Mini Cruise on Ventura part 2

Hi All, For those of you that read my blog post a couple of weeks ago will know that I was just about to embark on a 2 day mini cruise on the Ventura. For those of you that didn’t read the post go back and read it. It was a pre cruise analysis of Ventura. Now I am back I want to give you my thoughts of the ship. This will be a great insight for people that have been with P&O before and want to know whats changed. It will also be great for anybody that has never been with P&O and want an unbiased view of the ship before taking the plunge. Here Goes…………………………………….

Day 1

We had a 3.30pm check in and got on board 3.30pm on the dot. The service in southampton was excellent and the staff were great. Upon Embarking the ship we went straight up to the cabin which was on deck 11 towards to the back of the ship. We were lucky enough to have a balcony. The case was waiting for us by the time we got there. The room was spacious and the balcony was a lot bigger than I remember having before and bigger than some 5 star ships that I have been on. What I would say about the balcony is that we didn’t really go on it at all. It was however nice knowing we had it and we did open the door. I can imagine on a hot summers day on a longer cruise it would be worth it. On a 2 night mini cruise in the autumn maybe not as much. We did only pay about £50 more than an inside for this so this was pretty good. After checking out of the room we went to muster drill. A lot of waiting round for people to turn up. After the muster drill we headed upstairs to the sail away party. This is my favourite part on a cruise. The atmosphere is great and everyone is in a good mood. I queued up for a pizza and it took for ever. How long does it take to cook a cheese and tomato pizza? After food we had a little tour of the ship before heading back to the cabin to get changed ready for the evening sit down meal. This was the formal evening which was unusual for a first night. We opted for freedom dining which I prefer as you can go down for food when ever you like. We didn’t have to wait on either of the nights. We had a choice of the Marco Pierre white menu or the a la carte. We opted for the a la carte and it was fantastic. No complaints at all. After the meal we headed to the club area where there was a guy singing old school classics. He was pretty good just not my cup of tea. There were plenty of other places you could have gone however I was happy to chill in there.

Day 2.

We woke up early ready for a full day in Bruges. There was a shuttle bit that took you to the nearest train station. Blankenburg. This would then take you to bruges for $5 return which I thought was well worth it. I had been to bruges before and love it there. The weather was wet but we made the most of it. after wandering round most of the chocolate shops we found a quirky little pub which had a jukebox and it was great. We headed back to the ship around 4pm. This must have been the time that the excursions got back as we had to queue for a while to go through security. My friend and I then went to the sports pub to watch the footy while my wife and her friend went for afternoon tea. After the footy we headed to the hot tub where we plonked ourselves until Dinner time. The seconds night meal wasn’t as good as the first night. The steak was a bit tough and i expected the standards to be slightly higher than they were. After dinner we went to a whitney houston tribute in the club area and she was fab.

All in all my trip on Ventura was great and I would do that same trip again and even on the same ship. I think P&O could raise that standard slightly as at the moment I would say they are inline with expectation and price however not exceeding. I have a mini cruise on the independence of the seas this month so it will be very interesting to get a comparison. As always I will keep you guys posted and if you have any questions please let me know