Ventura Reviews

We went on the Ventura from 8th to 22nd October to the Med - the ports of call were excellent starting in Kotor in Montenigro. The weather for the time of year was amazing with calm seas and no rain whatsoever. The cabins were a little tired although the Ventura apparently had a refurb last year. The entertainment was very good. As we have been on the Ventura before we did notice that the drinks prices had gone up quite a bit, there was a problem with room service to have Crabbies although it was served on board, which was very strange!!! In general we would say that the food has gone down and there is no silver service in the dinning room now, the choices of main meals was not as good as before as we have also been on the Azura twice, think cost cutting does show! All went extremely well until the last day which was my 70th birthday when we were asked to leave the cabin at 7am but did not leave the boat till around 12.45pm. It would have been nice for those of us who were on late flights to go on an organised P+O trip around Malaga and then be taken on to the airport as was the case earlier this year in Barbados, instead of hanging on on the ship. As we had booked this holiday about 7weeks previously we were going back on an Easyjet scheduled flight and not P+O's chartered flight, we had a delay of over 2 hours, because the plane was running late and then the pilot asked for volunteers (5) to get off as he could not take off because of weight problems, thankfully 4 people did volunteer then we had to wait for them to get their cases from the hold! We were over 2hours late leaving Malaga with a 2 1/2 hour car journey home it was an extremely tiring long birthday!

Our first cruise with P&O, since our last cruise (with another company) we had been told that some cruise companies were cutting back on costs . Alas this seemed to be the case on our 7 night cruise from Genoa to Malaga. Virtually all of the the guests we spoke to agreed that the food quality was generally a disappointment. Further to that, the temperature of the hot dishes at EVERY dinner could only be described as warm NOT HOT. My personal experience included a prawn cocktail from the "favourites" menu which came well below the standard I would expect in a chain pub. Although there were a number of bars, they offered identical products in each and the range was extremely limited - similar to the policies of Convenience Stores. All in all just not up yo our expectations.

Fantastic cruise. Very comfortable. Good food. Good entertainment. Friendly and helpful staff. Only let down at the last minute, by a couple of stupid things that P&O should rectify. Disembarking instructions are very badly worded. People thought luggage would be picked up from cabin, and transported straight to the plane, for pick up from carousel at Gatwick. That is the case for Charter flights! Scheduled flights (the next section in the leaflet, that not everyone bothered to read!) passengers had to pick up bags from carousel at the port, to take to coach, and check in at airport. People left bags at the port, only to find out at Gatwick that bags had been left behind! Secondly, we returned to different terminal at Gatwick! With mobility problems, I was met at the plane, carted through customs, and dropped off at luggage carousel. Fantastic! Only when we got to the bus stop to the long term car park, did we realise we were at a different terminal.Back through airport, on to monorail to other terminal, through terminal to other bus stop, now lugging all the luggage. Anyone with mobility problems, would have found this a struggle. Next time, will make things far easier, and cruise direct from Southampton. So much easier!

We had a lovely time on the Ventura. Met some great people and the staff that looked after us were brilliant. The only criticism was the food at night in the Bay Tree restaurant which on occasions was very poor.

Generally all was as expected. On the positive side the entertainment was good and the accomodation comfortable. Food choice was good but sometimes it was difficult to tell from the way it was described on the menu what it was and then when it arrived you were disappointed. Afternoon tea was caotic so after two occasions we did not go again. Food was being offered to you left, right and centre in no logical order and without any time to eat what was already on your undersized plate. Things which should have been hot were just about warm. Not an enjoyable dining experience. Black tie nights included optional suit/tie. However, male guests were being let in to dine with open neck shirts/jackets. Generally, dress standards amongst the men (well done ladies) were poor. Re the Gym - be carefull. You may find yourself sigining up for things at a cost to you beyond what you expected or by mistake due to not being made clear to you what indeed you were getting for your money.

