ventura

[Cahpek]

We have been on Ventura for the last 2 four night new year cruises.The lunchtime buffet is dreadful and often there is no hot meat Dinner time is okay,staff are great and they have a good selection of beers.I speak with 91 cruising days on P&O and this experience is indicative of all P&O ships.

 

love sailing with RCCL

 

Hi grapau27 , it's interesting what you said.

 

This was our second P&O cruise and food-wise, it has just gone worse. Another passenger on board, she has been on 7 P&O cruises and her comment was that food-wise, "It has gone downhill". If she is correct what she said (as well as what you mentioned), how long can P&O get away with serving such (low) standard of cuisine? That may turn off so many customers that they may never return to sail with them again.

 

Did you say RCCL is good? How is their buffet? We have not been on RCCL but may look into their cruises in future. At the moment, we are planning to try Holland America , or Cunard for our next cruise. Have you tried either of them (and if you have, how is their food like?). Our favorites for dining are with Oceania and Azamara.

 

Although eating is not the only thing one does on a cruise, but if you have to depend on the cooking on the ship for two or three weeks, it can get a bit much. We were SO GLAD to get off Ventura and returned home. When we got back, we roasted a chicken, and although normally, we would not think much of a roast chicken, after the poor almost "love-less" cooking on Ventura, even a humble home-cooked chicken tasted so good!

Edited March 9, 2017 by Cahpek

[grapau27]

The main dining room lunch is okay as is the afternoon tea.We first sailed P&O about 14 years ago and the food was much better then. Royal Caribbeans buffets cover a bigger area and although they have deteriated slightly recently they are still far superior to P&O buffet and same applies to the food in all RC venues.

 

love sailing with RCCL

[Tilliepompom]

Im on the Ventura now

Cant fault the service in restaurants bars and expecially housekeeping

2 week cruise left on Tuesday and made an unscheduled stop this morning in La Coruna as someone was taken ill and had to be hospitalised. I have only heard one complaint so far and the man was so rude and obnoxious i would imagine he is one of life's moaners. :D

[Cahpek]

Im on the Ventura now

Cant fault the service in restaurants bars and expecially housekeeping

2 week cruise left on Tuesday and made an unscheduled stop this morning in La Coruna as someone was taken ill and had to be hospitalised. I have only heard one complaint so far and the man was so rude and obnoxious i would imagine he is one of life's moaners. :D

 

It was not the service in the restaurant or housekeeping that was poor. In fact, they were great. It was the poor cooking that was the problem. Quite a number of passengers commented the poor quality of the cooking especially in the buffet, and sometimes in the main dining rooms.

 

Have you noticed that their "Eight Layer Molten Chocolate Cake" is only two layered ? And all their 3 signature desserts seem to have similar mousse/sponge base? And did you like their overcooked chicken breast? Or their porkchop where the sauce tasted like it was made with some "Bisto" gravy? If you had fish and chips, did you not find that there was too much better and not enough fish? Or their custard was too watery and not rich and creamy? (Likewise, their rice pudding was quite watery too). What about their mousse, did you not think that it had too much gelatine and tasted somewhat "rubbery" in texture? The list could go on and on.

 

It appears it is still early days. Give it a week and you may find the complaints to increase - unless of course, they have changed the cooks and have a new team on board and improved their cooking considerably.

 

Looks like this ship has made another unscheduled stop (at La Coruna) from what you said. In its cruise before yours, we were on board and we could not dock in Lisbon because of the rough weather and sea, but made an unscheduled stop in Cherbourg a day before we came back to Southampton. Initially, in the ship newsletter, we were informed that the ship would leave Cherbourg at 5.30pm. Then, on the morning of arrival, it was announced in the public areas (not in cabins), that the departure was shortened to 2pm. Did not know if it was due to that "mix-up" in information, but apparently we understood that 6 passengers were left behind in Cherbourg. Some fellow passengers said they saw them at the quayside at 2pm, but the gangway had already been detracted and they could not get on board.

 

Hope the weather is much better on your cruise and the seas are calmer than the previous cruise.

Edited March 9, 2017 by Cahpek

[grapau27]

It was not the service in the restaurant or housekeeping that was poor. In fact, they were great. It was the poor cooking that was the problem. Quite a number of passengers commented the poor quality of the cooking especially in the buffet, and sometimes in the main dining rooms.

 

Have you noticed that their "Eight Layer Molten Chocolate Cake" is only two layered ? And all their 3 signature desserts seem to have similar mousse/sponge base? And did you like their overcooked chicken breast? Or their porkchop where the sauce tasted like it was made with some "Bisto" gravy? If you had fish and chips, did you not find that there was too much better and not enough fish? Or their custard was too watery and not rich and creamy? (Likewise, their rice pudding was quite watery too). What about their mousse, did you not think that it had too much gelatine and tasted somewhat "rubbery" in texture? The list could go on and on.

