We were on Ventura in October, France, Spain, Portugal. We loved it! The food was good in general, portion size was fine for us. We had two waiters, and a wine waiter. They were busy but the service was good and they looked after us. We asked for chips one night and there after chips came every night. We enjoyed the entertainment and the shows were really good. I think we chose well for our first cruise. The ship suited us, I used the gym, sang, danced, joined in the quizzes.My husband went to some of the talks and saw a film. The ship was very clean and our cabin steward was excellent. We are going on Ventura next year too.
Thats great so glad you enjoyed your cruise, Ventura is a lovely ship and as you say nice and clean and I think well maintained. Haven't had a wine waiter on a P&O ship for a long time so its great if they are bringing them back. Thanks for your feedback.
You was on the same cruise as us. We also had a fab time. We're on the Aurora in sept for a cruise to canada. W sailed on her years ago & must say I prefer the smaller ship.
We went on Aurora back in July and they had plenty of waiting staff. I won't say they were hanging around - the assistant waiter had beads of sweat on his forehead by the end of the meal, but they cared for only 3 tables. ❤ Thanks for your balanced and moan-free review! 👍🏻
I was on the Ventura 2012/2013 ish can’t quite remember was only a child (now 20) and had a fantastic time! Was an absolutely amazing ship, I remember the chocolate buffet night was incredible!
We went on recently and had very similar views (although seems very negative in our videos) but every point you say is spot on. Glad to know it’s not just us as we got lots of comments not agreeing! Subscribed🙂
Been on Ventura 3 times before covid got to say the experience was totally different to what i hear your saying, everything was excellent including the cocktails there's obviously been severe cut backs since covid which is sad when the ship generally carries a full load of paying customers.
There has definitely been a lot of changes since covid, noticed them across all lines. Fares don’t seem to have increased a great deal but there have been lots of small cut backs in many areas as they pay back the loans they took out to survive. Worth bearing in mind this cruise was at full capacity as it was during half term so with less on board hopefully the service would be less rushed.
Hi Steve, enjoyed your video. I'm going on my first cruise with a friend this spring to Spain Portugal and France. What is the dress code like. My friend said I needed tailored shorts, are they really that strict clothes wise?
Thanks. During the day you can wear what you like, shorts etc. just like any other holiday. In the evenings most evenings it’s smart casual so shirt or collared T-shirt and jeans etc (not ripped jeans) then on formal nights which will be one or two nights you can wear formal gear but if you don’t want to that’s fine but there are some bars you can’t get in and rather than the main dining room you will need to use the Buffett. Hope that helps, enjoy your cruise.
Just come back from 12 days Spain Portugal Ventura. Paid for upgrade super deluxe room as 1st time cruise, food very bland average at best, as you said small portions, waiters always rushing around no time to talk ship full so no room when at sea no or poor entertainment at best unless you like quizzes or line dancing, I found out a lot of people had paid a lot less then us and was a lot older I'm 62yrs but most were 70s/ 80s plus so probably catering for older guests, saying that there were a few family's with teenagers who must have been very board as they played robbers knock on our door screaming banging etc even after i reported this nothing was done will probably save up for an adults only cruise or a bigger ship if we go again....
Shame there were some issues on your first cruise and hope it hasn't put you off cruising. Outside of school holidays tthere aren't normally that many children or teenagers on board so I think you were a bit unlucky there. If you do choose an adults only ship then generally you will find the other passengers tend to be older than the family ships but on the bigger ships there is more for younger passengers to do so more occupied.
Menu was bland we agree. Tbh worst dining experience on a ship ever. Try a Royal Carribean cruise and compare. You won’t be disappointed in thr main dining room after your P&O Ventura experience. But the extra restaurants are worth the charge and definitely the better places to eat on this ship.
Was on Ventura August 2022 and had a much better experience than you, we did have a waiter, assistant waiter and sommelier to look after us. The food was excellent. Entertainment was also really good. However, went on Ventura's sister ship Azura last month and what a difference a year makes. Experience was similar to yours. P&O have obviously done some major cost cutting in the last few month which is a shame. Having also been on Arvia in August 2023, which was great. I would now be very reluctant to go on one of P&Os smaller ships again.
Yes I think the cost cutting is really starting to show and to be honest personally I would rather pay a little more for a better service. I did find there were more crew and dining room staff when I was on both Iona and Britannia last year so maybe it was just a temporary shortage on Ventua, hope thats all it was as I do like the ship.
Went on p and o cruise last year entertainment was absolutely shocking surely they need to upgrade couldn’t believe how bad it was compared to Marella staff on there were absolutely brilliant also entertainment much better
That’s interesting as we did Ventura recently and thought exactly the same! whilst the theatre company were good the guest acts and resident band were of a very poor standard indeed going on Marella next year so pleased to hear how good the entertainment is!
