Iona G401 - Live report

[Somerset Cruiser]

3 hours ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

Thanks @Eddie99.  We are up and about now.  I'm not the best sailor in the world and my wife is semi-addicted to the Windy App, the maps of wind speeds and wave heights on which are sometimes quite scary.  But, today certainly looks good and - if Windy is correct - we can expect seas of about 3 metres for the first few sea days down to Madeira, so that shouldn't be too bad.

 

I hope your disembarkation runs smoothly today and that you have a safe and easy trip home.

You should barely notice a 3m swell on Iona. 

[TigerB]

Thanks @Eddie99 for taking us along with you. We start the same cruise on 17th February, albeit with a couple of itinerary changes. We can't wait!🙂

[Smudgemum]

Thank you Eddie99 we enjoyed reading along on your adventure, we also have this cruise booked for 16th March. Made us excited for our cruise .

[SeaJane]

@Eddie99 thanks so much for your great blog. We have friends joining Iona today for her next cruise so I’ve enjoyed getting a flavour of what they can look forward to.

[heatherb1958]

Hope you got home safely .

Found out  a cruise friend who lives in Spain joined Iona today, first time on Iona and I think for them first time with P&O . They have already posted on social media lots of photos . Hope they enjoy it as much as you did .. 

[Eddie99]

The Epilogue (🤣)

 

So, Thursday and Friday were those quiet(er), winding down, going home days.  The weather was kind, the Bay of Biscay was benign.

 

Thursday morning brought out *Trek the Deck* folk circumnavigating the promenade deck … as we discovered when we went out for a dutiful 10k steps 😳. We did our usual exit near the ice cream parlour and turn left, which was our first mistake, as the trekkers were circling in the other direction.  Quick 180° turn required, then a few hundred of us continued our stepping.  The organised people had Trek the Deck t-shirts, so I’ll assume there was some charitable fund-raising going on amongst the fun.
 

We went to a mdr for the first time (other than embarkation and  loyalty lunches) for a quick, eclectic, lunch of tandoori platter followed by baked rice pudding (a Great British Pudding).  It was very pleasant, so we decided to return for dinner, which, it being Burns Night, contained haggis (Mr Eddie is of Scottish persuasion, originally, though a southern softie for many a year now)

The restaurant booking, via the My Holiday route, was simple and efficient and we enjoyed our *sanctioned by Marco Pierre White* menu.  Haggis to start, roast lamb for me, turbot for him, and cranachan for both (actually that was awful - base like overnight oats, which were fine, but the alleged raspberry sauce was soooo terribly sweet and didn’t taste like it had a lot to do with natural raspberries

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had room service breakfast every day between the start and this Thursday (having decided to try out the Keel and Cow for our last breakfast aboard.)  We’re not huge breakfast eaters, and £2.50 per day seems a small price to pay for a peaceful start to the day.  We has the same sweet little girl every day, and she soon became a favourite, happily providing us with toast and bananas.  On the last Thursday she started to tell us that there was no room service on Saturday morning but I butted in to say that this would be our last one, because of the Keel & Cow.  Her little face fell (not because she thought she’d lost a tip - we gave her some cash one of the port days when she said she would have some time ashore) and she said Oh, ma’am.  Can I give you a hug?  So we hugged.  She was such a little thing; no bigger, probably smaller, than my 13yo granddaughter 

 

Last Day - Friday

Ah, last day 😕

Quiet seas, and the cabin tv showed us getting closer & closer to home

Started online queuing for the Keel & Cow just after 9 and we’re invited there after about 10 minutes.

The breakfast offering is good, other than the foul *free* coffee.  It made a nice change.  Very good “build it yourself” breakfast Benedict, where you chose your base and whether to add extras.

