Selbourne

Yes, we’ve seen some really interesting talks over the years. Other than the odd music recital on Aurora, they are about the only daytime activities that appeal to us. We were on QM2 a few weeks ago and there was a surgeon giving a talk on plastic surgery. I thought that was a very odd subject matter 😂

Let’s hope that’s not the case and it’s just the early arrivals queueing. If not, what a rubbish start to a cruise. Bad enough on a nice day like today, but when it’s cold and wet it would be another matter altogether. Also, this is an off peak cruise - not a school holiday one. Hopefully ICF will reassure us later.

That’s brilliant that the menus clearly state which drinks are included in each package and reassuring that the exclusions for the deluxe package aren’t as extensive as some of us cynics might have feared. It would be fantastic if someone was able to post a full set of drinks menus from all bars, all clear and the right way up. I know a very obliging chap who might help if the new packages are live on Iona yet @Interestedcruisefan😂 If Peller Ice Cuvée is included I might have to reconsider my stance on drinks packages 😂

Luckily we have always docked right by the dock gates in Cadiz. It’s so much nicer when you can walk into a place and not have to faff about with shuttle buses (especially when with a wheelchair user). We are due in Cadiz twice over the next 18 months, on Ventura and Queen Anne. Fingers crossed that we will do the same.

ICF will be able to confirm during the cruise, but when I started a thread on the Norwegian Taster menu somebody mentioned that it was on one of the fjord days (from memory, Olden), which would mean that it wasn’t on the Stavanger day. They mentioned that the transit down the fjord was a lovely backdrop to the meal.

I agree wholeheartedly Andy. I would always take your reviews as gospel, even if 100% positive, because you aren’t one of those who makes defensive or sarcastic comments at those who raise legitimate concerns. Like you, I would much rather know what issues others have faced and go prepared, managing our expectations accordingly. We’ve also reset the dial on what we are prepared to pay to cruise with P&O based on much of the consistent feedback post Covid. I am hoping that we will be pleasantly surprised, in which case we’ve had a bargain. If we experience the same problems as others then at least they won’t come as a complete surprise!

Personally, I wouldn’t agree with that assessment. One of the things that I have always marvelled at with P&O in the past is how they can consistently churn out thousands of MDR meals that are hot, well presented and of good quality. Whilst it is mass catering, it hasn’t felt like that. Maybe we’ve been lucky, but I can honestly say that out of the many hundreds of meals that we’ve had in various P&O MDRs over they years I’ve never had a cold meal and I don’t think I’ve had to send back more than 1 or 2 meals in over 25 years. That’s a better record than most land based restaurants and certainly far better than many functions that I have been to where there is mass catering for a fraction of the numbers in a cruise ship MDR.

Delighted to hear that you enjoyed your cruise, in spite of the changes. We also did our first post Covid cruise at the same time as you, but with Cunard. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Our first post Covid P&O cruise is in July on Britannia. We are anticipating some changes that might not be to our liking, but we have paid a price that reflects that.

Please don’t stop posting your experiences. You are always completely balanced and fair in your comments. Your experiences (and those of others) have possibly put us of booking a cruise on Arvia as well, but I take the view that I’m grateful to you for that, rather than angry. If we do subsequently decide to book an Arvia cruise we will do so with our eyes open, knowing what to expect, and hopefully having made some ‘work arounds’ to minimise the impacts. One or two folk seem to overlook the fact that this site is called ‘Cruise Critic’ (the clue is in the name) and seem to take a rather bizarre personal offence to anything critical being said and respond with defensiveness or sarcasm. I think that the majority of us really appreciate an honest appraisal of situations, acknowledging both good and bad points, which is exactly what you do. I tend to ignore reviews that are either 100% positive or 100% negative as none of our cruises have been like that. Conversely, balanced reviews give me the confidence that the assessment of the good points and bad points is probably accurate. For example, there is a consistent theme in the vast majority of balanced reviews that MDR dining (for dinner) has gone backwards since Covid (lack of choice, freedom dining not working as it should, small portion sizes etc). As a result, when we are on Iona in August we will probably only use the MDR on celebration night and will book speciality restaurants for the rest. I’d much rather know that up front and work around it than be disappointed on the cruise. Finally, keep in mind that for every person who raises a complaint there are probably at least ten times more who feel the same but don’t or won’t complain. These people may vote with their feet and not return. On that basis, balanced reviews (such as yours) are invaluable not just for those considering future cruises, but also for the company as it is in their interest to be aware of customers concerns and experiences and make efforts to fix them.

