Selbourne

Thank you for your kind words. I don’t consider myself to be either a P&O cheerleader who can see no fault, nor an unreasonable critic who can see no good. I just try to give balanced reviews on things as we find them - good and bad. If my honest assessment of our cruise has encouraged you to return to cruising then I am delighted. Whilst we were looking forward to spending quality time with our family (which has, of course, been the highlight) my wife and I had many concerns about Iona based upon what we had read. Ironically, none of those things have been an issue for us. The one big issue that we have had has never been raised by anyone else (as far as I can recall) so it may just be down to the fact that the ship is at its busiest. However, able bodied folk and even those with hidden disabilities would have no issues getting around. Whilst a good amount of lifts are full, many also have room for 1 or 2 standing. Sadly, that’s just not enough room for a wheelchair. I would have no hesitation in recommending this ship, in particular for those who don’t need a wheelchair. For those who love their food, P&O have nailed it with this ship (and, I’m sure, Arvia too). Whilst we have had special treatment in the MDR at breakfast, the virtual queues seem to work far better on here than on Britannia. I’d be reluctant to do Freedom Dining again on Britannia unless they sort it out, but wouldn’t worry about it on Iona. We haven’t eaten in the Quays. It’s always been rammed when we’ve walked through (queues at the counters have been negligible but the seating area seems full). However the food looks great. I’m sure that you will have a lovely time on Iona.

Good morning @molecrochip . I have deliberately not mentioned the lift issues in yesterday’s report (just posted) because I would just be repeating the same issues and this subject has somewhat derailed the thread, and almost all other aspects of the cruise have been great, but to answer your points; We are also extremely surprised to be experiencing these issues as, aside from peak times and in particular disembarkation morning, we have never experienced anything like this on any of our other cruises (20 plus with P&O). The lifts on here are busy almost all the time. I hadn’t seen any ‘lift out of service’ messages until yesterday, when I noticed just one on one lift only. As to whether there are others out of service but no message showing I guess it’s impossible for me to know. So what is different? The only things that we have noticed are; 1) we have never been on a ship with 5,700 passengers. The lift numbers are in ratio with Britannia, but Iona feels considerably busier by a significant margin (we were on Britannia last month). 2) It’s the first ship we’ve been on where the Captain (Andrew Wolverson in this case) didn’t request in his welcome & muster address that priority is given at the lifts to those with wheelchairs or other disabilities. This message has also been repeated once or twice throughout the cruise on other ships, but not once on Iona. 3) There are none of the usual signs at the lifts making the same request. When I raised this issue (and the issue above) at reception, telling them that we were struggling, the lady gave me the usual palmed off response (I’ll register your complaint sir - without taking any details whatsoever) and when realising that I felt this was insufficient she went to see the reception manager and came back 5 minutes later to tell me “there is no priority given to wheelchair users or people with disabilities on this ship Sir”. That sounded to me like a conscious decision that had been made. As I have said numerous times, we don’t expect priority, but just some consideration that it is far more challenging and to just remind people of that fact. Whilst a lot of lifts are full, many are arriving with enough room for one or two people to get in. Thankfully, this means that those with hidden disabilities (who can presumably stand if the disability is hidden) would be able to get in, and we are often waving those who arrived at the lifts after us into them as there’s room for them, but not for us (the lifts are very small and we need around a third of the lift space). 4) Whether it’s due to a combination of points 2 and 3 or just coincidental I don’t know, but on the other P&O ships I am constantly thanking fellow passengers for the consideration shown to us at lifts. That consideration is almost completely absent on this ship with the sole, but notable exception, of children and teenagers who have been fantastic. Our cabin is situated between the midships and forward lifts, the midships lifts being closest. We have realised that the midships lifts are the most challenging for us and we have now taken to using the aft lifts as much as we can as we find the waits to be shorter, but that makes for a lot of ‘push miles’ on a ship this size (no bad thing I guess given the food I’ve consumed) 😂 I would like to stress that there has been a lot to like about Iona. Whilst we dislike the decor in some public areas that’s trivial and wouldn’t put us off a ship. The food offering is great and the other members of our party are having a fabulous time. As with Britannia, we have found the MDR to be brilliant, which has been a pleasant surprise given all the negative comments I’ve read about P&O MDRs since Covid. The only negative we have noticed in the MDR post Covid has been the reduced menu choices, but we can usually find something we like. However, the difficulties we have had in moving around the ship and the lack of consideration shown by the vast majority of passengers (youngsters aside) has forced us to come to the reluctant decision that we wouldn’t risk a future cruise on Iona or Arvia. I suspect that out of school holidays it’s a lot better, but it’s not a chance we are prepared to take.

