Basic synopsis:
Cabin ---- inadequate (see below)

Cabin steward ---- very good always smiling

Restaurant (Saffron) ---- food excellent no issues

Restaurant staff ---- waiters good but one was a little shy and the other had more interaction which made for good atmosphere.

Entertainment ---- Indifferent, some excellent some absolutely not. Last year the after show entertainment had comedians in the Tamarind or Havana bar but a distinct lack of laughter, too much learn ballroom with Berty and Gerty (names ??) lots of daytime quizzes.

Bar staff ---- very quick, sometimes over bearing.

Casino ---- watch out for the tournaments, usually £5 per entry and only give out £100 in prize money even though there could be multiple entries equivalent to £500 ish which means a casino rake of 80% at the busiest times.

Cleanliness ---- excellent

Accommodation state room with balcony 2 adults 2 kids (aged 14 girls)
The room was inadequate for four sleepers. With two singles coming from the ceiling which did save space when they were in the ceiling, but are a nightmare when fully down as the fourth bed makes this an obstacle course with 3 out of the four of us knocking our heads or bobbing and weaving to avoid collision with said bed. We took a look at a next level of stateroom up and this would have been ideal but the cost was quite a bit more. Still never mind hey ho and all that!

Eastern Mediterranean cruise 1st stop Almeria, Why the hell did P & O decide to make this a first stop. What a dump Almeria is ........ (my guess is a cheap stop to refuel) but for the passengers after almost 3 days at sea this was a disaster area. Monday afternoon I know its siesta time. The only attraction that was within reaching distance was closed on a Monday.... (well done P&O (NOT)....). The rest of the town was under major pipe laying, road digging .one back street cafe cheap beer nice coffee and thats it... walk round the area found another cafe/restaurant and waited almost 30 mins to be served and then left.

almost another 3 days at sea on route to Dubrovnik,,,, Absolutely stunning city beautiful coast line and so clean.. Well done Croatia.. A walk round the Old City wall is a must. Tip if walking round the city walls take some very cold liquid refreshment with you as its very expensive to buy from the vendors on the wall. The walk took over two hours we were lucky enough to be quite early but even so the heat was oppressive. I pity anyone starting their wall walk in the mid day heat. Ventura was departing at 3pm I mistakenly thought it was going to be 5pm but as luck would have it we decided to return by 2pm so were in plenty of time to have a beer on the dock side. I heard that some people were also under the impression that the ship was leaving at 5pm and missed the departure. (oh dear!) .

Still only one days steaming until Venice. On our way to Venice the ships captain came over the speaker to announce that we would be spending extra time in Venice due to the fact that one of the tender docking areas in Split was damaged and only had space for one at a time and this would not be wise as we were carrying 3000 passengers and disembarkation would take for ever. On the grapevine I had heard that this info was made available to the ship before we left Southampton so don’t know why we couldn’t have mad arrangements to call into an alternative port in the vicinity. When arriving in Venice it is definitely worth getting up early to witness the very tight navigation into the city views from the starboard side especially spectacular. Venice what a lovely place spoilt by the Money grabbing Italians…. I had heard this was an expensive city but this was beyond a JOKE. Example ….. enquired about four coffees in St Marks Square over 25 euros… even further out the costs were ridiculously high. Gondola ride and Doges Palace was the highlight but P&O certainly know how to charge for their excursions £256 for four of us two adults and two 14 year olds (who according to P&O are adults) could have done this for half the price if done independently……… We returned to the ship at about 8pm and enjoyed the ships entertainment. The ship departed Venice at 1am equally spectacular departure as was the arrival.

8th August should have been in Split but day at sea……… I do prefer to be visiting new and interesting venues rather than being at sea. I wonder if P&O really did know before we left Southampton that Split was a no goer??

9th August .Corfu lovely place, the Greeks are so friendly, as soon as we were off the shuttle bus we saw this horse and cart ride for €50. As soon as we were off the feeling was we shouldn’t have done this as four people plus driver and one horse……. But the man said he is used to it and is happy (YEAH RIGHT). Both my wife and I said we would go back there for a week, but maybe when the weather is not as hot.

10th August Zakynthos. The port area is an absolute disgrace, graffiti and litter almost the entire coast line of Zakynthos bay area. The town should be ashamed of themselves. We didn’t venture far just wanted a dip in the sea and a walk round the shops and bars which were ok and served the best iced coffee I have had anywhere. The people are just as good as in Corfu, but oh how this was spoilt by the port area. From other accounts of those who ventured further afield they said it was a beautiful Island. I only have memories of what I saw.

13th August Gibraltar. The captain gave us an extra couple of hours in Gibraltar, this is primarily a cheap booze and fags venue, but for those a little more adventurous there is plenty to do but so little time to do it in.

