FangedRose Posted September 2, 2018 #51 Share Posted September 2, 2018 Wesley Dunlop has had Britannia, P&Os current flagship, on my last two cruises, so not really surprised if he gets their new flagship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisefan2012 Posted September 2, 2018 #52 Share Posted September 2, 2018 Any itineraries leaked online ?.... Curious to see what Britannia is doing in Summer 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monorail Orange Posted October 29, 2018 #53 Share Posted October 29, 2018 Another preview video. Not much is new, although it shows another angle of one of the cabins, plus the bathroom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcloaked Posted November 5, 2018 #54 Share Posted November 5, 2018 One particular issue with Iona may concern anyone who feels that ballroom and Latin dancing are an integral part of their cruise. When we were last on Britannia a couple of months ago I had (finally) the chance to talk to one of the future cruises reps about the facilities on Iona. There will be no ballroom on Iona, and they will generally not have professional ballroom instructors on her cruises. There will be no regular ballroom dancing, and they will only on a few occasions have ballroom dancing on that ship. So it certainly looks like the target audience will be families and younger people. Of course many passengers have no interest in dancing on a cruise - but on the ships we sail there has always been a regular core of couples, and singles, who dance every night, but in addition a much larger group of passengers who love watching the dancing over a cocktail or glass of wine, or several over the whole evening - and of course for them this particular form of entertainment will no longer be there on Iona - which seems a sad loss to me. Maybe sufficient numbers of people won't miss the dancing on Iona - but we won't be there to find out as we have already booked on cruises where we will know we can dance. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FangedRose Posted November 5, 2018 #55 Share Posted November 5, 2018 9 minutes ago, mcloaked said: One particular issue with Iona may concern anyone who feels that ballroom and Latin dancing are an integral part of their cruise. When we were last on Britannia a couple of months ago I had (finally) the chance to talk to one of the future cruises reps about the facilities on Iona. There will be no ballroom on Iona, and they will generally not have professional ballroom instructors on her cruises. There will be no regular ballroom dancing, and they will only on a few occasions have ballroom dancing on that ship. So it certainly looks like the target audience will be families and younger people. Of course many passengers have no interest in dancing on a cruise - but on the ships we sail there has always been a regular core of couples, and singles, who dance every night, but in addition a much larger group of passengers who love watching the dancing over a cocktail or glass of wine, or several over the whole evening - and of course for them this particular form of entertainment will no longer be there on Iona - which seems a sad loss to me. Maybe sufficient numbers of people won't miss the dancing on Iona - but we won't be there to find out as we have already booked on cruises where we will know we can dance. I know a lot of people will be disappointed about the lack of a ballroom. However professional instructors are only ever on longer cruises (according to a very experienced member of the Ents Team). So not surprising, given the itinerary, that they will not be on board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcloaked Posted November 5, 2018 #56 Share Posted November 5, 2018 1 hour ago, FangedRose said: I know a lot of people will be disappointed about the lack of a ballroom. However professional instructors are only ever on longer cruises (according to a very experienced member of the Ents Team). So not surprising, given the itinerary, that they will not be on board. I am not sure what you mean by 'longer' cruises? Mostly we have been on two-week or a bit longer voyages, but even some years ago on a one-week cruise on Ventura we had an experienced dance couple teaching ballroom and Latin dancing every sea day (he had been a dance pro who had taught the pros on Strictly for several years!), with ballroom dancing every evening, though on that ship it was (and still is) in the atrium, which was at least fun even if the atrium floor was not an ideal shape or size. I guess 'professional' is interpreted differently on different cruise lines - but in general we have had reasonably competent dance instructors on all P&O ships who can teach basic introductory steps for the main ballroom and Latin dances, as well as the occasional salsa or Argentine tango, and who host the evening dancing in between sets of dance music played by the resident ballroom band every evening of the voyage. The dance instructors also are usually happy to dance with any single man or lady who hasn't got a dance partner. In the case of Cunard there is a much bigger presence of a larger ballroom with a good sized dance floor on all their ships, and the dance couples on Cunard are generally at a level where they can teach not only basic classes every sea day but also in private lessons to competition standard, and who have had significant high level competition experience of their own previously. Clearly when you look at what is provided by other cruise lines the availability of ballroom and Latin dancing is missing, and usually only a small dance floor with less frequent ballroom dancing than every night, and often more of the American style of dancing or party dancing, rather than the classic International ballroom and Latin styles, and often not for the entire evening. So Cunard and P&O have a captive audience of ballroom dancers - and having had conversations with quite a few dancers on cruises it seems that for those passengers a ship without ballroom facilities will not be on their list of cruise bookings - so it is possible that the loss of any ballroom opportunities on Iona will lead to an increase in bookings on the Cunard ships where ballroom dancing is a central attraction and a special part of