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Ventura's Maiden Transatlantic Crossing. |
| Reviewed By: Smith, Warsash, Southampton on 2nd Dec 2008 |
| Cruise Line: P&O Cruises |
Times cruised before: 10+ |
| Cruise Ship: Ventura |
Sailed:
October,
2008 |
| Destination: Transatlantic |
Age: 46-55 |
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It is very difficult to know what to write about our recent trip on Ventura that regular visitors to this site have not already read. Yes, there were problems with the availability of sunbeds on the sea days and we had eight of those, three down to Tenerife and five across the Atlantic. We can confirm a number of other things that other reviewers have picked up on, namely tape holding the edges of the carpet down in the Waterside and Beach House eating areas, very lax enforcement of the usage of hand sanitiser, cabin carpets and glass on the balconies never cleaned. Now I have started perhaps it is best to get all the negative things out of the way from the start. Whilst it is great that there is no smoking inside the public rooms there were still some no go areas for non-smokers. The starboard side of the main pool area was very smoky and any after dinner walk around the narrow promenade deck involved fighting your way through the smoke and past large groups of people who always congregated at the doorways on the starboard side.
This cruise was the first time we have booked freedom dining and most nights it worked well for us, a time to suit us and varied company. Around 8.30pm, after the first show, there was usually a maximum of a twenty minute wait as long as you were willing to share but on more than one occasion we found we were sharing with people who had actually booked club dining. They “just wanted a change” or “wanted to eat at a different time in order to see a particular show or cabaret at a certain time.” I am sure this selfish attitude made it busier than it should have been in the Cinnamon Restaurant and perhaps P & O should really check people’s original dining option upon entry. There was definitely a more relaxed attitude regarding the adherence to the dress code on this cruise than we have experienced in the past.
Most days we took breakfast and lunch in the Beach House, often eating al fresco near the Terrace Bar and pool. Dinner was usually taken in the Cinnamon Restaurant although we did enjoy the more informal speciality buffet in the Waterside on two occasions. The food in the Cinnamon Restaurant was always very nice but there again nothing exceptional. On the first evening the waiter explained what we were already aware of, that if nothing on the menu appealed to you there were always alternatives of melon, prawn cocktail, steak, chicken or various salads. The fact that we chose these alternatives on a number of occasions must say something about the very ordinary menus.
P & O’s sensible attitude to bringing a reasonable amount of alcohol on board meant we were able to enjoy a nice pre-dinner drink whilst getting ready in the evenings. Each of the bars had a very good selection of drinks at very reasonable prices and it is nice to get the Portunus discount taken off the final bill rather than 15% added on to each drink as often seems to be the case on a lot of the other cruise lines nowadays.
In our opinion Neil Oliver the Cruise Director and most of his team lacked any drive or direction but we understand he has now moved on. We went to see all the big production shows in the Arena Theatre and enjoyed them all except for Ventura Chronicles which seemed to us like a cross between Jungle Book and The Lion King but without the nice songs and music. The Pirate show that was performed one evening around the Laguna Pool on Lido Deck also did not meet expectations. Apart from a few young children sitting together near the pool the performers did not seem to be able to keep the audiences attention; most people were talking or walking around throughout the show.
We enjoyed most of the cabaret and tribute acts that we saw but we fully understand that it must be very difficult for P & O to please everyone all the time. Most cruise ship comedians nowadays seem to find it hard to come up with new material but Mick Miller still managed to get everyone laughing with his great presentation. During the Atlantic crossing there was a series of four talks given by former BBC newsreader Philip Hayton and these proved to be very popular and most interesting. The after dinner speaker on this cruise was Cheryl Baker of Bucks Fizz who managed to tell her life story in a most entertaining and enjoyable way. It was also a real pleasure for us to meet Murray Walker who was on holiday and told us he was really enjoying the cruise.
We gave up on the “individual quizzes” after a couple of days as we prefer to join in with other couples in order to meet people and make new friends. We tried the syndicate quiz at 11.00pm in one of the restaurants one night but felt that there were better entertainment options we wanted to enjoy.
Unfortunately there was virtually no variation between the sailaway parties from the different ports of call but because we were usually in the company of good friends we had met during the cruise we still had a good time. Particular highlights were the very loud passenger and ships whistle’s exchanges at departure times between Ventura and Emerald Princess in Antigua as well as Carnival Liberty and Crown Princess in St. Maarten.
This trip was Ventura’s maiden transatlantic/">Transatlantic crossing and we thought she weathered the slight swells through the Bay of Biscay and the Atlantic very well although there seemed to be a lot more creaking than we have previously experienced on even much older ships. Our cabin, B718 was really nice and well laid out, the walk in dressing and wardrobe area worked really well for us. No wardrobe doors made the normal selection of clothes as well as unpacking and packing a lot easier than usual. The large bed was one of the most comfortable we have had on any ship. The tea and coffee making facilities were used each morning whilst watching the sunrise or our arrival at the various ports. The balcony was adequate for our needs and yes it would have been nice to have reclining chairs but P & O have now said that they are going to address this issue. We actually found the balcony to be too hot for sunbathing and usually went to the upper decks in search of the cooling breeze and the pools. The B Deck balconies like ours were not overlooked but this could not be said for those on C and D decks as they are laid out in a terrace style, bigger balconies but certainly a lot less privacy.
We were very fortunate with the weather from the moment we left Southampton. Apart from some expected tropical showers we had nothing to worry about. It’s surprising how you can put up with rain when it is warm rain and you are reasonable sure that the sun will be out to dry everything very soon.
All the ports of call on our cruise were very enjoyable and each had their own particular identity. In the past we have found some ports of call to be a bit similar but as we only had Tenerife and five Caribbean ports we did not find this to be the case this time. We travelled independently with ease in Tenerife and St. Maarten but chose organised dolphin watching, snorkelling and canoeing trips in St. Lucia, Antigua and Dominica. We also managed to squeeze in a half day trip to the beach in Barbados on our last day as our return flight was not till 7.15pm.
To summarise, we had a great holiday and met some really nice people aboard a very nice ship. Ventura is a big ship and of course we knew this before we booked and we have previously cruised on Grand Princess which was only slightly smaller. We do not actually believe that big is necessarily better. We do not think it is the passengers who get the extra benefit of these larger ships as most of the space seems to be taken up by more cabins and the staff to passenger ratio seems to be somewhat reduced. Like many other people have said before us, we would definitely go on Ventura again if the itinerary and the deal suited us. To anyone booked on Ventura we hope you enjoy your holiday as much as we enjoyed ours. The few negative things I mentioned at the start of this review were really just observations and are absolutely nothing to worry about compared with what a lot of people have got to live with on a daily basis. We’d rather be cruising!!
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| Quality of Food |  |
| Beach House for breaklfast & lunch, Cinnamon for dinner most nights. | | Entertainment | |
| Most enjoyable show was Masquerade and Mick Miller was by far the best comedy act that we saw during this cruise. | | Shore Excursions |  |
| All the excursions were very enjoyable and good value for money. People we spoke to who organised independent trips did not save much money for all their efforts. | | Staff | |
| Reception staff were very helpful on the couple of times we needed their help and advice. | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities | |
| We found plenty to do on each of the sea days. Went ashore for almost the whole day everytime we were in port. | | Cabins | |
| Cabin was more than adequate. Only in it most nights from 0100 till 0800 to sleep and then again 1830 till 1930 to get ready for dinner. | | Overall Rating | |
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