Live from Iona Norwegian Fjords 20th May 7 Nights

[Selbourne]

45 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

@Selbourne

Now I am off Iona and back with better wifi, I asked and was told that there was 5,700 passengers and 1600-1700 crew. There are meant to be 1800 crew. From what I coud see the shrtages were evident in Vistas - there was often a long queue for take away coffee, and in clearing tables in the restaurants. This delayed service

 

The ship was busy but we could always find somewhere to sit and as long as you don't want to be by a pool it's fine. Having said that we still found beds by the Infinity Pool on our first sea day which was a very warm and sunny day. Sometimes there were chairs by the Skydome Pool but the comfy ones which face the windows were always taken.

 

Getting 8 adults seated on Celebration night was a challenge. As we had 4 cabins we tried to join 4 queues at 6.30. We managed to get in the queues for Pearl and Aqua but the others were full and stayed full. I went to enquire about walk ins and was told there were 200 people ahead of us. We finally got called at 8.30. I fodn the wait stressful as some of our party eat early and one is a type 1 diabetic. We did not order drinks in case we were called before they were ready.

 

The next night  2 of us looked at the queues at 6.30. All queues were full and stayed full. At 7.45 went to Coral and we were told there were 300 people ahead of us but the lady let us in.

 

Other members of our group who eat early joined a queue every night at 5.15 and were called at about 6pm. One night 2 of them joined the same queue 5 minutes apart, both asking for a table for 4. The one who joined last was called first.

 

The dining situation was very stressful. We found it hard to plan our evenings as we either were still waiting for dinner before a show or we missed a show due to dinner being late. However another passenger told us we could collect a pager between 5.30pm and 6pm and tell the restaurant what time we wanted to eat and we would be called when the table was ready.  So after that we got a pager and said we wnated t eat at 8pm. We didn't wait for the pager to go off, we went to the restaurant at 8pm and were seated straight away. A much better system which P&O could communicate better. 

 

Getting a table for 8 was so difficult we only did it once. We also booked  Sindhu for 8 people but the maximum table is for 6 so we had to do 2 separate bookings at different times- 7.15 and 7.45. I asked if we could merge the booking so we could all eat at 7.15. this was not possible! we were offered 6pm. As this was a surprise for my DH's 70th birthday and he eats late, I knew that wouldn't work. We were then offered 6.30. After a discussion we agreed that some of our party would turn up at 6.30 to hold the table and we could come at 7.15 and he would seat us near each other. I was not satisfied with this but it was te best I could get. So 6 people went at 6.30 and DH and I turned up at 7.15  I looked around and noticed it would have been easy to put tables together which were in booths but they had just put some tables togther right in front of the kitchen. This was not ideal but I was too stressed to do anything about it. I felt it was uncomfortable and we missed out onthe ambience of the restaurant. The food and service were fine.

As Iona is mseant to be family friendly I think P&O did not plan adequately for multigenerational parties. If the children had not been in the kids club we would have had needed a table for 11, and this is not possible. 

 

The children loved the kids club, the shows etc and there was lots of choice of food for them to eat.

 

Hope that helps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much Cathy. I really appreciate you taking time to post this, as will many others. 
 

Thankfully there are 6 of us so, from what you are saying we shouldn’t have the same degree of difficulty (I hope that’s not famous last words 😂). I had already clocked your tip about getting different party members to join queues for different restaurants for the whole group and then going to whichever comes up first, then cancelling the others. Undoubtedly, this will be a contributory factor as to why the waits are so long, as I bet that many do this and don’t cancel the other bookings, or there is a time lag before the restaurant managers realising that the party isn’t coming and calling another party, but if P&O are going to persevere with this nonsense then it is no wonder that people are gaming the system.
 

We will probably only use the MDR for the Celebration night, so with 3 couples I am hoping that between us and a combination of multiple bookings and a pager (thanks for that tip also) we stand half a chance of getting a table somewhere or other. It’s heartbreaking that P&O seem to have messed up Freedom Dining on some ships - a system that we have previously enjoyed using since it was launched. Cunard’s Britannia Club (which we have now booked two future cruises in) is looking more and more attractive. As you say, you don’t go on holiday to experience hassle and stress over something that should be enjoyed. 
 

