Iona cruise review part2.

[Yorkypete]

I think I had better say that the following is only our personal opinion.

PLUSES:

Staff were very good and helpful especially our cabin steward.

 The WiFi was reasonable. 

Activities were ok if you like dance classes, keep fit , product demos for the shops or short quizzes.

The cabin and balcony were good generally except for the noise at night.

Food was good in Olive Grove (but repetative) .

 Weather was good once we reached the Med.

Ports were pretty good except for Gibralter which was a waste of time. 

Cost was reasonable for a low budget ship.

 MINUSES: The ship was too crowded and according to reception (and the registration desk in Southampton) was full. Many kids around and seemed to be allowed in casino and bar areas.

Casino was ok but chaotic when people were queuing for the theater and Brodies was overflowing.

 Too many sea days with not enough seating .

Staff were good but not enough of them.

Food: Horizon at best was total chaos with only half opened and different foods at each side and the quality of food was on a level with our local transport cafe.

Olive grove was repetative though the food was good. Berthing. In Barcelona we berthed at the furthest away from the town with at least an hours walk for the average person. The shuttle bus dropped at the World Trade Centre, about a fifteen minute walk to Las Ramblas. Originally it said we would be dropped at Place de Catalunya.Entertainment in the dome was farcical, not the quality but the acoustics. The compere was unintelligable.The Headliners had one good comedian and the rest was not a patch on the variety on NCI.

The shops were full of expensive ,vastly overpriced goods and much tat. Casino; why American roulette on a British ship?...oh it is more profitable.

Coaches to and from the port were ok except for the two hour wait on the return coach and the first coach got lost in Southampton!.

 All in all this is just a personal opinion but it shows to me that the British will put up with anything and never complain. I have a £350 casino voucher which could make me some money (or not) but I do not honestly know if I could put up with P&O much longer. Thank you.

 

 

[Megabear2]

45 minutes ago, Yorkypete said:

short quizzes.

How short were these quizzes please?  Most of the ones I've come across are about 40 minutes (20 questions) plus the answers so booked for an hour.

 

Have they gone for speed quizzes which I first came across on RC out of Miami?  They seemed very popular with the US guests but seemed very rushed to me.

[zap99]

1 hour ago, Yorkypete said:

I think I had better say that the following is only our personal opinion.

PLUSES:

Staff were very good and helpful especially our cabin steward.

 The WiFi was reasonable. 

Activities were ok if you like dance classes, keep fit , product demos for the shops or short quizzes.

The cabin and balcony were good generally except for the noise at night.

Food was good in Olive Grove (but repetative) .

 Weather was good once we reached the Med.

Ports were pretty good except for Gibralter which was a waste of time. 

Cost was reasonable for a low budget ship.

 MINUSES: The ship was too crowded and according to reception (and the registration desk in Southampton) was full. Many kids around and seemed to be allowed in casino and bar areas.

Casino was ok but chaotic when people were queuing for the theater and Brodies was overflowing.

 Too many sea days with not enough seating .

Staff were good but not enough of them.

Food: Horizon at best was total chaos with only half opened and different foods at each side and the quality of food was on a level with our local transport cafe.

Olive grove was repetative though the food was good. Berthing. In Barcelona we berthed at the furthest away from the town with at least an hours walk for the average person. The shuttle bus dropped at the World Trade Centre, about a fifteen minute walk to Las Ramblas. Originally it said we would be dropped at Place de Catalunya.Entertainment in the dome was farcical, not the quality but the acoustics. The compere was unintelligable.The Headliners had one good comedian and the rest was not a patch on the variety on NCI.

The shops were full of expensive ,vastly overpriced goods and much tat. Casino; why American roulette on a British ship?...oh it is more profitable.

Coaches to and from the port were ok except for the two hour wait on the return coach and the first coach got lost in Southampton!.

 All in all this is just a personal opinion but it shows to me that the British will put up with anything and never complain. I have a £350 casino voucher which could make me some money (or not) but I do not honestly know if I could put up with P&O much longer. Thank you.

 

 

Apart from that ,did you have a good time?.🤔

[zap99]

16 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

How short were these quizzes please?  Most of the ones I've come across are about 40 minutes (20 questions) plus the answers so booked for an hour.

 

Have they gone for speed quizzes which I first came across on RC out of Miami?  They seemed very popular with the US guests but seemed very rushed to me.

DW enjoys the quizes. Sometimes only 15 questions  so about 30mins. 30/40 minutes is fine. 

[Megabear2]

1 minute ago, zap99 said:

DW enjoys the quizes. Sometimes only 15 questions  so about 30mins. 30/40 minutes is fine. 

Yes I thought 40 minutes.  Last couple of cruises Horizon chalk off an hour in the programme before next event.  The lunchtime musical one around the pool is normally longer due to the music intros being involved.

 

The RC speed quizzes were 20 minutes.

