Selbourne Live from Iona!

[TigerB]

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

 

DAY 3 - Stavanger 

 

I usually sleep like a log on cruises but am struggling on this one. There were quite a few people being inconsiderate and talking loudly in the passenger corridors whilst returning to their cabins in the early hours after Celebration night, and we have people above us who are going for the world record of how many times they can rearrange their balcony furniture, including very late at night and very early in the morning! As one of our daughters said (who was also disturbed by the noise) it surely wouldn’t be difficult to build in some sort of soft padding on the feet of balcony chairs etc to minimise the noise when they are dragged around. Her partner, who is new to cruising, thought it was thunder 😂 

 

We went down to the Pearl restaurant for our booked table at 0915. Our daughters really enjoyed it and have said that they will ditch the buffet now. Our waiters are brilliant. Nothing is too much trouble. The food was good quality and hot. We are also delighted to find that MDR breakfast is last admission 9.30am on all port days and 10am on all sea days on Iona, which is 30 minutes later than most of the other ships. Makes all the difference and is a big plus for us. 

 

I reported yesterday on the lift issues we are experiencing with the wheelchair and it was interesting that when the deputy captain made the announcement about disembarking in Stavanger there was no mention of which exit wheelchair users should use, as there almost always is on the other ships. Sometimes only one of the two exits is safe for wheelchairs, and if you finally get a lift and go down to the wrong one you are asked to go to the other, which involves yet more lift issues. Thankfully we were Ok with the one we chose, but we are building up a firm picture on this ship that the needs of those with mobility challenges is just not on their radar. A great shame, as I have always sung P&Os praises on this issue and it’s been one of the major reasons we’ve used them so much since my wife became a full time wheelchair user. It’s particularly odd because the accessible cabins and physical provisions around the ship (accessible loos etc) are all excellent. 

 

We had a lovely few hours walking around Stavanger in the sunshine. The blue skies were just an added bonus, as we were relieved to be here given how many times Iona fails to dock in Stavanger due to wind etc. As this is the only biggish place we are going on this cruise, the girls enjoyed the shops and said that the prices didn’t seem too bad. A few carrier bags accompanied us back to the ship! 

 

When we were taking photos of the ship we noticed that a run of 4 cabins above us all have their balcony dividers folded back, so it must be a large party all travelling together. This might go some way to explaining why there is so much noise from overhead when we are on our balcony. It sounds like people are walking (and sometimes kids running) backward and forwards constantly, crashing and banging around and dragging balcony furniture around with great frequency. As I have mentioned on previous cruise blogs, if there’s a noisy or inconsiderate family on the ship you can bet a large sum of money that they will either be beside or above us 🙄. Thankfully, one of our daughters is one side of us and we have a lovely family the other side who are as considerate as we are, so the problem this time is just from above 😂 

 

We left Stavanger at around 5pm, just as the sun was fading, so good timing. A nice transit out, albeit lacking the visual splendour of the proper fjords which we will enjoy for the next 2 days. 

 

Four of us had dinner booked in Sindhu. We met for pre dinner drinks in the very narrow Sindhu bar. I was interested to find out if they had the East India Punch drink that I couldn’t get on Britannia due to “supply issues in Southampton”. They did, so the excuse given on Britannia was clearly hogwash. It was much nicer than the Cherry Negroni I’d had the night before 😂 

 

I’m not usually a massive fan of Sindhu (even though I love Indian food) but our daughter was really looking forward to it as it’s her favourite. Thankfully this was an excellent meal and everyone really enjoyed it - including me. The menu was totally different from both the menus we had on Britannia and was all the better for it. The signature plate is a completely different style. On the other ships it’s 3 different curries. On Iona it’s like a platter of different things (lobster, beef and duck) all flavoured differently, plus loads of bits and pieces that we kept discovering hidden under other things! I’ll post a photo. Highly recommended. I was also really impressed with the charging setup for those who had booked pre cruise. The £10 booking charge had been discounted by 20% for advance booking plus a further 10% loyalty discount. However we were credited with the full £10 a head. Furthermore, the surplus was then also discounted by a further 20% because we had booked pre-cruise and then that was discounted by my 10% loyalty discount! Nice when you feel that you’ve had a bargain 😂 

