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The Ventura and the Baltic Capitals. |
| Reviewed By: JONES, Newport on 5th Jul 2008 |
| Cruise Line: P&O Cruises |
Times cruised before: 3-5 |
| Cruise Ship: Ventura |
Sailed:
June,
2008 |
| Destination: Baltic |
Age: 65+ |
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we were also on board the Ventura for the Baltic cruise but would disagree with comments made by Mitchell. He obviously paid a lot more for his suite than we did for our balcony cabin so that is why he had so many extras in it. Yes the cabin was good, clean and well looked after by Falio. Tea, coffee and biscuits were replenished every time they were used which sometimes was more than once a day. The same thing with the towels. There was plenty of space under the bed for four cases and we had a walk-in wardrobe but I would advise anyone to take extra hangers.
The ship really is big and it is very easy to get lost on board especially as some of the lifts do not go to the deck you need. You then have to go to the deck above, walk UP to the next deck and along to the next set of lifts to go back down!!! Everyone found this most confusing. Any announcements could not be heard in your cabin and by the time you found the correct channel on T.V they had finished.
Having booked club dining for second sitting we discovered a letter in our cabin saying they were delighted to tell us we had "Freedom" class dining. This was fine if one booked it the day before but it meant that you never sat with the same people so did not get to know them as you would having the same table each night. When there are just two of you on a table say for six the other four were generally all together and you could feel out of it.
The gym was very good with lots of different machines which were never in use all the time so you could normally find the one you wanted.
There were plenty of sun beds and always some free.
The main grumble would be the entertainment and the facilities. Booking dinner for 7p.m. we were normally finished by 8.15p.m. and the show would start at 8.45p.m. Even half an hour before it started the theatre was always full and one could not get a seat. For such a large ship the theatre was not big enough. We did try the late show on one occasion but it did not start until 10.45 which was rather late. We could not book dinner much earlier as there were set times and when one had been on an excursion we often did not get back on ship until well after 5p.m. The shows were very poor in comparison with many other ships, especially the Royal Caribbean Line who import shows from London and top venues and were top quality shows. The only dance floor was also very small. This is a British ship which serves scones with synthetic cream - no fresh cream or clotted cream at all. Who has ever had chocolate eclairs with synthetic cream?.
The library was well stocked but one could not sit down as there were no seats. On other ships they have a swop corner so that people bringing books on board could swop them when they had read them
The ports of call were excellent and I would advise anyone who has not been to the Baltic capitals to take a cruise but maybe not on the Ventura. We were told time and time again not to judge P+O by the Ventura because of the vast number of passengers and the ratio of staff to passengers could have been bigger so preventing some of the big queues and the long wait for Freedom dining if you expected to just walk in as advertised. All together there were good and bad points but no I would not sail on her again.
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| Quality of Food |  |
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good in the Cinnamon Restaurant but could be cold in the Waterside Buffet restaurant. Custard served in the Buffet restaurant but not in the silver service restaurant. On the whole good food. | | Entertainment |  |
| Shows were poor quality - those we could get in to see. Big queues and no seats left for the middle production. | | Shore Excursions | |
| Best excursion was to Ypres and Flanders fields. Museum in Ypres is considered to be best in Europe. Least favourite - Seige of Lenningrad - too long in museum, too repetitive and so did not see anything of St Petersburg that day. | | Staff |  |
| Jacques in the computer room who was so patient with beginners and competent computer users alike. Nothing was too much trouble. | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities |  |
| Lots were repeated and not enough variety. | | Cabins |  |
| Yes | | Overall Rating | |
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