On Iona now 28th Sept

[Technoman2]

11 hours ago, showingdiva said:

 

How did this affect those in the strange balcony cabins on Deck 8 on the starboard side?

They could not use their balconies during that period. 

[Technoman2]

9 hours ago, daiB said:

Less than 20 on my mobility scooter, I have done it 3/4 times

It must be turbo charged lol. We were docked at Dock E and it honestly is a long walk. No local bus available here when we docked. One thing to watch for is the charging for bus. They charged both our cards for return journeys on the way out. Because we got a taxi back had to get reception to credit back so be aware.. No one looked at passports yesterday. The 19 knot vibration happened again last night at the stern aft of the ship. At 18 knots night before it was OK. Weird

[picsa]

1 hour ago, Technoman2 said:

One thing to watch for is the charging for bus. They charged both our cards for return journeys on the way out. Because we got a taxi back had to get reception to credit back so be aware..

They used to mention in Horizon they did that ‘for your convenience’ but they seem to have stopped doing that. 
 

One thing that is clear is the bus fare now seems to be £4 each way irrespective of distance. 

[davecttr]

Apparently all ships can have sweet and bad speed vibration problems. Something to do with complex harmonics in the ships structure. It may be if they increased the speed to 20 knots the vibration would disappear but that would mean increased fuel consumption. I just checked Wiki and its designed service speed is 17 knots so maybe 19 knots was flat out.

[picsa]

Valencia - hot, damn hot. I suppose I shouldn’t complain but once the mercury hits 30c as it has here, then it’s hot. 

[Technoman2]

Today transfer time by shuttle bus in valencia stated as being 70 mins in horizon but took 30 min each way. Today is Sunday so less traffic. First impression of Valencia was shabby with all graffiti. Outside cathedral like a building site. Lovely main town square with fountain. Market closed on Sunday. Had note left in room have to take and pay for antigen test tomorrow for Lisbon in 3 days time. Cost £18 each. 

[picsa]

16 minutes ago, Technoman2 said:

Had note left in room have to take and pay for antigen test tomorrow for Lisbon in 3 days time. Cost £18 each. 

The ship is going to be unusually busy for a port day, as I can see lots of people giving it a miss.

[Billish]

14 minutes ago, Technoman2 said:

Today transfer time by shuttle bus in valencia stated as being 70 mins in horizon but took 30 min each way. Today is Sunday so less traffic. First impression of Valencia was shabby with all graffiti. Outside cathedral like a building site. Lovely main town square with fountain. Market closed on Sunday. Had note left in room have to take and pay for antigen test tomorrow for Lisbon in 3 days time. Cost £18 each. 

City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia is a "must see".

[picsa]

6 minutes ago, Billish said:

City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia is a "must see".

At 35c, which was what the signs by the road were displaying, the ‘must see’ was shade and a glass of something cold.

 

What was good today in Valencia was being a Sunday many of the sites were free entry, but as they were mostly not displaying signs saying that, I guess that a lot of people missed out.

[Billish]

3 minutes ago, picsa said:

At 35c, which was what the signs by the road were displaying, the ‘must see’ was shade and a glass of something cold.

 

What was good today in Valencia was being a Sunday many of the sites were free entry, but as they were mostly not displaying signs saying that, I guess that a lot of people missed out.

I can see your point regarding the temperature ! That's very hot for October. Our own personal record was 42c, but that was in July.

[picsa]

1 hour ago, Billish said:

I can see your point regarding the temperature ! That's very hot for October. Our own personal record was 42c, but that was in July.

The last time I was in Valencia was a September time of year when it was raining, so I am not complaining!

[Son of Anarchy]

2 hours ago, Technoman2 said:

Today transfer time by shuttle bus in valencia stated as being 70 mins in horizon but took 30 min each way. Today is Sunday so less traffic. First impression of Valencia was shabby with all graffiti. Outside cathedral like a building site. Lovely main town square with fountain. Market closed on Sunday. Had note left in room have to take and pay for antigen test tomorrow for Lisbon in 3 days time. Cost £18 each. 

At that price we'll be staying on board if the situation remains the same in December.  Thanks for posting.

[gandalf1]

Technoman

Do you have to pay the £18 if you are on an excursion in Lisbon?? as that should be in T& C and mentioned (warned) that when you book an excursion there maybe extra testing costs involved.

 

Please advise accordingly as I have excursions booked for most Caribbean ports on my next transatlantic sailing.

 

Many thanks in advance. 

Gandalf

[Interestedcruisefan]

Great info . Thanks a lot

 

If weather is poor on a sea day how easy is it to sunbeds under the glass covers they have on the sun decks on Iona?

