Booking shows on Iona

[AndyMichelle]

9 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Well my second midnight shift wasn’t as productive as my first. As the midnight hour struck Friday night the dining reservations were enabled instantly. I stayed up again last night on the assumption that shows would be enabled as day 13 of the countdown commenced (as @molecrochip had said that it was now 13 days) and nothing. Still nothing this morning. Very frustrating, especially as you can’t rely on an email as soon as they are released, given that there has still been no email about dining reservations being enabled yet many have sold out already!

What a palaver!!! 

Surely they will have to introduce a better system which is fair for everyone? 

Andy 

[Selbourne]

12 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

What a palaver!!! 

Surely they will have to introduce a better system which is fair for everyone? 

Andy 

I agree Andy. Those of us ‘in the know’ have a distinct advantage but, even then, there is no consistency as to when bookings open! It is indeed a palaver, but the era of spontaneity is well and truly over 😂 

[ParisHilton]

None of the shows have been released?

There was only one per day for us (as shown on my earlier screenshot). But as there are several venues on board I assume there are multiple bookable shows.

[Selbourne]

50 minutes ago, ParisHilton said:

None of the shows have been released?

There was only one per day for us (as shown on my earlier screenshot). But as there are several venues on board I assume there are multiple bookable shows.

I don’t know if it’s any different on Iona, but with our recent Britannia cruise the only shows that could be booked in advance were the theatre shows. As of now, there isn’t even the option to book those yet. I believe that I’m looking in the right place (see screenshot below) as I have checked everywhere else and can’t see where else it would be. The irony is that my wife and I can take or leave most of the shows, but our daughters and their partners are keen to experience everything and I have offered to sort out all the bookings 😂 

[Windsurfboy]

Having read this and similiar about booking speciality restaurants, I will take advice and wait up till midnight.  However as has been said it's a major palavar and uncertainty. Will definitely put me Off booking with P&O again.

[ParisHilton]

46 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I don’t know if it’s any different on Iona, but with our recent Britannia cruise the only shows that could be booked in advance were the theatre shows. As of now, there isn’t even the option to book those yet. I believe that I’m looking in the right place (see screenshot below) as I have checked everywhere else and can’t see where else it would be. The irony is that my wife and I can take or leave most of the shows, but our daughters and their partners are keen to experience everything and I have offered to sort out all the bookings 😂 

I had a book now button under that signature performances.  

Definitely they should have a nominal refundable charge and get rid of this palava. Even if it only hit OBC.

[Selbourne]

Update - I have just had the email to say that shows are now open for bookings. I have duly clicked on the link and, yes, you’ve guessed it - they aren’t 😡

[ParisHilton]

SOOO annoying!

[Son of Anarchy]

5 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Update - I have just had the email to say that shows are now open for bookings. I have duly clicked on the link and, yes, you’ve guessed it - they aren’t 😡

Selbourne - are you in reality a coiled spring? 😃

[molecrochip]

On 8/4/2023 at 9:32 AM, Son of Anarchy said:

Could be a glitch, could possibly be that apart from the Headliner shows, the acts themselves haven't been finalised.

 

On at least one of our post covid cruises not all the acts appeared for pre-booking on the scheduled date.  Gradually popped up over the two weeks.  One cruise, one of the acts was removed after a couple of days and replaced with someone else.  Not surprising, I googled him as I'd never heard of him.  Turned out that week he'd been found guilty of child sex offences.

That would be Tom Binns as Ivan Brackleberry. His show was funny but rightly P&O severed ties.

[molecrochip]

The only shows bookable will be shows in the theatre. They appear as one show per day and when you go through there are multiple showings to choose from.

 

Warning, unless it’s been fixed, you can only book for yourself unless you are lead booking passenger then you can book for yourself plus others.

[terrierjohn]

32 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Update - I have just had the email to say that shows are now open for bookings. I have duly clicked on the link and, yes, you’ve guessed it - they aren’t 😡

That has been reported many times, presumably the e-mail is just a heads up to keep checking.

Personally we no longer bother with the shows, unless you arrive the day before there are rarely any wheelchair spaces left, and we no longer enjoy the shows. Which was the beauty of Princess with lots of entertainment in the Atrium including some very good groups, and finding one spare seat for me , while my DW stayed in her wheelchair, never posed a problem.

