ventura cruise ship reviews 2022

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Ventura Deck Plans & Reviews

Activities & entertainment

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• August 2022 1

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Cruise with Jamie & Robert

Ventura - july 2022 - full review.

Ventura July 2022 - Western Europe - P&O Cruises

This was our first time sailing aboard Ventura, after sailing aboard Britannia and Iona on similar itineraries. Ventura is the smallest ship we have been on to date, find out if we liked her size later on in the review.

As always, we booked the cheapest inside cabin available (PF) (we like to cruise on a budget so that we can spend more onboard e.g. speciality dining, spa, etc), but P&O very kindly upgraded us to the best grade of inside cabin (PA) complimentary. Thanks P&O.

Our inside (PA) cabin was smaller than the inside cabins we have been in onboard Britannia and Iona although this is expected due to Ventura being a smaller ship. The smaller size didn't bother us and we didn't really notice it after the first day. 

There was a cooler like we have had in all our other cabins, the bed was comfortable (although I find the pillows to not be very supportive), the tea and coffee making facilities were adequate although we didn't use them once during the cruise mainly because we had a drinks package so went to the coffee shop for speciality drinks. 

The bathroom was a good size, a powerful shower and lots of storage space for toiletries. A few observations regarding the bathroom were that we noticed there wasn't a foot stool in the shower like there has been on both Britannia and Iona, and there was a shower curtain rather than glass door enclosure for the shower. I thought that this may bother us, but it didn't and we quickly got use to it. 

We didn't really spend much time in the cabin other than to sleep as we enjoy being out and about around the ship. But we would definitely book an inside cabin on Ventura again, hopefully in the near future. 

Ventura and Britannia have similar food choices onboard. We enjoyed all of the food that we ate during the cruise. 

The Main Dining Rooms (MDRs) were of good quality and the menu choice we found to be quite large. We enjoyed many meals in the MDRs during the cruise including our best ever celebration night meal. The MDR's are also a great place for both breakfast and lunch serving a great menu with plenty of choice. We also found the P&O table booking app to work well, our longest wait for a table was around 30 minutes.

Here are some photos of the food that we enjoyed in the MDRs while onboard:

The Poolside Grill and Pizzeria were also fantastic, great for getting a quick bite to eat when returning back to the ship from a busy day in port. The Pizzeria was better than Iona in our opinion, as Ventura had a daily changing special (similar to Britannia) in which Iona did not when we were onboard. 

Java (the coffee shop) was also a great place to stop by for a coffee and cake/sandwich, especially as the food is included here unlike the coffee shop branded as Eric Landlord where food is an extra charge. We enjoyed maybe slices of cakes here, and all were fantastic especially considering they were included when purchasing a drink (which was free for us because of our drinks package). 

We booked Sindhu to celebrate Robert's birthday onboard. Sindhu was actually the only speciality restaurant open during our cruise with both the Epicurean and Glass House closed due to a staff shortage.  

We have been to Sindhu once before (while onboard Britannia, our first ever night on a cruise). We enjoyed the meal onboard Ventura more. The food was fantastic, the crew were fantastic and we think Sindhu is very good value for money spending around £25 per person, for a 3 course meal and a bottle of wine. The restaurant manager also got Robert a happy birthday plate, which was much appreciated (see photo).

During our cruise we visited:

• Lisbon : We had visited Lisbon before on Iona in February, we we caught the shuttle bus (about a 10 minute transfer) to the main square and spent around an hour looking around the little shops before heading back to the ship. The temperature was around 40 degrees, way too hot to fully explore everywhere we could have. 

• Guernsey : This was our first time visiting Guernsey. The temperature was around 35 degrees. We had to get a tender from Ventura to the St Peter Port. During our call to Guernsey we visited a local market, selling many different things from cars to bath bombs. We also walked up the hill around St Peter Port, so that we could see Ventura from a distance. We really enjoyed our visit to Guernsey and would definitely visit again.

• Porto : This was our first time visiting Porto. We caught the shuttle bus from Lexioes to Porto, which is around a 40 minute transfer. The temperature in Porto was around 40 degrees, similar to Lisbon. As we hadn't visited Porto before we wanted to look around more than we did in Lisbon. To help with the temperature we decided to catch the cable car which takes you from the river up the hill. This was really helpful as we don't think it would have been possible to have climbed the hill in the temperature. Porto is a lovely place, the scenery is beautiful and we would definitely visit again.

• Vigo : We had visited Vigo before onboard Iona in February. It was a little cooler at around 38 degrees. We decided to get off Ventura and just walked around the town and see where it took us. We ended up going up the hills, using the outside escalators, and found a nice park where we sat for a while taking in the view. Then we went around some of the little shops before returning to Ventura. 

As on every other cruise we have been on the crew were fantastic! They really can't do enough for you and they make you feel so special. A cruise really wouldn't be the same without them. 

