Jennizor

Not long to go before our Iona cruise to the Fjords on Saturday. Just looked at the weather forecast and it shows rain every day. When we last went to the Fords on Arcadia in June 2019 it was sunshine all the way. We will make the most of it, our waterproofs will be packed and we will enjoy just being on the ship, on the balcony or deck when we can find shelter.
 

We will be relaxing as much as possible as my daughter is moving house the week after we return and we will have her two youngest boys for a couple of days. Happy days, but sad as well as they have lived up the road from us for the last 17 years (630 steps door to door). They will only be a 15 minute drive away from us but I will miss the close contact. The three boys are 10,12 and fourteen and all need there own rooms and space. They are no longer my little ones who loved baking with Grandma when mummy was working. Happy memories though.

Selbourne, we saw Joel Harper Jackson on Iona in March. He was really good and would go to see him again. Apparently he has been in several West End shows.

13 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Happy belated birthday to your Ian @Jennizor.

Thanks Graham, much appreciated.

3 hours ago, Angel57 said:

I’m on deck 12 in a balcony towards the forward end. Should be able to keep fit with walking from one end of the ship to the other!

We are in 12426, we were in 12430 last time but I decided to upgrade a bit for Ian’s 70th birthday on Sunday (well is a good excuse).

4 hours ago, Angel57 said:

I shall be interested to hear about how you find Iona as I have booked a fjord cruise on her next June. X

I will report back in due course. I just hope the weather is better than we are currently having in Bolton. I think the temperatures should be fine, just don’t want to getting drenched every time we go ashore. 
 

Iona was very good when we sailed on her in March, so we are expecting the same next week (getting excited now).

2 hours ago, Presto2 said:

Hope you have a great time and the weather is kind to you. Have yet to try IONA, but am sure you will love Norway.

Thanks Presto, we went to the Fjords in 2019 and really enjoyed it and promised ourselves that we would do it again. Roll on next Saturday.

I booked the Limelight Club for our cruise on Iona from next Saturday through my P & O cruises. I also booked the Chefs Table and Sindhu. There were others you could book but we weren’t interested in those. I prefer to book beforehand some of the venues we like. 

8 hours ago, Angel57 said:

Sorry to hear of everyone’s storm woes. We had thunder and heavy rain but avoided the worst of it. 
I have amazed myself (and is something I never thought I would do) aand have booked a 7 day cruise to Norway on Iona for early June next year. I’m an huge Aurora fan, but she just isn’t offering what I wanted for 2024 or 2025. So, I thought I’d give Iona a go. The price for a balcony was reasonable in comparison to other cruise lines. I am sure I will enjoy the new experience - and if I don’t, it’s only for 7/days.

We are on Iona to the Fjords next Saturday. We went there on Britannia in 2019 and had a lovely cruise. We were on Iona in Feb/March to Spain and the Canaries and she was great so very excited about this combination. 

Devastating news for you and your family.
 

Me and my family can fully empathise with you too.

Look after each other at this sad time.

On Iona in Feb/Mar, we had our cruise cards scanned at our muster station. A couple of days later we got a note through our cabin door saying that as we had not had our cards scanned we must go to the muster station at a set date and time. We did this and a couple of days later we got the same letter. We went again and they apologised - a computer glitch! We didn’t get any more letters.

22 minutes ago, FangedRose said:

In general the older and smaller the ship (Arcadia and Aurora) the more likely that formal night dress code will be adhered too (incidentally both adult only). The newer, bigger ships less so.

I know what you mean but on all our recent cruises formal nights have been well supported, Azura, Britannia and Iona in March this year.

1 hour ago, Minnie29 said:

We are planning a 7 night cruise on Iona in September.

can anyone tell me the times for the Limelight Club and the 710 club.

just starting to plan dinner times and entertainment venues.

Also if you know the theatre times that would be really helpful 

Thank you

Hi Minnie,

Can’t help you with the 710 club or theatre times. If you are thinking of doing the Limelight Club your dinner is included in the booking. On Iona in March, I think it opened at 7.30 and everyone eats at the same time. I recommend you book in the two week period before your cruise as it might be fully booked if you wait until onboard. We have done the Limelight Club many times and always enjoyed it.. We are on Iona in a couple of weeks and booked it already. We don’t know La Voix, the artist who is on this time but we have never had a bad experience, and many brilliant ones - Gareth Gates, Cheryl Baker and Ray Quinn in March this year were my favourites. 
 

I hope this helps.

Jennizor

1 hour ago, kalos said:

 

We have a neighbour who loved to buy bird food and throw it on the roof of a shared out house.

Trouble was the Pidgeon's would walk over to our side and crap down onto our wheelie bins.

He thought it was ok as he was only putting food on his side and he cant control where the 

birds crap .

One day out shopping ,we were in the Range and they were selling a heavy duty multi

coloured windmill , like you would stick on a sand castle .

Over a year ago now and the pigeons stopped coming and our bins remain clean .

Maybe the deer's will not like something that moves fastened to your fence and move on 

to another garden .

That sounds like a good idea Kalos. I will have a look in our local Range next week. I am willing to try anything. The gardens either side of us do not have many flowers but further up there a couple that have some, I wont mention to them why I have a windmill!

Good news - I have managed to book the Limelight Club, Chefs Table and Sindhu for our Iona cruise two weeks today, the Olive Grove just says coming soon so I will watch out for that.

Bad news - the deer are back, tucking into my begonias and geraniums. Not touched my dahlias but I’m not holding my breath on that. It was a beautiful young red deer who managed to jump over our new fence that we thought would be too high for them. When it stops raining I will try again with tying foil strips round the top fence boards. 
 

