My wife and myself have been on 3 other cruises and decided to give Ventura a try.I really don't think P&O can really cope with such a big ship. We went on the Baltic Splendour cruise and there were definitely 700 kids on board as we were told by a number of the staff who then informed us that there would be 800 on the next cruise.
Having read the smug comments on here from passengers with kids (Rennie family, west Lothian) yes we were well aware that it is a family ship and have sailed on other ships before that allow kids and they've never been an issue but on this cruise it was a total nightmare.
They took over all the pools including the only adult pool and although there were big signs stating NO JUMPING OR DIVING, they just ignored them and the parents didn't give a damn! Late at night there were a few teenagers who were staggering around obviously drunk and unsupervised. It was a total disgrace!
The food was very good, we had breakfast and evening meals in the Saffron restaurant but trying to get a seat in the Waterside restaurant for lunch was nigh on impossible, no matter what time you went.
The staff were very friendly and always looked very smart.
The entertainment was very good, the shows in the arena theatre were first class.Problem was there were limited seats especially if you went to the second show.The 8.45 show was very popular because at one point some friends we met had to miss one of the shows as they could not get a seat.
Would I sail on Ventura again? NO! I don't pay good money to have kids running around unsupervised having no respect for other people. Far be it from me to stop people from enjoying themselves but have a bit of respect for other passengers. All the other reviews on here from passengers moaning about the older passengers attitude towards the kids obviously cashed in on the 'kids go free' offer and without sounding snobbish, it's a recipe for disaster because you end up with some badly behaved families and that's exactly what we all got!

Just got back from the second cruise of Ventura - P & Os new - and much hyped - cruise ship.

This was our ninth cruise - tried different ships and different lines and - what a shame - this was our least enjoyable.

We weren't expecting miracles from the Itinerary "Iberia" - done most of it before and knew it was nothing special - we came for the ship, but they might have told us Brest (in the rain) was closed for a Bank Holiday - we were lucky and heard it from early returnees. NB all transport was free - a plus point.

It's actually a little difficult to nail down the reasons for our reaction - because nothing was terrible - or even poor - but then most of it was only "fair" , with a little "good" thrown in.

Cabin (balcony) was a fair/good thing - reasonable size, fair layout - as good as most and better than one or two.

Service was fair without being exceptional.

Freedom dining was bit half-hearted - you could turn up and wait - or pre-book - which was a limited sort of freedom. Food in the restaurants was fair to good - but never outstanding - with oddly limited choice(3 starters?)We had pre-booked the White Room - (NB it booked out for the week the first night)that was good but not outstanding compared to other speciality restaurants on other ships)We didn't try the speciality Oriental, East, which seemed over-priced at an extra £20 or the Spanish (OK at extra £5)They messed up my pre-booking and confirmation at the White Room something rotten - took 5 attempts to get it right.

The buffet restaurant was over-crowded and also severely limited in choice.

Entertainment during the day, except for that for children, was almost non-existent - at least for our sort of thng - talks etc. Saw very little of any entertainments staff generally.

Evening entertainment was mixed but on the whole a plus. The headline act of Brian Conley was excellent, and the dance and gymnastic troupe we thought outstanding. There was a show and another act each night and each gave three shows (a first for us). Some of the comedians in the Comedy Club were awful,and a special talk by Mark Williams really very poor - was he nervous or just terrible without a script?

The public rooms and the Atrium and theatre were - OK again - never something special.

If you saw the advertisement for the "special Scalextric" you were expecting something special - no, it was a track set up in one of the show -rooms - a bit pathetic really. I'm sure I saw a "puff" for a 3-D cinema - must check - there were films run in one of the show rooms but no actaul cinema and no 3D.

TV was a bit lazy - the channel for the Cruise Director never had anything on it for the whole cruise - other channels had "interactive" choices but all the good films were an extra charge,- quite a lot for children.
The pools - there were several - two outdoor. My wife likes it warm so only ever uses indoor. The indoor pool was small and usually held lots of children. The Spa one ws smaller and the current machine was broken throughout - she enjoyed the steam rooms though.