The Drinks Package

This was the first cruise that we decided to try out a drinks package. We got the non-alcoholic drinks package which costs £19.95 per person, per day. The cost for the cruise was £279.30 but with our Peninsular Club discount came to £264. With this package you can have unlimited soft drinks every day of your cruise which includes, soft drinks, mocktails, coffees, hot chocolate, bottled water and selected juices.

Was it worth it for us? 

We thought that the drinks package was incredibly good value. Without the drinks package we would have been spending around £60 per person, per day, which is insane! We have decided that on all future cruise we will be getting the non-alcoholic drinks package as its great to not have to worry about drink prices and just be able to relax and drinks as much as you want, when you want.  

The Entertainment

During our cruise we had lots of entertainment to enjoy onboard. 

The theatre entertainment by the Headliners Theatre Company was fantastic, we enjoyed shows such as Paradise City, On the Horizon, Astonishing and Magic Moments.

We also enjoyed music and late-night comedy in Havana. We've never really spent so much time in the late-night venues on any other cruise as we didn't think it would be something we would enjoy. However, we really enjoyed our time at Havana and will definitely be spending more time in the late-night venues on our future cruises. 

There was so much more entertainment going on around the ship, so much so that we were unable to enjoy all of it. There was daily entertainment in the atrium, that ranged from vocalists to dance classes. Pianists were also popular, performing in the Red Bar and Manhattan Bar. We do enjoy listening the the piano while enjoy a drink in the evening. 

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Ventura Deck Plans & Reviews

Activities & entertainment

• Excellent 100
• Very Good 66
• Terrible 47
• All languages ( 339 )
• English ( 337 )
• Italian ( 1 )
• Norwegian ( 1 )

• CruiseMapper

Ventura deck plans

Deck layouts, review of facilities, activities, amenities.

Ventura deck plan review at CruiseMapper provides newest cruise deck plans (2024-2025-2026 valid floor layouts of the vessel) extracted from the officially issued by P&O UK (P&O Cruises) deckplan pdf (printable version).

Each of the Ventura cruise ship deck plans are conveniently combined with a legend (showing cabin codes) and detailed review of all the deck's venues and passenger-accessible indoor and outdoor areas. A separate link provides an extensive information on Ventura staterooms (cabins and suites), including photos, cabin plans and amenities by room type and category.

P&O Ventura (2008-built, last refurbished in 2018) is of the Grand-class P and O cruise ships – together with ms Azura . These two vessels were the P&O UK fleet’s largest, until the arrival of mv Britannia (2015).

P and O Ventura cruise ship deck plan shows a total of 1556 staterooms for 3078 passengers (max capacity is 3727) served by 1250 crew-staff. The boat has 18 decks (15 passenger-accessible, 9 with cabins)., 12 dining venues, 16 bars and lounges, 5 swimming pools (1 covered with Skydome/retractable glass roof), 6 outdoor Jacuzzis, 12 elevators.

Note: On P&O Ventura ship, launderettes are located on decks Riviera, A, B, C, D, E, P. These are passenger use laundry facilities (open 8 am - 10 pm, complimentary), complete with dryers, washers, ironing boards. Detergent costs extra, or you can use your own. Dry cleaning (called Wascomat or Aquatex /eco-friendly wet cleaning) is available, with service charges per item. List with dry-cleaning prices is available in all cabins.

MS Ventura deck plan changes 2018 refurbishment review

The ship's drydock in 2018 (March 13-27, done by Damen Shiprepairs in Brest France ) resulted in the following deckplan changes:

• The onboard retail shopping was upgraded by refurbishing all retail shops and adding new brands.
• The 2-tier Arena Theatre received a large, wall-mounted LED screen (similar to that on Azura), as well as a new sound and light equipment.
• All passenger cabins and most public areas (the Atrium, Spa and Salon complex, all restaurants, lounges, and bars) were renovated with new carpeting. The main walkway area received new tiling, new carpet, new furniture.
• The bar lounges Tamarind Club and Havana were renovated and redesigned.
• New retail brands were added to the onboard shopping options selling premium watches, handbags, cosmetics and perfumes, travel essentials. New is the Dufry store (travel retailer). All the shops were completely renovated. Among the newly added brands are BRICS (luggage, bags, Selfridges), Longines (Swiss hand-made watches), Olivia Burton (watches, V), Liu Jo (women's clothes, bags, shoes), Radley (designer leather handbags, purses, accessories), Cath Kidston (fashion, bags, gifts), Kipling (designer bags, backpacks, luggage, wallets, travel accessories). A new collection of British gins was also added. To the shops on Deck 7 was added a large glass display window.
• During the drydock refit were also refurbished the Waterside (24-hour buffet restaurant) and The Beach House (Select Dining restaurant).
• Dixons Travel shop (deck 7) sells the latest technology gadgets and electronic equipment. During the refurbishment, the store's size was increased and new products were added, including by the brands Amazon, Apple, Bose, Canon, Fitbit, GoPro).
• The Photo Now digital screen was moved to the aft.
• During drydock 2018, on the ship were installed 2 scrubbers (reducing fuel emissions and energy consumption). The hull was water blasted and painted with a new type of silicone paint (improving fuel efficiency). Also repainted was the liner's superstructure. Maintenance works included the vessel's propulsion, stabilizers, some repairs.