 

 

You can see I have avocado and salsa.  Yum.  Mr Eddie had the full English but said it was too much (he ate it all though!). The breakfast breadbasket, or similar, is very good value at £1.50 for two half slices of toast, butter & marmalade, mini croissant, cinnamon bun and pain au chocolat, and full size blueberry muffin

 

Then .. packing 😕

Everything fitted fine, including 2 bottles of Marabelle gin, which basically took the place of the defunct size 11 trainers 😉

 

Then - time to walk.  We started walking and then found that, although the air temperature was stated as 11°C, the direct sun on the (unattended) Sunset Bar was wonderful.  So, circuits were interspersed with periods of sitting, faces to the sky like sunflowers!  10k steps and 2 hours of vitaminD therapy can’t be bad

 

 

 

This is so long, I’m going to have to do an epilogue Part 2, to cover the final evening, disembarkation, the cabin, the booze package, the purchases, future cruises, life and everything 

Sorry everyone; I really thought your pain would be over with this post …

 

 

 

[Eddie99]

The Epilogue - Part the Second

 

Friday we checked our account and found a balance in our favour, so went shopping!  Lovely l’Occitane products, retail value (apparently) £55.  After our ‘last supper’ at Sindhu we ended up with a final cruise bill of £12someting, reduced by 10% peninsular discount, and the return of the £1 P&O took to verify the credit card.  Our cruise cost us the base price, plus £9-ish, and we had £55 of l’Occitane 😳. Crazy.  This all goes back to that booze package gift, which skewed our financial planning - though in a good way!  It does make planning and budgeting any future cruises a bit odd though

 

Our cabin helped our enjoyment  - 4452  for those who asked.  So much space, making, for instance, eating breakfast there a simple, pleasant, experience, rather than an exercise in juggling trays and plates.  Obviously we didn’t have the outside space of a balcony, but I think there were limited times when we could have used a balcony with reasonable comfort.  There was always space on the prom deck, just 4 flights up, when/if we wanted.  We barely went above the prom/deck 8 - just Epicurean and Beach House visits.   Didn’t see the pools etc
 

There was a tremendous amount of the ship we never used - so much to enjoy at some other time, perhaps?

 

I’ve brought back all the Horizons, if anyone has an questions that might be answered therein.  Ask me soon - they’ll be in the bin in a while

 

So, we had a lovely time, at very reasonable cost.  I’m not sure when/if we might cruise again.  We’ve agreed we need time to process our thoughts and memories

 

The dog was very pleased to see us home, though she had some nice adventures with her minder whilst we were away

 

 

I’m happy to try to answer any questions but basically, that’s it.  Thanks for coming with me.  Thanks for saying nice things about my ramblings 🥂

[happy v]

Thank YOU for doing this 

[Angel57]

Thanks from me too. I’ve really enjoyed reading all about your cruise.

Your gorgeous dog looks very relaxes and she obviously had a good holiday too (altho leaving the dog is the worst bit of any holiday).

[Ardennais]

I have enjoyed reading each and every entry. Many thanks. 

[TigerB]

Thank you so much for including us in your trip; it has helped us with our planning for just under three weeks times.

 

You appeared to have had a better greeting from your dog than we do from our kitty; every time we collect her from the cattery she really does makes us 'have it'.  If it's a cold night though she may relent and come onto the bed later.😉

 

BTW - if you've already worked it out, I would be interested to know just how much you saved with your booze package.

[grapau27]

3 hours ago, Eddie99 said:

The Epilogue - Part the Second

 

Friday we checked our account and found a balance in our favour, so went shopping!  Lovely l’Occitane products, retail value (apparently) £55.  After our ‘last supper’ at Sindhu we ended up with a final cruise bill of £12someting, reduced by 10% peninsular discount, and the return of the £1 P&O took to verify the credit card.  Our cruise cost us the base price, plus £9-ish, and we had £55 of l’Occitane 😳. Crazy.  This all goes back to that booze package gift, which skewed our financial planning - though in a good way!  It does make planning and budgeting any future cruises a bit odd though

 

Our cabin helped our enjoyment  - 4452  for those who asked.  So much space, making, for instance, eating breakfast there a simple, pleasant, experience, rather than an exercise in juggling trays and plates.  Obviously we didn’t have the outside space of a balcony, but I think there were limited times when we could have used a balcony with reasonable comfort.  There was always space on the prom deck, just 4 flights up, when/if we wanted.  We barely went above the prom/deck 8 - just Epicurean and Beach House visits.   Didn’t see the pools etc
 

There was a tremendous amount of the ship we never used - so much to enjoy at some other time, perhaps?

