Ardennais

Great views from Cadiz Cathedral.Well worth going up the tower - no steps, just winds up.

How about a short transfer to Jerez? We had a great day there once.

I would be most put out if they didn’t put the beds away during the day. Iona’s cabins are narrow enough as it is!

I heard that Tom Cruise was there yesterday!

Hope you have a great time. We were fortunate with the weather and sailing as a group of 8 made this cruise extra special.

To be honest, the MDR on Iona recently was just as good as the MDR on Queen Victoria back in January and so much better than Britannia last year. There was something really off with that cruise! Queen Vic was great fun for a short 4 night cruise but I much prefer Iona for a longer cruise.

On our last night in the MDR on Iona last week, the 3 newbies stated that they had really enjoyed the cruise and would look to book another so that they had something to look forward to. They’re 3 young men in their 20s, moderate drinkers and felt that the prices onboard were very reasonable, and that they could never justify buying a drinks package. They felt that the cruise provided excellent value for money. I suddenly noticed that there weren’t any flowers on the tables in the MDR. We then started to list the things that had changed since we started cruising in 2010. The list was: * no flowers in MDR * no stem of flower in cabin * no dish of small boiled sweets in cabin * no chocolates on pillow * no turndown * pay for breakfast in cabin and no hot drinks * no fresh towels in the evening * grats included in base price Do we miss any of these? No, apart from fresh towels in the evening. We do however think that P&O provides excellent value for money. Excursions are far better priced than Princess, for instance. There are fewer options in the MDR but we’re not foodies, and I was very pleased with the offering on Iona. I don’t drink alcohol so they can do anything they want and it wouldn’t affect me. I’m pleased that there are fewer formals too, but understand that this is also important for some people. The photographers don’t bother us now in the MDR which is another plus. This year, we will have been on Cunard, P&O and Princess. As long as I can find a cruise from Soton which is reasonably priced, then I’m happy.

We are Med tier too and had 2.45 on Iona last week - deck 9, balcony. The two inside cabins in our group had 1.30 - again deck 9, but including cruise newbies! We kept to the timings as we had two cars and were swiftly processed. We don’t mind late check-in and we’re not in a hurry to leave on the last morning either. No point in rushing!

We were all there last Tuesday luckily! Home this week!

Hope the weather is ok for you. My daughter sent me a photo from the webcam at Loen viewpoint earlier today and you couldn’t see a thing. They said it was amazing last Tuesday as the photos show:

We didn’t feel that the atrium was noisy this time as there were fewer children around, and the good weather meant that a lot of people were outside. The bed was next to the window this time and it was a real squeeze to get to the balcony! The sofa is indeed very hard.

We were fortunate in that Iona was the only ship in port in the four destinations. Alesund, Stavanger and Haugesund can easily cope and as Olden is an ‘outdoor’ destination, it wasn’t a problem there either. We tended to ‘live’ on decks 6-9. Our cabins were on deck 9 and as we don’t sunbathe or use the pools, we rarely ventured upstairs. The offerings in the Quays mean that we don’t visit the buffet very often. So we find Iona very accessible.

We decided to walk up on the first night, just to see how things would work for a group of 8. As we were shown in straight away, we stuck to that system and it worked each time!

6 of our group went on the Loen Skylift and they saw the base jumper! The tiny blue dot.

Silent disco on Iona was in the Sky Dome.

Hope you’re having a great time. We’ve had magical moments on Ventura so looking forward to reading more!

We saw two Headliner shows - another one was cancelled due to injury. This time around, we went to the first show at 6:45 - no booking required. The weather was brilliant. 6 of the group went on the Loen Skylift and thought it was the best experience ever! They had pre-booked with Olden Adventure. I went on the excursion from Haugesund to the World War 2 museum - highly recommended. Iona felt less busy this time. Going during term time makes a huge difference in terms of service, availability of lifts etc. The 3 newbies in our group thought that this cruise provided excellent value for money and that bar prices were very reasonable. They thought that Iona had the wow factor and that there was ‘nothing not to like’! Disembarkation was smooth. 2 couples self-disembarked around 8am. We were supposed to leave 9.45-9.55 but were shown to the queue at 9.15. Note the letter below - you can now self-disembark at a time that suits you! You can probably tell that we love Iona! Our next cruise is on Princess, but we would love to see Iona offering new itineraries. It’s also a shame that Bergen is off-limits. The newbies are now busy researching their next cruise!

Someone asked about films on Britannia recently, so I’ve taken photos of the films on Iona to give some idea of the offering. We saw two films at 9:30 pm and there was plenty of room.

Just a few comments about last week’s cruise on Iona to the Fjords. We were a group of 8. 2 couples in 2 balcony cabins, and 2 couples in 2 inside cabins. Deck 9 forward. Embarkation Very straightforward. The insides had 13:30 and the balconies had 14:45. Took about half an hour from arrival. Cases delivered quickly. Cabins Clean and modern. Great bathroom storage. Huge sofa in the balcony cabins. The cabins are definitely narrower on Iona. Lack of drawers is a pain. I asked for face cloths and 2 were provided every morning. Also asked for body lotion (I do take my own - this was for research purposes) and this was again provided. We don’t miss turndown, but we do miss having fresh towels after our evening shower. Food Really good. Veg cooked much nicer than usual. Decent portion size. Less choice and more vegan options in MDR than pre-covid. Desserts are still the weakest link but we did have a few good chocolate ones. As a group of 8, we decided to walk-up to Coral around 8 and we were shown in straight away every time. The ‘youngsters’ had one late lunch in the Olive Grove and thought it was excellent. We had one late lunch in the Glass House - just walked up. This was also very good. I’ve already described our great experience on Celebration Night at the Chef’s Table. Some might be interested in the breakfast options in the MDR - in particular the opening hours. I remember Selbourne commenting on this earlier this year. We just walked up again and were just shown in. In fact, we didn’t use the app queue at all! 1st sea day Port days Last sea day

Hope you have a lovely cruise. Our next one is Princess too!

Jacket and tie on arrival. Jackets were then taken off quickly. Food tastes exactly the same!

We love Iona! Our favourite for years was Aurora but we would really miss the additional features now. Having said that, we would still sail on any ship if we fancied a particular itinerary. We can easily dodge the formals! Have to say, there were far fewer elderly guests on Iona. On Queen Vic in January there were so many walking sticks and walkers (including my mother). Just shows how important it is to do your research before booking. There’s something for everyone!

We did the Chef’s Table on Iona last Sunday. Don’t be put off by the disparaging ‘works canteen’ comments. Our meal was lovely - the food is exactly the same. Great atmosphere there - fun, relaxed, unstuffy. Light and airy - we were right by the window and it was lovely. I don’t drink alcohol either so not a problem.

Pleased to say that there was only one formal night on Iona this past week. Photographers present.

Our youngest was 10 when we started cruising but ours weren’t interested in the clubs or the pools. They loved Aurora when it was a family ship. Used to read and play board games for hours. We did a few Royal Caribbean cruises but they were dearer and apart from the ice rink, the children weren’t bothered with the other facilities.