Olly Smith would not be impressed with his Glass House on Ventura

On embarkation day, as you arrive into the atrium of the ship, you will find that the ships photographer will have pounced on you to have your picture taken with some ghastly looking backdrop (we also had 2 random people dressed as sailors in ours), the spa girls will be ready to tell you all about the spa and book you in for treatments, and the alternative dining venues are there poised with menus for the week ready to take your bookings.

We had decided on our 7 day cruise on board the Ventura (20-27th March) that we would dine in the Glass House and we opted for the 3rd night whilst it was still on Menu A as this was my sisters preferred menu. You do not  make table reservations in advance and as one of my party was diabetic and needed to eat early, we had no trouble on securing a table at 6pm. As we didn’t think much to the evenings entertainment we decided to have the full Olly Smith Experience and have the wine flights – these are a selection of wines that are chosen by Olly, with White, Rose and Red Wines. There is 3 in each flight and are brought out on a stand with a card describing the flavours and textures of each wine. I went for the Rose and enjoyed the sparkling one, but have to say the Zinfandel Blush  which according to my card Olly finds the Las Vegas of the Wine world and is  Versatile and scrummy – I found a bit dry and not refreshing.

For my main course I had the Sausage and Mash, and then opted for the cheesecake for my pudding, whilst my partner opted for the steak. He did ask if he could have just a bowl of vanilla ice-cream which he was told they could do but would cost him the same price as the big sundae at £4.50, which seemed a ridiculous price and we declined.

Later on in the cruise we decided to have a drink in the Glass House as this was en route to the Theatre,  so after waiting 20 mins and going to get someone to take our order, a couple of the group had beers, a couple had soft drinks and I asked for the Zinfandel Bulletin – which seems to be the house wine on P&O – but despite it being in the menu the waiter advised they didn’t stock in the Glass House and I would have to get from another venue on board – the waiter did not offer to go and get it for me, which on other cruise lines they would have done.

The next night whilst in the Theatre waiting for the Opera Boys to come on stage, me and my sister decided to order drinks – however as I was sitting on deck 7 in the Theatre and the waiter got the drinks from the Glass House then again I could not have the Rose Wine I wanted, however if I was sitting on deck 6 in the Theatre then I could as I would be served by a waiter who would collect the drinks from the Exchange (the pub). Never had I heard of this before, and after speaking to the Food and Beverage Manager – he wasn’t happy that the bar steward hadn’t offered to go to get it for me.

On the last day my sister was feeling unwell, due to the high winds and motion of the ocean, so we cancelled our dinner reservations in Sindhu and opted for the Glass House for dinner again,and so we could try Menu B. On arrival at 5:50 we were greeted by a waitress who told us to take a seat anywhere, when we explained there was 6 of us, she looked round and saw that the two tables for 6 people were already occupied by a couple on each. She then asked my mother if we had to eat now and could we not come back later, to which my mother replied saying no as she was diabetic. One of the waiters asked one of the couples if they would mind moving as they were just having drinks to which they said no problem. However it then took the waiter 40 minutes and only with us flagging them down in the end did we get any menus. By this time other people had come in and were served before us – not good especially as they knew one of my party was diabetic and needed to eat.

This time by name dropping the Head of Food and Beverage on board the Ventura (Jamie  – if anyone needs it) the waiter reluctantly agreed to get the Rose Wine I liked from the bar next door. Our dinner came out at 18:50 (so an hour after arriving), and this time I had the sliders with cheese fries (not very slimming world but it was the last day of my holiday). It took another half an hour before the table was cleared after finishing and we decided as the service had been so slow that we would skip pudding – not that we were offered any, and we only got the bill after another 20 mins wait and me getting up to ask for it.

I would like to point out that the Glass House wasn’t busy and yes I appreciate to those who are reading and thinking that we are on a ship so not in any hurry to be anywhere – no we didn’t have to be anywhere – however it was more the point the way we had been treated and knowing we had a diabetic in the party. I have eaten in the Glass House on Britannia and the Azura before and unfortunately the Ventura Glass House is no way as good as the other two ships.

Overall I was very disappointed with the Ventura – in terms of the service on board, the crew were all shouting and being rude to each other especially at the Breakers Bar on deck 16 where we overheard the bar man tell one of the waitress she looked scruffy, to go and brush her hair and to tie it back. Then he proceeded to tell one of the other waiters he had to keep walking round asking for drinks orders as that the way they make money. In the Coffee Shop, the head Barista was barking orders and refused to let one crew member go on his break. Sh then shouted at one of the others for being late – all of these incidents in front of guests.  I also thought the entertainment on board was very poor and despite there being 7 in the entertainment team there only ever seemed to be 2 working apart from on a sailaway when they suddenly all appeared.

Have you eaten in the Glass House on any of the ships and what was your experience.