I have travelled on Ventura twice. I travelled with my wife, but not our grown up children. Almost everybody said they were having a wonderful time, a minority complained about the number of children,, but why did they travel on a family ship during the summer school holidays if they did not want to see children? There are cruises without children os if you want to be kids free go on a none family ship. Its easy peasy really.

We have just returned from a 7 night cruise on Ventura.
Before we went, I read the above reviews and was somewhat concerned that my Wife and I would not find Ventura to our liking.
We have cruised with P & O before on smaller ships and with Royal Carribean, NCL, Fred Olsen and Princess and know what we want from a cruise.
I have to say that Ventura provided it all.....and some.
Before we went the size was the main worry. However, this was never an issue. from embarkation to disembarkation, everything was extremely efficient - very little queuing, usual P & O high standards and no complaints at all.
Our conclusion was that this is an ideal ship for passengers of all types. We spoke to several "first timers" with children and they said that their kids loved it. Older couples on their own also seemed to enjoy it. The children were never a problem - lovely to see them enjoying themselves.

All in all a very good holiday, on par with all other cruises we've had.

HIGHLIGHT: Round the Island bus tour of Guernsey on the public bus - 60p for one and a half hours.
LOWLIGHT: Horrendous shuttle bus at La Rochelle - please sort this P & O.

Off on Arcadia in Nov. No kids ship! Hope its not full of boring old f**ts!!

This was my mother's sixth cruise. My sister and I hadn't been on a cruise before. I went with some trepidation as I had read some bad reviews concerning the ship. Most of what I'd read turned out to be true. We sailed from Southampton having arrived there by coach - no problems with the coach journey. However, once on board, I can't say the same. I can only describe this ship as a floating Butlins. The entertainment catered exclusively for the 'blue rinse brigade' and there was precious little for anyone whose taste was in anyway alternative. The music was almost entirely middle of the road, from the 50,60s and 70s and I found myself feeling very sorry for younger passengers. In addition, it was impossible to relax anywhere on board as loud music was always audible. However, the food was good and as a vegetarian I can't fault the choice of food available. The staff were courteous and efficient. Our cabins and public areas of the ship were kept very clean. One major problem was having to queue for everything. It was extremely annoying to have to queue for dinner and going ashore was a complete nightmare with lengthy waits for shuttle buses. The worst of these occurred in La Rochelle where the queue went all the way down one street, round the corner onto another. It was also raining which did nothing to cheer up waiting passengers. My sister and I both felt that passengers were constantly being herded around like cattle. If you like a holiday camp atmosphere and enjoy the company of around 3,000 chavs then this is the cruise for you. If not, I'd advise researching cruises before booking. We stupidly didn't do this as my mother had enjoyed all previous cruises. I didn't look until two weeks before sailing when it was obviously far too late to do anything. Better still, stick to what you know you enjoy, eg. independent travel!

We have just got back from a trip to the Norwegian Fjords on the Ventura. I was a little apprehensive because I had read some very damning reports. I needn't have worried. From the time we got to Southampton until the time we disembarked the trip was first class. I know people only tend to give feedback when they are upset so I thought For a change I would balance it with our experiences.

The food was varied and excellent. We were in Freedom dining as we didn't want to be restricted to the eating times, on only one occasion did we have to wait for a table and as we were given a buzzer we just sat in the bar outside.

The ship was extremely clean and our cabin was visited twice daily by our Steward, Andrew, I realy cannot fault the cabin.

My husband is disabled and we took with us, his electric wheelchair, we had a cabin for the disabled. I was a little worried as on previous holidays we have had disabled rooms but they have always been too small for an electric wheelchair and the bathroom has had a lowered bath in it. My husband cannot use a bath at all. On the Ventura the cabin has plenty of room for an electric wheelchair, there is a wet room with room for a wheelchair and a proper shower seat attached to the wall. There is a patio door with a ramp on to the balcony. It was very easy for him to get around the ship, the lifts were large and plentiful, and we did not have to wait ages for a lift as on previous cruises. We were on B dack but in future we would go for C deck as the balconies are twice as deep and therefore, easier for him to turn round. It was also easy to get on and off the ship, only once was this not possible as there was a tender service. Before we embarked we were sent details of all the ports of call and whether they would be suitable for a wheelchair user.