 

It appears it is still early days. Give it a week and you may find the complaints to increase - unless of course, they have changed the cooks and have a new team on board and improved their cooking considerably.

 

Looks like this ship has made another unscheduled stop (at La Coruna) from what you said. In its cruise before yours, we were on board and we could not dock in Lisbon because of the rough weather and sea, but made an unscheduled stop in Cherbourg a day before we came back to Southampton. Initially, in the ship newsletter, we were informed that the ship would leave Cherbourg at 5.30pm. Then, on the morning of arrival, it was announced in the public areas (not in cabins), that the departure was shortened to 2pm. Did not know if it was due to that "mix-up" in information, but apparently we understood that 6 passengers were left behind in Cherbourg. Some fellow passengers said they saw them at the quayside at 2pm, but the gangway had already been detracted and they could not get on board.

 

Hope the weather is much better on your cruise and the seas are calmer than the previous cruise.

You are spot on with your comments plus for me as well is the soup.P&O soup was always really thick and tasty but on at least our last 2 cruises it was quite runny like a mass produced tinned soup.

 

love sailing with RCCL

[BMT]

We also got off on Tuesday.

 

The buffet was beyond appalling - truly disgusting.

 

P&O need a kick up the wotsit!!

 

When I boarded I loved the familiarity of the ship - have wonderful memories of Golden and Grand Princess and this was built for Princess apparently, but transferred to P&O.

 

We cruise a lot - but first time on P&O for 54 years. Better than I expected, but really not good enough. Not even a question of money! As we are two elderly ladies, I vocally resented being shown to the worst tables in the restaurants. Perhaps a cultural thing?

 

Many important looking supervisors sauntering - when drink stations required attention. Too many chiefs and not enough Indians.

 

I thought the kitchen was inflexible - but came to the conclusion that it was the servers couldn't be bothered. Result of prepaid tips of course.

 

The entertainment was good as it was quite lively really. Can do two shows each night if you want.

 

I will try to do a review - would be nice to think that Pando would be reading the reviews.

[prfg2012]

There's always a better selection than in my fridge at home, so dammit that's good enough for me.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[grapau27]

We also got off on Tuesday.

 

The buffet was beyond appalling - truly disgusting.

 

P&O need a kick up the wotsit!!

 

When I boarded I loved the familiarity of the ship - have wonderful memories of Golden and Grand Princess and this was built for Princess apparently, but transferred to P&O.

 

We cruise a lot - but first time on P&O for 54 years. Better than I expected, but really not good enough. Not even a question of money! As we are two elderly ladies, I vocally resented being shown to the worst tables in the restaurants. Perhaps a cultural thing?

 

Many important looking supervisors sauntering - when drink stations required attention. Too many chiefs and not enough Indians.

 

I thought the kitchen was inflexible - but came to the conclusion that it was the servers couldn't be bothered. Result of prepaid tips of course.

 

The entertainment was good as it was quite lively really. Can do two shows each night if you want.

 

I will try to do a review - would be nice to think that Pando would be reading the reviews.

Very good points made I thought buffet staff were disinterested too and looked miserable. Yes prepaid tips one reason but they only make up a shortfall in poor crew wages.

 

love sailing with RCCL

[Cahpek]

There's always a better selection than in my fridge at home, so dammit that's good enough for me.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Dear prfg2012, glad you are (easily?) pleased. (Did you enjoy those steamed vegetables which never seem to get any seasoning, no salt or pepper? Or their cheesecake that was hard to detect any taste of cream cheese in it? If it was just a couple of items in their cooking that was not too good, that would have been understandable, no ship cuisine is perfect. However, with so many food dishes which were probably due to poor cooking, that was quite inexcusable. Of course, food is very subjective, but when you have so many people on our last cruise who indicated how poor the food was, and not just us, then, there must be some truth in it.)

 

As for your saying it has better selection than your fridge, it does not mean that having more selection means the food tastes better, does it? As we had mentioned earlier, when we got home after the cruise, we cooked a roast chicken, and we realised how much better even such a humble dish was , than so much of the cooking on the Ventura. At least, our chicken dish had taste!

 

 

We hope P&O senior management would read this and see these comments as being constructive and try to improve on their food catering. After all, they have great cabins and most of their crew are polite and work hard. It is mostly the kitchen team which are letting the rest of the ship down. Remember, as cruisers, we have a choice, and P&O does not have the monopoly of the cruise market.

