Live from Iona Norwegian Fjords 20th May 7 Nights

[ParisHilton]

20 hours ago, bubsie said:

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).

 

Thanks Bubsie!  I think I'll stay up anyhow.  Practice run for the very late nights up in Norway!  Despite my whining about the weather  ( I love the heat) at least I'm not worrying about what's happening in Greece.

[Son of Anarchy]

9 minutes ago, ParisHilton said:

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.

You can the phone other person's cabin from your own cabin, or one of the ship's phones dotted around the ship.

[Megabear2]

26 minutes ago, ParisHilton said:

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.

I'm afraid the app has no communication service between cabins.

[bubsie]

On 7/21/2023 at 3:16 PM, Megabear2 said:

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.

Hi @Megabear2, I've just realised that I don't know how to access the app. I looked in the app store but can only see P&O Australia or freight. Is it a normal app or is it the website I've been booking all the excursions, shows and restaurants on? Sorry to ask such a dumb question! 

 

[Megabear2]

11 minutes ago, bubsie said:

Hi @Megabear2, I've just realised that I don't know how to access the app. I looked in the app store but can only see P&O Australia or freight. Is it a normal app or is it the website I've been booking all the excursions, shows and restaurants on? Sorry to ask such a dumb question! 

 

Not dumb at all. P&O call it an app but actually it isn't one so you can't access it from the app store.  You will be able to access it at Southampton before boarding.  The attached screenshot shows you what it looks like.

 

I believe TigerB gave you information on downloading it, if not let us know.

 

 

[ParisHilton]

46 minutes ago, Son of Anarchy said:

You can the phone other person's cabin from your own cabin, or one of the ship's phones dotted around the ship.

 

oooh ships phone sounds good.  I guess we will have to be a bit more organised than usual.

Probably not all bad for me as I might want to escape the in-laws at times I can't hide in the casino.....

[ParisHilton]

6 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Not dumb at all. P&O call it an app but actually it isn't one so you can't access it from the app store.  You will be able to access it at Southampton before boarding.  The attached screenshot shows you what it looks like.

 

I believe TigerB gave you information on downloading it, if not let us know.

 

 

 

 

From what I'm seeing, it's just a web page that can only be accessed when you are connected to the ship Wi-Fi. 

Is there a wi-fi for this and a different one you pay for, or do you just login to the paid one and it lets you connect to off-ship stuff (ie the normal internet).

[Megabear2]

1 minute ago, ParisHilton said:

 

 

From what I'm seeing, it's just a web page that can only be accessed when you are connected to the ship Wi-Fi. 

Is there a wi-fi for this and a different one you pay for, or do you just login to the paid one and it lets you connect to off-ship stuff (ie the normal internet).

You are correct it's a web page.  You can connect by logging into the wifi with your phone in flight mode.  The required 6 digits are the same as the ones on your boarding pass.  

 

I always have paid wifi onboard and my app connects automatically when I'm near the ship and doesn't log out.  It is apparently using the ship's wifi but those who don't have paid wifi do some "piggy back" into a section of the wifi.

 

It's a bit cumbersome which is why many have problems.  If you have the paid wifi it seems to behave a little better for some reason.

[bubsie]

Thanks so much @Megabear2

 

[terrierjohn]

3 hours ago, ParisHilton said:

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.

Unfortunately the P&O app does not have a location monitor like the Princess medallion system.

[Gettingwarmer]

2 hours ago, bubsie said:

Hi @Megabear2, I've just realised that I don't know how to access the app. I looked in the app store but can only see P&O Australia or freight. Is it a normal app or is it the website I've been booking all the excursions, shows and restaurants on? Sorry to ask such a dumb question! 

 

 

2 hours ago, ParisHilton said:

 

 

From what I'm seeing, it's just a web page that can only be accessed when you are connected to the ship Wi-Fi. 

Is there a wi-fi for this and a different one you pay for, or do you just login to the paid one and it lets you connect to off-ship stuff (ie the normal internet).

See this

https://www.pocruises.com/my-holiday?otprrf=https_boards.cruisecritic.co.uk

see link near end

[bubsie]

Thanks @Gettingwarmer

[Britboys]

12 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Unfortunately the P&O app does not have a location monitor like the Princess medallion system.

Mind you, some people may not wish to be 'found' by other members in their party...😂

[heathstockton4]

Just booking Iona for next April from Southampton, never done a Fjords cruise before, is there any preference on which side the cabin is on, guessing not but thought would ask?

 

We are looking at 14212 or 14206

 

Thanks

[AndyMichelle]

2 hours ago, heathstockton4 said:

Just booking Iona for next April from Southampton, never done a Fjords cruise before, is there any preference on which side the cabin is on, guessing not but thought would ask?

 

We are looking at 14212 or 14206

 

Thanks

The nice thing about most of the Fjords is that if you don't see the best view on the way on, you will see it on the way out. 

