My thoughts on Iona March / April 2023

[Megabear2]

19 minutes ago, Grimsby Mariner said:

which we were assured by staff onboard the ship is actually above the number the ship was meant to sail with.

That's a very sweeping statement! How many were actually onboard, was this the cruise with the 800+ children over Easter on the one which ended Saturday 22nd April?  The ship has two "capacity" loads officially so I'm assuming you are referring to the extra bunks etc being in use as the ship wouldn't legally be able to sail "over capacity".

 

I guess I'll find out myself very soon as I'm due on both Iona and Arvia in the next couple of weeks.  Thanks for your review, were there any positives to cheer me up.

[Grimsby Mariner]

7 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

That's a very sweeping statement! How many were actually onboard, was this the cruise with the 800+ children over Easter on the one which ended Saturday 22nd April?  The ship has two "capacity" loads officially so I'm assuming you are referring to the extra bunks etc being in use as the ship wouldn't legally be able to sail "over capacity".

 

I guess I'll find out myself very soon as I'm due on both Iona and Arvia in the next couple of weeks.  Thanks for your review, were there any positives to cheer me up.

 

Positives - well we got into every port!  As I say the crew (in impossible circumstances given the lack of leadership from above all the way up the ladder), and food are fantastic. Just make sure you book as many things as you can before going on board to avoid disappointment. We have just seen everything race downhill towards the bottom over the last sixteen months to be too positive anymore. Such a shame as it is a magnificent ship and I cannot believe when it was built it was envisaged as being used for glorified booze cruises. We are just disillusioned with the whole P&O experience now, but that does not mean to say it will not appeal to others, I am just leaving an honest opinion based on what we had to put up with.

 

I do not know the exact figure of cruisers on board it was difficult to count and apparently the P&O figure is never accurate you can always scale that up allegedly, I am just going by what crew members told me. 

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, Grimsby Mariner said:

Just returned from a week in the Norwegian fjords on Iona. Weather was fantastic, but this was our fifth time on the ship in sixteen months and, sad to say, our last sailing experience with P&O for the foreseeable future.

 

Over those five cruises the ship has gone from a beautiful clean high end experience, to a glorified ferry crammed to the limit, giving little better than a booze cruise experience. Cutbacks have been massive so that now the experience is pared to the bone, and there are nowhere near enough staff to service the massive number of cruisers, which we were assured by staff onboard the ship is actually above the number the ship was meant to sail with.

 

P&O's policy is well known, sell all the cabins regardless of price, so to some extent it is our own fault for continuing to pay the low end prices as you really do get what you pay for nowadays. At least as experienced cruisers we can get round all the issues on board by booking before we go, but even then the online booking system P&O use is a nightmare as their IT is so bad and bookings do not register or disappear. And don't mention the MYHoliday App on ship, a system not fit for purpose which suits P&O perfectly because it means nothing gets overbooked because so many people cannot use it!

 

Plusses - fantastic food

             - cabin crew and restaurant staff are brilliant

             - Embarkation is efficient (at least it is once you get in the departure hall)

 

Minuses - You can never complain to anyone senior on board

               - You never see a senior member of staff around the ship

               - There are nowhere near enough staff on the ship for the number of cruisers

               - Disembarkation - an utter shambles with again no senior staff members overseeing

               - Customer service - 28 days to reply to an email! Probably dealing with so many complaints

 

We have tired of the P&O experience now. To be honest my view is if they continue too much longer as they are there is going to come a time where the Company hits huge difficulties. You can only go on for so long treating existing customers so badly whilst selling cruises in the bargain basement to people unlikely to return as they are so shocked by the experience. Eventually there will come a time where there are no returning customers. In my opinion the policy the Company are pursuing is a one way trip to bankruptcy unless they have a very fast re-think and start listening to all the criticisms aimed at them.

 

 

Sorry to hear that you've had such a poor experience aboard Iona. You say that your first cruise on her was around 16 months ago so I guess this was one of her earliest cruises where she (and all other cruise ships) were sailing at a much reduced capacity? Therefore, she may have been sailing with only around 2000-2500 people on board. By the looks of it, your most recent cruise was in the Easter Holidays and as @Megabear2 says, with around 800 children aboard taking her up to 6000.

I'm not sure that she would sail with more pax than she is meant to. For a long time, P&O has only really publicised the "normal operating capacity", which is the number carried only in lower berths. Iona has a normal operating capacity of 5200 but her maximum capacity is just over 6200.

