On Iona now 28th Sept

[Angel57]

12 minutes ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

Thanks for the revue of Iona. As far as Oriana and Aurora go they were both great ships in their day. Sadly as with us oldies they grow tired and loose their youthful gloss. I think I'm right in saying Oriana first sailed in 1996 and Aurora in 2000. We sailed on Oriana three times to the Caribbean and Aurora four times up the East coast of America and Canada. The only time I can remember any real problems was a fire on Oriana whilst leaving Miami which meant we had to miss a port call in Key West, which myself and wife weren't too bothered as we had visited before. But many were annoyed. Anyone remember Victoria ? She was formerly tha Sea Princess and when bought by P&O the Kungsholm. That was our first cruise and although by todays standards wouldn't be accepted was a beautiful ship. The cabin had a port hole and me and the wife had separate beds. The dining room had lovely etched glass mirrors and wood panelling. I believe she was bought by a German cruise company and called the Mona Lisa, but had a serious fire onboard and I think no longer exists know. She was built in 1966. 

My first cruise was on Sea Princess/Victoria in 1992. She was a lovely ship. I remember my cruises on her very fondly. No tea and coffee making facilities- The steward would would bring your morning tea/coffee and biscuits at requested time!

[Manx buoy]

1 hour ago, Dermotsgirl said:

For the people on this cruise - have their been any announcements onboard about the Covid people offloaded in Cadiz? and have protocols been tightened up?

You must have the wrong thread this one is all about Princess🤷‍♂️

[Britboys]

42 minutes ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

Thanks for the revue of Iona. As far as Oriana and Aurora go they were both great ships in their day. Sadly as with us oldies they grow tired and loose their youthful gloss. I think I'm right in saying Oriana first sailed in 1996 and Aurora in 2000. We sailed on Oriana three times to the Caribbean and Aurora four times up the East coast of America and Canada. The only time I can remember any real problems was a fire on Oriana whilst leaving Miami which meant we had to miss a port call in Key West, which myself and wife weren't too bothered as we had visited before. But many were annoyed. Anyone remember Victoria ? She was formerly tha Sea Princess and when bought by P&O the Kungsholm. That was our first cruise and although by todays standards wouldn't be accepted was a beautiful ship. The cabin had a port hole and me and the wife had separate beds. The dining room had lovely etched glass mirrors and wood panelling. I believe she was bought by a German cruise company and called the Mona Lisa, but had a serious fire onboard and I think no longer exists know. She was built in 1966. 

My first P&O cruise was aboard the lovely Victoria, a wonderful true Ocean Liner built for transatlantic crossings. One of the cabins was an inside with upper and lower single berths but I even loved that. I do somehow feel that those older ships had definite character that I doubt the modern leviathans will never have.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Out of interest are you comparing an old Princess boat with a new P and O boat?

 

Would you be able to post the breakdown comparison. I've always assumed Princess to be more expensive than P and O when ive looked at cruises. 

For Caribbean:

A 14 night B2B on the Sky is £2259pp in a standard unobstructed balcony cabin. Includes drinks wifi and tips. 
 

A 14 night Arvia cruise is £3139 for a standard balcony cabin. Includes flight (select price as you get the same benefits included on Princess)

 

When you can get a flight for under £400 to Miami, it really comes in a lot cheaper if you drink a lot on holiday. 
 

I also wouldn’t book the Arvia as I didn’t like Iona, but it’s a similar story for Britannia prices.  

[Interestedcruisefan]

Thanks

[Ardennais]

4 hours ago, Manx buoy said:

You must have the wrong thread this one is all about Princess🤷‍♂️

Well the title might suggest otherwise!

[Manx buoy]

51 minutes ago, Ardennais said:

Well the title might suggest otherwise!

How many post do you have to go back before you find anything about Iona?

Edited October 7, 2021 by Manx buoy

[Megabear2]

6 hours ago, Dermotsgirl said:

For the people on this cruise - have their been any announcements onboard about the Covid people offloaded in Cadiz? and have protocols been tightened up?

Well it's been 6 hours and no one has answered this question ...

[Technoman2]

On 10/7/2021 at 5:55 PM, Megabear2 said:

Well it's been 6 hours and no one has answered this question ...

Been at sea for 2 days. No announcements on covid cases anywhere. We found the protocols to be effective and it would not stop me booking another cruise in the future. Had a lovely break. 

