Iona Thoughts

[Cruiserjules]

Stepped off Iona this morning, and whilst the washing is swirling in the machine and blowing outside,  thought I’d do a quick review.

 

Having dropped off our luggage, we hit the long testing queue at exactly 12.00noon, our allocated time. Tested at 12.23, then a tense wait.  Dave’s negative result came through after 10 minutes, mine after an anxious 30!  And so at 1.05 we stepped onto Iona.  Our muster station was where we entered (Emerald bar), so quickly up to our cabin on deck 12.

 

Our GA cabin was huge,  extremely comfortable with our settee next to the window.  Just a few points  - the shower door swings both inwards and outwards so is easy to get into, and the shower itself is powerful.  There’s an optional nightlight in the cabin for nocturnal bathroom visits and a dim light stays on in the bathroom all night.  The bed is huge and very comfy.  The main drawback is – there are NO drawers anywhere in the cabin.  There’s a single-doored half wardrobe with a shelf and the safe above the rail.  A single-doored cupboard with 4/5 shelves and a double-doored full-length wardrobe with the lifejackets stored on the shelf above the rail.    There are two cupboards by the fridge, the inside space of which is smaller than the outside suggests.  The sockets have been raised above the level of the desk to allow for wires and there’s a very useful USB point under each of the wall-mounted bedside lights.  The hairdryer is more powerful than any other P&O hairdryer I’ve encountered.  I have long very thick hair and it dried mine quickly.  Balcony is bigger than on Britannia, with two reclining chairs and a small side table.  The temperature inside the ship was set to “stifling”, so the efficient cabin air conditioning was very welcome

 

We ate in the Coral MDR, Sindhu, The Olive Grove, The Buffet, Taste 360, The Quays, The Beach House and The Glass House.  The specialty restaurants have their own exclusive menus not available on other ships.  The Beach House is free with no supplemented dishes, the Olive Grove has just a couple of supplemented dishes and Sindhu is pay per dish.  We couldn’t get into the Keel and Cow which is also pay per dish, but it smelt lovely (on occasions all through the atrium).  The frustrating part was getting into the restaurants, but once there, we found the waiting times not too bad, lessened as the week went on, and the food was lovely on every occasion in every location. 

 

The entertainment onboard was fantastic, Joe Pasquali was hilarious and surprising, Tony Hadley simply amazing, Manuel Martinez ‘s late night show was funny, and the Headliners Show “Festival” was the best show of theirs we’ve seen since Masquerade in 2010.  The sky dome light and aerial acrobatic shows were breath-taking, although the acoustics in the dome aren’t the best for any singers there.  The busker and sea shanty singers were excellent and there really was something for everyone, although we never timed the huge queues right to get into Gary’s 716 Club. 

 

The staff onboard were all, without exception, fabulous, and the “welcome onboard” from everyone was genuine. We only encountered “we can’t do that because of Covid” once at that was in Sindhu where it made no sense at all.

 

Now the not so good aspects – the Sailaway which we christened the “sneak out under cover of darkness-away”.  No razzamatazz, no excited announcement from the bridge, no water jets, no cheers, no party atmosphere on the open decks - absolutely nothing.  We had an announcement earlier to say what time be would be sailing and that we would be sounding the ships hooter more frequently than usual – (I heard it just once at Calshot) I am not sure what I expected, but it just felt an enormous anticlimax . The fireworks at Iona were lovely though, and we did get a lovely gift of two engraved cider glasses and two bottles of the brand of cider used to launch the ship.

 

So to the IT – the APP has a couple of letters missing at the beginning which would have described it more efficiently.  There are no menus on there (or on the TV screen)  and you have to keep the phone in your hand and keep refreshing the screen constantly to find your place in the queue or that you have been called. The internet kept dropping out, which was frustrating for both the passengers and the waiters trying to take orders using their IPads.  Due to the number of days onboard and the demand, by the second day every specialty restaurant onboard was fully booked, and that was with just 2800 (so I was told by a restaurant manager) passengers onboard, so at the moment, you do need to be ready to book as soon as you embark, but I'm sure longer cruises will sort the problem.   If I never hear the expression “Virtual Queue” again, it’ll be too soon.  