[Yorkypete]

22 minutes ago, zap99 said:

Apart from that ,did you have a good time?.🤔

Better than the last P&O cruise...but worse than the ones we have taken on RCI.I believe the Iona is much too big..and it is obvious when full. As an addition to the review I believe from what I have experienced that P&O are moving towards people paying for the dining. This opinion is based on the space used for Horizon and the quality of food there.

 

[Megabear2]

39 minutes ago, Yorkypete said:

I believe from what I have experienced that P&O are moving towards people paying for the dining. This opinion is based on the space used for Horizon and the quality of food there.

That's pretty much in line with all the big US cruise lines in my experience.  At least the big ships have venues you can book in advance albeit a bunfight to try to beat the rest, however the smaller ones you're stuck, particularly if you're a late boarder and all the select dining is gone.  If they are going that route a dining package as offered by RC and Celebrity might be a good idea and also opening up the select restaurants online for all ships to level the playing field.

 

I doubt their it tech could cope but I still prefer the Disney method of on sale x days before by the day rather than a whole voyage on sale at once.

 

I'm glad you had a better holiday this time, but realistically it couldn't have been much worse! Good luck in sorting out your next cruise be it the one on Britannia or one on RC.  

[Sheila127]

I appreciate we all individually have different experiences  but for anyone reading this who is about to embark on Iona just to say I was on this cruise and had a fabulous time!

[alpha whiskey]

15 minutes ago, Sheila127 said:

I appreciate we all individually have different experiences  but for anyone reading this who is about to embark on Iona just to say I was on this cruise and had a fabulous time!

So did I! 

[zap99]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

That's pretty much in line with all the big US cruise lines in my experience.  At least the big ships have venues you can book in advance albeit a bunfight to try to beat the rest, however the smaller ones you're stuck, particularly if you're a late boarder and all the select dining is gone.  If they are going that route a dining package as offered by RC and Celebrity might be a good idea and also opening up the select restaurants online for all ships to level the playing field.

 

I doubt their it tech could cope but I still prefer the Disney method of on sale x days before by the day rather than a whole voyage on sale at once.

 

I'm glad you had a better holiday this time, but realistically it couldn't have been much worse! Good luck in sorting out your next cruise be it the one on Britannia or one on RC.  

We normally buy the dining package on RC. It was getting a bit high on X. £40ppp meal, so we didn't bother. It was £32 on RC. Still more than we pay in the P&O specialities.  They are all going up, perhaps to the extent that we won't bother with them.

 

[zap99]

1 hour ago, alpha whiskey said:

So did I! 

Our last cruise was on Britannia in October. It was very pleasant. It would have been much more pleasanter if Sindhu had been open. We are on Azura in a couple of weeks. It is DW"s birthday...shall we book Sindhu dear ?..you can if you like ,but I'm going to the Glass House. That will do.😁

 

 

[Megabear2]

12 minutes ago, zap99 said:

We normally buy the dining package on RC. It was getting a bit high on X. £40ppp meal, so we didn't bother. It was £32 on RC. Still more than we pay in the P&O specialities.  They are all going up, perhaps to the extent that we won't bother with them.

 

I think they've all had big increases this year from what I can see.  Britannia Epicurean is now £30.  I believe we'll all find everything much dearer this year whatever line, it's just the way it is.  If we don't like like it I'm pretty sure someone else will!!

[Yorkypete]

2 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

I think they've all had big increases this year from what I can see.  Britannia Epicurean is now £30.  I believe we'll all find everything much dearer this year whatever line, it's just the way it is.  If we don't like like it I'm pretty sure someone else will!!

I know what you mean. Imust say that looking at prices I don't anticipate much cruising in the future with being able to get land based holidays all inclusive for half the price. Looking bat possibly paying for food AND the 'cruise only' basis if you cruise from abroad then many will not be able to afford it.  There are rumours that Norwegian line is in trouble so I wonder who will be next. I cannot see many places being able to provide return flights for some 5,000 people.

 

[Megabear2]

32 minutes ago, Yorkypete said:

I know what you mean. Imust say that looking at prices I don't anticipate much cruising in the future with being able to get land based holidays all inclusive for half the price. Looking bat possibly paying for food AND the 'cruise only' basis if you cruise from abroad then many will not be able to afford it.  There are rumours that Norwegian line is in trouble so I wonder who will be next. I cannot see many places being able to provide return flights for some 5,000 people.

 

Last week I priced my normal Jupiter (Palm Beach) Hotel for October, not been since 2019 due to pandemic.  Cost for 7 nights is now £2,562 for a parking lot view!  In 2019 I paid £2,000 for the flight, hotel and car for 10 days.  According to BA the car would be £700.    

 

The world has gotten a whole lot more expensive I'm afraid. 

 

Edited January 24, 2023 by Megabear2

[Selbourne]

13 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

The world has gotten a whole lot more expensive I'm afraid. 

 

Especially if you want to go to the USA, given the strength of the dollar / weakness of Sterling.

[Megabear2]

4 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Especially if you want to go to the USA, given the strength of the dollar / weakness of Sterling.

