Just back from 2 week cruise on Ventura.Our flights from Manchester with Thomas Cook were excellent.Complimentary drinks,food and toiletries and good choice of films.Arrival in Barbados and onto ship was so well organised.Waited around 2 hours for cases to arrive so used the time to look around the ship-and what a ship!! It was our first cruise so we had nothing to compare it to but we were very impressed.We had an inside room which was lovely,mirrors all around gave it a good sense of space.Compact bathroom,powerful shower and loads of white towels. A kind of walk in wardrobe with shelf space and electronic safe.The cabin guy Ronald was great and kept everything clean and tidy.We had no problem at all with kids running around or making noise (there were 250 on our cruise!).The thing about this ship is that its big enough to get away from the noise-which leads me to the great sunbed debate!! Yes-there is a shortage of them around the pools which is where all the noise and kids hang out,but if you just use your legs and walk a bit further there are loads of beds scattered around.We are total sun-worshippers and never had a problem in 2 weeks at all.Entertainment had good and bad points but its not the thing we go on holiday for really.The food was very nice and there was something for everyone. Ate in Baytree at night and were very impressed with the waiter service-always with a smile.

Now for our (only!) dislikes. The first 2 ports of call (Bonnaire and Aruba) were stunning,friendly and welcoming. It went downhill from there! Jamaica next,nightmare! We could see a lovely beach from the ship and thought we'd have a nice stroll and a couple of hours on it. From leaving the gate of the port we had nothing but hassle,often abusive.Payed few dollars to get on beach and still hounded every few minutes,necklaces,aloe vera, bars, jet-skis-just won't leave you alone.I know they rely on tourism for their livelihood but this high-pressure salesmanship is surly putting tourists off? Couldn't wait to get back to the safety of the ship where we heard lots of other stories about harassment-even those on organised trips. St Lucia was just as bad.Grand Turk and St Maarten no problem,Dominica a waste of time.

I would definitely recommend Ventura-we had a really fantastic holiday, i would just be wary about which Islands you visit