DAY 5 - Hellesylt Thankfully I had the first decent nights sleep since the cruise started. Today is a bittersweet day as we should have been in Geiranger. We booked this cruise at launch specifically because it called at Geiranger, which is the only one of the ‘top’ scenic fjord ports that we haven’t been to. The ship was only due to stop at Hellesylt en-route to Geiranger in order to drop off passengers who were booked on certain tours. About a year after we booked it was announced that we would no longer be going to Geiranger, but as a consolation we would do a scenic transit down much of the Geirangerfjord (past the Seven Sisters waterfall etc) after leaving Hellesylt, before turning around and heading back out to sea. In typical P&O fashion there was no apology whatsoever for this itinerary curtailment, but lots of mention of tours to Geiranger that we could do (which, as my wife is in a wheelchair we couldn’t) - all of which were at considerable extra cost (and additional profit for P&O). We reluctantly resigned ourselves to the fact that we wouldn’t get to Geiranger but would make the most of the scenic detour after departure instead. However, the icing on the cake came a few months ago when we had a further message that even the partial transit towards Geiranger was now cancelled. No explanation whatsoever was given (not even the usual ‘Operational reasons’ cover-all excuse) and, as expected, not even the slightest apology. P&O really do handle these things appallingly, and to say that we were disappointed was an understatement. Anyway, Hellesylt is a maiden visit for us so moving on. We docked facing the waterfall so had a lovely outlook. Stupidly, I tempted fate yesterday by saying how lucky we had been with the weather, as it became murky and drizzly soon after we left Olden and it was still a bit damp and dreary in Hellesylt, but still looked beautiful. One of our daughters and her partner had booked a tour, so had an early breakfast in the buffet. They managed to get seated much easier this time. The rest of us headed off for breakfast at our usual table in the Pearl MDR with our fantastic waiters. I mentioned to our waiter that the desk hadn’t been keen to reserve us the table when I’d asked yesterday, and he said that he tells the desk at the start of every day to hold it for us and makes sure that nobody else gets it! After breakfast I picked up the Britain Today paper in Vista’s and when we returned to the cabin the steward hadn’t serviced it but turned up just after us, so we went back to Vista’s for a drink. We then headed ashore for a wander around. Hellesylt has a very different feeling to Olden. There are some small commercial places here and also a number of disused buildings, including the (no longer) Grand Hotel and a huge abandoned hostel high above , overlooking over the village. The place still has its own charm though and the highlight is the large waterfall that comes down through the village. There is also a small beach and some hardy souls were jumping in from a jetty and swimming. Rather them than me in those glacial waters, August or not 🥶 After an hour ashore we returned to the ship for our booked lunch in Olive Grove. This really is a super addition for P&O. The ambiance is good and the food is excellent. There is a choice of 3 sharing platters for starters (Greek Meze, Antipasti etc) and a nice variety of mains on mostly Italian and Greek themes. There are two puds I can thoroughly recommend - the lemon and orange flavour crème brûlée Catalania (I’ve probably got that wrong) and the lemon tart with rose (Turkish delight flavoured) ice cream. It a far better lunch venue than the Glass House, in terms of ambiance, location and choice of food. Another drink in Vistas before getting settled on our balcony for the sail away and transit down the fjord. A very sedate and silent departure in comparison the rousing send off that we ‘d had from Olden the previous day, but an even more scenic one as there was no rain. It was pretty cold though with no sun, so after an hour and a half we moved inside the cabin and watched the rest of our transit through the balcony doors 😂 There are lots of little houses perched in the most precarious places along the sheer sides of the fjords and you wonder how on earth people get to and from them, given that there are no roads. I remember on a Northern Lights Cruise a guide telling us that people use skidoos in the winter when it’s snowy to get to their log cabins. These slopes are too steep though and there’s no snow! For dinner we had booked the Norwegian Tasting Menu in Epicurean. I had booked it for 8pm assuming that would be around the time when we were finally leaving the fjord. Thankfully that turned out to be a good guess, as when we left Hellesylt the captain said that we would be transiting the fjord for several hours before finally reaching the sea at around 8pm! The booking was just for the two of us, as the other members of our party preferred the Beach House menu. I am so glad that we booked this. It was a genuinely 10/10 experience. Every course was superb, even the course that I thought I wouldn’t like (trout). This menu is only available for one night on each Iona fjords cruise and it sold out within less than a day of going on sale 14 days before the cruise. We both agreed that it was the best meal that we’ve had on Iona - and we’ve had a number of very good ones! To end the evening we had booked the 10.30pm 710 Club session, the theme of which was rock. That couldn’t be more of a contrast than last night! When we got there we assumed that they hadn’t started letting people in as there was a huge arc of over 50 people surrounding the venue. I asked someone if this was the queue and was told that it was everyone who was on standby hoping to get in, as the show was a sell out. Thankfully as we had booked we were able to walk straight in but, of the 50 or so hopefuls only around 6 were let in. Another great set by Fenmore (Canadian singer and pianist) and the band which we really enjoyed. Thankfully the drummer didn’t sing this time, but all other band members took the lead vocal at various times and all did a great job. As has been documented many times on this forum, book as soon as you board as these are very limited capacity shows and sell out quickly. One negative which we hadn’t had experienced during our previous 2 visits was that the atrium outside was absolutely full of people participating in the silent disco, which was far from silent, it was deafening. Even though the 710 performance was a loud rock set, I could still hear hundreds of people singing songs like ‘Dancing Queen’ and ‘I will survive’ over it! The single set of doors to the 710 Club is insufficient to separate the noise if they are going to host discos in the atrium. They need two sets of doors and lobby between them to stop the sound bleed. Even writing this now at midnight in our cabin 2 decks above the top of atrium and a fair way along the corridor from the stairwell, I can still hear the singing. Never have so many tone deaf people been gathered together in one place at one time 🤣 The rest of our party also enjoyed their meal in the Beach House and the late performance of Triboo in the SkyDome afterwards. So a good day was had by all. Tomorrow is our last stop of the cruise - Haugesund.