It is not really a surprise that your experience aboard her has varied so widely.

You seem to have been a member of CC since 2016, so may well have cruised on other lines to compare with P&O but you might like to try one of the smaller ships to see if that provides a better experience for you. It is also a shame that your first posts have unfortunately been so negative.

I hope your next cruise, on whatever line, meets or exceeds your expectations.

[waddle]

20 hours ago, majortom10 said:

That is why we never book a cruise during school holidays. It is nothing new there has always been this problem during school holidays for the 26 yrs I have been cruising.

Unfortunately that is no longer a guarantee of a child free cruise unless you book one of the adult only ships

 

We are currently on the Iona, according to the welcome letter, 328 children out of c 5,200 on board (would say a lot look of school age and Easter hols finished at least a week ago)

[daiB]

3 hours ago, Grimsby Mariner said:

 

Positives - well we got into every port!  As I say the crew (in impossible circumstances given the lack of leadership from above all the way up the ladder), and food are fantastic. Just make sure you book as many things as you can before going on board to avoid disappointment. We have just seen everything race downhill towards the bottom over the last sixteen months to be too positive anymore. Such a shame as it is a magnificent ship and I cannot believe when it was built it was envisaged as being used for glorified booze cruises. We are just disillusioned with the whole P&O experience now, but that does not mean to say it will not appeal to others, I am just leaving an honest opinion based on what we had to put up with.

 

I do not know the exact figure of cruisers on board it was difficult to count and apparently the P&O figure is never accurate you can always scale that up allegedly, I am just going by what crew members told me. 

Should not always believe what others “tell” you including crew.

[daiB]

2 hours ago, waddle said:

Unfortunately that is no longer a guarantee of a child free cruise unless you book one of the adult only ships

 

We are currently on the Iona, according to the welcome letter, 328 children out of c 5,200 on board (would say a lot look of school age and Easter hols finished at least a week ago)

Private schools often do not have the same holidays.

[daiB]

23 hours ago, Ardennais said:

Exactly. So our cruise was, in our opinion, short staffed. 

Any cruise line cannot just find extra staff to cover school holidays. Where do they sleep?, where do they come from? Shorter cruises always feel full as everyone tries to cram in as much as they can in a short time. School holidays just makes it worse We were on Iona in the first week of the Easter Holidays and apart from one afternoon I was not aware of any over crowding. The only queues I saw were for formal night photos.

[majortom10]

3 hours ago, waddle said:

Unfortunately that is no longer a guarantee of a child free cruise unless you book one of the adult only ships

 

We are currently on the Iona, according to the welcome letter, 328 children out of c 5,200 on board (would say a lot look of school age and Easter hols finished at least a week ago)

I agree but you can lessen the chance of high .umbers as in during school holidays.

[BrianI]

P&O boost the staff numbers for kids clubs by employing teachers for a couple of weeks in the school holidays. They have advantage that they are already security cleared for working with children.

Brian

[Ardennais]

40 minutes ago, daiB said:

Any cruise line cannot just find extra staff to cover school holidays. Where do they sleep?, where do they come from? Shorter cruises always feel full as everyone tries to cram in as much as they can in a short time. School holidays just makes it worse We were on Iona in the first week of the Easter Holidays and apart from one afternoon I was not aware of any over crowding. The only queues I saw were for formal night photos.

I never mentioned over-crowding. We were in fact pleasantly surprised at all the space and seating available. I still think there should have been better planning beforehand and possibly staff could be better deployed. How about fewer passenger cabins and more crew berths in the first place? 
 

It seems to me that some people think that school holiday cruisers should just put up with slow service as it’s their own fault for choosing these cruises. 
 

We are currently on Britannia. It’s probably over-staffed!! The waiters are hovering in the atrium, actively looking for orders and clearing tables almost as you put your cup and fork down. 

[AnnieC]

On 4/23/2023 at 4:30 PM, majortom10 said:

No it was during school term. All ships are stretched during school holidays due to a lot of cabins having 4 (2 adults and 2 children) in where out of school holidays will only have 2 adults.

Surely a fairer way of approaching this is to suggest that P&O should not be taking more bookings than they have staff to properly cover, particularly as the unfortunate customers are paying a premium during school holidays. 

[Ardennais]

2 minutes ago, AnnieC said:

Surely a fairer way of approaching this is to suggest that P&O should not be taking more bookings than they have staff to properly cover, particularly as the unfortunate customers are paying a premium during school holidays. 

Exactly. Well said. 