[Rebjon]

3 hours ago, Technoman2 said:

Been at sea for 2 days. No announcements on covid cases anywhere. We found the protocols to be effective and it would not stop me booking another cruise in the future. Had a lovely break. 

Thanks for your posts Techoman2. How was disembarkation in Southampton - could you just walk off the ship, pick your bags up and walk out or did you have to queue to have anything checked? We always book a fixed time train home as it's cheaper so need to know if there will be any delays getting to the station.

[the wandering two]

We just walked off this morning, no sign of anyone being checked. 
Re the PLF, we finished our forms mid tour in Cadiz, Tio Pepe Sherry house had very good wifi! 
We had heard from other passengers that the gov.uk site would be available via ships wifi, I had a go on Wednesday (Lisbon day) & it worked. P&O seem to think we’re a bunch of mind readers, never once did I hear any announcement about this, yet people were queuing up in the crows nest to access P&O’s laptops. 
Of course now that you can do the form 21 days before returning it won’t be an issue for most itineraries, but they didn’t make things easy. 

[Rebjon]

1 hour ago, the wandering two said:

We just walked off this morning, no sign of anyone being checked. 
Re the PLF, we finished our forms mid tour in Cadiz, Tio Pepe Sherry house had very good wifi! 
We had heard from other passengers that the gov.uk site would be available via ships wifi, I had a go on Wednesday (Lisbon day) & it worked. P&O seem to think we’re a bunch of mind readers, never once did I hear any announcement about this, yet people were queuing up in the crows nest to access P&O’s laptops. 
Of course now that you can do the form 21 days before returning it won’t be an issue for most itineraries, but they didn’t make things easy. 

Thanks for this. Another question for anyone on this cruise - on the P&O website it states re. MDR dining ' Shared tables are only available on request, otherwise you will have a table to yourself.' We've always felt that sharing with other people was part of our cruise experience and wonder if this was available and if people were sharing or was everyone being very cautious.

[Technoman2]

3 hours ago, Rebjon said:

Thanks for your posts Techoman2. How was disembarkation in Southampton - could you just walk off the ship, pick your bags up and walk out or did you have to queue to have anything checked? We always book a fixed time train home as it's cheaper so need to know if there will be any delays getting to the station.

We were given a disembarkation time of 11am so booked taxi for 11.30. The captain at 9.45 made a statement that they were ahead of schedule so could all remain passengers disembark now so we got off the ship at 10am luckily managed to rebook cab for 10.45. Walked straight out of terminal with bags no document checks or bag checks encountered. Re seating in main dining room there were groups sitting together and maybe they did ask to be seated together. Samia is a lovely girl on the booking desk in Pearl restaurant and I am sure she will accommodate you if it's permitted. When the WiFi completely crashed on the second formal night a guest we spoke too got his day of WiFi refunded. Don't be shy in asking when something is not right. 

[the wandering two]

Re dining,  did overhear people in the walk in queue being asked if they wanted to share, we always pre booked. 
The tables for two are that close you can chat with whoever is on either side easily. 
 

[terrierjohn]

58 minutes ago, the wandering two said:

Re dining,  did overhear people in the walk in queue being asked if they wanted to share, we always pre booked. 
The tables for two are that close you can chat with whoever is on either side easily. 
 

How long were the walk in queues?

[Rebjon]

Another question for those who have just returned. We like to use the buffet for breakfast and lunch. As you have to be served by staff at the moment was there less choice of food than usual and were there long queues?

Thanks

[picsa]

3 hours ago, Rebjon said:

Thanks for this. Another question for anyone on this cruise - on the P&O website it states re. MDR dining ' Shared tables are only available on request, otherwise you will have a table to yourself.' We've always felt that sharing with other people was part of our cruise experience and wonder if this was available and if people were sharing or was everyone being very cautious.

 

I didn't hear anyone being asked, as they usually are, if they mind sharing a table. However if people had made friends on board then P&O were quite happy to allocate the separate groups a table together.

 

There were some weird arrangements where they had set up tables of 6 as two tables of two with people sat at either end, but they only seemed to use them when desperate.

 

26 minutes ago, Rebjon said:

Another question for those who have just returned. We like to use the buffet for breakfast and lunch. As you have to be served by staff at the moment was there less choice of food than usual and were there long queues?

Thanks

 

Same choice of food, just less germs on the serving utensils.

