iona

[Host Sharon]

It has always been my contention that, for the new cruisers I see P&O aiming Iona at - adventurous youngish couples with no children - Norway is the wrong itinerary. Also, for anyone living more than 2-4 hours away, a week is too short a cruise. They should at the very least have two alternating itineraries so pax can do back to backs if they wish. The children's facilities don't appear to be very different from their existing fleet, so they are not going to compete head to head with RCI or NCL on that score. For many years yet, it is going to be their older existing pax base who have the time and money to cruise maybe twice a year or more and they want warm weather and/or more interesting itineraries. I don't see how Iona is going to fill up every cruise.

[tartanexile81]

On 9/14/2019 at 5:09 PM, Jennizor said:

We are booked on Iona for Feb 2021 and are really looking forward to it. We have been on Britannia and Azura and never felt crowded at all. We were on Arcadia in June and I found it a little claustrophobic. Everyone is different and you will just have to decide for yourself.

 

Which cruise are you doing in Feb 2021 jennizor. We're booked on a B2B from 20th February

 

I agree with you about Britannia and Azura (and in our case also Ventura). We've never felt crowded at all but went on Aurora last year and felt really claustrophobic. The rooms were too small and dark for our taste. Each to their own I suppose. We don't fit the age demographic that P&O is aiming their newer ships at -  but we still prefer them and we're very much looking froward to Iona

[Showingthatgame]

Due to Iona using LNG the running costs are going to be less than the other ships. This not only means that the occupancy doesn't need to be as high to break even but if they do want a full ship they can drop the price more than the other ships. 

 

P&O will know that filling 2 ships the size of Iona will be difficult in off peak but I imagine this investment has come about from not enough capacity at peak.

 

 

[Jennizor]

Hi tartanexile81, we are on Iona from 20th Feb but not doing the b2b like you. Agree with you about Ventura too, although it is quite some time since we sailed on her. I can’t really remember much about her.  We are also, shall we say, young mature! Although we have done the Canaries cruise before and holidayed there many times, we are very excited about this one. We do have Britannia in the Caribbean next Feb and Azura going to the Baltics in June to keep us going!

[daiB]

3 hours ago, Host Sharon said:

It has always been my contention that, for the new cruisers I see P&O aiming Iona at - adventurous youngish couples with no children - Norway is the wrong itinerary. Also, for anyone living more than 2-4 hours away, a week is too short a cruise. They should at the very least have two alternating itineraries so pax can do back to backs if they wish. The children's facilities don't appear to be very different from their existing fleet, so they are not going to compete head to head with RCI or NCL on that score. For many years yet, it is going to be their older existing pax base who have the time and money to cruise maybe twice a year or more and they want warm weather and/or more interesting itineraries. I don't see how Iona is going to fill up every cruise.

Sharon I agree with most f your conclusions. I agree it would have been better to have two or perhaps three 7 night cruises on a rotation o allow back to backs for those who want longer cruises. This is certainly the reason we are not on the ship in the first summer as 7 nights is far too short for our 300+ mile journey. Secondly I also agree that they cannot fill the ship by only attracting younger cruises. That may work in the summer but not in November to April if the ship is unable to cross the pond. Of course that will change.

I do not think they should attempt to compete with RCI and NCL as far as children’s or teens facilities are concerned I think that would be counter productive. 

However it still looks to me as if in the first season filling the ships may not be that much of a problem. But for 21 some variety of itinerary of summer cruises I think is needed.

[terrierjohn]

9 hours ago, daiB said:

Sharon I agree with most f your conclusions. I agree it would have been better to have two or perhaps three 7 night cruises on a rotation o allow back to backs for those who want longer cruises. This is certainly the reason we are not on the ship in the first summer as 7 nights is far too short for our 300+ mile journey. Secondly I also agree that they cannot fill the ship by only attracting younger cruises. That may work in the summer but not in November to April if the ship is unable to cross the pond. Of course that will change.

I do not think they should attempt to compete with RCI and NCL as far as children’s or teens facilities are concerned I think that would be counter productive. 

However it still looks to me as if in the first season filling the ships may not be that much of a problem. But for 21 some variety of itinerary of summer cruises I think is needed.

Totally agree about Iona summer fjords cruises , without an alternating itinerary giving a B2B option, its not worth our while travelling to Southampton.  P&O will certainly struggle to fill her for a second season.

[Cruiser Bruiser]

On 9/18/2019 at 11:50 AM, Host Sharon said:

It has always been my contention that, for the new cruisers I see P&O aiming Iona at - adventurous youngish couples with no children - Norway is the wrong itinerary. They should at the very least have two alternating itineraries so pax can do back to backs if they wish.