We enjoyed our trip last october on ventura. We also found the food potions small but you can always ask for something else of the menu aswell as what you ordered. As for the entertainment we were impressed by most of the acts as well the headliners. Must say there was a so called comedian on which we was disgusted by what he was coming out with. I'm no prude but i certainly didn't find it funny when he was making a joke about dead family members especially after my husband losing his mum only 4 months prior to the cruise. It is the first time we've ever walked out in a show. There was a singer called Ben Moss who was just brilliant. Would be great if he was on our cruise to canada in October.
Glad you enjoyed your cruise, as you say you can always ask for more and I always say you will never starve on a cruise ship there is always food somewhere. To be honest I rarely go to see comedians as I have not often found them to be that good on ships, shame you found this one distasteful. Don’t think I have heard Ben Moss but will look out for him on future cruises thanks for the recommendation.
No you don’t have to, you can’t use the main dining room and some of the bars on formal night without a jacket but there are other options on those nights and usually only 1 or 2 formal nights per week.
We were on Ventura in October, France, Spain, Portugal.
We loved it!
The food was good in general, portion size was fine for us. We had two waiters, and a wine waiter. They were busy but the service was good and they looked after us. We asked for chips one night and there after chips came every night.
We enjoyed the entertainment and the shows were really good. I think we chose well for our first cruise. The ship suited us, I used the gym, sang, danced, joined in the quizzes.My husband went to some of the talks and saw a film.
The ship was very clean and our cabin steward was excellent.
We are going on Ventura next year too.
Thats great so glad you enjoyed your cruise, Ventura is a lovely ship and as you say nice and clean and I think well maintained. Haven't had a wine waiter on a P&O ship for a long time so its great if they are bringing them back. Thanks for your feedback.
You was on the same cruise as us. We also had a fab time. We're on the Aurora in sept for a cruise to canada. W sailed on her years ago & must say I prefer the smaller ship.
Just booked Ventura for the new year. Cheers for the update. We're excited! 🍻
@@PostcardAndAPint Thanks, I’m sure you will have a great cruise 👍🍺
Nice one mate going on Ventura next week for two weeks thanks for heads up 👍👍
@@geoffreyruncieman6160 Thank you, have a great cruise. Where are you heading to?
We went on Aurora back in July and they had plenty of waiting staff. I won't say they were hanging around - the assistant waiter had beads of sweat on his forehead by the end of the meal, but they cared for only 3 tables. ❤
Thanks for your balanced and moan-free review! 👍🏻
Thank you. They do work really hard night after night, I don’t know how they keep going to be honest.
12 Day trip to the Canaries on Dec 5th, looks very relaxing which is exactly what I am looking for. Cheers.
@@ceeabee Have a great cruise, I’m sure it will be relaxing and some nice winter sunshine in the Canaries
I was on the Ventura 2012/2013 ish can’t quite remember was only a child (now 20) and had a fantastic time! Was an absolutely amazing ship, I remember the chocolate buffet night was incredible!
It’s still a great ship but sadly the chocolate buffets are a thing of the past, I used to enjoy them too 😀
@@CruisewithSteve no that’s tragic I can’t believe they stopped doing them!! Oh well I guess it’s true all great things must come to an end 😂
We went on recently and had very similar views (although seems very negative in our videos) but every point you say is spot on. Glad to know it’s not just us as we got lots of comments not agreeing! Subscribed🙂
Thanks, I will have a look at your channel too
We had a waiter and 1 or 2 assistant waiters on the Arcadia.. service is excellent.
Thats great to hear, it really does make such a difference when you have a less rushed service. I've never tried Arcadia, will have to remedy that.
Been on Ventura 3 times before covid got to say the experience was totally different to what i hear your saying, everything was excellent including the cocktails there's obviously been severe cut backs since covid which is sad when the ship generally carries a full load of paying customers.
There has definitely been a lot of changes since covid, noticed them across all lines. Fares don’t seem to have increased a great deal but there have been lots of small cut backs in many areas as they pay back the loans they took out to survive. Worth bearing in mind this cruise was at full capacity as it was during half term so with less on board hopefully the service would be less rushed.
Hi Steve, enjoyed your video. I'm going on my first cruise with a friend this spring to Spain Portugal and France. What is the dress code like. My friend said I needed tailored shorts, are they really that strict clothes wise?