Just come back from cruise on Ventura to the Med.  Good points lovely ship, food good, entertainment some good some average. But entertainment in day was next to nothing especially on sea days all there seemed to be was very expensive things to do with the spa. Very hard sell on everything we are a couple who have been cruising for over twenty years now and have definitely notice a change and not for the best. Where it used to be a lovely experience with silver service in the restaurant and lovely waiters chatting to you, it is now sit you down place your plate in front of you no one hardly speaks to you they are all to busy. It seems like get them in, feed and out. I am speaking of anytime dining, which I hate I might add, this is not what cruising used to be  all about. I'm afraid with these big ships (and getting bigger) cruising has lost all the loveliness I use to find in it. It's becoming more like holiday camps on water, what a shame! Is there anyone out there that would know which cruise lines are still the same as they used to be? By the way we are only in our late 50's so still want to have fun.

The itinerary for this cruise was fantastic..Genoa..Livorno for Pisa and Florence..Naples..Venice..Dubrovnik..Kotor..( a wonderful fjord)..Corfu and Rome..and lastly Ajaccio in Corsica. All the destinations had the wow factor, apart from perhaps Naples which was graffiti-ridden but still glad we went. Our cabin, although partially obstructed still had a good view E707 and our cabin steward Sachin was a little sweetie The food was tremendous, good quality meat etc and we avoided putting too much weight on because we could choose healthy options. The only downside to buffet dining was it was difficult to get a table in The Waterside or The Beach House. Ive suggested that they could avoid this by incorporating more tables for two in there outside the family season in school holidays. We often had to sit at a table for 5 which was silly really, flexibility should be built in. Captain Mike was a great guy, from Wigan with a northern sense of humour which appealed to us Leodians! The trips were fantastically well-organised as were all the procedures on the ship which gave us confidence.The theatre hosted several productions by the resident company The Headliners, absolutely West End qualit. Wonderful special effects, music, dancing and a varied repertoire. We loved them and sent a personal message to thank them before we left. Less successful were the tribute acts we felt, but not really to our taste anyway.If you needed space you could find it despite over 4000 people being onboard. To summarise, sailing into Venice on the Ventura was awe-inspiring. Rome was mind-blowing and little Ajaccio the jewel in the crown with its mix of Italian and French culture. We had a wonderful time.Thank you Iglu for being so approachable and efficient, you are our favourite company!!

Just come back from a cruise on Ventura,  had a great time. Weather was very good and we stopped at some lovely places.

Booked a last minute 7 night cruise with 3 extra holiday nights in a hotel starting in Venice. From start to finish, I thought Iglu's performance extremely good and without hesitation would use them again. Ventura is a fairly big ship which can create difficulties for the more elderly, so if possible would advise a cabin at the back of the ship (AFT) in preference to forward as the dining rooms are at the back and are therefore easier to get to. We found we didnt see any entertainment in the main theatres as they were simply out of reach for one of our party, but other closer entertainments were on hand every night so this wasnt a major issue. Just something to think about if anyone over say 75 is in your group.

This was the first time we cruised with P&O and whilst we tried very hard not to compare experiences it inevitably happens. We were able to take more positives than negatives from our cruise and felt the value for money was excellent. We particularly enjoyed the ports, the shopping areas, the pools and although we didn't use them the children's areas looked good too. The stateroom was a good size although we weren't sure our air conditioning worked properly. There were some negatives, the ship itself is tired and quite tatty in parts and we felt the choice of food in the buffet areas was poor. Finding free sun beds on sea days is quite a challenge even though they are packed in and arranged in military fashion. The cleanliness of the toilet facilities in the public areas was of particularly poor standard and unpleasant. We took part in one of the formal nights but we're made to feel so far out of place on the formal night we didn't take part in that we retired to our cabin early. We felt that not taking part in the formalities was frowned upon to the extent we felt distinctly uncomfortable including times when my wife and I were literally being looked down upon. The staff also weren't as happy and keen as we have been used to on RCI and some could do with a bit more training in customer services. As our experience had more positives we felt we would consider another P&O cruise but this is largely due to cost and availability where we could take our entire family but probably not on Ventura. I'd recommend P&O to others whilst but only after pointing out our experiences. I would also say that going by feedback of others I spoke to it could be only Ventura that had declined as some we spoke to had been on her before and said she used to be much better, staff included.