P&O Cruises, Ventura Baltic

Having been on 6 criuses before food not up to previous standards very bland. The ventura nice ship but the lay out of the ship not very good.Please P&O do not stop of in America until they sort out the immigration policy as we wasted a day of our holiday trying to get into New Orleans waiting to get through immigration.

This was our 12th cruise (Cunard, Fred Olsen, P&O, RCI, MSC and others) - Not P&O as we have previously experienced - but we knew that it is a different market that the ship is aimed at. It is family friendly and if you do not want that do not go on the ship! The food was (with one exception one night) some of the best we have had on any ship, QE2 grill included. Much much better than the RCI ship we went on for a similar transatlantic positioning cruise. The shows in the extremely comfortable Arena theatre were of a high standard. The cabin was very comfortable and our steward invisible but highly efficient. We had no difficulty finding a table in the buffet restaurants at breakfast and lunchtimes. The only major problem was the passengers reserving sunbeds and then not using them for hours - the Germans had nothing to learn from out fellow Brits in that respect, wars broke out! The Marco Pierre White restaurant was excellent. An enjoyable cruise.

Returned from Ventura's Norway cruise. Excellent transfers of luggage straight off the coach and to your cabin. Long queues to register and get on the ship, but the queues moved quickly well organized. Cabins cosy and of contemporary design. Plenty of storage space- large open wardrobe. Bathroom was standard cruise ship size, small but adequate. Loved the interactive TV from which you could order room service; view shore excursions; check your on-board account; watch films; check your messages. All staff worked extremely hard, were friendly and cheerful at all times. We found all the food excellent we ate at the bay tree at night again the staff were very good, we were with friends and my friend had a dairy intolerance but was catered for him every meal.

P.S

We have booked again for another cruise on the Ventura next year

Dennison a satisfied Yorkshire man

the anytime dining was a joke 35 minutes to wait for a table for 4 the queue was nightmare every night no matter what time you went....service onboard not a patch on royal carribean sorry no more p and o for us back to royal carribean

Lovely ship staff great could not help you enough only 3 poor quality meals returned,dinner table guest exclent Ronnie& Ann from Edinbrugh Morris & Jean from Worcester & Bill from Darlington all great company,only thing wrong is no quiet areas on board,and too many children some as young as 6 Months old and 12/16 yr olds running through the cabin areas after midnight who wants that when on holiday this is slowly becoming a floating Butlins Arcadia here I come

Before we left I read a few reviews of the Ventura which quite frankly, had me worried! I have cruised aboard 2 large ships before and this compared favourably. Our cabin was excellent and our steward friendly and helpful. Choices at dinner were good and the portions the correct size for us. We tried the self-service restaurant twice and hated it - I re-christened it the 'bun-fight restaurant' - nothing to do with the staff, it was other diners saving places at empty tables while their friends collected food. By the time we found a table our food was cold. We used the Bay Tree restaurant after that. It would have been helpful to have a guide directing us at Bilbao: we never did find the market or the old quarter. My one niggle was that at the 'Captain's Gala Night' we were offered gin and tonics or wine when, surely, it should have been champagne? But overall, we had a great time and I would recommend it.

We have cruised with P&O before and this was our first trip on Ventura. It was also our first fly cruise, but the flight and transfer arrangements were trouble free.

We loved the ship, beautifully set out, with attractive public areas and lots of space on deck for relaxing.

Our cabin was smart, practical and very quiet, and we slept very well each night on the large, comfortable bed.

We enjoyed eating breakfast and lunch in the Waterfront self service restaurant. It offered a wide choice of food, all tasty and well presented. For dinner, we chose Club Dining and thought that the meals served in the Bay restaurant were excellent, helped by the fact that our waiters were very friendly and efficient. (As were all the crew we met.)

The entertainment was mixed - we enjoyed the production shows, the comedians, the steel band and the classical pianist.

We enjoyed visiting all the Caribbean ports on our itinerary, but thought the P&O tours very expensive. A few free or reasonably priced shuttle buses to beaches would have been a great help, or more useful information about local taxis on the information sheet about each port.

The weather was fantastic, the seas were calm, so no worries about the stability of the ship.

A totally enjoyable experience which we would like to repeat some time soon.

It was nice to read so many complimentary reviews regarding the P&O Ventura Caribbean cruise, many of which I agree with, but not all. Unfortunately, my wife and I were two of 250 souls who had to remain an additional 27 hours in Barbados due to aircraft failure for our Thomson flight back to London, Gatwick.

The arrangements during this very long period were left to P&O as agents and with responsibility for our well being. Rather surprisingly, this was a first time experience for P&O and the lack of planning became very obvious as interminable hours passed without any updates. Many of us resorted to telephoning the UK where there appeared to be more detail then from the staff on board who were more concerned with the new passengers boarding.

The latter point became more of a problem for P&O when it became known there would be no flight on the 30th. In short the object of the exercise was to get us off the ship as quickly as possible, with representations of a 5 star hotel for the evening with food and drink, as it was all-inclusive.

We left the ship only to find a 3 star hotel with no food and some fruit juice....water had to be purchased at a shop 5 mins walk from the hotel, at night!

So beware of the 'Pontius Pilate' treatment if everything does not go according to plan on these cruises. One poor old lady actually fainted from the stress and it took until the next day via calls to London to reach the ship and demand P&O staff come to the hotel and explain what was going to happen and when....nothing short of a disgrace.

Coming back to the cruise, compared to a cruise taken on the Arcadia 5 years ago the Ventura was good but far from excellent and unfortunately the final 26 hours did not help matters.

