My date with Ventura

Last weekend, I was lucky enough to go on board the P&O Ventura, never been on her before, so was really excited.  Maybe a tad bit too excited if I’m honest, I left the house at half 5 for what turned out to only be a 3 hour drive for me (I was like a kid at Christmas).  So I decided to make a couple of service/coffee stops and take my time.  I got to Southampton around 9:30 as I had no idea where the car park was, where I was parking my car.  But I need not worry, as the car parking I was booked into (which comes with the Select fares on P&O if you choose free car parking), is right outside the dock on Mayflower terminal.  So after unloaded my case, I made the short journey to the departure lounge.  And before I knew it, we were checked in.

The ship itself is stunning, the Atrium gleaming in the light, and we made our way to our cabin.  Now again myself and my colleague Michaela were lucky enough to be placed in a Balcony cabin, a Sheltered Balcony Cabin on Riviera deck (deck 14).  Now I have heard customer pre-conceptions regarding a Sheltered Balcony, so we took a look and it was a glorious day in Southampton, and the sun was still beaming down on our balcony, so my advise would be to not worry too much about the sheltered balconies, you do still get a decent amount of sunlight.

So off we went for our conference, in which time all other passengers were checked in, and then it was the Muster drill.  Now this did take longer than P&O had originally planned, due to complications when passengers were checking in, but this is compulsory, and they scan your cards at the Muster points, and if you’re there, your name will be announced across the ship – a bit like your announcements when your late for your flight.

Then it was on to Breaker’s Bar for the sail away, located on Sun Deck!  Yes it was busy at the bar, but just below us was another bar on Lido deck, or there were staff taking drinks orders.  If you are going to do that, I would advise not walking away too far, as I did notice a few servers were losing their guests.  Once the sail away was complete and we were on our way to Bruges, it was time to get ready for dinner.  We had dinner in the Main Restaurant, The Bay Tree, and I have to say, the food was brilliant.  I had the Prawn Cocktail to start and then Steak for Main.  The whole dining experience was seamless and again the attention given by the waiting staff was brilliant.

For the evening entertainment, we chose the Havana bar on Deck 7, this night there was a Take That tribute act, which were good, and sang all the classics to get everyone on the dance floor.  And again the waiting staff were on hand to take drinks orders in order to lower congestion at the bars.

That’s all for now on my trip to Ventura, next time, I will tell you about my trip to Bruges and my tour of the ship.

For more deals on the Ventura or any other P&O ship, visit our website, or call me directly on  0333 300 2662

Until next time.