If the ship is 100-200 crew members short then that will, of course, be yet another contributory factor. Whether that is a temporary issue that will be resolved, or a new lower staffing level (with all that it entails) only time will tell. 
 

I hope that you all managed to enjoy the cruise in spite of these challenges. I am planning our August Iona cruise like a military operation in order to try and make it as hassle free as possible once we are on board. Two of our party are first time cruisers and I want to make sure that their first impressions are as positive as possible. Thankfully we have a hassle free U.K. holiday booked 4 weeks after we disembark Iona if we feel that we need another holiday to recover from it 😂 

[Cathygh]

21 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Thank you so much Cathy. I really appreciate you taking time to post this, as will many others. 
 

Thankfully there are 6 of us so, from what you are saying we shouldn’t have the same degree of difficulty (I hope that’s not famous last words 😂). I had already clocked your tip about getting different party members to join queues for different restaurants for the whole group and then going to whichever comes up first, then cancelling the others. Undoubtedly, this will be a contributory factor as to why the waits are so long, as I bet that many do this and don’t cancel the other bookings, or there is a time lag before the restaurant managers realising that the party isn’t coming and calling another party, but if P&O are going to persevere with this nonsense then it is no wonder that people are gaming the system.
 

We will probably only use the MDR for the Celebration night, so with 3 couples I am hoping that between us and a combination of multiple bookings and a pager (thanks for that tip also) we stand half a chance of getting a table somewhere or other. It’s heartbreaking that P&O seem to have messed up Freedom Dining on some ships - a system that we have previously enjoyed using since it was launched. Cunard’s Britannia Club (which we have now booked two future cruises in) is looking more and more attractive. As you say, you don’t go on holiday to experience hassle and stress over something that should be enjoyed. 
 

If the ship is 100-200 crew members short then that will, of course, be yet another contributory factor. Whether that is a temporary issue that will be resolved, or a new lower staffing level (with all that it entails) only time will tell. 
 

I hope that you all managed to enjoy the cruise in spite of these challenges. I am planning our August Iona cruise like a military operation in order to try and make it as hassle free as possible once we are on board. Two of our party are first time cruisers and I want to make sure that their first impressions are as positive as possible. Thankfully we have a hassle free U.K. holiday booked 4 weeks after we disembark Iona if we feel that we need another holiday to recover from it 😂 

You are welcome. 6 is easier to manage for sure. I am not sure if you can get a pager for Celebration NIght but its worth a try. The virtual queues were very long every night. We have used a similar system on Princess but found we didn't need to use it, we could walk in and be seated at any time convenient to us. I don't know why P&O make a meal out of it (excuse the pun!).

Speciality dining was booked up all week except maybe the first night, so I would definitely book any you want before hand. Keel and Cow and Glasshouse were also very popular and were regularly full early evening. I'm not sure about later on. 

 

We got into every show we wanted to see withut booking and even got into the 710 club. We arrived on spec at 6 .45 and were asked to wait. My DH checked the app and found there had been a cancellation so we went in, and everyone who wanted to go in got a seat.

 

I did have a great holiday. great ship, lots to do with extra put on for a cancelled port day. I have no complaints about the food (that's a first!) and was hapy with very meal. We ate in the MDR for every breakfast, most lunches and evenings and were happy with the choices on offer. Some of the family ate in the Quays for breakfast and lunch, as well as the buffet and loved the food. I hope you have a fantastic holiday in August.

[Ardennais]

2 hours ago, Cathygh said:

@Selbourne

Now I am off Iona and back with better wifi, I asked and was told that there was 5,700 passengers and 1600-1700 crew. There are meant to be 1800 crew. From what I coud see the shrtages were evident in Vistas - there was often a long queue for take away coffee, and in clearing tables in the restaurants. This delayed service

 

The ship was busy but we could always find somewhere to sit and as long as you don't want to be by a pool it's fine. Having said that we still found beds by the Infinity Pool on our first sea day which was a very warm and sunny day. Sometimes there were chairs by the Skydome Pool but the comfy ones which face the windows were always taken.

 

Getting 8 adults seated on Celebration night was a challenge. As we had 4 cabins we tried to join 4 queues at 6.30. We managed to get in the queues for Pearl and Aqua but the others were full and stayed full. I went to enquire about walk ins and was told there were 200 people ahead of us. We finally got called at 8.30. I fodn the wait stressful as some of our party eat early and one is a type 1 diabetic. We did not order drinks in case we were called before they were ready.

