Ventura - Reviews

The weather for November was glorious! Ports were good , but have been before to most. But did enjoy trips at Madeira & Tenerife. Ship wasn't as good as others I been on but was ok

trips off site made easy by berthing so close to each town. 12 day trip with 5 days at sea, leisurely whilst on ship but food was good and plenty to do to relax and do whatever you wanted. We had an excellent superior delux with balcony and sat out regularly. Only downside was anytime dining was limited by available tables, otherwise good value for money

enjoyed all of it my only complaint was I have always used the gym in the mornings for some exercise classes but was very surprised to be told there would be a nominal charge for this but did not expect to pay £7 per session ,which I thought was a bit steep .

A nice ship.  We had a cabin with the balcony and separate sitting area which was well worth paying the extra  as we found the normal balcony cabin a bit cramped. Walk in wardrobe is always easy to access which is another nice feature.  Due to bad weather could not stop at Monte Carlo but still a very nice cruise.  Choice of shows each night is always a bonus, but lack of interesting lectures during the day definitely needs some attention.  Crew always helpful and a nice clean ship.  Feel the dress code needs to be upheld more as noticed some people took advantage.  A good cruise and would recommend.

Top tips for getting the most out of Ventura and P&O. (1) Food, the buffet and the select dining are both very good, very different but good in their own right. The buffet is open from 06:30 to 01:30 so you eat all day night if you like. Top tip, the room service breakfast is included at no extra charge, wake up to coffee and a danish and then stroll down for a full English. (2) Costa, you can also get a Costa in the Red Bar and Metropolis Bar as well as the dedicated Costa bar when they’re open. (3) with a couple of exceptions you step out of the lift facing toward the front of the boat (helps get your bearings). (4) The drinks packages are over complicated with lots of exceptions and rules that in my opinion just make P&O sound mean, all they needed to add was a fair use clause. The Ultimate package costs £40 a day, this equates to... 3 pints beer, 3 cocktails and 3 costa coffees (Regular coffee is free in the buffet all day) OR 9 pints beer, OR 6 cocktails, OR 6 glasses of wine, give or take. Every adult in your cabin has to have the same package and there are exceptions for a couple of items but these are just the bottles of wine or the champagnes. (5) You’ll find hairdryer, shower gel/shampoo and towels for the pools/beach in your cabin as standard.

Fantastic family holiday to celebrate a silver wedding anniversary. 3rd time on Ventura and we were not disappointed. The whole 12 days were amazing, the event's manager and the captain did a superb job with the vow renewal. It was perfect.

Can’t wait to do it again😍👍met lots of lovely ppl. & staff.

Shame that hoteliers don't run their premises the way P&O run their ships. I cannot make an adverse comment about this cruise, but I could about numerous hotels I've stayed in.

Had a fab time on ventura the staff could'nt do enough for you would definatly go back on her. The food was fantastic..could not pick a fault at all x

Fab from start to finish . Ship was cold some times only complaint .

Good value cruise. Prices on board for drinks about the same as at home, but duty free sports and cigarettes extremely cheap. Under £10 for 1ltr whisky or brandy and cigarettes about 1/3 of the price at home

Sea was calm for the whole of the journey Ventura was lacking in bars that were open all of the time. Cabin was excellent, steward was very helpful Lots of waiting for lifts if you have a disabled person with you Food in restaurants was a very high standard. Embarkation & disembarkation was so fast & easy

The whole experience was awesome. We can’t wait to do it again

Not sure we’d go with P&O again.....for us it missed the mark in a lot of areas compared to the cruises we’ve been on before but if the itinerary suited who knows!

A first cruise with P & O and they are behind Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Princess but having said that they are still a good cruise line. Very efficient embarkation and disembarkation at Southampton. Had a balcony room at stern of ship (B755) which had a larger balcony and gave great views to where we had sailed. Food good but service slow in anytime dining room, possibly due to staff getting to grips with new tablets that orders had to be placed on. We were generally there for 2 hours and then leaving early in order to catch the show in the theatre. The salad selection at lunchtime in the buffet restaurant could do with a better selection and for staff to keep on top of items that were being depleted, including plates etc. The shows were of a good quality, especially The Fly Rights. Beginners dance classes with Jeffrey and Brenda were excellent as was the nightly dancing with them in The Atrium. A pity some stairs were out of action at various times due to carpets being replaced meaning some hefty detours. Overall a good cruise and would travel with them again.

I was so nervous as this was my first cruise bug j had the best time from start to finish . Oh was made to feel relaxed and put at ease .

Had a brilliant two weeks on Ventura polite and helpful staff enjoyed the Tamarind bar food and all round service in all areas fantastic a couple rough sea days but was not to bad from embarking to disembarking enjoyed it met nice and friendly people can’t wait to do it again

First cruise so have nothing to compare with but really enjoyed this cruise on Ventura. Staff excellent. Food excellent. Once you work out the layout it is pretty easy to find your way around the ship. Would recommend dining at least once in the Epicurean Restaurant! I had caviar starters, whole lobster main and creme brulee dessert.

This was my first and most likely last cruise with P&O. The whole experience was very pedestrian. The ship is ‘fresh’ out of rehab but still looks pretty worn in many places, and the decor is like something out of a 90’s Florida hotel. The entertainment was great, but the food was mediocre at best in the main dining room and flat out terrible at the buffet. Our room steward was awesome, but the rest of the staff seemed pretty bothered by the guests, which were another constant annoyance, and the lack of manners was pretty appalling. It was like being in a Walmart on Saturday afternoon all day long. It’s no wonder P&O doesn’t market in North America - they’d never make it with such sub-par service and offerings.

Sailed 19th-23rd April, Bruges and Guernsey. As we have children one of which has ASD we always tend to use the buffet service for food as we find it easier, the food on this trip didn’t seem to be as good as before and not as much variety. I was not impressed with the tender at Guernsey as it actually leaked soaking my son and I and when I expressed my concern that it wasn’t good to know that one of Ventura’s life boats leaked to a member of staff on the tender I got a reply of “yeah someone mentioned that before”!!! Surely that would be of high priority to put right?!?! Apart from these couple of niggles it was a pleasant trip for a few nights but this being our second trip on Ventura we probably won’t do a third and stick to Britannia in future