Ventura

First of all thanks to cruise nation for constant contact prior to flights due to gatwick closure, now down to the cruise, Ventura is a beautiful ship, the staff were as you would expect and service was as good as any five star facility, the rooms were compact fortunately we had a balcony which gave us somewhere to chill in privacy, the captain should have been on the stage as he was by far the best entertainment on the ship, the on board entertainment was no where up to normal, even when some of the acts reached the ship that were delayed they weren't anywhere near as good as our previous cruises, the ship should look at it's smoking policy as on numerous occasions when sat on the balcony we had cigerette smoke come across our noses, and considering we were on riviera deck we thought we would be out of the way as well as the constant wheeling of trolleys in the waterside restaurant above us creating noise through the cabin at all times of the night. The middle two pools was like a smoke haze on the starboard side, and in some cases would infiltrate in to the waterside restaurant whist you were having lunch.
We dined in the white room and East restaurants and both experiences were worth the additional cost, however the food in the bay tree restaurant was also very good. Photographs seem to be expensive in relation to other lines and no bulk buy packages were available for the whole cruise.
Butlins seemed to exist in the main pool, but that is a personal observation and that's what some people go on holiday for, just not me, fortunately there were a couple of other pools that were quieter. Overall the ship with 3500 people on board was cramped, especially at meal times and trying to get a sun bed, as with other lines they should police these as then it stops possible passenger confrontations and then people will not take the Mick out of leaving towels on beds for hours, the ship was very well kept and luxurious in public meeting areas such as bars and clubs on board, I wouldn't be quick to return on board the Ventura.