Iona's Maiden Voyage, App problems and Booking Speciality Dining

[daiB]

Just a little observation booking speciality on short cruises, has always been problematic with demand exceeding supply. On longer cruises demand for each night gets less with the extended slots available. On cruises with many experienced cruisers demand is higher.

So this maiden is the perfect storm, short cruise, experienced cruisers and staff still bedding in.

[davecttr]

8 hours ago, shopaholic6 said:

,Not sure who said the speciality restaurants were all booked.  We had an arrival time of 2.15, boarded around 2.45 and still managed to book the Beach House for yesterday evening and Sindhu for tomorrow. When I look now there are still places available to book.

Good news on two fronts then! The Beach House is open, I usually go there on formal night, and your remarkable boarding time of of 30 minutes?

[terrierjohn]

47 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Good news on two fronts then! The Beach House is open, I usually go there on formal night, and your remarkable boarding time of of 30 minutes?

I agree about the boarding time, that's only about 15 minutes longer than Celebrity or RCI boarding times, when they are operating at full capacity.  😉

[Guest]

22 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I agree about the boarding time, that's only about 15 minutes longer than Celebrity or RCI boarding times, when they are operating at full capacity.  😉

I still can’t believe I got on the Symphony of the Seas in 15 minutes! Standard balcony, low loyalty tier. Most the time was spent walking through the terminal 😂 They honestly have it down to a ‘T’. 

[Cathygh]

10 hours ago, shopaholic6 said:

Not sure who said the speciality restaurants were all booked.  We had an arrival time of 2.15, boarded around 2.45 and still managed to book the Beach House for yesterday evening and Sindhu for tomorrow. When I look now there are still places available to book.

Thank you. I think the comments are about Epicurean, Sindhu and Limelight being fully booked. Can Is that the case please?

 

[shopaholic6]

On 8/9/2021 at 9:10 AM, Cathygh said:

Thank you. I think the comments are about Epicurean, Sindhu and Limelight being fully booked. Can Is that the case please?

 

The Limelight was available to book when we boarded although now it shows as fully booked - Sindhu was available when we boarded but I didn’t check the Epicurean - I think as long as you try and book as soon as you get on you should be fine 😎

[P&O SUE]

I’ve been reading a blog of someone on the maiden voyage and he says there was a bit of an uncomfortable stand off between two men in the casino re mask wearing. Seems like some people are expecting everything to be perfect and not allowing for teething problems. 

[P&O SUE]

I’ve just seen this on P&O’s official ‘page’. What a great picture, Iona just off the Isle of Iona 😊

 

 

[Cathygh]

2 hours ago, shopaholic6 said:

The Limelight was available to book when we boarded although now it shows as fully booked - Sindhu was available when we boarded but I didn’t check the Epicurean - I think as long as you try and book as soon as you get on you should be fine 😎

Thank you, that's reassuring

 

[rattla]

On 8/9/2021 at 7:36 AM, davecttr said:

Good news on two fronts then! The Beach House is open, I usually go there on formal night, and your remarkable boarding time of of 30 minutes?

I understand that the area where Beach house is is used to accommodate the “Chefs Table” on celebration/Formal nights.

[Cathygh]

1 hour ago, rattla said:

I understand that the area where Beach house is is used to accommodate the “Chefs Table” on celebration/Formal nights.

Yes that seems to be the case. I believe it has the MDR menu with some extra choices. 

[zap99]

On 8/10/2021 at 3:11 PM, shopaholic6 said:

The Limelight was available to book when we boarded although now it shows as fully booked - Sindhu was available when we boarded but I didn’t check the Epicurean - I think as long as you try and book as soon as you get on you should be fine 😎

We managed to 'blag' tables in Sindhu and Epicurean by threatening poor reports on Cruise Critic. As Eric and Ern were the 'Star act' in the Limelight, we didn't bother trying and saved 50 quid.🤣

[davecttr]

2 hours ago, rattla said:

I understand that the area where Beach house is is used to accommodate the “Chefs Table” on celebration/Formal nights.

Bad news, it is the buffet or room service for me then 😠

[shopaholic6]

On 8/9/2021 at 7:36 AM, davecttr said:

Good news on two fronts then! The Beach House is open, I usually go there on formal night, and your remarkable boarding time of of 30 minutes?

Yep! Amazing wasn’t it? I presume it was because people were actually arriving at their given times rather than trying to sneak on early and everyone arriving at the same time. I couldn’t fault the organisation of the COVID testing and checking in experience. 😀😀

[shopaholic6]

On 8/10/2021 at 4:54 PM, P&O SUE said:

I’ve just seen this on P&O’s official ‘page’. What a great picture, Iona just off the Isle of Iona 😊

 

 

Thanks for this picture - we saw a helicopter hovering overhead and wondered what it was doing! Now we know! 😎😎