devonuk

And that is the conundrum I face. However, with a little attention to detail and a raising of standards then it might just be at an acceptable level. But human nature will be that there will always be something to ‘moan’ about.

Sorry I didn’t answer your first question, yes this was a school holiday cruise.

Ah yes, I forgot about issues in the theatre. I had to laugh when I went to the Club House to watch The Pulse perform a set called Floor Fillers. No matter how many times they said ‘fill the dance floor’ you couldn’t because of ‘the little monsters’ running around and generally being a PITA. I was there with my granddaughter but in no way would I allow her to act in this manner. I would not have expected this for the 20:30 show but perhaps that’s just me? BTW I was told the ship was very much full and the average age was 43. In a nutshell… Family travel, yes but with reservations. Couples, absolutely no way!

One yes and one not. The first was just after Covid so there was only 50% on board and the Iona was new so things were pretty good then.

My thoughts on the Iona last week in Norway… Iona Pro’s… Great Ship. Good entertainment. Itinerary. Speedy embarking and disembarking. Iona Con’s…. Falling standards of most things. Badly maintained jacuzzi’s - warm water & few bubbles. No evening stateroom attendance. Woeful MDR service. Little regard to daily dress standards in the MDR’s. Too many shorts, trainers etc. Too many young children spoiling evening entertainment by being allowed to disrupt shows by using the dance floor as a play area etc. Food from The Quays being taken into the Club House, it then smells of fish n chips during shows etc. Swimwear permitted in the Horizon. Freedom dining is NOT working. Sky Dome pool closed too often. Poor Sky Dome acoustics. Outdoor areas seem to be closed at the slightest hint of a breeze!!! Smoking/vaping taking place other than in designated areas. The Atrium coffee making machine is far louder than the entertainment. Senior Officers are anonymous apart from the male Dr who could be regularly seen about the ship. Shore excursion pricing is a joke. Missing a port due to bad weather, allegedly? The onboard account system was down all week after the first day so difficult to keep a track of spending. Due to the number of kids on board the kids club had to be run in limited sessions which had to be booked via the app. I could go on…. Will I use P&O again? Yes, just not the Iona unless with our young family. This was my 3rd Iona cruise and the standards have steadily deteriorated unfortunately. That said a number of first time/newish cruisers made mention of loving most things. So, it’s all a question of opinion 🤔

With HL you can download a PDF of your holding and send it by an email attachment to the relevant email address. So easy 👍

Had a suite on the Ventura last year and my daughter with her family in the inside cabin next door were absolutely refused and rather loudly 🙄 They were not carers though.

I’ll I put it out there as I have in the past… my stateroom attendant on the Sky Princess informed me that as she was now salaried that it made no difference whether we paid the Crew Appreciation or not 🤷‍♂️ This was from September 2022.

Opal and Aqua for us as we find the other 2 too busy and lacking in any form of intimacy. Also, dare I say there’s not so many children in the first 2, apart from own grandchildren of course 😉

We walked from the ship to the Euromast, then to the Cube Houses and back to the ship with young children who loved it. So I guess what one person thinks is a long way is very different to the next 🤷‍♂️

They can’t unless you happen to be in your cabin if they call 🤷‍♂️ There’s no way I’d be switching my phone on for a ‘maritime’ call as I’ve heard some horror stories about its use and wouldn’t want to risk it.

I’ve probably spent over 50 nights on P&O with my grandchildren and never had a pager 🤷‍♂️ Perhaps it’s age related as the youngest age of one of my grandchildren would have been about 6.

On the recent TA it was fully subscribed and there was a faff when early risers not only saved the ‘twin beds’ but separate loungers as well 🤦‍♂️ The biggest surprise was being told there would be no pro rata refund for the 2 days it was out of bounds due to the upper decks shutdown in poor weather conditions.

I recently saved £1000’s on a Princess cruise by using a well know UK TA by asking if they had any ‘codes’ which could make it cheaper. After some deliberation the price was a shock and so cheap that whether to go on the cruise was a ‘no brainer’. A friend was also interested in the same cruise, he looked at the TA’s advertised price and then did what I did. He too saved a lot of money! I don’t normally book with TA’s now as I got my fingers burnt due to the pandemic but had no issues when dealing with cruise lines direct. Perhaps in the the future I’ll be changing my booking strategy 🤔

With the new demographics I think you’ll find that back to front baseball caps are now de rigueur 😉

Recently in an Iona MDR on a formal night my family group of 7 were ‘dressed to the nines’ and a table away another group were at best wearing what I would describe as smart sportswear. Smart being a matter of opinion, we were happy with our ‘dress’ and no doubt they were too with theirs 🤷‍♂️ Specifically though the Daily Horizon does state no trainers 😬

Absolutely no way will you be turned away 👍

Last week on the Iona we asked for the 08:15 slot and were actually in our car (CPS) and away from the port by 07:50 👍

We did the TA to the Caribbean in January on the Arvia and albeit we only skirted the BOB for 2 days it was pretty rough for a big ship. The main issue was the amount of outside spaces and the Retreat being continuously shut. Our actual crossings over the BOB on numerous ships have in the main been fairly calm apart from one particular crossing on the Sky Princess when it was absolutely awful which in fairness the Captain warned us about.

There are 2 rear infinity pools with different ‘screen’ arrangements so this might be what you saw?

P&O provided a shuttle bus. No need to look elsewhere.

Unfortunately yes 😬

On the Iona last week I saw a member of staff pleading with some passengers to stop splashing the water over the screen onto the balconies below. Once he’d gone some little darlings were doing it on purposes 🤫

Wow, I wish we knew this as Wowzz (I think) said in one of his posts the info given out by P&O is often different from the reality 🫤

It’s a question of personal choice I guess. I normally booked about 50/50 direct but during the pandemic I had no issues with direct bookings and plenty of issues with some TA’s, which I’d never return to. My Blue Light Card requires me to book direct with P&O to get extra OBC so that’s another reason why I stay loyal to the direct route. That said it’s not lost on me that the direct route is not always the best, if for instance a particular TA that I’ve not had issues with in the past has booked a lot of cabins and is offering a package deal 👍 Good luck 🤞