Selbourne Live from Iona!

[TigerB]

 

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

The metal clad undersides of the feature stairs looked like air conditioning ducting. 

 

I had not noticed that before. When we're on her in October I'll try and remember to have a look.

 

Thanks for allowing us to join you on your cruise, and experiencing the many good points and, unfortunately, the low points. Your reports have been well balanced and informative, and would, I hope, alleviate any anxiety for other members, non wheelchair users, who haven't yet sailed on her but were maybe concerned by some other negative reports.

 

Having sailed on Arvia twice within the space of four months, and then on Iona two months later, I have to say there isn't much between them for us, but Iona just takes the gold by a nose, mainly due to the two smaller MDRs, the superior Olive Grove, and less problems with the My Holiday app. Despite the lift problems that we have encountered on both ships, we will continue to sail on them; we haven't suffered as much as you two, and will always seek to avoid school holidays.

 

 

[Selbourne]

7 hours ago, TigerB said:

 

 

I had not noticed that before. When we're on her in October I'll try and remember to have a look.

 

Thanks for allowing us to join you on your cruise, and experiencing the many good points and, unfortunately, the low points. Your reports have been well balanced and informative, and would, I hope, alleviate any anxiety for other members, non wheelchair users, who haven't yet sailed on her but were maybe concerned by some other negative reports.

 

Having sailed on Arvia twice within the space of four months, and then on Iona two months later, I have to say there isn't much between them for us, but Iona just takes the gold by a nose, mainly due to the two smaller MDRs, the superior Olive Grove, and less problems with the My Holiday app. Despite the lift problems that we have encountered on both ships, we will continue to sail on them; we haven't suffered as much as you two, and will always seek to avoid school holidays.

 

 

Thanks. Just to clarify, I thought that the undersides of the atrium stairs had the look of commercial air conditioning ducting - not that they actually were 😂 

 

There is certainly a lot to like about Iona. Two of our party were first time cruisers (which, after all, is the market that P&O are primarily targeting with Iona and Arvia) and were really impressed. Our daughters have done quite a few cruises and also loved the ship. There was a lot that we liked about it too.

 

You have confirmed what I expected, that most of the lift issues that we experienced would be alleviated outside of peak school holidays when there are a lot less passengers on board including, of course, less push chairs and buggies. I can’t remember where I heard that there were 5,700 passengers, but it wasn’t in the Captain’s announcements. Frankly, it felt like a lot more than that at times 😂. It may be that my wife changes her mind after some time has passed, but when I asked her again last night before posting our final thoughts, she was still of the view that she wouldn’t be at all keen.
 

Given that Iona and Arvia have quite repetitive itineraries and sometimes visit fewer ports on longer cruises than the smaller ships, this won’t be a huge hardship, but I know that on every P&O cruise going forward now I shall be missing the Olive Grove and wishing that the virtual queuing worked as well as it did on Iona 😂 

[cruising.mark.uk]

Thanks @Selbourne for your really interesting and balanced final thoughts.

 

Just one observation regarding the design flaws you point out in terms of major infrastructure shortcomings like the lift size, lack of midship stairs and the promenade decks.  While P&O doubtless chose the interior decor and layout of their ships, I suspect that they were presented with a fait accompli in terms of the basic infrastructure because they were given ready-made ships off the Carnival / Fincantieri production line.  P&O was not the lead customer for any of these.  Ventura and Azura are Grand (Princess) class ships, Britannia is a Royal (Princess) class ship (and, although Princess corrected the lack of midship stairs in later iterations, the correction was made too late for Britannia) and Aida and Costa were the lead customers for the Excel class (Iona and Arvia).  So,  I suspect P&O pretty much got what the fundamental ship architecture they were given.

 

It would be lovely to have a P&O-designed and implemented ship for the British market, but I suspect they will never be the lead customer in the massive Carnival corporation and the economies of scale that drive the industry will continue to mean that they will only be allowed to make cosmetic changes to 'mass' produced basic models as they roll off the production line.

