Ardennais

I was actually thinking of the cruise itself, not getting there! There are 3 coloured routes for the lake cruises and I’m trying to decide whether to board at Ambleside, Lakeside or Bowness.

Well I’m Welsh and don’t feel in the least mortified! What a stupid thing to say.

I would be the same. Had a panic attack when flying years ago and pledged there and then never to fly again. I take the view that if something medical happened to me when cruising which meant that I had to fly home, then I would be heavily drugged!

Lovely photos. Is that Lake Windemere by any chance? Will be visiting the area soon and we’re keen to do a lake cruise. Trying to work out the best route. Any recommendations anyone? Thanks.

Great summary Selbourne - your posts have been very interesting and informative. We really enjoyed our cruise on Iona earlier this year and on the back of that, have booked a family cruise next year with our three daughters and their partners - similar in age to your daughters I think. You have given us many tips!

We don’t get them now either, and we accept all their emails. I don’t think they really want any feedback!

There was a shuttle there when we visited in 2018.

I would feel the same Dermotsgirl. We don’t mind sharing a table over a quick lunch but never for dinner. We’re not rude or even quiet - it’s just our preference!

Interesting. My OH has two JCBs so found it fascinating too!

My husband’s watching Inside the Factory now - JCBs, with Cherry Healey. Is she the person on the Wellness Cruise? This Cherry Healey is very good.

I book all our cruises and pay for them. My husband sometimes asks on the way to Southampton how much I’ve paid, and to be honest, I can never really remember.

Good advice. No one has ever asked us how much we paid or mentioned how much they paid, but if they did, I would move the conversation along.

Cheeky. We loved the Syndicate quiz when travelling with the children and my parents. There were always family groups of all ages and everybody seemed to be enjoying the experience.

Our cabin was on deck 11 so it was quite easy to walk up to the buffet or down to the promenade deck. We are regular buffet users, but the Quays meant that we were quite happy to remain on decks 8 and 9 on Iona. In our case, we didn’t use the stairs/lifts as often as before. And having a proper promenade also meant that we were quite content to stay on the lower decks.

I answer them in Welsh!!

When we took my niece years ago, I even got her Headteacher to sign the letter.

Great blog Selbourne. Hope the lift situation improves for you. We quite liked the light and spacious atrium with the sea views. Interesting that you also think that they’re understaffed. That was our firm impression too, with all the uncleared tables.

Well said!

Like you, I couldn’t care less what other people wear. We prefer smart casual, and for that reason, we ‘dodge’ the formal evenings. I hope that there will be even fewer formals in future years, but it’s not something that bothers us one way or another. Recently, we’ve been watching a few programmes from Amazing Hotels - Life Beyond the Lobby. Interesting to see that smart casual is the way of things in many of these fabulous hotels such as Reid’s Palace in Madeira. No stuffy DJs or even ties required!

Just shows how different we all are. We went to the Caribbean and didn’t visit a single beach! Don’t like beaches or swimming!!

We walked to the far end of the harbour and spotted the Cafe Fish and got seated straight away. Lovely food.

That would cost them money! Less revenue from cabins and increased staff costs.

I know, it’s not good enough. We were also confined to school holidays for years as I was teaching and then when I only taught part time, I would never take the children out of school in term time. I still don’t mind sailing during the school holidays. I like seeing children around but I expect the standard to be more or less the same.

Cartagena is lovely. Cartagena in Colombia is also great!

Yes, in theory, but in practice? I had a moan about service levels on Iona during February half term and quite a few responses here were along the lines of, well avoid the school holidays. That doesn’t address the fundamental problem. Someone also said that Iona was fully staffed and that the crew quarters were full. So I doubt whether they can find additional staff. Of course, it’s possible to deploy the staff they have in different ways, but we’ve also been told that the cabin staff now do other things in the evenings rather than turndown. I can’t see how they can really speed things up!