Sailed on board Ventura last March 09 after flying into Barbados from the UK.
Ventura is a large ship when compared with other British ships although not as large as the over seas companies such as Royal Caribbean or Disney.
We found the ship in overall good repair but that's where the niceness ends.
To start with the on board entertainment or lack of it was abysmal, old fashioned British out of date style that doesn't actually work these days. Bingo and Mr and Mrs type of rubbish was the best on offer, not really what you want in the 21st century. Talks on Euthanasia or who invented cricket was about the size of the on board talks during the day.
The food during the day time was another disaster especially the buffet, badly cooked food including meat and fish was on offer and as for the synthetic deserts well don't go there.
If it was not for our glorious destinations and the great friends we met the whole holiday would have been rubbish thanks to P and O and there below standards.
I have travelled with other cruise lines such as Disney cruise line and to be honest they were a world apart in terms of high standards of everything. P and O should take a trip on board a Disney ship to see how it should be really done. It seems after speaking to various fellow cruisers that the big American owned companies who cater for the American market pay much more attention to detail and give them what they deserve. Its the age old problem though, if we Brits fail to complain and "make do" then nothing will ever improve, The American people wont put up with crap and as such don't get it. My advice book a cruise deigned for the US market and give a wide birth to the likes of P and O and any other Victorian cruise companies and get yourself nice enjoyable holiday with a company that wants you to have one.

A bit concerned about our cruise having read other reviews but I need not have been. We started our holiday at Doncaster airport and flew to the carribean Barbados to our ship, long flight but no problems plenty of leg room, seatback tv with films comedy drama games etc and free drinks all the way and meals. the ship is brill everything i expected it to be, and have no reason to complain about anything, well ok we would have liked a bit more up to date disco music now and again but wow if thats all you can find to moan about it must have been a good holiday and it was. all the staff and passengers friendly and on this cruise anyway not that many children and those that were on the cruise were well behaved. I am not going to go into to much detail other than to say it was one of our best holidays ever and will definatley travel with PO again and travel on the Ventura.

I sailed on friday the 13th feb, need gordon to sort this ship food out!ship went over in light winds pool water went all over the deck plates went flying every were.missout going to a port.st kitts.my littel girl aged 9 had a great holiday well looked arter by the kids team.THIS WAS MY 50th cruise.I have just book a thompson cruises on th density 14 nights in the caribbean, we go from birmingham on 29th march 09.I have read good reports about this I will let you all know ! This will be my 3rd cruise .sea princess in jan 09,Ventura 3th feb.density on the 29th .Iam thiking of booking the oriana on the 30th aug 09 .but if i like thompsons ships i would book with them!!!!!

Having read previous reviews about Ventura I had to question whether or not people had travelled on the same ship we did!
We chose Ventura for out honeymoon and simply could not complain about anything. Everything was absolutely top class, and as both of us work or have worked in the travel industry we have experienced a huge number of hotels and resorts over the years and were bowled over by our time on Ventura.
In regards to food, the calibre of food on the buffet restaurants was vastly superior to what you would get on your normal hotel buffet, and the food and service in the silver service restaurants was fantastic - pheasant or lobster anyone? Yes, if you chose one of the buffets at peak times it was busy, but is that not the norm in all hotels?
The choice of pools was excellent and I have to disagree with previous reviewers who have said there were no adult only areas. I don't know if this has changed since the reviews were posted by there were two adult only pools available during our cruise, and this was 'policed' by staff, and of the two largest pools only one had music every day (so attracted mainly families) while the other pool had no music so generally had couples around it and very few children. For people like myself and my husband this was perfect as we don't like loud music or lots of children at the pool we use. We never had a problem getting a sunbed, there seemed to be plenty available, even on days we were at sea.
The entertainment was varied and most evenings there was a variety to choose from. If we didn't fancy any of the shows, we were happy to sit in the piano bar and a chant and a chat.
The staff were always similing, polite and provided an excellent service.
In short, yes I can see how some older passengers who are used to the more traditional cruising offered by P&O would not like Ventura but P&O as a cruise line have to cater to varying demographics and the solution is simply for these people to stick to the ships they know they like, while Ventura is great for people who enjoy all the old-school elements of cruising, such as black tie evenings and silver service dining, but prefer a less stuffy, 'younger' ship. I would recommend Ventura to couples, families, small groups and even older passengers who are young at heart! We are trying Azura next and can't wait to try the open air cinema!