16th August Southampton. Disembarkation very slick. Colour coded and cases waiting in baggage hall according to your deck.

went on our cruise to the med in august 09 on the ventura, we had a lovely time the ship was clean and our room was always made up for us every day. And the crew were very friendy and helpful.We would sail on p&o again in the future.

I cruised on the Ventura around the med last august and it was the best holiday i have ever been on & really really wish i was going on it again this year. We went as a family for my parents 25th Anniversary & it was the first cruise we have been on so we didnt know what to expect. We set sail from Southampton & it was so quick & easy, 100 times better than having to wait around at an airport. I was a bit worried that the ship would be just full of older people but it wasnt. There was a great range, familys, couples, kids, teenagers, honeymooners, 70+. All the teenagers made great friends with each other which was nice to see. Sunbathing on the top deck was great, especially with the sea breeze & waiters always asking if you need a top up. We couldnt believe how well priced all the drinks were. At lunch time i would deff recomend the pizzas, best pizzas ever!! I have read some negative comments on here about the food, which i cannot believe!! We had our evening meals at 8pm in the baytree restaurant & the two waiters that served us every night were the sweetest & so helpful, i wanted to take one home. The food was AMAZING, i either had soup or salad to start although there was always something different, one of my favourite starters was a fried duck egg on top of black pudding with asparagus. Delish!! The steaks were the best i have ever had. Entertainment was really good, Bobby Davro performed a few nights and he was really funny, also a Celion Dione singer, Diana Ross & the fella who sang 'Hot Chocolate' & an Annie Lenox. All of them where brilliant, the people who work on the ship as entertainers were pretty awful, they did a dance show & someone put a comment on here that they walk round the ship like God's gift which is true lol. We also had a room with a balcony and it was so nice to relax while getting ready for dinner. Our man who cleaned our rooms was so so nice, he left chocolates every night on our pillows. This was the best holiday i have ever been on & would recommend it to everyone, all ages. You will so not be dissapointed. I wish i could sail on this ship every year :-)

we have just returned from a 2 week cruise round the med and hav mixed feelings about this ship. The ships cleanliness we found was of a high standard apart from the high chairs in the buffet area that were usually dirty and we had to clean ourselves but the cabin and public places on the whole were excellent.

The ships food was below standard compared to previous p&o and royal carribean cruises we have sailed on in the past not that it was bad but often it was just mediocre an example being that the chefs cannot cook a medium steak! The buffet upstairs was very canteen like where you were herded like cattle through a bottle neck then you would often wait at least 15 min for a table at times. We ate at the East restaurant one night and the food was amazing well worth the extra £15. The onboard entertainment was AWFUL amateur cruise director and staff repeatingly miming the same songs over and over at every port

First let me say WELL DONE P. AND O My husabd and I really enjoyed our holiday. We had a cabin at the back of the ship by the Riviera pool...fantastic. The cabin was large and kept spotless by our steward Wilson. We have cruised 7 times before with P. and O. and again was not disappointed. I must say though we would not travel in July again because if we had been given a cabin in middle or front of ship we would have encounted so many children. We could not use the two centre pools because of the noise and swarms of children BUT as the Riveriera pool was so lovely we had no need to thankfully. I listened to so many moans from other passengers about children running in the corridors and lifts etc. that I did offer a silent prayer that ours was so perfect. Well as you know the British have to compalin about something so this is my moan.....I did not enjoy one single meal in the Baytree Restaurant BUT that was just me being me because everyone else on the table enjoyed including my husband. On four sep. occasions I requested a steak instead..sent it back twice and left it on other occasions because there were no steak knives to cut the blinking thing....it was so tough. Anyway we shall definately be sailing again in the near future on the Aurora next time because we like to swap around.

Was on Ventura in May 2008 and ship was new and excellent in every aspect hence booked again and just completed the BALTIC ADVENTURE Cruise yesterday 12th June 2009. Unfortunatly we inherited the NOVA VIRUS from the previous Fjords cruise which we believe had 400 cases. We have restrictions placed on ship resulting in waiters serving Buffet food and hand cleaner everywhere. This reulted in very long queues for meals. Captains welcome night Cancelled along with P&O Portunis club night. It was noted that any staff and passengers were not using hand cleanser and only buffet waiters wore plastic gloves. many cases of Virus on our cruise it was more like a hospital ward on our deck (R)with many confined to cabin. Then all condiments etc were removed from takes to comabat Virus. Captain and Senior crew were never seen on ship throughout voyage and many passengers annoyed. The carpets in many of the ships corridors were very dirty and stained (even though this ship is only 12 months old). Some pieces of carpets were being changed in cabin corridors as we sailed, which looked a mess as light beigh sections replaced with a dark blue pattern (josephs coat of many colours came to mind). Cruise destinations Copenhagan, Stckholm, Helsinki, St.Petersburg, Tallin, Oslo, Kristainsands made up for the ships inadequacies. Will we travel Ventura again? well not for a while, but we are booked on the new Azura for its mainden cruises in 2010 - P&O need to sort Ventura out as regards NOVO VIRUS and get a Captain who is not shy of his PUBLIC.