 

The show was not the one previously advertised, so we cancelled as it didn’t appeal and my wife wanted to return to the cabin. I know that I am becoming like a stuck record about this (and it will only be of interest to those with mobility issues) but we then had the worst example yet of lift problems. We had been waiting for a good 10 minutes or more for a lift and every one had space for a 2 or 3 people but not for a wheelchair. At this point a large group of around 8 people arrived, and when the first lift that had a decent amount of space space in it eventually appeared they all charged for it. I’m afraid that my blood boiled and I told them in no uncertain terms that we had been waiting for ages and would be using that lift. Those that had rushed in reluctantly vacated to let us in, but then proceeded to pile in all around us so we were wedged like sardines. We are now sick and fed up of this lift issue and I think it has completely put us off going on Iona (or Arvia) again. We are both already dreading what it will be like on disembarkation morning, given that it’s usually a nightmare even on the ships where we’ve had no significant lift issues during the cruise. 

 

Given that 95% plus of the people reading this will be able bodied and won’t experience any of these issues whatsoever (so apologies for boring you with our problems), let me end todays blog with some significant positives.  

 

We don’t have the concerns or issues with ‘big ships’ that some have and in all honesty it doesn’t feel that much bigger than Britannia when you are on board. It does feel a busier though. Virtual queueing for the MDRs works much better on Iona than on Britannia, in spite of the size difference. I have not seen more than 1 of the MDRs showing ‘queue full’ at any time, so I don’t think that we would have had any issues had we used the MDR each evening. This was a major problem on Britannia. We thought that the food on Britannia was mostly very good. It’s even better on Iona. If you are foodies like us, this is the P&O ship to come on. Our daughters and partners (all, thankfully, able bodied and using the stairs a lot) love the ship and are really enjoying it. 

 

So, in summary, if you are booked to come on Iona or are considering it, you will have a great experience. The problems that we have had are very specific to us and shouldn’t affect your cruise at all. I am also conscious that several other forum regulars who use scooters or wheelchairs haven’t reported these challenges when they’ve been on Iona, so we may have just been very unlucky and it’s probably been exacerbated by it being peak summer school holidays. We are still enjoying the cruise, but mostly because we are with family and the food has been great. The lift problems that we are regularly experiencing and the attitude from reception and many fellow passengers regarding this issue have just put a whopping dark cloud over us. Next stop Olden. 

 

Thanks for the great update, young man.👍

 

Hopefully, your meal last night has caused you to reassess your view on Sindhu. For us, although they only have one menu on Iona and Arvia, they were more varied. I think your sums are wrong though. We've only had the Peninsular discount off the cover charge, the additional 20% off occurs once in the restaurant. Still good value though, but not as good value as just five or six years ago where you would get three courses plus coffee for about £18.

 

One of the things I was going to ask was about the balcony partitions. I take it both of your girls are in the two deluxe cabins at one side of you. Have you considered asking for the partitions to be opened?

It is really annoying when you get kids running up and down and making a row. I don't blame the kids though, there are doing what kids do. It's the parents/guardians!

Incidentally, don't you have a pull down bed in your cabin? Any problems with it squeaking during th night. Or, like Goldilocks with your pillow and extra cushion, are you away with the fairies?

 

I'm not going to go on about trying to get in the lifts again; posts from me and others on this subject yesterday were removed.🤔  However, I feel your pain! 

