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Britannia or Ventura. Condition of ships and headliner shows


Barnum42
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My wife and I are contemplating a summer holiday week long cruise and are looking at either Britannia or Ventura

 

We sailed on Ventura some years ago and more recently on Britannia.

 

I've seen some discouraging things about the state of repair of Ventura, so thought I'd ask you good folks for opinions of recent experiences.

 

From past experience, we liked that Ventura has a proper promendade and the main theatre provides a better rake.

 

Britannia had a better laid out buffet, with slightly less disappointing buffet meals, but we tend to opt for MDR and just hit the buffet if we miss the seating times.

 

The big plus that previously drew us to Britannia was that the price difference between inside and balcony was a fraction of that on other P&O ships. However, that appears to be a thing of the past as the price difference has shot up to about £300 more per person, so we'll be going for inside regardless of which ship we chose. 

 

The Headliner's shows are something we are also considering. Looking at the P&O site, it appears Britannia is still doing the same ones they were the last couple of times we were aboard. Nothing specific is listed against Ventura, but as it's been four years since we were last on her, I hope they have different shows.

 

So, who would opt for which and why? Are the tales of Ventura's poor repair exaggerated?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Edit: An Azure cruise has just dropped in price, bringing it into the frame! We've not been on her, so that could affect our decision.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Barnum42
Amended now we've seen Azura is now a possibility
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1 hour ago, Barnum42 said:

My wife and I are contemplating a summer holiday week long cruise and are looking at either Britannia or Ventura

 

We sailed on Ventura some years ago and more recently on Britannia.

 

I've seen some discouraging things about the state of repair of Ventura, so thought I'd ask you good folks for opinions of recent experiences.

 

From past experience, we liked that Ventura has a proper promendade and the main theatre provides a better rake.

 

Britannia had a better laid out buffet, with slightly less disappointing buffet meals, but we tend to opt for MDR and just hit the buffet if we miss the seating times.

 

The big plus that previously drew us to Britannia was that the price difference between inside and balcony was a fraction of that on other P&O ships. However, that appears to be a thing of the past as the price difference has shot up to about £300 more per person, so we'll be going for inside regardless of which ship we chose. 

 

The Headliner's shows are something we are also considering. Looking at the P&O site, it appears Britannia is still doing the same ones they were the last couple of times we were aboard. Nothing specific is listed against Ventura, but as it's been four years since we were last on her, I hope they have different shows.

 

So, who would opt for which and why? Are the tales of Ventura's poor repair exaggerated?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Edit: An Azure cruise has just dropped in price, bringing it into the frame! We've not been on her, so that could affect our decision.

You mention Azura, and I do have recent direct experience of her.  There's a separate thread on that, and she's well overdue the refit planned for next April, I'd say.  I'd give it a wide berth until after the refit, and even then allow some settling in time.

 

Ventura had a refit in March 2018, so will hopefully be in better shape - it's a couple of years since we last cruised on Ventura and it seemed OK, but the refit will have made it even better.

 

I've avoided Britannia altogether because of the well documented problems with soot (aft) and staircases/lifts.

 

The shows on Azura were disappointing - though the new 'Astonishing' was very good.  The others were old, I'd guess at least three years old, and we'd seen them before.

 

Of the three, I'd opt for Ventura - or Azura after the refit.

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Personally, I would chose Britannia over Ventura & Azura. No ship is perfect, but Britannia provides more options for both entertainment and dining. Although extra cost, the Limelight Club on Britannia is a nice night out and the food is good. We find the Epicurean on Britannia to be far superior to the one on Ventura (when we were on Azura it was pre Epicurean, but was good). The buffet on Britannia is best in the fleet, as are the cabins (bathrooms, quality of furnishings, huge interactive TV’s etc). Yes, soot is a problem, but can be avoided by not using the rear 20% of the outer areas. The lack of a central staircase is a pain if you need to use lifts (as it puts extra pressure on them) but we just got into the habit of using the forward or aft lifts (depending on when you go, a midships staircase will be installed at the next refit). The lack of a promenade deck is a major downer on Britannia, which might be more of an issue for you if you are booking an inside cabin, but we really dislike the fact that Ventura and Azura have no Crows Nest bar. So, for us, Britannia wins on modernity, better cabins, better restaurants. Alternatively, wait for Iona which has all of Britannia’s good points but none of her negative ones - and even more restaurant options. 

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1 hour ago, docco said:

You mention Azura, and I do have recent direct experience of her.  There's a separate thread on that, and she's well overdue the refit planned for next April, I'd say.  I'd give it a wide berth until after the refit, and even then allow some settling in time.

 

Ventura had a refit in March 2018, so will hopefully be in better shape - it's a couple of years since we last cruised on Ventura and it seemed OK, but the refit will have made it even better.

 

I've avoided Britannia altogether because of the well documented problems with soot (aft) and staircases/lifts.