 

The next night  2 of us looked at the queues at 6.30. All queues were full and stayed full. At 7.45 went to Coral and we were told there were 300 people ahead of us but the lady let us in.

 

Other members of our group who eat early joined a queue every night at 5.15 and were called at about 6pm. One night 2 of them joined the same queue 5 minutes apart, both asking for a table for 4. The one who joined last was called first.

 

The dining situation was very stressful. We found it hard to plan our evenings as we either were still waiting for dinner before a show or we missed a show due to dinner being late. However another passenger told us we could collect a pager between 5.30pm and 6pm and tell the restaurant what time we wanted to eat and we would be called when the table was ready.  So after that we got a pager and said we wnated t eat at 8pm. We didn't wait for the pager to go off, we went to the restaurant at 8pm and were seated straight away. A much better system which P&O could communicate better. 

 

Getting a table for 8 was so difficult we only did it once. We also booked  Sindhu for 8 people but the maximum table is for 6 so we had to do 2 separate bookings at different times- 7.15 and 7.45. I asked if we could merge the booking so we could all eat at 7.15. this was not possible! we were offered 6pm. As this was a surprise for my DH's 70th birthday and he eats late, I knew that wouldn't work. We were then offered 6.30. After a discussion we agreed that some of our party would turn up at 6.30 to hold the table and we could come at 7.15 and he would seat us near each other. I was not satisfied with this but it was te best I could get. So 6 people went at 6.30 and DH and I turned up at 7.15  I looked around and noticed it would have been easy to put tables together which were in booths but they had just put some tables togther right in front of the kitchen. This was not ideal but I was too stressed to do anything about it. I felt it was uncomfortable and we missed out onthe ambience of the restaurant. The food and service were fine.

As Iona is mseant to be family friendly I think P&O did not plan adequately for multigenerational parties. If the children had not been in the kids club we would have had needed a table for 11, and this is not possible. 

 

The children loved the kids club, the shows etc and there was lots of choice of food for them to eat.

 

Hope that helps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for this. We’re hoping to go on Iona next year with the children and their partners so that will be 8 of us. We can go during term time which should be better!

 

Shame that Iona is still understaffed. We also found this a problem during February half term when it was chock a block - even more passengers than your cruise. As you say, service in Vistas was slow and the tables weren’t cleared for ages. We were told then than it was fully staffed but obviously still insufficient for the numbers onboard. 

[bubsie]

@Interestedcruisefan thank you so much for posting this - it must have taken you hours! Thanks too to the other posters who kept the conversation going - you're like one big extended happy family! I love it! 

We have never cruised with P&O before - we're excited to be off on Iona on 5th August which is 15 days away. I know we can book restaurants and entertainment from 14 days before so hopefully we will get an email tonight or tomorrow telling us how we do this - at the moment I can't see any way of booking but I guess it will all go live tomorrow - fingers crossed! 

So, what to book? 

I can see that it would be good to book a table at the 710 club one night. That sounds right up our street! 

Do you need to book a table at Sindhu if you just want a drink? 

What do you guys think about Limelight? 

I think we will probably try all the shows - why not! 

Will definitely be walking a little further in the restaurants to try and get a window or a quieter spot but of course we are going in the school holidays so things may be pretty busy! 

Any advice or thoughts on things we should def try and things we should maybe leave much appreciated. Have taken on board the advice about breakfast at The Quays, drinks at Crow's Nest or Anderson's so thanks already for these recommendations. 

 

Fingers crossed we get an email soon telling how to book! 

Can't wait. 

Thank in advance guys! 

 

[Selbourne]

2 hours ago, bubsie said:

@Interestedcruisefan thank you so much for posting this - it must have taken you hours! Thanks too to the other posters who kept the conversation going - you're like one big extended happy family! I love it! 

We have never cruised with P&O before - we're excited to be off on Iona on 5th August which is 15 days away. I know we can book restaurants and entertainment from 14 days before so hopefully we will get an email tonight or tomorrow telling us how we do this - at the moment I can't see any way of booking but I guess it will all go live tomorrow - fingers crossed! 

