Iona Construction ?

[molecrochip]

3 hours ago, Britboys said:

I see RCI's new-build Odyssey of the Seas, which was due to start sailing from Fort Lauderdale in November, will now not be debuting until April when she will sail Eastern Med itineraries out of Rome. She was due to be sailing to the Bahamas and Caribbean this winter.

A couple of fires onboard during the build have not helped. Also the team finishing Iona are late transferring onto Odyssey to finish her.

[zap99]

54 minutes ago, Addict said:

I find it strange that people are offended if someone has cruised more than them.  I have many friends that have cruised WAY more than us, at least in the hundreds.  I don't know what there is to get upset about, we did our first cruise once too, and hopefully we can give advice (if asked for).  I agree Barcelona is a great port to embark, easy taxi ride.  Venice can be tricky.

Last time from Venice we booked a shared water taxi as we were staying on Venice Lido. It didn't cost too much and was a very pleasant way to transfer. If Venice bans cruise ships we will have to find another port. Probably Barcelona. The transfer by taxi is fairly cheap. If this all carries on too long, I doubt we will get to 40, but we do have 2 booked for next year. One from Southampton and one from Vancouver. Fingers crossed😁

[brian1]

I've done over 1000 cruises if you include 985 on the Woolwich ferry.

[SarahHben]

I've done over 1000 cruises if you include 985 on the Woolwich ferry.

My husband always says “I told you I’d take you on a cruise” every time we travel into London on a Thames Clipper [emoji23]


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[Britboys]

36 minutes ago, brian1 said:

I've done over 1000 cruises if you include 985 on the Woolwich ferry.

Not as 'luxurious' as the Tilbury to Gravesend ferry...😂

[brian1]

50 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Not as 'luxurious' as the Tilbury to Gravesend ferry...😂

They do rip you off with the garlic and crucifixs at the Gravesend gift shop.I've worked in Gravesend among many other places,it's a shame they didn't take vans,it would have made my drive home a little shorter.

[Britboys]

I was born and grew up in North Kent, so know the area. There has always been a bit of a rivalry between Kent and Essex but that was difficult for us as Mum was from Kent but her Dad was from Essex! As kids, we used to jump on the train to Gravesend and ride the ferry for fun. How times have changed 😄

[brian1]

10 minutes ago, Britboys said:

I was born and grew up in North Kent, so know the area. There has always been a bit of a rivalry between Kent and Essex but that was difficult for us as Mum was from Kent but her Dad was from Essex! As kids, we used to jump on the train to Gravesend and ride the ferry for fun. How times have changed 😄

It gets more serious upriver with West Ham and Millwall,lol.

[zap99]

45 minutes ago, Britboys said:

I was born and grew up in North Kent, so know the area. There has always been a bit of a rivalry between Kent and Essex but that was difficult for us as Mum was from Kent but her Dad was from Essex! As kids, we used to jump on the train to Gravesend and ride the ferry for fun. How times have changed 😄

That's nothing. My Dad was  from Wandsworth and my Mum from Battersea. They said the families barely spoke for years. There houses were less than a mile apart.

[Saab4444]

How is all this related to Iona??

[davecttr]

24 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

How is all this related to Iona??

Good question 😉

[Britboys]

50 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

How is all this related to Iona??

It isn't but one thing leads to another. It's informally called thread drift. With the relative lack of actual cruising topics at the moment, most people don't mind too much...

[Adawn47]

1 minute ago, Britboys said:

It isn't but one thing leads to another. It's informally called thread drift. With the relative lack of actual cruising topics at the moment, most people don't mind too much...

As there's no cruising at the moment lets call it 'thread cruising' It's as near as we're going to get for  now😉

Avril 

[brian1]

2 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

How is all this related to Iona??

cos it aint finished and Gary's not on board.

[Camberley]

On 7/5/2020 at 9:08 PM, ozzysdad said:

We are due onboard on the 24th October which if it gets the go ahead will be the Maiden I'm more hopeful than optimistic.

Same. Would be lovely if it goes ahead of course, but we’re fully prepared for it not to.

[Monorail Orange]

I wonder if they could dock her somewhere in Southampton and open up for ship tours? Probably for press previews at first, but maybe booked-in-advance-day-trippers.

[wowzz]

40 minutes ago, Monorail Orange said:

I wonder if they could dock her somewhere in Southampton and open up for ship tours? Probably for press previews at first, but maybe booked-in-advance-day-trippers.

Too much hassle and aggravation (security checks, controlling where the trippers went etc) for too little reward, imho.

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Too much hassle and aggravation (security checks, controlling where the trippers went etc) for too little reward, imho.

At one time, new ships were always opened up to past customers before their maiden cruises. I saw Aurora and The first Adonia that way. Of course, they now have many, many more past passengers than say 15 years ago...

[molecrochip]

Bringing this thread back on topic.... As information is starting to trickle out....

 

Iona's crew are now starting to join, although not necessarily the hotel & ents crew. Enhanced crew medical procedures in place.  

 

Crew will undertake ship familiarisation and further ship trials. Iona's handover is end of August. Ship will then enter lay-up with crew but current plan is it wont be in Southampton.

 

I expect Iona to sail with passengers in 2020, just.

Edited July 27, 2020 by molecrochip

[Eddie99]

Interesting

Thank you 🤞

[Son of Anarchy]

Thanks for the update.  Christmas & New Year or a tad earlier?

[terrierjohn]

Sounds promising then for Feb 21, let's hope there are no further setbacks.

[davemorton]

I am presuming they have already paid for the berth at Newcastle already, be nice if they sent her up here for a month or two, if she would fit. 

[davecttr]

59 minutes ago, davemorton said:

I am presuming they have already paid for the berth at Newcastle already, be nice if they sent her up here for a month or two, if she would fit. 

Port of Tyne lists the cruise berth as taking ships up to 300 metres long , how long is Iona?

[wowzz]

3 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Port of Tyne lists the cruise berth as taking ships up to 300 metres long , how long is Iona?

344.5 metres, so she won't fit!