 

And my personal rant - mobile phones – everywhere.  People sitting at the tables looking at their phones, possibly trying to work the app, texting, talking loudly in an “I’m on the phone” sort of way when we were near enough to the coast to get signal, and spoiling everyone’s enjoyment holding them up and videoing the theatre shows – which, despite there being Entertainment Staff in the theatre, and announcements to the contrary - no one was stopped. 

 

And the biggest let down of all was the lack of an on-screen Navigation Map.  All around the coast, the Scottish islands etc, we had absolutely no idea where we were, except for Iona itself and Tobermory. I know several people complained at reception all getting told different things – “there isn’t one” “we didn’t think we would need one” or the frustrating– “it’s there but it’s not working”.   Come on P&O, this cruise was hardly a surprise, it’s been available since March!  This could have been mitigated by someone from the bridge giving us a few clues or commentary – there was Scottish Storyteller onboard who did his very best to point out things to people on the open deck, but that wasn’t why he was onboard and why wasn’t this done from the bridge – they managed to tell us when there were dolphins.  We just had one announcement per day (except on celebration night).  VERY disappointing.

 

I don’t need to describe individual aspects of each venue save to say we personally thought that the atrium lacks the “wow” factor, and the bars in there are a bit soul-less.     If you use The Retreat – it’s partially overlooked from the deck above, and apart from those at the front and back, every cabin overlooks the prom deck (8) with its walkers, sunbeds, seats and jacuzzies.   Some of the conservatory cabins are on deck 8, so are very close to everyone promenading/sunbathing etc, so choose your cabin carefully.   There are some lovely outdoor bars and pools and seven times round the track on deck 18 is a mile.

 

If you are still with me – I’ve made this sound a little more negative than I intended.  Iona is a fantastic ship, airy and bright with panoramic views from the atrium and the dining rooms.  Its tastefully decorated throughout in peaceful muted colours and after a day or so, was easy to find the way around, though you do walk a long way each day.  It felt covid-safe, masks were worn everywhere indoors except when seated to eat or drink and the cabin steward did not come into your room whilst you were in there or on the balcony.   I would go on again in a flash, my only reservation being that at times, it felt quite full with half-ish of its  passengers so how would it be with the full quota.

Edited August 14, 2021 by Cruiserjules
spelling

[AndyMichelle]

Great review Jules, thank you. 

Andy 

[Pet]

Join Iona two weeks today so thank you for very good, timely review. I was following the ship on cruise ship tractor most days so what you were told was rubbish. Was JP in the limelight club or was some one else there? Presume people were using mobile because the P&O apt in on it to book various things. How was formal night?

Many thanks

😀

[Bin man]

What a great review cruiserjules the only thing you didn't tell us did you get your washing done ! 

[Selbourne]

A very interesting review. One of the things that I usually enjoy about being on a cruise ship is that you don’t need to carry your mobile phone around with you, so having to do that to use the app will be nuisance enough, without idiots filming shows etc. Very distracting for everyone else, as well as being bad manners.
 

It’s concerning that the ship felt busy at times and the speciality restaurants filled up early with only half the normal numbers of passengers on board. I shall await with interest the reviews once she starts sailing with 5,500 passengers. Our adult daughters are keen that we all go on Iona together in 2023 (or possibly Our Vera) but I’m a bit 50/50 at present. We have enjoyed 3 cruises on Britannia but didn’t experience any of these issues. 

 

I’m pleased to hear that there are no drawers in the cabins, seeing as we always seem to be next door to folk who have to open and slam closed every single drawer every time they need anything, although they will probably just do the same with all the cupboard doors now!

[davecttr]

I am disappointed with the 9pm departure time, almost if they wait until it is getting dark just so you can't see evening views of the Isle of Wight.

 

Will Iona ever sail full on the Norway itinerary? Not a destination for the kids and 5200 passengers is a lot of people.

 

Seven days until my cruise, that don't want to go feeling has started.

