Iona Construction ?

[besberry]

On 1/12/2020 at 5:27 PM, BrianI said:

Not Nassau but Hamilton, Bermuda.

Brian

Oops! ☺️

[jaydee6969]

New shot of the stern from Paul Ludlow:-

 

https://twitter.com/PaulLudlowUK/status/1217030687032823810?s=20

 

 

Edited January 14, 2020 by jaydee6969

[emam]

Looks good.

[DamianG]

On 1/12/2020 at 9:05 AM, davecttr said:

Being registered in the UK means they can't conduct weddings at sea. Probably a deliberate policy to avoid large numbers of 'booze cruise/wedding parties on what are Ionas bread and butter. Short cruises of 7 days, in the summer season to the same ports in Norway week after week.

 

Thinking about Norway, it is not exactly a destination of choice for all those young families they are hoping to attract. The kids want sun and lots of water to play in. Stavanger and Bergen can probably absorb 5200 passengers but Olden/Geiranger/Haugo sund? The Loen skylift at Olden can carry 350 passengers per hour. good luck waiting up several hours to get to the top. Or at geiranger join the hoards climbing up the river path to the fjord centre. Haugosund?, nothing much to do in town.

 

In some idle moments yesterday I did some calculations on berths available on cruises departing this June/July/August. For the existing 6 ships and making an allowance for Oceanas 7/14 days choices P&O need to sell 132559 lower berths for those 3 months. Adding Iona means selling another 67600 berths. This is almost exactly a 51% increase in the number of berths available. I expect some deep discounting?

 

The cynic in me thinks that P&O/Carnival will be well aware of this and that most young families will spend little time ashore and therefore more time (spending money) on the ship itself. All part of the drive to make the ship the "holiday destination"?

Edited January 14, 2020 by DamianG

[neutrino78x]

lmao disregard my post...I realized we were just looking at the stern from a funny angle. 🙂

Edited January 15, 2020 by neutrino78x

[jaydee6969]

3 hours ago, neutrino78x said:

lmao disregard my post...I realized we were just looking at the stern from a funny angle. 🙂

 

No worries, a bit of fish-eye with the lens I think has distorted the view.  Nice pic of the Sea Lions though.

[jaydee6969]

Latest Meyer Werft webcam update

 

 

[terrierjohn]

It looks as though the retreat roof structure is now in place.

[Adegb]

On 1/12/2020 at 11:41 AM, AndyMichelle said:

Totally agree Pete, but getting them to do it/enjoy it is another matter.. 

Andy 

There will be some that fit this description, but I think there will also be adults that fall under that as well.

 

We're booked on Iona early August with our 11 year old son for our first cruise but give him the choice of a beach or hike through a forest and it'll be the forest every time.

 

He is very much like us, we would much rather get about and about and see the sights than lie by a pool or on a beach which is one of the reasons we wanted to try cruising. The pool is there for a swim if we want it but we get to see more places than we would with a beach holiday.

 

 

[pete14]

41 minutes ago, Adegb said:

There will be some that fit this description, but I think there will also be adults that fall under that as well.

 

We're booked on Iona early August with our 11 year old son for our first cruise but give him the choice of a beach or hike through a forest and it'll be the forest every time.

 

He is very much like us, we would much rather get about and about and see the sights than lie by a pool or on a beach which is one of the reasons we wanted to try cruising. The pool is there for a swim if we want it but we get to see more places than we would with a beach holiday.

 

 

I agree with what you say. For people who enjoy hiking through forests, Norway is ideal. There are good walks available at every port Iona visits, some quite strenuous. Several will be offered as P&O excursions but there is plenty of scope for doing it yourself as long as you have a good sense of direction. I am sure you will all have a great time.

[jaydee6969]

From Meyer Werft:-

The lettering of the shipping company p & o cruises is now ready for assembly in our large baudock. In Mid-February, the Iona will be docked and is with us until the end of March in the shipyard port.

