Selbourne Live from Iona!

[Selbourne]

DAY 8 - Disembarkation

 

We both hate disembarkation, and not just because it signals the end of our cruise. The process involves the entire ships passengers having to move around the ship (cabin to breakfast, breakfast to disembarkation assembly point, assembly point to exit) all within a narrow time window. All of this, combined with the fact that everyone is carrying bags, means that demand for lifts during this period is intense. This is a challenge for everyone, but can be nigh on impossible when you need to get in a lift with a wheelchair. As a result, we dread disembarkation at the best of times, even on ships with decent size lifts, but given the lift problems that we’ve had all week on Iona we had started getting concerned about it a good few days beforehand. 

 

Before I describe our disembarkation experience from Iona this morning, it’s worth mentioning that we have experienced a completely different and far better system of disembarkation than that used by P&O when we did our first Cunard cruise earlier this year on Queen Mary 2. Everyone is given a time slot and you have full use of the ship and your cabin until that time. This means that you don’t need to take your hand luggage to breakfast, so some people use the stairs and those who don’t can get more people to a lift without all the bags. There is no need to meet at an assembly point (again, less demand on lifts) and when your time comes you simply leave your cabin and leave the ship directly. It was chalk and cheese from the P&O method. No lift issues, no hanging around and less queues. From our perspective, hassle free. 

 

Anyway, back to our Iona experience this morning. One of our daughters and partner had decided that they were going to do early self disembarkation for the first time, which they said was hassle free and would do again. That’s not an option for us, so we had arranged that our other daughter and partner would come to our cabin at 8am (the time that cabins had to be vacated) and we would then attempt to head down for breakfast in the MDR. Although our cabins were by the midships lifts, we headed to the aft lifts as, whilst they are just as small, we have found them to be a little less busy. We were bracing ourselves for a very long wait but, to our utter amazement, the first lift to arrive had just enough space for us. However, an elderly couple had been ahead of us at the lift area so I obviously stood back to let them go first. They were both insistent that my wife and I should go first and in fact held the doors open to let us in. Although we had been extended this courtesy by a number of children and teenagers during the cruise, it was the first time that any adults had shown us an ounce of consideration at the lifts all cruise, so we were extremely grateful to them and hope that they didn’t have to wait too long afterwards. Our daughter and her partner had carried their bags down the stairs and could not believe their eyes when we arrived outside the MDR just before them. They have become accustomed this cruise to making themselves comfortable for prolonged periods whilst waiting for us to arrive, especially as we have often had to go in the ‘wrong’ direction first just to be able to get in a ruddy lift!

 

We only queued for just over 5 minutes to get into the MDR, which I thought was very good for disembarkation morning, and a table for 4 was found very quickly. We didn’t have our usual waiters, but we knew that would be the case. Frankly we didn’t care. We were still in shock and just so relieved to have used the lifts for the very last time. One amusing thing was that they have obviously run out of brown sauce, as what was presented to me was so diluted it had the consistency of water 😂 

 

Our daughter had been given a 9am slot to meet in Sindhu on deck 8, whereas we had been told to meet at the Limelight Club on deck 6 at 9.30am for assisted disembarkation. Our notification had said that if we were able to cope without assistance we could bypass going to the Limelight Club. I tend to always bypass assistance now, as so many people these days declare that they need it you can be hanging around for ages. As it was just after 9am by this stage, I told my daughter and her partner to “follow me” and we just walked straight along deck 6 from the MDR, did a pit stop in the loos en-route (had a bit of a wait, as the disabled loo was occupied by a woman who, when she exited, ran along the corridor - I’m not making that up) met the back of a short queue just before the atrium, and we were all off the ship within minutes. We all found our luggage in 5 minutes or so, had a bit of a slow crawl in a queue to get out the luggage hall (past the always deserted customs desks), walked the few hundred yards to the CPS car park, key picked up in no time at all, found and checked the car, loaded and out of the car park and on our way home all within 30 minutes of finishing breakfast. 

 

OK, admittedly we cheated a bit as we know how it all works, but in all honesty the whole disembarkation experience was absolutely fine. Still not as good as the Cunard system, but not problematic as we had predicted. If only we’d known that it would have been OK a few days earlier!

 

Now that we are home, I will reflect on Iona and our experiences during this cruise and sleep on it overnight before making a final blog post tomorrow on our ‘final thoughts’. 

