Iona - another itinerary rejig

[dunnster1965]

Good morning, we're due in Helleslyt today but a stiff breeze prevented us from going alongside and the forecast for Haugesund tomorrow means a preemptive cancellation for Thursday. We're currently spending the day pottering down Geiranger fjord with the plan being to reach Alesund by 7 this evening and depart at midday tomorrow for Southampton. Any tips for Alesund most welcome. By the way, I'm not complaining!

[babs135]

I seem to remember doing this city train trip which was very good.  It's a good few years since we visited but I think they also did a combined ticket with a visit to the aquarium.

The city train - Sightseeing in Ålesund! (bytoget.no)

[Host Sharon]

Alesund is great to just wander round and enjoy the Art Nouveau architecture. The HoHo bus is also a good option. I got off at the open air museum at Sunnmore for an hour or two and enjoyed the turf-rooofed houses etc. 

[davecttr]

You can get the road train to the top of the hill for great views. Last time I got on the local bus to the Aquarium which I enjoyed. They have penguins and sealions as well

 

edit - maybe because of her size Iona is not suitable for Norway, just too much area for the wind to press against. For my Norway fix next year i will not be considering her.

Edited July 6, 2022 by davecttr

[Waldo58]

I’m on board as well and hoping that the rain will stop before we get to Alesund!

[Ardennais]

Yes, the road train to the top of the hill is very pleasant. I just remember that most sentences in the commentary began with the words, ‘Before the fire….’! I think there’s one building standing from ‘before the fire’. 

[SarahHben]

2 hours ago, davecttr said:

maybe because of her size Iona is not suitable for Norway, just too much area for the wind to press against. For my Norway fix next year i will not be considering her.

We really liked Iona and would definitely sail on her again, but we are glad that our 2024 cruise to Norway is on Britannia purely because of the issues that Iona's had getting into some of the ports this summer.

[terrierjohn]

53 minutes ago, SarahHben said:

We really liked Iona and would definitely sail on her again, but we are glad that our 2024 cruise to Norway is on Britannia purely because of the issues that Iona's had getting into some of the ports this summer.

I am amazed that Iona, with the benefit of azipods is not far more manoeverable than Britannia with its fixed twins screws. 

Maybe the lack of azipod ships in P&Os fleet, except for Arcadia  means that the Captains are not as proficient yet, as compared to most other mainstream cruise lines, where azipods are more prevalent.

[Cpt Pugwash]

Some of the ports are now limiting the sizes of cruise ship docking like Iona is too big for Flam as limit is 5,000 capacity.

[BrianI]

4 minutes ago, Cpt Pugwash said:

Some of the ports are now limiting the sizes of cruise ship docking like Iona is too big for Flam as limit is 5,000 capacity.

We visited Flam two weeks ago on Iona. 
Brian

[davecttr]

38 minutes ago, BrianI said:

We visited Flam two weeks ago on Iona. 
Brian

I think iona was not at full capacity and the other ship was a small one. I read somewhere that the port capacity can vary through the season as well.

[gsmt47471015]

The way things are going ours could end up been "a scenic cruise of Norway", its looking more like bullseye with Jim Bowen  "here's what you could have had"😆 

[Cpt Pugwash]

20 hours ago, BrianI said:

We visited Flam two weeks ago on Iona. 
Brian

Oh i read because the Iona held 5500 Flam was only accepting ships with 5000 or less because it is so small a place.

[Denarius]

1 hour ago, Cpt Pugwash said:

Oh i read because the Iona held 5500 Flam was only accepting ships with 5000 or less because it is so small a place.

The limit may apply to the number of passengers actually on the ship rather than the number she can carry. Just a thought.

[Snow Hill]

1 hour ago, Cpt Pugwash said:

Oh i read because the Iona held 5500 Flam was only accepting ships with 5000 or less because it is so small a place.

It restricts No of passengers on cruise ships to 5000 in port at once, from 2026 it is planned to only allow access to port to ships with Zero Emissions only.
 

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/flam-port-1361

Edited July 8, 2022 by Snow Hill

[Denarius]

4 hours ago, Snow Hill said:

It restricts No of passengers on cruise ships to 5000 in port at once, from 2026 it is planned to only allow access to port to ships with Zero Emissions only.
 

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/flam-port-1361

I suspect that this will be a developing trend. Whilst cruise ship visits are undoubtedly good for ports, you can have too much of a good thing. The point is eventually reached where the number of visitors exceeds the port's capacity to deal with them and a visit there becomes a less than pleasant experience, with queues everywhere and insufficient capacity in hospitality venues etc. And other visitors may well avoid them when they see a couple of hugh cruise ships in port. Better to restict visitor numbers to what the port can comfortably handle. Which means that hugh behemoths like Iona and Arvia may find themselves increasingly unwelcome in smaller ports.

[dunnster1965]

On 7/6/2022 at 10:15 AM, Host Sharon said:

Alesund is great to just wander round and enjoy the Art Nouveau architecture. The HoHo bus is also a good option. I got off at the open air museum at Sunnmore for an hour or two and enjoyed the turf-rooofed houses etc. 

Thanks for the tips everyone, Alesund was a funnion as we arrived at about 7pm and had to be back on board at 11am the next morning so we only managed a couple of hours patrolling around the pleasant city centre. We were alongside HAL Rotterdam so two large ships in dominated the harbour-side. We got home about an hour or so ago after feeling poorly on board last night and immediately did an LFT test and guess what? COVID positive! We're pretty avid hand washers and cautious when it comes to it but there we go maybe a question for @molecrochip how would this be reported in the current trial?

[dunnster1965]

@molecrochip

 

No need to respond as I've read your item here https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2860952-iona-covid-testing-changes/page/3/ although I do wonder how P&O keep track on those, like me, who clearly got it on board?

 

[SomersetS]

We have also just returned home after a week on Iona.

We also felt unwell yesterday.

We have also just tested positive for Covid.

I have fed this back to P&O via their post-cruise questionnaire.

[dunnster1965]

25 minutes ago, SomersetS said:

We have also just returned home after a week on Iona.

We also felt unwell yesterday.

We have also just tested positive for Covid.

I have fed this back to P&O via their post-cruise questionnaire.

Can you point me in the right direction for the questionnaire please? More data means better results; or at least it should.

[SomersetS]

P&O emailed me today with a link to the questionnaire.

Look out for an email with "Welcome home! We'd love to know how your holiday went..." as the subject.

[Fionboard]

Have not received a questionnaire for any of the six cruises I have done in the past year, although I get all their other emails. Strange!

[SomersetS]

Did you book directly with P&O or through a TA? I booked direct but you would expect them to want feedback from everyone.

One of the sections was specifically covid-related so maybe it's something new that they are trying.

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, Fionboard said:

Have not received a questionnaire for any of the six cruises I have done in the past year, although I get all their other emails. Strange!

It may be that you have requested no e-mails, check your data in the website.

[dunnster1965]

11 hours ago, SomersetS said:

Did you book directly with P&O or through a TA? I booked direct but you would expect them to want feedback from everyone.

One of the sections was specifically covid-related so maybe it's something new that they are trying.

Booked directly through P&O and am set to receive all communication by email - strange.