SarahHben

When we were on Iona in May, the majority of people were ‘dressed up’ on celebration night. We ate in one of the main (included) dining rooms, us ladies in our long sparkly dresses & the men in suits/dinner jackets, and we didn’t feel overdressed at all. We didn’t book the chefs table as we’d heard it was an area of the buffet & we didn’t know if it would feel ‘dressy’

I can't remember which plan we had this May on Iona, it didn't have video streaming, but we paid £60 for the week for one device. We could use it on all our devices if we wanted to as long as we were only logged onto one device at a time.

I cruised with my parents and sister in May. We all bought the internet package and used WhatsApp to arrange meet up times

Lovely photos!

I’d been married 4 years before we bought a house with enough room for a washing machine. I had to wash everything by hand including bedding & towels and had a little spin dryer on the draining board. We certainly didn’t have fresh towels every day 😂

There are a few cabins which break with my initial theory and I can’t work out a pattern to where they are 🥴 See my post #14 on this thread, I had found a video with the bed on the left side of cabin but next to the balcony not the wardrobe. That was one with an extended balcony on deck 15

I got it in 3 today. Had I stuck to my usual starter word I’d like to think I might have got it in 2 🥴

Sorry to read that. I hope they get it sorted and you manage to arrange insurance for your cruises.

I like baked beans, but I'm a bit strange in that I don't like them touching the rest of my food, my youngest daughter is the same, so when I have them at home I dish ours up in little pots on the side of our plates.

Being new to cruising, I had no idea that ‘how many cruises have you done’ would be a question that many people don’t like being asked, until I joined this forum anyway! I was very careful not to ask when chatting to people on our first cruise this May 😆

Thank you. It may not be possible to book in advance, I’ve only been on 1 cruise so far so I’m still discovering what can be pre-booked etc.

Thank you, that’s handy to know. Was that the price for booking while onboard or was that booking in advance?

We are doing the same itinerary on Ventura next August so it was interesting reading about your experiences, thank you. I followed Ventura on the ship tracker for the last fortnight so see where she docked etc. We have a port side balcony cabin booked and she seemed to dock on that side more often than not. We have to go in the summer holidays as I look after my Grandson and my daughter works term times so we are thinking of paying extra for the Retreat depending on price.

When we cruised on Iona in May I bought a Radley handbag and a Swarovski ring, both of which I had seen on land so knew the price, the ring wasn't on offer but was £10 cheaper onboard and the handbag was on a 25% off offer and was around £20 cheaper onboard. My husband bought some aftershave and I looked it up on Amazon and it was £20 cheaper onboard.

I would have no problem spending it in the shops 😄

I’ve seen some posts online today saying that Iona is on her way back to Southampton, missing Haugesund, because she has a problem and needs a replacement part! Passengers have been given extra obc, do you think they will that mean that they can’t claim missed port compensation?

Are you able to get up the steps into a coach? That was hard going with mum but between us we hoisted her up! I don't know if they have accessible coaches for excursions for those who can't get up the steps? The path/road from the coach park to the cafe and troll cars is quite steep but tarmaced. Sorry, I forgot to say, if the weather is very wet your OH might want to take waterproof shoes, we had to negotiate a couple of little streams at the top.

We asked at the excursion desk on Iona if the excursion would be suitable for mum in a wheelchair. They didn't think so but as mum had booked it before breaking her foot she decided to do the coach trip at least as the scenery would be lovely. She was planning on just sitting in the cafe at the bottom. Once we got there she decided to ask if she could go on the troll cars and our troll car driver said the wheelchair could be folded and transported on the cars but it wouldn't be suitable for the walk to the glacier. The scenery on the way up in the troll cars was great, even in the pouring rain, but at the top there was no way the wheelchair could be pushed on the 15-20 minutes walk to the glacier, it was very stony and uneven with a few steep little inclines. All that was in the clearing was a shelter and some loos, no views, so I suppose that's what they mean by compulsory, you can't see the glacier from the clearing. As it was absolutely tipping down mum & dad went straight back down on a troll car and had a drink in the cafe at the bottom while we went on to the glacier. My husband has put a video on youtube of the troll car journey down, that would give you an idea of the views on a bad weather day. There was a lady with a brace on her leg who managed the walk but she looked like a seasoned walker. I haven't got any photos of the walk but here are a few at the glacier. I hope that all helps.

We use the word 'jab' down here in Kent for injections, at least my family does anyway ☺️

Thank you, I’ll have a look later.

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but how do you find out when each ship is due to go to dry dock?

We missed docking in Stavanger on our Iona cruise in May. Fortunately I’d read on here that you need a letter from reception to claim in the insurance so I got that sorted. We were insured with AllClear and, although it took a fair bit of scanning documents to email the claims company, my husband and I were awarded £100 each for missed port with no excess fees. It took around 2/3 weeks to receive the money if I remember correctly.

Thank you for that, I’ve just looked Well’s chemist up and there are none close to us. I don’t drive so need somewhere in walking distance. I will change to Fenns but I’ve been stupid and lots my medication this morning, the box is where it lives but no tablets inside & I know I have 10 days worth in the blister pack. I had a panic this morning when I realised, but my son takes the same thing so I borrowed a pill for today and have had to put in an emergency prescription and I’m going to the shopping centre later where our Boots is so I’ll take a book and queue there tonight 🥴

Sounds like they all have issues. Oh well I think I'll try Fenn's and see how I get on.

Sorry, all I can think of is either looking up cat sitting services or see if a family member or friend would be willing to call in daily. I hope you manage to find someone.