Iona voyage 2nd January. Part 1.

[Yorkypete]

I am going to review this voyage in sections.- Embarkation: The coach down from Leeds was fine..until we3 arrived in Southampton when the driver missed the  turning to the berth and had to go round the town again. He then missed the turning to berth 46 and went to berth 43 where we became  stuck in a large bus depot for 30 mins. It was only after we found out we were being 'stacked' as too many coaches were arriving. It then took over 1 hour to register and board. The cabin appeared great. We ate in the Quays that evening as the Horizon was only half open.

Day 2. At sea and it was choppy and raining. Dinner at 6 in Horizon but massive queues as most being used for Beech House so ate in Quays again.  A good evening in the Casino and atrium for coffee.

Day 3.  At sea. Hardly any sleep as cabin creaking and groaning from the wind and waves. Maintenance could do nothing.. It sounded like seagulls on a tin roof. Slept most of the afternoon before a good meal in the Olive Grove and theater ok. Used earplugs for sleep!

Day 4  Breakfast chaos as only half of Horizon was open. Not a bad dinner later and saw Gareth Oliver in thaeter..a goos Northern Comedian.

Day 5. Woken at 7am for captain to announce we had arrived in Gibralter and we were cleared to go ashore. Ridiculous as it was pich black until about 8.30! To be honest Gibralter was very underwhelming to anyone who has been to the Norwegian areas..all concrete, grubby in our opinion a waste of time. Dinner in Olive Grove good but cannot book again as when we came aboard it was fully booked. The only drawback is it is the same menu every day.

Day 6. Alicante. Very nice Lovely promenade (reminded me of Malta) and nice town. Only drawback was the lift to the castle was out of order and apparently had been for over a month. On enquirey we were told it would probably be months before it was repaired. We had a reasonable evening.

Day 7 Barcelona. For some reason we docked at berth E.This is the farthest away from the town and about an hour plus walk. We got the shuttle which took us to the World Trade Centre..still about a fifteen minute walk to the bottom of Las Rambla. Originally it said shuttles would drop off at the Place de Catalunya. Good day.Saw the show in the dome but the sound was atrocious and you could not tell what the compere was saying.

Day 8. Sea day.. OK but unless you are in to shop talks, keep fit or drinking then it is boring.

Day 9 Cadiz. Nice weather and a good day walking round the town. 

Day 10. Lisbon. Good weather again and a good day. In the casino in the evening  raucouse drunks rather spoiled the roulette as my wife was accosted twice by three men.  If she had not handled it by saying 'step back and keep your distance' and them doing just that there could have been trouble.

Day 11 Sea day. In the evening the captain announced we would arrive in Southampton at 9pm instead of 6am due to weather forcast. Previously it was obvious four hours before the announcement  or so that we would be early as we were not too far from Southampton.

Disembarkation was ok. The only problem was waiting on the coach for two hours before everyone was onboard. P&O and the coach company should be much better organised. The driver, Nicole was brilliant all the time.. Part two tomorrow with what we actually thought of the cruise in general.

[Valfan]

Thanks for this. A very interesting read, particularly as I got back from the same itinerary on Iona a few weeks ago. Good to see that you got into Lisbon this time. We got a substitute port because of a port strike in Lisbon.  

As for Barcelona, I've been there around 10-12 times over the years on various P&O ships, and we have always docked at that same berth, furthest away from the city centre. I don't know if it's been the luck of the draw. Or maybe it's a cheaper option so P&O use it by choice.  But it certainly makes for a long walk in.  I look forward to reading Part 2.

[Guest ccpm]

I was also on this cruise and a little puzzled re you saying that there was nothing to do on sea days. There was a speaker, 4 cinemas, various quizes, dancing things and some group meet ups if you wanted to attend. At one point there was the busker, some form of acrobatics in the atrium and a man strolling round doing some magic bits in the glasshouse. 

[Yorkypete]

9 hours ago, Valfan said:

Thanks for this. A very interesting read, particularly as I got back from the same itinerary on Iona a few weeks ago. Good to see that you got into Lisbon this time. We got a substitute port because of a port strike in Lisbon.  

As for Barcelona, I've been there around 10-12 times over the years on various P&O ships, and we have always docked at that same berth, furthest away from the city centre. I don't know if it's been the luck of the draw. Or maybe it's a cheaper option so P&O use it by choice.  But it certainly makes for a long walk in.  I look forward to reading Part 2.

It certainly was not luck of the draw as there were no other ships in port. I believe it must have been cheaper!. It was a very long walk which would have been impossible for the elderly or infirm.  Incidentally in all the ports it was mandatory to wear masks on all shuttle or excursion buses.