[Barbadossunshine]

@Selbourne thank you. Booked on Iona for June 2024 looking forward to this cruise. 

[Angel57]

25 minutes ago, Barbadossunshine said:

@Selbourne thank you. Booked on Iona for June 2024 looking forward to this cruise. 

I’m on in June too. I’m more used to the smaller ships in the fleet, but am looking forward to trying out Iona very much.

[DamianG]

Thank you as @Selbourne for another fascinating, thoughtful and balanced review of your cruise. We sailed on Iona in April 2022 which (despite being during school holidays) was only 2/3 full as per the restrictions at that time. It was a world away from our recent experience on Arvia, as we were able to use the My Holiday webpage for every dining booking and never waited longer than 15 minutes on any occasion. Whilst I would never sail on Arvia again, I certainly would give Iona another go, even during school holidays.

 

Best regards

 

Damian

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Thanks. Just to clarify, I thought that the undersides of the atrium stairs had the look of commercial air conditioning ducting - not that they actually were 😂 

 

There is certainly a lot to like about Iona. Two of our party were first time cruisers (which, after all, is the market that P&O are primarily targeting with Iona and Arvia) and were really impressed. Our daughters have done quite a few cruises and also loved the ship. There was a lot that we liked about it too.

 

You have confirmed what I expected, that most of the lift issues that we experienced would be alleviated outside of peak school holidays when there are a lot less passengers on board including, of course, less push chairs and buggies. I can’t remember where I heard that there were 5,700 passengers, but it wasn’t in the Captain’s announcements. Frankly, it felt like a lot more than that at times 😂. It may be that my wife changes her mind after some time has passed, but when I asked her again last night before posting our final thoughts, she was still of the view that she wouldn’t be at all keen.
 

Given that Iona and Arvia have quite repetitive itineraries and sometimes visit fewer ports on longer cruises than the smaller ships, this won’t be a huge hardship, but I know that on every P&O cruise going forward now I shall be missing the Olive Grove and wishing that the virtual queuing worked as well as it did on Iona 😂 

Thank you Selbourne for a very interesting  blog, you have certainly reaffirmed our policy of avoiding school holidays, especially the summer one.

I can confirm that we did not encounter many wheelchair issues on our 2 cruises on Iona. We had cabins in mid fwd and mid aft locations and used the fwd and aft lifts, and even though the aft lift foyer only has 6 lifts, rather than the 8 on the fwd and mid ship foyers, we found it to be the less crowded of the two. So perhaps that might be some comfort to any wheelchair user considering trying Iona.

 

Edited August 28, 2023 by terrierjohn

[ParisHilton]

Thanks for the blog. It's been great reliving the experience.

 

I can't say I noticed the air-con look of the stairs.  I must say I quite like conference hotels so I suppose Iona appealed to me in terms of ambience. I definitely prefer light and airy over 'plush' though. In fact I probably prefer lab white!

 

I'd love to see stats on how many first timers book a second based on Iona.  Maybe compared to other ships. That said, I think Iona is pulling in a different audience. I saw a Cunard at a very reasonable price, but almost instantly wrote it off as probably too stuffy for us and the kids (MASSIVELY stereotyping I know).  

 

 

[Selbourne]

18 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Thank you Selbourne for a very interesting  blog, you have certainly reaffirmed our policy of avoiding school holidays, especially the summer one.

I can confirm that we did not encounter many wheelchair issues on our 2 cruises on Iona. We had cabins in mid fwd and mid aft locations and used the fwd and aft lifts, and even though the aft lift foyer only has 6 lifts, rather than the 8 on the fwd and mid ship foyers, we found it to be the less crowded of the two. So perhaps that might be some comfort to any wheelchair user considering trying Iona.

 

Thanks John. I figured that the problems must have been mostly down to peak school holidays, as I knew that you hadn’t flagged these issues on your cruise, although it was interesting that you also commented earlier in the thread about how small the lifts were. I agree that the forward and aft lifts, whilst still busy, generally had shorter waits than the midships ones, so once we worked that out I tended to go to them more, even though it resulted in a lot more to-ing and fro-ing. 