The list of deck plan changes after the ship's 2013 drydock (at Blohm+Voss shipyard in Hamburg Germany ) includes:

• (Deck 5) - new Atrium entertainment programme – now with a dance floor (also for lessons) and live band music at night. Internet Cafe was transformed into the Library, while the old library was refitted into a perfume shop.
• (Deck 6) - 18 new single cruise cabins, of which 12 oceanview and 6 Interior), at no single supplement rates.
• (Deck 7) - The Glass House (wine bar) replacing the Ramblas (Latin specialty restaurant)
• (Deck 7) - East (Asian specialty restaurant by Atul Kochhar, with new Southeast Asia menu.
• (Deck 17) - The Retreat (outdoor adults-only spa terrace).
• Better (shipwide) Wi-Fi coverage.

Deck layouts

Deck 04 - g, deck 05 - p, deck 06 - f-lobby, deck 07 - promenade, deck 08 - e, deck 09 - d, deck 10 - c, deck 11 - b, deck 12 - a, deck 14 - riviera-bridge, deck 15 - lido-pool, deck 16 - sun-spa-kids-teens, deck 17 - sports-adults, deck 18 - ocean, deck 19 - sky.

Ventura deck plans are property of P&O UK (P&O Cruises) . All deck layouts are for informational purposes only and CruiseMapper is not responsible for their accuracy.

I Cruised on P&O’s Iona and Ventura – Here’s How They Compare

When cruise lines advertise their cruises it’s most likely that you’ll see the newest and most exciting cruise ships. The majority of cruise ships owned by the major cruise lines are over 10 years old, with many being over 20 years old. 

I recently took a cruise on a brand new mega cruise ship, her name is Iona and she is massive, she’s over 4x the size of the Titanic and can hold well over 5000 guests. 

What I wanted to know after disembarking my cruise on Iona was did I enjoy this cruise because of the cruise line or because of the exciting new ship, if I cruised on an older smaller ship from the same cruise line, would I enjoy it as much or would I feel ripped off that the older ship didn’t have everything that the larger ship did. 

There were actually differences between the two that I had never considered, such as differences in the way the formal night dress codes were enforced, but more about that later. 

To find out how the ships compare I booked a cruise P&O’s Ventura, she was built back in 2007 and is just over half the size of Iona in terms of gross tonnage. 

I had visions of the ship falling apart, things leaking and being broken. I had been on other cruises on ships of a similar age where there would be buckets in the corridors to catch leaks and you’d often find things frayed or cracking.

I’ve found that it’s a lot more about how well a cruise ship has been looked after rather than her actual age, but I didn’t know how well Ventura had been looked after. 

I had heard that the cabins onboard Ventura were, to put it nicely, ‘dated’ and I didn’t know if I would enjoy the cruise as much with less choice of restaurants and entertainment. 

P&O’s Iona and Ventura Have Very Different Atriums

When I boarded P&O’s newest ship Iona there was an immediate wow factor. The central atrium area was one of the first places we visited and it is split over multiple levels with glass walls on both sides.

It very much felt like a fancy hotel and you could tell that everything onboard was new. 

I was worried that walking on Ventura wouldn’t have this same wow factor.

In some ways, the wow factor was definitely there, but comparing the atriums of Iona and Ventura you can see the differences. 

P&O’s Ventura has a very classic atrium design, you’ll find this style of atrium with the glass elevators on a lot of the older Princess ships as well as those owned by P&O. 

Personally, I really liked this design and I loved how they would have live music here every day.

I prefer the design style of Iona’s atrium but I know that many people have described it as being like an airport or like a shopping centre. 

The wood and colours in Ventura’s atrium is something that dates to the ship to the late 2000s.

There were certain lounges onboard where you’d find chairs that I felt dated the ship but we very rarely found anything that was actually broken or damaged.

P&O’s Ventura had a big refit in 2018 and this is probably why. The actual fittings and furnishings on Ventura probably aren’t that much older than Ionas.

Iona and Ventura’s Decor Differs

When it comes to larger pieces like this tree in the glasshouse though, they have been there for years. I quite like it, it’s something a little different, but I do think it gives away the ship’s age. 

I Loved My Cabin Onboard Iona

One of my favourite things about cruising on Iona was the amazing inside cabin we had, it was small but perhaps one of my favourite cruise ship cabins.

