thinking of cancelling venturer

[jovijo]

Help - We are booked to go around the med on ventura on 16th Aug (we have two girls 9 and 11) and after reading all the comments especially the butlins at sea I am really concerned.

 

We experienced our first cruise last year on Explorer of the seas (RCI) and thought it was fantastic, we tried this year for another RCI ship but could not get the cruises we wanted.

 

Has anyone with children sailed with venturer and do they have any positive comments ?

[Gerrym]

If you seek positive posts, don't worry, you will get loads. If instead you seek a balanced view, don't worry, you will still get plenty of positive posts.

[capnpugwash]

Help - We are booked to go around the med on ventura on 16th Aug (we have two girls 9 and 11) and after reading all the comments especially the butlins at sea I am really concerned.

 

We experienced our first cruise last year on Explorer of the seas (RCI) and thought it was fantastic, we tried this year for another RCI ship but could not get the cruises we wanted.

 

Has anyone with children sailed with venturer and do they have any positive comments ?

 

Ventura is not a ship that I would choose to cruise on. For me it is too large and we are in our 50's and don't have young kids. From what I read a lotr of people like it and some hate it. Berlitz say "... is best suited to families with children" It scores 432/500 as compared with 418 for Explorer. P & O have designed it for families such as yours so I would probably give it a try. But it has to be your call.

[snikrup]

Help - We are booked to go around the med on ventura on 16th Aug (we have two girls 9 and 11) and after reading all the comments especially the butlins at sea I am really concerned.

 

We experienced our first cruise last year on Explorer of the seas (RCI) and thought it was fantastic, we tried this year for another RCI ship but could not get the cruises we wanted.

 

Has anyone with children sailed with venturer and do they have any positive comments ?

 

I would say give it a try. I think you will have a great time. The children's facilities are fantastic. The girls will be in a room called "The Den" should the choose the Kids club and it can be found on deck 16 aft. It's no secret by now that I used to work on Ventura in the youth dept. They will have a great time!

 

As for the adults - yes it is a big ship, and yes I was crew but I did get some evenings where I was allowed "deck privilidges". You can have a lovely meal in the White Room, or at East. You can dance the night away in the Tamarind or watch a lecture/film during the day. The shows were always good when I was on board (though I know the company has changed now).

 

Give it a go! Every member of staff on board will do their best to help you!

[capnpugwash]

See Jovijo, it isn't all bad news.:D

[chirpy007]

Most of the negative views seem to come from vintage P&O cruisers perhaps expecting it to be like the rest of the fleet. As we have no previous experience of P & O l think we will be fine. I too have only done RC (FOS).

Im really looking forward to it, l believe you will have a great time. Im not going to expect anything, l shall wait till l board and enjoy what it has to offer. Have fun :D

[Gerrym]

Most of the negative views seem to come from vintage P&O cruisers perhaps expecting it to be like the rest of the fleet. As we have no previous experience of P & O l think we will be fine. I too have only done RC (FOS).

Im really looking forward to it, l believe you will have a great time. Im not going to expect anything, l shall wait till l board and enjoy what it has to offer. Have fun :D

 

 

I totally agree. Those passengers who have not cruised before do not have a benchmark and therefore will not go on board with perhaps the high expectations of experienced cruisers as they do not have another cruise to compare it with.

 

When I was on Ventura, I certainly wished I did not have a benchmark!

 

;)

[Elaine0138]

We enjoyed our cruise on Ventura, but prefer the food choices on RCI, in the optional dining venues the food was excellent.

I didn't feel the ship was big and once you get the hang of the layout it is fine.

 

The sunbeds are crammed together which is a bit of a problem for getting on and off any in the middle of the stretch.

 

We have cruised twice with P&O but we won't be rushing back for a third, we prefer Celebrity or RCI

[lancashire_cruisers]

Hi we travelled on Ventura with our 9 year old daughter in October last year and did have a good time (shock horror!). Your children will have a blast and the youth crew are excellent.

 

Would we sail on her again? Yes, whilst she isn't our favourite ship she's not the worst ship ever as some people have painted her, if it was the right itinery at the right time we would sail on Ventura again.

 

By the way we are experienced cruisers so do have something to benchmark against!:D

[daiB]

No No NO do not go you will not like it.:eek::mad:

 

To help you out you can send me your tickets and I will suffer for you.:D

 

 

 

 

:)Happy Cruising:)

 

 

 

 

:cool:

 

Dai

 

 

ps My report will be on line next week.

[lostinvegas]

We are traveling on Ventura in a couple of weeks.

 

Were relatively young at 29 and 30 and are going with 2 friends who are 20 and 23.

 

We did our first cruise when we were 23 with P&O and had a great time. It was quite traditional but we enjoyed the dressing up and meeting new people of all ages.

 

More recently we traveled on Carnival Splendors inaugural cruise. It was a little different to P&O aimed more at families and younger people. It certainly had a more modern feel about it. We had a fantastic time but if you read the reviews of others on the same cruise they were quite critical.

 

We booked Ventura because we hope it will be somewhere between our Carnival and earlier P&O experience.

 

I guess what I am trying to say is its horses for courses everyone is going to have a different opinion of whats good for them.

 

We would certainly be dreading butlins at sea.... but I am sure that has been exaggerated to sell papers.