[ParisHilton]

Can I ask where you were relative to 4331\4333?  (weirdly, next to 4333 seemed to be 4339 or something that doesn't make a right lot of sense)

 

We were in those and nearer the forward lifts , although for some reason for the first few days we always headed to midships lifts.

 

After a while we realised the nearer ones were nearly always quieter. I wouldn't bank on this though as I mostly staired so didn't pay that much attention.  I think only the midships lifts get to all floors too?

 

Did you find much 'school holiday' factor.  I know I was travelling with 3 children of school age and 'sort of' with one who's just finished his GCSE, but there didn't seem to be a lot of children on board.  Maybe most were in the kids clubs.  It certainly sounded very noisy in the kids club the one time we travelled down there and the person that met us seemed very much like she'd been working with other people's children all week! (and in case I've not mentioned it, there was no flexibility for the 14 year old to be with the 9 and 12 in any club, so we didn't bother).

 

[Ilovemygarden]

Selbourne - thank you very much for your helpful information.  I am seriously considering a solo voyage to the Caribbean on Iona in January 2025.   How do you think that would fit for a (well) over 70 year old female?   

[ParisHilton]

4 minutes ago, Ilovemygarden said:

Selbourne - thank you very much for your helpful information.  I am seriously considering a solo voyage to the Caribbean on Iona in January 2025.   How do you think that would fit for a (well) over 70 year old female?   

I know you aren't asking me but...

 

Age is less of an issue than 'mobility' and outlook.

Have you been on 'big' ships before?

Do you have to fly out there to take the cruise? How are you with flying?

What are you looking for in a cruise?

Are you a cruise veteran (lots of interpretations of that word, but you get my gist).

 

Apologies if Selbourne knows the answers to all those !

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, Ilovemygarden said:

Selbourne - thank you very much for your helpful information.  I am seriously considering a solo voyage to the Caribbean on Iona in January 2025.   How do you think that would fit for a (well) over 70 year old female?   

We are booked on that cruise and will be over 80 by then!  I am expecting that the age profile will be very similar to the 3 round trip Ventura cruises that we have already taken, whilst there were some under 60 retirees on board those cruises, they were very much in the minority with an average age profile somewhere around 70.

[ParisHilton]

Would the issues with the lifts definitely prevent you from going on Iona in future?

Maybe outside school hols?

Would you 'consider' if the rest of the family were keen for another go on her?

 

Out of interest, would they be keen to go on her again, or is their first thought to try a different ship?

[daiB]

5 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

We are booked on that cruise and will be over 80 by then!  I am expecting that the age profile will be very similar to the 3 round trip Ventura cruises that we have already taken, whilst there were some under 60 retirees on board those cruises, they were very much in the minority with an average age profile somewhere around 70.

We are booked on Ventura in 25 as we did not fancy freedom dining for 35 nights. However having been on Iona for 3 weeks earlier this year we would have no hesitation in booking her for the 5 week cruise to the Caribbean. 

[Selbourne]

8 hours ago, ParisHilton said:

Can I ask where you were relative to 4331\4333?  (weirdly, next to 4333 seemed to be 4339 or something that doesn't make a right lot of sense)

 

We were in those and nearer the forward lifts , although for some reason for the first few days we always headed to midships lifts.

 

After a while we realised the nearer ones were nearly always quieter. I wouldn't bank on this though as I mostly staired so didn't pay that much attention.  I think only the midships lifts get to all floors too?

 

Did you find much 'school holiday' factor.  I know I was travelling with 3 children of school age and 'sort of' with one who's just finished his GCSE, but there didn't seem to be a lot of children on board.  Maybe most were in the kids clubs.  It certainly sounded very noisy in the kids club the one time we travelled down there and the person that met us seemed very much like she'd been working with other people's children all week! (and in case I've not mentioned it, there was no flexibility for the 14 year old to be with the 9 and 12 in any club, so we didn't bother).

