Last cruise before dry dock, our next cruise end of April is also a P&O Cruise on Ventura but in a standard accessible balcony. Not sure what is being done to the ship in dry dock but will blog of any differences I see on the April P&O Cruise.

This P&O Cruise was a 4 night cruise to Amsterdam for my husband’s birthday. We booked CPS and we departed out of Ocean Terminal, which is our first time out of here since Covid, so wasn’t sure what to expect, however we haven’t had an issue with CPS so far. When we arrived we were placed to one side in a row with the other cars which was about 11:10 and waited about 5 minutes before we could start to offload the car. Once we were out of the car we went to our pod to drop suitcase off and then was directed into the terminal where again we only waited a few minutes before we were told we could check in. At Ocean Terminal you go up one level in the lift and then check in to your left after exiting. Once our passports, and boarding pass had all be checked we got stamped with clear to board and then moved on to wait to be called through to security. To be honest we didn’t have to wait too long about half hour ish and when Security opened we got called through and was on the ship for about 12:05, a really pleasant and smooth embarkation.

We went straight to our cabin D308 as usual so we could drop off all our medical bags and as expected our cabin wasn’t quite ready. We saw our room steward Godfrey who was excellent and we explained I have medical equipment and medication which I have to take at set times and he was really good as we left him to go and sort a few bits out with guest services, the spa and grab a drink and we went back to the cabin at 13:00 and he was just finishing ours. Our cabin which I believe is classed as a superior deluxe accessible balcony was really nice, she is a little worn and dated which is something that might be on the agenda for dry dock as she is there a while however it didn’t ruin our cruise at all, the only issue we had was that the air conditioner in the bedroom area didn’t seem to cool it down and my husband could feel warm pipes under his feet next to the bed which could have been part of why it was so warm, the lounge area however was lovely and super cool! There isn’t many accessible superior deluxe balconies on Ventura so you have to be quick and they are expensive compared to a standard balcony. You obviously get a lot more room, a bottle of champagne and a box of chocolates on arrival, where in a standard you don’t have seating area and extra tv and no champagne or chocolates (the tv is tiny, we hope they are upgrading the tv’s as that really does need to be done).

Above is pictures of the actual bedroom area where you also have two double wardrobes, and two single ones with lots of shelves and a safe which the vlog of the cabin is here https://youtu.be/ALtUWBAXjbI On YouTube.

In the sitting area you have one USA socket to the far left, then 3 Uk sockets to the far right and that’s all. In the bedroom there is no sockets except one behind the bed which is also Uk so if you need an extension you can ask your cabin steward or take your own as long as it’s not a safety one. The fridge is in the bedroom section of the round area under the tv and the tea, coffee and kettle are on the opposite side in the sitting area under that tv all which can be seen in detail on my vlog in the link above. We loved the space it is a little noisy as the staff door is opposite you but it didn’t bother us and it’s a shame we are not in the same cabin in April so we can compare the difference if any from dry dock but we just couldn’t afford it and if I remember right they had already sold out.

Accessibility is really good throughout the ship, there are ramps around and the lifts are nice and spacious. I know the spa is having a lot of work done, below is what the beginning part looks like now.

Here are some pictures of around the ship to see what she looks like, below

Included Restaurants

Waterside (Deck 15) Midship & Aft

Bay Tree Restaurant (Deck 6) Aft, Dinner 1st sitting (Doors close at 6.45pm), Dinner 2nd sitting (Doors close at 8.45pm)

Saffron Restaurant (Deck 6) Midship

Cinnamon Restaurant (Deck 5) Midship

Poolside (Deck 15) Midship, Poolside Grill, Poolside Pizzeria, Sundaes Ice Cream

Room Service (Dial 8000 to order)

Speciality Restaurants

The Epicurean*

Sindhu at East* (Dishes are priced individually)

The Beach House*

To make any reservations visit My Holiday anytime or dial 17711 from any of the ship’s telephone between 6.00pm-9.30pm

The Glass House* Food Menu available from, Noon – 9.00pm

To make any reservations visit My Holiday App Anytime

*Charges apply to Speciality Restaurants.