Edited March 9, 2017 by Cahpek

[grapau27]

They are very good for a predominantly British clientele but the lunchtime buffet is a massive letdown so we dine in the MDR at lunchtime whenever possible.

 

love sailing with RCCL

[Cahpek]

They are very good for a predominantly British clientele but the lunchtime buffet is a massive letdown so we dine in the MDR at lunchtime whenever possible.

 

love sailing with RCCL

 

The thing is, British tastes for food has improved by leap and bounds over the last 30-40 years. The number of fantastic restaurants offering delicious fayres all over Britain has taken the country by storm. Cooking programs on TV have stoked up interests in Britons in creating "taste" in their food.

 

These days, many Britons know what good food should taste like. And it is not like much of the food on the Ventura when we were on the cruise. Many Britons like us, would not be fooled if anyone implies that Britons like bland, poor and tasteless food.

 

(Actually, even 30-40 years ago, British food, if cooked well , tasted great.)

Edited March 9, 2017 by Cahpek

[grapau27]

I agree but did not want to be over critical of Ventura as it is basically good. I appreciate good food and have written over 200 restaurant reviews on trip advisor.

 

love sailing with RCCL

[prfg2012]

Dear prfg2012, glad you are (easily?) pleased. (Did you enjoy those steamed vegetables which never seem to get any seasoning, no salt or pepper? Or their cheesecake that was hard to detect any taste of cream cheese in it? If it was just a couple of items in their cooking that was not too good, that would have been understandable, no ship cuisine is perfect. However, with so many food dishes which were probably due to poor cooking, that was quite inexcusable. Of course, food is very subjective, but when you have so many people on our last cruise who indicated how poor the food was, and not just us, then, there must be some truth in it.)

 

As for your saying it has better selection than your fridge, it does not mean that having more selection means the food tastes better, does it? As we had mentioned earlier, when we got home after the cruise, we cooked a roast chicken, and we realised how much better even such a humble dish was , than so much of the cooking on the Ventura. At least, our chicken dish had taste!

 

 

We hope P&O senior management would read this and see these comments as being constructive and try to improve on their food catering. After all, they have great cabins and most of their crew are polite and work hard. It is mostly the kitchen team which are letting the rest of the ship down. Remember, as cruisers, we have a choice, and P&O does not have the monopoly of the cruise market.

 

I'm just saying that there is usually something worth eating. Not every dish needs to be spectacular. I'm just grateful to have time away from cooking it myself. Yes some dishes are just ok. Yes the same vegetables seem to appear at most meals but in a world where millions of people have barely enough food to survive i don't let it ruin a holiday.

[grapau27]

Well said.You can always find something to eat somewhere on a cruise ship

 

love sailing with RCCL

[Baolua]

Did you actually make your concerns known onboard at the time of the apparently poor food being served? if you did not how do you expect the Head Chef to know about any issues. In any service based situation if you receive poor service in your opinion you have to raise your concern at the time as it gives the provider of the service a chance to rectify the situation. Complaining on an anonymous forum like this afterwards and then expecting anyone senior from the company to both read and act upon is living in a dream world and unfair on the company.

[Cahpek]

Did you actually make your concerns known onboard at the time of the apparently poor food being served? if you did not how do you expect the Head Chef to know about any issues. In any service based situation if you receive poor service in your opinion you have to raise your concern at the time as it gives the provider of the service a chance to rectify the situation. Complaining on an anonymous forum like this afterwards and then expecting anyone senior from the company to both read and act upon is living in a dream world and unfair on the company.

 

 

Yes, I have indeed. In fact, the following morning after the cruise left Southampton, I saw the F&B manager, Mark (?) Denton, and spoke to him about some of the cooking which was poorly done - I had then not yet discovered then of yet more poorly done dishes. (I even suggested that he try some of those foods himself, but he kind of joked that because of his being overweight , he might not be able to do so). In spite of putting those issues to the F&B manager, even after several days, those problems with those poorly cooked items which I complained about were NOT fixed eventhough they could easily be "tweeked" to improve. For example, the custard was still weak and not creamy (made from water and/or skimmed milk ?). I also complained how extraordinary hard the meringue shells were which were served in the buffet on the day of departure from Southampton - it was so hard that when I knocked it against the table, it did not break, so I tried to "jab" it with a knife, it still did not go in! It was almost like concrete and it could break your teeth if you try to bite it, no kidding.You know , a few days after mentioning that to the F&B manager, the meringue shells served again were still just as hard. Then I complained to the chef, and eventually, I complained to the Maitre D. , a lady whom I had met previously when we travelled on the Aurora and she was working on that ship. She fixed the issue with the meringue but other issues with poor cooking remained. I asked her why the food was so poor, especially the desserts? I even mentioned to her that previously, the desserts on the Aurora when she was there, they were much better. I was not clear what she said but I think she mumbled something about it all came from head-office and some of the stuff were precooked in factories, or something. Anyhow, the cooking continued to taste poor (there were some exceptions, especially in the MDR, but in general, they were poor.), so I just gave up. So, to answer your question, yes, I have mentioned that to management on board.