the cruise for passengers who love to dance or who really enjoy watching the dancing. There is a huge following for ballroom dancing - the ten million or so TV viewers who follow Strictly are a testament to that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britboys Posted November 5, 2018 #57 Share Posted November 5, 2018 From the renderings released so far, it seems pretty obvious to me that Iona will be a game-changer for P&O. The public rooms shown so far all look very casual and contemporary. It will be interesting to see what they are doing with The Crows Nest and Anderson's. Can't quite see how Anderson's can have a traditional look when it will incorporate a Library and a Gin Distillery... I don't think it is going to be designed to attract traditionalists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daiB Posted November 5, 2018 #58 Share Posted November 5, 2018 2 hours ago, mcloaked said: I am not sure what you mean by 'longer' cruises? Mostly we have been on two-week or a bit longer voyages, but even some years ago on a one-week cruise on Ventura we had an experienced dance couple teaching ballroom and Latin dancing every sea day (he had been a dance pro who had taught the pros on Strictly for several years!), with ballroom dancing every evening, though on that ship it was (and still is) in the atrium, which was at least fun even if the atrium floor was not an ideal shape or size. I guess 'professional' is interpreted differently on different cruise lines - but in general we have had reasonably competent dance instructors on all P&O ships who can teach basic introductory steps for the main ballroom and Latin dances, as well as the occasional salsa or Argentine tango, and who host the evening dancing in between sets of dance music played by the resident ballroom band every evening of the voyage. The dance instructors also are usually happy to dance with any single man or lady who hasn't got a dance partner. In the case of Cunard there is a much bigger presence of a larger ballroom with a good sized dance floor on all their ships, and the dance couples on Cunard are generally at a level where they can teach not only basic classes every sea day but also in private lessons to competition standard, and who have had significant high level competition experience of their own previously. Clearly when you look at what is provided by other cruise lines the availability of ballroom and Latin dancing is missing, and usually only a small dance floor with less frequent ballroom dancing than every night, and often more of the American style of dancing or party dancing, rather than the classic International ballroom and Latin styles, and often not for the entire evening. So Cunard and P&O have a captive audience of ballroom dancers - and having had conversations with quite a few dancers on cruises it seems that for those passengers a ship without ballroom facilities will not be on their list of cruise bookings - so it is possible that the loss of any ballroom opportunities on Iona will lead to an increase in bookings on the Cunard ships where ballroom dancing is a central attraction and a special part of the cruise for passengers who love to dance or who really enjoy watching the dancing. There is a huge following for ballroom dancing - the ten million or so TV viewers who follow Strictly are a testament to that! The main reason for cruises without dance instructors is lack of sea days a lot only have one and some have two. It’s the same with Bridge and other activities involving instructors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-L-B Posted November 5, 2018 #59 Share Posted November 5, 2018 That's very disappointing if there will be no facilities for Ballroom Dancing on Iona. We enjoy Dancing and find it an important part of our cruising experience. Currently all the other ships in the P&O fleet offer Ballroom Dancing so I guess us dancers will avoid Iona in the future and cruise on one of their other ships. Lets hope P&O change their mind before Iona comes into service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monorail Orange Posted November 5, 2018 #60 Share Posted November 5, 2018 They don't seem to be ones to change thier minds - or at least if they do, it's not a quick decision. If there's enough demand, they might consider working in some sort of dance floor - but they probably won't do it until she has a spruce up - which I guess won't be until '25 or beyond. Shame there isn't a dedicated location - but surely they'll work something out with one of the existing venues? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcloaked Posted November 5, 2018 #61 Share Posted November 5, 2018 I guess the only factor that would make a difference is if they feel the pain of being unable to fill the cabins - and need another 30 or 40 dancers, or people who love to watch dancing who decide not to book on the new ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britboys Posted November 5, 2018 #62 Share Posted November 5, 2018 Sorry but personally I think they really do not want a 'Ballroom Vibe' on Iona. The Emerald Bar is meant to have "Covent Garden" chic and The 710 Club is "Cocktails and acoustic music sets". My guess would be that Britannia is the last P&O ship that will have been - or will be - built with a space dedicated to Ballroom/Sequence dancing. Unless they ever get around to building or acquiring another small ship... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monorail Orange Posted November 5, 2018 #63 Share Posted November 5, 2018 Oh if only they were to build another 'mid-size'. It's a shame they are (sort of) being phased out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britboys Posted November 5, 2018 #64 Share Posted November 5, 2018 10 minutes ago, Monorail Orange said: Oh if only they were to build another 'mid-size'. It's a shame they are (sort of) being phased out. It is a P&O/Carnival decision, based on economics. Viking Ocean are building 'small' ships as are Saga but their prices are considerably higher than P&O. