Having sailed on Ventura before I was not expecting very much as I had been disappointed before, but being a sucker for a bargain I booked a last minute cruise. The ship is still quite dull compared with some other lines but seemed to have been cleaned up a lot. The food was good and there never seemed to be a issue with finding a seat in the buffet. We were on freedom dining not by choice but it did prove to work well. Each night we were given a table for two next to the window and served with the same staff each day. The entertainment was quite good though the Headliners shows were still the same ones we have seen on other ships over a period of years. The same ongoing issue of dead spots between acts is still the same so people walk out of venues ruining the atmosphere when the next session starts.

The big problem we found was with the people in the next cabin smoking on the balcony making our balcony totally unusable. My wife is in remission from breast cancer and we did not want to jeopardise her recovery.

We reported the matter on the first day to reception who said "we take this very seriously" but nothing was done. I spoke to the cabin steward who said she could also smell it but could not get in the room because they put the do not disturb sign on the door when they are smoking, but she would tell her deck manager. Read more