When I sat down with Captain Alistair Clark, Executive Purser David Sheperd and Cruise Director Leon de Ste. Croix, and asked them to talk about Ventura, the word that kept coming up was “choice.” Ventura is designed to offer guests choices so that the guests can shape the cruise experience so that it suits their needs and tastes. This “choice factor” cuts across entertainment, dining, accommodations and activities. The ship is not based upon the principle “one size fits all.”
One also sees this choice factor across the P&O fleet. While some of the major cruise lines seek to have each of their ships resemble each other as closely as possible so as to maintain brand continuity, P&O has a markedly different set of ships. It is not just that the fleet has large, small and medium sized ships, but there are adults-only and family-friendly ships, traditional/more formal ships and contemporary/more casual ships. Again, this allows the passenger to select the cruise experience that is most suited to him or her.
Unifying all of this is an overall P&O flavor and way of doing things. When you step aboard a P&O ship, you know it is a P&O ship.
Our discussion about Ventura is posted at http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Ventura-interview.html
Because Ventura does present an array of dining choices, I thought it would be helpful to write an article that gives an overview of the various dining venues on the ship. To help me on this, I asked Food and Beverage Manager Alasdair Ross to give a brief introduction to each of the venues. That article appears at http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Ventura-dining.html
Changing topics, this year’s crop of new ships includes two ships that have single-occupancy cabins. For the last decade or so, the prevailing attitude in the industry was that single-occupancy cabins were uneconomical and had no place on a modern cruise ship. Every cabin had to accommodate at least two people. As a result, solo travelers had to pay a single supplement that was sometimes twice the per person rate for a double-occupancy cabin.
Now, however, going against this common-wisdom both P&O’s Azura and Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Epic have included some single-occupancy cabins in addition to the typical mix of suites and double-occupancy cabins. Neither line is charging a single supplement for these cabins.
Why did these lines do this and is this the start of something new? I asked several cruise line executives to comment including Carol Marlow, Managing Director of P&O, Dan Hanrahan, President and CEO of Celebrity Cruises and Peter Shanks, Managing Director of Cunard. The article is posted at: http://www.beyondships.com/Cruise-articles-singles.html
One also sees this choice factor across the P&O fleet. While some of the major cruise lines seek to have each of their ships resemble each other as closely as possible so as to maintain brand continuity, P&O has a markedly different set of ships. It is not just that the fleet has large, small and medium sized ships, but there are adults-only and family-friendly ships, traditional/more formal ships and contemporary/more casual ships. Again, this allows the passenger to select the cruise experience that is most suited to him or her.
Unifying all of this is an overall P&O flavor and way of doing things. When you step aboard a P&O ship, you know it is a P&O ship.
Our discussion about Ventura is posted at http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Ventura-interview.html
Because Ventura does present an array of dining choices, I thought it would be helpful to write an article that gives an overview of the various dining venues on the ship. To help me on this, I asked Food and Beverage Manager Alasdair Ross to give a brief introduction to each of the venues. That article appears at http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Ventura-dining.html
Changing topics, this year’s crop of new ships includes two ships that have single-occupancy cabins. For the last decade or so, the prevailing attitude in the industry was that single-occupancy cabins were uneconomical and had no place on a modern cruise ship. Every cabin had to accommodate at least two people. As a result, solo travelers had to pay a single supplement that was sometimes twice the per person rate for a double-occupancy cabin.
Now, however, going against this common-wisdom both P&O’s Azura and Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Epic have included some single-occupancy cabins in addition to the typical mix of suites and double-occupancy cabins. Neither line is charging a single supplement for these cabins.
Why did these lines do this and is this the start of something new? I asked several cruise line executives to comment including Carol Marlow, Managing Director of P&O, Dan Hanrahan, President and CEO of Celebrity Cruises and Peter Shanks, Managing Director of Cunard. The article is posted at: http://www.beyondships.com/Cruise-articles-singles.html