 

In the meantime, I will leave you with one of the funniest moments of the cruise. Our daughters partner noticed that there was a doorbell outside our cabin. Keep in mind that we were unaware of this doorbell and were therefore not expecting anyone to press it. The tranquility of our cabin was suddenly and violently disturbed one day with an alarm (certainly no simple ‘ding-dong’), flashing strobe lights in the ceiling and a loud buzzing noise as the bed started vibrating. This is all designed to alert those occupying an accessible cabin who may be blind or deaf that someone is at the door. If you don’t know this, and you are suddenly faced with a violent assault of all your senses, which seems far more alarming than the emergency short blasts played during the pre departure briefing, I couldn’t help but wonder if anyone has wondered if this is an abandon ship signal and started reaching for the life jackets 😂 

[TigerB]

5 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Our first visit was in 2018. We went again in 2019 and have been twice this year. Yes, the P&O provided shuttle has been replaced with a private one that charges but I haven’t checked if it’s accessible as my wife has remained on the ship both times this year. 

 

Yes, the shuttle bus provided by the port can accommodate at least one wheelchair. The fare is NOK70

[TigerB]

Typical!  You wait all week for an empty lift and then on the last day one sneaks up on you!😄

 

I'm glad the disembarkation went well for you.  

Am I correct in thinking that the disabled bays in the CPS car park are near to where you collect your keys?  

 

Yes, the first time our doorbell went, we were ready to abandon ship too!😯

 

[Selbourne]

6 minutes ago, TigerB said:

Am I correct in thinking that the disabled bays in the CPS car park are near to where you collect your keys?  

It’s a bit hit and miss. They are meant to park blue badge cars closest to the key pick up booth. This usually happens but not 100% of the time. Sometimes they park them with plenty of space between them (which, as you know, is essential for wheelchair users), other times less so. 

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

DAY 8 - Disembarkation

 

We both hate disembarkation, and not just because it signals the end of our cruise. The process involves the entire ships passengers having to move around the ship (cabin to breakfast, breakfast to disembarkation assembly point, assembly point to exit) all within a narrow time window. All of this, combined with the fact that everyone is carrying bags, means that demand for lifts during this period is intense. This is a challenge for everyone, but can be nigh on impossible when you need to get in a lift with a wheelchair. As a result, we dread disembarkation at the best of times, even on ships with decent size lifts, but given the lift problems that we’ve had all week on Iona we had started getting concerned about it a good few days beforehand. 

 

Before I describe our disembarkation experience from Iona this morning, it’s worth mentioning that we have experienced a completely different and far better system of disembarkation than that used by P&O when we did our first Cunard cruise earlier this year on Queen Mary 2. Everyone is given a time slot and you have full use of the ship and your cabin until that time. This means that you don’t need to take your hand luggage to breakfast, so some people use the stairs and those who don’t can get more people to a lift without all the bags. There is no need to meet at an assembly point (again, less demand on lifts) and when your time comes you simply leave your cabin and leave the ship directly. It was chalk and cheese from the P&O method. No lift issues, no hanging around and less queues. From our perspective, hassle free. 

 

Anyway, back to our Iona experience this morning. One of our daughters and partner had decided that they were going to do early self disembarkation for the first time, which they said was hassle free and would do again. That’s not an option for us, so we had arranged that our other daughter and partner would come to our cabin at 8am (the time that cabins had to be vacated) and we would then attempt to head down for breakfast in the MDR. Although our cabins were by the midships lifts, we headed to the aft lifts as, whilst they are just as small, we have found them to be a little less busy. We were bracing ourselves for a very long wait but, to our utter amazement, the first lift to arrive had just enough space for us. However, an elderly couple had been ahead of us at the lift area so I obviously stood back to let them go first. They were both insistent that my wife and I should go first and in fact held the doors open to let us in. Although we had been extended this courtesy by a number of children and teenagers during the cruise, it was the first time that any adults had shown us an ounce of consideration at the lifts all cruise, so we were extremely grateful to them and hope that they didn’t have to wait too long afterwards. Our daughter and her partner had carried their bags down the stairs and could not believe their eyes when we arrived outside the MDR just before them. They have become accustomed this cruise to making themselves comfortable for prolonged periods whilst waiting for us to arrive, especially as we have often had to go in the ‘wrong’ direction first just to be able to get in a ruddy lift!

