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An extract from the email i had about my January Iona cruise - up to £150 OBC Choose from a shore experience, a relaxing hot stone massage, a revitalising facial, your favourite cocktail, dinner in one of our speciality restaurants or a treat from one of the shops on board. And the best part? You don’t have to lift a finger – this credit is automatically applied to your account before departure and an updated booking confirmation will not be sent. You won’t see the balance in My P&O Cruises but you’ll see it once you’re on board for your holiday. Thank you for sailing away with us and we can’t wait to welcome you.

No bottles of wine on the package but a fairly good range available by the glass if you include the premier package. There are lots of bottles available but you have to pay for them. For example I checked the Vista Italian restaurant menu and there were up to 30 different wines available, many of them Italian

I can confirm now deck 18 only

I am Caribbean tier and can't think of any onshore benefits?? P&O site Peninsular Club Magazine / Dedicated hotline - 0345 3 576 969 (local call charges apply) / Exclusive cruise discounts of 5% / 10% discount on bespoke P&O Cruises travel insurance / Priority booking / Annual gift Also you get onboard earlier I have not seen a peninsular magazine or annual gift for ages

Just turned on my central heating, I don't normally do this until October but so cold and rainy today Just calculated the expected winter fuel allowance as 222KwH per month for the next 6 months or 266 hours per month as I have two 14 night cruises.

The layout is interesting, the right hand side contains the bathroom, sofa, desk, fridge etc and a TV plus balcony door. Too the left is the bed area with wardrobes and another TV plus balcony door. There is a video here https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2843907-iona-cabin-17221/

I am diabetic and inject daily into the fat layer beneath the skin on my stomach . A tiny 4mm needle is attached to the epipen, it is easy to do. When i was in hospital some years ago they gave my daily anti coagulation injections, again beneath the skin into the fat layer.

The biggest standard balcony on Iona and Arvia is 17219 which is twice as wide with 2 sets of balcony doors and also L shaped so you have the outer wing too. It is however classed as overlooked and shaded. I managed to book it on Arvia for next year. With normal corner balconies I would choose one facing aft as you will get protection from wind when the ship is moving

Just to avoid confusion cruise ship tracker shows Aurora missing St Johns and sailing a large loop course to the South. she is now entering the St Lawrence at 9 Knots

If you are going north the coast will be on your starboard side and from the port side you will see the sea! Actually most of the sea part may well be out of sight of the land as they rush out of the territorial limit to enable the shops and casino to open. In the fjords there are interesting views both sides and the fjords contain lots of turns. A precise itinerary is need to make a final judgement

I informed my insurer (Axa) and the helpful lady said as I had already booked the cruise and gone through a medical screening I would be covered anyway. Apparently the medical screeners deal with deveral different insurers so it gets complicated. To put the condition on my policy at no extra charge she cancelled the existing policy, refunded my credit card, made out a new policy and charged my card the same price. I am now have Glaucoma on my policy. They were not worried about an ECG I had either as there was no treatment required.

Try cruise ship tracker, it might be better

So you still need a valid vaccination certificate for P&O

I liked that ship. My first cruise was aboard her from Harwich to Norway and I was hooked. I even did not mind the famous 'wobble' which she shared with the Spirit

Currently you still need to be fully vaccinated including a booster if it is more than 270 days since the last dose of your initial course. If you have had a booster the 270 day rule does not apply but I think that booster has to happen at least a week before the cruise? On my last cruise it was reported a couple had decided not to have the booster and were turned away. Decisions have consequences.

I had a fantastic 24 night cruise with P&O to the Caribbean and back from Southampton on Oceana. When the TA priced it I was very pleased, £130 more expensive than the equivalent 14 night fly cruise so £13 per night with 2 visits to the Azores as well. 😁

I like the idea that you come back to the embarkation port mid cruise as you get a full day there. The reason Marella do this is because they offer a number of hotel stays also of 7 days. You can do 2 cruises or a hotel/cruise or cruise/hotel. I find there are more similarities than differences between Marella and P&O with Marella more relaxed and they have a good social program for solo cruisers with hosted lunch, dinners etc if you want. P&O used to have a 'programme' that was little more than a hosted coffee break but now that has all stopped. I still cruise with P&O and tried Iona which had lots of alternative venues despite being totally unsuitable for Norway cruises. Marella ships now have more alternative dining options than the older P&O ships Aurora, Arcadia, Azura and Ventura. I don't like Brittania because she does not have a promenade deck. I am comfortable with both lines and have 3 Marella and 2 P&O cruises booked.

If you are looking at Marella Voyager check out the cabin videos for Mein Schiff Herz as I think there will only be detail differences. A interesting difference is the Kitchens which we call the buffet which looks more like the Quays on Iona but with 8 separate serveries and the images on the Marella site show the food behind glass shields. If this means the food is plated and handed to you it gets my vote. For a quiet bar try the summer house or take your drink into the coffee port

I ended up putting my smartphone in the safe and forgetting about the 'app'. You get access to your account from the cabin TV. For better access they need to add 10's of kilometres of extra cabling.

Not on Iona or Arvia, they may 'upgrade' you to the dreaded deck 8 which IMO is no better than an inside as I would have the curtains drawn at all times.

IIRC limit for hand luggage liquids is 100ml. This is an airport security requirement. Cases outside cabin door by about 1am and don't forget to keep some clothes for the next day. It is surprising how many people only have their night clothes and have to make the embarrassing phone call to reception 😁

I have used Randox twice and it is easy to use. I collected from the local convenience store a couple of hours after ordering. They also post the kits if needed. Can't remember the exact price but it was less than £13.50

Cancelled the Covid jab on Tuesday. I now have to wait at least 28 days for the booster. The NHS site suggested a site 0.5 miles away which is actually in Maidstone not Medway. No availability more than a couple of weeks ahead anyway. Now to cancel the Boots flu jab.

Well that announcement won't do anything to help cruisers. I flew back from Palma on Tuesday and guess what, I tested positive this morning and have a headache, sore throat, cough and muscle pain. Thanks very much to the person who was shedding virus. I had booked a flu jab for Monday and a Covid seasonal booster for Tuesday 😠

If by on the wave you mean aft facing there are 4 cabins on deck 10. I have 10745 next January and 10743 next door looks to have a slightly bigger balcony I wonder if they have fixed the problem of water splashing from the infinity pool down onto the aft cabins. Obviously a blatantly obvious design fault which should have been fixed by now. Imagine the conversation, you complain and they say sorry and we will move you to a balcony cabin on deck 8... I would go ballistic