It had been a long held dream to sail to Santorini ................
Unfortunately we did not get to see Santorini or Mykonos on this cruise (the whole reason why we booked the cruise) and of course no one can argue with the forces of nature that were blowing through the Greek Islands at that time - but there was no comparable alternative offered. Just an extra day at sea (in the safe knowledge ...
P+O have certainly dropped their standards no doubt in search of greater profits that come at the expense of their passengers.
We have been on several P+O cruises before and was always reasonably satisfied but this one was bad from start to finish.
We missed three ports out of the seven scheduled stops and had only half a day instead of a full day in Zante, I appreciate that the weather ...
Having sailed on Oceana and Britannia we decided to give Ventura a go on a 17 day cruise to the Greek Islands. We were worried before we went, having read some pretty grim reviews of the ship but came away having enjoyed our cruise overall. Here are the plus points and areas that we felt needed some attention.
Plus points:
• The staff overall were probably the friendliest bunch we have ever ...
We chose the Ventura after going on a mini break in 2016 to Bruges.
There was a group of six including three elderly people.
The whole experience for all of us was first class from the time we arrived at the dock until we departed.
The food was first class as was the entertainment and the hospitaity we received was out of this world.
Everyone was so attentive and helpful.
The ...
Have cruised with P&O in the past and wanted another cruise to the Mediterranean. Generally we prefer the smaller to mid sized ships and now that we have sailed on Ventura we still hold that view! It's quite a difficult ship to navigate around, a view shared by other passengers, and for a large ship it did seem to suffer quite a lot of movement, even though seas generally very calm.
Our ...
Port choice very good, the ship needs a refit but she I still very good.The staff are amazing, the baytree restaurant superb.We went to Marco Pierre White restaurant for a special meal it passed beyond expectations.The choice of food and the service amazing.The cruise was excellent , no problems at all,.Our cabin a superior balcony was brilliant plenty of space.Bed more comfortable than our own. ...
Itinerary suited us, good mix of sea days and port days.
Ship now looking tired, damaged and torn seats and leaks from ceilings in public areas and marked and damaged fittings in cabin, although the ship was spotlessly clean. Ship didn't seem to have the atmosphere it usually did, cabin steward and waiters didn't seem to have time to talk. Most days we were waiting for food in the buffet ...
About Time
We have cruised with P&O many times, it was our first trip on Ventura although we were familiar with the layout having cruised on Azura and some Princess ships. This cruise was mainly to visit Greece and some of the Greek islands, but also included Ibiza and Gibraltar. The itinerary had changed twice, Turkey was swapped for Rhodes. The order of ports was changed this meant that we ...
Went on this cruise as we wanted to visit the Greek islands.
Good embarkation at Southampton.
Ports were good. Quite a few children onboard but not too bad.
Dining on freedom and had good waiters and food.
Entertainment, good but day activities were mainly geared around the spa! Not our scene. Sadly no port lecturer, just listen to it on the tv!
Shore experience was very good ...
We went on Ventura for our yearly cruise with 4 children under 11. We arrived at Southampton around 10 am. . It was a smooth embarkation with at least a 2 hr wait. Which wasn't the best for our 2 yr old daughter, but there was space for her to play. We went through security nicely and easily . When we boarded the ship we went up to the waterside(buffet)which was good for children but not a lot of ...