This week the focus is on P&O
Cruises' Ventura as we update Beyondships' section on Ventura with
new pages devoted to menus and daily programs. In addition, there
are two new photo essays: one showing Ventura sailing from St. Kitts
and one showing her with Emerald Princess.
Ventura is very much targeted to the
UK market. Thus, the cruise experience is tailored toward British
tastes. It is not British in the way that foreigners think of
Britain but rather a lifestyle that people in modern day Britain
enjoy.
Within that framework, Ventura is
somewhat less traditional compared to her sister ship, P&O's
Azura. She is somewhat more relaxed and more activity minded but
still more formal than most North American-oriented lines.
Outwardly, Ventura looks very much
like the Grand class ships operated by Princess Cruises. This
surprised many passengers on a cruise that I was on recently when
Emerald Princess docked along side of Ventura. Here, we were next to
a ship that looked identical to our Princess ship but which was not a
Princess ship. Many speculated - - incorectly - - that Ventura must
have at one time been a Princess ship.
Ventura was in fact the fulfillment of
P&O's long held ambition to operate a Grand class ship for the
British market. Prior to its merger into Carnival Corporation, P&O
owned Princess Cruises. The Grand class design was developed in
those days. For business reasons, P&O allocated all of its Grand
class ships to its highly successful Princess subsidiary. At one
point, it ordered a Grand class ship for itself but then upon further
consideration decided to allocate that ship to Princess as well. In
2008, with the financial resources of Carnival behind it, P&O's
ambition was fulfilled with the entry of Ventura into service - - the
largest Grand class ship yet built (by a thousand or so gross tons),
Our photo essay of Ventura together
with Emerald Princess in St. Kitts shows just how similar the two
ships are on the outside.
http://www.beyondships2.com/ventura-emerald-princess.html
Later that day, just as the sun was
setting, Ventura sailed from St. Kitts. This was a beautiful sail
away as the sky was a mixture of blue sky and heavy tropical clouds.
There were rainbows and the light gave the ship a golden tint. Our
photo essay (including a video) is at
http://www.beyondships2.com/ventura-sails-from-st-kitts.html
As mentioned above, we also have a new
dedicated menus page http://www.beyondships2.com/ventura-menus.html
and a new daily programs (programmes) page.
http://www.beyondships2.com/ventura-daily-programs.html
These should be helpful if you are thinking of a cruise on Ventura or
if you just want to see what is happening on Ventura.
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