Hope you all have a good weekend.

6 minutes ago, Fionboard said:

Problem is that some people believe sanitiser works, so do not wash their hands. I personally avoid the buffet but if I did I would use cutlery to load my plate instead of tongs. 

Like you, we avoid the buffet. It’s not just the lack of personal hygiene, I hate the way one of you has to stay at the table while the other goes for something else to eat or drink. I have seen people clearing tables and sitting down leading to confrontation. Not for me.

12 hours ago, Minnie29 said:

Hi all,

we are booked on our first P and O Cruise in September on Iona in a Deck 9 Mini Conservatory Suite. 
Any advice or tips will be gratefully received on either what’s included with the cabin and the ship itself.

Looking at the dining options we will probably do speciality dining each evening and your reviews on the options and when they can be booked would really be welcomed. 
Thank you

Hi Lisa and Paul

Can’t help you with the cabin.  You will only be able to book the speciality restaurants two weeks before you sail. I would advise you to do that as soon as the booking option opens. We are going on our second Iona cruise 3 weeks today and will book as soon as online booking opens to ensure we get in at a time we want.

I can’t comment on the Epicurean restaurant, we have never been as I couldn’t eat five courses but there are other members on here who find it very good. The food in the Limelight Club was very good both times we visited it, plus you get entertainment so it’s a good evening out (obviously depends on who is on but we have never had a bad experience).  Sindhu is a lovely restaurant and the food is very good. We will book the Chefs Table for the formal night. We didn’t know what to expect last time as it is part of the Horizon buffet which we never use, however, we were very surprised. It was a sectioned off area, set out to look like a stylish restaurant and the menu was very good. We also like the Olive Grove and the Glass House.

I hope this helps and you have a great cruise on Iona.

Jennizor

Iona is a lovely ship and despite there being over 5000 passengers on board the only time it felt busy was in the evening when the entertainment venues were finishing. There are lots of lovely seating areas and bars. 

Sounds just like me Stefken. Roll on our next cruise in 3 weeks, a different outfit every night with bling to match - all in the best possible taste of course.

4 hours ago, Stefken said:

Different outfit every night, and all the glitzy  accessories,I  don’t want to wear on a cruise what I wear everyday at home, I’ll be the one with all the bling on. Since Covid, I said I was going to make the most of my cruises and just go for it. Who knows what’s around the corner. 
 

Enjoy the cruise your way, dress to impress, even if it’s only your partner.

 

🛳🛳🛳🛳🛳🛳🛳🛳🛳🛳🛳🛳🛳

Hi Julie, we are on this cruise from 22 December to 5 January. We have had several new year cruises, all in the Caribbean. This is the first one over Christmas as well though. The atmosphere was always brilliant on New Years Eve, apart from one when the weather was bad and walking round the ship was difficult. We were due to go into port ( can’t remember which) but the weather was too rough. We all just made the best of it though. Everyone was dressed for the occasion, the evening meal was a special one and the atmosphere was brilliant.

We have had the drinks package a few times and it worked for us, especially last time as it was complimentary as part of a random offer we received. Not sure whether we will this time or not. If you have a good amount of on board credit that you don’t want to spend on other things (like a Radley bag) it may be worth having the package. Only you can decide. 
 

The only thing you need to understand is that there may be quite a few children on board with it being in school holidays. It has never been a big problem for us as we like to be on decks away from the pool on sea days.

I will say, however, that until recently Azura was our favourite ship. We went on Iona in Feb/March and loved her, she is lovely, and going on her again in three weeks to the Fjords. 
 

Regards Jennizor 

I have always had a different outfit for each night. Never done more than 2 weeks though. Doing 16 nights on Arvia next year so will have to think about that  (maybe Ian can take less clothes).

1 hour ago, reviewfan said:

Thank you! Is that 2 weeks before sailing, when I believe we can book some restaurants too? 

Yes, it is. 

Similar position but a few decks down. We really must meet up with you and TigerB. It’s funny the thought of travelling half way around the world to meet people who live not that far away.

On 6/11/2023 at 11:30 PM, Snow Hill said:

When we went to the fjords in June 2019, we gad temperatures in the mid 20s centigrade, wore shorts and T-shirts most of the time, except in Alesund where it rained most of the time we were there. 

We were also in the Fjords in June 2019 on Arcadia. I agree with your comments about the temperatures. I was just glad we took clothes for any weather. Off again in 4 weeks on Iona and will do the same.

On 6/15/2023 at 8:47 PM, Peanut006 said:

We are on the same cruise as you next March and are in the next cabin to you as well I believe, I can see we are going to have an entertaining time!!

 

Michelle

Michelle, what is your cabin no.? Ours is 12426.

25 degrees here in Bolton. Sadly we are going to our lovely neighbour Mary’s funeral at lunchtime. She has been in a home for a while and died very suddenly. Her husband Tom is 93 and still going strong.

I am keeping out of the garden for a while. We have some big flying insects who seem very partial to my legs. One ankle swollen and two on my legs that are puffy. Not a good look! They don’t seem to bother Ian at all. 

43 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

No you can't Tom.

I tried every day from 14 nights from embarcation.

In the last year we have been  on Ventura

Azura.

Britannia 

Iona twice.

We could not book on line.

I booked a full cruise dining package though online on Royal Caribbean Oasis of the seas for our January 2023 cruise.

I booked a 2 night Speciality dining package on MSC Virtuoso for our April 2023 cruise.

Graham, 

I booked the Limelight Club x2, the Chefs Table and Sindhu two weeks before we went on our March cruise on Iona. I have just checked my booking on My P&O cruises as it says I can book the restaurants I want 2 weeks before our July Iona cruise.