[picsa]

18 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Great info . Thanks a lot

 

If weather is poor on a sea day how easy is it to sunbeds under the glass covers they have on the sun decks on Iona?

If the ship was full - zero chance. 
 

At half full you struggle to find a subbed outside on a sunny sea day or after people return on a port day. You won’t find a seat in the 710 club unless you queue outside half an hour before. You won’t find a seat in the club house if not sat down well before the show starts. The theatre is going to be very difficult to get into once the mask rule goes. As for getting a seat in the MDR - I hope you like virtual queuing in the app. 

[Interestedcruisefan]

51 minutes ago, picsa said:

If the ship was full - zero chance. 
 

At half full you struggle to find a subbed outside on a sunny sea day or after people return on a port day. You won’t find a seat in the 710 club unless you queue outside half an hour before. You won’t find a seat in the club house if not sat down well before the show starts. The theatre is going to be very difficult to get into once the mask rule goes. As for getting a seat in the MDR - I hope you like virtual queuing in the app. 

Thanks

 

Virtual queuing using our phones not a problem  - on Britannia we would join the virtual queue whilst getting ready to leave the cabin in the evening

 

Sometimes the virtual queue went too quickly and we had to remove ourselves and join again!

 

The rest of the queuing is clearly a problem!

 

 

[Technoman2]

On 10/3/2021 at 9:14 PM, gandalf1 said:

Technoman

Do you have to pay the £18 if you are on an excursion in Lisbon?? as that should be in T& C and mentioned (warned) that when you book an excursion there maybe extra testing costs involved.

 

Please advise accordingly as I have excursions booked for most Caribbean ports on my next transatlantic sailing.

 

Many thanks in advance. 

Gandalf

Yes we had to pay fot test for excursion. Had test yesterday expect result today. £18 each

[Technoman2]

We have never had a problem with main dining room but we normally eat before 6pm. Nice food in olive Grove the other night but kebabs not what I expected. Two solid lumps of meat. Tasty but not nice to look at. The baklava is enough to share. 

[picsa]

Someone isn’t having a good cruise - emergency call for medical staff at 6.30 this morning and paramedics coming on board with a stretcher as we went to get of at 9.

 

Hope nothing serious.

 

5 hours ago, Technoman2 said:

We have never had a problem with main dining room but we normally eat before 6pm. Nice food in olive Grove the other night but kebabs not what I expected. Two solid lumps of meat. Tasty but not nice to look at. The baklava is enough to share. 

 

6PM!!! That is mid afternoon. We are at the other end of the scale eating around 9PM, but by then the restaurants have got less busy.

 

The peak seems to be 7 to 7.30ish, either trying to eat before the 9pm Club House show starts or after the 6.45 theatre show finishes.

 

Lots of the menu items do suggest ’for sharing’ but the problem is they don’t do half portions if the person you are with wants something else - so nice idea but fail.

Edited October 5, 2021 by picsa

[BouncingWheel]

6PM!!! Barely time to have let afternoon tea digest🤣

[picsa]

All day today a huge queue at reception made up of elderly people clutching a stack of PLF paperwork and randomly stabbing the screen of their phone trying to understand how to use it to fill in the PLF, waiting for some incredibly patient reception staff who endlessly repeat the same phrases “have you got 3G/4G reception or paid for WiFi” to which the response seems to be “how do I know”, before descending into further conversation about why they cannot fill in the PLF.

[Britboys]

10 minutes ago, picsa said:

All day today a huge queue at reception made up of elderly people clutching a stack of PLF paperwork and randomly stabbing the screen of their phone trying to understand how to use it to fill in the PLF, waiting for some incredibly patient reception staff who endlessly repeat the same phrases “have you got 3G/4G reception or paid for WiFi” to which the response seems to be “how do I know”, before descending into further conversation about why they cannot fill in the PLF.

Would have been a nice gesture by P&O to allow free internet access to the Gov.uk website...

[picsa]

Just now, Britboys said:

Would have been a nice gesture by P&O to allow free internet access to the Gov.uk website...

A lack of internet doesn’t seem to be the problem.

 

It is simply those seeking help have no idea how their smartphone works, and if they do manage to get to the form, don’t understand the questions on the PLF.

[Britboys]

7 minutes ago, picsa said:

A lack of internet doesn’t seem to be the problem.

 

It is simply those seeking help have no idea how their smartphone works, and if they do manage to get to the form, don’t understand the questions on the PLF.

They have my sympathy, as someone who sometimes struggles doing new things online and hates having to do so on the phone...

[smokey01]

We go on Iona this Saturday, on the current cruise I believe you don’t need to fill in a Spanish locater form, what about for Lisbon (I know you need a test and excursion)?