INPORTANT NOTICE

We have just returned from a two weeks Baltic cruise on the Ventura May 29th to June 12th. Our cabin was on the back of the ship with a balcony, cabin number E734. On returning home my husband discovered £180 missing from his wallet and I was missing £100 from my purse. Both wallet and purse were locked away in the cabin's safe and we know exactly how much money was there because we never had to use any of that money because we had plenty in our on board account. I would like to hear from anyone on that same cruise who has encountered any kind of problem with missing money or valuables. I also had a watch taken from the dressing table, it was not an expensive watch in fact just a dress watch, but it was taken along with the money. P&O told us to report the incident to the police which we have done. The police have suggested that whoever is responsible could have entered the cabin from the balcony. Looking back we can see how easily that could be done. We do not believe that the cabin boy is responsible, but then again who knows. My message is.....be careful, there is obviously a thief or thieves aboard that ship. A very sad ending to a wonderful holiday.

We have just returned on the 26/6 after two weeks holiday in the Med on Ventura. My husband thought we must be joining an aircraft carrier, it is such a big ship. We felt that the majority of reviews about this ship very unfair. Our age is 69 and 76. The children on board did not present any problem, the holiday for us was perfect EXCEPT for the Brits on board. We have never seen so many morbidly obese people together in one space. Wheelchairs/electric, crutches, walking sticks. So many elderly people, rude, ignorant and noisy. Unfortunately most passengers from the North/Scotland and Wales. Table manners in the buffet non existent, elbows on tables, shovelling as much food as possible. It made us feel sick and felt like saying "should you really be eating so much" How sad that a beautiful ship well run with such polite and smiling crew should be spoilt by the rude ignorant and arragant Brits (WE felt ashamed of our race when visiting different ports) Maybe we will return to a smaller ship next time and hopefully avoid all the ignorant fatsos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PS We had two amazing waiters, Sunnil and Siva on our table 18 - Saffron Restaurant. They were perfect and very attentive. Chris the Head Waiter deserves a medal for the attention he gave to my wife regarding a difficult diet

Ventura The BIG disappointment



We have recently returned from a 2 week cruise to the Baltic aboard the Ventura and are very disappointed and upset. From the outset the ship was blighted with Norovirus, which did restrict our enjoyment to some degree, but we were more annoyed that we were not kept fully informed. We paid in excess of £4000 for our holiday and were appalled to hear that some passengers had paid as little as £1000 for a cabin, having booked at the last minute. We had a major problem with the lack of cleanliness in our cabin, and found a large toe nail and 3 tablets down the side of our bed. We had to ask to have the shower curtain changed because the smell of bad odour was overwhelming!! The entertainment (apart from the speaker Diane Simpson) was 3rd rate at best, and the comedian Bill Woolland should not have been allowed on board!! We have cruised with P&O before on the Oceana and on that occasion our experience was amazing, even magical. How can two such cruise ships differ so much? In our opinion the Ventura is just too big and passengers squeezed on board like sardines. As one gentleman we met on board commented "It feels like a Butlin's Holiday Camp on water". Queuing was major problem, particularly at meal times, and we were very relieved that we had opted for club dining in the evening. Assess to entertainment was also a problem and if you didn't get there early enough, you didn't get a seat!! Following our experience aboard the Ventura we have made the decision NEVER to cruise with P&O again. I wonder how many other passengers who were aboard our cruise feel the same? Since returning from our cruise we have voiced our opinions loud and clear to as many people as we can and will continue to do so. We saved very hard for over 12 months to be able to afford our special cruise and now we are left unhappy and disillusioned!!

Ventura ,May 8th.
Ist cruise I have been on,
The only complaint I had in the whole 2 weeks was that I was not given a steak knife!.
My partner and I are in our 70's and very young at heart and fully mobile. I really cannot understand the complaints about the ship or it's staff, all were attentive and a pleasure to be with.
The people aboard were the sort of people you would chose to be with, no "Chavs" and the children , few in number , were well behaved. I suppose if we had been the type who wanted to sunbathe by the pool we may have found it a bit crowded but everyone seemed to be enjoying both pools and a few other adults the upper deck small one.No more hotels with rigid dining times and mediocre entertainment (After the hours of kids playtime in the evening) for me,
Reccomend the freedom dining by the way, can sit with others if you like but we always asked for, and got, a table for two.Go on Ventura and enjoy, I will definitely be sailing on her again, But I don't think it will be at school holidays (or xmas), maybe it could then be like Butlins on sea!. there are after all 3000 passengers aboard.
Thanks for a well organised and memorable holiday P&O.