[Waju]

Fabulous review cruiserjules - I'm wondering if she will be full when we sail on her next April??  It sounds, from other comments it is going to be very busy when full!

 

I also agree with Selbourne - when I get on board I like to put my phone in the safe until we get off, if everyone has to keep their phones with them to use the app it will drive me mad!  I hope it gets enforced by staff that phones can't record the shows etc.

[jaydee6969]

17 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

 

It’s concerning that the ship felt busy at times and the speciality restaurants filled up early with only half the normal numbers of passengers on board. I shall await with interest the reviews once she starts sailing with 5,500 passengers. Our adult daughters are keen that we all go on Iona together in 2023 (or possibly Our Vera) but I’m a bit 50/50 at present. We have enjoyed 3 cruises on Britannia but didn’t experience any of these issues. 

 

We felt the opposite, and felt the ship was fairly quiet at times.

 

Something that keeps getting overlooked is whilst the ship may be only half full, all the entertainment and dining venues are also working at reduced capacity. One breakfast we had in the Aqua we were seated at a table for 6 for the 2 of us.

 

What we are looking forward to is more passengers on board and the elimination of coved restrictions, to get back to a more normal experience. Talking to someone else 2 tables away in Brodie’s doesn’t work the same.  

[Selbourne]

12 minutes ago, jaydee6969 said:

 

We felt the opposite, and felt the ship was fairly quiet at times.

 

Something that keeps getting overlooked is whilst the ship may be only half full, all the entertainment and dining venues are also working at reduced capacity. One breakfast we had in the Aqua we were seated at a table for 6 for the 2 of us.

 

What we are looking forward to is more passengers on board and the elimination of coved restrictions, to get back to a more normal experience. Talking to someone else 2 tables away in Brodie’s doesn’t work the same.  

That’s a good point so maybe, pro-rata, it will be similar. The speciality restaurants getting full worries me though as we use them a lot and reviews of the MDR don’t seem to be very good. Early days though and there are bound to be teething problems. 

[Alan & Giselle]

2 hours ago, Cruiserjules said:

Stepped off Iona this morning, and whilst the washing is swirling in the machine and blowing outside,  thought I’d do a quick review.

 

Having dropped off our luggage, we hit the long testing queue at exactly 12.00noon, our allocated time. Tested at 12.23, then a tense wait.  Dave’s negative result came through after 10 minutes, mine after an anxious 30!  And so at 1.05 we stepped onto Iona.  Our muster station was where we entered (Emerald bar), so quickly up to our cabin on deck 12.

 

Our GA cabin was huge,  extremely comfortable with our settee next to the window.  Just a few points  - the shower door swings both inwards and outwards so is easy to get into, and the shower itself is powerful.  There’s an optional nightlight in the cabin for nocturnal bathroom visits and a dim light stays on in the bathroom all night.  The bed is huge and very comfy.  The main drawback is – there are NO drawers anywhere in the cabin.  There’s a single-doored half wardrobe with a shelf and the safe above the rail.  A single-doored cupboard with 4/5 shelves and a double-doored full-length wardrobe with the lifejackets stored on the shelf above the rail.    There are two cupboards by the fridge, the inside space of which is smaller than the outside suggests.  The sockets have been raised above the level of the desk to allow for wires and there’s a very useful USB point under each of the wall-mounted bedside lights.  The hairdryer is more powerful than any other P&O hairdryer I’ve encountered.  I have long very thick hair and it dried mine quickly.  Balcony is bigger than on Britannia, with two reclining chairs and a small side table.  The temperature inside the ship was set to “stifling”, so the efficient cabin air conditioning was very welcome

 

We ate in the Coral MDR, Sindhu, The Olive Grove, The Buffet, Taste 360, The Quays, The Beach House and The Glass House.  The specialty restaurants have their own exclusive menus not available on other ships.  The Beach House is free with no supplemented dishes, the Olive Grove has just a couple of supplemented dishes and Sindhu is pay per dish.  We couldn’t get into the Keel and Cow which is also pay per dish, but it smelt lovely (on occasions all through the atrium).  The frustrating part was getting into the restaurants, but once there, we found the waiting times not too bad, lessened as the week went on, and the food was lovely on every occasion in every location. 

