Ventura

Ventura as seen sailing between the pierheads at IJmuiden at the 5th of june 2013. It was just after she departed Amsterdam after her first visit to The Netherlands.

Ventura was the first ship within the fleet of P&O Cruises to exeed 100.000 tons. She is a diversion from the Grand Class of ships that was built for the P&O sistercompany Princess Cruises from the mid 1990's onwards. Because she was especially designed for the P&O Cruises fleet, Ventura and her slightly younger sister Azura are named as a seperate class within the Grand Class family and they are mostly referred to as Ventura-class. The most resemblance they have with the Princess ships is with the Crown Princess. 

Ventura was built as yardnumber 6132 at the Monfalcone Yards of Fincantieri, as most recent newbuildings of Princess Cruises are too. Monfalcone virtually lives from the orders from the P&O-Princess combine, although P&O and Princess are seperate lines since the Carnival take-over in 2004. The ship measures some 116.017 tons and with that she was the largest ship within the P&O fleet untill the new 140.000-ton Britannia was launched in 2014. She is 291,40 meters long, 36 meters wide and her draft is 8 meters. The ship has 19 decks in total, of which 14 are accessible for her 3597 passengers. This is the maximum count, based on two persons per cabin the number given is 3192. Also, 1220 crew are aboard to care for those passengers. The ships normal sailing speed is 21,7 knots and she is driven by 6 Wärtsilä-designed diesel engines. When she was introduced, the ship was the largest cruiseliner ever dedicated to the british market, and she still is Of course, in this calculation is also taken in consideration that the passengers for Cunards Queen Mary 2 are mainly American and she is dedicated to the worldwide market.

At the 29th of august of 2006, her keel was laid and she floated out of her building dock at the 8th of june 2007. She was delivered to the company at the 23rd of march 2008 and arrived for the first time at Southampton on the 6th of april. Ventura was named by Helen Mirren, an English actress born in 1945, at the 16th of april 2008. She did not have all the credits, though, because she was assisted by several Royal Marine Commandos in a dramiatic abseil. Two days after the naming ceremony, the ship started her maiden voyage from Southampton. Just before that, she already had undertaken a short 'shakedown' cruise to Belgium departing Southampton at the 11th of april. The ship had Hamilton as her homport so she flies the flag of Bermuda, as most ships within the Princess fleet. The last years, also the ships of P&O have been registered her, because it makes it possible for couples to get married aboard, a possibility that is not there when the ship is registered in the United Kingdom.

As a P&O Cruises first, the ship offers her passengers a view from the tip of the bow, as the wraparound deck also includes a walkway at the front of the ship, just like her Princess sisters. Also, the ship offers great value for families, in contradiction to several ships within the P&O fleet that are totally dedicated to adults. One of Ventura's nice extra's is the 'Cirque School', a place where you can learn about circus-style acrobatic gymnastics. Next to this, the ship has the largest two-deck theater fitted onto a ship dedicated to the British market, that is one of the three main show lounges. Of course the ship also offers enough places to dine, 9 restaurants and ten bars. Working together with P&O at Ventura, Marco Pierre White, who won three Michelin stars and is known as a culinary legend, brings his expertise to the White Room Restaurant aboard, as well as several other bars and dining options. There are five swimmingpools, of which two are especially dedicated to families. You can also go to the cyb@study computer school or high-tech gymnasium of course. For art lovers, Ventura also is a great choice, as P&O works together with several well-known brands. On the ship, the Tate Modern hosts educational modern art cruises and around 7000 pieces of art are shown aboard from mainly British artists. The ship was designed by an international team, including names like Giacomo Mortola, who was co-ordinating the total, PartnerShip Design from Germany and SMC Design.