The Lido Deck, which is Deck 15, had work going on every day as a team worked around the main pool areas replacing the canvas screens that hang between the steelwork of the ceilings. This meant that part of each pool area was, at some point or other, taped off with workmates, ladders and the sound of electric drills on a regular basis. Why this work could not have been done earlier during the refit we doing not know, and worse, the new canvas screens look no different from those they replaced! P&O might have done better to spend money making sure Ventura got to where it was meant to go. Lido Terrace Grill - this does burgers, hot dogs etc from midday to late afternoon. For some reason, there were no paper cups or bags for the chips. in fact, all you got was a red plastic reusable square plate, on to which you were meant to shovel the chips and your wrapped burger - not very hygienic. in addition If you want a burger, then wait until there is queue, in which case you should get a fresh hot one! The Pizza bar was a much better bet, if you wanted something hot whilst enjoying the delights of the pool with the workman working in the background....

On another matter, we used the Costa cafe quite a lot - decent enough value at c£2.50 per standard cup, but we had some personal merriment, because one of the regular waiters had clearly been issued with shoes 4 or 5 sizes too large and you could hear him clumping around whenever he was on duty! Not his fault, but surely correct size shoes are essential for the safe carrying of trays?

Captain's Cocktail Party - we could not hear a word when he made his speech from a balcony of the atrium, but P&O did not stint on drink, which included gin and tonic as well as wine,a 'bubbly stuff' and soft drinks. We managed 4 alcoholic drinks each in the allotted time. If you are clever, you could go to both parties (early and late) on the same day, since there is no check as to whether you should be there or not in the Atrium area.