Cruise Reviews | Canaries Delight or Not as the case may be!

Wednesday 20th August 2008

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Canaries Delight or Not as the case may be!
Reviewed By: Pryde, Swansea on 20th Jul 2008
Cruise Line: P&O Cruises	Times cruised before: 1-2
Cruise Ship: Ventura	Sailed: July, 2008
Destination: Canaries	Age: 46-55

Have just returned from our first cruise on the new ship Ventura. We have to agree with the comments that are being raised by most other reviewers. Being advertised as the flagship of "superior quality" offering a first class holiday, this is a joke. The entertainment was definately below standard:- The comedians (that's what they were billed as) with the exception of Ray the scotish guy on the last night were appalling, as a result the Tamarind Bar was avoided. The Arena theatre shows were just OK, the Vetura Theatre Company work diligently, but the shows were disjointed and once you have seen the acrobatic pair, thats enough but every show boring! Hilary O'Neil was a highlight and Steve Womak. The singers who appeared in the Exchange and on Deck (when weather permitted) were excrutiating. Come on P&O you are letting your standards slip. The fact that there are over 3000 passengers on board certainly caused problems. Sun beds were reserved, and a message on the interactive TV stating that this was not fair, really did the trick, NOT. We travelled with elderly parents who are both wheelchair users (who incidentally have cruised on numerous occasions and hated this ship), and we were unable to get sunbeds, or move around the higher decks as the beds were so close together. Towels were placed on sunbeds from 7am in the morning, but remained unused for hours at a time. There were also problems finding seats in many of the bars, and to be certain of a seat in the Arena theatre you had to sit and look at a curtained stage about 40 minutes prior to a show commencing. This would have been an ideal opportunity to provide information regarding the ports of call, or even some background music could have been played. it was very disappointing not to be able to dock in Lanzarote, however having holidayed in this region on several occasions the winds were no worse than is expected for this time of year. So, if problems are anticipated why include this destination on the itinery? The situation was made worse by the fact that we were not offered a different port of call or an additional day at one of the other destinations, the Captain apologised via the intercom and simply gave us an additional day at sea. Keeping passengers on board to spend. The fact that there were many children on the ship, resulted in the unsupervised swimming pools being overcrowded and a free for all. On one occasion my 20 year old daughter was trying to swim, when two young boys jumped onto her. Needless to say our parents could not use these pools at all. If you have already booked a cruise on this ship, be prepared, or change your booking. P&O should have marketed this ship correctly, we were not impressed and would not return to the Ventura.

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Opinion: Disagree Comment by Yates, Bishop Auckland (28 Jul 08 16:53) about this REVIEW.

Was I on the same cruise - yes I was. Yes Sun beds were reserved but if you had seen a member of staff they would have been more than happy to help you with a sun bed. I never had a problem getting a seat in the Arena theatre although I did not sit there for 40 minutes and surely that was your choice. Children on board yes, well it is a children's boat as well and really Noddy being on board and adveritised in the brochure beforehand was a clue to that one. Although we had an extra day at sea no one was forced to spend anything. I work health and I can guarantee you that any one in a wheelchair can get around that boat, and the comment on no seating in the bars is ridiculous there were loads maybe not in the front row but certainly in the bars. I thoroughly enjoyed my holiday I work hard all your year and I have been cruising for a long time, if you go looking for faults you will always find them, just be grateful if you can avoid the holiday and enjoy it- many cann't, the staff work so hard to make your time on board enjoyable. Your parents could have used the pool, they even had the correct harnesses to aid them, it was their choice not the poor cruise staff.

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Comment by Edwards , cardiff (01 Aug 08 20:20) about a COMMENT by Yates (28 Jul 08 16:53)

What a pleasant change to read comments from somebody who clearly understands how fortunate any of us are to enjoy such a holiday.

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