I feel a bit mean and a bit picky - but Aurora and Golden Princess were better than this in just about every way. Most people were repeat cruisers and felt the same first timers and those with children were happier on the whole.

9th May 2008 just left ship. excellent food, and cleanliness, staff excellent too.Entertainment from theatre company excellent, but comedy acts very low grade with one female comedian we wondered how she had managed to sneak aboard. P&O Get Rid!!.Staff in bars very busy. The white room was fully booked from day one. Scant information being given to passengers by tannoy system which did not operate in cabins so you had to constantly bob into the corridors. Visit to Brest France 3000 passengers decended by coach on the town in rain to find it was all closed as it was their Armictice day celebrating Liberation (Bank Holiday) with then passengers clammering back onto shuttle buses overcroaded, all due to lack of information and insensitivity by P&O. Captain out of touch as he gave a tannoy message at 5pm hoping that all passengers had enjoyed Brest when 2500 were back on ship by 11am?.If you go into Havana Club beware of trip hazards on raised seating areas we saw well over 50 people trip and stumble. Plenty of sun beds and lounge areas aboard.We also found that delays of getting to shore due to challenges in getting the gangways down, but this was at ports the ship had not docked before so it has to be expected. Considering it is its maiden season enjoyed the cruise but P&O listen and get better quality entertainers not HiHiHi.

New to cruising and Ventura looked wonderful - yes great ship, but a hopeless hotel. We believed the description of Freedom Dining - all untrue. We found that expecting a table for two on a luxury holiday was pure folly! Sit next to Bert and Ethel if you wish - it isn't how we planned a classy and romantic evening meal - so we didn't. All options very limited or not available (White Room fully booked from first day). Our 'junior suite' was very small and our cabin on the port side was the 'smoking side' (no-one mentioned that before!).
Prepare to sip champagne on your balcony with fag ash and butts drifting down from above. Cabin wasn't that clean considering it was only its second voyage - looked like vomit smeared on the wallpaper - we cleaned it with wet wipes - yuk!
Embarkation and the 'Express embarkation' (don't believe it) were chaos (as described by one of the crew)Think 1500 passenger and sometimes only one gangway.
In conclusion, we have never spent so many hours on a holiday queuing and the dining experience is abysmal.
Enjoy looking at Ventura - but don't waste your money unless you enjoy spending thousands on a floating bingo club - NEVER AGAIN!

We travelled 9 - 23 May Spain, Madeira, Canaries and Lisbon.
Obviously this ship is spotlessly clean being only a couple of months old. We found there were a number of issues that were not related to the 'normal' whindging like weather or rough seas. The layout was somewhat confusing especially considering how big this ship is, discreet markings would be very helpful as in many areas you cannot see the direction of travel and head off the wrong way.
Food in the main restaurants was very good generally with reservations concerning the steak which all agreed was tough, but this was a one off. The waiters were adequate but on other ships we found them much friendlier and would engage in a little entertainment but not on Ventura.
The top deck Waterside and Beach Buffet Restaurants were usually crowded, breakfast in these was poor, toast like iron, hard fried eggs, greasy bacon,,,cannot recommed - breakfast in the main restaurants far superior. The White Room food was sublime our only disappointment being that we were unable to book again as itwas full for the rest of the cruise, shame. The Ramblas was good for Tapas, East we did not try as we felt the menu poor and we understood it service was lacking when busy.
Staff were OK but this ship relies heavily on interactive technology and as others have stated there are no announcements to the cabins and we found very few announcements other than tour announcements.
The senior crew did not mingle at night other than for a couple of 'cocktail with the crew, hours, again on other ships the senior staff would eat with the guests, not on Ventura. All othe rstaff were adequate but distant we felt, most of the staff appear to have been recriuted in India, which in itself is not an issue but showed a noticable lack of diversity and different characters.
Entertainment during the day we cannot comment on as we were off the ship mostly but I went to a 'How to edit digital photos' talk and was very surprised to find a ,nominal, fee of £20 applied, so I walked.
Steve Womack and Kev Erkian were two comedy acts of high calibre, the other four comedians were DIRE!
Two groups, Magic and Rang A Tang were the highlights of the entertainment for us, we would pay to see them in the future. The shows were professional and good but not to our taste, there were also singers, light music, pianists who were OK if you like that sort of thing. Cinema during the day was in the Tamarind Club which like Havana has a design fault inasmuch as the dividing barriers are too high and obscure your view.
The most active part of the crew seemed to be the photographers, I thought the cost too high but there are interactive terminal too have your own shots developed which were good value.
We only did two tours which were OK as we had been to all the destinations before.
Overall a good effort but the ship comes across as somewhat impersonal, work needed on buffet food and entertainment - what 3D cinema?
I am unsure if the aircon was turned down as it was not particularly hot weather but if not this will be a very hot ship in the high season.
Still I am sure it will be a succesful ship and in time no doubt all the little niggles will be resolved.

