Having been on Ventura twice before I was looking forward to the cruise. I had had a balcony and inside cabins previously and chose an outside cabin for this cruise. The cabin was fine but the two pullman beds restricted movement and space was limited with nowhere to sit in the cabin other than on the bed or the one chair at the dressing table. The bathroom was adequate and the hanging space for clothes was excellent though drawers were too few. The location of the cabin was excellent and quiet.

Having taken advantage of an excellent price offered by a relatively late deal I knew there would be a 'variety' of clientele on board. However, it seems that P & O's policy of discounting certainly 'lowers the tone' somewhat. It beggars belief how some people can behave as they did, which was reflected in the number of people being ejected from the ship. Well done to P & O for doing this so discretely. I have to say how well P & O deal will matters. I understand why P & O discount fayres, but perhaps they should look at the way it is done that would maintain standards. However, on several occasions I saw inappropriate attire in the reastaurants. Silly hats and vests may be OK for some cruise lines and Butlins but if this is the direction P & O are heading it seems to be putting off the more 'traditional cruiser'. This probably sounds a bit snobby but quite frankly I don't want to spend my holidays with such people.

The entertainment on board was generally very good with one ot two exceptions. The Headliners are a talented group of singers and dancers but it would have been nice to have more than backing tracks and pre-recorded vocals to support them, but I suppose it's the way the entertainment industry is these days which is driven by cost. One problem with 2nd sitting diners is that we were unable to see the shows in both the Arena and the Havana lounge due to the timings, so we had to make a choice. Read more