A fantastic first time cruise
This was my first ever cruise and I have to say that overall, it was a fantastic experience aboard Ventura, a medium-sized ship in the P&O fleet. As someone who has worked in hospitality, I know it is not easy catering to the needs of 3000 odd passengers. But everything was so well organised and there was very little to fault during out 7 day experience to Spain, Portugal and Guernsey. The captain was very entertaining with his announcements that were both informative and humorous. The staff overall were great, just a few overstressed staff in the restaurants but we also had some superstar servers including Cline and Rafael at Saffron restaurant that went above and beyond and they happily accommodated our customised dinner orders. One lady on reception was perhaps not up to par and seemed very determined to persuade us to dine elsewhere as they were too busy. The standard of food was very good considering the number of guests. Some dishes were so so but we also had many fantastic meals, specifically the steaks which were cooked well and of high quality. The ship was crowded but not excessively - we were always able to find somewhere to sit even if the more popular areas were busy. For example, the aft was always very chilled and spaces were always easy to find. The pools are small, to the extent that I would not call them "swimming" pools, but that doesn't mean that they weren't fun and enjoyable. Our only main complaint was at check in where the staff were poorly trained and lacked basic knowledge. My wife is a Chinese passport holder and the lady insisted she needed an ETA for entry to the UK. Even when I tried to explain that ETA was for citizens visa waiver countries such as Canada and that if you had a UK visa you do not also need an ETA, she said I was wrong! Luckily after she consulted with a supervisor, she realised it was a mistake, although she did not apologise or acknowledge that she was wrong. This could potentially have been quite an issue if she had insisted and refused boarding for my wife. I hope therefore that more training for ground staff will be given in future. This was in stark contrast to the staff on board who were far more professional. I can highly recommend P&O cruises and would gladly sail with them again.