 

We were on deck 10, so pretty much in the middle of the 16 decks serviced by the lifts which, I guess, may go some way to explaining some of the challenges we had, as whether we were going up or down the lift had already had the potential of picking up people on 5 or 6 floors before us!
 

As for school holiday factor, we were concerned that the ship would feel overrun with kids but, in all honesty it didn’t. As you say, most were probably in the kids club, although we kept away from the Sun and pool decks where I suspect that quite a few were. There seemed to be a lot of babies and very young toddlers, but we probably noticed them more as we seemed to be a bit unlucky in that we regularly seemed to be within earshot of one that was crying or kicking off 😂 

 

The noise in busy areas (such as the atrium in the evenings) was adults rather than kids, but simply due to the volume of people on the ship and the number of venues that are around the atrium on Iona.  

[ParisHilton]

Thanks Selbourne.

That ties in with our experience . The pool were very filled with kids, but there weren't many around the pools. And there was always the adult only pool.  Or the swingers pool as I liked to call it 🙂

 

Pretty much last week of summer hols might have impacted it too?

[Selbourne]

8 hours ago, Ilovemygarden said:

Selbourne - thank you very much for your helpful information.  I am seriously considering a solo voyage to the Caribbean on Iona in January 2025.   How do you think that would fit for a (well) over 70 year old female?   

In all honesty I wouldn’t be anywhere near the best person to answer this question. There are a number of regular solo travellers on here who would give a far better perspective.

 

All I can say is that if I found myself considering cruising Solo in the future, I would probably favour the ships that have Club (fixed) dining, as I think I’d prefer that to freedom as a solo. I wouldn’t really fancy eating on my own every night, but neither would I fancy having to explain why I was travelling solo (I know it’s nobody’s business, but people are bound to fish around it, even if they don’t ask directly). With Club I’d only have to explain once on the first night and I also believe that solos are sometimes placed on the same table, which I think would make things easier. However, if you like dining alone then the choice of speciality restaurants on Iona is superb and that might be a deciding factor for you. 

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, ParisHilton said:

Would the issues with the lifts definitely prevent you from going on Iona in future?

Maybe outside school hols?

Would you 'consider' if the rest of the family were keen for another go on her?

 

Out of interest, would they be keen to go on her again, or is their first thought to try a different ship?

I shall answer on the assumption that you are asking me these questions 😂 

 

If it was solely down to me, I’d probably be happy to give Iona another shot well outside of school holidays, as feedback seems to be that the problems we experienced are far less then, which makes sense. However, at present, my wife is dead against it. I have to see it from her perspective. She likes cruises because they are well set up for people with disabilities and on all our P&O cruises in the past (20 ish) we have been extremely well catered for.
 

Iona was a very different experience though. The lack of the usual notices at the lifts asking people to give those in wheelchairs priority, the complete absence of the usual announcements about this, the fact that our fellow passengers very rarely considered our issues and many jumped in front of us (neither of which have really been issues before on other ships), the fact that the lifts were too small and, the icing on the cake, the complete lack of interest from the reception manager when I raised the fact that we were experiencing problems, all left a very nasty taste in my wife’s mouth and she very much felt that those with disabilities were carried under sufferance rather than genuinely welcomed. 
 

Frankly, I can live with this because the Iona and Arvia itineraries don’t appeal very much (very repetitive) and their longer cruises (14 nights plus) seem to do less ports than the smaller ships do in the same time period, and we aren’t fans of sea days. 
 

I’m sure that our daughters would go on Iona again in a heartbeat (although one said that she thinks she prefers Britannia). The problem that we have is that the partner of one of them is a teacher, so is tied to the school holidays 😱

[Megabear2]

18 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

In all honesty I wouldn’t be anywhere near the best person to answer this question. There are a number of regular solo travellers on here who would give a far better perspective.

