Ventura is a great ship

Just how you can give this cruise a five star rating is beyond me. As well as the permanent moaners you have those who like to project themselves as just the opposite. You were right with the food, 2 star at best. Limited, uninspiring menus presumably designed for the staid English palate, hard avocados, solid creme brulees, miniscule mussels with no garlic sauce, an inedible steak for a table companion, boring and repetitive vegetables. Wine prices in the restaurants were prohibitive, the only value were the half litre carafes of Californian house wine at £7.45. Buffet breakfast the same every day,Beach House service area cramped and badly laid out, passengers milling about in all directions, inadequate seating etc etc I agree with 3* for the entertainment, the Ventura company were very good. Shore excursions were 3*, St Petersburg ballet and Peterhof very good, Stockholm was spoiled by the fact that the ship wouldn't sail through the archipeligo in calm seas and tendered at Nynasham thus wasting 2 hrs tendering and bussing and denying us the so called "must see" entrance through the archipeligo, Copenhagen was great wasn;t it, couldn't even dock, admittedly windy but sea not that rough. Tallin was excellent though we didn't have an excursion and both Warnemunde and Ghent(from Zeebrugge) were enjoyable though it has to be said that they made a hash of the disembarkation at Zeebrugge and we were 2 and a half hours late returning which meant I missed my spa treatment. They also made a total hash of the final disembarkation at Southampton. The staff, mostly Indian, were courteous and hard working but little charisma. Our cabin was great, deck B balcony,well stocked with toiletries, empty fridge for personal use, safe etc, and well maintained, though I would warn future cruisers that decks below 11 had no covers and could be overlooked from above. Also if you're a non smoker you could be inconvenienced, also by adjacent noise, though neither happened to us. Smoking was also allowed in the Exchange bar which meant we didn't use it at all as it reeeked of smoke and spread to adjoining areas. There was 4 dinner jacket nights though I don't know why as only on one night was there anything special on , ie. the captains welcome party which we had to watch on tv in the havana bar, didn't see the captain in person , he anonymous throughout and was elsewhere on the ship doing the welcome presentation. Missing also were events we have had on previous cruises, eg ,special midnight or other themed buffets, barbeque, meet the captain or head chef sessions. Everything on board was extra cost even a coffee in the Tazine,you felt this was an accountant designed cruise to extract as much cash from you as possible. There were queues everywhere, reception was inadequate and surly , the freedom dining was a complete farce, the ship just could not cope adequately with the numbers of passengers. This is just a few of my observations, having said that, the cruise was enjoyable but P&O were unprofessional, uninformative and not even apologetic over the Copenhagen fiasco. I felt like a number rather than a person who mattered, and would never chose a ship of this size again, as we have never experienced this on smaller ships, even with P&O, and the Arcadia was a far more enjoyable on board experience. Two stars is a reasonable rating for us.

Hi there, I am due to travel on the ventura with my elderly mother in a junior mini suite. We had a letter to say that there aren't sun loungers on the balconies and I called to check this, They then said that there ARE recliners... Is this true? My mother is looking at this cruise as an experience of a lifetime and really wants to be able to sunbathe on the privacy of her own deck. Any comments welcome.

Hi there, I am due to travel on the ventura with my elderly mother in a junior mini suite. We had a letter to say that there aren't sun loungers on the balconies and I called to check this, They then said that there ARE recliners... Is this true? My mother is looking at this cruise as an experience of a lifetime and really wants to be able to sunbathe on the privacy of her own deck. Any comments welcome.