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Dorset cruise fan

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Everything posted by Dorset cruise fan

  1. We have cruised on Iona twice and as you know she is huge, but well designed for a Fjords cruise as she has lots of outside space. As your cruise is for a week I would suggest not trying to see/ do everything on board but just find some favourite venues. The Olive Grove is lovely, book as soon as you can when you get onboard or from the terminal if you can access the app. Iona is easy to navigate with a pushchair. The crew are really helpful, if there is anything you need for the baby ask your cabin steward or the waiters. I have no experience of nursery / night nursery but from other accounts they seem to work well. Enjoy your cruise and enjoy the fjords, they are stunning.
  2. I was typing whilst you were posting. Dorset uses Libby for magazines and Borrowbox for books but all services are different and I think they pretty much all do e-books
  3. Join your local Library! If you are not already a member most Library services (since Covid) allow you to join online and you can then access their online services including their e-books and e audiobooks. Most services currently use Borrowbox and it's really straightforward. Also have a range of e magazines so you can keep up to date whilst you are away.
  4. Northern Lights, reindeer and snowmobiling in North of Norway. Being back on Aurora, our favourite Definitely not RIBs in our case, husband still suffering from fractured vertebrae But a big shout out to staff on Iona who helped him, particularly Anthony from Customer services who looked after us. Olive Grove, Limelight Club and 710 on Iona
  5. We were very happy with our cabin on Aurora, the bathrooms do need an update but the cabin size and facilities are excellent. TV reception is poor regardless of ship, it's because you are off shore. If you want to watch TV I would suggest sticking to the prerecorded stuff. We were on Iona 2 weeks ago (where I suspect our Covid came from) and the cabin was lovely, bathroom definitely an improvement but the cabin was so narrow, a real squeeze round the bed and storage is nowhere near as good. Try to relax and just enjoy what the cruise has to offer - scenery, snow, wildlife. Even if it's not what you expected there should be some venue on board that you can enjoy.
  6. Thank you for all your kind thoughts. Friday was the worst day and we are gradually recovering. The turkey is in the oven and we can slice it and freeze it for New Year. And shhhhhh, whisper it, but quite looking forward to a day in front of TV rather than working hard in kitchen. Happy Christmas to all however youcare spending your day.
  7. The plan is Christmas dinner on New Year's Eve assuming we are recovered by then
  8. We re confined to home as covid has struck so all family celebrations cancelled.
  9. We took pur daughter on Arcadia for her 18th Birthday and she loved it
  10. On our recent Northern lights cruise on Aurora we might quite a few young couples who had done their first cruise on Iona and were now trying other ships. None of them expressed disappointment in the lack of venues but instead were thoroughly enjoying the smaller ship feel. I think if the new ships are encouraging new people to try cruising then they may naturally move on to different ships and enjoy each in a different way. If the itinerary is right and they have got a taste for cruising then why not try a different ship?
  11. Yes, but they are on request, as are face cloths. Asked our room steward when she introduced herself and she brought them straight over.
  12. No, on the RIB. Compression fracture of vertebrae and yes, he did follow the safety advice.
  13. We loved the cruise too, with highlights of reindeer, snowmobiling, northern lights, amazing ambulance crew and getting to know Haugesund casualty dept
  14. We have only had qn email about the dishwashers being replaced
  15. Have been trying to pay the final balance on a cruise for 3 days. Friday, site error, Saturday, got all the way through payment process including code from bank then site error. Today final day of payment tried phoning P&O to discover they are closed on Sundays, last try online and site error - gŕrrrrrrr
  16. Been there on Eurostar too. Sat in Brussels station for 5 hours and eventually bussed to a hotel, then by coach to Amsterdam the next morning.
  17. I agree, they have been trying to deter stag groups for a while and also seem to have been making Rotterdam the major port. Luckily for us we have twice cruised in to Amsterdam and loved the journey up the North Sea Canal. Good to have had those experiences.
  18. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/20/amsterdam-to-close-cruise-ship-terminal-amid-effort-to-restrict-tourism?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other Has anyone else seen this? Article says that the port is closing to deter stag parties and big groups of young men off the cruise ships. I should think that was highly unlikely from the ship in the picture!
  19. Only been on Iona for a Seacation so not reflective of the current experience. But we did like all the food venues, especially the Quays, Olive Grove and Limelight. Thought we wouldn't like the size but didn't phase us as much as we thought. She was barely half full though. Arcadia however, along with Aurora is one of our favourites. She is of course older but has really classy glass artwork throughout, lovely promenade deck, pretty atrium. Not so many dining options though. We have had some lovely cruises on Arcadia.
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