Ventura beat all P&O Cruises’ records in August by achieving the highest overall satisfaction score of any ship in the fleet.
Managing director Carol Marlow declined to give the actual score, but said it was “remarkably high” and covered all aspects of the ship.
However, she did reveal that food across all restaurants scored 99.7%, while the percentage of passengers who said they would cruise with P&O again “was in the mid-90s”, many of which would choose Ventura again.
Marlow said: “It’s a great comfort to see that Ventura has really settled down, and is now doing what it was supposed to. When I was on board in August, there were 700 children and a lot of newcomers, but also quite a few past passengers who had come because it’s a great ship for kids.”
P&O Cruises had major problems after Ventura launched last year, mainly because many of the new offerings – allowing passengers to dine when they wanted to did not work. There were also clashes between new cruisers and past passengers,
Marlow said: “Ventura was a challenge. It was our biggest ship and positioned furthest away from tradition, but it is now performing extremely well. The reviews are getting better. It is doing what P&O set out for it to do.”
Marlow took over as managing director of P&O Cruises in July. She has made travelling on all their ships a top priority so she can see how the brand is positioned and received by passengers.
As well as Ventura, so far, she has also cruised on Artemis, which is the smallest ship in the fleet and for adults only. On each, she has made her presence known and encouraged passengers to come and talk to her.
She said: “I want to know what they are thinking and also to see how the brand is positioned. I’ve done the extremes in terms of the ships we offer and although one is new and the other very traditional, there is a definite ‘P&O-ness’ coming through. I want to look at how we define the different ships, and also how important that is.”