P&O Ventura

Has anybody been on the British P&O boats.

We are looking at doing a British/Iceland cruise and the Ventura has an interesting cruise. It is a lot cheaper than HAL and others so wanting to know how they compare to the other lines.

We have cruised with a few lines and HAL is best for us and then Celebrity but prefer the food on HAL.

Does the Ventura compare favourably?

I haven't as yet, but will have by September.

From what I have read, it is more similar to Princess than to P&O Australia, if that helps. They also have several Adult only ships, Oriana is one.

The last time I cruised P&O UK was for the Grand Event in 2012. They have always done great European itineraries from Southampton and have been reasonably priced. I preferred them over Princess and other lines because it meant a return flight from London opposed to booking different flights.

I am not a fan of the size of Ventura or Azura and any of the similar sized Princess ships. If P&O had other ships doing the same itinerary like Aurora, Oriana or Arcadia then I would prefer those ships. I have a feeling that P&O treated the Ventura and Azura differently to the first ones I mentioned. There were a lot more pay for extras on the likes of those ships.

P&O UK have been great for me in prior years but I have slowly moved to Princess because they started to meet me needs a lot better. If I ever decide to cruise Europe again from Southampton then P&O would still be my first choice.

Have sailed Aurora. I haven't tried HAL but suspect it would be similar. Demo was very elderly. Service and inclusions were good, but it wasn't very lively - even moreso than Princess. Things got very quiet around 9 p.m.

Also, they have a nasty loyalty scheme, plus some other negatives so they're not a priority for me atm.

Have sailed Aurora. I haven't tried HAL but suspect it would be similar. Demo was very elderly. Service and inclusions were good, but it wasn't very lively - even moreso than Princess. Things got very quiet around 9 p.m.

 

Also, they have a nasty loyalty scheme, plus some other negatives so they're not a priority for me atm.

Thanks

Hal are very good and the demographic is older but i think it may be because of the higher price. The quality of the food was great. We have been on Celebrity because of itinerary and pricing the last 6 or so cruises but HAL is our favourite(we just find better deals elsewhere).

The cruises i am looking at here are featuring Iceland and P&O are about 60% of the price of HAL so i am wondering if they are a fair bit lower in quality considering they have the same parent company.

Just after info from people who have cruised with them to help make our decision. It seems from what i have read on the P&O Uk forum that it may be very formal which may not suit us anyway.

We've been on Arcadia, an Adults only ship and referred to as the floating retirement home. After 10pm we were treated like royalty as we were among the few passengers still up! It was very pleasant though but with an almost all male Indian service crew. Last year we did a week on Aurora which was then a family friendly ship and it was great. Crew had more female crew members and a better mix of nationalities too. More like a Princess ship. From my research, Ventura is a "Grand" class ship (Princess style) and family friendly too. Dining was very good on Aurora with less of an 'English' slant to it. Arcadia was very English with roasts, kippers, herrings, Yorkshire Puds, Black Puds etc. One big plus was a kettle with tea/coffee in your room. We haven't tried HAL or Celebrity yet being mainline Princess, not fond of Royal and will not touch P & O Aust. again, whereas we would travel with P & O UK again any time. As for formal, it was strict on Arcadia, but quite relaxed on Aurora. I was one of the few in a dark suit. Hope this is a helpful guide for you.

Regards, Steve.

We've been on Arcadia, an Adults only ship and referred to as the floating retirement home. After 10pm we were treated like royalty as we were among the few passengers still up! It was very pleasant though but with an almost all male Indian service crew. Last year we did a week on Aurora which was then a family friendly ship and it was great. Crew had more female crew members and a better mix of nationalities too. More like a Princess ship. From my research, Ventura is a "Grand" class ship (Princess style) and family friendly too. Dining was very good on Aurora with less of an 'English' slant to it. Arcadia was very English with roasts, kippers, herrings, Yorkshire Puds, Black Puds etc. One big plus was a kettle with tea/coffee in your room. We haven't tried HAL or Celebrity yet being mainline Princess, not fond of Royal and will not touch P & O Aust. again, whereas we would travel with P & O UK again any time. As for formal, it was strict on Arcadia, but quite relaxed on Aurora. I was one of the few in a dark suit. Hope this is a helpful guide for you.

Regards, Steve.

Thanks

We disembarked Arcadia on Monday after 47 days. This was our third cruise on her and all three cruises have been on sectors of the world cruise. We have cruised on a number of lines although more on Princess than the others. We find P&O UK similar to Princess. Some things Princess do better, some things P&O do better but at the end of the day it depends on the ship. The crew are mainly Indian (from Goa) and Filipino and were fantastic.

The passengers were nearly all from the UK with a smattering of us from ANZ at least on the WC. Everyone we met seemed happy and friendly so had lots of laughs. Some bars were quiet at night and some were lively.

Speaking to people who regularly cruise with P&O from the UK the Ventura seems to be the least favourite ship. Words such as 'never again' were mentioned although I think this was in reference to the demographic on mainly Caribbean cruises! I suspect that a cruise to Iceland might be a bit different. Good luck with whatever you decide.