Edited March 10, 2017 by Cahpek

[terrierjohn]

Did you actually make your concerns known onboard at the time of the apparently poor food being served? if you did not how do you expect the Head Chef to know about any issues. In any service based situation if you receive poor service in your opinion you have to raise your concern at the time as it gives the provider of the service a chance to rectify the situation. Complaining on an anonymous forum like this afterwards and then expecting anyone senior from the company to both read and act upon is living in a dream world and unfair on the company.

I would wholeheartedly agree with this, if this sort of concern is brought to the attention of the Hotel Director then I would expect some sort of action, especially if enough passengers complained.

Any head Chef wanting to keep his job would surely make an effort to improve things if there were enough complaints.

[BMT]

I did meet with the Hotel Director, Alisdair Ross about the matter of wheelchair allocation on entry to the terminal. I will create a separate thread on this subject. Oh, and about the treatment of single ladies.

 

However, really in my wide experience of cruising, I have found there is little Hotel Directors can do about food.

 

There were many on our cruise trying P&O again after many years. We all felt that it was basically quite good, but spoilt by things that are not really a matter of money.

 

We enjoyed the Glass House and Beach House. Mother doesn't like Indian food.....and the ship was overrun with this and that let out Sindhu. Epicurean is very drawn out and she wouldn't like that. Many people felt that was overpriced, but Sindhu received rave reports.:D

 

Our cabin attendant was very good and the staff on Reception coped very well.

 

We will go again as its from Southampton and we don't fly anymore. Shame that P&O has fallen far behind the other cruise lines. Its acceptable - just - and the entertainment was rather good IMHO.

[Cahpek]

I would wholeheartedly agree with this, if this sort of concern is brought to the attention of the Hotel Director then I would expect some sort of action, especially if enough passengers complained.

Any head Chef wanting to keep his job would surely make an effort to improve things if there were enough complaints.

 

As I have mentioned about, I did put these issues to management. I agree with everyone that management ought to be given a chance to fix those issues, but if they do not deal with it, then, don't you think it would be fair to mention it online? Hopefully, someone more senior at Head Office would read this and try to fix those issues there (if management on the ship could not fix them.)

 

Another reason to put these experiences online is so to help those who have not been on the Ventura know what they might expect to get should they decide to sail with her.

Edited March 10, 2017 by Cahpek

[terrierjohn]

As I have mentioned about, I did put these issues to management. I agree with everyone that management ought to be given a chance to fix those issues, but if they do not deal with it, then, don't you think it would be fair to mention it online? Hopefully, someone more senior at Head Office would read this and try to fix those issues there (if management on the ship could not fix them.)

 

Another reason to put these experiences online is so to help those who have not been on the Ventura know what they might expect to get should they decide to sail with her.

I agree entirely and you obviously followed exactly the same procedures that I would have taken and I too would have been very disappointed if things had not changed.

However we did a 28 day cruise on Ventura last winter, and although the food was never Haute Cuisine it was certainly better than you describe.

It can of course vary depending on the head chef, and I hope that your complaints will have been recorded on the head chef's record, and will have resulted in some sort of action.

[kruzseeka]

About this time last year we were reading similar reports about the food on Aurora on the World Cruise. Passengers did meet with senior staff and their quite serious complaints were listened to and I believe there was some acknowledgement that standards weren't good enough. (Sorry can't remember who posted this but someone well known on these threads and a regular P&O cruiser making valid comparisons with previous experiences.) I was particularly interested because we were due to go on Aurora April/May for 35 nights so was quite concerned about food quality over a long-ish cruise. In the event, we found the food very good so I can only imagine that some significant shift had occurred - budget/chef? Whatever.

I think it's important to flag up such issues both on board where the senior staff are in a position to give direct feedback, via customer questionnaires or follow up complaint - and on here. It may prompt others who were on board and agreed to also complain in the hope that improvements will be made.

Of course everyone has a different opinion but P&O must be able to recognise the difference between one-off issues which passengers complain about and a lot of poor feedback on food or any other aspect of their operation.

If they choose to ignore it, they may lose repeat passenger bookings and certainly people reading forums to learn about P&O may have cause to pause for thought.

