Getting Ready For A Ventura Adventure!

From our special guest blogger, Danielle Fear, aka, Cruise Miss.

Well there are just 5 more days to go before I join P&O Cruises' Ventura for a 2-week Mediterranean cruise and, after all the sun we have been having in the UK, I can’t wait! (Slogan pun not intended but pretty hard to avoid). The good weather at home always makes me think more about cruising and this time it has made my mind go non-stop about a sunny and warm sail-away.

The last time I sailed out of Southampton on a sunny day was in July 2011. Since then, it has either been pouring with rain or dark. All I want to do is sit on the Lido Deck with a cocktail and feel the sun on my face. It would also be nice to be able to see Southampton and the Isle of Wight as we leave for a change. Recently they have been obscured by fog or it’s been so dark only lights were visible ashore. These little things make a big difference, so someone have a word with Mother Nature for me, please!

With regards to pre-cruise preparation, this time I am failing miserably. I mentioned a few days ago on Twitter I had started packing. What I actually meant was I had removed the luggage labels from my bags that were left on from my Caribbean cruise. I know it’s pitiful, but I keep getting side-tracked by a dozen other things. I will say proudly, though, that yesterday I managed to pack my shoes. That’s it! I am sure I will unpack and re-pack them again between now and Friday but, for the time being, as far as I am concerned they are packed.

One thing I did start and have completed is the printing of all the cruise documents. I suppose that’s because I press buttons and the printer then does all the work. I have my e-ticket, luggage labels, insurance info and coach transfer ticket. Seated neatly on top is my passport so, in that sense, you could say I am all ready to go!

I shall finish this preview by saying I can’t wait to be back on board Ventura. My friend is already having fantasies about the Pizza from Frankie’s and I can’t stop thinking about the Chicken Sizzler with Rice from the Beach House. Usually, I don’t think too much about the food before a cruise but boy do I love that Sizzler dish - and it must be with rice, never with chips.

It’s probably a good thing we only decided to book this cruise 17 days before it sailed. I dread to think the state we would be in by now if we had booked months earlier...!

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