My first cruise

[SarahHben]

1 hour ago, middlehaitch said:

Sarah, like everyone else, I have really enjoyed the review of your first cruise. You have a lovely writing style and weren't long winded or boring at all. You were my bed time happy read.

I loved your photos and was going to say how much you and the mister look like the avatar that you use (lots of folk don't), only to find it gone today.

 

I have a dream/hope that one day when I'm back visiting my sisters in the UK that I will have a chance to pop on a cruise from Southampton, you have had me scouring the P&O offerings. I fancy the Canaries as it sounds exotic to me.

 

Cheers, heather 🥂

Thank you 😊

My profile photo has temporarily disappeared because I was trying to change it for one of us on the cruise but I was having problems doing it on my phone so will try again on the computer soon. The other photos was 4 years old so we both have a few more wrinkles now.

[SarahHben]

51 minutes ago, gsmt47471015 said:

That sensation happens to my other half every time ,and the longer the cruise the longer it takes to resolve itself, I must be immune as it has never affected me at all, glad you had a great time and as I suspected you have got the cruising bug, its the one addiction nobody wants to cure !!!!!

I’m feeling more swaying movement today than I did on the ship, very odd.

[kruzseeka]

21 minutes ago, SarahHben said:

I’m feeling more swaying movement today than I did on the ship, very odd.

 

21 minutes ago, SarahHben said:

I’m feeling more swaying movement today than I did on the ship, very odd.

It's called Mal de Debarquement Sarah - associated with getting off the ship (or planes, even trains and cars for some people).  It usually disappears within a day or two.  DH was quite badly affected after one cruise and ended up having tests at the hospital!  It was explained to him that the brain compensates for the movement of the ship and continues to do so after you get off when it's not necessary!  And he's the one who never gets sea sick!  I'm a Stugeron fan and have to pop them at the slightest hint of a swell.  

But it did clear up and hasn't stopped us doing many cruises since - and it doesn't seem to bother him now.  So perhaps the answer is ...........to keep cruising! 😉  and let the brain get used to it!!!! Hope it soon clears up and don't let it put you off.  I'm sure it won't after reading your reports and hearing how much you enjoyed your first cruise.  

[TangoYork]

Hi Sarah. I have also thoroughly enjoyed reading about your cruise. I was interested to know that you are swaying now you are home. It’s a most peculiar sensation.

I wear sea bands on board to help with seasickness (along with tablets if needed) but I also wear them for several days when I get home and I find they help a lot with the swaying motion. The number of days I wear them depends on the length of the cruise. I also wear them ashore on port days. I hope you find that helpful.

Happy cruising.

[kalos]

1 hour ago, SarahHben said:

I’m feeling more swaying movement today than I did on the ship, very odd.

 

We was wondering if you would get that ?  The first cruise we ever did we noticed that 

"still at sea feeling "  ,more so when just sat relaxing .

The cruisers we did after that seemed ok and the only swaying feeling after that was 

on some vey excellent nights ,when out doing the pubs and clubs 

[Amyracecar]

I woke up in the night & thought I was still in my cabin. Took a few seconds to remember we're now back home. 😢

[SarahHben]

1 hour ago, Amyracecar said:

I woke up in the night & thought I was still in my cabin. Took a few seconds to remember we're now back home. 😢

I hope you enjoyed the week as much as we did?

[SarahHben]

2 hours ago, TangoYork said:

Hi Sarah. I have also thoroughly enjoyed reading about your cruise. I was interested to know that you are swaying now you are home. It’s a most peculiar sensation.

I wear sea bands on board to help with seasickness (along with tablets if needed) but I also wear them for several days when I get home and I find they help a lot with the swaying motion. The number of days I wear them depends on the length of the cruise. I also wear them ashore on port days. I hope you find that helpful.

Happy cruising.

I had sturgeon with me just in case we needed it but we felt fine on the ship, neither of us needed to take it at all.

Thank you for the tip about sea bands, my daughter might have some that I could try now we're home, it's worth a try.

[SarahHben]

2 hours ago, kruzseeka said:

 

It's called Mal de Debarquement Sarah - associated with getting off the ship (or planes, even trains and cars for some people).  It usually disappears within a day or two. 

Thank you for the information.