First ever cruise and I loved it. Never had problems getting a sunbed, never encountered bad behaviour, drunkenness, teenagers or deficiencies. I've never been to Butlins & only have experience of high standard holidays, which I count my Caribbean cruise on the Ventura to be.
Loved dressing up for the formal nights and wearing my tuxedo suit and bow tie. Really enjoyed the disco nights, pop quizzes & karaoke nights. I did Mack The Knife & Dancing In The Moonlight - someone called Ricky Hatton, a World champion boxer apparently, got up & karaoke'd too but he wasn't as good as me. I also played bingo which I'd never done before & enjoyed it very much.
Everyone was very friendly, both staff and fellow passengers & we all agreed with the Captain's decision not to visit Martinique due to civil unrest & looting on the island - which I checked & confirmed on the net on my return.
Finally the Sailaway parties on deck each time we left port were sensational very well supported & I sang along lustily and loudly to everything from Hi Ho Silver Lining, Roll Out The Barrel, Land Of Hope & Glory through to the finale of Rod Stewart's Sailing as we left.
I read 2 books on board, on English History, by John Lewis-Stempel, and The Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson. I also used the time to write some of my own book that I'm currently working on.

I shall definitely go on Ventura again, God willing.

Our carribean cruise 2009 was excellent. This was a first cruise for most of our group, and was much more than i expected it to be. Spotlessly clean, excellent food, super service in the dining room. Something for everybody. My perception beforehand was that everywhere on board would be crowded, or too busy, but what a surprise to find that this wasn`t so, apart from heading to the same place at the same time e.g.dining,but this wasn`t a problem. We have just booked another carribean cruise on the ventura.

