Have I made a mistake in booking on Ventura?

[Cahpek]

I was recently on Ventura and a new executive chef came on board while we were in Madeira on 17th March.

He was present when they did the Behind the scenes tour and he struck me as a hard no nonsense guy from UK. Noticed a couple of days later that the waiters were calling him 'sir'.

Don't know if any of the comments in the previous posts are pre or post this change of head chef.

I only used the buffet once and it was OK for me

 

 

The comments, or at least our comments, were pre 17th March. In fact, we returned on 7th March.

 

It sounds promising , because when we were on board, it seemed the cooking department, especially in the buffet needed someone strong to get those guys (and gals too? ) to pull up their socks.

[grapau27]

I was recently on Ventura and a new executive chef came on board while we were in Madeira on 17th March.

He was present when they did the Behind the scenes tour and he struck me as a hard no nonsense guy from UK. Noticed a couple of days later that the waiters were calling him 'sir'.

Don't know if any of the comments in the previous posts are pre or post this change of head chef.

I only used the buffet once and it was OK for me

Our last Ventura cruise was a 4 night new year cruise and the lunch time buffet was very poor although no complaints about the rest of the ship.

Hopefully this new chef will get results and improve the buffet.

 

43 cruises and counting.

[Sumdumgi]

If I had a gripe, it would be about the breakfast buffet bun fight where passengers were pushing and shoving and running to get their breakfast and find a table. Better organisation is needed here.

 

Some of this is down to poor design and has been a problem on Azura and Ventura since they were introduced to the P&O fleet so don't hold your breath for improvement unless there is a wholesale refurbishment and relocation of serving areas. It's particularly bad on sea days. Since her refit the buffet area on Aurora is very good, spacious and even on the busiest of days not too much evidence of 'bun-fighting'. It's a pity Ventura hasn't been refurbished similarly.

 

 

Of course what P&O cannot do is remove the self-centered rudeness and lack of manners inherent in a minority of passengers, nor cater for those who ignore the fact that anyone else is entitled to obtain food and seating. 4 years ago someone literally knocked over my wife rushing to bag a table next to the window before we got there. No apology, no assistance to help my wife up or even an acknowledgement of what had happened :mad:

 

We are doing the 17 day Ventura cruise leaving 14 May. We do use the buffet occasionally for breakfast but generally quite early before the rush when it's less challenging !

 

Overall I don't mind the ship, like most it has a range of better qualities and some shortcomings but both positives and negatives are very much down to personal preferences.

Edited April 10, 2017 by Sumdumgi

[whoops]

Sailed twice on the Ventura within the last 12 months. Thoroughly enjoyed the ship. The only scruffy part was the corridor leading to our balcony cabin (D732) where the carpet was slightly scruffy in part. As for the food this is subjective. Personally I loved the buffet especially the cake and custard. As a former public schoolboy I was served that offering frequently and loved it so used every opportunity to lap it up onboard ship. For the more discerning diners my wife opted out of my favourite desert but enjoyed the rest of the buffet food. As a vegetarian I preferred the buffet to the MDR as some of the menu items were not to my liking even though the service was exceptional.

 

Entertainment on the Ventura was good especially as one of the cruises was based on Strictly Come Dancing but there were plenty of other options available for non dancing fans. Overall I found the Ventura to be very good and wouldn't be put off by any adverse comments as we are all different as my love for cake and custard demonstrates. LOL.

[smokey01]

 

Entertainment on the Ventura was good especially as one of the cruises was based on Strictly Come Dancing but there were plenty of other options available for non dancing fans. Overall I found the Ventura to be very good and wouldn't be put off by any adverse comments as we are all different as my love for cake and custard demonstrates. LOL.

 

We go on Ventura in 2 weeks it is also a Strictly Come Dancing cruise, I'm not a fan but my mother is, can you tell me how difficult it is to get a seat at these shows? How often and what time of the day/evening are the shows?

 

PS I love custard too

[Josy1953]

We go on Ventura in 2 weeks it is also a Strictly Come Dancing cruise, I'm not a fan but my mother is, can you tell me how difficult it is to get a seat at these shows? How often and what time of the day/evening are the shows?

 

PS I love custard too

 

We went on a Strictly cruise on Azura 3 years ago and everyone was given tickets in their cabin for one of the shows. The tickets were colour coded according to the show they were for and anyone who did not want them was asked to return them so that if any passengers wanted to go to another show could do so. We went and really enjoyed the show but were surprised how early people started to queue outside the theatre. Though there were seats for everyone those who arrived near to the start time of the show found that there were only single seats and had to split up.

 

The dancers did talk shows with the cruise director and were very interesting. Craig Revel-Horwood was brilliant and very open about his life in his interview.

 

There were some of the costumes on the tv shows on display around the ship.

 

I would go on another Strictly cruise in a heartbeat. Enjoy your cruise.

[cruiser1955]

My review of the cruise I did between 7-21 March has now been released.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=571006

 

Comparing value for money compared to other options that were open to me, lines, land holidays, I thought it gave excellent value for money. However, this was the first time that I did not eat in the MDR in the evening - I used the speciality dining options instead.

[danielundecided]

We disembarked her on Sunday.

 

MDR food was great quality (comparable to Princess from what I remember it to be like) but an awful lot of fish and seafood on the menu. Not much variety in dishes for vegetarians. What the food was described as on the menu was often very different to what you'd be expecting from the description when it arrived!

 

The buffet was okay during the day, we didn't go there at night. A somewhat good selection of food. The deserts were, as they always have been, disgusting IMO.

 

RE. te ship looking tired, we never noticed this really. There was the odd wicker chair on the top deck that looked a bit worn but that was it.

 

The passenger mix actually surprised me - I would estimate that about 1/2 of everyone on board were families, with quite a lot of the other half being young (around mid/late 20s) couples. No problem with any other passengers whatsoever, they were all polite when passing, sharing lifts etc etc and I never felt any of them disrupted my holiday.

 

So no; I don't think you've made a mistake in booking on Ventura. She's a lovely ship and we can't wait to be back on her next year. :--)

 

Dan

 

 

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[jules57]

Thank you everyone for your comments which have been very helpful. No ship is perfect and is subject to the constant change of crew and how they gel together. I remember being on the Eclipse one year and the food generally was very poor. The next year the Executive Chef was on board and what a difference. Following year it had slipped a little.

Food isn't everything on a cruise and the crew can make or break it. Time will only tell. :)

[Jules.]

I was quite impressed with Ventura as I went with an open mind after a middling cruise on Oceana a few years ago. We dined in the Cinammon restaurant which was a surprise as we had asked for first sitting on booking the cruise but in the end this worked out really well for us all. The wait for a table for two on Captain's night was only 20 minutes, and the other evenings all three of us dined together and were seated immediately. I eat a gluten free diet and was well catered for. Didn't use the pools so I can't comment on them. The passenger mix was around the 55-60 mark with some young couples and almost all British as I could tell. We were on deck D where some people feel they are overlooked but we never felt like it. Our neighbours were considerate and quiet, we were probably the noisy ones! Only one passenger bothered me when he was throwing food to the seagulls from his balcony as we departed Vigo. Think he was trying to get a good photo of them, but we kept getting dive bombed! Maybe he got told off as it never happened again.

I would sail again on Ventura if the itinery were right. Enjoy your cruise!

[grapau27]

Excellent ship only downside is the lunchtime buffet but you can go to the MDR for lunch.

 

43 cruises and counting.