[majortom10]

2 minutes ago, AnnieC said:

Surely a fairer way of approaching this is to suggest that P&O should not be taking more bookings than they have staff to properly cover, particularly as the unfortunate customers are paying a premium during school holidays. 

Unfortunately that is never going to happen as the cabins are all full, just that in school holidays there are many filled with 4, usually 2 adults & 2 children and rest of time just 2 adults.

[majortom10]

5 minutes ago, AnnieC said:

Surely a fairer way of approaching this is to suggest that P&O should not be taking more bookings than they have staff to properly cover, particularly as the unfortunate customers are paying a premium during school holidays. 

If they cover with staff with capacity when there are many children onboard during school holidays and many cabins occupy 4 they would be overstaffed for the rest of year.

[terrierjohn]

23 minutes ago, Ardennais said:

I never mentioned over-crowding. We were in fact pleasantly surprised at all the space and seating available. I still think there should have been better planning beforehand and possibly staff could be better deployed. How about fewer passenger cabins and more crew berths in the first place? 
 

It seems to me that some people think that school holiday cruisers should just put up with slow service as it’s their own fault for choosing these cruises. 
 

We are currently on Britannia. It’s probably over-staffed!! The waiters are hovering in the atrium, actively looking for orders and clearing tables almost as you put your cup and fork down. 

That could be due to the poor design of Britannia's Atrium, which does not tempt us to sit there for long.

[AnnieC]

15 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Unfortunately that is never going to happen as the cabins are all full, just that in school holidays there are many filled with 4, usually 2 adults & 2 children and rest of time just 2 adults.

Yes, but all the cabins don't magically become full; assuming the many reports are accurate, P&O are taking too many bookings during school holidays. I have no axe to grind here as my offspring left school long ago, and I'm retired, but some seem to also forget that teachers, dinner ladies, school caretakers etc. also have to take their holidays outside term time; are they not entitled to similar service levels to you and me?

[terrierjohn]

1 minute ago, AnnieC said:

Yes, but all the cabins don't magically become full; assuming the many reports are accurate, P&O are taking too many bookings during school holidays. I have no axe to grind here as my offspring left school long ago, and I'm retired, but some seem to also forget that teachers, dinner ladies, school caretakers etc. also have to take their holidays outside term time; are they not entitled to similar service levels to you and me?

I imagine that all cruise lines set their crew levels based on the average passenger numbers per cruise.  It's just unfortunate for those who have no option but to travel in peak season that they will find the ships very busy, and service slower than usual.

[majortom10]

18 minutes ago, AnnieC said:

Yes, but all the cabins don't magically become full; assuming the many reports are accurate, P&O are taking too many bookings during school holidays. I have no axe to grind here as my offspring left school long ago, and I'm retired, but some seem to also forget that teachers, dinner ladies, school caretakers etc. also have to take their holidays outside term time; are they not entitled to similar service levels to you and me?

Yes the cabins can all be full with majority holding 2 adults but some can take 4 with a sofa bed and a bed that comes out of the ceiling. Usually occupied by children, so for that reason all cabins will be occupied but with a varying different capacity especially during school holidays. This is common on many cruise ships on all cruise lines.

 

[Cruise_Rookie_2010]

We're going be on Iona this coming week, our 3rd time on board (previously 2021 & 2022), it will be interesting to see how she's maturing. I'm not sure that it makes much difference when the ship sails at the moment, looking at what's still available for the coming week, as an example, she's pretty much full although that may be down to the bank holiday situation.

 

We ought to be thankful for the positive uptake in the return to cruising, given the sums borrowed by the cruise lines during the past 2 years to stay afloat (pardon the pun). Without those passengers, old & new, our favourite holiday destination might well have disappeared forever. A little disappointment (for more experienced cruisers) may be a small price to pay, whenever we've spoken with those taking a cruise for the first time their opinion of the experience has been mostly very positive. I'm going to make an effort to see things through their eyes.

[majortom10]

Iona's normal operating capacity is 5206 but during school holidays when many of cabins will occupy 4 instead of the normal 2 so will increase capacity at this time. Unfortunately they cannot increase staff just for shorter periods to cover school holidays because it is impractical to employ staff just for such short periods. If they employed the number required during school holidays due to higher capacity then they would be overstaffed for majority of the year. Unfortunately this might mean slower service and queues during school holidays.

[Ardennais]

58 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

That could be due to the poor design of Britannia's Atrium, which does not tempt us to sit there for long.

It has been full there on the sea days and most pleasant. Staffed properly too!