Had better

It was the first time on the Ventura for us and not a ship we would bother cruising on again.

The embarkation was excellent as was the disembarkation.

Personal prefence in some intances such as the lay out, un-supervised children running around (not P&O’s fault)also loud music at the pool side was sometimes over powering. I will say that the entertainment at the poolside by the staff on leaving ports were very good.

We thought the Waterside buffet area ‘penned in’ which made it difficult to get around in busy times. The themed nights were ok if you enjoy different foods but if not then it was basically salad.

The Beach Hut in the evenings was a good alternative with the waiter service which was good on the nights we used it as was the food.

We chose Freedom Dining (for the first time) and found we were being rushed and the service wasn’t always that good (on one occassion I was actually ‘nudge’ by a waiter who was wanting my dessert order). After the first couple of times we didn’t bother apart from the Gala Evening dinner which was lovely, the food fantastic and the service was good.

Our balcony cabin on deck twelve towards the back was lovely and the attendant did a good job of keeping it clean. However we found on occassions there was some vibration at the top end of the bed which made me feel squiffy.

We enjoyed the shows and tribute acts which we did go and see.

All the tours we did were enjoyable but long ques to get back on to the ship at times in the searing heat was not good.

Certainly not our favourite of P&O’s ship!