I suspect that you are right. With the enormous debt mountain that they have, and the heavy discounts that they are having to make to fill their ships, I suspect that they may be reluctant to remove or amend anything that encourages people to make more bookings. I guess it’s just one of many marketing tools.

Honestly ICF. You’ll be telling us that you don’t believe in Father Christmas next 🙄😂 https://thirdeyetraveller.com/great-hall-winchester-round-table/

Ok. Thanks for clarifying. I managed the bridge last time we went (on the return to the ship) and this time I have some extra helpers with me to help push the wheelchair! Given the current reports of 2 hour queues for shuttle busses on Arvia (same size ship) I guess that anywhere we don’t need one is a blessing!

That’s great. Many thanks. Reading Megabears blog I don’t fancy having to use a shuttle bus when we are on Iona! Did you stop at Haugesund? I tend to recall that there was a shuttle bus when we last went, as there is a fairly steep bridge linking the dock area with the town (steep when pushing someone in a wheelchair)!

ICF - I don’t know if you’ve been to Stavanger before, but I’m keen to know if Iona berths next to the old town, just as all the P&O ships that we have been on before have (including Britannia). Reading the live blog on Arvia, it appears that she is berthing much further out than other ships, presumably due to the LPG propulsion. Whilst we have done Stavanger to death, it’s nice that the ships usually berth right in the centre with no need for shuttle buses.

@Megabear2 wasn’t it today that your surprise gift was due to arrive? I assume that the surprise wasn’t a 2 hour wait for a shuttle bus? 😂

I can’t answer your first question I’m afraid. Best to ask on board as I suspect it will be at the discretion of the kids club staff. After departing Hellesylt, Iona transits down Geiranger Fjord past the Seven Sisters waterfall and then turns around before heading back out toward the sea. You don’t go all the way to Geiranger, but I believe that it’s over half way. On formal nights, there will be a mix of gents in dinner suits and dark normal suits. Both are fine. Of course, there is no obligation to dress formally, but the main dining room and some of the bars will be out of bounds to those who don’t wish to adhere to the dress code. Personally, I don’t like having to dress formally (reminds me of being at work) but I do so as the menus in the main dining rooms are usually much better on formal nights.

I agree. Cost cutting has to be a factor, as there are so few alternative dining options on Aurora. The Beach House isn’t to everyone’s taste (although we quite like it), the Glasshouse is more a lunch than dinner venue IMHO and Sindhu on Aurora is small and poorly located by the noisy atrium. Pre Covid we always found the MDR dinners on Aurora to be absolutely fine. MDR Lunches were poor, but that’s across the fleet with the odd menus they now have. I’m saddened to hear that the MDR issues have now affected Aurora, especially given the premium prices to go on that ship and the lack of alternative dining options.

Fingers crossed for you. I sent off an email asking for OBC just 4 days before our recent Cunard cruise, apologising that it was so late but the cruise had only been announced at short notice. In all honesty, I was chancing my arm and expected to be told it was too late but, much to my surprise, the OBC was added. I now have shareholder OBC added for all P&O and Cunard cruises up to and including May 2024, but they seem to have suddenly clamped down on it (hopefully not as a result of this thread 😂).

I can’t help but wonder if this is the sweet spot for shareholder OBC and things may change going forward. I note that pre pandemic Carnival shares were £40-50 each, so to buy 100 was quite a significant outlay. Whilst I’m certainly not complaining (as I have benefitted from it), it seems a bit daft that an outlay of just £600-700 has enabled some of us with a number of cruises across several carnival brands to recoup 100% of our outlay in less than 12 months.