I hope that I’ve answered most of the questions that people have posed as we’ve gone along but, after today, we only have a couple of days left, so if anyone would like me to find out anything whilst we are still onboard please don’t hesitate to ask. I will do my best to assist. P.S. I noticed the star button in the lifts today so, yes, they definitely have them (for those who missed it, that’s the button to press for disembarking if you cant remember which deck it was - or didn’t hear the announcement). Great idea.

Thank you and I agree with your comments. Other than on disembarkation day (which is almost always a nightmare for us) we have never had a problem on the other P&O ships, other than at peak times (which we do our best to avoid) and when lifts are out of action, so would have answered exactly the same as the couple you spoke to. During the daytime lift usage is generally very low on the other ships and we get around no problem at all. We also find that the overwhelming majority of passengers are extremely considerate. Our lift experiences on Iona couldn’t be more different. I don’t think that it helps that the usual signs and announcements are completely absent, so it’s not in people’s minds that it’s more of a challenge for mobility impaired passengers to get around (I know it should be obvious though). Iona doesn’t feel massively bigger than Britannia to us, but I guess that the extra few thousand passengers makes all the difference although, interestingly, the number of additional lifts is in ratio. As I have said, I’m sure that being peak summer holidays hasn’t helped although the kids on board have been no trouble at all. There’s just a different attitude on this ship that has really caught us by surprise, plus the fact that the lifts are busy all the time, not just at peak times. The ship also feels massively busier than Britannia did in July. For those who don’t have the mobility challenges that we have, this is a ship that people shouldn’t discount without trying. The dining options and quality of food has, in the main, been excellent. Our daughters and their partners have barely used the lifts and really like the ship. They also really like the MDR and feel that they’d be happy to eat in there all the time if there were no other options.