Bars on board

Tazzine

Beachcomber

Laguna Bar, * weather permitting

Breakers Bar, * weather permitting

Terrace Bar, * weather permitting

The Glass House

Metropolis

The Exchange

The Red Bar

Tamarind

Havana

*(Under 18s must be accompanied by a parent or guardian after 11.00pm in Havana).

We were in the beach house the first night and what a great meal that was and certainly worth the extra money!

The main outside pool on deck 15 has a fixed hoist at the pool which you can use which is awesome but only if the weather is good, unfortunately they do not have a portable hoist which can be used in the inside pool so if like it was on our P&O Cruise, very cold you couldn’t use the pool.

There is a wake pool on deck 14 But no hoist on this one either. It seems only accessible by stairs also.

In the spa there is also a nice pool however you can only access that via about 5 steps so this is not accessible if you cannot do stairs and that is adult only, fingers crossed this changes in dry dock so we wait and see…..

The theatre called Arena is on deck 6 and 7, it’s very large and on deck 7 as you can see there is plenty of space of wheelchairs and a companion, no complaints here.

We love the glass house and on Ventura it is huge, we enjoyed drinks and food here and wheelchair accessibility really is good as I’ve said all over this ship

We spent two days in Amsterdam, this time we went around the red light district from the ship, getting around Amsterdam in an electric wheelchair isn’t too bad, there are uneven paths and high cambers but we managed it but you do need good suspension as it takes it toll on your body. We had a great time out and about on our own using maps on iPhone as a sat nav.

The next day we relaxed and Carl got some birthday treats to the cabin from myself and spent his on board credit on a new watch, he really did enjoy and felt very spoilt on this cruise which was lovely to see as he deserves it so much after all he does with work and taking care of me.

On our last night we had a fantastic meal in Sindu for Carl’s birthday. The food is out of this world and didn’t disappoint, many don’t like to spend more when on a cruise but it’s great value for money and worth every penny!

What’s on board

Shore Experiences (Deck 5) Atrium, 9.00am-6.00pm

Oasis Spa (Deck 16) Forward, Tel: 16229, 8.00am-9.00pm

Oasis Spa Gym (Deck 16) Forward, Tel: 16229, 7.00am-9.00pm

Whitewall Galleries (Deck 5) Atrium, 10.00am-5.00pm

Fortunes Casino (Deck 6) Forward, Slots: 9.00am-Noon

The Library & Internet Café (Deck 5) Atrium, 8.00am-Noon & 4.00pm-8.00pm

Loyalty & Cruise Sales Desk (Deck 5) Atrium, 8.00am-4.30pm

InMotion (Deck 7) Aft, 9.00am-Noon

Sports Hub (Deck 16) Midship, Visit the Sports Hub during opening hours and book out our sporting equipment, from deck quoits to shuffleboard and so much more. Open 24 Hours

Peninsular Games Room (Deck 6) Forward

Shopping

Atrium Shopping (Deck 5, 6 & 7) Atrium, Enjoy amazing discounts across our on board shops on products including skincare, ship souvenirs, diffusers, accessories and fashion brands.

Deck 5 – Perfume and Cosmetics

Deck 6 – Fashion, Accessories, Essentials

Deck 6 – Liquor & Tobacco

Deck 7 – Concept Store

Deck 7 – Jewellery & Watches

Overall the Ventura ship on P&O Cruises is a very good accessible ship, good space and lots of different venues, as I said at the start of this blog she is going into dry dock for about 3 weeks after this cruise and is having a fair bit of work done so I really look forward to see what improvements have been made especially to accessibility if any. She does look a little tired but she is still a beautiful ship and once she has had her makeover done I’m sure she will be fantastic and we look forward getting back on her at the end of April 2023, we will be in a standard cabin this time C304. We both had a wonderful cruise and look forward to getting back on board!

If you needed to hire any type of mobility equipment for your cruise to make it easier and more comfortable you can contact a company called Mobility at Sea on 0800 328 1699 between Monday and Friday 10am to 3pm. Check out their website http://www.mobilityatsea.co.uk . I really recommend them and I’m actually using them myself in October this year and plan to again in October of 2024, their prices are very good and there range and choices again are very good. For prices please contact them as I do not know how much items are.