[jaydee6969]

Latest Meyer Werft webcam update - Float out Mid February - EMS conveyance End of March

[jaydee6969]

Meyer Werft website has had a makeover, with slightly better quality webcam photo's to view.

 

Also a new page with float out and Ems conveyance listed. Dates will be confirmed closer to the event.

 

 

[emam]

So does that mean she is nearly finished on the inside. I thought she might go somewhere else to get kitted out. What happens next, does she go for sea trials straight after conveyance?

[jaydee6969]

7 hours ago, emam said:

So does that mean she is nearly finished on the inside. I thought she might go somewhere else to get kitted out. What happens next, does she go for sea trials straight after conveyance?

 

Internal fitting out work will be happening now and up until the conveyance, whilst at the quay in Meyer's harbour.  Usually fitting out continues after the conveyance and before the trials start.  Usually docked for a few weeks at a port before sea trials start, not sure if it will be Eemshaven or Bremerhaven.  But, as with most cruise ships, possibly work may be carried out on board right up until she reaches Southampton .

[terrierjohn]

I do hope they are going to get rid of all that rubbish on the bridge roof, otherwise the views from the crows nest are going to be compromised.😉

[pete14]

2 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

I do hope they are going to get rid of all that rubbish on the bridge roof, otherwise the views from the crows nest are going to be compromised.😉

First rough sea will probably cause it to slip off, never to be seen again.

[Fionatritton]

it's interesting about the weddings at sea business - because we are booked with a wedding party in December on Iona and they are definitely having a wedding ceremony on board. So either they have got round it or it will just be a ceremony and the legals will have to be done before/after the cruise

[Son of Anarchy]

2 hours ago, Fionatritton said:

it's interesting about the weddings at sea business - because we are booked with a wedding party in December on Iona and they are definitely having a wedding ceremony on board. So either they have got round it or it will just be a ceremony and the legals will have to be done before/after the cruise

 

Captains of GB registered ships are not able to conduct the wedding ceremony.  Maybe on Iona and Britannia they arrange for a registrar or other such accredited person to perform the necessaries.

[davemorton]

Now theres an idea, instead of having to learn how to teach people to do water colours and crafty things to get my free cruises in later life, I would just become a registrar and offer my services

[Britboys]

On 1/30/2020 at 1:42 PM, Son of Anarchy said:

 

Captains of GB registered ships are not able to conduct the wedding ceremony.  Maybe on Iona and Britannia they arrange for a registrar or other such accredited person to perform the necessaries.

Weddings at Sea are not available on Britannia or Iona - because they are registered in the UK.

[Fionatritton]

9 hours ago, Britboys said:

Weddings at Sea are not available on Britannia or Iona - because they are registered in the UK.

Well all I can go from is our experience which is that our friends have a wedding ceremony on Iona on one of the sea days on our cruise in December, so they are most definitely doing something. The bride is a legal executive so I assume she will have read the fine print 

[terrierjohn]

11 hours ago, Fionatritton said:

Well all I can go from is our experience which is that our friends have a wedding ceremony on Iona on one of the sea days on our cruise in December, so they are most definitely doing something. The bride is a legal executive so I assume she will have read the fine print 

There are detailed T&C's on the P&O website, no mention of which ships can or cannot perform weddings, but it does state that the weddings are civil ceremonies subject to Bermudan law, which is a bit strange if Iona is registered in Southampton.

[Fionatritton]

It's all very odd. I noticed it a few months ago that they didn't seem to offer them but she's given us all sorts of details, which day , what time, where the wedding room is and that the Captain is marrying them. She's booked via room number so unless there has been some disastrous mixup (and it would be very unlike her not to check, double check and check everything again to make sure) they must have something in place. I'll let you know in December !

[Fionatritton]

The only alternative I can think of is that they do blessings at sea so you have a fake ceremony but you have to get the legal done at home. But why would they do that when weddings must be a big revenue stream for them, especially on a big ship like Iona so I would have though they would have that all in place