 

We only queued for just over 5 minutes to get into the MDR, which I thought was very good for disembarkation morning, and a table for 4 was found very quickly. We didn’t have our usual waiters, but we knew that would be the case. Frankly we didn’t care. We were still in shock and just so relieved to have used the lifts for the very last time. One amusing thing was that they have obviously run out of brown sauce, as what was presented to me was so diluted it had the consistency of water 😂 

 

Our daughter had been given a 9am slot to meet in Sindhu on deck 8, whereas we had been told to meet at the Limelight Club on deck 6 at 9.30am for assisted disembarkation. Our notification had said that if we were able to cope without assistance we could bypass going to the Limelight Club. I tend to always bypass assistance now, as so many people these days declare that they need it you can be hanging around for ages. As it was just after 9am by this stage, I told my daughter and her partner to “follow me” and we just walked straight along deck 6 from the MDR, did a pit stop in the loos en-route (had a bit of a wait, as the disabled loo was occupied by a woman who, when she exited, ran along the corridor - I’m not making that up) met the back of a short queue just before the atrium, and we were all off the ship within minutes. We all found our luggage in 5 minutes or so, had a bit of a slow crawl in a queue to get out the luggage hall (past the always deserted customs desks), walked the few hundred yards to the CPS car park, key picked up in no time at all, found and checked the car, loaded and out of the car park and on our way home all within 30 minutes of finishing breakfast. 

 

OK, admittedly we cheated a bit as we know how it all works, but in all honesty the whole disembarkation experience was absolutely fine. Still not as good as the Cunard system, but not problematic as we had predicted. If only we’d known that it would have been OK a few days earlier!

 

Now that we are home, I will reflect on Iona and our experiences during this cruise and sleep on it overnight before making a final blog post tomorrow on our ‘final thoughts’. 

 

In the meantime, I will leave you with one of the funniest moments of the cruise. Our daughters partner noticed that there was a doorbell outside our cabin. Keep in mind that we were unaware of this doorbell and were therefore not expecting anyone to press it. The tranquility of our cabin was suddenly and violently disturbed one day with an alarm (certainly no simple ‘ding-dong’), flashing strobe lights in the ceiling and a loud buzzing noise as the bed started vibrating. This is all designed to alert those occupying an accessible cabin who may be blind or deaf that someone is at the door. If you don’t know this, and you are suddenly faced with a violent assault of all your senses, which seems far more alarming than the emergency short blasts played during the pre departure briefing, I couldn’t help but wonder if anyone has wondered if this is an abandon ship signal and started reaching for the life jackets 😂 

Selborne, we always ask our steward if its OK to leave our hand luggage in the cabin while we go to breakfast and have never been refused, we find it far less hassle than carting hand luggage and a wheelchair. 

We try to get back to the cabin before 8:00 but even if we are a bit later there is never any fuss from our steward, in fact we rarely see them, although the bedding and towels have often been removed.

We then do exactly what you did today and head straight for the gangway, and never have a problem getting straight off,  and in fact it's often very quiet even though it should be well into the disembarcation procedure. 

In comparison we were given an 8:30 disembarvation time on our Princess cruise, but they were running well ahead of schedule and were well past our Yellow 2 luggage time by that time, and we were running a bit late.  As a result most of the Yellow luggage had gone when we got to the luggage hall and ours was very easy to identify. 

That is maybe something P&O could consider changing, instead of having the luggage in deck order.

[P&O SUE]

I don’t blame you, Selbourne, for being a bit worried about disembarking a few days before, which is a real shame as that’s half your cruise!

We always do self disembarking now (I know it’s not an option for you) and we use the buffet for breakfast and get back to our cabin for 8am! Even then we find it stressful getting a lift because more and more people seem to do self disembarking now. The very first time we did it was on a 12 night cruise so we had quite a bit of luggage and I was worrying a bit for a few days before! 
 

I’m looking forward to your final thoughts. Some a shame about the lift situation, obviously now I take my mum places I understand more the stresses having to use the lifts but I can’t believe the bad behaviour you’ve encountered on your cruise. I keep wondering about trying Iona but I’m not sure we’d like it .

[kalos]

12 hours ago, Selbourne said:

OK, admittedly we cheated a bit as we know how it all works, but in all honesty the whole disembarkation experience was absolutely fine. Still not as good as the Cunard system, but not problematic as we had predicted. If only we’d known that it would have been OK a few days earlier!

 

Glad to read your all home safe and sound .As for disembarkation it's good to see how 

other cruise companies perform . I was watching a MSC last night ,good film to watch from 

the start . I have started the film at disembarkation so you can compare to what you got.

