Ventura a worrying review

[kalos]

Last night we settled down to watch a film made by Jamie on the Ventura.

He took his Mum on her very first cruise ,hoping to show her how relaxed cruising can be.

Nothing of the sort, long waits for dining ,no tea spoons, stir your tea with a knife, have  a 

battle to get your money back from canapés they could not deliver etc.

I would have been gutted if that was our cruise . 

Maybe have a look and see for yourself ,are they staffing the newer ships at the expense of Ventura ?

 

https://youtu.be/NbcN9xRZPZE

 

[Gettingwarmer]

Yes I have also watched this review. But on another thread it is reported that Iona also has problems of queues for Freedom Dining. 

We were also recently on Arcadia and it definitely wasn’t working there.

Unfortunately it appears that there is still a shortage of staff on all of the ships at the moment and they are all undertrained. There is a lack of drink choices as the servers are not trained sufficiently yet. How this can improve with Arvia taking more staff I am unsure. 
Our cruise was fine but not up to standard with so many usual options (drinks, restaurants) not available. 

Edited November 13, 2022 by Gettingwarmer

[crazy cat lady 83]

We were on this cruise. We saw Jamie a number of times filming.

We love Ventura. We had an amazing cruise and did some lovely excursions. The ship itself was in good condition and the food was good as it had ever been. Staff were superb and were happy to chat. 
Firstly, the queue getting back onboard in Cherbourg was at lunch time. We were in that queue as had just finished visiting the nuclear submarine. Someone had mentioned the air bridge being broken or something along those lines? Sorry I’m not the most technical person 😂

We had breakfast around 8 every morning and we never had an issue getting a table apart from the day of disembarkation. A few times we were moved to the fixed dining room for breakfast and had no problem getting seated. We never had a wait. There was always a huge queue as we were leaving the restaurant for breakfast though.

With both breakfast and lunch there was always a lot more eating in the mdr than we had ever seen before. It seemed to always be busy.
Dinner at 6.30 on formal nights we had about a 10 minute wait to get seated. Again, at this time it’s normally really quiet on other cruises we have been on. There was again , always an even longer queue when we had finished.

I think we were very lucky as I would have been annoyed having to wait over an hour for breakfast. I can’t comment on what the buffet was like as we didn’t use it on this cruise. 
We have children and are up early to get up and get on and enjoy the day. I do think we were lucky seeing what he experienced. 

[ozzysdad]

I love watching the YouTube vlogs, I find Jamie a little self absorbed at the best of times so no longer watch his content so will have to take others word for it, if he did experience poor service due to staff shortages that's a shame,  if it was on the back of using venues and boarding at peak times then that is easily avoided for a seasoned cruiser.

[Gettingwarmer]

21 minutes ago, ozzysdad said:

if it was on the back of using venues and boarding at peak times then that is easily avoided for a seasoned cruiser.

Jamie was leaving the ship at lunchtime when he noticed the line to get back on. When he returned later there was no delay at all. It does seem most P&O people want to get off early and return for lunch. Change the time and you’re ok. 

[Fionboard]

Do not be put off by one person's view of things!

[crazy cat lady 83]

11 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

Jamie was leaving the ship at lunchtime when he noticed the line to get back on. When he returned later there was no delay at all. It does seem most P&O people want to get off early and return for lunch. Change the time and you’re ok. 

From what I remember around 3 coaches returned from excursions at the same time too. That was just what I saw when I was in the queue.

[Pirateguy]

On a general level i find some cruise vloggers go for the dramatic , to create attention

Cant comment on this particular vlog but its only one viewpoint 

[Gettingwarmer]

He was pretty generous with his praise as well as he enjoyed the food and the cabins so it was not all one sided. 

[smokey01]

2 hours ago, Fionboard said:

Do not be put off by one person's view of things!

Agree, I’ve not been on Ventura since covid but it was always my favourite ship pre Iona. I started to watch the video but saw it was a long one and just gave up. I have been on so many cruises where a few people have had a bad experience but I’ve had a wonderful cruise. We next go on Ventura July 1st 2023 I’m sure we will have a good time even if I have to stir my tea with a knife!