We had great difficulty finding anything wrong with this ship or the staff, after wracking our brains we came up with the complaint that the toast was too thin and hard!! Not something that spoilt our holiday. we also spoke to many other passengers and no one we spoke to had any complaints. (Also England had some pretty rubbish games!!)

There appeared to be a large ratio of staff to passengers and we had no problem finding someone to ask if we needed assistance. All in all a very enjoyable holiday and we are definitely booking for next year.

Second time on Ventura in 8 months, this time a week to the Fjords.

Check in was seamless. Arrived dockside at 11.45am, check in opened at 12pm, called at 12.15pm, having lunch by 12.30pm! Second time around meant we knew the ship so didn't have to think about where everything was.

Cabin was a superdeluxe near the rear of the ship, port side D deck. These cabins have a bathroom with a full size bath, a bed area a seating area with a sofabed and the balcony. Ample space for three. The balcony is overlooked by those above as it extends further due to the sitting area - this never bothered us, we hardly saw anyone else on the balconies above.

Cabin steward like all staff was excellent.

We chose Freedom Dining again. This is becoming more popular. Unlike last year, we had to wait most nights, the longest being about half an hour on the first formal night, other nights it was 10-15 minutes. One night we were sent to a table with diners who had chosen and were ready to order just as we arrived - not wanting to be rushed, or hold them up we delcined it and waited for another.

Wine service was sometimes slow - on two occasions the wine water didn't appear until after starters had been served.

We went to the White Room which was £25 per person, but well worth it as the food really is top class. Having a view out of the rear of the ship as we sailed the fjord was worth the money alone.

The ship was clean, but the blue, cream and light grey furnishings in the Waterside buffet are beginning to show signs of heavy use. Lots of food and drink stains were apparent - no surprise when you have thousands of children on the ship every year. The indoor pool edgings were beginning to chip and need renewing to prevent feet getting cut.

We aren't the type who do shows, or like middle of the road music, so judging the entertainment isn't easy.

The comic/magician was good, but he said he started out in Covent Garden and it was still a Covent Garden act.

Comedian wasn't very good - too much 'any Welsh/Scottish/Irish in the room' type comedy.

The big show "Chronicles of Ventura" had some excellent dancing and two guys doing slow mo acrobatics and balancing who were simply outstanding.

Photographers never bothered us. A polite "no thanks" sees them on their way.

Night nursery is still an excellent idea. Our young daughter was tucked up in one of their beds by 8pm and slept soundly until we picked her up.

The North Sea was kind in both directions, just like a millpond.

The Fjords were stunning and well worth the trip, the fact it was sunny every day helped. Definately somewhere to go back to. Norway is very expensive £16 for a sandwich in a Bergen cafe, beer £10 a pint. Fill up with a good breakfast and take some food from the buffet for lunch.

Self disembarkation was a breeze. As the passengers were generally older they didn't bother with the DIY system, as a result we were off ship and on our way home by 7.30am.

Twice on Ventura is enough - too many other ships to experience!

My wife and I have just had a brilliant cruise to the Western Med onboard Ventura and my advice to all is to ignore a lot of the negative comments written on this and other sites about the ship. This was our second cruise and first with P&O and I can't rate the ship, food, staff, organisation, entertainment and fellow travellers too highly. Our previous cruise was with Royal Caribbean, so P&O had a lot to live up to, but whilst RC ships are more spectacular and breath taking than P&Os the overall experience was better with P&O because it is aimed at the British market and people were so much friendlier. The food was exceptional and to the same high standard we experienced on RC but the price of a good bottle of red wine with dinner at £13.00 was a lot cheaper.

If I wanted to moan (which I don't) it would be about the high cost of the trips but P&O are no different to other cruise lines in this regard. A tip for any future Western Med cruisers is to check out the local areas first before booking expensive trips. Most ports of call have places worth exploring in the immediate area and P&O lays on free shuttle busses to the nearest town so save your money and go local. Another tip would be not to book too many trips because they can be a bit tiring day after day when the weather is hot.

Overall experience 10/10.