Our recent Britannia cruise, starboard was usually facing the port, but don't bank on it. 

Andy 

[TigerB]

2 hours ago, heathstockton4 said:

Just booking Iona for next April from Southampton, never done a Fjords cruise before, is there any preference on which side the cabin is on, guessing not but thought would ask?

 

We are looking at 14212 or 14206

 

Thanks

 

It doesn't really matter as, if you remained on your cabin balcony, you'll view one side going in and the other side coming out of each fjord.

In June we had a balcony cabin on deck 15, on the port side, and it was fine.

 

It may be different for your cruise, but for us we docked as follows:

Stavanger: port against the quay

Olden: starboard against the quay

Hellesylt: starboard against the quay  (you're visiting Alesund instead)

Haugesund: starboard against the quay

[Selbourne]

3 hours ago, heathstockton4 said:

Just booking Iona for next April from Southampton, never done a Fjords cruise before, is there any preference on which side the cabin is on, guessing not but thought would ask?

 

We are looking at 14212 or 14206

 

Thanks

As others have said, which side of the ship you are on doesn’t make a huge difference, as fjords are dead ends, so you see one side on the way in and the other on the way out (although, in reality, most people are still in bed for the vast majority of the transit in).

 

What is far more significant than the side of the ship you are on is the itinerary. Whilst sold as Fjord cruises, it is worth noting that there are only 3 proper fjords with spectacular scenery that P&O visit. The ports for these fjords are Olden, Flaam, Hellesylt, Geiranger and Skjolden, of which, as far as I know, Iona only ever visits 2 of the first 3 of these on any 7 night cruise, and on some cruises only 1 of them. Locations such as Allesund, Stavanger and Haugesund do not involve transiting the scenic fjords, so are effectively more like coastal ports. So the itinerary determines whether you spend 1 or 2 days out of the 7 in the scenery that you will associate as the proper fjords. 

 

[Britboys]

14 hours ago, Selbourne said:

As others have said, which side of the ship you are on doesn’t make a huge difference, as fjords are dead ends, so you see one side on the way in and the other on the way out (although, in reality, most people are still in bed for the vast majority of the transit in).

 

What is far more significant than the side of the ship you are on is the itinerary. Whilst sold as Fjord cruises, it is worth noting that there are only 3 proper fjords with spectacular scenery that P&O visit. The ports for these fjords are Olden, Flaam, Hellesylt, Geiranger and Skjolden, of which, as far as I know, Iona only ever visits 2 of the first 3 of these on any 7 night cruise, and on some cruises only 1 of them. Locations such as Allesund, Stavanger and Haugesund do not involve transiting the scenic fjords, so are effectively more like coastal ports. So the itinerary determines whether you spend 1 or 2 days out of the 7 in the scenery that you will associate as the proper fjords. 

 

I'm calling at Nordfjordeid on my cruise this year but I don't think Iona goes there. It's definitely in the fjords so I'll let you know how it compares with Olden...

[Selbourne]

14 minutes ago, Britboys said:

I'm calling at Nordfjordeid on my cruise this year but I don't think Iona goes there. It's definitely in the fjords so I'll let you know how it compares with Olden...

I’ve never even heard of that port Andrew, but looking it up I see that it’s a diversion off the fjord that you traverse on the way to Olden. I hadn’t heard of Skjolden either before our recent cruise went there and that’s further along the fjord that you traverse on the way to Flaam. I was surprised that we went there on Britannia, as it’s the longest fjord, so you’d assume that it would be the preserve of Aurora and Arcadia.

Edited July 27, 2023 by Selbourne

[purplesea]

26 minutes ago, Britboys said:

I'm calling at Nordfjordeid on my cruise this year but I don't think Iona goes there. It's definitely in the fjords so I'll let you know how it compares with Olden...

We are also calling in at Nordfjordeid, when are you going?

[bbtablet]

When in a fjord, don't make the mistake of only sitting on your 180 degrees balcony without also occasionally going "up top" to see the full 360 degrees panarama of the scenery. 

Totally immersive!

[Britboys]

8 hours ago, purplesea said:

We are also calling in at Nordfjordeid, when are you going?

Next month...

[purplesea]

2 hours ago, Britboys said:

Next month...

We go in September so will be interested to read your opinion. 

[ParisHilton]

Hi ,

 is EHIC still valid and the right thing to have?  I'm sure I read there was something else in place (+ travel insurance of course), but my google skills are letting me down this morning.

 

 

[Megabear2]

10 minutes ago, ParisHilton said:

Hi ,

 is EHIC still valid and the right thing to have?  I'm sure I read there was something else in place (+ travel insurance of course), but my google skills are letting me down this morning.

 

 

If yours is in date yes.  Otherwise apply for a GHIC - it isn't so inclusive but is the replacement.

 

Point to note for everyone- it will be a term of your travel insurance you have one of these and failure to have one will affect any claim.  

Edited July 28, 2023 by Megabear2