 

The shows on Azura were disappointing - though the new 'Astonishing' was very good.  The others were old, I'd guess at least three years old, and we'd seen them before.

 

Of the three, I'd opt for Ventura - or Azura after the refit.

This sums up how different we all are.

We love Britannia, lifts not an issue as needed to walk off all the gluttony, soot did not come near our balcony. Hated Astonishing, too screechy and predictable for us.

Andy

 

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1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

 Alternatively, wait for Iona which has all of Britannia’s good points but none of her negative ones.

One of Britannia's negatives is the atrium that looks like an out of town shopping centre. From what I've seen of Iona, they've not strayed too far from that design. But at least they've learnt to keep the promenade this time. I do wonder if they'll think about putting it on Britannia. It's mostly there, just used by crew only.

 

 

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15 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

This sums up how different we all are.

We love Britannia, lifts not an issue as needed to walk off all the gluttony, soot did not come near our balcony. Hated Astonishing, too screechy and predictable for us.

Andy

 

Different indeed!  Whilst we can at least get some idea of general condition of a ship, so much of it is personal. Our favourite so far has been Oceana, despite her warts - a little rough around the edges and prone to the motion of the ocean, there is just something about the atmosphere that appealed to us.

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38 minutes ago, Barnum42 said:

Different indeed!  Whilst we can at least get some idea of general condition of a ship, so much of it is personal. Our favourite so far has been Oceana, despite her warts - a little rough around the edges and prone to the motion of the ocean, there is just something about the atmosphere that appealed to us.

Britannia is certainly different to Oceana, but in our opinion, not in a negative way.

We loved the Atrium on Britannia, a great place to have a drink and people watch before dinner, especially on gala nights.

I get what you mean about atmosphere and we prefer the feel of Aurora, but have had lovely cruises on Britannia also.

Andy

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We've just spent 5 weeks on Ventura and would definitely choose Britannia over her.

  • The entertainment options on Ventura are not a patch on Britannia.
  • Britannia is in much better condition and has much more of a wow factor.
  • Love the atrium and the layout of the ship. 
  • Balconies are better on Ventura  but that won't matter if you're going for an inside. 
  • We had an aft cabin and soot was an issue but the lifts were not so for me the best location on the ship would be close to the aft lifts. Easy to get around from there. 
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If the choice was a C deck balcony on Ventura or a balcony on Britannia I would choose Ventura ( we had a lovely 4 weeks cruise on her in January) But if we were going for an inside cabin(which we more frequently do) I would choose Britannia as we prefer the more modern feel and as others have said there is more of a wow factor.I probably wouldn t choose Britannia if I needed to use the lift due to mobility problems but we tend to prefer using the stairs so waiting for a lift has not been a problem for us.We have only been on Azura once, a couple of years ago and at the time preferred her to Ventura but the fact that she is due a re fit and Ventura has already had hers,plus other problems that some people have experienced on her would put me off slightly.Despite that, we tend to choose Itinerary and sail on whichever ship has the better ports of call.Britannia is our favourite ship

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10 hours ago, Barnum42 said:

Thinking about one other aspect. Berlitz guide says Ventura does not have a card room. We are not card players but like borrowing the other games. Is this still the case? 

Has Britannia got a card room?

Never seen it, but never looked for it so it may be there somewhere.

Andy

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10 hours ago, Barnum42 said:

Thinking about one other aspect. Berlitz guide says Ventura does not have a card room. We are not card players but like borrowing the other games. Is this still the case? 

They have a good selection of board games on Ventura that are kept in the library, having cruised on Ventura only last week I must say that the shows the headliners put on were really good, as good as I've seen and the current team had a real good energy about them with some exceptional dancers.

 

Ventura has also benefited from her recent refit and to us looked in really good condition barring the odd lift that was out for the duration of the cruise.

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I’ve been on them both and enjoyed them.

On Britannia we had a forward balcony cabin on E deck so didn’t have the soot problem or stairs issue. Really enjoyed the Limelight club.

Ventura I went on last year post re-fit so it was fine. New shows I hadn’t seen before.

For me I would choose Britannia but only because I’ve only been on her once but Ventura twice ( and Azura 3 times and it’s nearly the same as Ventura)

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Thanks for the feedback folks.

 

If the price difference between inside and balcony was a close as it used to be on Britannia, that could have swayed it her way, but £300+ a piece is knocking  on half the fare of a future cruise.

 

We've plumped for Ventura - the shows should be new, the promenade will be appreciated and as long as it's open, the adult only pool will be used - my wife is a nervous swimmer courtesy of 1970s style gym teaching methods of throwing nervous swimmers into the deep end. When on Britannia, the "adult" pool always had kids in it splashing around. When we brought it up with the front desk they claimed that despite what the literature says, it's not an adult only pool!

 

Now looking forward to our next cruise :)

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