[Selbourne]

7 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

That has been reported many times, presumably the e-mail is just a heads up to keep checking.

No, the email clearly states (and I quote) “we’ve opened up bookings on My P&O Cruises for the many wonderful experiences on board.” and further down there is a “Book Now” button. 
 

11 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Personally we no longer bother with the shows, unless you arrive the day before there are rarely any wheelchair spaces left, and we no longer enjoy the shows. Which was the beauty of Princess with lots of entertainment in the Atrium including some very good groups, and finding one spare seat for me , while my DW stayed in her wheelchair, never posed a problem.

In all fairness, we never had a problem on Britannia. There was plenty of provision for wheelchair users and companions. We sat at the back on deck 7 and there were 4 wheelchair and companion seats both sides of the auditorium. Also, on the deck 6 level there were at least 16 row end seats designated for wheelchair user companions where the wheelchair user could park adjacent. We only went to around half the shows, but they were all at 10.30pm and were all full houses, yet wheelchair users arriving as late as 5 minutes before could still get one of the designated spaces. Far better than Aurora where unless we arrived at least 20 minutes early you could forget it. 

[Selbourne]

34 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

The only shows bookable will be shows in the theatre. They appear as one show per day and when you go through there are multiple showings to choose from.

 

Warning, unless it’s been fixed, you can only book for yourself unless you are lead booking passenger then you can book for yourself plus others.

I’ve just logged on as myself and then again as my wife. Neither of us have an option to make bookings for the theatre shows, in spite of receiving the email to say that bookings are now open. Also, as reported on another thread, the same email says that it is not possible to make reservations for the speciality restaurants, which is nonsense because you can - and I have! 

[AndyMichelle]

1 hour ago, molecrochip said:

That would be Tom Binns as Ivan Brackleberry. His show was funny but rightly P&O severed ties.

That's a shocker!!!

We met him with his family onboard Aurora I think... 

Slightly strange man, but very funny and we would never have guessed... 

The suit and flip flops should have given us a clue😊

Andy 

[molecrochip]

19 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

That's a shocker!!!

We met him with his family onboard Aurora I think... 

Slightly strange man, but very funny and we would never have guessed... 

The suit and flip flops should have given us a clue😊

Andy 

Slightly odd case as he self referred himself to the police:

 

https://beyondthejoke.co.uk/content/12987/tom-binns-issues-statement#:~:text=Following news of his court,a short period of time.

 

He pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing this month.

[Cloudyrain]

8 hours ago, ParisHilton said:

None of the shows have been released?

There was only one per day for us (as shown on my earlier screenshot). But as there are several venues on board I assume there are multiple bookable shows.

Lots of things don’t need booking (skydome, cinema, Clubhouse etc). 710 can be booked on board (and books up fast as it’s only small and a great group) but you can get cancellation spaces if you arrive without a booking and ask to go on the waitlist. In my experience the only things that book out prior to boarding are Limelight and Epicurian/Norwegian Taster Night, but even then there are sometimes last minute cancellations. Oh and the Olive Grove; it’s like the Hunger Games getting in there - but worth it. If you are wanting to go on a “booked” excursion go to the desk on arrival and they usually hold back a portion for sale onboard, or if something is very popular will add extra tours it there is enough demand.

 

may the odds be ever in your favour!

[Selbourne]

Well I’m glad that I didn’t wait up until after midnight for the 3rd night in a row, as the shows still haven’t activated for booking, even though we are now just 12 days from boarding. I suspect that a lot of first time cruisers wasted hours yesterday trying to work out how to book them, having received an email saying that bookings were now open. 
 

I suspect that they might activate during the day, as P&O will no doubt get lots of calls today querying the email (which also incorrectly stated that you can’t book speciality restaurants), which is a bit irritating as I’m am busy all day today and won’t get chance to look again until this evening, but at least they shouldn’t sell out on day 1, unlike some of the dining options. 

[Selbourne]

12 hours ago, Cloudyrain said:

In my experience the only things that book out prior to boarding are Limelight and Epicurian/Norwegian Taster Night, but even then there are sometimes last minute cancellations. 