Flights were bang on time and we got extra leg room allocated on the way out so we got extra legroom on the way back as the seats were the same for both ways. All passengers were on the same cruise.We dropped the bags at the airport and never saw them again until they arrived in the cabin about 2 hours after we did.
We landed at Barbados and sailed for Antigua that night and all of the next day arriving at 7 the following morning. It was raining but the sun was out and there were some fantastic rainbows that highlighted the outlying islands and one that came right round and under the boat. Here we got off and hired a minibus with a driver for the day at the cost of $80. £10 each. He took us round different beaches and we wanted to go swimming with stingrays. This cost us £20 each , a power boat took us to a bay about 10 minutes ride from the beach and there were about 40 rays varying in size from about 2 foot in diameter to 5 foot. We were there for about 1 hour and they just brushed past you in the water as you fed them and felt like a heavy chammy. We all had our photos taken with them but the one that Sue got to hold paled the others into insignificance. We ate out at a beach called long beach and got back just in time to buy a good bottle of Antiguan rum before boarding. Cost less than £3 and was really smooth. They don't mind you taking drink on board as long as you don't abuse it.
We spent the following day on board as we sailed for Grand Turks, The entertainment through the days while sailing consisted of quizzes, competitions, talks, take offs of TV games or you could just lounge about in the sun. You had to be up early though, as all the sunbeds which were packed in like sardines and you had to slide off the end to get up; were quickly covered with towels or books. We never bothered lounging as you can do that on shore and used the ships paper Horizon to map out the best events for us. There were about 10 bars on ship all with the same prices for your tipple , a Boddingtons was £2.35 and Stella or Bank's £2.65. Shorts with a mixer were around £3. Around 6 P.M each night after the final quiz of the day, ( of which we won two getting a P&O pen and key ring and a photo frame.) we would go and teach the girls how to play Poker, We must have been good teachers as they started to beat us by the end of the holiday.We had a hundred $1 or small notes each with $25,winner was the custodian until the next night . On the first morning we tried to get into the Waterside restaurant which was self service but could not find a seat and ended going into the silver service which was so good we never tried self service again. In the evening we were on freedom dining which meant we could go in to the restaurant any time between 6 and 9.30 , usually opting for 8.30 if there were no seats they gave us a pager and it buzzed us when ready rarely more than 5 minutes. We could also use the Waterside and there were 2 theme restaurants where you had to pay a surcharge of £7 , we gave East a go and could not fault the Asian cuisine.
Grand Turks had been flattened by the latest hurricane but the sun beds were all free and the temperature was a balmy 30 c . We were lucky that the ship was able to moor up at every location bar one which meant we could just stroll back on if we wanted but never did. We spent a couple of hours at the beach then went for a wander round the bay, you could not believe the number of Conch's around there literally thousands . We snorkeled for a couple of hours and the sea bed was littered with them.
That evening we sailed for Catalina island , this is a private island owned by some travel firm. Not P&O but they must have had a concession. Here we were ferried back and forward by the ships lifeboats and it was our only port that they had to tender us to shore. The crew took off loads of food for a massive barbecue, which was exceptional as there were 3,200 guests on board. They set up bars and had a band playing , We had been told by our barman to go to the top end of the beach as there would be less crowding and to move back down for the last 2 hours when most had left . There was a brilliant little bay for snorkeling an the water was crystal clear. His information proved correct and was invaluable throughout the trip. We made sure he got a tip every night ,
That evening we set sail for St Kitts this was followed by our final full day at sea. When we got to St Kitts we heard that the England cricket team were having there first training session that morning so we headed up to the ground and watched for an hour very pleasant. We then hired a car and drove around the island, stopping at numerous beaches. Again for £10 a head.
That evening we departed for St Lucia, as it was Sunday Philip had been there a year earlier and had e-mailed the hotel which was all inclusive and arranged that we could stop the day as guests for £18 each. It was a good 2 mile walk but worth the hike plus we saw plenty of the surrounding area without hiring a car . The food and drink was spot on cocktails powerful, although we had to endure 4 x 10 minute showers. That evening we went to East rather the worse for wear but not to bad, although an early night was had by all.
The following day we arrived in St Maarten, this is a half Dutch half French island and would be a nice place to go if you could fly from the UK! At the moment only USA ,France and Holland flights.
We wanted to tour the island and the operators wanted $40 a head, which further in Phil got down to $25 but I said no. We moved further into the town and this big guy called Rufus moved in I told him no and he said why, I said we've been told no one will go lower than $25 . He said how much do you want to pay for round the island to which I replied $20 a head, get in he says. This guy was one of the funniest , well informed and lucid have ever experienced, he had us in stitches all the way around. The town itself is known as the tax haven, We did not buy a lot due to our weight allowance but did manage to get a few things.
The next morning we arrived in Tortola , again we hired a big jeep for the day costing just over £30 with insurance. The steering was on the left so Phil set off driving down the road on the right through to the town, oncoming cars were flashing so we decided we should be driving on the left same as all the other islands; remarking you would thought they would have put something there to tell you. Then we noticed the 4 in square sticker saying keep left,, DOHHH
Tortola was a lovely island the sea was clear and we had a good selection of beaches dotted around the island one of which had a beach bar where they do the full moon parties !!!!!!!!!on a full moon !
From here we moved onto Dominica, this is an island belonging to the Dominican Rep but is quite a distance away. This was our least favourite but I could also see it being other peoples favourite. Again we hired a car for about £35 , we set off into the hills and spent most of the day going places and not going in. As when you got there and saw the photos they did not impress at all. It was in the rain Forest and aptly rained for about 4 of the six hours. On the far side of the island we picked up a local who flagged us down, he turned out to be a environment worker and gleaned us with lots of info,telling us there were hundreds of Kangaroos and other unusual creatures in the woods; before we dropped him off at his village 3 miles up the road. He ended up panicking the girls by saying it was a long way back to the boat and to ask plenty of directions. They had already been panicked by a beach stop when the jeep refused point blank to start. A few tweaks on the electrics and it was up and running. Good map reading had us back with two hours to spare even though on a y junction we asked directions of some school fifth formers and half said left and half right. They were all laughing as we left.
Our penultimate destination was St Vincent, Here we had a local that we could not shake off , on his badge it said he was a port visitor adviser but We think he was just after a beer. We were crossing the road when some concerned local Canadians told us to get out of town as it was dangerous and go to one of two beaches. After visiting the local market where we got ripped off for some tomatos and bananas, ( always ask the price before buying.) We got a taxi and the driver used his influence to get us into a nice hotel complex, where we spent 4 hours then he took us around the island, Sue and Phil fell asleep. It was not the most interesting of trips. Though we did have some chips lightly coated in all spice along with home made burgers and they were gorgeous. Sailing away from here the ship opposite was a German one and instead of the usual fun sailaways which were brilliant, they used it to play recordings which stir up the English ,German rivalry. Which went down like a damp squib.
Finally we moved onto Barbados, this is another place I would not mind going for a holiday , it has some lovely sea,beaches and some nice towns. We had a good day on the beach down at Hole town and ventured into Bridgetown in the evening, spending a night by the harbour side.
The ship itself met all our expectations, although it was the biggest built for P&O it did not appear big to us as we had nothing to compare it with. Our room was on the top deck , it was a nice size and had a balcony large enough for the four of us to play cards on.
Our room steward was always easy to find and obliging, as we found 99% of the crew. The food was never repeated over the 14 days which some times was a pity as there were some unusual and interesting dishes. You always had the chance to fall back onto a prawn cocktail starter or sirloin steak if unsure.The identity card system getting on and off the ship was quick and faultless. Plenty of bars,casino,cinema, theatres, art gallery (which had some top art,Rolf included.) The evening entertainment I could only describe as mainly poor but to be honest we did not try every option, as we made our own entertainment and met quite a few extremely nice couples