 

I’ve brought back all the Horizons, if anyone has an questions that might be answered therein.  Ask me soon - they’ll be in the bin in a while

 

So, we had a lovely time, at very reasonable cost.  I’m not sure when/if we might cruise again.  We’ve agreed we need time to process our thoughts and memories

 

The dog was very pleased to see us home, though she had some nice adventures with her minder whilst we were away

 

 

I’m happy to try to answer any questions but basically, that’s it.  Thanks for coming with me.  Thanks for saying nice things about my ramblings 🥂

Thank you for taking the time to post your review and pictures.

I hope you find another cruise soon to enjoy.

Your dog looks lovely.

It was lovely meeting you on Iona.

Graham.

[Camberley]

A really great set of posts of the cruise. Wonderful to read

[Beckett]

@Eddie99: Thank you again Eddie for letting us accompany you on your cruise. You can see from the comments how much we've all enjoyed reading you. Once @Selbourne and @mrsgoggins are back I'll have to start reading books again! Seriously, a great read so thanks once again and welcome home. Jane xx

[Smudgemum]

Many thanks, so enjoyed reading all about your experience and interesting, lovely dog x

[Eddie99]

15 hours ago, TigerB said:

BTW - if you've already worked it out, I would be interested to know just how much you saved with your booze package.

This is an impossibility, as we would have behaved quite differently had we not unexpectedly received  that wet windfall.

 £1540 worth!

130% the cost of one of us for the cruise itself 😳

 

Without it we would have used our fairly generous OBC for more modest alcohol and been much more restrained over paid-for dining.  The Glass House would not have become our go-to.  We would not have purchased any Costa beverages.  I think we might have ended up with a nett bill, once we’d used OBC, of between zero and £150 - that’s what I had budgeted in my head

 

OH and I tried to work something out as we walked the dog just now.  His reckoning is that, between coffee, water, soft drinks and alcohol, we each averaged 5/6 drinks/day, factoring port v sea days.  He averaged them at £10, seeing as some were ginger beer/coffee and much less expensive, and some were large glasses of wine, or large G&Ts at £16 or so 😱.  
 

So, looks like we fit the P&O bean counters identikit exactly.  5.5 drinks/day @ £10 … oh look, that’s the cost of the deluxe package, £55/day.  Heavy drinkers ought to be quids in

 

As I said somewhere in the account, whilst not complaining, the gift has left us perplexed about our cruise/holiday future.  We don’t have the 2024 base line we were thinking we would have, and 2020, pre-C, is too much of ‘another world’ to base any planning on

 

P&O drink prices have certainly risen since 2020
 

 

Edited January 29 by Eddie99

[Selbourne]

Just now, Eddie99 said:

This is an impossibility, as we would have behaved quite differently had we not unexpectedly received  that wet windfall.

 £1540 worth!

130% the cost of one of us for the cruise itself 😳

 

Without it we would have used our fairly generous OBC for more modest alcohol and been much more restrained over paid-for dining.  The Glass House would not have become our go-to.  We would not have purchased any Costa beverages.  I think we might have ended up with a nett bill, once we’d used OBC, of between zero and £150 - that’s what I had budgeted in my head

 

OH and I tried to work something out as we walked the dog just now.  His reckoning is that, between coffee, water, soft drinks and alcohol, we each averaged 5/6 drinks/day, factoring port v sea days.  He averaged them at £10, seeing as some were ginger beer/coffee and much less expensive, and some were large glasses of wine, or large G&Ts at £16 or so 😱.  
 