 

All I can say is that if I found myself considering cruising Solo in the future, I would probably favour the ships that have Club (fixed) dining, as I think I’d prefer that to freedom as a solo. I wouldn’t really fancy eating on my own every night, but neither would I fancy having to explain why I was travelling solo (I know it’s nobody’s business, but people are bound to fish around it, even if they don’t ask directly). With Club I’d only have to explain once on the first night and I also believe that solos are sometimes placed on the same table, which I think would make things easier. However, if you like dining alone then the choice of speciality restaurants on Iona is superb and that might be a deciding factor for you. 

As someone who regularly travels solo I considered the Iona 35 night Caribbean cruise and weighed it up against the same length Queen Mary 2 one departing on the same day.  I loked at the many modern features on Iona against QM2's older more traditional style together with the dining options, my experience on Arvia and the daytime offerings for the seadays.  Although Iona was tempting for her modern and upto date style QM2 won on almost everything else for travelling as a solo and so that's the way I went.  The price at launch was not too dissimilar but I chose a single outside deck 2 cabin rather than a balcony which I believe you were looking at.

 

Based on my Arvia experience it was quite hard for me to get to know other guests but everyone will of course have different experiences.

[ParisHilton]

51 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I but neither would I fancy having to explain why I was travelling solo (I know it’s nobody’s business, but people are bound to fish around it, even if they don’t ask directly). 

 

That's interesting.  I hate people asking me 'personal' questions. Especially early doors. Although I'm getting better at it.  I think if you have a prepared answer it's much easier.  How close to the truth that is , is entirely up to you.  I think it's very 'acceptable' now, to just say I want a bit of 'me' time, or perhaps 'Ive always wanted to go to X but my partner isn't interested , there was a good price so I took it!'.

Or you say you are with 'a government department' and that's all you are allowed to say .

[Megabear2]

4 minutes ago, ParisHilton said:

 

That's interesting.  I hate people asking me 'personal' questions. Especially early doors. Although I'm getting better at it.  I think if you have a prepared answer it's much easier.  How close to the truth that is , is entirely up to you.  I think it's very 'acceptable' now, to just say I want a bit of 'me' time, or perhaps 'Ive always wanted to go to X but my partner isn't interested , there was a good price so I took it!'.

Or you say you are with 'a government department' and that's all you are allowed to say .

When travelling solo and not dining with the same people every evening you get asked the same questions day in day out on shared dining tables.  However Club dining can have unexpected problems too.  I have a husband of 43 years who I frequently travel without. I didn't realise people actually think I make him up until some American cruising friends travelled to meet me for lunch after disembarking in Southampton a few years back and were astonished to find him with me. When introduced the wife said well I never I thought after all these years you were pure fiction but I was too polite to say!

[Selbourne]

16 minutes ago, ParisHilton said:

 

That's interesting.  I hate people asking me 'personal' questions. Especially early doors. Although I'm getting better at it.  I think if you have a prepared answer it's much easier.  How close to the truth that is , is entirely up to you.  I think it's very 'acceptable' now, to just say I want a bit of 'me' time, or perhaps 'Ive always wanted to go to X but my partner isn't interested , there was a good price so I took it!'.

Or you say you are with 'a government department' and that's all you are allowed to say .

If asked, I think I would just say “my wife fancied a break” 😂 

[Ilovemygarden]

Yes - a fixed table is a hit or a miss isn’t it?   I’ve found solo ok in freedom, particularly if you eat with even one or two other solos at a shared table with couples as well.   I know it doesn’t exist on Iona but no way would I contemplate 35 nights with the same table companions. 

Thanks for your replies.

Edited August 28, 2023 by Ilovemygarden
Spelling

[AndyMichelle]

17 minutes ago, ParisHilton said:

  I hate people asking me 'personal' questions. Especially early doors. 

Oh I love it... 

If we feel its intrusive or inappropriate, we just lie... 🤥

We particularly like the 'so, how did you 2 meet' question... 

There are loads of P&O passengers around who think I was a knife thrower in a circus and Michelle was my glamorous assistant😂🎪🔪🗡️

Andy