Regular readers of this site’s content – anecdotal evidence suggests there might be as many as two now – will know that immediately following a cruise or other trip of any substance I will write a review that isn’t necessarily brief but will serve as a “first thoughts” exercise against which to compare the more-detailed reviews that will likely take a year or more to appear. So, with that, here’s our experience of spending not-quite-a-fortnight aboard the P&O Cruises ship Ventura on a round-trip from Southampton down to Madeira and the Canary Islands.
We boarded on Halloween and we disembarked on Friday 13th which might suggest a horrifying experience for those of a superstitious nature. We don’t care about superstitions here, though. This was overall a very good cruise aboard a fairly old ship now that looked great aboard, had fabulous staff and service, reasonable food, and decent entertainment. The itinerary and what happened to it as a result of decisions made by P&O Cruises was the main issue we found on this cruise. I’ll get to that.
We booked P&O’s Select Fare which is the higher fare that allows you to select your room – important to us, especially on Grand-class vessels like Ventura – and can also include additional on-board credit and free parking through CPS. The parking is very handy because parking prices in Southampton for cruises have ramped up enormously over the last few years. The terminal in use for Ventura for this cruise was Mayflower and all the directions for it recommend that you aim for Dock Gate 10 in Southampton, and if you’re coming into the city via the M271 then this will mean on a Saturday afternoon with a lot of ships in that you will spend a lot of time in traffic creeping along the A33. So don’t do that. Take the exit for Dock Gate 20 instead, like we did. We were quickly at the terminal, dropping off our car with CPS, waiting for them to photograph all the nicks and dents and scratches our car’s picked up over the years, then dropping off the cases and heading into the building.
We turned up fractionally before our embarkation time because P&O can be quite strict about this when it’s busy, and we were straight in, checked-in, and on the ship in under ten minutes, with the largest delay being waiting for those ahead of us in the security line who’d apparently never been in one before. There were actually quite a lot of first-time cruisers on this cruise along with a lot of families, and we’d not expected the latter. Given the 13-night duration of the cruise we’d anticipated that children wouldn’t be on the ship in any numbers what with all that important schooling they can’t be allowed to miss for some reason. Personally, we think life experiences are at least as important as early years rote-learning education, but we also don’t like children and are considerably happier when they’re not around. There’s less running around in corridors by elderly couples.
We’d picked a balcony cabin on deck 10, forward because on a Grand-class ship we always pick a balcony cabin on deck 10, forward. Double the balcony size, partial shelter, no additional cost to a standard balcony. As we were travelling with my wife’s parents and they’d booked the same package as us, they had also managed to pick the adjoining cabin and we were able to open up the balcony divider to allow us all to share the combined space.
Ventura was in good condition aboard, but this wasn’t a surprise to us as we’d spent a weekend on her just a couple of months earlier. Lounges and cabins had had a refresh earlier in the year. She’s a cosy-feeling ship. There were rust marks in some external spaces – our balcony having more than a few – but if you expect to spend any time on something metal that lives its life at sea exposed to all kinds of weather, and not see rust, then you, my friend, are an idiot.
The staff and service on Ventura was some of the best we’ve had on any ship, P&O or otherwise. Genuinely friendly people, fast service, chats when time allowed, and for the first time on a P&O ship that we can remember we had staff in several bars who remembered our names, cabin numbers, and what drinks we were favouring, not needing to see our cruise cards for it. When my wife and I would sometimes drink alone we’d be asked if her parents were coming along by name, as well. In the late-night disco in Havana I had a fresh drink delivered at one point without even asking for one as the staff member saw my wife still had most of hers left while I was close to finishing, and he’d reasoned I’d be wanting another one anyway. And I did.
Amusing – to us – aside here, is that the staff obviously pick and choose who they remember. You need to frequent a place, you need to be friendly, you need to be polite. We’re all those things. As the cruise progressed we’d hit our routine of the Glass House for wine in the afternoons, moving to cocktails or more wine later in the Red Bar or Metropolis, then, for me and my wife, at least, Havana late night for the disco. You’d see familiar faces in similar routines. You’d see that, for instance, when the staff would come around to see who wants drinks they’d not need to see our card, they’d not need to see that couple’s cards, or that couple’s cards, or that couple’s cards, either. Oh, but that couple. The couple that put their bare feet up on chairs and wave their cards about and never just wait patiently with a smile and an “Oh, that’s fine!” if the member of staff apologises for any perceived delay. Yeah, that couple need to have their cards scanned every time.
The virtual queue for the main dining room worked flawlessly although the food varied quite a bit in terms of quality and variety. Only one starter I had was something I’d describe as “worse than dogfood” (no, I don’t actually have first-hand experience of dogfood) with most dishes being perfectly okay to very good. What I did notice, though, was that any Indian-inspired dishes containing curry or spiced flavours were exceptionally good. Tasty, but not painful. It suggested that the speciality Asian restaurant might have been very good too but both my wife and her mum have strong aversions to any kind of heat so we didn’t try it. We did visit the Glass House for food on three occasions because the food there was fabulous and we had a lot of on board credit to find things to spend on. And the Beach House was a hit too on one of the three formal nights we decided we couldn’t be bothered getting dressed up for.