Very true. I've moved 40 miles back towards Fort Lauderdale so I won't need the car and my friend is happy to drive to meet up instead.  Luckily I know a very good old style resort hotel a bit out of the way and saved myself another £800.  Has the bonus I can walk to the beach on Sunday and watch the cruise ships leave as well.

 

Certainly need to shop around.

[Snow Hill]

55 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Last week I priced my normal Jupiter (Palm Beach) Hotel for October, not been since 2019 due to pandemic.  Cost for 7 nights is now £2,562 for a parking lot view!  In 2019 I paid £2,000 for the flight, hotel and car for 10 days.  According to BA the car would be £700.    

 

The world has gotten a whole lot more expensive I'm afraid. 

 

Not just USA an apartment we rented in South Wales in January 2019 for 4 nights was £456, same apartment is now £950 for 4 nights in January, more than doubled in 4 years. 

[Yorkypete]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Especially if you want to go to the USA, given the strength of the dollar / weakness of Sterling.

I have just priced up visiting our son who lives in the middle of nowhere. 3  flights and an hours drive. Total cost £3600. Not too bad as it was about the same last time we went (pre-pandemic). It is much cheaper the other way round..USA-UK and back again.

Edited January 24, 2023 by Yorkypete

[Megabear2]

7 hours ago, Yorkypete said:

I have just priced up visiting our son who lives in the middle of nowhere. 3  flights and an hours drive. Total cost £3600. Not too bad as it was about the same last time we went (pre-pandemic). It is much cheaper the other way round..USA-UK and back again.

You aren't having to book accommodation though.  The cost of that is almost double worldwide.   UK hotels are shown as 40% dearer in the inflation figures borne out by my quote yesterday for 2 nights in the Premier Inn Newmarket at a weekly with no racing at £277 for their basic room and no car parking.  Same weekend 2022 was £211.

[Selbourne]

10 hours ago, Snow Hill said:

Not just USA an apartment we rented in South Wales in January 2019 for 4 nights was £456, same apartment is now £950 for 4 nights in January, more than doubled in 4 years. 

Now that international travel has opened up again, I think that there will start to be some correction in U.K. pricing as people will refuse to pay some of the inflated prices.
 

We rent a very nice property on the Isle of Wight for two separate weeks of the year. Being retired, we can avoid school holidays and the prices are therefore reasonable, albeit they have increased quite a bit. However, I find it interesting that the property is pretty much fully booked for the whole of this year, with the sole exception of the school summer holidays, which would usually be the first to be booked in any U.K. holiday home. The reason? The prices for one week at this time are now around £2,000.

 

Bearing in mind that it’s self catering, once you add on the cost of dining out every day, ferry travel etc it would be cheaper to go on a cruise. Ok, neither the cruise accommodation nor the food are anywhere near as good as what we enjoy on the Isle of Wight, but I know what my kids would have preferred when they were at school!

[Cathygh]

We are finding the same issues around accommodation. Every February we go to the Spring Fair at the NEC, our usual hotel had doubled its prices! We were fortunate in that as we know the manager, having stayed there for over 15 years, he gave us a special rate but it was still 20% more.

In retail, I am buying stock at at least 20% more than 2021, and in some cases 40% more. I never believed the inflation rate was correct as it is really much higher. 

I suppose in hospitality they are battling with electricity prices. There is no cap on commercial electricity. Food prices have gone up and the minimum wage has gone up way above inflation with an almost extra 10% an hour to find from April. 

[Snow Hill]

12 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

We are finding the same issues around accommodation. Every February we go to the Spring Fair at the NEC, our usual hotel had doubled its prices! We were fortunate in that as we know the manager, having stayed there for over 15 years, he gave us a special rate but it was still 20% more.

In retail, I am buying stock at at least 20% more than 2021, and in some cases 40% more. I never believed the inflation rate was correct as it is really much higher. 

I suppose in hospitality they are battling with electricity prices. There is no cap on commercial electricity. Food prices have gone up and the minimum wage has gone up way above inflation with an almost extra 10% an hour to find from April. 

Inflation is running at 10.5%, the increase is 9.7% so minimum wage has not gone up way above inflation. 

Edited January 25, 2023 by Snow Hill

[Megabear2]

Wiltshire Council has closed all the steam rooms, thermal suites and saunas from this month at the leisure centres they own citing electricity running costs.  However knowing the manager of the local Salisbury one my husband was chatting with him the other morning and learned its actually self sufficient and runs on thermal heat pump and solar.  Intrigued we looked into it more and discovered the heat pump requires electric the equivalent of running a 9kw electric fire 24 hours a day.  

 

I doubt there is an answer.  

[Fionboard]

P&O advertises a 7 night fly cruise to Canaries for £499? Decent B&B round here would cost more! 

[Britboys]

3 hours ago, Fionboard said:

P&O advertises a 7 night fly cruise to Canaries for £499? Decent B&B round here would cost more! 

And, recently, no single supplements. For a brief moment I was almost tempted...