This was our first cruise and loved every minute of it.
The only down side was the flight out due to a very long delay from Leed's Bradford. Once the plane arrived we took off only to land at Manchester for re-fueling. We sat on the run way for 2 hour's whilst this went on.
Once arriving in Barbados, we never had to go through custom's!! There was buses waiting for us to take us straight to the port and this is where we done all our passport check's and allocated our room's.
Once on board we where showed to our cabin. About an hour later our suit case's turned up one by one and luckily for me the first to arrive was my wedding dress, all in one peice.
Our daughter loved the kid's club and if she had her way would have stayed there 24/7, the staff where fantastic.
Everybody on board was friendly from staff to other holiday maker's.
On my wedding day there was a lovely couple asked the husband to be if he would like to use there cabin to get ready, in which he was very grateful.
Me and the daughter spent the morning in the hair salon getting our hair done and i had makeup applied also in which i hated, apparently after speaking to another bride she said the same.
I had a member of staff come to the cabin to help me with my dress in which was a great help.
The flower's arrived 10 minute's before i was due to leave.
Once arriving at the ship's chapel i was really nervous as Rikki Hatton and his girlfriend Jennifer accepted to be our witnesses.
After the wedding we where took round the ship to have our photo's taken, very exspensive but worth every penny. Some great guy's from Wale's that we met done a dvd for us.
Unfortunately on the wedding evening my husband came down with food poisoning, the ship's doctor tried to say it was a virus, but if had been a virus they would not have let me and the daughter leave the cabin. My new husband's boarding pass was suspended for 48 hour's in which he was not very happy with at all. This was the only bad thing about the ship.
All the island's where great and we loved the sail away's..

Travelled from Glasgow 1st Jan 2010 direct to Barbados with charter airline Thomson,paid extra to travel in premium due to length of flight,excellent service on board aircraft from cabin crew,[went Monarch last year Thomson were far superior],landed early in Barbados transferred direct to dock and was on board ship in less than 1 hour.
As others have stated it is a huge ship however all passengers are given with their cruise card an easy to read fold up layout map of the ship given location of passenger decks+cabins as well as resturants,pools,
lounges,theatre,casino etc,also on side walls near each deck lifts their is larger maps again with locations of all the above.
As to our experience on board we used the most of the resturants apart from the ones that required a suppplement,we felt that the food we recieved was of excellent quality and really well presented,served by courtous waiters,the supplement resturants East,Ramblas,The White Room were almost empty on the nights we were on board,this surely indicates the quality of Club+Freedom dining options.
Entertainment was a bit of a hit or miss,the Arena Theatre was never any more that half-full for any of the stage shows and the comedians were for the most part not fantastic,The Tamarind Club+Metropolis were our favourite at night as their was usually good singers on and it was possible to get a seat there, this was in contrast to the Havana which was packed each night,best acts on our opinion was Freddie Mercury lookalike,also singer Nik Linacre and[Harry Worth lookalike] comedian Mel Mellors.
We did not book expensive tours with ship,as their is plenty of taxi/minibus drivers at each port and we teamed up with other passengers and done island tours at most places,worked out very well for us.Price of drinks was very reasonable also the amount and who to tip is for the most part left up to your judgement.P+O are to be congratulated for the organisation over 2 days in getting 3000 plus passengers off ship and same amount joining
with buses etc,however be prepared to experience chaos at Barbados Airport on way home as it is obviously to small for the amount of traffic using it.Would we travel on Ventura again definatly especially in January when Britain in snow+icebound.

this was our first time on ventura and the fourth with p&o.We took the freedom dining option and although a little apprehensive no worries.The only main difference is that you eat with someone different each night.The food is the same and if you do not like the menu there is always an alternative dish to that on the menu.Service excellent,we had a balcony cabin on deck A and deck A and B balconies overlook the balconies of C and D.This I suppose can be alittle intrusive to some people especially if you have breakfast on your balcony.Breakfast continental style can be ordered through the TV screen in your cabin which doubles as a bit of a computer as your personal statement is also on there.The cabins are clean and big enough and the beds are really comfortable.Other dining areas were,Waterside a nightmare at lunchtime we did not eat in there at night,the Beach house has just changed at night to the new york diner where you can eat steaks burgers and ribs,Ramblas which is spanish style food and very poor portions and not worth the £2.50 surcharge,The white room where we had excellent food although some people were not satisfied but we understand they have two menus.We did not use east.The entertainment was mediocre and the best of the lot was Bucks Fizz who were on for two nights.The ships dance troupe performed saturday night fever which was extremely poor.Our son was married on the ship whilst at sea in the caribbean and the ceremony was short and intimate and well organised.Overall it is a new family ship although we did not see many children and we only saw Noddy once.The ship may be too big for some people as it is not as intimate as oceana,the food is good and well presented,entertainment is only fair,the trips are mostly the same at each island but if you are a first timer in the caribbean you will probably enjoy them