Interesting that the email mentions “even if you have paid for your cruise in full”. I wonder if it’s other cruises as well, including some that are past balance due date? There has been recent commentary on here about one or more 2023 Arcadia or Aurora cruises having some quite reasonable late prices. Although we love Aurora and have done more cruises on her than any other ship, we have almost discounted her lately as the cruises have been far more expensive than we are now prepared to pay per night for a cruise with P&O, especially given how dated the cabins are and the lack of things that we particularly enjoy, such as Epicurean. Pure speculation of course, but if many others are starting to think the same as us, let’s hope that P&O are responding by adjusting the prices? I suspect that’s wishful thinking on my part 😂 I haven’t seen the future cruise desk on Iona yet and I know they tend to only open short hours and usually have a queue, but if I happen across it and someone is free I will ask what they know (if anything) and report back.

Apologies. Yes, I absolutely get what you are saying and can fully appreciate your concern, especially after all the difficulties you had on Arvia. As you say, it will be interesting to see. Even when we used suites on P&O we still used specialty restaurants a lot, primarily because you are afforded no dining privileges beyond breakfast. However, as Cunard offer a completely different concept, those in Club and Grills will be less inclined to go elsewhere, other than perhaps for a change of scene or style of food, so as you predict they might be relying more on Britannia passengers. Hopefully with it being Cunard it won’t be as problematic though 🤞

No charge for the fancy coffees. On other ships in the past they would have to get them from the coffee shop, so would charge, and few would ask as you’d be aware that it was an inconvenience for the waiters when they were already rushed off their feet. Apparently they now have a machine within the MDR galley. Our breakfast waiters have been offering them daily, even before the others ask for them! Forgot to answer your question about the singer. No she’s not been the busker. Definitely go and see her if she’s on a cruise you are on though. A huge talent.

As I think you know, we have booked Britannia Club for our two 14 nighters on Queen Anne next year. As this gives us our own dedicated table, which we can turn up for at any time for any meal, I’m not sure that we would be that bothered about using speciality restaurants as much as we do on P&O, if at all. This facility is primarily what is pulling us over to Cunard. We booked speciality restaurants for all but one night on Iona, partly because we are only on the ship for 7 nights and wanted to try everything, but also due to the problems we experienced at both dinner and sea day lunches with freedom dining on Britannia. However, in all honesty, from what I’ve seen when I’ve glanced at the app, and based on feedback from our daughters, it seems much better organised on Iona and the MDR has been really good.

We went to the aft lifts today as it’s the only one not being used for disembarking, even though we pass the midships ones on the way and yes it was easier, although yesterday with midships we couldn’t even go up to come back down! I considered moving to the aft lifts but the rest of our group were waiting for us midships having used the stairs. It is a great shame that it has put us off Iona and Arvia, but my wife had just summed it up by saying that she now dreads every time that we need to change floors, and that’s not right. She has enough to worry about given her plight. I’m sure that it would be easier out of school holidays, but one of our daughters partners is a teacher so we are stuck if it’s a family holiday.

Thanks. As I said in a previous post, I don’t have a problem with anyone and everyone using the lifts as and when they wish, even those who are 100% fit. We are all on holiday after all. Our daughters and partners (20s and 30s) take the same approach as you though and almost always use the stairs. The issue that we have is that the lifts are small and we need a lift that is no more than two-thirds full to fit in, so although many lifts may still have room for say two people standing, we can’t get in. On the rare occasions that I am without my wife I try to use the stairs, but if I am in a lift and it stops half way and I see someone waiting with a scooter, wheelchair or buggy I will step out so they can get in and use the stairs for the last few floors. On other ships, quite a few people have kindly done that for us, but only once on this ship and that was when I asked if anyone would be willing to. The passenger profile is entirely different. It happened again literally 5 minutes ago. A lift arrived that had enough room for us, but the couple who in all fairness had arrived just before us got straight in. This meant that we couldn’t, so I then told the couple that had arrived after us that they might as well get in as there wasn’t enough space left for us. We don’t feel that we should queue jump, but if the boot had been on the other foot and we were both able bodied and arrived first, we would have offered the lift space to the people with the most need and waited if needs be (well, in fact, we’d have used the stairs as we were going down). It just simply doesn’t seem to even cross the mind of the passengers on this ship to think as we would though, other than the children and teenagers who have more courtesy than their elders.