To learn more about the cabin, check out this post: P&O Iona Inside Cabin Photo Review – Space, Bathroom, Cleanliness and More .

I loved the decor, it was incredibly well designed, bright and airy and the bathroom although small was great.

The showerful was powerful and I know lots of people will be pleased to hear that there was a shower door instead of a shower curtain.

I knew that my cabin on Ventura wouldn’t have the same design or look as new as the cabins on Iona. Cruise ship cabins are one of the areas of cruise ships that seem to date quite fast, I’m not sure if it’s because of the number of cabins but it isn’t easy for a cruise line to just update 1500 cabins. 

The main priorities for me when it comes to cruise ship cabins are, is it clean, is there enough storage and will I have a good nights sleep here?

I’m happy to report that I had some really good sleeps on this cruise. 

Ventura’s Cabin Was Clean and Comfortable

The design of Ventura’s cabins definitely is dated and the bathroom is showing signs of age. I’m not too sure why but the shower was really quite low down, I’m only 5’6 so it wasn’t a problem for me, but anybody 6ft or taller would have to kneel down to use the shower.

I know that people were shorter in the olden days, but I don’t think 2007 counts!

On Large Ships Most of The Extra Space is Cabins

When it comes to cabins, one of the biggest differences between smaller and bigger cruise ships is the number of cabins.

It isn’t uncommon to see a larger cruise ship that has basically the same facilities as the smaller one, but with an extra few decks of cabins in the middle. 

Ventura has 6 and a half decks of cabins and Iona has closer to 9 and a half.

That does mean a lot more stairs to walk up but I don’t mind that. 

Beyond the physical differences on the ship, I was unsure if I could enjoy the actual cruise as much on Ventura. There were so many restaurant and entertainment options on my Iona cruise that I worried that it would be boring. 

Was The Entertainment Different?

Both cruise ships have big theatres and lots of live music and I didn’t notice a big difference in terms of which activities were offered, there were, of course, more choices on the bigger ship.

Iona has things like a cinema and splash park that Ventura doesn’t have. 

In addition to the theatre, Iona has another performance space in the central dome, this meant that sometimes we would go to the theatre shows and sometimes to the shows in the dome.

It felt as though the shows were repeated more often on Iona, but I suppose that makes sense for the number of passengers on board.

Despite both ships being at reduced capacity Iona definitely did feel busier than Ventura. We would often have to stand to watch the dome shows and some venues we never managed to get into during our cruise.

The App Had to be Used on Both Cruise Lines

When I was on both cruises we had to use the cruise lines app to book theatre shows.

You might find that on some cruise lines certain apps or pieces of tech and only available on newer ships as they’re rolling it out, but all of P&O’s ships now use the same App.

During the cruise shutdown of 2020 Princess cruises took the opportunity to fit all of their ships with their medallion technology and many other cruise lines used it as a time to catch up all of their cruise ships to the same standard as the newer ones. 

The Smaller Size Was Great in Some Ways

One big benefit of cruising on the smaller ship compared to the larger one was how much easier it was to walk around the ship and to just pop back to your cabin if you forgot something. 

On Iona we were right at the end of the ship and I didn’t time it but I’m sure if I was at the other end and wanted to pop back to my cabin I’d be gone for 10-15 minutes, on Ventura we never had that problem which was nice. 

It wasn’t quite the same as being on a river cruise ship where you’re only ever a few metres from your cabin, but it was nice to be able to wander around the ship without too much trouble.

If you are somebody with mobility issues, or who doesn’t want to walk up 10 flights of stairs smaller ships can be a really good choice.

Personally, the longer walks work well for me to burn off some of the cookies I’ve eaten in the buffet. 

The Formal Nights and Dress Codes Varied

P&O are an interesting cruise line in the way that they do formal nights and dress codes.

Most cruise lines will have the same rules across the entire fleet but things were different on both of our cruises.

I’m not a big fan of enforced formal nights on most cruises so I liked the way that Iona had one ‘formal’ night per week and as far as I can remember it was only enforced in the main dining rooms.

On Ventura we had 3 formal nights on our 12-night cruise and the dress code also applied to a couple of other lounges and areas onboard.

This isn’t a problem lots of people love the formal nights and dress codes, but it just goes to show that just because you’ve enjoyed a cruise on one cruise ship, you can’t necessarily assume that you’ll like a cruise on all cruise ships in the fleet. 

One thing that I can’t compare between the two though is the way that the ships handle bad weather. Some people say that smaller ships handle it better, some say that larger does, to be honest, I don’t really know. 

On our Iona cruise, we had no problems with the weather at all, but our Ventura cruise was the roughest cruise that I’ve ever been on. To find out how we dealt with it, and why I wouldn’t take this cruise again, check out this video next:

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