- Launched
- April 2008
- Gross tonnage
- 116,017 GT
- Passengers
- 3,574 (max), 3,092 (double occupancy)
- Crew
- 1,205
- Length
- 290 m
- Home port
- Southampton
Ventura entered service in April 2008, named by Dame Helen Mirren, and was P&O's original modern family flagship. She sails a Mediterranean, Northern Europe, and Canary Islands programme from Southampton and remains one of the busiest ships in the fleet.
Ventura carries the full P&O family programme — Reef children's clubs, multi-tier pool decks, and West End-style production shows — alongside a decent speciality-dining line-up (Epicurean, Sindhu, The Glass House). She is one deck smaller than Britannia and consequently reaches a slightly wider selection of ports.
The ship completed a major mid-life refurbishment in 2018 that brought her interiors closer to Britannia's standard and added the Sindhu and Epicurean venues. She is now the sweet spot for guests who want a modern P&O family product without the crowds of the Excel-class flagships.
Ventura's summer sailings sell strongly on price against Britannia and Arvia — a Ventura fare is typically 15-25% below an equivalent Excel-class sailing for a materially similar onboard product.
Highlights
Family flagship value
Full P&O family programme at a materially lower fare than Britannia or Excel-class equivalents.
Mid-life refurbishment
2018 refit added Sindhu and Epicurean and brought interiors close to Britannia standard.
Round-Britain deployment
Year-round Southampton base — Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Canary Islands, no fly-cruise required.
Named by Helen Mirren
One of the more high-profile British-market naming ceremonies of the modern cruise era.
Same class
Sister ships
Also in P&O Cruises
Other ships in the fleet
Launched 2020
Iona
P&O's first LNG-powered flagship — a Norwegian Fjords and Northern Europe specialist sailing exclusively from Southampton.
Launched 2022
Arvia
P&O's Caribbean-tuned Excel-class sister — SkyDome, Altitude Skywalk rope course, and P&O's most complete fly-cruise product from Barbados.
Launched 2015
Britannia
P&O's modern national flagship — the ship named by the Queen and the platform that repositioned the brand as a genuine large-ship operator.
Launched 2005
Arcadia
P&O's adults-only mid-size flagship — the fleet's dedicated long-haul and world-voyage ship.
Launched 2000
Aurora
The smallest and most classic ship in the P&O fleet — adults-only, port-intensive, and the closest thing to a traditional ocean liner in modern British cruising.
Available on this ship
Onboard experiences
Cruise line
Explore the brand
P&O Cruises
The UK-sourced British-market leader — Southampton-departing, sterling-priced, and split between family flagships and adults-only classics.
Carnival Corporation & plc (parent group)
Carnival Corporation is the world's largest cruise operator by fleet and passenger volume, parent of nine cruise brands spanning contemporary to ultra-luxury — including Carnival, Princess, Holland America, Cunard, Costa, AIDA, Seabourn, and Britain's P&O Cruises.
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