 

https://youtu.be/o3bHOEuScWU?si=UUfj-jC-DXGpxVJm&t=1539

 

 

 

[SarahHben]

I’m glad you had an easy disembarkation. I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts on the experience as a whole.

 

Being pretty new to cruising we didn’t realise most people take their hand luggage to breakfast. We went to breakfast early and we’re surprised by lots of people having all their bags with them. After breakfast we went and collected our things from our cabin just before 8. Our cabin steward had already changed our queen bed into twins for the next occupants but hadn’t done the cleaning yet, so we were very careful not to mess up the beds.

[TigerB]

9 minutes ago, SarahHben said:

I’m glad you had an easy disembarkation. I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts on the experience as a whole.

 

Being pretty new to cruising we didn’t realise most people take their hand luggage to breakfast. We went to breakfast early and we’re surprised by lots of people having all their bags with them. After breakfast we went and collected our things from our cabin just before 8. Our cabin steward had already changed our queen bed into twins for the next occupants but hadn’t done the cleaning yet, so we were very careful not to mess up the beds.

 

If you have breakfast early enough, with the intention of getting back to your cabin before 08:00, there's nothing wrong with leaving your hand luggage there. Although it's a bit of a pain, we take our hand luggage with us because we like to eat about the time you have to vacate your cabin. Also, on the two big ships anyway, the gangway is usually on deck 6; that means we only have the battle with the lifts once, on the way down to the MDR. We don't have to do it again to get off, often a nightmare with a wheelchair, as Selbourne is able to testify.

[majortom10]

We went on Iona in March with a lot of apprehension and worry but we had a great time and really enjoyed the ship especially the choice of food venues. Lifts have always been a problem on cruise ships for everyone especially at certain times. Admit I get really angry when I see people pushing in front of people with wheelchairs even if those in wheelchairs have only just arrived. Always allow them to go ahead of us even if there is not enough space for all as they have no choice. I am happy to wait for the next lift or use the stairs when practical. Having said that walking up 7+ floors of stairs on Iona is hard for most people.

Edited August 27, 2023 by majortom10

[Selbourne]

29 minutes ago, TigerB said:

 

If you have breakfast early enough, with the intention of getting back to your cabin before 08:00, there's nothing wrong with leaving your hand luggage there. Although it's a bit of a pain, we take our hand luggage with us because we like to eat about the time you have to vacate your cabin. Also, on the two big ships anyway, the gangway is usually on deck 6; that means we only have the battle with the lifts once, on the way down to the MDR. We don't have to do it again to get off, often a nightmare with a wheelchair, as Selbourne is able to testify.

Exactly the same as us. We don’t vacate the cabin until we have to (8am is plenty early enough for us when on holiday - but we only have a couple of hours drive home) and therefore we have to take our hand luggage. Also, returning to the cabin again necessitates more lift use which, as you say, is usually a complete nightmare on disembarkation day with a wheelchair. 

[Fionboard]

17 hours ago, daiB said:

Yes as I do 6 a year was well. See my signature. Recently on Britannia, Iona, Aurora and Ventura.

Good for you. Won't list all mine. It is not a competition! 😊

[sandancer]

49 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Exactly the same as us. We don’t vacate the cabin until we have to (8am is plenty early enough for us when on holiday - but we only have a couple of hours drive home) and therefore we have to take our hand luggage. Also, returning to the cabin again necessitates more lift use which, as you say, is usually a complete nightmare on disembarkation day with a wheelchair. 

I hope you don’t mind me asking you for some advice about wheelchair use when cruising. We have cruised for many years but our upcoming Azura cruise will be the first where we may need a wheelchair. Mainly I wanted to ask about excursions. It will be a lightweight folding chair. Will they allow it to be taken with us on the coach in the luggage storage area? Onboard won’t be a problem but walking for more than 10 mins def will so trying to book tours where walking is minimum. I’ll be very grateful for any advice you can give on any aspect of cruising with a wheelchair. We are on Azura in October and Iona in March. Thanks a lot. 

[Selbourne]

9 minutes ago, sandancer said:

I hope you don’t mind me asking you for some advice about wheelchair use when cruising. We have cruised for many years but our upcoming Azura cruise will be the first where we may need a wheelchair. Mainly I wanted to ask about excursions. It will be a lightweight folding chair. Will they allow it to be taken with us on the coach in the luggage storage area? Onboard won’t be a problem but walking for more than 10 mins def will so trying to book tours where walking is minimum. I’ll be very grateful for any advice you can give on any aspect of cruising with a wheelchair. We are on Azura in October and Iona in March. Thanks a lot. 