I think it's possible to read between the lines when we believe complaints have some foundation or are a bit unreasonable - but the reports recently about Ventura give me some cause for concern since we have a cruise booked on her.

I think well explained issues raised on here I feel are helping us to be aware of potential problems. I welcome balanced reviews and hope there will be a reversal of this situation as a consequence of the people who have made their feelings known.

I look forward to an improvement and some members posting to tell us so.

[Cappers]

I'm just saying that there is usually something worth eating. Not every dish needs to be spectacular. I'm just grateful to have time away from cooking it myself. Yes some dishes are just ok. Yes the same vegetables seem to appear at most meals but in a world where millions of people have barely enough food to survive i don't let it ruin a holiday.

 

Absoruddyexactly! ;)

[grapau27]

Did you actually make your concerns known onboard at the time of the apparently poor food being served? if you did not how do you expect the Head Chef to know about any issues. In any service based situation if you receive poor service in your opinion you have to raise your concern at the time as it gives the provider of the service a chance to rectify the situation. Complaining on an anonymous forum like this afterwards and then expecting anyone senior from the company to both read and act upon is living in a dream world and unfair on the company.

Most of us will give them the benefit of the doubt and we all have the option in the cruise review to mention poor food or service.

 

love sailing with RCCL

[Cahpek]

I'm just saying that there is usually something worth eating. Not every dish needs to be spectacular. I'm just grateful to have time away from cooking it myself. Yes some dishes are just ok. Yes the same vegetables seem to appear at most meals but in a world where millions of people have barely enough food to survive i don't let it ruin a holiday.

 

With respect, you also have to realise that Ventura is not the only cruise ship sailing on the seas. If other cruise ships/cruise lines can provide much better cooking serving large number of customers, there is no excuse for the Ventura kitchen team to be below standard, is there?

 

Sure, millions of people have barely enough food to survive, but you do not pay substantial amount of money to go on a cruise to be "just satisfied" with mediocre food so we can avoid washing the dishes at home, do you? (Maybe some people do?). It would be fair to expect some degree of cuisine standard comparable to other cruise ships, wouldn't it?

 

There were some days in the buffet, that after taking the food and tasted them, they were so tasteless or poor, I could not even bear eat them. I had to leave them and walked away. Of course, there were other days that there were other things to fill me, but you do not just go on a cruise to fill yourself but not really to enjoy the food, do you?

 

We were not expecting every dish to be spectacular, and we would understand if only a couple of dishes were below expectations or even poor. But if you have a series of dishes that were below par, and if you have quite a number of passengers complaining about the poor cooking, then, it is reasonable, isn't it to say so? Or do you expect us to keep quiet, pretend everything is fine and grin and bear it?

 

Actually, when I first spoke to the F&B Manager, I said to him that it would be fair to mention my issues to him to see if he could fix it before I mention it on CruiseCritic. And it appeared he did not appear to have fixed them.

Edited March 10, 2017 by Cahpek

[grapau27]

Yes, I have indeed. In fact, the following morning after the cruise left Southampton, I saw the F&B manager, Mark (?) Denton, and spoke to him about some of the cooking which was poorly done - I had then not yet discovered then of yet more poorly done dishes. (I even suggested that he try some of those foods himself, but he kind of joked that because of his being overweight , he might not be able to do so). In spite of putting those issues to the F&B manager, even after several days, those problems with those poorly cooked items which I complained about were NOT fixed eventhough they could easily be "tweeked" to improve. For example, the custard was still weak and not creamy (made from water and/or skimmed milk ?). I also complained how extraordinary hard the meringue shells were which were served in the buffet on the day of departure from Southampton - it was so hard that when I knocked it against the table, it did not break, so I tried to "jab" it with a knife, it still did not go in! It was almost like concrete and it could break your teeth if you try to bite it, no kidding.You know , a few days after mentioning that to the F&B manager, the meringue shells served again were still just as hard. Then I complained to the chef, and eventually, I complained to the Maitre D. , a lady whom I had met previously when we travelled on the Aurora and she was working on that ship. She fixed the issue with the meringue but other issues with poor cooking remained. I asked her why the food was so poor, especially the desserts? I even mentioned to her that previously, the desserts on the Aurora when she was there, they were much better. I was not clear what she said but I think she mumbled something about it all came from head-office and some of the stuff were precooked in factories, or something. Anyhow, the cooking continued to taste poor (there were some exceptions, especially in the MDR, but in general, they were poor.), so I just gave up. So, to answer your question, yes, I have mentioned that to management on board.

You did everything right and still nothing done.As long as they offer low prices they will fill the ships and mediocre food will continue.

 

love sailing with RCCL