This was our first cruise with P&O but our second cruise overall. We booked on this due to availability and the fact we though a bigger newer ship would be better.

embarkation took around 30 minutes which in fairness to get 3400 people on board to wait 30 mins is quite good. We had a disabled passenger with us and the ship was set out fantasically for the disabled with the exception of tender ports. You can even take full sized mobility scooters on board but allocation is limited. There are no facilities to hire anything electric but i do believe they do have standard wheelchairs available.

We also took 2 children with us aged 6 and 1. we were given free baby milk, jars of baby food and bottle steralisers and bottle warmers and the kids club staff were fantastic our 6 year old never wanted to leave. although activities for younger children are limited and unstaffed again till the last day when it comes to filling out reviews.

The cabin we booked was an outside family room which considered of a twin room with 2 drop down beds. This was no where big enough to accomodate 2 adults and 2 children let alone 4 adults.

The steward that looked after the rooms was fantastic and did an amazing job.

Prices on board were £2.80 for a pint of bitter or lager £3.50 plus for a cocktail or £2.50 for the cokctail of the day.

we did run into some moderate sea swell on our return in the alantic alongside portugal and the ship wasnt fantastic at handling the 11 foot waves. We sailed on thompson a year previous and on a 20 year old ship in a force 9 was roughly the same experience. smoking if you have 3400 passengers on a boat and half smoke there is only 3 smoking areas on the entire ship this is the right side of deck 7 and outside on deck 15 and the rear on deck 15 thats it the none smokers have the rest of the ship. Also if you do smoke cigarettes are £2.50 a pack on board if your lucky to call at barcelona they are 15 euro for 200 and at gibraltar there £11 for 200 also be advised to use sterling in gibraltar its far easier. However in rough seas and on certain occasions deck 7 is closed off for safety

The main thing that this ship lacked is any form of friendliness except for the asian waiters who are fantastic the officers very rarely notice you let alone speak to you until the last day and whilst in the beachfront restaurant which is probably the best place to eat i had the unfortunate experience to witness how bad the officers treat the lower fellow crew members.

The onboard entertainment was quite well presented but for 4 long days at sea pretty spread out as P&O are the masters of the cover charge. 2 restaurantes on board have a cover charge if you wish to take part in any lessons ie photography, computer lessons you will have to pay. On the other hand shopping is poor there is basic shops but thats it basically use you money in the ports you visit for any luxury items. Also spa and salon prices are high and by appointment only. FOr the size of the ship and the amount of people it carries the main night club/variety wasnt big enough if you wasnt in early normally before 10pm there were no seats till around 11.30. also there is no dedicated cinema they have a 750 seat theatre but chose to show half the films in other areas on 42" plasmas whilst the arena was unused.

I had learnt on our previous cruise to avoid the buffet restaurant (waterside) as this is basically a free for all, any form of manners ie politeness and courtesy are left at the door it is a jumble sale for food if you dont wish to fight for your food probably the best time to go is if theres an event or show on.

If you can check out the Bar behind the beachfront restaurant as the staff there are probably the best on the ship Rex, Romeo and Pilar only took them a few days to learn your name and out of 3400 people that is brilliant there also some of the nicest people you can meet.

also the night creche is a brilliant idea as you can put your baby to sleep there and go enjoy yourself upto 2am and the staff will give you a pager and notify via it if theres any problems or your babys awake. Alternatively and which we preferred was the baby listening service within the room once your baby's asleep press this button on your phone and while you away you can pick any phone up on the ship dial your room and listen to your room and where ever you go your never more than 10 feet from a phone.

You can use the rooms interactive tv to do anything from checking your onboard account ordering various items from shops or food and they have an array of programs and films to choose from.

As we also have a business to take care of we found that the internet charges were pretty high and be warned if you connect your mobile to the marine time network on board you will be paying expensive phone charges of around £2 a minute

Also the ship boasts 5 swimming pools however 1 is for staff only and 2 are adult only and there is 2 where children are allowed and a small pool outside the kids club on deck 16.

If any passengers are practising religions there is a small chapel on board which gives a sunday prayer service held by the captain or staff captain. This doesnt cover any form of mass service or any other religion.

Overall we found the ship disappointing but still enjoyable we will cruise again but we wouldnt travel with P&O again as we found it wasnt the ship but rather the company where this experience failed. If anyone has done an overnight P&O minicruise to rotterdam bilbao or Belgium this is just a bigger version of that. Its definately nothing special. Also speaking to people who have vast more experience in cruising they advise Royal Caribbean or Cunard the ships are more stable the entertainment is better and not as many cover charges if any for the same price but dont take it as gospel its just what we were advised. The only thing i can say that if its your 1st cruise you'll love it untill you try someone else. But i reccommend look else where.

classical music being the cruise theme was quite good from the somewhat aloof performers and host. Disadvantaged passangers eg. those in whelchairs and electric wheeled buggies were for the most part thouroughly rude and obnoxious, there was only them on board after all, (I thought the cruise was only for them and that we had booked eroneously),presumably all of ther other passengers who had also paid to have equal rights to an enjoyable holiday were expected to be second class passangers.by this group. (then again unless you were a Porteneous passengeror whatever it is called when you appeared to be quietly lured to quiet little corners to be singled out for specialist little treats. Come on P&O that went out with the arc, are all of you passngers not entitled to be treated well or are they just there to be constantly hassled to order drings etc. Cabin was nice enough and well looked after. Destinations and info on these were very good. Food unfortunately was not at all good and not up to what one might have expected from P&O. Would not return to P&O on any ship or reccomend it to friends or collegues