 

The entertainment onboard was fantastic, Joe Pasquali was hilarious and surprising, Tony Hadley simply amazing, Manuel Martinez ‘s late night show was funny, and the Headliners Show “Festival” was the best show of theirs we’ve seen since Masquerade in 2010.  The sky dome light and aerial acrobatic shows were breath-taking, although the acoustics in the dome aren’t the best for any singers there.  The busker and sea shanty singers were excellent and there really was something for everyone, although we never timed the huge queues right to get into Gary’s 716 Club. 

 

The staff onboard were all, without exception, fabulous, and the “welcome onboard” from everyone was genuine. We only encountered “we can’t do that because of Covid” once at that was in Sindhu where it made no sense at all.

 

Now the not so good aspects – the Sailaway which we christened the “sneak out under cover of darkness-away”.  No razzamatazz, no excited announcement from the bridge, no water jets, no cheers, no party atmosphere on the open decks - absolutely nothing.  We had an announcement earlier to say what time be would be sailing and that we would be sounding the ships hooter more frequently than usual – (I heard it just once at Calshot) I am not sure what I expected, but it just felt an enormous anticlimax . The fireworks at Iona were lovely though, and we did get a lovely gift of two engraved cider glasses and two bottles of the brand of cider used to launch the ship.

 

So to the IT – the APP has a couple of letters missing at the beginning which would have described it more efficiently.  There are no menus on there (or on the TV screen)  and you have to keep the phone in your hand and keep refreshing the screen constantly to find your place in the queue or that you have been called. The internet kept dropping out, which was frustrating for both the passengers and the waiters trying to take orders using their IPads.  Due to the number of days onboard and the demand, by the second day every specialty restaurant onboard was fully booked, and that was with just 2800 (so I was told by a restaurant manager) passengers onboard, so at the moment, you do need to be ready to book as soon as you embark, but I'm sure longer cruises will sort the problem.   If I never hear the expression “Virtual Queue” again, it’ll be too soon.  

 

And my personal rant - mobile phones – everywhere.  People sitting at the tables looking at their phones, possibly trying to work the app, texting, talking loudly in an “I’m on the phone” sort of way when we were near enough to the coast to get signal, and spoiling everyone’s enjoyment holding them up and videoing the theatre shows – which, despite there being Entertainment Staff in the theatre, and announcements to the contrary - no one was stopped. 

 

And the biggest let down of all was the lack of an on-screen Navigation Map.  All around the coast, the Scottish islands etc, we had absolutely no idea where we were, except for Iona itself and Tobermory. I know several people complained at reception all getting told different things – “there isn’t one” “we didn’t think we would need one” or the frustrating– “it’s there but it’s not working”.   Come on P&O, this cruise was hardly a surprise, it’s been available since March!  This could have been mitigated by someone from the bridge giving us a few clues or commentary – there was Scottish Storyteller onboard who did his very best to point out things to people on the open deck, but that wasn’t why he was onboard and why wasn’t this done from the bridge – they managed to tell us when there were dolphins.  We just had one announcement per day (except on celebration night).  VERY disappointing.

 

I don’t need to describe individual aspects of each venue save to say we personally thought that the atrium lacks the “wow” factor, and the bars in there are a bit soul-less.     If you use The Retreat – it’s partially overlooked from the deck above, and apart from those at the front and back, every cabin overlooks the prom deck (8) with its walkers, sunbeds, seats and jacuzzies.   Some of the conservatory cabins are on deck 8, so are very close to everyone promenading/sunbathing etc, so choose your cabin carefully.   There are some lovely outdoor bars and pools and seven times round the track on deck 18 is a mile.

