Cruise ship Ventura photos and update

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.

Profile and Photo Tour of P&O Cruises' Azura

This week the focus is on Azura, P&O Cruises’ latest ship. Azura is 115,000 gross tons and entered service last Spring.

What I like best about Azura is the innovation. The ship is based on a tried and true design - - the design that debuted with Grand Princess and which has been used with refinements in nine subsequent ships. In 2008, P&O purchased its first Grand-class ship, the Ventura, and while that ship has proven successful, P&O has not merely cloned that ship but has continued to develop the design.

The most striking example of innovation is the introduction of staterooms for the single or solo traveler. While the ships of the ocean liner era almost always had single cabins, in recent years, the cruise ship industry has shunned them; arguing that they do not produce as much revenue per square foot of space as double occupancy cabins. As I have written previously, the math does not support that argument but nonetheless it was the common wisdom in the industry.

The net result was that solo travelers were left to pay a single supplement so that they could occupy a double cabin single occupancy. Sometimes the supplement ranged up to 100 percent of the per person double occupancy rate. This created a disincentive for solo travelers to cruise.

Yet, cruising is a great method of travel for solo travelers. People are open and friendly on a cruise and so a solo traveler does not have the isolation that he or she would face staying at a hotel. At the same time, a solo traveler has the freedom to choose whether he or she will go off on his or her own or take an organized excursion in the ports of call.

Recognizing that solo travelers are a natural for cruising, P&O included a series of inside and outside singe cabins on the Azura. These have sold quite well and generally speaking are booked quite far in advance. (Interestingly, NCL also recognized the importance of solo cruisers at about the same time and included a large number of single cabins on Norwegian Epic, which entered service shortly after Azura. I am told that Royal Caribbean is also thinking of adding single cabins to its ships as they go through their scheduled refits).

In addition to the single cabins and other physical innovations, Azura has a somewhat different style than Ventura. Both are large family-friendly ships. However, P&O has styled Azura to meet the tastes of people who have enjoyed cruising on P&O’s more traditional cruise ships. The idea is to give the traditional cruiser the features of a mega-cruise ship.

All of the P&O ships have a unifying atmosphere. However, the line shuns the notion that one size fits all and there is considerable variety across the fleet. I am pleased to see that P&O has continued this philosophy with Azura.

The Beyondships profile of Azura is at http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Azura-Profile.html and the multi-page photo tour of the ship begins at http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Azura-Tour-1.html

Talking about Single Cabins and Talking with the Senior Officers of Ventura

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

New Photos and Information about P&O Cruises' Ventura

When I was in England, I had the opportunity to revisit P&O’s Ventura. This ship went into service in 2008 and was at the time the largest cruise ship dedicated specifically for the British market. The onboard atmosphere is designed to appeal to contemporary British tastes in the décor, entertainment dining and activities. Accordingly, Ventura attracts primarily British passengers and those who enjoy the British lifestyle.

The ship itself is a sister ship to Princess Cruises’ Grand class ships and is the fulfillment of a long-held desire for the line. P&O used to be the owner of Princess Cruises and seeing how successful the Grand Princess was for its subsidiary, P&O long planned to add one to its fleet. It even went so far as to place an order for one with Fincantieri but it always made more sense strategically to allocate these ships to Princess. Indeed, the one that was first ordered for P&O became Caribbean Princess.

Now with two years of service under her belt, Ventura has shown that the Grand-class works in the British market. As a large ship, she is able to give holidaymakers an array of choices in activities, dining and entertainment. While she has many of the features of her Princess sisters, she is not a mere clone. The décor, while contemporary, is slightly more subdued. The specialty restaurants are geared more toward the British palate.

I took Ventura from Southampton up into the Norwegian fjords. The scenery there is most spectacular with tall mountains rising thousands of feet up from the water’s edge. It is also a varied cruise involving calls in remote villages and calls in cities. I have posted a photo essay showing Ventura in some of these spots. http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Ventura-Norway.html

I have also updated and expanded the Beyondships’ profile and photo tour of Ventura. In addition to numerous new photos, there are new daily programs, menus, and more information about the ship. The profile page is at http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Ventura-Profile.html and the photo tour begins at http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Ventura-Tour-1.html There is also a new page of photo tour that focuses on the ship’s main galley. http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Ventura-galley.html

Ventura - - Designed to be British

For ten years, ships of the Grand Princess-class have been the mainstay of the Princess Cruises fleet. There are now eight Princess ships based on this design in service and another one will join the fleet in the fall. They have proved very popular and conducive to Princess’ objective of providing passengers with “American-style luxury.”

This year, for the first time, a ship built on the Grand Princess design went into service for a line other than Princess Cruises. The other line was Princess’ one time parent company and now sister company under the Carnival Corporation umbrella, P&O Cruises. Moreover, while the previous ships have been used to provide American style cruising, Ventura was built specifically for the British market.

What exactly does designing a ship for Britain mean? Is it posting a picture of the Queen in the atrium and having everything else remain the same as on the Princess ships? Is it decorating the public rooms in British cliches like an English gentleman’s club or a Cockney pub? Neither.

Instead, it means creating an atmosphere that appeals to British tastes. The interior design is done in a contemporary style but there is no neon or theme park-type decoration. Some seven thousand works of art done by British artists or artists living and working in Britain adorn the ship. Thus, the atmosphere is more restrained and intellectual.

The themes of the public rooms reflect places British people like to go. For example, many U.K. residents like to holiday in Spain. Accordingly, there is a large Spanish-style restaurant and bar. British cruisers are not as interested in casinos as their American cousins, so the casino is smaller and more low-key.

Differences in the climate are also taken into account. It is normally cooler and rainier in Britain than in America. Therefore, it makes sense for a cruise ship operating in British waters to have a retractable glass dome over one of the swimming pools. For the same reason, a large movies-under-the-stars screen is not as attractive for such a ship as for a ship operating in American waters.

Walking around Ventura, I was continually struck by the differences between this ship and her American sisters. Yes, the floor plan is much the same. However, P&O have successfully taken that floor plan and geared it toward the market it serves, i.e., the British cruise market. Thus, while Ventura is a sister to the other Grand class ships, she is not a mere clone. Rather, she is a ship with a distinct personality.

My photo tour of Ventura is at http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Ventura-Tour-1.html and the ship profile is at http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Ventura-Profile.html