i shouldn’t have worried as i was at the Port for about 10am.

Check in had not yet opened but the cafes in the terminal were so allowed me to have a coffee after my Journey.

Check in for luggage opened at 10:45 prompt and i mean 10:45 there were a few customers who had just arrived by car and tried to check their luggage in at 10:43 and were not allowed until 10:45!!!!

Once we had dropped off our bags we headed back into the terminal and checked in, no queues no hassle and was given our boarding card and asked to wait until it was time to board, at about 11:30 we were allowed to go through security and we were on board for about 12oclock.

We headed up to the Lido deck to explore, the great thing about Ventura is it has a retractable room over one of the Pools so perfect for sailing from southampton on a grey and Cold November day.

After wandering about we headed to the Buffet for lunch, the food that is available was good, all your traditional english foods Joints of meet Yorkshire puddings, cold meats, curries etc and what was there was very good but for me lacked the variety you may get on some on the American Brand ships.

Shortly after lunch we headed to our cabin to drop off our things and freshen up. We were staying in a aft inside cabin on deck 10. It was a good size with a large wardrobe space with draws and for the amount of time we spend in the cabin was more than adequate, and as we were to find out later in the cruise also was very comfortable in some quite rough seas.

Later on in the evening we met up with the rest of our group for drinks in the Exchange (The pub) before heading out for Diner. Lucky for us we were treated to the Sindhu Restaurant

“Sindhu showcases the cuisine of twice Michelin-starred Atul Kochhar in spectacular style. Inspired by his Indian heritage and his pioneering menu at his Michelin-starred restaurant Benares in London, Atul celebrates authentic Indian favourites and gives them a British twist. Forget overwhelming spices, Atul’s creations, such as pan-roasted beef tenderloin, spiced mash, garlic spinach purée and masala sauce, champion locally-sourced seasonal ingredients and delicate fusions of flavour. Every dish at Sindhu on Aurora, Arcadia, Azura, Britannia, Oriana and Ventura is prepared and presented by expert chefs, many of whom have been trained by Atul at Benares. The beauty of the food is complemented by Sindhu’s sumptuous interior décor for an experience that delights your senses at every turn.”

i have to say i don’t normally eat in the speciality restaurants but this was very much worth it and will definitely repeat the experience next time i’m  onboard. A pre starter was brought out first an  onion baji which was amazing the only unfortunately  aspect was there was only 1 i could have eaten loads of them. for starter i a spiced chicken and beef for the Main everything was very good quality and cooked to perfection.

After dinner we headed over to watch the Freddie Mercury tribute act which had the ship in full voice until the early hours.

Now as this was a 3 night cruise it was perhaps a little bit livelier than your normal 7 night plus cruise.

The following day we were at sea, the weather wasn’t great and as you can imagine the indoor pool was busy there were also lots of families and kids on board enjoying the facilities. if you didn’t want to be round the pool there were quizzes, dance classes and even a Movie being played in the Theater.

As it was a sea day it was Gala Night and i have to say P&O do seem to be one of the few these days where people go all out and dress up even on these shorter itineraries. I would say the Majority on board were in tuxedo or dark suits and long dresses

Pre dinner drinks at the

In the evening we ate in the Main restaurant, food was good service was ok but it did take a long time to bring the drinks with dinner. Marco Pier white has his signature dishes in the Main restaurant on Gala Night and i opted for the Beef wellington. Although it was good i probably had been spoilt by my experience in sindhu the night before.

After dinner we took in the Main show which didn’t disappoint the show featured well know movies from the 60s to the present day with singing and dancing which get everyone in the mood.

Karaoke to follow and then bed as we had an early start and we finally made it to Bruges.

To follow…….