 

If you are still with me – I’ve made this sound a little more negative than I intended.  Iona is a fantastic ship, airy and bright with panoramic views from the atrium and the dining rooms.  Its tastefully decorated throughout in peaceful muted colours and after a day or so, was easy to find the way around, though you do walk a long way each day.  It felt covid-safe, masks were worn everywhere indoors except when seated to eat or drink and the cabin steward did not come into your room whilst you were in there or on the balcony.   I would go on again in a flash, my only reservation being that at times, it felt quite full with half-ish of its  passengers so how would it be with the full quota.

Fabulous review.

out of curiosity which cabin were you in and do you have any photos please.

 

many thanks.

[Cruiserjules]

1 hour ago, Pet said:

Join Iona two weeks today so thank you for very good, timely review. I was following the ship on cruise ship tractor most days so what you were told was rubbish. Was JP in the limelight club or was some one else there? Presume people were using mobile because the P&O apt in on it to book various things. How was formal night?

Many thanks

😀

The amazing Joe was in the Theatre, and we booked via the cruise personaliser before we boarded.  The act in The Limelight Club was La Voix, and I understand it was fully booked.

The Celebration Night began with an announcement from the captain at about 5 or 6 o'clock in the evening.  We all had a voucher for a free glass of champagne.  We ate in the MDR and received a couple of pieces of whisky fudge in a presentation box, and a nice keepsake menu.

The majority of passengers embraced the dress code - one - my husband- took it further than others, and raised a few smiles.

[Pet]

5 minutes ago, Cruiserjules said:

The amazing Joe was in the Theatre, and we booked via the cruise personaliser before we boarded.  The act in The Limelight Club was La Voix, and I understand it was fully booked.

The Celebration Night began with an announcement from the captain at about 5 or 6 o'clock in the evening.  We all had a voucher for a free glass of champagne.  We ate in the MDR and received a couple of pieces of whisky fudge in a presentation box, and a nice keepsake menu.

The majority of passengers embraced the dress code - one - my husband- took it further than others, and raised a few smiles.

 

[Pet]

Cool - like it! He looks like me wit his mask on!!

[Cruiserjules]

16 minutes ago, Alan & Giselle said:

Fabulous review.

out of curiosity which cabin were you in and do you have any photos please.

 

many thanks.

Sorry I didn't seem to take many photos of the room.  We were in 12:529.  It was 7 cabins aft of the midships lift

[Bin man]

Did that cabin have interconnecting doors ? was that a bed in the ceiling? 

[keithhutch]

1 hour ago, davecttr said:

I am disappointed with the 9pm departure time, almost if they wait until it is getting dark just so you can't see evening views of the Isle of Wight.

 

Will Iona ever sail full on the Norway itinerary? Not a destination for the kids and 5200 passengers is a lot of people.

 

Seven days until my cruise, that don't want to go feeling has started.

 

[keithhutch]

I’m just watching Solent ships and Iona has yet to sail..it’s 21-47.

[davecttr]

1 minute ago, keithhutch said:

I’m just watching Solent ships and Iona has yet to sail..it’s 21-47.

Ye, I am, watching as well, no other large ship movements, hopefully nothing serious

[keithhutch]

Now 10 pm..wonder why it’s so late.!

[davecttr]

wobbling about a bit at 0.2 knots, maybe they can't get the string untied

 

edit - now moving astern at 0.9 knots

 

edit - marine traffic says she is constrained by her draught ???

Edited August 14, 2021 by davecttr

[Cruiserjules]

1 hour ago, Bin man said:

Did that cabin have interconnecting doors ? was that a bed in the ceiling? 

Yes, it did have an interconnecting door - and the handle stuck out!

We didn't hear a peep from the cabin next door though, hope they didn't hear us either.

And yes, it had a bed in the ceiling. 

In my opinion, the room, great for two, would be really cramped with four.

Jules

[Bin man]

Thankyou for reply we have one on deck 10 states interconnecting door but only a sofa bed .There are only the two of us 

[davecttr]

now clearing the berth so they are on the way

[Bin man]

Iona on her way 

[Britboys]

38 minutes ago, keithhutch said:

Now 10 pm..wonder why it’s so late.!

Southampton VTS had her listed tonigh as departing at 2200 - and they are not usually hot on updating the schedule...