My parents have cruised lots but I don't think they have a problem with it or I think they would have mentioned it.

2 hours ago, kruzseeka said:

 

So perhaps the answer is ...........to keep cruising! 😉  

I certainly intend to do that 😊

[Amyracecar]

9 minutes ago, SarahHben said:

I hope you enjoyed the week as much as we did?

 

We absolutely loved Norway, will definitely go back. We even loved Haugesund, which we had been led to believe was a bit dull.  (Probably just unfortunate to be compared to the Fjords stops) 

 

Iona on the other hand we thought was just ok. It was nice enough, but not a ship we'll be rushing back to. (I suspect many minor niggles were just due to being a larger number of people than we've sailed with before, and perhaps crew shortages due to the restart, so I won't really be throwing too much criticism at it) 

[SarahHben]

10 minutes ago, Amyracecar said:

 

We absolutely loved Norway, will definitely go back. We even loved Haugesund, which we had been led to believe was a bit dull.  (Probably just unfortunate to be compared to the Fjords stops) 

 

Iona on the other hand we thought was just ok. It was nice enough, but not a ship we'll be rushing back to. (I suspect many minor niggles were just due to being a larger number of people than we've sailed with before, and perhaps crew shortages due to the restart, so I won't really be throwing too much criticism at it) 

We were the opposite 😄 

None of us enjoyed Haugesund, but that could have been because we really struggled with the wheelchair that day, if you saw a lady pushing a wheelchair apologising to other passengers all the time for being slow or getting in the way, that was probably me 😏 In fact 'excuse me please' and 'I'm so sorry' were the words I used most over the whole cruise I think.

I also think think that it didn't help that many shops were shut that day in Haugesund.

 

However we really liked Iona. The only time we noticed that there might be a staff shortage was a couple of times we fancied a drink and there were no available waiters so my husband got our own from the bar, but then we have no other cruise ship to compare it.

 

 

[Holcha]

Thank you Sarah for giving us so much information about Iona.  We are booked on her in October but we were bit wary of her size, as we love Aurora, etc.  However your reviews and information on the restaurants, etc have now allayed some fears and we are now very much looking forward to our cruise.  This is our replacement for a T/A Caribbean from March 2020.

 

Your reviews, along with those of Damien and Graham on Iona are very much appreciated as combined they provide a great amount of detail.  Thank you and I hope you are feeling steadier soon.

[davecttr]

Hello Sarah thanks for this excellent blog and nice to finally meet you aboard even if it was while waiting to disembark. Iona is such a big ship so its not surprising that we did not bump into each other.🙂

[Amyracecar]

3 hours ago, SarahHben said:

We were the opposite 😄 

None of us enjoyed Haugesund, but that could have been because we really struggled with the wheelchair that day, if you saw a lady pushing a wheelchair apologising to other passengers all the time for being slow or getting in the way, that was probably me 😏 In fact 'excuse me please' and 'I'm so sorry' were the words I used most over the whole cruise I think.

I also think think that it didn't help that many shops were shut that day in Haugesund.

 

However we really liked Iona. The only time we noticed that there might be a staff shortage was a couple of times we fancied a drink and there were no available waiters so my husband got our own from the bar, but then we have no other cruise ship to compare it.

 

 

 

Yeah, it didn't look like it was very suitable for those with mobility issues, let alone wheelchairs. I think if we'd got into Stavanger it would have just looked like a less attractive version of that, but as it was our only big city/town stop it probably seemed a bit better with no comparison. I liked the wooden houses, they reminded me of some towns we've visited in the Caribbean (although that's likely because most Caribbean towns are based on Europe 😆). 

 

We did the Viking Village tour and the landscape around there was really beautiful. People just seemed to stride past it all to get to the museum, but if you stopped to take in the views it was really worth it. (Definitely wouldn't have been wheelchair friendly I'm afraid) 

 

On the subject of wheelchairs, I do think a few passengers need a bit of training in awareness. I saw a few people just barging in front of chairs & mobility scooters, it must get tiresome. Hopefully they were the exception rather than the rule. 