So, what to book? 

I can see that it would be good to book a table at the 710 club one night. That sounds right up our street! 

Do you need to book a table at Sindhu if you just want a drink? 

What do you guys think about Limelight? 

I think we will probably try all the shows - why not! 

Will definitely be walking a little further in the restaurants to try and get a window or a quieter spot but of course we are going in the school holidays so things may be pretty busy! 

Any advice or thoughts on things we should def try and things we should maybe leave much appreciated. Have taken on board the advice about breakfast at The Quays, drinks at Crow's Nest or Anderson's so thanks already for these recommendations. 

 

Fingers crossed we get an email soon telling how to book! 

Can't wait. 

Thank in advance guys! 

 

By the time you get your email you might be too late! Bookings open online at midnight 14 days before your cruise. In order to book you need to log in to your Cruise Personaliser using your P&O booking code. This is 6 digits long and a combination of letters and numbers. Emails about your cruise will contain this, as will your booking confirmation. Once logged in, go to dining or entertainment and you can then book. 
 

You can’t use Sindhu just for a drink, but there is often a linked bar just outside the entrance where you can. Limelight Club is a nice feature that we enjoy, but some acts are better than others, so best to go for someone that you know you will like. 

[bubsie]

Thanks @Selbourne, sounds like we need to sit up until midnight tonight then and get booking! So grateful for this advice xx

 

[bubsie]

Well, not sure what's going on but the shows have already gone live so I've managed to book them. Restaurants are not bookable yet and under 'Live Music' (which I'm guessing is how you book 710 club) it says not bookable, ask on board. We will see! Maybe these will go live at midnight? We've booked to go to each show offered. Anyone heard of Neil Lockwood? He's on twice! 

[Megabear2]

9 minutes ago, bubsie said:

Well, not sure what's going on but the shows have already gone live so I've managed to book them. Restaurants are not bookable yet and under 'Live Music' (which I'm guessing is how you book 710 club) it says not bookable, ask on board. We will see! Maybe these will go live at midnight? We've booked to go to each show offered. Anyone heard of Neil Lockwood? He's on twice! 

Neil Lockwood is brilliant.  He was part of ELO2 and also played with the Alan Parsons Project. You are extremely lucky to have him onboard, he's one of the best acts on P&O in recent times and his shows are always fully booked.

 

The 710 Club is only bookable on the app.  When you get to Southampton connect to the app before boarding if possible - you can use the last 6 numbers on your boarding pass to log in.  Book 710 Club there and then.  It will be nigh on impossible to get in if you wait, there are only 100 or so admissions per show.

 

Your restaurants will probably go live tonight at midnight as they generally follow 24 hours after entertainment  - some will most likely be full by tomorrow.  Yes, if you can stay up go for it.

Edited July 21, 2023 by Megabear2

[purplesea]

22 minutes ago, bubsie said:

Well, not sure what's going on but the shows have already gone live so I've managed to book them. Restaurants are not bookable yet and under 'Live Music' (which I'm guessing is how you book 710 club) it says not bookable, ask on board. We will see! Maybe these will go live at midnight? We've booked to go to each show offered. Anyone heard of Neil Lockwood? He's on twice! 

Neil Lockwood was on our cruise on Arvia and we throughly enjoyed his show, it was briliant. We would definitely go and see him again.

[Son of Anarchy]

Saw Neil Lockwood a few ago on Ventura.  Fantastic shows.

[bubsie]

That's great to hear! Looking forward to seeing him 

 

[ParisHilton]

6 hours ago, bubsie said:

@Interestedcruisefan thank you so much for posting this - it must have taken you hours! Thanks too to the other posters who kept the conversation going - you're like one big extended happy family! I love it! 

We have never cruised with P&O before - we're excited to be off on Iona on 5th August which is 15 days away. I know we can book restaurants and entertainment from 14 days before so hopefully we will get an email tonight or tomorrow telling us how we do this - at the moment I can't see any way of booking but I guess it will all go live tomorrow - fingers crossed! 

So, what to book? 

I can see that it would be good to book a table at the 710 club one night. That sounds right up our street! 

Do you need to book a table at Sindhu if you just want a drink? 

What do you guys think about Limelight? 

I think we will probably try all the shows - why not! 