Certainly for our Iona cruise, anyone trying to make a dining reservation even 12 days prior to boarding will now find that not only is the Norwegian Taster night is sold out, but all other restaurants are now booked at the most popular times, with remaining availability being early or late. There were very few last minute slots on our recent Britannia cruise and the odd one that I did see (mostly Beach House) were after 9pm, which won’t suit everyone. 

[Cloudyrain]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Certainly for our Iona cruise, anyone trying to make a dining reservation even 12 days prior to boarding will now find that not only is the Norwegian Taster night is sold out, but all other restaurants are now booked at the most popular times, with remaining availability being early or late. There were very few last minute slots on our recent Britannia cruise and the odd one that I did see (mostly Beach House) were after 9pm, which won’t suit everyone. 

We had no problem last year with the Beach House on the Britannia, and booked the same day on several occasions, so it’s a shame if it has changed on there since then. However, we have been on the Iona twice this year (one in school holidays and one out of school holidays) and my experience there were slots in all dining venues except those I stated. We were able to book the Beach House twice, Sindhu (although cancelled as we changed our mind) and we even got a couple of lucky lunchtime Olive Grove slots - but they took a lot of refreshing and crossing of fingers! All of the bookings were between 6pm and 8pm (with the exception of the Olive Grove where we only managed lunchtime). 
 

my only “booking” bug bear was that we were unable to book more 710 slots because we were unable to book kids club slots. If you think restaurants are bad don’t try booking a kids club slot - it’s torturous 😂

[majortom10]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Well I’m glad that I didn’t wait up until after midnight for the 3rd night in a row, as the shows still haven’t activated for booking, even though we are now just 12 days from boarding. I suspect that a lot of first time cruisers wasted hours yesterday trying to work out how to book them, having received an email saying that bookings were now open. 
 

I suspect that they might activate during the day, as P&O will no doubt get lots of calls today querying the email (which also incorrectly stated that you can’t book speciality restaurants), which is a bit irritating as I’m am busy all day today and won’t get chance to look again until this evening, but at least they shouldn’t sell out on day 1, unlike some of the dining options. 

On our cruise on Iona only a couple of shows in the theatre were available to book pre cruise the rest you had to book once onboard. The only other show available to book pre cruise unfortunately was Wavelength, one hour of my life I won't get back.

[Selbourne]

3 hours ago, majortom10 said:

On our cruise on Iona only a couple of shows in the theatre were available to book pre cruise the rest you had to book once on board

Interesting. Once you boarded, could you book for the whole duration of the cruise, or did they just open up bookings a day at a time?

[AndyMichelle]

3 hours ago, Cloudyrain said:

We had no problem last year with the Beach House on the Britannia, and booked the same day on several occasions, so it’s a shame if it has changed on there since then. However, we have been on the Iona twice this year (one in school holidays and one out of school holidays) and my experience there were slots in all dining venues except those I stated. We were able to book the Beach House twice, Sindhu (although cancelled as we changed our mind) and we even got a couple of lucky lunchtime Olive Grove slots - but they took a lot of refreshing and crossing of fingers! All of the bookings were between 6pm and 8pm (with the exception of the Olive Grove where we only managed lunchtime). 
 

my only “booking” bug bear was that we were unable to book more 710 slots because we were unable to book kids club slots. If you think restaurants are bad don’t try booking a kids club slot - it’s torturous 😂

We were on Britannia just before Selbourne, there was absolutely no availability for the Beach House, or any other restaurant after the first day. 

After a poor first experience in the mdr, we tried to book anything, but were unable to. 

Andy 

[Cloudyrain]

32 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

We were on Britannia just before Selbourne, there was absolutely no availability for the Beach House, or any other restaurant after the first day. 

After a poor first experience in the mdr, we tried to book anything, but were unable to. 

Andy 

That’s a shame to hear. We were on it around Easter 2022 and had no problems.

[majortom10]

4 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Interesting. Once you boarded, could you book for the whole duration of the cruise, or did they just open up bookings a day at a time?

You could book for whole duration of the cruise. I did my bookings while having the Peninsular Club lunch in restaurant.