We arrived at the Mayflower terminal at the allocated time, but there was a very long queue to leave car.Eventually after 1 hour of waiting we left our car to be parked by CPS. Checked in and boarded immediately and went straight to our cabin B756 Aft with very large balcony. Overall my impressions are that Ventura is looking a bit tired even though she had a refit in April 2013. Bed was comfortable but pillows too thin, bathroom ok again a bit tired looking and stained including the shower curtain. Towels must have been there sinc she was first in service because they were always thin and rough and need replacing. Balcony glass on the inside was very dirty ? sand/rain from the Canaries but hadnt been cleaned. All these things I kept my eye out for the steward but only saw him once !

We were allocated Freedom dining for the first time in 6 cruises but it was ok met lots of people to talk over dinner with,service and food was ok but not amazing and had to wait for wine/water/rolls /order to be taken at times. Beach house was very good for a supplement but failed to get into Glass House or Sindhu as hadnt booked and it was full with 1.5 hr waits at lunchtime on the enforced sea days. Trip to Brugges was "Brugges at your own pace" a P&O excursion, but having dropped us off the coach we had to walk into the town through a park, well I cant walk very fast and use a stick as I have a bad back and 2 bad knees, and the guide just frogmarched us off and I couldnt keep up , particularly on the way back at the end, i was the last person to get to the coach and they were all waiting for me! Very embarrassing!! Also there was another lady with a walking stick like me, and she just disappeared so dont know where she went! Probably gave up and got taxi back!!

Unfortunately due to the wind we were unable to dock in Amsterdam for New Years, very disappointing especially as the Q Victoria was already docked there. Couldnt be helped I know but we were not offerred anything as a recompence,eg, free wifi or a glass of champagne to celebrate! We spent the next two days at sea coasting down the English Channel at 5 knots, where P&O will have made a lot more money out of us due to 2 sea days and we docked at midnight in Southampton.