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, smokey01 said:

Agree, I’ve not been on Ventura since covid but it was always my favourite ship pre Iona. I started to watch the video but saw it was a long one and just gave up. I have been on so many cruises where a few people have had a bad experience but I’ve had a wonderful cruise. We next go on Ventura July 1st 2023 I’m sure we will have a good time even if I have to stir my tea with a knife!

I just went to have a look and saw it was over an hour. That's not a vlog, it's a feature film...😂

[zap99]

6 minutes ago, Britboys said:

I just went to have a look and saw it was over an hour. That's not a vlog, it's a feature film...😂

Seems like wandering around with a selfie stick to post your views on the internet is very enjoyable. Watching it.....less so.

[Harry Peterson]

11 minutes ago, zap99 said:

Seems like wandering around with a selfie stick to post your views on the internet is very enjoyable. Watching it.....less so.

A bit like those interminable displays of holiday photos, then slides, and now WhatsApp bombardments!

[cimarron42]

We were on this cruise and I have to say it was the worst cruise we’ve ever done. Massive drop in standards from previous P&O experiences. Nothing really major wrong and if it had been our first cruise we’d have ranked it okay. However there has been clear penny pinching by the company and the ship felt understaffed. Will give P&O a wide berth for a bit until we hear things have improved. 
 

[Harry Peterson]

6 minutes ago, cimarron42 said:

We were on this cruise and I have to say it was the worst cruise we’ve ever done. Massive drop in standards from previous P&O experiences. Nothing really major wrong and if it had been our first cruise we’d have ranked it okay. However there has been clear penny pinching by the company and the ship felt understaffed. Will give P&O a wide berth for a bit until we hear things have improved. 
 

Good summary.  OK, then, provided you can't remember what it used to be like!  A bit like a Caramac bar.

 

We loved Ventura when she was new, and the experiences we had then of cruising with P&O were almost faultless onboard.  Really good, in every respect.  Sad that they've cut so many corners.

[Camberley]

9 hours ago, ozzysdad said:

I love watching the YouTube vlogs, I find Jamie a little self absorbed at the best of times so no longer watch his content so will have to take others word for it, if he did experience poor service due to staff shortages that's a shame,  if it was on the back of using venues and boarding at peak times then that is easily avoided for a seasoned cruiser.

I find most vloggers come across very self-absorbed that they can be very hard to watch. A shame as there can be good content hidden within the nonsense

[devonuk]

I sailed on the same cruise as the vlogger and stayed in the Orsava Suite on the stern (Canada deck). My wife and I plus our daughter and her family in an adjacent inside cabin found the entire experience to be pretty damn meh. 
I certainly won’t be sailing on the Ventura again unless it’s on a must do itinerary or post refit. 

 

[Snow Hill]

Land Hospitality based companies in the U.K. are struggling to attract employees, so it’s not surprising that cruise ships are also having the same issues. Waiters and other hotel staff have been effectively laid off for almost 2 years, they will in that time possibly found other jobs and have no wish to return to cruise ships. India where P&O recruit from is one of the world’s fastest growing economies, thus more jobs are being created at home so no need to seek jobs on cruise ships. 
 

Hospitality is also still suffering from supply chain issues which will also affect P&O, so some items will not be available or in short supply given the bulk of stock taken onboard for ships in the U.K. is sourced here. 
 

Last week we ate out at a chain restaurant, 5 items on the menu were not available that day, I had to have my Apple Tart with ice cream, as they had no custard and hadn’t had any for 3 weeks. The waitress said that I would be shocked at the length of the list of items they can’t get or are in short supply and this from one of this countries largest hospitality chains. 

 

 

[Selbourne]

It is indeed true that most of the pubs and restaurants that we go to are struggling with staff recruitment and retention. It also seems to be a rarity if all menu items are available. With a one off meal out costing £50 it’s just a minor irritant, but on a cruise costing a few thousand pounds I think I’d be less understanding. 
 