You won’t have any issues at all, so can relax and look forward to your cruise knowing that it will be hassle free. 
 

For a few years prior to becoming a full time wheelchair user my wife used a wheelchair as and when she needed assistance due to fatigue. If the person using the chair is able to climb the steps into a normal coach then you can book any of the normal excursions and don’t need to book an accessible tour (which are more expensive and far more limited choice wise).
 

There is never a problem with the wheelchair being stowed in the luggage compartment under the coach. The driver will do this for you. As there are so few wheelchair users and no other luggage , the chair would sometimes slide around a bit in the luggage compartment and get a bit grubby, but would wipe off with a damp cloth. The only issue we had in the last few years before my wife became a full time wheelchair user was that she could just about climb the steps into the coach with me lifting her legs, but she was unable to walk on the level so had to have a seat right at the front of the coach. These seats are usually marked with wheelchair symbol labels, but some elderly people with walking sticks who probably have blue badges so related to the symbol, would often jump in them when they could have easily gone to any seat in the coach. From your comments, it sounds as though a seat right at the front won’t be a necessity.

 

As for excursions themselves, look for the ones that have the word ‘Easy’ in the title. These are specifically designed for those with walking difficulties. Each excursion description will also give a warning of where there are steps or difficult terrain, so there aren’t any nasty surprises. 

 

Aside from challenges with lifts at peak times (or at most times on Iona), we find that P&O staff are usually brilliant with wheelchair users, even taking the wheelchair on and off the ship when the ramps are at an angle. Cruises are the only overseas holidays that we do now, solely because cruise ships are very well set up for wheelchair users. We had a number of issues on Iona that I think have put my wife off going on her again (or Arvia), but they will only affect full time wheelchair users and even then probably only in school holidays when there are up to 1,000 more passengers on board. 
 

Happy to answer any other questions but I really don’t think you need to be concerned. 

[sandancer]

Thank you. That is really helpful. At the moment hubbie can manage short, flat walks but has a progressive condition and we anticipate his mobility will decline so we are trying to be proactive. We only cruise these days and that’s fine by us. We will probably hire a wheelchair for our upcoming cruise, just for ports. We have Arvia booked for August but will cancel as it’s in the school holidays. Thanks again. 

[Winifred 22]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

You won’t have any issues at all, so can relax and look forward to your cruise knowing that it will be hassle free. 
 

For a few years prior to becoming a full time wheelchair user my wife used a wheelchair as and when she needed assistance due to fatigue. If the person using the chair is able to climb the steps into a normal coach then you can book any of the normal excursions and don’t need to book an accessible tour (which are more expensive and far more limited choice wise).
 

There is never a problem with the wheelchair being stowed in the luggage compartment under the coach. The driver will do this for you. As there are so few wheelchair users and no other luggage , the chair would sometimes slide around a bit in the luggage compartment and get a bit grubby, but would wipe off with a damp cloth. The only issue we had in the last few years before my wife became a full time wheelchair user was that she could just about climb the steps into the coach with me lifting her legs, but she was unable to walk on the level so had to have a seat right at the front of the coach. These seats are usually marked with wheelchair symbol labels, but some elderly people with walking sticks who probably have blue badges so related to the symbol, would often jump in them when they could have easily gone to any seat in the coach. From your comments, it sounds as though a seat right at the front won’t be a necessity.

 

As for excursions themselves, look for the ones that have the word ‘Easy’ in the title. These are specifically designed for those with walking difficulties. Each excursion description will also give a warning of where there are steps or difficult terrain, so there aren’t any nasty surprises. 

 

Aside from challenges with lifts at peak times (or at most times on Iona), we find that P&O staff are usually brilliant with wheelchair users, even taking the wheelchair on and off the ship when the ramps are at an angle. Cruises are the only overseas holidays that we do now, solely because cruise ships are very well set up for wheelchair users. We had a number of issues on Iona that I think have put my wife off going on her again (or Arvia), but they will only affect full time wheelchair users and even then probably only in school holidays when there are up to 1,000 more passengers on board. 
 

Happy to answer any other questions but I really don’t think you need to be concerned. 