Just got back on 23rd may. We have to say that for our first trip with p&o on this extremely hyped up ship, we were disappointed. This was our 10th cruise and the food was very ordinary. The whiteroom was the reason we chose this cruise, and were bitterly disappointed.
Much of the food compared to the American cruise lines was very very average. Every meal was served with Either a white or brown roll !! Steak & chips in the a la carte restaurant consisting of a 3oz steak 11 fries 2 mushrooms and half a tomatoe, was great for weightwatchers but not what I'm looking for on a cruise! We ended up spending £200 on food as extras, plus our dining whilst ashore.THe best meal we had was in East restaurant. Fantastic food and staff, pity we had to pay extra.
In all fairness the ship is lovely, and the staff & entertainment exceptional. On the whole I really feel p&o need to have a rethink if the want Ventura to be their flagship !!

This is my first cruise, and I found the Ship incredibly clean and well organised. The food was excellent in my opinion, a huge variety and always spotlessly presented, plenty for the children too. East was particularly good. The cabin staff were incredibly attentive and eager to please, other members of staff were not so helpful, but the waiters also were eager to make sure everything was perfect and spotlessly clean. The kids club (Jumpin' Jacks) for me has to get a special mention - the Director Mark did an incredible job along with the rest of the staff, and for my daughter who would not set foot inside for the first week, he made her trip! The club is again spotlessly clean and incredibly well run, plenty for the kids to do and they keep kids entertained ALL day. I saw only one show, this was by the dance company and the standard of dancing was incredible - there were many more shows on offer but I just never made it! I have very few negative comments about this Ship apart from East, although the food was excellent, booking always seemed a problem even though it appeared empty! All in all a great trip (despite questionable weather at times). This ship is for young families who want to enjoy the pleasures of a cruise with the added bonuses of excellent childcare facilites. Many of the older generation find this ship too big (I asked many!), so if you don't like walking then try a different ship!

We traveled on the ventura from the 23rd may to 30th. (iberian interlude) We found embarkation ran smoothly with no problems, boarding the ship around 12:30pm. We was greeted by some of the crew at the ships doors and welcomed onboard, i found the ship was spotless and gleaming as its only a couple of months old. The decor was amazing and different throughout the ship. We were disapointed when we found out there was no 3D cinima ? Also we was disapointed to find out that we couldn't get off the ship in La rochelle, due to industrial action in port.
The food in the buffets wasn't as good as some ships and you could never get a seat, the main restuarant food was far better.
Although we didn't really see any of the shows, we did see the comedian which was very funny and entertaining.
The ships crew were not as friendly as some other ships. (could have been better)
At disembarkation we got some 'self disembarkation tickets' and took our own suitcases off, we were the first off at 8:00am and it took us no longer than 10 minutes.
Overall, we probably would sail with P&O again due to a fantastic holiday on a fantastic ship.