[Waju]

5 hours ago, Amyracecar said:

I woke up in the night & thought I was still in my cabin. Took a few seconds to remember we're now back home. 😢

I once woke up to use the bathroom in our cabin and turned the way I would have done at home - trouble is there was a metal wall in the way and I didn't half walk into it with a bang 🤕  The people in the next cabin must have had a right fright ☺️

[grapau27]

9 hours ago, SarahHben said:

Thank you 😊

My profile photo has temporarily disappeared because I was trying to change it for one of us on the cruise but I was having problems doing it on my phone so will try again on the computer soon. The other photos was 4 years old so we both have a few more wrinkles now.

Nice new picture in your CC Avatar Sarah.

As you have done a Live From cruise review I believe you will be getting a CC Rare sign on your picture.

[grapau27]

3 hours ago, Holcha said:

Thank you Sarah for giving us so much information about Iona.  We are booked on her in October but we were bit wary of her size, as we love Aurora, etc.  However your reviews and information on the restaurants, etc have now allayed some fears and we are now very much looking forward to our cruise.  This is our replacement for a T/A Caribbean from March 2020.

 

Your reviews, along with those of Damien and Graham on Iona are very much appreciated as combined they provide a great amount of detail.  Thank you and I hope you are feeling steadier soon.

We loved lots about Iona and she is one of our favourite ships now.

Avoid deck 8 balconies and if you book an aft balcony for wake views beware decks 9,10,11 and 12 might have obscured views because of the big white roof on the outside Sunset bar.

If you have any questions just ask.

Graham.

[grapau27]

5 hours ago, SarahHben said:

We were the opposite 😄 

None of us enjoyed Haugesund, but that could have been because we really struggled with the wheelchair that day, if you saw a lady pushing a wheelchair apologising to other passengers all the time for being slow or getting in the way, that was probably me 😏 In fact 'excuse me please' and 'I'm so sorry' were the words I used most over the whole cruise I think.

I also think think that it didn't help that many shops were shut that day in Haugesund.

 

However we really liked Iona. The only time we noticed that there might be a staff shortage was a couple of times we fancied a drink and there were no available waiters so my husband got our own from the bar, but then we have no other cruise ship to compare it.

 

 

On Royal Caribbean most people stand at the bar to get drinks.

I like P&O because they usually had lots of drinks wait staff during our 14 night cruise on Iona in March and our 7 night staycation cruise on her last September.

 

[SarahHben]

12 hours ago, grapau27 said:

We loved lots about Iona and she is one of our favourite ships now.

Avoid deck 8 balconies and if you book an aft balcony for wake views beware decks 9,10,11 and 12 might have obscured views because of the big white roof on the outside Sunset bar.

If you have any questions just ask.

Graham.

We were trying to work out how high up you would have to go to get wake views without the sunset bar roof being in the way and yes, I think you’re right, it would probably have to be deck 14.

[SarahHben]

12 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Nice new picture in your CC Avatar Sarah.

As you have done a Live From cruise review I believe you will be getting a CC Rare sign on your picture.

Thank you.

I have no idea what that means, but will keep a look out for it. 😊

[SarahHben]

14 hours ago, davecttr said:

Hello Sarah thanks for this excellent blog and nice to finally meet you aboard even if it was while waiting to disembark. Iona is such a big ship so its not surprising that we did not bump into each other.🙂

If we’d bumped into you sooner we would have offered to meet up and buy you a drink.

 

It was strange, we found that once we had chatted to someone we seemed to see them wherever we went.

[grapau27]

31 minutes ago, SarahHben said:

Thank you.

I have no idea what that means, but will keep a look out for it. 😊

I have seen when someone does a Live From thread a rare sign with a ship underneath appears on their avatar photo.

This was our aft balcony on Iona Deck 14 and you can see the big white roof of the sunset bar.

I think lower balconies might not see the wake at the back of the ship.

Edited May 30, 2022 by grapau27

[Red Ray]

21 hours ago, SarahHben said:

I had sturgeon with me just in case we needed it but we felt fine on the ship, neither of us needed to take it at all.

Thank you for the tip about sea bands, my daughter might have some that I could try now we're home, it's worth a try.

 

I hope Nicola enjoyed the cruise too...😉😁

[SarahHben]

15 minutes ago, Red Ray said:

 

I hope Nicola enjoyed the cruise too...😉😁

Ooops 🤣

[Sarah1974]

Sarah, thanks for your fabulous blog and taking us along with you