We picked this cruise on Ventura for a combination of reasons: the time of year coincided with our anniversary; a big wedding anniversary of my in-laws too; excellent value with additional on board credit when booked as far in advance as we did; two new islands in the Canaries to visit.
The itinerary is something to consider when you’re booking a Canary Islands cruise that sails from Southampton. I’m going to describe this sort of cruise as a relaxation sandwich with a thick slab of activity filling. Three sea days began the cruise and three of the last four would also be sea days. Unless something happened to change that. Let’s see if something did.
Three sea days at the start gives those who’ve travelled far to board the ship time to instantly unwind, and it gives those who’ve never cruised before time to find their way around the ship, get used to ship life, find the activities and routine that works for them. Sea days at the end gives those who’ve been very active while ashore time to rest and recuperate before they have to get off. It’s not a bad way to cruise although for us, as rather seasoned cruisers now, we prefer something that’s a little more alternating in terms of sea days and port days.
Funchal, Madeira was the first port of call. We’d all been here before, but when my wife’s parents had come on a previous cruise they’d been with another couple who didn’t like heights so the one thing my mother-in-law wanted to do was ride the cable car. We did this and, because this visit coincided with lovely, bright, sunny, hot weather instead of the rain that had accompanied our own first time on the island we then took a look around the Monte Palace Tropical Garden. This was fabulous and way, way bigger than we’d thought it would be. And way, way hillier than we’d thought it would be. There was a lot of walking down among all the terraces and through the gardens, but that meant there was a lot of walking up to get back out. My wife struggles in these situations and this was no exception, but she fared better than a German woman we saw on an organised tour from another ship in port on the day. Her legs had completely gone, she was being supported by other people, and the tour guide was on the phone, clearly calling for help. So, yes, one to be aware of: beautiful spot but you will need to be reasonably able-bodied to visit it.
On our first visit to Funchal it had rained torrentially at the start of the day, then brightened up. The opposite was true on this visit with us deciding to stop for a drink at BeerHouse situated opposite the cruise ship dock before the rain came in. And holy crap did it rain! We were utterly drenched to the bone when we got aboard the ship, squeezing t-shirts to wring them out so as not to drip too much as we made our ways back to our rooms. Note to self: when it rains in Madeira, it really rains in Madeira.
Tenerife was the first of the Canary Islands for this cruise and the second port we stopped at. This was our third time here. The first time we’d come we’d booked a visit to a Solar Observatory but it had been cancelled last-minute due to a nearby volcanic eruption. The second time we’d visited had been with Princess who didn’t offer the Solar Observatory tour so we explored on our own. For this trip the Solar Observatory was back on the cards and we all booked it, looking forward to experiencing a day up the mountains with lunch then a trip up Mount Teide afterwards. Yeah, the trip was cancelled again, only this time the first we found out about it was when there were no tour tickets in our room and a sudden refund to the credit card. Explanation? No, an explanation from P&O Cruises about the cancelled tour was apparently too much trouble. And, because there’d been no mention of cancellation prior to the cruise we lost the ability to book an alternative excursion at a pre-cruise discount with the only option now being to pay a higher price for a tour and using up credit instead. Great for the cruise line, crappy for the passenger. This wouldn’t be the last time we’d be annoyed with P&O Cruises as a company on this cruise.
We ended up exploring Santa Cruz de Tenerife on foot, as we’d done on our last visit here, acting as guides for my in-laws who’d not seen the city before. Initially, we were going to head south from the port as we’d done before, with perhaps a visit to the Palmetum since my mother-in-law is a former florist and we suspected she’d like the plants and flowers there. But I’m always keen to find new things to see if possible and that’s when I spotted a few places north and west of the port. We ended up walking in the opposite direction to most cruise ship passengers and made for the Historical Military Museum of the Canary Islands, a free museum filled with military equipment in the open air and within thick-walled fortifications. My father-in-law loved this. After that we headed for Parque García Sanabria, a huge public garden with the sorts of botanical sights that my mother-in-law then thoroughly enjoyed. I’m a considerate guide. Free activities (although we donated to the museum), and well worth a visit if you’ve not been to them before and are after something different in the city.
Next stop was the first of two new islands for us in the form of La Palma. We’d not seen any tours that excited us enough to book them so hit the port of Santa Cruz de La Palma on foot with a walk along the black sand shoreline as far as a small naval museum set within a replica of a ship, then a wander around the Museo Insular de La Palma, a museum and series of art galleries within a former convent. This was an absolute gem of a place, far larger than you’d imagine, and with enough variety of art on show to appeal to most people. A bit of shopping and drinking concluded the day here and it’s certainly a pretty little port with its attractive streets to wander around if nothing else.
