This P&O Cruise was a 7 night cruise to Spain, Portugal & France for my birthday. We booked CPS and we departed out of Mayflower 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 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 Mayflower Terminal you go to special assistance to check in even if you don’t need assistance and 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 to board but one big change now is that you are not allowed into the terminal before your embarkation time, so if your boarding pass says 14:30 I wouldn’t arrive before 14:00 as you will be waiting outside, sun, rain or snow. It is on P&O Cruises information now that this has changed and there is nothing you can do to bypass this, however this was a really pleasant and smooth embarkation.

We went straight to our muster station, deck 7 forward (C) The Glasshouse and then went straight to our cabin C304 as they are ready from 2pm so we could drop off all our medical bags and as expected our cabin was lovely and ready. We saw our room steward Dennis 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 and understanding. Our cabin is classed as a standard accessible balcony was really nice, she is a little worn and dated which is something that we thought may have been on the dry dock schedule, but wasn’t and the TV is still tiny! However although she is a little bruised and battered she is a lovely ship and I’m back on her in 10 days after this cruise! Your only get a cabin vlog for that as I’ve covered it all in this one! So the standard accessible balcony is smaller than the deluxe and myself personally I would always go for the deluxe but on the Ventura there is only 4 accessible ones so you have to be super quick! The week we spent in C304 was absolutely fine though, the cabin was lovely and clean and Dennis our steward gave us a new animal towel each day which was real fun!

To see a full vlog of this cabin click the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMk5W8cqRpk The balcony on C deck is larger than other decks but that means they are partially overlooked as you can see in the Vlog, this didn’t bother us but we did have to remember not to go out without clothes on! There was new balcony furniture, a lounger, footstool and one small table.

Socket wise, there are 3 Uk sockets at the desk area and one US. There are no sockets next to the bed or usb ports. If you need a Cpap machine then I advise to call or check P&O Cruises website to see if they allow you to take on extension cables, if not the cabin steward will provide you one. The is also a UK socket behind the bed which has the beside light plugged into.

Accessibility is really good throughout the ship, there are ramps around and the lifts are nice and spacious. Unfortunately the automatic doors going out to prom deck were not working so my hubby held the door open to get in and out. I know the spa was having work done and all we could see was they had removed carpet and put down hard flooring. It’s better for a manual wheelchair user but made no difference to me in my electric wheelchair. Below are pictures of the spa now. To be honest I think a lot of the work must have been behind the scenes, except for new carpet and flooring in some places and new chairs. I must admit I couldn’t say oh wow this is new or that is new but again it didn’t bother us or disappoint us as she is a lovely ship.

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 Epicurean 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. There is also a rear terrace pool but it’s not accessible if you cannot do steps as there are steps up to it from R deck and steps down from the deck above. The other pool which is adults only, at the spa called Oasis pool also is not accessible due to steps however there are a lot less. I managed to crawl up and then down into pool but I did dislocate so was ideal but at the time the main pool was being assessed as there was some damage to the side, luckily it was safe to use and they just sectioned a small part off so I didn’t have to do this again.

As the weather was so good for us on this cruise we chose to not get off and enjoy the quiet ship, sun and the pool. We both needed some R&R as I’ve been declining health wise so this was perfect for us! I got spoiled with birthday cake and brought a new watch.

Here is pictures of the atrium on the Ventura, our first port was Vigo Spain where the weather was nice and warm, be aware of in an electric wheelchair or scooter than the gangway in Vigo can be very steep making it impossible to get off or get back on without the use of an extra ramp, luckily we take a porta ramp as shown in my other blogs but if you don’t have one you will have to walk if you can or they literally drag you and your wheelchair which is extremely dangerous not just to you but the staff too. The next port was Lisbon Portugal where that night we are in the Beach House and again amazing food and well worth the extra small cost.

Our meal in the Beach House…..

Lisbon was really hot and we enjoyed the quiet ship again and the pool. In fact we actually cancelled our accessible excursion so we could stay on the ship!

As I said earlier the Ventura is nice and accessible to get around and one of our favourite places is The Glass House. After Lisbon we then stopped at Porto Portugal, we had lunch in the Glass house then a couples massage, the weather was still warm but we did dodge a few showers and kept covered as we both had burnt a little from the day before!

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

The next day was a sea day as we were heading back up the bay of Biscay to Cherbourg France and the weather had turned colder. We had Sindhu for our dinner this night and again was fantastic!

The weather was a lot cooler in Cherbourg and rain was forecast so we didn’t want to risk getting stuck out in the rain, instead we started to pack and just chill on the ship. Overall the Ventura ship on P&O Cruises is a very good accessible ship, good space and lots of different venues. She does look a little tired but she is still a beautiful ship and we look forward getting back on her in 10 days, we will be in a standard cabin this time B304. We both had a wonderful cruise and look forward to getting back on board!

Below are all the animal towels we got from our cabin steward Dennis!

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.