What I am struggling to understand is why is Arvia still plagued with all these issues (freedom dining, shuttle buses etc)? It’s not a new ship anymore and presumably these aren’t maiden port visits, so having to deal with thousands of passengers needing shuttle buses in places like Palma isn’t a new issue, so what has gone wrong? It surely can’t be like this every time? It’s bad enough having to use speciality restaurants in order to avoid the MDR issues, but having to use cabs due to 2 hour queues for shuttle buses is beyond a joke.

We quite fancied the itinerary that you are on for Summer 25 (also on Arvia) but didn’t book as we felt that the launch prices were too high and would drop closer to sailing. Having read about your experiences I am sensing that we dodged a bullet!

They will probably vacuum the cinema after the last screening, but I don’t think that you would hear that. . The extra 1,000 on our cruise will be because it’s summer school holidays, so most of the upper berths will be occupied (the 5,200 quoted is lower berths only). Cruise rarely sell with lots of empty cabins, as the prices drop to get bums on seats (the profit coming from on board spend). If there’s still capacity, last minute places can be offered to staff or travel agents etc. Like you, I prefer food at ‘normal’ land based Indian restaurants to the fusion cuisine at Sindhu. Haven’t been on Iona yet, but I think that Green & Co is unique to Arvia.

Oh dear. We are on Britannia in July and this doesn’t fill me with confidence! We are booked on Freedom Dining which, prior to Covid, always worked very well for us. I had been led to believe by other that the problems with freedom dining were mostly early, due to a lot of people wanting to eat as soon as the restaurant opened and then having to wait for these tables to clear. Your experience tends to suggest that the problems extend throughout the evening. We are happy to dine late once the surge has subsided, but the danger then is that service is then rushed. We’ve only booked recently and the price that we paid reflected the fact that we anticipated issues that we hadn’t experienced before. However, we planned on using the speciality restaurants a lot (in particular Epicurean which, on 3 previous pre-Covid cruises on Britannia had been fantastic), so it’s a concern that your experience there wasn’t great. On a 14 night cruise you don’t want to eat in speciality restaurants every night, so the MDR needs to deliver a good experience.

I predict that everything will be marvellous, your inside cabin will be fine for you and you will therefore wonder why anyone wastes their money on a balcony cabin, and there will be no issues with freedom dining, because you will be using the speciality restaurants 😉 In all seriousness, I very much look forward to reading your blog, as we are on this cruise in August (albeit with around 1,000 more souls on board than you will be subjected to)! I hope that I’m not tempting fate here, but I think you may be OK noise wise with your cabin. You are underneath the cinema. This means that you won’t have noise into the early hours as you would with a nightclub (I assume that the last films end around midnight?) and seating is all fixed, so can’t be dragged around for floor cleaning. I know that you are foodies (like us) and we intend to try all the speciality restaurants when on board, so I shall await your feedback with great interest. We are also thinking of trying the Norwegian taster menu (as well as the normal Epicurean menu) so will be particularly interested to hear how you find that. I’m not a huge fan of Sindhu (but our daughters liked it on other ships) and reviews of the new Beach House menus have been mixed so, again, your feedback will be most welcome. Have a fabulous cruise and enjoy Winchester. If you arrive early enough you can visit King Arthur’s round table in the Great Hall.

It’s actually £54.95 a day, but you can get a 10% discount (making it £49.45) if you purchase it in advance! I believed that any Peninsular Club discount may also be applied at checkout. If purchased on the ship (on day 1 or day 2) it’s £54.95 and you will pay this higher price if you have any On Board Credit, even if entitled to Peninsular discount, as loyalty discount is only applied once all OBC has been used up! Having trawled through the detailed terms and conditions, it still isn’t at all clear which drinks are excluded and the terms ‘selected’ and ‘extended range’ are used throughout, which firmly implies that many drinks are still excluded. I read a review recently from someone who purchased the previous top tier package on the ship (which is then non-refundable) and was bitterly disappointed with all the exclusions and restrictions. Given the lack of clarity about the exemptions, I can see this issue re-occurring with the new deluxe package!