DAY 4 - Olden Whilst I still didn’t sleep well again, in all fairness there was nothing that specifically disturbed me this time. The inbound cruise down the fjord was as magical as always and it’s weird to see snow on the mountain tops even in August. The deputy captain mentioned in his announcement this morning that people with mobility issues should use the midships exit, so I am reassured that he probably just didn’t say anything yesterday because both exits were suitable. That’s one concern positively resolved. Sadly the lift challenges emerged again immediately after leaving the cabin heading for breakfast. Not people pushing in this time, but just our inability to get in an a lift. Every lift in both directions was full, one after the other. The other members of our party use the stairs 90% of the time and must have wondered where the hell we were. One chap also waiting said to us “I really admire your patience and how polite you are. I don’t think I would be the same in your position”. In the end, with just 5 minutes remaining before the MDR closed, my patience evaporated and when the next lift going down arrived I explained what was happening to the people in the lift and asked if it was possible if anyone might be able to use the stairs. To the enormous credit of a very young lad of about 10, he immediately stepped out of the lift, followed by his mother. I thanked them both sincerely and heard the mother rightly commending him. The only other time we have been extended an ounce of compassion at the lifts was by two teenage girls who, in spite of being at the lift before us, held the door and insisted that we went first. Some say that youngsters have no manners these days, but our experience on this cruise has been the complete polar opposite. As far as most of the folk who are middle aged or above are concerned, we are completely invisible. Another excellent breakfast in the MDR at our regular table. The waiters even happily get some of our party fancy coffees without fuss (they have a machine now apparently). These guys are definitely getting a tip at the end of the cruise as they have made each breakfast an absolute pleasure. As we were leaving I stopped at the restaurant check in desk to reserve the same table again for tomorrow. “I’m sorry sir, but reservations are not possible” which, of course is correct. I then saw the manager that we know and thanked him again and said that I’d like him to know how impressed we’ve been with the waiters. He smiled and said “I made sure that I put you with the best ones”. Needless to say, our table is now reserved again for breakfast tomorrow 😂 Incidentally one of our daughters and her partner, who didn’t join us at Sindhu, had dinner in Pearl MDR last night and were given a table for 2 in the window smack bang in the centre aft spot, which they loved (just by luck BTW, not due to the manager we know). They said that their meal was great as well. At this point I should say that all 6 of us were in agreement that the food on Iona so far this cruise has been excellent. Sadly we had to break it to our daughters that whilst there’s a lot to like about Iona (and, I’m sure, Arvia) we can’t see ourselves booking them in the future, solely due to the lift problems. I don’t think that either of us could voluntarily face this level of hassle again. Sad, but it is what it is. I forgot to say that my wife and I had lunch in the Glass House yesterday. As with Sindhu, there is just one menu for the whole cruise but, unlike Sindhu, the restricted choice (small plates aside) is quite poor. My wife enjoyed it more than me but the ambiance is dreadful. It’s just basically chairs and tables around the atrium and I had to ask a waiter where it was, even though I was already stood in it, as it doesn’t look like a dedicated restaurant 😂 Thanks to tips from my online chums on Cruise Critic, we took a wander into the centre of Olden (the term ‘centre’ being used loosely) and got a great view back up the fjord to the ship (photo posted yesterday). It’s such a beautiful part of the world, and as the partner of one of our daughters said, it’s difficult to put into words when describing it to people back home as even photos don’t do the scenery justice. We had lunch in the MDR and, as on Britannia, the sushi was fabulous. A young chap arrived on the next table with his very young son and daughter and when we left I felt the need to say to him that his two children were lovely and an absolute credit to him. He seemed very appreciative of the comment. Well that’s my good deed of the day done, so now I can go back to being a miserable old git and moaning about the lifts 🤣 We had a lazy afternoon on the ship before our departure at around 6pm. For those who haven’t been to Olden, the building adjacent to the berth plays very loud music for the ships departure, whilst the locals wave Union Jacks and the Norwegian flag. Tonight we had songs such as ‘We are sailing’, ‘Time to say goodbye’, ‘Sweet Caroline’ and ‘Rockin’ all over the world”! We were lucky that all the action was on our side of the ship, so we could watch and listen to it all from the comfort of our balconies. It’s mad things like this that make a holiday memorable, especially for those on their first cruise (such as two of our party) who have no idea that this sort of thing happens! Dinner was in Keel and Cow, which turned out to be our least successful meal to date. The ambiance wasn’t good as it’s another restaurant around the atrium (so very noisy), we were near a doorway so it was a bit chilly, and a very loud family sat near us. We only fancied one of the starters and they didn’t have it. I had the Prime Minister burger. If that’s the “best burger at sea” (according to the blurb) then it’s a pretty low bar. Mine was luke warm at best. The view of the group was that we would have been better off in the MDR and had no bill (they deducted the cost of my burger though). We were done by 8.30pm so my wife and I decided to see if we could get into the 8.30pm Greatest Days (Take That) show, but it was full with people standing. I then hit on the idea of seeing if we could get into the 710 Club as there was a female singer who appealed. I thought it started at 9pm but it was 8.45pm and we arrived at 8.46pm. However, a drinks waiter noticed me in the doorway and very kindly offered to let us in after the first song. We certainly weren’t disappointed. The young lady is called Elly Darrall. She performed a mix of covers from artists as diverse as Karen Carpenter and Kate Bush, as well as quite a few of her own songs, all of which were really excellent. This girl (singer, songwriter and pianist) is a huge talent. I hope that her career takes off, as she is worthy of a lot more than singing on cruise ships. Tomorrow Hellesylt (which should have been Geiranger).