You do mention something else that really annoys us; that is when you finally get in a lift, then everyone else crams in like sardines, totally oblivious to the fact that the personal space of the lady in the wheelchair is being invaded. I once had to tell a bloke to stop holding on to the back of her chair. Another consequence of said cramming is when you hear, "Is there room for just one more"? and when that person squeezes in, the 'overweight' alarm goes off. Then you get, "It must be the wheelchair".  No, it is you, you fat knacker!🤬

 

(NOTE TO OTHERS: The above comment is my view only, and something that I'm sure Selbourne and his good lady wife have experienced. Please try and resist responding specifically and risk this great thread going off tangent. The Mods don't like that!)

 

 

Enjoy the rest of your day in Olden; hopefully you may get on one of the land trains. It is a good trip, going up and around Lake Floen. 

Edited August 22, 2023 by TigerB

[mrsgoggins]

13 hours ago, Presto2 said:

..... Sadly, if we ever get to take our cruise in January, I fear it will be our last on PO - though we will always want to keep in touch with our PO buddies on here 😉

We have 2 land holidays booked for Cyprus and Italy for 2024 and in some ways we are really looking forward to them as it all seems less stressful !

 

I have 35 night (2024 and 2025) cruises booked with P&O, both on Ventura which I quite like, and importantly DH likes the pool (he's a 7 am swimmer 🙄) but I'm definitely hearing you about other options being less stressful - especially than the new ships. Like Selbourne, I'd done my homework before embarking on Iona but still concluded that it wasn't something I would repeat for the money I paid.  

 

Clearly others feel differently and I'm definitely not part of the demographic they are targeting for Iona or Arvira (?).

[kalos]

5 minutes ago, TigerB said:

You do mention something else that really annoys us; that is when you finally get in a lift,

 

As someone posted ,it is polite to stand back in a lift so others can enter.

What we found on a few occasions was some one would enter the lift ,smile at us 

and say "Floor 8 please " with an expectant look on their face .

 

This where I end up telling them "The lift attendant has fell out on the way up ,so you might

as well press the button yourself ,as you are stood next to the panel. " 🙃

[Selbourne]

11 minutes ago, TigerB said:

 

Thanks for the great update, young man.👍

 

Hopefully, your meal last night has caused you to reassess your view on Sindhu. For us, although they only have one menu on Iona and Arvia, they were more varied. I think your sums are wrong though. We've only had the Peninsular discount off the cover charge, the additional 20% off occurs once in the restaurant. Still good value though, but not as good value as just five or six years ago where you would get three courses plus coffee for about £18.

 

One of the things I was going to ask was about the balcony partitions. I take it both of your girls are in the two deluxe cabins at one side of you. Have you considered asking for the partitions to be opened?

It is really annoying when you get kids running up and down and making a row. I don't blame the kids though, there are doing what kids do. It's the parents/guardians!

Incidentally, don't you have a pull down bed in your cabin? Any problems with it squeaking during th night. Or, like Goldilocks with your pillow and extra cushion, are you away with the fairies?

 

I'm not going to go on about trying to get in the lifts again; posts from me and others on this subject yesterday were removed.🤔  However, I feel your pain! 

You do mention something else that really annoys us; that is when you finally get in a lift, then everyone else crams in like sardines, totally oblivious to the fact that the personal space of the lady in the wheelchair is being invaded. I once had to tell a bloke to stop holding on to the back of her chair. Another consequence of said cramming is when you hear, "Is there room for just one more"? and when that person squeezes in, the 'overweight' alarm goes off. Then you get, "It must be the wheelchair".  No, it is you, you fat knacker!🤬

 

(NOTE TO OTHERS: The above comment is my view only, and something that I'm sure Selbourne and his good lady wife have experienced. Please try and resist responding specifically and risk this great thread going off tangent. The Mods don't like that!)

 

 

Enjoy the rest of your day in Olden; hopefully you may get on one of the land trains. It is a good trip, going up and around Lake Floen. 

My maths were correct. I double checked because I don’t have any OBC left, so the extra we paid after the pre payment definitely had a 20% discount and then what was left attracted a further 10% loyalty discount - not at the restaurant but on my onboard account. As I say, very impressive and much appreciated. 
 