So, looks like we fit the P&O bean counters identikit exactly.  5.5 drinks/day @ £10 … oh look, that’s the cost of the deluxe package, £55/day.  Heavy drinkers ought to be quids in

 

As I said somewhere in the account, whilst not complaining, the gift has left us perplexed about our cruise/holiday future.  We don’t have the 2024 base line we were thinking we would have, and 2020, pre-C, is too much of ‘another world’ to base any planning on

 

P&O drink prices have certainly risen since 2020
 

 

I’d have the same challenge. Our daily spend, including drinks, speciality restaurants etc is way less than the cost of the drinks package alone, but if I had a drinks package I’d be determined to get value from it, which wouldn’t be a good thing 😂 

[TigerB]

Thanks Eddie99.

What we drink during a cruise day would never justify the cost of any drinks package, and if we had one we would be drinking just for the sake of it; that is not what we go on cruises for.

[terrierjohn]

15 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I’d have the same challenge. Our daily spend, including drinks, speciality restaurants etc is way less than the cost of the drinks package alone, but if I had a drinks package I’d be determined to get value from it, which wouldn’t be a good thing 😂 

We would be similar, we had the Princess plus package on our cruise last July,  and we will have it again this May, BUT only because it was half price and includes gratuities and wifi as well. 

Last year we had far more cocktails, and Mocktails for DW, than we would normally, and lots of barista coffees, where normally we would have made do with buffet or cabin coffees. I don't think I had more wine at dinner than normal, and other than special coffees I rarely had any other drinks after dinner, because I did not really fancy anything.

So for us a full price drinks package  would not represent good value.

[Eddie99]

The drinks packages come with a *buy for an adult, get a kids’ package for free*, which would make it a much more attractive proposition for a 2 adult/2 children group

 

I could never justify the expense - for which my liver probably thanks me

[SeaJane]

Many thanks again @Eddie99 I’ve really enjoyed coming with you on your cruise and reading about your experiences. 

[P&O SUE]

Welcome home Eddie, thanks for your great report and photos ☺️

[July morning]

Welcome home, the plus side for you is getting your dog back bet there was lots of tail wagging (from your dog)😂 

Anyway I have enjoyed the reports and your photos were good as well.

[Interestedcruisefan]

18 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

We would be similar, we had the Princess plus package on our cruise last July,  and we will have it again this May, BUT only because it was half price and includes gratuities and wifi as well. 

Last year we had far more cocktails, and Mocktails for DW, than we would normally, and lots of barista coffees, where normally we would have made do with buffet or cabin coffees. I don't think I had more wine at dinner than normal, and other than special coffees I rarely had any other drinks after dinner, because I did not really fancy anything.

So for us a full price drinks package  would not represent good value.

Drinks were included on our  recent 12 day south africa azamara cruise 

 

Whole cruise was amazing

 

But literally some days of the cruise we chose to just drink still and sparkling water and be good

 

Don't think it's healthy  to drink the amount you would need to drink to get  value from most drinks packages 

 

It's shown us never to contemplate paying extra for drinks

 

We wouldn't get any value from it

 

Also we started trying to eat less and be more healthy with food as well despite the great choices available

[JeanieC,Aston]

1 hour ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Drinks were included on our  recent 12 day south africa azamara cruise 

 

Whole cruise was amazing

 

But literally some days of the cruise we chose to just drink still and sparkling water and be good

 

Don't think it's healthy  to drink the amount you would need to drink to get  value from most drinks packages 

 

It's shown us never to contemplate paying extra for drinks

 

We wouldn't get any value from it

 

Also we started trying to eat less and be more healthy with food as well despite the great choices available

Out of interest how many drinks per day?,,,soft drinks,water,fruit juice (J2O),beer,a drop of whiskey maybe or a wine with dinner.

I find lots of people overestimate the number.
I’ll help you,,,,todays cost for DP is £36 per day,a glass of Prosecco (125ml) is nearly £7.