On a recent Cunard cruise. The reserved seats at the front of the excursion coach for less mobile folk had  their cabin number on them so others couldn’t bag them if they fancied them. Also meant that they didn’t need to scramble to get onboard early.  Only kick off was from someone who hadn’t informed shore ex they would like a reserved seat and said it wasn’t fair. However they did seem to be able to manage to walk to an available seat without any drama. 

 

 

[Cloudyrain]

17 hours ago, Selbourne said:

 a pit stop in the loos en-route (had a bit of a wait, as the disabled loo was occupied by a woman who, when she exited, ran along the corridor - I’m not making that up) 

I’m sorry you experienced some unthoughtful people on the cruise, and I understand your difficulties of dealing with disability and the lack of consideration and unseen problems encountered by wheelchair users. However I just wanted to point out that my mum ran perfectly well when she had a colostomy bag, my friend regularly rides a bike and runs in the gym with a catheter, my son runs brilliantly some days despite brain damage affecting his senses and hearing, and unobvious physical abnormalities, which mean he can’t manage in “normal toilets”. The woman may have had a thousand valid reasons to have used that toilet, or may have just been someone being thoughtless, but I think it’s unfair to judge people and comment.
 

sorry to post this, and I have thought twice about it, but we openly receive hurtful comments from people on cruise ships who have no idea of the situation we are in. It is upsetting and especially cruel for my son who doesn’t understand why people say unkind things to him. 

[Selbourne]

49 minutes ago, Cloudyrain said:

I’m sorry you experienced some unthoughtful people on the cruise, and I understand your difficulties of dealing with disability and the lack of consideration and unseen problems encountered by wheelchair users. However I just wanted to point out that my mum ran perfectly well when she had a colostomy bag, my friend regularly rides a bike and runs in the gym with a catheter, my son runs brilliantly some days despite brain damage affecting his senses and hearing, and unobvious physical abnormalities, which mean he can’t manage in “normal toilets”. The woman may have had a thousand valid reasons to have used that toilet, or may have just been someone being thoughtless, but I think it’s unfair to judge people and comment.
 

sorry to post this, and I have thought twice about it, but we openly receive hurtful comments from people on cruise ships who have no idea of the situation we are in. It is upsetting and especially cruel for my son who doesn’t understand why people say unkind things to him. 

Apologies if I caused any offence. I should have learned by now not to mention it on this forum, but I would like to reassure you that I didn’t say anything to this person, nor would I. I’m sorry to hear that people have said unkind things to your son. On a few occasions some people have said very insensitive things that my wife has overheard and I know how upsetting it can be. I completely understand your reluctance to comment, but thank you for doing so. I often feel the same when highlighting issues that my wife and I can face.
 

I am very aware of hidden disabilities and don’t in any way lessen their importance, but if all of the issues that we experienced on Iona were down to the volume of passengers with hidden disabilities then I am intrigued as to what attracts thousands of people with hidden disabilities, including entire large family groups, to one ship when we haven’t had anywhere near this level of issues on the other ships, even those with significantly older passenger profiles where you might logically expect a higher proportion of guests with both hidden and visible disabilities. 
 

Thank you again for your comments and I hope that this issue won’t derail the thread again as it did somewhat earlier last week. 

[Minnie29]

Selborne. Can you tell me whether the Epicurean afternoon tea was available each day on your cruise? 
Thank you

[Selbourne]

10 minutes ago, Minnie29 said:

Selborne. Can you tell me whether the Epicurean afternoon tea was available each day on your cruise? 
Thank you

Only on sea days. It wasn’t advertised when the dining bookings opened 14 days before. I only noticed it when I logged on to my cruise Personaliser the night before the cruise and it was only available for the last sea day. I think it might have been on the first sea day as well but had sold out before I noticed it. 

[bronzevernis]

26 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Only on sea days. It wasn’t advertised when the dining bookings opened 14 days before. I only noticed it when I logged on to my cruise Personaliser the night before the cruise and it was only available for the last sea day. I think it might have been on the first sea day as well but had sold out before I noticed it. 

 

Blimey, what a spread! We've booked Afternoon Tea on Iona next Sunday (1st sea day). I think we'll need to have a light breakfast and skip lunch to accommodate all of that!!! 😆

 

What are those things on sticks out of curiosity?

 

And is there a dress code for afternoon tea? Can my husband get away with trainers with smart casual attire - chinos and shirt?