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcloaked Posted November 5, 2018 #65 Share Posted November 5, 2018 (edited) 17 minutes ago, Monorail Orange said: Oh if only they were to build another 'mid-size'. It's a shame they are (sort of) being phased out. Cunard are building a mid-sized (around three thousand passengers) new ship due for 2022, and it will have a ballroom. I guess P&O are not interested in the same type of passenger that is attracted to Cunard. Edited November 5, 2018 by mcloaked changed a number Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britboys Posted November 6, 2018 #66 Share Posted November 6, 2018 13 hours ago, mcloaked said: Cunard are building a mid-sized (around three thousand passengers) new ship due for 2022, and it will have a ballroom. I guess P&O are not interested in the same type of passenger that is attracted to Cunard. I guess it depends on your definition of mid-sized. The new Cunarder will be 113,000 tons and around 3000 pax, making her almost identical in size to Azura/Ventura. That to me is a big ship - even if she will carry less pax than the P&O pair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike11 Posted November 6, 2018 #67 Share Posted November 6, 2018 3 hours ago, Britboys said: I guess it depends on your definition of mid-sized. The new Cunarder will be 113,000 tons and around 3000 pax, making her almost identical in size to Azura/Ventura. That to me is a big ship - even if she will carry less pax than the P&O pair. Holland America ( also part of carnival of course) are bringing out new ships of 99,500 tons with around 2600 passaengers. One came out in 2016, another 2018 and one for 2019. P&O could use this design for a new build, if they though there were sufficient demand for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britboys Posted November 7, 2018 #68 Share Posted November 7, 2018 20 hours ago, Spike11 said: Holland America ( also part of carnival of course) are bringing out new ships of 99,500 tons with around 2600 passaengers. One came out in 2016, another 2018 and one for 2019. P&O could use this design for a new build, if they though there were sufficient demand for it. I guess it will depend on how well the two new 5000+ pax ships sell for P&O. If they do well enough, P&O may choose to go for a third and do away with the smaller ships as they age. Personally I prefer Aurora-sized ships and Arcadia is about as big as I want to go. Once these two come to the end of their lives, I will be saying goodbye to P&O (assuming I don't meet my demise before Aurora & Arcadia 😁). HAL in some ways has a similar passenger base to P&O - i.e. a longstanding & loyal set of pax. I understand that the new, larger ships have not gone down well with all their pax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrierjohn Posted November 7, 2018 #69 Share Posted November 7, 2018 I think I would be very happy with a Pinnacle class ship from P&O, but with two new builds already booked I doubt one could be in service before 2024 at the earliest. Six years older and running out of time to enjoy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monorail Orange Posted November 7, 2018 #70 Share Posted November 7, 2018 (edited) I know I've said it before, but I can see a time where Azura and Ventura are both called "our classic small ships". Edited November 7, 2018 by Monorail Orange Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britboys Posted November 8, 2018 #71 Share Posted November 8, 2018 22 hours ago, Monorail Orange said: I know I've said it before, but I can see a time where Azura and Ventura are both called "our classic small ships". I think you are right when it comes to P&O - that's when I will be sailing Saga, Fred Olsen or CMV! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Presto2 Posted November 10, 2018 #72 Share Posted November 10, 2018 I think that Carnival has a plan for P&O and sadly I don't think it is for it to be the traditional line that it was and is now (sort of). When we were on Britannia on the Behind the Scenes Tour Paul Brown said that the future was big ships for P&O. That was in 2015 and it is certainly proving to be true. I think that P&O will be Carnival's lower end of the market, cheep and cheerful, family orientated, more casual line and they will try to push anyone who wants something a notch up to Princess. Just my thinking 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jh1809 Posted November 10, 2018 #73 Share Posted November 10, 2018 5 hours ago, Presto2 said: I think that Carnival has a plan for P&O and sadly I don't think it is for it to be the traditional line that it was and is now (sort of). When we were on Britannia on the Behind the Scenes Tour Paul Brown said that the future was big ships for P&O. That was in 2015 and it is certainly proving to be true. I think that P&O will be Carnival's lower end of the market, cheep and cheerful, family orientated, more casual line and they will try to push anyone who wants something a notch up to Princess. Just my thinking I fear you may be right. Once all of Oriana, Arcadia, Aurora and Oceana have gone (which hopefully won't be for quite a few years yet), I shall have to look elsewhere, as I wouldn't want to cruise on anything substantially bigger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Presto2 Posted November 10, 2018 #74 Share Posted November 10, 2018 10 minutes ago, jh1809 said: I fear you may be right. Once all of Oriana, Arcadia, Aurora and Oceana have gone (which hopefully won't be for quite a few years yet), I shall have to look elsewhere, as I wouldn't want to cruise on anything substantially bigger. We just have hope that Venice keep up the ban on big ships ! I think it saved Oceana's bacon - so to speak - as they had to replace Ventura for the fly med cruises as a result :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrierjohn Posted November 12, 2018 #75 Share Posted November 12, 2018 On 11/8/2018 at 12:28 PM, Britboys said: I think you are right when it comes to P&O - that's when I will be sailing Saga, Fred Olsen or CMV! Saga will shortly have a brand new ship, CMV has acquired newer ships from Carnival recently, but Fred's newest ship is Braemar which was built in 1993, the other two date back to the 70's. Surely they must be making enough profits at their prices to update their fleet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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