well where do i start . . . to start off with i guess i felt the need to add a decent review for ventura. i admit to reading MV Ventura's reviews before i boarded on 23rd may 08 and was slightly disappointed by the amount of people who were disappointed with the service that P & O offered. the cruise i was on departed on 23rd may 08 - 30th may 08 'iberian interlude'

there are a few comments that have been made that i do agree with EG the buffett (beachhouse) was a very bland english menu, but for the passengers who were unhappy with the food served there was always the option to go and eat else where, EG, frankies grill, pizza place, east, the white room, room service, the main restaurants, the list goes on, so to be fair i really didnt feel this was a problem at all!

the only problem i guess we did have was that before boarding Ventura i remember reading that one of the pools was for adults only (oasis pool - front of ship) during the week that pool was constantly full of children messing with the wave machine, hanging off it and jumping and diving in. now i noticed that this 'child free' pool was slightly shallower than any of the other pools which would in theory make it safer for children to be in. if p & o which to make rules about certain pools for different 'age groups' i feel they should stand by their rules because if not there will be problems later!

i remember reading that someone said the staff onboard where hardly ever around, making some people feel they dont wish to socialize with the passengers. whilst onboard Ventura i saw the captain eating with his family many times in the passenger restaurant (beach house) and he always engaged in conversation if people wished to talk. he was happy to discuss how he was finding the ship compared to others he had been captain of.

the Ventura theatre company were amazing their shows were fantastic, from the dancing, singing and even the choreography. the only let down was seeing that ventura is now being aimed at the slightly younger generations i felt for a couple of the shows they should have picked classic songs which everyone would hasve known not just the older ones. the best show by far was 'Chronicles' i highly recommend seeing this one.
after the shows and on their days off the performers where seen relaxing in the nightclub onboard 'Havana' until the early hours of the morning, talking to people about how they got involved with it, how there finding it, anything really.

for tea we were in the Saffron restaurant and i do admit we had a very fussy eater on our table who insisted on having mint sauce with every meal he ate, the waiters were always happy to go that extra mile for him, he also thought the portions of the meals were too small for him, but when he asked for a little more, he received it, all you have to do is ask!!!

considering im a vegetarian and dont eat meat, im not a big fan of the vegetarian meals at all, so used to order the meat dishes without the meat i think at first they thought this was a bit strange but when i explaned i received more potatoes and veg . . . simple!!

ive been on 3 cruises with p & o my first two on Oceana and the standard and service i receieved were fantastic and i can honestly say the same for Ventura, shes a great ship!!

now the question i guess i should be answering is would i sail on Ventura again??

the answer is YES, course i would - seeing as i have two more cruises booked onboard 20th dec 08 i am off to the carribean and 22nd may 09 im off to the norweigen fjords

We traveled on the ventura from the 23rd may to the 30th may. (iberian interlude) We found that embarkation ran smoothly, boarding the ship at around 12:30pm. We were greeted at the ships doors by members of the crew. The ship was very clean and tidy as its only a few months old.
The ships crew weren't as helpful as some other ships and could have been more helpful and cheerful.
We can't really judge the entertainment because we didn't really see much but we did see a comedian onboard, he was very funny and entertaining. we weren't very happy to hear there was no 3D cinima ?
The ships two buffets were bad as you could never get a seat, and when you were lucky enough to get a seat.. the food wasn't very good, In the main restuarants the food was fantastic, the waiters would do anything for you to ensure your meal was perfect.
At disembarkation we got some 'self disembarkation tickets' which allows you to disembark the ship on your own, with your suitcases. This was better because there was no waiting around to get off. we were the first off the ship at around 8:00am, it took us no longer than 10 minutes.
Overall i think we would sail on this ship again because it gave us a fantastic holiday and the ship was fabulous.