The addition of Iona seems to have stretched P&Os resources to the limit and, like others, I’m wondering how on earth they will cope once Our Vera is added into the mix. 
 

Out of interest, are these staff shortage issues unique to P&O, or are all other cruise lines experiencing the same problems?

[ann141]

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

It is indeed true that most of the pubs and restaurants that we go to are struggling with staff recruitment and retention. It also seems to be a rarity if all menu items are available. With a one off meal out costing £50 it’s just a minor irritant, but on a cruise costing a few thousand pounds I think I’d be less understanding. 
 

The addition of Iona seems to have stretched P&Os resources to the limit and, like others, I’m wondering how on earth they will cope once Our Vera is added into the mix. 
 

Out of interest, are these staff shortage issues unique to P&O, or are all other cruise lines experiencing the same problems?

We are coming to the end of our first Saga cruise and have been really impressed with the staff. No shortage as far as I can tell and the Captain told us that 95% of the pre covid crew are now back working for Saga.They all seem happy and I think Saga treat them well which contributes to this

[Host Sharon]

4 hours ago, Selbourne said:

It is indeed true that most of the pubs and restaurants that we go to are struggling with staff recruitment and retention. It also seems to be a rarity if all menu items are available. With a one off meal out costing £50 it’s just a minor irritant, but on a cruise costing a few thousand pounds I think I’d be less understanding. 
 

The addition of Iona seems to have stretched P&Os resources to the limit and, like others, I’m wondering how on earth they will cope once Our Vera is added into the mix. 
 

Out of interest, are these staff shortage issues unique to P&O, or are all other cruise lines experiencing the same problems?

No issues at all with Saga but on my cruise with them in May a Restaurant Manager told me they had 'picked up' a lot of crew from the now defunct Dream Cruises. They knew the actual job well but were paired up with experienced crew to 'learn the Saga way'. Saga do treat their crew very well, even continuing to pay their children's school fees throughout the pandemic.

[Harry Peterson]

1 hour ago, ann141 said:

We are coming to the end of our first Saga cruise and have been really impressed with the staff. No shortage as far as I can tell and the Captain told us that 95% of the pre covid crew are now back working for Saga.They all seem happy and I think Saga treat them well which contributes to this

That's interesting, Ann.  Is that SoD?  We have friends on her, returning tomorrow, and they switched away from many, many years of P&O to Saga two or three years back.  They were the ones who first recommended P&O to us (and a certain excellent travel agent) but now they actively dissuade people from P&O.  How things change - they were very wary indeed of Saga when they made the move, but now won't cruise with anyone else, and they cruise a lot!

[Host Sharon]

I just wish P&O would be straight and explain how many of these 'temporary because of covid' cuts are going to be permanent, because I suspect most, if not all of them, will be. Happy to be proven wrong.

[Selbourne]

2 minutes ago, Host Sharon said:

I just wish P&O would be straight and explain how many of these 'temporary because of covid' cuts are going to be permanent, because I suspect most, if not all of them, will be. Happy to be proven wrong.

I’m beginning to think the same thing. We know people who have cruised with P&O, Cunard and MSC - all this year - and the only noticeable staff shortages that they witnessed were with P&O (Select Dining restaurants closed etc). Once you factor in the fact that many of the best remaining staff will be moved to Our Vera for the maiden season, you have to wonder what things will be like across the rest of the fleet afterwards. I guess we will find out next year on Iona and Ventura, which we booked ages ago to finally use up our future cruise credit!

[ann141]

1 hour ago, Harry Peterson said:

That's interesting, Ann.  Is that SoD?  We have friends on her, returning tomorrow, and they switched away from many, many years of P&O to Saga two or three years back.  They were the ones who first recommended P&O to us (and a certain excellent travel agent) but now they actively dissuade people from P&O.  How things change - they were very wary indeed of Saga when they made the move, but now won't cruise with anyone else, and they cruise a lot!

Yes. We are on Spirit of Discovery returning to Southampton. Saga have exceeded our expectations though we will still cruise with other companies including p and o