Iona G237, P&O, and that "app".

[zap99]

1 minute ago, Jennizor said:

Zap, I totally agree. We spend quite a lot of time on our balcony. We had a wonderful moment sailing past the Statue of Liberty, all the balconies were full of passengers sharing the moment. Sailing round the Fjords a couple of year ago was also a delight, enjoying the magnificent views and a glass of wine on our balcony and chatting to our neighbours. The wildlife we have seen has been amazing. You won’t get the same experience standing on a noisy deck. It’s worth every penny to us.

We even book a window cabin on the St Malo ferry. It sails overnight and the windows need a clean. Leaning over the balcony with a glass of something is a joy. If we couldn't afford a balcony, we would skip the cruise.

[Neecy1]

5 hours ago, Fionboard said:

On board now. Hate it! Not slept for 3 nights due to very noisy balcony cabin. Queues at reception complaining about this. Limited choice of drinks and queues for everything. Pile em high and sell em cheap on here. Lots of rather dubious people around. So glad I am back on Arcadia next month! You get what you pay for definitely applies.

Have to agree with the noisy balcony. We stayed in 12612. Had to wear ear plugs at night. Weve done a few cruises and hubby was at sea for 10 years so can appreciate ships creak but crikey it sounded like gunfire! Take your earplugs. Apart from that we had a great time,  although Iona was a little too big and busy for us. Beautiful though. Met some great people.

[9265359]

27 minutes ago, zap99 said:

You have your opinion. £700÷14÷24 is 2 pounds.

You sleep on your balcony? You eat all your meals on your balcony? You never leave the balcony to get off the ship.

 

OK…

[binman2]

Regarding noisy balcony we had balcony deck 10 portside aft on Iona last year and was very noisy at times .This year had booked cabin next door and thought we had the same problem this year but discovered if we put the handle that locks the balcony door halfway the creaking stopped very strange .It seemed that the suction on the seal was released a bit but still locked. 

[brynmelyndavid]

I’m on Iona now (G238). 4 days in and I’m getting a good feel for her. 

 

First off there seems to be no issue with staff whatsoever. There’s plenty of staff everywhere. We haven’t had to wait to be served and no one looks stretched. The staff are great. Perhaps they have taken on more staff but they don’t feel remotely short-staffed now.

 

The food has been consistently excellent. MDR’s all good, speciality dining really good. Have had lunch in the Glass House and we weren’t anywhere near a ‘corridor’ (and it was superb food). Will try the Keel and Cow in due course so reserve judgement. Forgive me though but isn’t the Glass House on Azura in a corridor off the Atrium?

 

The App that isn’t an App has been great. We’ve booked everything we wanted, used it to book into queues for dining and never had to wait longer than a drink. It’s easy to use and is a significant improvement on the old ‘buzzer’ system as we can see how far off the front of the queue we are. 

Our cabin is also excellent (balcony, deck 11). There’s so much storage all 4 (yes 4!) of our cases have been unpacked and put away. I don’t need drawers when I have shelves and I have plenty.

 

I know people who are used to other ships don’t like Iona (we’re comparing to Azura which we liked a lot) but so far Iona is proving every bit as enjoyable as Azura and in many ways it is far better for us. 

[Windsurfboy]

We must be real suckers to pay for a suite. 

[zap99]

30 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

We must be real suckers to pay for a suite. 

We have booked a superior deluxe balcony on Azura. DW said ' it's got 2 telly's like the one we had on Britannia.  Oh what fun I had turning her telly over with the other remote .That was worth the extra.🤣

[Neecy1]

10 hours ago, brynmelyndavid said:

I’m on Iona now (G238). 4 days in and I’m getting a good feel for her. 

 

First off there seems to be no issue with staff whatsoever. There’s plenty of staff everywhere. We haven’t had to wait to be served and no one looks stretched. The staff are great. Perhaps they have taken on more staff but they don’t feel remotely short-staffed now.

 

The food has been consistently excellent. MDR’s all good, speciality dining really good. Have had lunch in the Glass House and we weren’t anywhere near a ‘corridor’ (and it was superb food). Will try the Keel and Cow in due course so reserve judgement. Forgive me though but isn’t the Glass House on Azura in a corridor off the Atrium?

