daiB

I cruise with P&O a lot 3/4/5 cruises a year, 6 this year as it happens. I tend not to complain but I am told I am wrong??? I enjoy repeating ports I have been to say Funchal many times but I have not spent as much time there as if I had a two week fly holiday there. I enjoy all my cruises but apparently I should not according to some. How odd. Iona is still brilliant

I think the idea is to give more choice at the base, non extra, level.

You should always ask nicely. However I always have a starter and soup. It never fazes the waiter. I have also asked for a sweet and cheese. It is not a problem at all. We even got it in the Limelight club. However I rarely have a sweet. With regard to a fish course If i wanted one I may only have soup but you can ask for a starter a soup and a fish course, no problem at all.

There are the same number of free MDR’s on Arvia only one is the Olive grove and the other the American diner.

As for the Keel and Cow, the food is excellent the steak I had was spot on. However you do get a lot to eat my wife had the chicken which turned out to be a whole chicken. It is also an excellent place for breakfast. Served to you in a very relaxing place to eat, which sounds odd as it is part of the atrium. We are also ones who eat off the ship and do more and more as we find places we like in ports we visit on a regular basis. Unlike you however we would miss meals on the ship if we know we are eating on shore.

Would you be happier if I added some made up negatives??

My scooter has go faster stripes. From checking in at the top of the lift, very quick as we had dome most on line, we were directed straight to the far end entrance. The one which was used for suites. Straight through and to the nearest air bridge. Then to lunch

I liked the fact that you had to go to the shops as you did not usually pass that way unless going to one of the MDR’s, which we did not do very often. explains why we missed the “Jumble Sale”

No just took it with us, as we always do

Must be good as we did not see them. 🙂

More is better. 🙂

Our Iona Experience. We sailed on Iona on cruises G307and G308 returning to the UK on Saturday 8th April. The first cruise was to The Canaries and the second a week to Western Europe. After all the talk about the disaster which would happen with a ship with 5000+ passengers when embarking I have to say this was our easiest embarkation ever. Arrived at 11.50 for our 12.00 check in time and we were sat in the peninsular lunch by 12.15. Magic! The ship impressed from the start, I use a mobility scooter and found this to be the best ship I have been on for accessibility. My wife was convinced there were more accessible toilets than ordinary ones. Loved the door locking and opening should help with control of bugs. Dining was excellent although we only used the MDR’s 4 times over the 3 weeks. The other options were so good. Loved the glass house, Keel and Cow, Sindhu, Chefs Table and The quays. Even with my wife saying before the cruise she did not want to go there in the evening. She loved it. The entertainment was very good although I did not attend any, again my wife’s experience. She loved the Silent Disco, which was jumping. We did get to see Gary Barlow. He was excellent. We also went to the Limelight Club 4 times. Again excellent, especially Chesney Hawkes. We enjoyed the ports and found getting off and on again to be a breeze. Where were the queues? Even on the shorter 2nd cruise, which was school holidays there were no queues. The only time I was aware of some problems was one the first day of the second cruise when all the bars in the atrium were busy in the afternoon. I had no problem at all although I do sit up at the bar and by then knew all the staff, Being school hols. There were reportedly 1000+ children on board. The ones I came across were polite and well behaved. All in all we had 2 wonderful cruises and we are so glad we will be back on Iona in October to do it all again. Some further observations on Iona. 1. Even with 5500 passengers it never felt crowded. Busy, yes but never overpowering. 2. There are more seats on this ship than I have ever seen on any ship. Always somewhere to sit. 3. The three tier atrium had seats on all levels unlike Ventura where the middle level is all shops with no seats. 4. Never saw a “jumble sale” 5. Fantastic views from the atrium with the floor to ceiling windows. 6. The ship felt very stable even coming back through the bay with 6/7 metre swell. I never thought about it but someone else commented that there were no “sick bags” out. 7. My wife found it very easy to navigate around and had the hang of the ship within a few days. 8. The range of eating outlets is fantastic. You need more than 2 weeks to try them all 9. Getting on and off at Southampton made much easier by there now being 2 air bridges. 10. More ports have onshore facilities for security scanning and are well manned which helps re boarding the ship. Gan Canny Dai

To say that P&O will only cater for those under 60 is just barmy. We have just come off Iona with the average age being 64. This is a bit false as there were many years young children bringing the average down. The cruise line cannot leave out the over 65’s as they are the ones with the money and time to cruise. Our 2nd cruise, 1 week, had a younger element and a slightly different feel. Both however were great. No problems with children or teenagers, in fact I found them to be very polite. But what a fantastic ship with so many places to eat and so much entertainment. I suspect it would take a great deal of things to be right before my OH would want to book the 2 small ones again.

As far as I understand there is no booking on any ship except Iona and Arvia. I never go to the theatre but my wife does and tells me there are always seats in the theatre. We have been on Ventura, Aurora and Iona recently coming off a back to back on Iona on Saturday. No problem getting a seat at any time on either cruise. Except the Gary Barlow do when there was a raffle for seats. I was forced to go. He was good. Then it was no ticket no entry. Dai

Not to be missed.

We agree that going to the same ports is a good thing. We are building up a list of eating places, particularly Tapas bars in all the ports we go to, well Spanish ones. As far as Lisbon is concerned we love our time there and gave just found the Time Out market opposite the station for Cascais. We also have a few places we like to eat. Lisbon has improved dramatically in the past few years especially the area between the ships berth and the Black Horse square.

Exactly our experience. Only we did not join a queue until we were in a bar having a drink. Didn’t want to be called too soon. 🙂

As I understand it the Olive Grove on Iona is different to that on Arvia. On Arvia it is a MDR as is the American Diner. Which is why the menus change on Arvia and not Iona possibly.

Still the same on Iona, a little hiccup at the start but that was probably my fault. With so many places to eat we did not use the MDR very often. When we did it was very good.

Ah so they did get the message I sent. 🙂

I have my shareholders OBC added to my account for my cruise in 2025, which is odd as I have not booked it yet. 🙂

To quote you “rubbish” food is as good if not better than it has been for a number of years.

Certainly do not agree the food was better then. We have had excellent food on our last 4/5 cruises in the last year. Now on Iona and the standard is very high.

Don’t tell everyone.

I may do soon, we join her tomorrow.