We haven’t wanted the balconies opened up. Everyone does things differently and all 3 couples work to very different timings, so we’ve left things as they are. All balconies are a good size individually. 

[TigerB]

2 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

My maths were correct. I double checked because I don’t have any OBC left, so the extra we paid after the pre payment definitely had a 20% discount and then what was left attracted a further 10% loyalty discount - not at the restaurant but on my onboard account. As I say, very impressive and much appreciated. 
 

We haven’t wanted the balconies opened up. Everyone does things differently and all 3 couples work to very different timings, so we’ve left things as they are. All balconies are a good size individually. 

 

You've done very well then with the additional discount at the beginning. Perhaps they've changed it since we last pre-booked, or maybe they knew it was you!😄

 

You're right about the balcony situation; I don't think we would want that with our kids, and you get the extra space with yours anyway.

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, TigerB said:

 

That's right👍

I've posted above; hopefully Selbourne may see it whilst still in port. The land choo-choo trip is about an hour and I thought it was good value.

I’ve watched 3 or 4 of them come and go from our balcony and can’t see any wheelchair access at the rear in any of them. Do they have ramps or just space for a wheelchair? My wife can’t even manage one step unfortunately. 
 

One daughter is doing the Red sightseeing bus now and is going to check that out. 
 

Lady S doesn’t seem keen on either. I think she’d prefer her man servant to push her on a private tour 😂 We have done a tour here to the main sights years ago when my wife was still able to walk. 

[Selbourne]

The ‘marmite’ atrium. I know which side we are on, but I love Marmite 😂 

[Megabear2]

17 minutes ago, TigerB said:

You've done very well then with the additional discount at the beginning. Perhaps they've changed it since we last pre-booked, or maybe they knew it was you!😄

It's official - Selbourne has clearly earned the magic "P"!

[DamianG]

In Britannia's maiden season at the Peninsular Club lunch on our cruise several of our table guests complained that P&O were "pushing passengers away from the sea" without a promenade deck and limited sea views from the Atrium. I honestly feel that this was a factor in the design of the atriums on Iona and Arvia which have gone completely the opposite way. 

 

I do like the sea views from the Atrium but the window frame structures around them are not the prettiest. It can also get incredibly loud with some of the entertainment that they put on in there, way over the occasional ball room dancing or bands that they put on in the Atrium on some of the older ships. 

 

5/10 for me, mainly because of the sea views. I'm sure they could do better.

Edited August 22, 2023 by DamianG

[DamianG]

Balcony furniture scraping noises were also a constant feature of our cruise though I didn't mention them (plenty of other things to grumble about as it was).

 

Mum and sister had a really noisy family not directly above their cabin (one across) which their cabin neighbour (directly beneath the racket) said ruined their cruise experience. 

 

We took our time getting off in Valencia but could see the queue for the shuttle buses from our balcony. It was all very orderly until the crew released the next 50 or so from the single file line and it then turned into a sprint to get to the bus and push on first! It probably wasn't like that all the time but another example of poor manners.

 

Edited August 22, 2023 by DamianG

[JeanieC,Aston]

17 hours ago, Son of Anarchy said:

I still use the balcony when the  weather isn't great.  Needs to blowing a hooly to stop me from getting my money's worth!

 

Last cruise we had fog for over 24 hours on the run back to Southampton.  Still sat on the balcony for a coffee or something stronger from time to time.   A bit eery in the fog, especially at night.

Love the balcony whatever the weather or just for fresh air.

Here was Iona in a fog in North Sea in February…

[purplesea]

And from a couple of different angles

[zap99]

1 minute ago, purplesea said:

And from a couple of different angles

I think the atrium is nice. Bright and modern. Traditional is fine , but can look drab and dreary.

[Selbourne]

58 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

It's official - Selbourne has clearly earned the magic "P"!

I just wish that someone would inform my fellow passengers 🤣 

[Selbourne]

Iona in Olden today. We have been so lucky with the weather so far. Flat calm seas from the start and sunshine every day (I hope that’s not tempting fate).

