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WHEN I was three, I learned to read thanks to Enid Blyton’s books about Noddy. So when he walked into the Toy Box kids’ club on Ventura I just had to shake his hand and say thank you. Noddy is the star attraction for two- to four-year-olds on Ventura. He has a house in their Toy Box area, a model of his car ... and cleverly thought-out play schemes which will mean children learn as they have fun. Meeting my childhood hero wasn’t so easy. My ID was checked twice before being allowed through security doors to enter the huge children’s area on this new ship. Cameras discreetly record everything. It’s safe. The zone for kids, taking up half of Deck 16, can take up to 850 children, supervised by a team of qualified and vetted staff. There are even cots for children to sleep while their parents are out enjoying the rest of the ship. Passengers without children will probably not even be aware that the kids’ area exists. It has been cleverly designed so nobody needs to go there without a reason. And Ventura isn’t just about families. Grown-ups, with or without the children in tow, have a massive choice of things to do – from lively bars with cabarets and comedians to a relaxing spa, trendy restaurants and even an art collection from the Tate Modern. The cabins are easily on par with top hotel rooms, spacious and beautifully furnished, with original canvas paintings on the walls, flat-screen TVs and splendidly fluffy duvets. It is the most daring ship P&O have ever built – very different from the rest of the fleet, and designed to shake off the stuffy image they have built up over the decades. For first-time cruisers she is an ideal choice, with more facilities and attractions than most land holiday can offer – and calling at fabulous places as she sails around the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. But will seasoned P&O regulars like it? Ventura’s first season sold faster than ever before – her maiden voyage was booked up in under an hour – and many are repeat cruisers anxious to see what the new girl is like. They will still find some of the “old” P&O. They can have formal, set dining if they choose, they can sit in a quiet bar and listen to a piano, and they can find a game of quoits. And the food is still British – there is proper back bacon for breakfast, as well as that streaky American-style rubbish. But the atmosphere on board is a world away from what they have become accustomed to on ships like AURORA or ARCADIA. Ventura is lively, exciting and exhilarating. Dare I say it ... young. British cruising used to be for the well bred, the over fed and the nearly dead. Not any more.