Thanks. During the day you can wear what you like, shorts etc. just like any other holiday. In the evenings most evenings it’s smart casual so shirt or collared T-shirt and jeans etc (not ripped jeans) then on formal nights which will be one or two nights you can wear formal gear but if you don’t want to that’s fine but there are some bars you can’t get in and rather than the main dining room you will need to use the Buffett. Hope that helps, enjoy your cruise.
That's really helpful Steve, thank you for your reply. I'm really looking forward to it. 😊
Just come back from 12 days Spain Portugal Ventura. Paid for upgrade super deluxe room
as 1st time cruise, food very bland average at best, as you said small portions, waiters always rushing around no time to talk ship full so no room when at sea no or poor entertainment at best unless you like quizzes or line dancing, I found out a lot of people had paid a lot less then us and was a lot older I'm 62yrs but most were 70s/ 80s plus so probably catering for older guests, saying that there were a few family's with teenagers who must have been very board as they played robbers knock on our door screaming banging etc even after i reported this nothing was done
will probably save up for an adults only cruise or a bigger ship if we go again....
Shame there were some issues on your first cruise and hope it hasn't put you off cruising. Outside of school holidays tthere aren't normally that many children or teenagers on board so I think you were a bit unlucky there. If you do choose an adults only ship then generally you will find the other passengers tend to be older than the family ships but on the bigger ships there is more for younger passengers to do so more occupied.
Menu was bland we agree. Tbh worst dining experience on a ship ever. Try a Royal Carribean cruise and compare. You won’t be disappointed in thr main dining room after your P&O Ventura experience. But the extra restaurants are worth the charge and definitely the better places to eat on this ship.
very well explained....Thanks!!
Thanks for watching
I'm going on that cruise soon
That’s great hope you have a brilliant cruise
Was on Ventura August 2022 and had a much better experience than you, we did have a waiter, assistant waiter and sommelier to look after us. The food was excellent. Entertainment was also really good. However, went on Ventura's sister ship Azura last month and what a difference a year makes. Experience was similar to yours. P&O have obviously done some major cost cutting in the last few month which is a shame. Having also been on Arvia in August 2023, which was great. I would now be very reluctant to go on one of P&Os smaller ships again.
Yes I think the cost cutting is really starting to show and to be honest personally I would rather pay a little more for a better service. I did find there were more crew and dining room staff when I was on both Iona and Britannia last year so maybe it was just a temporary shortage on Ventua, hope thats all it was as I do like the ship.
Being nosy what room number did you film this in
@@ShaunBrookes-z2f No problem C506
@ ah I only ask as we got back yesterday and we were in the 503 cabin wasn’t sure if they used the same pictures on the wall
@@ShaunBrookes-z2f Ah, hope you had a good cruise, heard it was a little rocky with the storm hope it was ok.
@ wasn’t to bad was our first cruise had to stay in Southampton an extra night and also missed Bruges due to weather had an extra day at Amsterdam
Went on p and o cruise last year entertainment was absolutely shocking surely they need to upgrade couldn’t believe how bad it was compared to Marella staff on there were absolutely brilliant also entertainment much better
@@neilphillips5822 I’ve not tried Marella tbh but hope to soon. Compared to other lines like Royal the entertainment isn’t on the same level I agree.
That’s interesting as we did Ventura recently and thought exactly the same! whilst the theatre company were good the guest acts and resident band were of a very poor standard indeed going on Marella next year so pleased to hear how good the entertainment is!
We enjoyed our trip last october on ventura. We also found the food potions small but you can always ask for something else of the menu aswell as what you ordered. As for the entertainment we were impressed by most of the acts as well the headliners. Must say there was a so called comedian on which we was disgusted by what he was coming out with. I'm no prude but i certainly didn't find it funny when he was making a joke about dead family members especially after my husband losing his mum only 4 months prior to the cruise. It is the first time we've ever walked out in a show. There was a singer called Ben Moss who was just brilliant. Would be great if he was on our cruise to canada in October.
Glad you enjoyed your cruise, as you say you can always ask for more and I always say you will never starve on a cruise ship there is always food somewhere. To be honest I rarely go to see comedians as I have not often found them to be that good on ships, shame you found this one distasteful. Don’t think I have heard Ben Moss but will look out for him on future cruises thanks for the recommendation.
LOL Astonished been going for about 6 years now...what a waste of money
there is absolutely no WOW factor anymore...its all so shoddy
do you need to take a suit?
No you don’t have to, you can’t use the main dining room and some of the bars on formal night without a jacket but there are other options on those nights and usually only 1 or 2 formal nights per week.
great, thanks for info - booked on for first ever cruise in march!@@CruisewithSteve
No problem, I'm sure you will have a great cruise, its a lovely ship. Welcome to cruising.