Edited August 27, 2023 by bronzevernis

[Selbourne]

48 minutes ago, bronzevernis said:

 

Blimey, what a spread! We've booked Afternoon Tea on Iona next Sunday (1st sea day). I think we'll need to have a light breakfast and skip lunch to accommodate all of that!!! 😆

 

What are those things on sticks out of curiosity?

 

And is there a dress code for afternoon tea? Can my husband get away with trainers with smart casual attire - chinos and shirt?

Yes, definitely skip lunch 😂 You get one of those stands between 2, so we had 3 of them! The lollipop things were a great hit. Chocolate covered with a dense tasty filling (can’t recall what it was). No dress code so your hubby will be absolutely fine. We enjoyed it. 

[daiB]

7 hours ago, Fionboard said:

Good for you. Won't list all mine. It is not a competition! 😊

You brought it up to prove your point. So I pointed out that I cruise as much as you. Why make that comment? 

[Selbourne]

FINAL THOUGHTS

 

This cruise was a long time coming. We were originally booked on Iona’s maiden cruise (2020?) which never happened due to ‘you know what’. That cruise had pretty much the same itinerary as the one originally sold to us for this year, but was 9 days with 2 extra sea days. No idea why. As previously mentioned, we’d had several disappointments with this cruise before we even boarded, firstly with the removal of Geiranger (which was the reason that we had booked this specific cruise) and then the further removal of the partial scenic transit towards Geiranger that had been put in as a pacifier. 

 

If all of that hadn’t been enough, I also found out last year that the run of 3 deluxe balcony cabins that I’d specifically booked, due to their prime location, were in the ‘quarantine zone’ and passengers booked in them were being told shortly before their cruise that they were being moved. This would have been a major issue for us and would have resulted in us having to cancel all 3 cabins and then having a battle royale with P&O to get a refund. There was only 1 accessible cabin that was a higher grade than we had booked and that was the sole accessible suite, which we had intentionally not booked due to its poor location directly above the Sunset Bar and only 2 decks above the Club Lounge. We’d had an aft suite 2 decks above the Live Lounge on Britannia previously and the noise was a pain

 

Then, to top it all, I had read countless reviews of poor MDR experiences (long waits etc) and other issues with the large ships (admittedly mostly Arvia). In all honesty, had the cruise just been for the two of us I would have probably cancelled it a year ago, but we were going with our daughters and their partners who were really looking forward to it, so as we have plenty of other cruises booked we decided that we would go ahead and primarily focus on spending quality time together as a family, which we certainly achieved.

 

In attempting to detail our final thoughts there’s a danger of just repeating what I’ve already reported, so to keep it simple I will just highlight the top 3 things that we liked the most and the worst 3 things, before a final closing thought. 

 

TOP LIKES

Food - Iona has the best choice of dining venues and food types that we have experienced on any P&O ship. I know that we are not alone on this forum in placing good food very high up on the list of what we look for on a cruise ship and Iona did not disappoint in this regard. Those who consider themselves to be ‘foodies’ can book a cruise on this ship with confidence. 

 

Pearl MDR - OK, I have to admit that we did have some preferential treatment with a reserved table for the Celebration night and breakfast each day, but even when we went in for lunch, or members of our group went for dinner independently, we had a 100% success rate with good quality food, served hot and in a timely manner. This forum is full of comments about how poor the MDRs are on P&O ships are these days, but having recently had 14 days on Britannia and then this cruise, we have been very happy with the MDR food. It’s also worth stating that the MyHoliday app seems to work far better on Iona than on Britannia. I couldn’t help but wonder if the fact that the vast majority of cruisers on Iona were first timers helped in this regard, as most people just used the app without question. On Britannia, where the vast majority of passengers were previous cruisers, large numbers of people didn’t use the app (couldn’t or wouldn’t) and, as a result, you had several systems conflicting with one another causing inefficiencies and long waits. 

 

Accessible Cabins - My wife really appreciated the enhancements to the accessible cabins on Iona, in particular the electric balcony doors and height adjustable basins, which are perfect for those who are confined to wheelchairs. 

