P&O cruise ship Ventura up close and personal

P&O Ventura is the ideal choice for British cruisers looking for something friendly and family orientated.

Having just returned from Ventura for the second time this year i thought it time to share this amazing vessel and what you can expect to find whilst onboard.

Ventura truly is a family aimed vessel although if you are travelling without children she will also certainly have something around every corner for you too. Ventura is joint largest within the P&O fleet and whilst onboard this certainly becomes evident with a vast selection of facilities and activities at your finger tips.

Every day is something new and exciting and whilst onboard you can be entertained round the clock or if you prefer you can simply relax and enjoy doing nothing at all.

My cruise onboard Ventura was a 12 night Canary Islands cruise calling at Vigo, Lisbon, Cadiz, Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Madeira.

Check-in at Southampton as always was flawless, P&O really do have a superb system for getting passengers onboard and i've never had to wait longer than one hour from arriving at the dock to getting onboard, this covering check-in and security inbetween.

As always when onboard there is a never ending array of things to not only eat (i am sure many will be pleased to hear that) but to also do. Although there were only a handful of youngsters on this cruise they were still catered for round the clock and were never bored or running riot. The age mix was quite nice and most people onboard passenger wise were very friendly.

The staff onboard Ventura were excellent, i was lucky enough to have a gentleman as my cabin steward whom i would definitely say is the best cabin steward i have ever had the pleasure of meeting, nothing was too much trouble and he even managed to turn our cabin into what could have been mistaken for The Jungle Book with all the amazing towel animals he left of an evening and we ultimately asked him not to remove until the end of the cruise (sorry P&O if there was a sudden towel shortage on N124) it's because they were all in my cabin having cleverly been transformed into monkeys, pigs, elephants and other interesting creatures.

When it comes to what and where to eat you are spoiled for choice. There are delicious pizza and burgers grills located outside on deck 15 next to the Laguna Pool. Here you will also find a nice ice cream section where you must try the clotted cream, delicious!. There are two daytime buffet options of the Beach House and Waterside and at 6.30pm the Beach House becomes a delicious American style diner serving three course delights.

If silver service is what you are looking for then the main dining onboard will not disappoint. For club dining you will be allocated either the Bay Tree restaurant or the Saffron restaurant and for freedom diners the Cinnamon restaurant. All serving the same food as each other but with a delicious menu that changes nightly. There is also Lobster on the menu at least once during your cruise so do not miss out.

The cruise overall was superb, the service was fantastic, the food was delicious, entertainment was good although i tend to enjoy sitting outside watching the sunset but i can say this was my 4th cruise onboard Ventura so i clearly enjoy something about this ship as i keep going back for more.

Ventura is the ideal ship for both new cruisers and long time cruisers, there is something for everyone and even though relatively big she is quite easy to navigate, you will find you way around the 115,000 ton vessel in no time at all.