Our favourite ship in the P&O Cruises fleet is not one of the newer, larger, soulless ships but instead Ventura, one of the two Grand-class vessels owned by the cruise line. She’s an older ship, just the right size for us, with some absolutely fabulous balconies that make her perfect at providing that private spot for sunny or sightseeing trips in a way that the new ships just completely fail at.
In September 2024 (well, starting on the last day of August really, but mostly September) we hopped aboard Ventura for the third time to spend ten days visiting Spain and Portugal. As usual when we sail on a Grand-class ship we went for a deck 10 cabin. The balconies on this deck are twice the size of normal balconies – which are already very well-sized – and unlike the mini-suite category of cabins on the deck one down these balconies are half-covered to give you both privacy or shelter when needed and all the space you could want all the time.
There were a couple of surprises inside and outside our room once we’d got aboard at Southampton. In the cabin we had pin badges for advancing a P&O loyalty level, complete with a voucher for a glass of fizz. The additional percentage discount on spending is arguably the best part of the loyalty increase but the drink was appreciated too simply because we didn’t buy a drinks package. For this cruise, given P&O’s limited drinks range and pricing the drinks package just wasn’t cost-effective, although as of 2026 there’s a new drinks package in effect which alters the calculation somewhat. The second surprise was seeing a Border Force patrol vessel and seeing it apparently doing some training to take aboard and release a motorised dinghy.
We were out on our balcony to see Regal Princess set off a little further along the port area in Southampton ahead of us. On it were my wife’s parents and their friends, celebrating my mother-in-law’s birthday, and they were mostly following the same itinerary and on the same ship we’d cruised on just a few months earlier (see: Regal Princess British Isles cruise). We’d arranged for cake and canapés to be delivered to their room and had already received photos from them. They were very happy.
Drinks were consumed this first day. And every day. There was the free fizz, of course, and since we had this in the Glass House we followed that with a glass of wine.
We then discovered two odd and disappointing things.
Firstly, after chatting to a waiter just because we were interested to see what the food menu in the Glass House looked like we were told that they weren’t serving food there for this cruise, nor had they done so for the cruise before, and he didn’t know why, or when or even if it would return. It’s my understanding that this was temporary, and perhaps staffing-related. I hope so because we’ve had good meals in the Glass House before and we’d like to do so again one day.
The second disappointing thing is shown below. That’s what we got when my wife asked for a Bloody Mary. The waiter was very apologetic but said that it’s not a drink on the menu so they can’t make it, but they can sell the vodka and the tomato juice and give you some Worcestershire sauce to make your own. And no, you can’t pay for these things and have the barman make you one. If you’ve seen the TV adverts of relaxed, upscale cruising with P&O then the reality of them handing you a glass with a shot in it and a couple of bottles and telling you to make your own drink is quite the shock.
As this first evening started to darken and Ventura made her way along the English Channel we kept our fluid intake up ahead of dinner and noticed the arrival of “motion discomfort” bags on the stairwells. Veteran cruisers know that this means we’re expecting rocky seas and as the following day we’d be traversing the Bay of Biscay we were quite excited by this prospect as we’re fans of proper motion on the ocean.
We decided to try the Beach House for the first night’s meal. There’s a small upcharge and it takes place in an area of the buffet set aside in the evening. You can see the menu and food below. It’s not really our sort of food but we do persevere and try it when we can just to see if our tastes have altered or the menu has. My notes of the meal are that my starter was actually very nice but nothing else was. We would generally find the food overall on this particular cruise to be poor in terms of quality and variety. When you’re on a cruise with a line and/or ship you’ve cruised with before then you can wonder whether this is a sign of things to come or cost-cutting, but it also might just be one of those nights for the kitchen staff.
The next day was spent crossing the Bay of Biscay and, no, the rough seas failed to materialise. I’m sure most people were happy about this but we’re not most people. A more overcast start to the day soon gave way to warm sunshine as we headed south.
We decided to pay for the elevated Afternoon Tea and while the setting was nice and the presentation was lovely, the food itself was just okay. I know it sounds like I’m just moaning here but we’ve cruised enough to know when everything is just not as good as it could be or has been. Hey, we were on a cruise and we were still having a lovely time.
This first full sea day gave way to the first formal night on Ventura. We’d packed our posh clobber because we don’t mind doing one formal night on a cruise (just one) but we ended up not really being in the mood for it all when the time came around, hit the (very busy) buffet for dinner, weren’t massively impressed by that food either (surprise!), took a bottle of wine back to our room instead to watch a movie, then headed out onto the balcony for some stargazing. On the way out from the buffet and across the top deck of the ship I snapped a quite attractive view of the swimming pool lit up beautifully.
In the next post in this Iberian cruise series we’ll reach the first port of call in northern Spain, Santander, and we’ll head off on an excursion that starts with a visit to the town of Comillas.