That’s a good point. I can’t say I’ve noticed the disembarkation button. I’ll try to remember to look tomorrow (unless it’s just on Arvia)

That’s immensely kind of you John, but my wife saw a consultant recently who warned that as her hands are starting to go the same way as her legs, in a few years she may need some power assistance even to get around the house, so he’s authorised that she can have a bespoke one on the NHS. She is understandably resisting at present and I cope with pushing her around elsewhere without difficulty. Your offer is sincerely appreciated though 👍

Iona in Olden today. We have been so lucky with the weather so far. Flat calm seas from the start and sunshine every day (I hope that’s not tempting fate).

I just wish that someone would inform my fellow passengers 🤣

The ‘marmite’ atrium. I know which side we are on, but I love Marmite 😂

I’ve watched 3 or 4 of them come and go from our balcony and can’t see any wheelchair access at the rear in any of them. Do they have ramps or just space for a wheelchair? My wife can’t even manage one step unfortunately. One daughter is doing the Red sightseeing bus now and is going to check that out. Lady S doesn’t seem keen on either. I think she’d prefer her man servant to push her on a private tour 😂 We have done a tour here to the main sights years ago when my wife was still able to walk.

My maths were correct. I double checked because I don’t have any OBC left, so the extra we paid after the pre payment definitely had a 20% discount and then what was left attracted a further 10% loyalty discount - not at the restaurant but on my onboard account. As I say, very impressive and much appreciated. We haven’t wanted the balconies opened up. Everyone does things differently and all 3 couples work to very different timings, so we’ve left things as they are. All balconies are a good size individually.

Thanks Graham. I couldn’t see a pavement heading right from the terminal, but have just looked again from our balcony following your post and can now see that it is initially inland from the road before rejoining further along. My wife doesn’t seem massively keen on the bus or the train so it’s great to have a few walking options. I’ll let my breakfast go down first 😂

That’s brilliant John. Many thanks. We will try that first before deciding if we still want to attempt the bus or Road train.

Yes you are quite right Andy. In mentioning newbies I was just trying to justify why, in the absence of the usual notices, some may not realise the challenges that we have. The one time we have been extended courtesy was by two teenage girls, quite likely first time cruisers.

We don’t tend to book excursions and there doesn’t seem to be anywhere to walk from the berth. No obvious village centre. There’s a Dotto train but it doesn’t look wheelchair friendly. Also the obligatory hop on hop off red sightseeing bus. May have to look into that even though I know that the cost is exploitative 😂

I haven’t really stopped for any great time at the aft Graham, so I can’t say that I’ve noticed it, but I will be sure to keep an eye out and let you know if I see or hear anything.

We were on Britannia in July and the only thing we could book pre-cruise was the Limelight Club. Thankfully we get priority boarding due to our loyalty tier, so could book everything else as soon as we boarded, but that’s not an option in the case being discussed by @Presto2 so I can understand their frustration.