Will definitely be walking a little further in the restaurants to try and get a window or a quieter spot but of course we are going in the school holidays so things may be pretty busy! 

Any advice or thoughts on things we should def try and things we should maybe leave much appreciated. Have taken on board the advice about breakfast at The Quays, drinks at Crow's Nest or Anderson's so thanks already for these recommendations. 

 

Fingers crossed we get an email soon telling how to book! 

Can't wait. 

Thank in advance guys! 

 

~We'll be boarding the day you disembark 🙂

 

thanks for resurrecting this thread. I knew pre-booking was essential but wasn't think a 'log on at midnight' would really be necessary. Guess it being a Saturday helps!

 

--Edit-- I wonder if you can book stuff for the following week by giving our name and room number whilst you are on board 😉

Edited July 21, 2023 by ParisHilton

[happy v]

Another vote for Neil Lockwood. Fantastic 

[TigerB]

2 hours ago, bubsie said:

Well, not sure what's going on but the shows have already gone live so I've managed to book them. Restaurants are not bookable yet and under 'Live Music' (which I'm guessing is how you book 710 club) it says not bookable, ask on board. We will see! Maybe these will go live at midnight? We've booked to go to each show offered. Anyone heard of Neil Lockwood? He's on twice! 

 

I won't repeat what @Selbourne and @Megabear2 have written, which is very useful advice.

I can though confirm what Selbourne has written that, as with other ships, there is bar seating right outside the Sindhu on Iona.

 

Further to what Megabear has written about the 710 Club, if you don't manage to secure reservations as soon as you can get on the My Holiday app, you can try a walk-in; further details of that here:

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2943400-not-quite-live-from-iona-g318-fjords-10th-june/page/6/#comment-65557702

 

Finally, if you really want a reservation in a speciality restaurant at a time to suit you, get on the cruise planner as soon as you can after midnight tonight, and keep refreshing until the dining reservations become available; that is even more necessary if you fancy the Norwegian tasting menu in Epicurean. For us (June) they became available about half past midnight.

Remember also, that you save 20% for the available speciality restaurants, and the Limelight Club if you book ahead on the cruise planner.

[ParisHilton]

On 7/21/2023 at 1:53 PM, bubsie said:

Thanks @Selbourne, sounds like we need to sit up until midnight tonight then and get booking! So grateful for this advice xx

 

 

Was there a  mad rush of people booking stuff at midnight?

Do I need to rent a hotel room nearer to their servers?

[Britboys]

On 7/21/2023 at 10:29 AM, bubsie said:

@Interestedcruisefan

...Will definitely be walking a little further in the restaurants to try and get a window or a quieter spot but of course we are going in the school holidays so things may be pretty busy! 

Any advice or thoughts on things we should def try and things we should maybe leave much appreciated. Have taken on board the advice about breakfast at The Quays, drinks at Crow's Nest or Anderson's so thanks already for these recommendations. 

 

Fingers crossed we get an email soon telling how to book! 

Can't wait. 

Thank in advance guys! 

 

I've not been on Iona but unless it is different to most of the other ships, in all the main dining rooms and speciality restaurants, you will be escorted to a table by a member of the restaurant team. Of course, there is nothing to stop you asking for a window table or quieter position but it isn't guaranteed.

In the Horizon buffet and other casual eateries such as the quays, you can just choose any available table.

 

[bubsie]

HI everyone, sorry for the late response. We've been at our son and DIL's all weekend. 

 

@ParisHilton, we didn't need to sit up until midnight!

 

On Friday lunchtime the other couple we are travelling with messaged to say that they had just checked the website and found that bookings for the shows had opened. We didn't have any difficulty booking each show once on different evenings. We also found a quiz we could book for, so we did! Restaurant bookings were not open at this point. 

 

On Saturday morning I woke about 6.30 and checked the website and sure enough, some of the restaurants were now open for bookings. We booked Chef's table and Epicurean easily with lots of availability. We could have booked Sindhu and a few others but Keel and Cow and others like Olive Grove and Glass House were not accepting bookings. 

Weirdly, if I log in now I can't book anything! 

 

Those who advised we would be able to book shows on Friday and restaurants on Saturday were right, thank you so much! 

You are all absolutely brilliant. 

 

Paris, let us know if this all works for you too!