[Presto2]

Lovely photos and I have to say the atrium looks quite nice on the photos. 

[ParisHilton]

2 hours ago, kalos said:

 

As someone posted ,it is polite to stand back in a lift so others can enter.

What we found on a few occasions was some one would enter the lift ,smile at us 

and say "Floor 8 please " with an expectant look on their face .

 

This where I end up telling them "The lift attendant has fell out on the way up ,so you might

as well press the button yourself ,as you are stood next to the panel. " 🙃

 

I was wondering, and I guess it's not cruise specific. But how do wheelchair users reach the top buttons in a lift?

 

[ParisHilton]

One more of Iona's atrium for luck.

[ParisHilton]

46 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Iona in Olden today. We have been so lucky with the weather so far. Flat calm seas from the start and sunshine every day (I hope that’s not tempting fate).

 

There's a small church to visit there too.

I wouldn't bother going to the shops there mind (unless to stock up on crisps and pepsi max).

The last port (Haugesund?) has far more shops.

 

[Book bug]

Supermarket good to get cloudberry jam

[Bill Y]

5 hours ago, Angel57 said:

I cannot understand P&Os lack of public announcements, signs and empathy regarding wheelchair users on your cruise and the only reason that buzzes round my mind is they want these ships to be perceived as fun family ships for the young and agile. I hope I’m wrong, but…

I think that you have hit the nail on the head. You only need to look at who and what is featured on programs about cruising, One feels that bookings from traditional cruisers are only taken under sufferance and not wanted on the new ships, just the beautiful high spending people. They are trying to bury the care home at sea jibe.

[TigerB]

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

I’ve watched 3 or 4 of them come and go from our balcony and can’t see any wheelchair access at the rear in any of them. Do they have ramps or just space for a wheelchair? My wife can’t even manage one step unfortunately. 
 

One daughter is doing the Red sightseeing bus now and is going to check that out. 
 

Lady S doesn’t seem keen on either. I think she’d prefer her man servant to push her on a private tour 😂 We have done a tour here to the main sights years ago when my wife was still able to walk. 

 

Yes, a ramp at the back. To be fair, there were a lot of them when we were in, some being from different operators, albeit they were all managed at the quayside by the same company - Olden Sightseeing.  Others on subsequent trips have reported less of them being available. Perhaps there was a surplus on our visit because they weren't needed elsewhere.

 

Get her a power chair; there are some really good lithium ones that fold up really easily, ideal for traveling as well as everyday use. Your back will thank you!  Our lass used to hate it when she only had a manual chair, as I would steer her away from expensive stuff when shopping.🤭

[terrierjohn]

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

The ‘marmite’ atrium. I know which side we are on, but I love Marmite 😂 

P&O have gone for the light and airy feel, with big windows providing views of, let me think???.... the empty ocean!!!

Personally I would have preferred the Princess approach with lots of bars and eateries around the outside and plenty of seating, and then regular entertainment with groups providing music for lots of dancing every evening.

After all there is the massive promenade deck providing lots of seating for the ocean watchers.

[terrierjohn]

5 minutes ago, TigerB said:

 

Yes, a ramp at the back. To be fair, there were a lot of them when we were in, some being from different operators, albeit they were all managed at the quayside by the same company - Olden Sightseeing.  Others on subsequent trips have reported less of them being available. Perhaps there was a surplus on our visit because they weren't needed elsewhere.

 

Get her a power chair; there are some really good lithium ones that fold up really easily, ideal for traveling as well as everyday use. Your back will thank you!  Our lass used to hate it when she only had a manual chair, as I would steer her away from expensive stuff when shopping.🤭

If you want a power chair Selbourne we have a nearly new one sitting in my sons garage which my wife never really got the hang of controlling.

[TigerB]

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

The ‘marmite’ atrium. I know which side we are on, but I love Marmite 😂 

 

It looks like you're on the port side, judging by that photo.😉