Reviews
![2022-07-03 16:54:01]()
Reviews
![2022-07-03 15:38:58]()
Overall the cruise was lovely, we probably picked the wrong excursions this time and 2 were cancelled due to no problems with p and o , and the other 2: were not good , The Iona is a beautiful ship and most of the staff really lovley and helpful the others probably having a bad day ,,, still must have loved it as going on Iona again in may 23 , trying a inside cabin as going to med on Arvia in September 23, so hopefully inside cabin is just as goodx
Reviews
![2022-07-03 13:23:33]()
Reviews
![2022-07-03 13:23:43]()
Reviews
![2022-07-03 12:46:40]()
The cruise included the Canary Islands,Madeira.Lisbon. Covid cases were found before we reached the first call. This started blocking seats in the venues and the atmosphere over the Christmas period was very weak.
Reviews
![2022-07-03 12:36:18]()
Booked a standard balcony cabin for a cruise to the Norwegian Fjords on Iona and really enjoyed it. Plenty big enough for a couple and small child, but might be a bit cramped for 3 adults. Only ate in the buffet restaurant as the food was so good, we didn't bother with trying to book a table for 2 in the main dining room or speciality restaurants. We only watched the entertainment in the Sky Dome as that was huge and airy, and felt with covid cases on the rise again, probably safer than the smaller more intimate venues. Iona is a huge ship and, because of our caution regarding covid, we only got to see a fraction of it. That was our personal choice and it didn't impact on our enjoyment of the ship or the holiday. The scenery was simply stunning, the weather in Norway was warm and sunny, and we would certainly book another cruise on Iona.
Reviews
![2022-06-10 15:07:34]()
All great value for money but entertainment, particularly shows in theatre, very unattractive to people in my age group. Unrecognisable modern music with the usual shrieking females.
Reviews
![2022-06-10 07:55:44]()
As is the norm at the time of year the weather was a little unpredictable for this cruise, additionally it has to be said that the Covid rules that were in place and management thereof did not help.
Aspects that P&O were responsible for which were negatives at start and during the cruise included;
Embarkation process was very unorganised and, regardless of having an allotted timeslot, it was effectively a mad rush, resulting in the ship not departing until late in the night - a lost first evening of entertainment.
Entertainment on board was fine, however the "aerial act" in the Skydome was cancelled on 3 separate occasions due to "technical issues" - not good after people waiting in that area for a period of time for it to happen.
The ship itself is fine and, despite there being just under 4000 passengers on board - or so we were told - it didn't seem crouded at all.
The above having been stated, the cruise was very enjoyable, which was in no small way due to the people we met on board and friends we made, as is the norm.
Would we go on that cruise to the same places and on that ship again, possibly we would but would go slightly later in the year in the hope that the weather might be better.
Reviews
![2022-06-09 21:15:57]()
Our first ever cruise and we loved it.
We sailed in spring on Iona to the Norwegian Fjords.
Iona is huge and can get very busy at the buffet and quays at peak meal times but there are so many places onboard to explore/hide away this was never a huge issue.
Being a relatively new ship the cabin was immaculate and along with the other areas of the ship nice and modern - it’s actually made choosing our next cruise quite difficult as we can’t find a similar aged/style of ship sailing from Southampton for the same duration at a similar price.
The entertainment was varied. With so much going on around the ship we didn’t get to see everything, but what we did see was fantastic. Most shows were about 45mins long which is just about right if you want to catch more than 2 a night.
Entertainment highlight was the silent disco in the atrium. So much fun.
Fantastic food choices for vegetarians and meat eaters. Comprehensive labelling too. Encouraging that there was always something for vegans available at the main dining room and buffet but it really was only 1 option at every meal so something P&O could improve on. Best vegan options were at the speciality restaurants.
We opted to pay for the drinks package which was a whopping £560 for the whole week. It’s quite limited so probably not worth what we paid.
As data roaming in EU is still covered by our mobile provider and we were near enough to land most days we only paid for Wi-Fi on our sea days. It worked well for us.
We loved the ship so much we plan to do the same trip on Iona next year.
Reviews
![2022-06-09 17:18:56]()
Lovely time of year to cruise on a very new amazing ship, weather, food& atmosphere was all very good.
Covid 19 proceedures, checks and testing still in place and all carried out very efficiently by staff and adhered to by all customer. So considered cruising with P & O very safe.
Reviews
![2022-06-09 16:49:20]()
This was the first cruise after Covid.It didn’t start well with all the messing around having to get covid tests on arrival at the docks. Everything had to be done on my iPad and to be perfectly honest I really struggled with it.This was no fault of P&O ,s but for me it was a real pain . Having to wear masks and socially distancing took all the fun out of the trip. There was absolutely no pleasure to be had anywhere. Apart from one, the excursions
Were totally boring. The one exception was a day out in little electric cars. (I should point out that we went to the Canary Islands and the date we traveled was early October ) . This was the first time I really was glad when the cruise was over. Unfortunately for me I came away with covid . I collapsed on the way home and went straight to hospital.So to sum up it was a truly awful experience. Though it wasn’t P&Os fault, I won’t be travelling on the Iona ever again it’s far too big a ship for us.
Reviews
![2022-06-09 15:29:26]()
Reviews
![2022-06-09 13:47:18]()
We loved Iona for modern feel and bright open spaces. We booked a Conservatory mini suite on Deck 9 and loved it. Yes the cabins are a bit slimmer than normal and we missed not having the open hanging space that you get on Azura and Ventura but overall it was comfortable enough. The food isn’t as good as it used to be with reduced choices but we have no complaints. The best meal of the week was in the Limelight Club where we saw Ray Quinn who was excellent. We didn’t encounter any problems in the Horizon buffet but not sure what it will be like when she is at full capacity. The only real downside was due to her size and bad weather we were unable to sail down the Fjords to Olden so that was a disappointment. I would happily sail on her again but maybe not to the Fjords!
Reviews
![2022-06-09 13:20:52]()
What a lovely ship infinity pool fantastic shows very good , Indoor pool with a dome absolutely beautiful night all lit up
Reviews
![2022-06-09 12:36:56]()
Reviews
![2022-05-28 17:15:34]()
We had a great cruise. Unfortunately we were unable to stop at our first port of call .. Stavanger. That was really disappointing. This became a sea day.
The stop at Gerainger had been cancelled prior to sailing and changed to Hellesylt which was on a Bank Holiday. Nothing was open and not a pretty village to walk around.
The ship, accommodation and food was of a good standard. The entertainment was adequate.
The staff were very good and helpful.
