Iberian Cruise, Ventura. |
| Reviewed By: Helen, Deal on 1st Jun 2008 |
| Cruise Line: P&O Cruises |
Times cruised before: 0 |
| Cruise Ship: Ventura |
Sailed:
May,
2008 |
| Destination: Iberia |
Age: 36-45 |
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As this was my first cruise, with my two children (10 and 2) we were very much looking forward to it.
However, we shall not be sailing with P and O again, for various reasons.
The main one being that they put mine and my children's safety at risk by not including buggy assistance on the gangways (oversight on their policy, despite being a 'family' cruise, according to senior Reception staff.
This resulted in my son and I carrying my daughter in her buggy up a moveable, stepped gangway, up to the ship at deck six. My son had to walk backwards, with the responsibility of his sister's safety, while two gangway staff watched us struggling at the bottom and ten staff watched us from the top.
All other passengers had to wait until we reached the deck and three fellow sets of passengers complained at what they had witnessed.
Various passengers at the bottom of the gangway tried to reach us to help but were blocked.
When I complained, whilst clearly upset, I was told by reception that it was my fault as I did not ask for help. It was clear that P&O were trying to keep me quiet, however, more and more passengers and the tour escort complained on my behalf.
The same thing happened to us after we boarded by tender from Guernsey and again after complaining, the fact that P&O had not included buggy assistance as well as disabled assistance came to the fore.
In terms of disabled assistance, there was a distinct lack of that as well. Passengers were seen bumping their partners in their wheelchairs up the gangways, again without any assistance.
In terms of the ship, it really is a lovely place to be, as everything is so new. The food was presentable, if not a bit 'samey' but the service cannot possibly be personalised, on such a large scale and we did not expect it to be.
All in all an experience, from which I have learnt alot in terms of cruising.
There were a lot of unhappy people on this ship and the french strike did not help matters as we could not visit two ports because of it and were in essence stuck on the ship.
If you have children, the facilities are totally fabulous, my son had a fantastic time and my daughter would have, if she was one month older and allowed in the 2-4 group (which she was not).
I did not experience the White Room, or East restaurants, they looked empty all the time and univiting and again I heard lots of complaints that the £25 per head and £20 per head, respectively, surcharge was not worth it. (Note, no discounts for kids).
Our cabin was lovely, we were very lucky and were allocated a disabled cabin, as it was the only three berth left when we booked. The standard cabins are very poky indeed.
Try and avoid the Waterside for breakfast, as they shut one restaurant down and you have to walk with your food to the other side of the ship to eat it. This often resulted in me having to leave my daughter in her high chair while fellow passengers watched her for me, as again, no assistance!
Breakfast is far more pleasurable in your restaurant.
Also 'Freedom' dining is no such thing. You still have to stay in your alloted restaurant and the only 'freedom' you get is the time that you eat, rather than 1st or 2nd sitting with the same passengers.
We have two other cruises booked already this year, with NCL, so we are hoping for a better experience than what we had with P&O.
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| Quality of Food |  |
| Ate mainly in the Cinnamon restaurant. The same food is served right throughout the ship, except if you want to pay extra for Ramblas (tapas) or the White Room or East. | | Entertainment | n/a |
| Did not get to watch any as they do not have any private baby sitting facilities, only a night nursery and the children have to be asleep before you can use it. | | Shore Excursions |  |
| Please see comments before re assistance. This overshadowed our trips completely. Some ports were blocked and therefore not seen. The P&O trips were poor value for money, what is excellent though is that a shuttle service(free) is laid on at every port, we only discovered this though once on board and spuriously, after we had booked their tours (subsequently cancelled). | | Staff |  |
| Adeline Rouse, Front of house manager and Roland, our cabin steward.
Adeline is far to good at her job to be wasted working on this ship, exceptionally professional, hardworking and under valued.
Roland was only too keen to help us with whatever was needed and kept our cabin spotless. | | Children's Facilities | |
| When I booked our trip direct with P&O, I was told that even though my daughter was one month off being two years old, she could still use the 2-4yr old facilites. Not the case and therefore I did not get any freedom at all. Such a shame as the facilities are great.
My son used the Den (9-12yr olds) and he had a wonderful time. The kids staff are great. | | Onboard Activities | n/a |
| Could not get to do any of it, due to toddler on hip all day! | | Cabins |  |
| We were lucky as we had a disabled cabin with 100 sq ft more of space. Would not have liked the standard cabin as very small. | | Overall Rating | |
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