P&O Cruises, Ventura, Mediterranean Review

Ventura, Mediterranean

Sailed from Southampton and the Covid test system worked quite well, my negative test came to me within fifteen minutes. There was no problems after that, embarking and the new muster system worked really well, no problems. The cabin was clean and well maintained, Jason our steward, introduced himself within 30 minutes and explained the changes in place due to Covid procedures. He was a pleasant man who the next day, and on other occasions, offered us information when requested and otherwise did not bother us; he was very quick and efficient in his work and was always friendly; unlike two other stewards on that deck.
The food was enjoyable, but was sometimes a little limited in comparison with other ships we have been on, especially the late night buffet. The restaurant that quickly became our favourite had staff who were very friendly and helpful and the food there was excellent with one exception; I ordered a steak that was well done, but a third of the way into eating it I could not help but notice the growing pool of blood oozing out of the steak. Service was carried out quickly and efficiently by people who were friendly.
The Ventura was clean and well maintained, the deck did bet wet at least twice and I almost fell on both occasions, but this might have been because I was attempting to avoid excitable children who were not under the control of parents that might have been there. Masks were worn by many of the passengers, sometimes and by the end of the week long cruise were mostly absent.
On the whole the cruise was relaxing and satisfying, the only real bugbear we have was the noticeable attempts at up-selling. The entertainment on the whole was good quality with one exception, Rock Goddess, they should stick to working in pubs. We met a number of passengers who said they left after the first few songs and one woman told us that she was in the front row and after the first song told her husband to get out his phone and pretend that there was an emergency.