The other island we’d not been to before was next and that was Gran Canaria. The ship docks on the north side of the island and we took a tour – our only excursion on this Ventura cruise – that brought us to the south. It was described as a visit to the Dunes of Maspalomas, time in the the town of Puerto Rico (which we wanted to visit just because we could then say we’ve been to two Puerto Ricos on cruises), then a boat ride (we like boat rides) to Puerto de Mogán, known for its attractiveness and canals, where we’d have free time to explore.
The first thing to go wrong was that the tour coincided with a well-known and well-scheduled-in-advance parade that meant we ended up having to see the dunes from a completely different spot. It was nice enough for five minutes, but excessive for the thirty-five minutes we were given. Then to Puerto Rico where we only had twenty minutes to look around what could have been a very nice place indeed but wasn’t worth doing anything with this short duration. The boat to take us on the trip broke down on its approach to the dock so there was a hefty delay while a new boat was readied and all the people on the first boat were given priority to board before us. By the time we’d arrived at Puerto de Mogán where we’d have loved a couple of hours to explore, we were down to not much over an hour so a quick wander for photos, a little bit of shopping, then a visit to a bar had to suffice. This short duration was also due to them wanting to get us back to the ship two and a half hours before all-aboard, and I can only guess that the reason for that was to fall just under the level where they’d be almost obligated to provide some kind of lunch or snack. Overall, the tour barely reached the level of okay due to a combination of known factors that should’ve been accounted for and just bad luck.
The last of the Canary Islands we visited on this cruise aboard Ventura was Lanzarote, somewhere we’d had a tour on before and so this time we wanted to see what the port of Arrecife had to offer. We’d been warned online that it offered not much at all but we ended up having a lovely time here, even though it was a Sunday and most of the city was closed. We walked from the ship and around the San Ginés Lagoon, then out to the Bolas Bridge and San Gabriel Castle, exploring inside and on top of it. I’d had one place I wanted to visit so dragged my wife and her parents along to the International Museum of Contemporary Art in San José Castle next. The museum housed some modern art by, amongst others, César Manrique, who’s a big name in modern art in this part of the world. Small would be an understatement, so don’t expect a lot here, but I liked it. What we’d not realised, however, was that there was a restaurant within the castle and wow, the food we decided to have there was utterly superb. And great views too.
Here we reached the problematic part of this itinerary and the reason why we now consider P&O Cruises to be a cruise line you need to exercise some caution with when considering booking a cruise with them. The cruise at this point was supposed to be two sea days, a day in A Coruña, one more sea day, then home. We all know that unexpected things can affect itineraries and, if we’d not been able to get into the Spanish port on Ventura due to the weather or a mechanical issue or a medical emergency or any number of other impossible-to-predict events then everyone aboard would have been disappointed, of course, but also understanding.
However, the reason we missed the port and got four sea days to conclude the cruise was not unforeseeable. It was perfectly foreseeable. It was predicted and even scheduled.
A national strike was due to take place across Spain on the day in question, and it had been known about for close to two months before the cruise. That’s too late to cancel your cruise and get your money back if that’s an important port for your cruise, of course, but it’s early enough for an established cruise line with decades of cruising experience in this part of the world to either announce the cancelled port ahead of the cruise in order to set expectations, arrange an alternative (Porto looked a viable option for the day itself or a northern French port might have been available on the final day), or prepare some kind of contingency plan or compensatory package. What we got from P&O was silence before the cruise, a couple of “we’re monitoring the situation and still plan to dock in the city where nothing will be open” messages from the captain, then the absolutely expected “ah, sorry about that, looks like we can’t after all” announcement.
“Well, at least you can claim on your travel insurance,” you might think. You can, probably, if your travel insurance with additional cruise travel cover doesn’t have an exception about missed ports for strikes, so you might want to check the small-print of your own travel insurance if you’re not absolutely sure. So no, we can’t claim for this port, even though P&O gave everyone a letter to explain why the ship missed the port “for your travel insurance claims.”
No communication, no alternative options, no planning, no compensation, and a letter that’s probably only of use to a tiny fraction of people aboard. To say that this was a hugely disappointing level of service from P&O Cruises as a cruise line is an understatement. Had we received one of those post-cruise emails asking us how much we’d recommend P&O Cruises to a friend or family after disembarking – like we normally do – then the score would have been scathing for once, but whether they wanted to head the avalanche of negative results off by not sending that email, or whether they were caught up in the whole world being affected by the latest load of technology breaking because the greedy, short-sighted idiots at the top of numerous corporations around the world are rushing “AI” crap out just to put people out of work and increase dividends for the already-rich, who knows?
Anyway…
None of that negativity reflects on the ship, the staff, the service, the food and drink, the late-night dancing, the numerous trivia wins, and the ports we visited. We had a lovely time on the cruise. A cruise to the Canaries is lovely. Ventura is lovely. Ventura’s crew is lovely. P&O Cruises have gone way down in our estimation.