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Ventura's maiden Caribbean cruise |
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Reviewed By: Calderhead, Wootton Bassett on 28th Jun 2009
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| Cruise Line: P&O Cruises |
Times cruised before: 3-5 |
| Cruise Ship: Ventura |
Sailed:
December,
2008 |
| Destination: Caribbean |
Age: 46-55 |
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We as a family had saved for 18 months to be able to afford this Caribbean holiday and as we had cruised before, this was my third and my wife's 7th cruise we had high expectations. We, in-fact 3 years earlier got married onboard the P&O Oceana and it was the very same captain of the Ventura, Keith Dodd's who performed the ceremony. Our flight to Barbados was a pleasant one, plenty of leg room and reasonably comfortable, the landing was alarmingly heavy and I thought at one point that we had hit the ground that hard we bounced back into the air. The one hour coach trip from the airport was interesting, it felt like I was in a F1 bus going round Monaco, however, once on board we were keen to discover Ventura's delights and were very pleased with what we were seeing. A bonus for us was seeing quite a few of stewards & bartenders we befriended on previous cruises so knew we would be getting great service. The accommodation, food, & entertainment was of a high standard overall with onboard pricing of drinks ect, reasonable. The biggest disappointment for us was the port of calls we did not make due to the bad weather & high winds. Three of the ports could not be accessed. In all it was a an "ok" cruise, our 15 year old daughter loved it and said it was the best holiday she had ever had, but for me as a very keen photographer I was less enthusiastic due to the lack of ports we docked at. Cruising the Caribbean at Christmas can be a bit of a hit or miss due to unpredictable weather, however, if you expect to be blessed with fantastic sunshine everyday and get into every port, this might not be the holiday for you.
The high's : Barbados - sunset catamaran - see pic
The low's : Three of the nine ports not accessed due to the weather. Fights in the Havana bar by Yobs. No compensation.
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| Quality of Food |  |
| Overall the food was excellent, apart from Christmas day where we were offered Bernard Matthew's Chicken | | Entertainment | |
| Mixed feelings here, some were exceptional, others . . . not good | | Shore Excursions |  |
| The ones we went on were excellent - 3 port of call cancelled due to bad weather | | Staff |  |
| The best there is. | | Children's Facilities | |
| My 15 year old daughter said it was the best holiday she has ever had | | Onboard Activities | |
| Always something to do | | Cabins |  |
| The rooms were very good, disappointed that we had to pay to watch movies etc | | Overall Rating |  |
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