I HAVE BEEN ON A NUMBER CRUISES WITH P&O THIS WAS FAR BELOW MY EXPECTATIONS.THE FOOD WAS WELL COOKED BUT THE PORTIONS WERE TINY.THE WAITING STAFF WERE NOT GOOD.THE SHIP STAFF WERE OK,BUT WAY BELOW THE STANDARD I AM USED TO ON P&0
THE ENTERTAINMENT WAS NOT GOOD,IN PARTICULAR THE DANCE TROOP ON ONE EVENING WERE TERRIBLE, OTHER ACTS WERE FORGETABLE.
COME ON P&O YOU MUST IMPROVE,YOU ARE WAY BELOW THE STANDARD ON OTHER SHIPS.i DO NOT THINK I WILL CRUISE ON THIS SHIP AGAIN.

This was our first cruise but it won`t be the last, the cleanliness was fantastic. Everywhere was spic and span, our cabin steward Jose did a fantastic job. The food on the ship was brilliant, you could eat all day for those that want to, our "formal" restaurant was the Baytree and our waiters Nitin and Socorro were exceptional, they treated us like royalty, helpful, kind, curtious, polite and were excellent at their jobs, the food in the Baytree was great to say the least, we tried things we had not tried before but everything was lovely and we enjoyed it all apart from the asparagus and duck egg starter. The staff in general all over the ship were brilliant, they never ceased to speak calling us sir and madam, they always had a smile on their faces. The sail away singing was great, the cruise director was great, he made the sail aways special and the atmosphere, especially the sail away from Gibralter was fantastic. The entertainment was brilliant, it did not suit us all of the time but we couldn`t expect it to. The Chronicles of Ventura were fantastic, what a show. I would not hesitate to travel on the Ventura again, she is a beautiful ship, way beyond our expectations. I only have one critisism, we booked to go to Monoco and Monte Carlo, on the tickets it said Depart 9.am. We had a newspaper every night but we did not read it, if we had we would have seen it said we had to be ready to leave at 8.20. so we missed the trip, I would say that, the time of departure when catching the tenders should be printed on the ticket and not just in the newspaper. Other than that I would say that we had a fantastic cruise start to finish(apart I had sea sickness going and coming back over th Bay Of Biscay) I would recommend that anyone should visit the doctor before they go to get medication just in case as I don`t usually get motion sickness and the Biscay was not rough, just the sway of the ship. All in all I would give the ship, crew, food, etc.,100% we will definately be back for another cruise and will stick with P & O. Well done, keep up the good work.

We have just returned from our first cruise on the Ventura but it won`t be the last. Although we don`t have another ship to compare to the Ventura all I can say was it was fantastic from start to finish. I don`t know what some people expect but it seems whatever they get they will always find something to winge about. The ship was spotless, the food was brilliant, our particular staff , Jose, our cabin Steward and Nitin and Socorro our waiters in the Baytree Restaurant were brilliant, I was not feeling too good on a couple of nights (sea sickness, dizzy) an Socorro fetched my some crackers because I could not face the meal, we found all the staff on the ship polite, helpfull, well mannered and I must add that the sail aways with the cruise director and the rest of his staff were brilliant, expecially the one from Gibralter. The only thing I will say is that the times of the excursions should be explained better as we missed the Monoco Monte Carlo trip, it said depart 9.am on the tickets but in the paper we were given the night before, which we did not read it said epart 8.20. We arrived downstairs at 10 to 9 and we had missed the tender to take us to shore, I think the actual time should be printed on the ticket. We were given another tour but I really was dissapointed not going to Monoco and Monte Carlo, other than that I cannot fault anything at all. 100% from us P & O and we will definately travel with you again, maybe the Ventura again or another ship depending on which cruise we choose. Thanks for a wonderful holiday.

We sailed on Ventura to the Fjords. Ships cleanliness was 5 star can not fault it at all. Food was excellent and would highly recommend the East restaurant. Never tried the White Room but hopefully will next time. I found most of the staff to be very friendly with the exception of the odd one. Where this ship fails has to be the entertainment, very poor although cannot comment on the shows as never saw one.

All in all this ship was a fantastic experience and can't wait to go again in June with my family, would highly recommend the Ventura.

Also i cannot understand why all these people are moaning about children on the ship, if you dont like kids then dont go on a family ship, P&O cater for adults only!!!