 

The App that isn’t an App has been great. We’ve booked everything we wanted, used it to book into queues for dining and never had to wait longer than a drink. It’s easy to use and is a significant improvement on the old ‘buzzer’ system as we can see how far off the front of the queue we are. 

Our cabin is also excellent (balcony, deck 11). There’s so much storage all 4 (yes 4!) of our cases have been unpacked and put away. I don’t need drawers when I have shelves and I have plenty.

 

I know people who are used to other ships don’t like Iona (we’re comparing to Azura which we liked a lot) but so far Iona is proving every bit as enjoyable as Azura and in many ways it is far better for us. 

Last week bar staff told us there were some Thais getting on on Saturday. I can't remember the number but it was a lot. Hopefully things are improving staff wise

[Jennizor]

13 hours ago, brynmelyndavid said:

I’m on Iona now (G238). 4 days in and I’m getting a good feel for her. 

 

First off there seems to be no issue with staff whatsoever. There’s plenty of staff everywhere. We haven’t had to wait to be served and no one looks stretched. The staff are great. Perhaps they have taken on more staff but they don’t feel remotely short-staffed now.

 

The food has been consistently excellent. MDR’s all good, speciality dining really good. Have had lunch in the Glass House and we weren’t anywhere near a ‘corridor’ (and it was superb food). Will try the Keel and Cow in due course so reserve judgement. Forgive me though but isn’t the Glass House on Azura in a corridor off the Atrium?

 

The App that isn’t an App has been great. We’ve booked everything we wanted, used it to book into queues for dining and never had to wait longer than a drink. It’s easy to use and is a significant improvement on the old ‘buzzer’ system as we can see how far off the front of the queue we are. 

Our cabin is also excellent (balcony, deck 11). There’s so much storage all 4 (yes 4!) of our cases have been unpacked and put away. I don’t need drawers when I have shelves and I have plenty.

 

I know people who are used to other ships don’t like Iona (we’re comparing to Azura which we liked a lot) but so far Iona is proving every bit as enjoyable as Azura and in many ways it is far better for us. 

Yes you are right, the Glass House on Azura is just off the Atrium. We spent many pleasant hours there in September. Azura and Britannia have been my favourite ships for a while. The smaller ones are too claustrophobic for me, although we have always enjoyed them. We are on Iona for the first time in Feb (2 cancelled because of COVID). We are really looking forward to it. Thanks for your comments, very encouraging.

[Fionboard]

4 hours ago, Neecy1 said:

Last week bar staff told us there were some Thais getting on on Saturday. I can't remember the number but it was a lot. Hopefully things are improving staff wise

At dinner last night newby learning the ropes was from Congo. Sweet guy but very nervous. It is a difficult job. Notice lots of new staff not from India. Still feels understaffed though and venues are very crowded and difficult to get into as they are too small for the size of ship. I will stick to the smaller ones now. 

[zap99]

1 hour ago, Fionboard said:

At dinner last night newby learning the ropes was from Congo. Sweet guy but very nervous. It is a difficult job. Notice lots of new staff not from India. Still feels understaffed though and venues are very crowded and difficult to get into as they are too small for the size of ship. I will stick to the smaller ones now. 

I'm reasonable relaxed when folk are learning the ropes, as long as he keeps his thumb out of the soup. Nice to see they are actually getting some more staff at last.

[Happy afloat]

6 hours ago, Jennizor said:

Yes you are right, the Glass House on Azura is just off the Atrium. We spent many pleasant hours there in September. Azura and Britannia have been my favourite ships for a while. The smaller ones are too claustrophobic for me, although we have always enjoyed them. We are on Iona for the first time in Feb (2 cancelled because of COVID). We are really looking forward to it. Thanks for your comments, very encouraging.

As it is on Ventura, but it is a more defined area than on Iona.

[terrierjohn]

4 hours ago, Happy afloat said:

As it is on Ventura, but it is a more defined area than on Iona.

and both Azura and Ventura have large areas which are screened from the corridor route as does Britannia, but Iona and presumably Arvia have  no real screening at all, for the Glass House or Keel and Cow.