I have sailed Aurora, Arcadia and Ventura, and I was excited about sailing Iona. But the more I researched the Norwegian ports that are accessible via a cruise, I decided to abandon the thankfully-low deposits that I paid for a cabin for myself and another for my 20-something niece and her husband. For the limited amount of time the ship is in port, one cannot do very much (e.g. two hours on a RIB to see a fjord from water level sounds exciting, but then you get to do some window shopping and maybe have lunch, and time's up.) With short port stays and two days at sea, I was worried the newlyweds would be bored. Instead we are sailing on MSC Preziosa for a week. With booze and internet included, I'm paying slightly less (including lost deposits) for better ports (Le Havre, Bruges, overnight in Amsterdam, Hamburg and Southampton) and a less crowded ship.

 

21 hours ago, daiB said:

I agree it would have been better to have two or perhaps three 7 night cruises on a rotation o allow back to backs for those who want longer cruises. Secondly I also agree that they cannot fill the ship by only attracting younger cruises. That may work in the summer but not in November to April if the ship is unable to cross the pond. Of course that will change.

 

I do not think they should attempt to compete with RCI and NCL as far as children’s or teens facilities are concerned I think that would be counter productive.

I would love to do a Canary Islands cruise on Iona at some later date, as the design of the ship and the overall P&O vibe appeals to me. I agree that that P&O should not be competing with NCL especially, as their ships are becoming absurdly crowded. As an extreme example: their new Encore has only two pools for 4,000 passengers. The remainder of the top deck is covered by the Haven (reserved for suite passengers), Vibe Beach Club (limited availability for a fee), an added cost race track with electric go-karts, and an added cost laser tag course. P&O should focus on competing with MSC, which is much more similar, I think.

[daiB]

18 minutes ago, Cruiser Bruiser said:

I have sailed Aurora, Arcadia and Ventura, and I was excited about sailing Iona. But the more I researched the Norwegian ports that are accessible via a cruise, I decided to abandon the thankfully-low deposits that I paid for a cabin for myself and another for my 20-something niece and her husband. For the limited amount of time the ship is in port, one cannot do very much (e.g. two hours on a RIB to see a fjord from water level sounds exciting, but then you get to do some window shopping and maybe have lunch, and time's up.) With short port stays and two days at sea, I was worried the newlyweds would be bored. Instead we are sailing on MSC Preziosa for a week. With booze and internet included, I'm paying slightly less (including lost deposits) for better ports (Le Havre, Bruges, overnight in Amsterdam, Hamburg and Southampton) and a less crowded ship.

 

I would love to do a Canary Islands cruise on Iona at some later date, as the design of the ship and the overall P&O vibe appeals to me. I agree that that P&O should not be competing with NCL especially, as their ships are becoming absurdly crowded. As an extreme example: their new Encore has only two pools for 4,000 passengers. The remainder of the top deck is covered by the Haven (reserved for suite passengers), Vibe Beach Club (limited availability for a fee), an added cost race track with electric go-karts, and an added cost laser tag course. P&O should focus on competing with MSC, which is much more similar, I think.

Do you know that Iona is doing the Canaries in the winter season 20/21. Not sure where you got your information about port times for the Fjords. Have you got the correct timings. Normally they are 7/8 to 5.30.  That’s 9 to 10 hours. I know there have been some wildly mistaken timings floating about on some boards.

 

BTW the prices for the Canaries are way down on the summer ones to the Fjords.

[Cruiser Bruiser]

34 minutes ago, daiB said:

Do you know that Iona is doing the Canaries in the winter season 20/21. Not sure where you got your information about port times for the Fjords. Have you got the correct timings. Normally they are 7/8 to 5.30.  That’s 9 to 10 hours. I know there have been some wildly mistaken timings floating about on some boards.

 

BTW the prices for the Canaries are way down on the summer ones to the Fjords.

Thanks for the tips, Dai.

 

I likely exaggerated a bit on the port times. Maybe Norway just rings too much of one note for me? My fear is that it would be a bit like Alaska in that the ports are more similar than different. If one wanted to do something unique, like hike up to Pulpit Rock, it would take more time than one would realistically have if one also wanted to have a little bit of Norwegian immersion. I will save Norway for a land based tour, I think.

 

I am seriously considering the Canary Islands itinerary that is for sale. As a single, I could do the January 16, 2021 sailing for $136/night. That's a good value.

[daiB]

26 minutes ago, Cruiser Bruiser said:

Thanks for the tips, Dai.

 

I likely exaggerated a bit on the port times. Maybe Norway just rings too much of one note for me? My fear is that it would be a bit like Alaska in that the ports are more similar than different. If one wanted to do something unique, like hike up to Pulpit Rock, it would take more time than one would realistically have if one also wanted to have a little bit of Norwegian immersion. I will save Norway for a land based tour, I think.

 

I am seriously considering the Canary Islands itinerary that is for sale. As a single, I could do the January 16, 2021 sailing for $136/night. That's a good value.

Certainly is.