Iona Questions

[Durie1989]

Hi this will only be our 2nd cruise and staying on the Iona, first cruise was before covid so I’m a little overwhelmed with the amount of restaurants when trying to understand what is and isn’t included with the price, any help and tips would be much appreciated.

Breakfast question - What is best restaurant to use, is it only the Buffett restaurant and do I have to book ?
Holiday App question - When are you able download the App ?
Booking Reservation- How early can you book dinner reservations as well as entertainment?
Formal Nights- Where are these held and do you meet the captain and does this also need to be booked in advance ?
 

Thanks in advance

[terrierjohn]

41 minutes ago, Durie1989 said:

Hi this will only be our 2nd cruise and staying on the Iona, first cruise was before covid so I’m a little overwhelmed with the amount of restaurants when trying to understand what is and isn’t included with the price, any help and tips would be much appreciated.

Breakfast question - What is best restaurant to use, is it only the Buffett restaurant and do I have to book ?
Holiday App question - When are you able download the App ?
Booking Reservation- How early can you book dinner reservations as well as entertainment?
Formal Nights- Where are these held and do you meet the captain and does this also need to be booked in advance ?
 

Thanks in advance

Breakfast is available in all the MDRs, the buffet and the Quays, you can use the virtual queue for the MDRs but you can also just turn up.

The app, which is really a web page, is only available once on board, entertainment in the theatre and Limelight club, as well as the speciality restaurants and chefs table,, can be pre booked on the website, but the MDRs can only be booked once on board, or daily by joining the virtual queue, which is the major choice.

On celebration nights formal dress will be required in all the MDRs, epicurean and Sindhu, the chefs table and the crowd nest and emerald bar. The chefs table is held in a private area of the buffet, you no longer meet the Captain and for the MDRs you join the virtual queues as normal.

[Selbourne]

22 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Breakfast is available in all the MDRs, the buffet and the Quays, you can use the virtual queue for the MDRs but you can also just turn up.

The app, which is really a web page, is only available once on board, entertainment in the theatre and Limelight club, as well as the speciality restaurants and chefs table,, can be pre booked on the website, but the MDRs can only be booked once on board, or daily by joining the virtual queue, which is the major choice.

On celebration nights formal dress will be required in all the MDRs, epicurean and Sindhu, the chefs table and the crowd nest and emerald bar. The chefs table is held in a private area of the buffet, you no longer meet the Captain and for the MDRs you join the virtual queues as normal.

Do I take it from your post that you have to join virtual queues even for breakfast and lunch in the MDR? I had rather hoped it was just dinner. 

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, Durie1989 said:

Hi this will only be our 2nd cruise and staying on the Iona, first cruise was before covid so I’m a little overwhelmed with the amount of restaurants when trying to understand what is and isn’t included with the price, any help and tips would be much appreciated.

Breakfast question - What is best restaurant to use, is it only the Buffett restaurant and do I have to book ?
Holiday App question - When are you able download the App ?
Booking Reservation- How early can you book dinner reservations as well as entertainment?
Formal Nights- Where are these held and do you meet the captain and does this also need to be booked in advance ?
 

Thanks in advance

John has answered most of your questions, but Formal nights are almost always on Sea days. I might be wrong, but I believe that 7 day cruises on Iona will only have 1 formal night. I’d put money on it being the 2nd night (first sea day). 

[Durie1989]

2 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

John has answered most of your questions, but Formal nights are almost always on Sea days. I might be wrong, but I believe that 7 day cruises on Iona will only have 1 formal night. I’d put money on it being the 2nd night (first sea day).

[terrierjohn]

Just now, Selbourne said:

Do I take it from your post that you have to join virtual queues even for breakfast and lunch in the MDR? I had rather hoped it was just dinner. 

You are not forced to do any pre booking, but if you do have a smart phone and load the app, then it only takes a minute or so, once you are nearly ready to eat, to join the virtual queue for your restaurant of choice. I suspect that for breakfast and lunch many people dont bother, but it really is not a chore to use the app.

For those without a smart phone you can use your room tv, but that does mean you need to be in your room to do it, whereas the phone app works all over the ship.

[davecttr]

Emerald bar requiring formal dress on Celebration night is a new one for me. It was not the case in January and not listed as a formal venue on the P&O site. It is also located in the Atrium which is a transit area

 

In January you could see your onboard account on the TV but I think not make any bookings

Edited March 21, 2023 by davecttr

[terrierjohn]

2 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Emerald bar requiring formal dress on Celebration night is a new one for me. It was not the case in January and not listed as a formal venue on the P&O site. It is also located in the Atrium which is a transit area

Maybe the other bar is Anderson's then.

[davecttr]

1 minute ago, terrierjohn said:

Maybe the other bar is Anderson's then.

Andersons did look formal but not on the P&O site. Logical though as it is nearest the MDR's

[Durie1989]

Thank you both this is very helpful.

Yes that’s right 7 day cruise states on our itinerary only 1 formal night and it’s the 2nd night.