[Yorkypete]

39 minutes ago, ccpm said:

I was also on this cruise and a little puzzled re you saying that there was nothing to do on sea days. There was a speaker, 4 cinemas, various quizes, dancing things and some group meet ups if you wanted to attend. At one point there was the busker, some form of acrobatics in the atrium and a man strolling round doing some magic bits in the glasshouse. 

The acrobatics in the atrium were at one side rehearsing and was not a show. The quizzes lasted a few minutes and the rest were demonstrations by the various shops on their products and lessons in keep fit and dancing.

[amajaa]

Thanks for review we are on Iona soon also travelling down by coach. Can I ask please how long did it take to get your luggage? On Ventura recently we travelled by coach and were also in a coach queue waiting to get in. Our luggage didn’t arrive until after dinner and even then we were still 2 cases short so had to go and find them . They were waiting just inside the crew doors just down from our cabin. Everyone else in the vicinity were just going in and finding their cases there

[Stu UK]

30 minutes ago, Yorkypete said:

It certainly was not luck of the draw as there were no other ships in port. I believe it must have been cheaper!. It was a very long walk which would have been impossible for the elderly or infirm.  Incidentally in all the ports it was mandatory to wear masks on all shuttle or excursion buses.

Carnival actually own that berth hence its use.

[Britboys]

Certainly doesn't sound like a great cruise...🤔

[Eglesbrech]

3 hours ago, ccpm said:

I was also on this cruise and a little puzzled re you saying that there was nothing to do on sea days. There was a speaker, 4 cinemas, various quizes, dancing things and some group meet ups if you wanted to attend. At one point there was the busker, some form of acrobatics in the atrium and a man strolling round doing some magic bits in the glasshouse. 

Can I ask did you need to have a booking to access these events? Could everyone get booked if that was the case. Thanks.

[Megabear2]

2 hours ago, Yorkypete said:

The acrobatics in the atrium were at one side rehearsing and was not a show. The quizzes lasted a few minutes and the rest were demonstrations by the various shops on their products and lessons in keep fit and dancing.

Was it an inclement day so outside activities were restricted- I ask as there is no mention of them in your list.  What was missing that you were expecting, it would be helpful to know please.

 

I'm sailing on Iona in March for her last Canaries trip this season so it would be helpful to know as I anticipate my first days at sea will be inside activities mainly.  Thank you. 

[Yorkypete]

4 hours ago, amajaa said:

Thanks for review we are on Iona soon also travelling down by coach. Can I ask please how long did it take to get your luggage? On Ventura recently we travelled by coach and were also in a coach queue waiting to get in. Our luggage didn’t arrive until after dinner and even then we were still 2 cases short so had to go and find them . They were waiting just inside the crew doors just down from our cabin. Everyone else in the vicinity were just going in and finding their cases there

The luggage was ok. We had our first case there at around 4pm and the other around 6pm.  This was not as good as previous but not a problem.

[Yorkypete]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

Was it an inclement day so outside activities were restricted- I ask as there is no mention of them in your list.  What was missing that you were expecting, it would be helpful to know please.

 

I'm sailing on Iona in March for her last Canaries trip this season so it would be helpful to know as I anticipate my first days at sea will be inside activities mainly.  Thank you. 

It rained and was windy with fairly rough seas. It was around the Bay of Biscay in winter!

[Megabear2]

7 minutes ago, Yorkypete said:

It rained and was windy with fairly rough seas. It was around the Bay of Biscay in winter!

Thank you, I guessed that was the case but as you referred to day 9 Cadiz having nice weather I thought I'd ask.  As you say if we choose a winter cruise we will get bad weather occasionally.  

 

On a side note, not P&O related my friends are in Majorca and yesterday it snowed very heavily inland with much heavier expected middle of the week.  It was 3 degrees in Palma where they are staying and very little heating available.

 

Returning to your cruise, looking forward to part 2 of your review.

Edited January 23, 2023 by Megabear2

[Guest ccpm]

4 hours ago, Yorkypete said:

The acrobatics in the atrium were at one side rehearsing and was not a show. The quizzes lasted a few minutes and the rest were demonstrations by the various shops on their products and lessons in keep fit and dancing.

Yes I didn't say the acrobats was a show but they were interesting to watch work. You don't mention the speaker or the cinemas or the busker just out of interest what sort of things would you have liked to see?

[Guest ccpm]

2 hours ago, Eglesbrech said:

Can I ask did you need to have a booking to access these events? Could everyone get booked if that was the case. Thanks.

Speaker no just get sat down. Cinema I didn't go but you could just turn up as a lady I was chatting to did that. The busker just started playing I think it mentioned times in the horizon paper. He does a few sessions through the day and night.

[Guest ccpm]

2 hours ago, Britboys said:

Certainly doesn't sound like a great cruise...🤔

Was for us we really enjoyed it.