 

Queues - only if you were an idiot. There are four serving stations, two just aft of midships each side and two further aft each side, with all being staffed at breakfast (no idea about lunch or dinner as there are far better places to eat) but as most passengers seemed to be in forward and midship cabins (the aft being the quarantine section) then the dimwits came up in the lift and all clustered around the busy midships stations. Walk another 50 feet to the aft stations and it was a haven of peace and quiet.

 

[picsa]

On 10/7/2021 at 11:36 AM, Dermotsgirl said:

For the people on this cruise - have their been any announcements onboard about the Covid people offloaded in Cadiz? and have protocols been tightened up?

 

Nothing noticeably changed after Cadiz and there were no official mentions of it.

[picsa]

3 hours ago, Technoman2 said:

We were given a disembarkation time of 11am so booked taxi for 11.30. The captain at 9.45 made a statement that they were ahead of schedule so could all remain passengers disembark now so we got off the ship at 10am luckily managed to rebook cab for 10.45. Walked straight out of terminal with bags no document checks or bag checks encountered. 

 

I left the ship at 7:45 tagging on with those self-disembarking and there were no document or bag checks at that time either.

[picsa]

On 10/6/2021 at 7:49 PM, Ardennais said:

Even I, being teetotal, have to defend my wine drinking friends on this forum. 6 alcoholic drinks a day ON HOLIDAY isn’t really excessive spread throughout the day.

 

Sorry but six alcoholic drinks a day, every day throughout the holiday is excessive. They might like living life in an alcoholic blur, but most sensible people don't.

[picsa]

On 9/28/2021 at 3:56 PM, picsa said:

Balconies - the deck 8 balconies have been well discussed and are ‘not great’. But in addition, if you have a cabin on deck 15 behind mid ships then there is a *huge* overhang from deck 16 which will mean you might catch the sun at dawn and dusk, but the rest of the time - no chance. You will be in shade. And the balconies which protrude at mid ships mean that everything alongside and below is overlooked.

 

This is the massive overhang from deck 16 aft from midships which means that deck 15 cabins are in serious shade for the vast majority of the day.

 

 

[Rebjon]

30 minutes ago, picsa said:

 

I didn't hear anyone being asked, as they usually are, if they mind sharing a table. However if people had made friends on board then P&O were quite happy to allocate the separate groups a table together.

 

There were some weird arrangements where they had set up tables of 6 as two tables of two with people sat at either end, but they only seemed to use them when desperate.

 

 

Same choice of food, just less germs on the serving utensils.

 

Queues - only if you were an idiot. There are four serving stations, two just aft of midships each side and two further aft each side, with all being staffed at breakfast (no idea about lunch or dinner as there are far better places to eat) but as most passengers seemed to be in forward and midship cabins (the aft being the quarantine section) then the dimwits came up in the lift and all clustered around the busy midships stations. Walk another 50 feet to the aft stations and it was a haven of peace and quiet.

 

Thanks, I'll take your advice.

[Technoman2]

1 hour ago, Rebjon said:

Another question for those who have just returned. We like to use the buffet for breakfast and lunch. As you have to be served by staff at the moment was there less choice of food than usual and were there long queues?

Thanks

The selection was pretty much the same as in the MDRs , cerials, Porridge, fruit Juice Yogurts, Full english breakfast. But not only can you get breakfast in Horizon but also in The Quays on deck 8. Breakfast was until 9.30 am in the MDR s on Port days and until 10am on Sea Days and sometimes people walked in at 9.25 and still got the full breakfast service, we at least had the courtesy to arrive 30 mins before most days. Pearl was the most efficient in our opinion. We did the Buffet for breakfast twice and it wasnt too bad 5 or 6 people queuing and i definitely think they should keep the no self service protocol but then everybody got there own water and coffee by touching the same screen or button but if people were vigilant with hand gels  then whats the problem. Someone told us that they maybe stopping children coming on board soon . 

[davecttr]

1 hour ago, picsa said:

 

Sorry but six alcoholic drinks a day, every day throughout the holiday is excessive. They might like living life in an alcoholic blur, but most sensible people don't.

6 shandies a day is excessive, really 😁

[Ardennais]

2 hours ago, picsa said:

 

Sorry but six alcoholic drinks a day, every day throughout the holiday is excessive. They might like living life in an alcoholic blur, but most sensible people don't.

 

 

I never have dessert at home but I’ll have several every day on a cruise!  So nothing wrong with a bit of indulgence on holiday. After all, nobody’s driving home!