Off Calshot, can hardly see her

Up The Solent as far as Hythe and appearance on Aurora's webcam

Passing Hythe Pier

From Hythe to passing Aurora at the QEII Terminal

In the turning basin

Et voilà [note Aurora at QEII Terminal in top right image below]

Pam

[ 04-06-2008: Message edited by: PamM ]

But gradually people went down the marina. This weather should have kept the fairweathers away. Grrr! I have a new camera but need two hands to use it and couldn't fight an umbrella too so took my other one only forgot to put the batteries back in the bag. I had no idea how long this would last as I'd used it on Monday and it hadn't been charged. I couldn't zoom or it would conk out so could only get long shots after this of Aurora looking gorgeous as she waited to be polluted.

Then here it came. The worst looking Grand class Princess EVER! And we're getting another in 2010. Nooooooooooooo!!!!!

"UK Outlook for Friday 11 Apr 2008 to Sunday 20 Apr 2008:

Cold showery weather looks set to continue towards the end of next week though with some sunshine between the showers. Over low ground, showers should mainly be of rain, hail or sleet at first, with snow generally becoming confined to northern areas and then to higher ground in Scotland. At low levels, showers will gradually become less wintry later. Where skies become clear and the winds fall light at night locally quite sharp frosts are likely. The unsettled showery conditions are expected to continue through the weekend and into the following week though conditions will gradually become less unsettled, with fewer showers and drier, sunnier conditions becoming more likely. Becoming less cold with temperatures slowly recovering to normal."

Pack the Long Johns

We have seen pictures of her interiors, and those of MSC Poesia and Carnival Splendour; not forgetting IOTS. It's easy for me to put those in order for which I would prefer to sail, and it isn't the same order for exterior views. I will only be getting aboard one of them, who is not first in either line-up, but last in one of them.

Pam

[ 04-06-2008: Message edited by: PamM ]

quote:

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Originally posted by dmwnc1:
Has anyone from this board actually sailed in her yet? SEEN the interiors? The ships looks fine to me. Just my 2 cents.

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quote:

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Originally posted by dmwnc1:
[...] Might as well give her to Pullmantur already. [...]

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quote:

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Originally posted by Linerrich:
Forget the VENTURA, I'm more distressed about the snow in So'ton! I'll be there in less than 2 weeks and this South Florida body hasn't seen snow in almost 30 years! Hopefully the weather will be more Spring-like when QE2 comes into town.

Rich

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Rich,
No snow in 30 years? You need to get out of S. Florida more often! A little cold weather is good for you.

[ 04-06-2008: Message edited by: OceanVoyager ]

It looks to me like they ran short of cash and could not give Ventura a decent looking funnel !

The present funnel looks looks like a mixture of scaffolding poles with pipes sticking out the top and a bit of yellow mesh laying against them.

Who ever designed this mess should be sacked !

I am also not all that keen on the design of the squared off stern.

quote:

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Originally posted by Neil Whitmore ( Bob ):

I am also not all that keen on the design of the squared off stern.

Neil ( Bob )

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Actually the whole after area (from the funnel aft) looks like an after-thought...

quote:

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Originally posted by Jekyll:

Actually the whole after area (from the funnel aft) looks like an after-thought...

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I think this is the outcome when you take a 10 year old design and tweak it over and over again. You lose the original continuity that the designer intended. Mind you this design would never win any exterior beauty contests, but when I look at the original GRAND PRINCESS I see a design that is far more cohesive compared to VENTURA.

I have no doubt all these changes have improved the interior design and flow, but at the expense of the exterior. I think passengers are more concerned about the interior so that is absolutely the priority for ship designers.

quote:

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Originally posted by OceanVoyager:
Hi everyone, well, just thawed out from being in a rather privileged place to see the arrival of Ventura, here are a few of my many photos...

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Excellent images Andrew. Well done!

I'm not sure why we bother to discuss modern ship aesthetics any more. They are all ugly, aren't they? Some are just more ugly than others.

I agree with Ernie - I have never liked the look of the GRAND-class ships, but the original three at least look like someone actually sat down and designed them. Beginning with DIAMOND and CARIBBEAN PRINCESS (two different "branches" of the family) they started mucking around with the design and it has just gotten progressively worse. And this has got to be the very worst of them all, from the outside that is.

This is very common - if you compare SUPERSTAR LEO (NORWEGIAN SPIRIT) with NORWEGIAN GEM, you will again see how the design has gradually devolved, though IMHO those are far better-looking ships than GRAND PRINCESS and VENTURA respectively.

quote:

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Originally posted by dmwnc1:
Has anyone from this board actually sailed in her yet? SEEN the interiors?

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Here is a LINK to sread's interior images.

[ 04-06-2008: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

quote:

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Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:

If those F3 renditions were real, all other cruise ships will look like real beauties by comparison.

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Well in that case we should consider F3 a gift! The gift of appreciation for what we already have.

Why do they even bother painting her. She would probably look better with just bare steel.
I never liked the looks of the grand class. The forward superstructure under the bridge is ok but everything else is bad. I really don't like the stern and I hate the round area ( I forgot what its called) on the forepeak, then I don't like the shape of the bow. Its ugly just ugly Also, as many have already said, the funnel while not the worst, is bad.

Personally I think exterior looks are very importaint. It gives the first impression of the ship, and I think most people would rather sail on a nice looking ship then a ugly one.