[alpha whiskey]

17 hours ago, Yorkypete said:

Day 5. Woken at 7am for captain to announce we had arrived in Gibralter and we were cleared to go ashore. Ridiculous as it was pich black until about 8.30! To be honest Gibralter was very underwhelming to anyone who has been to the Norwegian areas..all concrete, grubby in our opinion a waste of time.

Real shame you didn't have a good day in Gibraltar.

After 3 relaxing days at sea, we were in the 'wide awake club' with the Captain at 7am and we were off the ship by 7.15am. 

We went via cable car to top of the Rock and watched the sun rise. It was quite special. 

We then did a tour of the Rock - St Michael's Cave, Seige tunnels etc. Thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Have tried hard, but really can't compare Gibraltar with Norway.

Bit like comparing a Curry House to a Steak House. Both are nice, but in a very different way.

 

[amajaa]

42 minutes ago, Yorkypete said:

The luggage was ok. We had our first case there at around 4pm and the other around 6pm.  This was not as good as previous but not a problem.

Thanks, let’s hope the coach gets in a bit earlier this time we didn’t get onboard until nearly 4 o’clock last time  

[Yorkypete]

25 minutes ago, ccpm said:

Yes I didn't say the acrobats was a show but they were interesting to watch work. You don't mention the speaker or the cinemas or the busker just out of interest what sort of things would you have liked to see?

Much more use of the space . Crazy golf, an ice show..better entertainment such as the shows on RCI. The busker was only moderate and the cinemas  showings restricted. The speaker was limited to TV showsand some films. My son is and was a film critic interviewing many world stars (most of them in fact) and has often said you should not talk about them out of context of the films you are reviewing. I just found the only busy areas were the bars.

 

[Megabear2]

1 minute ago, Yorkypete said:

Much more use of the space . Crazy golf, an ice show..better entertainment such as the shows on RCI. The busker was only moderate and the cinemas  showings restricted. The speaker was limited to TV showsand some films. My son is and was a film critic interviewing many world stars (most of them in fact) and has often said you should not talk about them out of context of the films you are reviewing. I just found the only busy areas were the bars.

 

Not wishing to be nasty but surely you knew Iona didn't have ice rinks and golf courses - assumedly the latter couldn't have been used in the bad weather either.

 

It seems then the cruise offered was simply not to your taste on this occasion and the entertainment offering was not actually poor but not something you personally could enjoy.  

 

When you refer to cinema showings being restricted are you referring to the time and number of showings, I understood there to be 4 screens showing different films in each.  It was unfortunate that the speaker was of no interest to you but again many others may have found him enjoyable.  

 

I assume the dance classes etc were also not to your taste either but these do appear on every cruise line I've sailed on and actually are very well attended.  My husband had never done these before but at Christmas he took part every day (I watched) and really enjoyed them.

 

There is unfortunately a limit to what can be offered and maybe it's a case of you can't please all of the people all of the time.

 

I do however agree the cruise lines seem very happy to rely on things like sports events to entertain us but that's maybe the way the world is going.

 

I assume overall the experience was reasonable as I note elsewhere you are looking at a Britannia cruise despite saying never again after the one before your Iona cruise.  

[Stu UK]

We were on the same cruise and had a great time. However we found that you had to be really organised and pre-book speciality dining and entertainment to get the best out of the ship before the cruise and immediately on boarding. 
 

P&O is definitely changing and has a very different target audience than a decade ago. That said the prices are massively reduced and provide excellent value for money. 

[Eglesbrech]

7 minutes ago, Stu UK said:

We were on the same cruise and had a great time. However we found that you had to be really organised and pre-book speciality dining and entertainment to get the best out of the ship before the cruise and immediately on boarding. 
 

P&O is definitely changing and has a very different target audience than a decade ago. That said the prices are massively reduced and provide excellent value for money. 

Your point about having to book quickly once onboard is well made and worry’s me as we have a late embarkation time. So it seems the cruise experience could be worse just because you are late onboard.

 

I have pre booked as much as I possibly can but what I can get is limited.

[Sheila127]

I was on this cruise and had a fabulous time! On sea days I thought there was plenty of entertainment! Always something going on!

[Sheila127]

1 hour ago, Eglesbrech said:

Your point about having to book quickly once onboard is well made and worry’s me as we have a late embarkation time. So it seems the cruise experience could be worse just because you are late onboard.

 

I have pre booked as much as I possibly can but what I can get is limited.

For information  there was plenty of availability to book the shows in the Headliners Theatre, whilst on board! 

[the wandering two]

We were on this sailing too, had a great time. 

After an eight year gap Iona has brought us back to P&O, this was our 3rd time onboard & had already booked the equivalent new year sailing this December long ago.

You need to be really quick booking 710 club, the seats will go within a couple of hours of embarkation although some did open up further into the cruise.

At least Olive Grove is now pre bookable around 2 weeks prior to online.