 

[bubsie]

8 hours ago, Britboys said:

I've not been on Iona but unless it is different to most of the other ships, in all the main dining rooms and speciality restaurants, you will be escorted to a table by a member of the restaurant team. Of course, there is nothing to stop you asking for a window table or quieter position but it isn't guaranteed.

In the Horizon buffet and other casual eateries such as the quays, you can just choose any available table.

 

Yes, you're quite right, the original poster had mentioned lots of window tables in the Quays if you just walked a little. In the restaurants I'm expecting to be escorted as you say! 

There's so much info in this post, it's great! 

 

[bubsie]

On 7/21/2023 at 6:15 PM, TigerB said:

 

I won't repeat what @Selbourne and @Megabear2 have written, which is very useful advice.

I can though confirm what Selbourne has written that, as with other ships, there is bar seating right outside the Sindhu on Iona.

 

Further to what Megabear has written about the 710 Club, if you don't manage to secure reservations as soon as you can get on the My Holiday app, you can try a walk-in; further details of that here:

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2943400-not-quite-live-from-iona-g318-fjords-10th-june/page/6/#comment-65557702

 

Finally, if you really want a reservation in a speciality restaurant at a time to suit you, get on the cruise planner as soon as you can after midnight tonight, and keep refreshing until the dining reservations become available; that is even more necessary if you fancy the Norwegian tasting menu in Epicurean. For us (June) they became available about half past midnight.

Remember also, that you save 20% for the available speciality restaurants, and the Limelight Club if you book ahead on the cruise planner.

@TigerB, thanks for this advice, will definitely follow your advice about the 710 club. 

[bubsie]

PS @ParisHilton we could also have booked Limelight Club on Saturday morning,  The entertainer for our week is Gareth Gates. Tickets were £28pp so our group decided to leave it but there was loads of availability when we were booking (which was around 7.30am).

[Megabear2]

21 minutes ago, bubsie said:

HI everyone, sorry for the late response. We've been at our son and DIL's all weekend. 

 

@ParisHilton, we didn't need to sit up until midnight!

 

On Friday lunchtime the other couple we are travelling with messaged to say that they had just checked the website and found that bookings for the shows had opened. We didn't have any difficulty booking each show once on different evenings. We also found a quiz we could book for, so we did! Restaurant bookings were not open at this point. 

 

On Saturday morning I woke about 6.30 and checked the website and sure enough, some of the restaurants were now open for bookings. We booked Chef's table and Epicurean easily with lots of availability. We could have booked Sindhu and a few others but Keel and Cow and others like Olive Grove and Glass House were not accepting bookings. 

Weirdly, if I log in now I can't book anything! 

 

Those who advised we would be able to book shows on Friday and restaurants on Saturday were right, thank you so much! 

You are all absolutely brilliant. 

 

Paris, let us know if this all works for you too!

 

I'm glad you got sorted with what you wanted.  Regarding not being able to book today this is most likely as a result of the overnight/Saturday reservations being made and availability no longer being available.  We weren't kidding you when we said book early or risk missing out - they really do fill up that fast!

[Megabear2]

23 minutes ago, bubsie said:

There's so much info in this post, it's great! 

ICF is very well known for his enthusiasm! 

[TigerB]

37 minutes ago, bubsie said:

On Saturday morning I woke about 6.30 and checked the website and sure enough, some of the restaurants were now open for bookings. We booked Chef's table and Epicurean easily with lots of availability. We could have booked Sindhu and a few others but Keel and Cow and others like Olive Grove and Glass House were not accepting bookings. 

Weirdly, if I log in now I can't book anything! 

 

That'll be correct; the advance bookings only include Epicurean, Sindhu, Chef's Table, the Limelight Club, and the early slots for the MDRs. Keel &Cow, and the others are only available once you get on My Holiday.  I wouldn't be surprised that most, if not all the slots have gone after three days.

[bubsie]

47 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

ICF is very well known for his enthusiasm! 

I love it!

 

Thanks so much to all of you 🥰

[ParisHilton]

I've not seen this covered yet. Is there a way to 'communicate' with members of your party not in your cabin? I get that wifi is patchy at best so Whatsapp is out.  Does the app have some kind of inter cabin messenger service?  Or do I have to rely on smoke signals \ walkie talkies.