So MDR is main dining restaurant and these are the restaurants that’s included and can be booked once on board but if we want to be sure to book a speciality restaurant or entertainment then it’s the website which I think it says opens on the 20th May on my booking ?

On another note how does tipping work ? Can I leave money for the person who cleans the room and do you get bottled water in your cabin each day ?

 

[Durie1989]

Sorry if I’m not posting correctly as I’m new to this forum and still trying to figure out how to reply to posts 😟

[terrierjohn]

1 minute ago, Durie1989 said:

Thank you both this is very helpful.

Yes that’s right 7 day cruise states on our itinerary only 1 formal night and it’s the 2nd night.

So MDR is main dining restaurant and these are the restaurants that’s included and can be booked once on board but if we want to be sure to book a speciality restaurant or entertainment then it’s the website which I think it says opens on the 20th May on my booking ?

On another note how does tipping work ? Can I leave money for the person who cleans the room and do you get bottled water in your cabin each day ?

 

No bottled water nowadays, you can buy cans but it's expensive. We just take a couple of empty 500ml coke plastic bottles and fill them from the cabin taps and keep in the fridge. The ships water purification systems nowadays produce far purer water than any on shore reservoir.

[Durie1989]

Ahhh that’s good to know as I do this at home anyway. 

[TigerB]

Further to what John says about refilling bottles, there are water fountains dotted around Iona for just that purpose. 

You can also take as many soft drinks onboard as you can carry. We take on cans of carbonated beverages which can be chilled in our fridge and used as mixers for the Southern Comfort and rum we take on with us. If you didn't already know, you can take on one litre of booze each.

 

Tipping: At the end of the cruise we will tip our cabin steward, and if we have the same waiting staff in the MDR throughout the cruise, they will usually get a few quid.

 

 

[Interestedcruisefan]

10 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

No bottled water nowadays, you can buy cans but it's expensive. We just take a couple of empty 500ml coke plastic bottles and fill them from the cabin taps and keep in the fridge. The ships water purification systems nowadays produce far purer water than any on shore reservoir.

Yes just refill water bottles from one of the dispensers around the ship. Some of those dispensers even tell you how many bottles they have saved the planet from as you refill from them!

 

Another improvement from old style cruising perhaps?

 

 

Edited March 22, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Interestedcruisefan]

Re breakfast we only used the buffet and the quays for breakfast on Arvia. Great selection of food at each.

 

We actually preferred The Quays. It always seemed really calm there and had a nice spot outside where you could eat breakfast with a view as well

 

You can eat breakfast outside at the buffet if you walk to the back of deck 16 as well

 

If you are on a warm`weather cruise 

 

Nice way to start the day I think

[majortom10]

Never had any problem using app/webpage for joining virtual queue for breakfast and dinner in MDR and only took seconds. By the time we had got the lift and headed towards MDR we were told table was ready. Never used MDR for lunch but one suggestion is you can use Keel & Cow for breakfast but was an extra small charge but better choice and quality.

[davecttr]

As tips are included in the fare you don't have to tip. I will give a tip to any staff member who has given me good service. for example sometimes you never see your cabin steward so no need to tip

 

Lets not start yet another tipping discussion, there have been dozens over the years and they all end the same way

[Jennizor]

11 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Do I take it from your post that you have to join virtual queues even for breakfast and lunch in the MDR? I had rather hoped it was just dinner. 

On Iona in Feb we never joined a virtual queue for any of the main dining rooms, breakfast, lunch or dinner.We went down 7.30 - 8.30 for dinner and generally got a table straight away. Occasionally we had to wait a few minutes. We never saw any queuing at all.

[majortom10]

We met the Captain on entering for The Peninsular Club luncheon but there were no hand shakes or photos.

[Durie1989]

Thank you everyone you’ve all been very helpful. How big is the fridge in the cabin ? Can you fit in a bottle of wine? 
Also one of our friends smokes so are there designated areas around the ship for him?

[TigerB]

11 minutes ago, Durie1989 said:

Thank you everyone you’ve all been very helpful. How big is the fridge in the cabin ? Can you fit in a bottle of wine? 
Also one of our friends smokes so are there designated areas around the ship for him?

 

This is the fridge...

 

On Arvia the main smoking area is on the port side of deck 18, near the Beachcomber bar; I expect it is the same on Iona.

[Durie1989]

Amazing 🤩 

[daiB]

On 3/22/2023 at 10:37 AM, majortom10 said:

Never had any problem using app/webpage for joining virtual queue for breakfast and dinner in MDR and only took seconds. By the time we had got the lift and headed towards MDR we were told table was ready. Never used MDR for lunch but one suggestion is you can use Keel & Cow for breakfast but was an extra small charge but better choice and quality.

Don’t tell everyone. 

[Cpt Pugwash]

On 3/21/2023 at 11:36 PM, Selbourne said:

John has answered most of your questions, but Formal nights are almost always on Sea days. I might be wrong, but I believe that 7 day cruises on Iona will only have 1 formal night. I’d put money on it being the 2nd night (first sea day). 

Correct the part where they talk about what to wear they state the Formal night will be on the first sea day which is the case on the G312.