My Cruise on Ventura

I have recently returned from the P&O Ventura for 7 nights and had a great time.  We checked in at Birmingham Airport nice and early as our flight was at 6.15am.  The queue to check in was ridiculous and it took us an hour to eventually check our bags in.
By the time we had passed through security we didn't have long before we boarded the plane.  We arrived into Genoa at 9.15am and within 1 hour we were sat up on deck on the ship enjoying a cocktail.  I  was very impressed with how our suitcases were taken straight to the ship and how organised everything was to get us to the Ventura.  There wasn't a queue to check in at the port and we boarded straight away.  This was the first time I had been on the Ventura as first impressions were really good.  We sat up on deck drinking while we waited to access our cabins.

The cabins were ready by 1 pm.  We were lucky enough to have been allocated a balcony cabin on C deck and the balconies on this deck are larger than the decks above.  They are overlooked but there is plenty of room on the balcony to move into the sun or the shade.  The cabin itself was also a good size.  There was plenty of space for my clothes to hang and also lots of draw space.  My only criticism with the cabins were the bathrooms.  They were tiny and the shower was probably one of the smallest I have had at sea.  There was a hair dryer in the cabin and also tea and coffee facilities.

We had decided to go with the Freedom dining while on board as we like a table for 2 each evening.  This worked well for us.  We tended to go to the dining room at about 7.30pm and normally given a buzzer to go for a drink while we waited for a table.  We were normally seated by 8 pm.  Most of the tables for 2 in the Cinnamon Restaurant were very close together so although you pick a table for 2 a lot of people were still making conversation with the people next to them.  I am a fussy eater and I managed to find something on the menu to eat every night.  The service in the dining room could have been better and the waiters could have made more of an effort but this was a minor point.  We ate in the White Room the second night we were on board and the food in here and service was brilliant.  It was a much nicer atmosphere than the Cinnamon restaurant and although you pay a £25pp supplement to eat here we decided to go again on one of the formal evenings.  We also tried East Restaurant this was also good but in my opinion not as good as the White Room.  East carried a £15pp supplement.  We never ate in the Buffet restaurant for dinner and only ate there once for lunch.  I much preferred the Pizza and Burgers that were offered at the grills on deck.  We did use the Buffet for breakfast and there was a god choice of food however I think the layout could have been better.  Afternoon Teas also went down well with scones and tea cakes.

 

One of the things I really enjoy on a cruise is watching the entertainment.  We went to every show on board the ship and i wasn't disappointed.  The Headliners who are P&O's Musical Theatre group put on three shows while we were on board they performed a mixture of songs from Theatre, Film and going through the years in Music.  There was also a singer who performed twice and a Impersonator comedian.  We opted the for second show each evening which mainly started at 10.30pm.  We had to be in the theatre by 10.15pm at the latest or you couldn't get a seat.  Some nights people were stood in the Isles to watch the shows.  Other entertainment around the ship was also very good with singers and bands performing in the lounges.  Our favourite was the Tamarind Club.

I thought the ship was very easy to get around and we managed to always find a sun bed up on deck and a seat in the bars and in the Buffet for breakfast.  Although we were on there for 7 nights I think we probably needed longer to experience all of the bars and lounges on board.  We only had one sailaway party while on board which was the British Sailaway which went down very well with everyone waving their British flags and the entertainment staff dancing around up on deck..  We never used the Spa or took part in the quizzes or Bingo etc so can't comment on these.  We decided to have a go in the Casino but not until near the end of the holiday.  This seemed to work well and was always very busy.

My next post will talk about the places that we visited on the cruise.