 

Chris

[tom_uk]

I'll join the "we had a good cruise on Ventura" chorus, though you should note that we are a middle-aged couple without children. I blogged from it, here:

 

http://tomtotley.wordpress.com/previous-cruises/cruises-in-2008/ventura-cruise/

[Gerrym]

No No NO do not go you will not like it.

 

 

 

Blimey, if he don't like it!

 

:)

[miss mental]

Jovijo,

 

Hello! Have been on RCI ships twice & ventura once with teens. Without doubt there is more for kids on RCI. And the kids soda packages worth every penny. Friends with younger kids thought P&O ripped them off for things like a 'girl's night in' £25 for a couple of ringlets with ghd's, terrible coat of nail varnish and a drink.

 

Personally, I wouldn't sail with P&O again. I much prefer the younger more fun atmosphere on RCI.

 

Wish I could be more positive!

 

Miss Mental

[Suebiker]

Hi

 

As one of the pp said it's definately " horses for courses". I notice a few of the posters here prefer RCI - but we were really disappointed when we sailed with them on "Independence of the Seas" - We thought the food was very poor especially for the children. Our room attendant was dreadful and we got ripped ,dirty sheets one day!!!!

 

We also felt that RCI ripped you off . We had to pay for shuttle buses in virtually every port you went to! If you bought alcohol on board it was taken off you and kept til the end of your cruise - on P and O they are quite happy to let you take in onboard in small amounts.

 

The facilities for older children were fantastic - but for under 3's it was very poor.

 

What I'm trying to say is everyone will have a different opinion depending upon their their needs and expectations. We have booked for April on Ventura and are going with an open mind.

 

Just chill - I think the good thing about poor reviews is that you expectations will be lower. therefore you are less likely to be dissapointed.

 

Have a lovely cruise

 

Sue

[Gerrym]

 

Just chill - I think the good thing about poor reviews is that you expectations will be lower. therefore you are less likely to be dissapointed.

 

Have a lovely cruise

 

Sue

 

 

Sue, you did make me smile.

 

I sooooo like your approach, well done.

 

I bet nothing spoils you holiday and good on you.

 

 

Thanks

 

 

Gerry

[Suebiker]

You're welcome Gerry

 

Sue

[flea b]

Miss Mental

 

Girls night in was £20 on Oceana 2007 with photo shoot - Good Value

 

Girls Night in was £35 0n Ventura 2008 NO photos - To charge an 11 year old kid £35 to sit on her back side for two & half hours (miss the pirate party on deck) to get fingertips painted pink (no nail art!) and curls with GHD's - nothing else to do while waiting your turn is a complete money making rip off. They could not get away with it with adult treatments. You could do it yourself in 20 mins.

 

They admitted they accepted too many kids for the time slot (15) = £525 not bad!

 

I think it's disgusting as your kids make friends and obviously all want to go to this event and you can hardly say no. The Spa Manager refused point blank to give a refund the next day. He said it was just not an option.

[daiB]

Blimey, if he don't like it!

 

:)

 

Well, just like the Tabloids, never give all the facts, half a story.

 

my full quote was

 

"No No NO do not go you will not like it.:eek::mad:

 

To help you out you can send me your tickets and I will suffer for you.:D"

 

 

 

The offer still stands:D

 

 

 

 

Happy Cruising

 

 

:cool:

 

Dai

[SuzyPaulB]

Hi, we were on the Inaugral weekender that never was as well as a 2 weeker to the med last May/June on Ventura. We are also due back on her this May for a week to the Fjords.

I think that Ventura is an amazing ship with amazing facilities and the Youth Crew, as we had found previously on Oceana, are second to none. Your girls will have a ball and will not want to leave their friends in their new Den!!

What I believe has happened on Ventura was that on her first year the learning curve for the crew was too much - we had norovirus on our cruise which completely threw our family of 9 as we had miraculously never come across it before. The staff were great in the Kid's areas and dealt with the children with care and understood our worries about them getting the bug,(we didn't care if we got it, just could not bear the thought of the kids!) Up until this point our cruise was shaping up to be the best that we had ever had - which is why we are VERY excited to be going back on her. (I have to admit that when we came home we looked at alternative holidays and cancelled an Aurora cruise, but after much discussion agreed that Ventura ticks all of our boxes) Also Ventura is growing her soul - not something that can be built into her, and the first year and majority of old style p & o cruisers reviewers showed that - I think you should go in August, with an open mind and also with excitement, my belief is that you will have a wonderful time!!

 

Suzy

[MissBehaving]

ps My report will be on line next week.

 

Hi Dai, did you put a report online?

We are sailing on Ventura on the 3rd April with our 6 year old daughter and would love to have 'another' view on it.

[scottie99]

I cruise Venturer last May and loved it. I have also cruised Aurora and Oceana as well about 9 RCCL (also Carnival, Holland America, NCL).

 

I enjoyed Venturer so much that I have booked the trans-Atlantic cruise this October

[stopgo]

Glad you enjoyed the Ventura Scottie, that's what I like to see another satisfied customer.

[Gerrym]

have you seen the review on Ventura over on cruise.co.uk?

 

 

Very amusing, 75 replies at the moment!

 

 

Not sure if posting a link works, but I'll give it a go anyway.

 

 

http://www.cruise.co.uk/cruise-reviews/read_review_12394/

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers

 

Gerry

[Norfolk Brit]

have you seen the review on Ventura over on cruise.co.uk?

Very amusing, 75 replies at the moment!

Gerry

 

She's also written a letter, published in today's Telegraph Travel Supplement.

 

Mary