 

TOP DISLIKES

 

Lifts - All the P&O ships that have been launched since we started cruising with P&O seem to have a design flaw of some sort. Ventura and Azura have a gym in the prime spot where a Crows Nest should be and their promenade decks have stairs at the forward end. Britannia doesn’t even have a promenade deck (in spite of being designed for the British market) and whoever decided that having no passenger stairs midships clearly didn’t understand how flow works around cruise ships. On paper, it looked as though Iona had nailed all of these issues and would therefore be our perfect ship. We hadn’t for one minute considered that the biggest challenge that we would face on the ship would be that the lifts were far too small. With 16 decks accessible by lift and up to 6,000 passengers wanting to use them, why anybody thought that installing such small lifts would suffice is beyond me. As the week went on, more and more people were commenting on how small the lifts were and how long it could take to get in one, not just those of us with mobility challenges. My wife’s wheelchair is slightly smaller than average, yet with me pushing we occupy very nearly half the lift. That’s just ridiculous and caused us major problems, as most lifts were at least two thirds full, even at non-peak times. 

Design & Ambiance - Let me start by saying that this is a purely subjective area and the other member of our group (in their 20s and 30s) loved the ship and its modernity. We like a ship to look and feel like a ship, not a conference hotel, which is what we felt Iona looked like. This ship has an entirely different look and feel from any other P&O ship, but not for the better in our opinion. The atrium was a particular disappointment, with acres of not particularly attractive marble flooring and chrome. The metal clad undersides of the feature stairs looked like air conditioning ducting. It was also a loud and crowded space, with the Glass House and Keel & Cow losing any sort of restaurant vibe as a result. It was like eating in a shopping mall. We also didn’t like the design of the Promenade deck. I prefer a covered promenade deck (that you can still walk around in inclement weather) and one that has a traditional side rail that you can stand at and take in the views. On Iona the promenade deck is completely exposed to the elements and for the vast majority of its length has the very high glass screens that are usually reserved for the top Sun decks. Consequently, views from the majority of the promenade deck are through glass. 

Crowded feel & bar service - There were apparently 5,700 passengers on this cruise. I’ve no idea how many children were on board, but they were never an issue. There were lots of babies, many of which seemed to be crying in the restaurants we happened to be dining in, which was a bit irritating but to be expected on a family ship. Although the ship didn’t feel massively bigger than Britannia to us, it was significantly busier - far busier than any other ship we have been on in fact. The added problem was that staff levels seemed to be tight, particularly in some of the bars. It was an effort to get service in the Crows Nest at times. 

 

So, in conclusion, would I recommend Iona? In a word, yes. Many of the things that we had feared would be an issue before we went turned out to be absolutely fine. The choice of food venues and quality of the food (and, in most places, service) was excellent. Our daughters felt that the cabins were the best that they had stayed in and they loved the overall ambiance of the ship, even areas that we really disliked. P&O have targeted this ship for the new to cruising market who may be accustomed to large resort hotels and, in that regard, they have succeeded. As I have said, style and ambiance are entirely subjective and down to personal taste. For every couple like us, who prefer a ship to feel like a ship and prefer refined and luxurious looking interiors, there will be many other couples who prefer modern and minimalistic. There’s no right or wrong to this. It’s just personal taste. 

 

I have no doubt that the issues that we had around the ship feeling crowded, and slow service in bars as a result, would be considerably less, if not non-existent, outside of school holidays. 10-20% more passengers than would be the case on a cruise that is outside the peak summer school holidays is bound to make a significant difference. 

 

The biggest negative for us was the challenges with the lifts. Those who are able bodied, or even those with disabilities but are able to stand, shouldn’t encounter anything like the level of issues that we had. Lifts are busy and you might not always be able to get into the first one but it won’t be a major issue. I’d also suggest that even wheelchair and scooter users will probably cope OK out of school holidays - again 10-20% less passengers than we had will make a world of difference. If you are a wheelchair or scooter user and have no option but to cruise in school holidays, just be aware that you may encounter some issues and won’t necessarily be extended the same courtesy as you may have experienced on other ships. There are none of the usual signs or announcements asking people to give priority to wheelchair users and those with disabilities and, judging by the response that I had when I raised the challenges that we were having at reception, this appears to be a conscious decision. This attitude, and the challenges that we had as a result, has unfortunately put my wife off cruising on Iona again and would also write off Arvia for us as the sister ship, but as over 99% of the population thankfully don’t have to contend with the severe level of disability that my wife now has to endure, this shouldn’t put others off. I am sure that those of you who are booked to go on Iona, or are considering it, will have a fabulous cruise in every respect, as our daughters and their partners did. 

[Ardennais]

Great summary Selbourne - your posts have been very interesting and informative. We really enjoyed our cruise on Iona earlier this year and on the back of that, have booked a family cruise next year with our three daughters and their partners - similar in age to your daughters I think. You have given us many tips!