P&O Ventura Delayed a Full Day by Storms Austen and Boelo
Key Aspects:
P&O Cruises’ Ventura was delayed a full day returning to Southampton and arrived on Sunday, October 25 instead of Saturday due to Storms Austen and Boelo.
The October 24 departure has subsequently been delayed a full day and will now be a 6-night sailing, and guests are receiving a one-day prorated credit for a future cruise.
Ventura will not visit Cherbourg as planned due to protests in France, but the rest of the itinerary is unchanged.
Both storms and protests are impacting the current sailing of P&O Cruises’ Ventura, which has arrived in Southampton, UK a day later than originally planned.
The 3,192-guest ship was supposed to conclude her previous 7-night itinerary in Southampton on Saturday, October 24, 2026, but rough weather forced a delay and the ship did not arrive until 6:07 a.m. on Sunday, October 25, according to the Associated British Ports schedule.
Guests who expected to board the ship on Saturday were notified of the late arrival on Friday, October 23. At that time, they were advised of changes to their itinerary, as well as compensation for their now-shortened sailing.
“Due to the impact of Storm Austen and Storm Boelo our Southampton operations team and the Port Authority have delayed Ventura’s arrival into Southampton by 24 hours,” the email confirmed. “Your embarkation will now take place one day later than originally planned on Sunday 25 October.”
Guests’ cruise terminal check-in times remained unchanged, only shifted to Sunday’s embarkation rather than on Saturday. The port schedule confirms that Ventura is expected to depart Southampton at 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
The cruise was to have been a 7-night France, Spain, and Portugal itinerary. Now a 6-night sailing instead, the first port and only stop in France, Cherbourg, is now cancelled.
“Following recent protests and civil unrest in France, we have also taken the decision to cancel the planned call to Cherbourg on Sunday 25 October,” the email confirmed.
Of course, the ship’s now-delayed departure from Southampton would have ruled out the visit to Cherbourg regardless.
There are no further changes to the itinerary at this time. Ventura is still scheduled to visit Porto on Tuesday, October 27, followed by Lisbon on Wednesday and Vigo on Thursday before returning to Southampton for debarkation on Saturday, October 31.
Compensation Offered But Not All Guests Want It
As compensation for the loss of a day of their sailing, P&O Cruises is offering all guests a future cruise credit prorated to the value of one day of their cruise. This credit must be used on a future P&O Cruises booking and is not being offered in cash.
The offer of a credit rather than a refund is frustrating to some guests, particularly those who do not have a future cruise vacation planned with the line.
“The refund should be in cash, not a future cruise credit. I know it’s not their fault, but we’re not getting the 7-night cruise we paid for,” one guest commented on Facebook in response to the email notification.
“I haven’t got a future cruise planned with P&O and don’t intend to either,” another guest commented in a similar conversation.
Other guests asked about refunds for drink packages and WiFi access on the now shorter cruise, but those packages and any possible refunds were not mentioned in the initial notification emails.
Multiple Cruises Impacted by Same Factors
Storms Austen and Boelo, as well as the protests and strikes in France, have been impacting multiple ships from multiple cruise lines.
Cruise Hive has already reported several such disruptions, including MSC Virtuosa remaining in Southampton longer than expected and cancelling her planned visit to La Rochelle.
P&O Cruises’ Arvia and Iona have also had storm-related adjustments, as have Ambassador Cruise Line’s Ambition and MSC Cruises’ MSC Preziosa.
While the Met Office does not have any current warnings issued for the English Channel on Sunday, Windy.com noted wind speeds of 35-40 miles per hour throughout the Channel in the early hours of Sunday morning. This is down only slightly from late Saturday evening, though wind speeds are expected to continue decreasing throughout the day.