5 Nights Belgium And Netherlands Cruise

Exceeded my expectations

I just returned from a five night cruise on Ventura to Hamburg for New Year. I have cruised before with Celebrity and Holland America. I have read the other negative reviews so was not expecting much form the ship or company. This cruise was sold out and the ship was at full capacity – and maybe a bit more! As a couple, we booked a balcony room on the saver deal, and added the classic drinks package. I like midships but as we were late booking , that selection was sold out so went for Mid – Forward. The room allocated was on the 12th floor and almost mid ships. The seas were rough on one day but the ship was stable and despite my tendency to sea sickness I was OK. Our arrival time was put back from 14.00 to 16.00 as the ship was having a deep clean. The que to check in was very long and looked rather off putting, but it was managed very well and it moved very swiftly. We were on board by 17.30, and our bags delivered shortly after that. BALCONY CABIN; The cabin was small but OK, plenty of storage space, clean, bed comfortable. I really liked having the kettle in the cabin. There are cut backs, as this was a basic balcony, no dressing gowns, no turn down service, in the bathroom ; no hard soap, conditioner or body lotion ( I had brought them with me) and no facecloths. FOOD: We had choosen 20.30 dining and were allocated the Bay Tree restaurant, at each evening meal the food was very good, with plenty of choice, always very hot and the New Years Eve Gala Dinner was fabulous. We did have lunch in the Saffron restaurant and it was a long que to get in, but the que moved quickly, the food was again really nice. For breakfast, we did go to the buffet for breakfast – again good, hot food and on the last sea day indulged in Hamburgers and fresh Pizza. So we were very happy with all the food on offer, did not use a speciality restaurant and I do wonder what the people who complain about the food eat at home? BARS & DRINK; I had the classic drinks package as I like to have cocktails on a cruise, for my taste the cocktails were to sweet with a limited selection, I tried a Gin & Tonic and again very sweet. I ended up just having Prosecco and Wine. The water was in refillable aluminium bottles but on this ship there is nowhere to refill the bottles, so we did have to bye a lot of water to make the tea in the cabin. P&O have created a very slow way of ordering the drinks, at times the tablets the staff are using lack connectivity, and having just one bar man working behind the bar on a full ship means they are overworked. If I go with P&O again I will not get the drinks package as it was not value for money for me. GYM; a good gym with very good equipment. ENTERTAINMENT; the shows were top quality, New Years Eve was fantastic in Hamburg harbour. I didn’t use any of the activities in the day. OVERALL; I was not expecting much as I had seen negative reviews, I have never been to Butlins so do not konw if this is like that!!! I thoroughly enjoyed this short, winter break with a warm ship, good food and OK wine. Even though the ship was full all the passengers were very patient and polite. This was the best New Year we have had in years and certainly beat sitting at home watching Jools Holland! I will defiantly book with P&O again if I like the cruise itinerary.

Best holiday we’ve had as a family

We’ve just had the most brilliant holiday! Exhausting, but so much fun. I read a few reviews beforehand that were so negative, but I don’t know what they were talking about. We had amazing food in the Cinnamon restaurant every night with the most wondered staff (Jennylyn, Arvind, Prisco and Aneil, thank you). Our cabin was large and spacious, looked after by the lovely Cris. The chocolates, champagne and orchids were a lovely touch. There was always something to do. We loved the quizzes and the dancing (shout out to Matthew!) and the dance teachers who were fab. Also massive kudos to the headliners act, who had to memorise at least 4 separate routines. We played Ping Pong, stuffed our face with pizza and burgers, watched lots of shows, did lots of quizzes and hung out on the balcony staring at the stars I got an extra stop off at La Coruna instead of Guensey because of the weather which was an added bonus! I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to visit different venues places, but be fed, pampered and entertained along the way!

A really enjoyable cruise on a comfortable ship.

Excellent value and all 8 of us enjoyed this 10 day trip. The ship is in good nick, lovely staff and we were all surprised at the quality of the food. Our last cruise on Aurora (Aug 2023) had been poor in terms of the quality of meat/general presentation/choice. On the Ventura, the catering team did really well and it was a big improvement compared to what we had had on Aurora. A good range of ports, and the Captain made a change, dropping St Peter Port in Guernsey due to a force 8 gale. Instead, we went to La Coruna which was great. Well done for P&O for not subjecting us to a wasted journey through rough seas to Guernsey. The entertainment was on the whole good, particularly the group 'Badness', who were a great band, and also the 'Vinylettes'. Our cabins were all kept clean and tidy and our air con was quiet and not like a fridge.