Live from Iona Norwegian Fjords 20th May 7 Nights

[Megabear2]

3 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Many thanks. You are an absolute star providing all of this info. If there are 3 performances, is the first one at 6.30pm? Just wondering whether a good plan (for us) could be the 6.30pm show, followed by pre-dinner drinks, during which time we get in the virtual queue for dinner, and then eat late when the MDR is less busy. That way, if service is slow we aren’t under any time pressure.
 

Obviously the challenge will be knowing, in advance of the cruise, what time to book the speciality restaurants for when we don’t know whether there will be 2 or 3 performances each night. We don’t like to eat very early. If you still have the Horizon schedules for each day of the cruise and could possibly post photos of just the evening schedules I’d be incredibly grateful. I would assume that it would be broadly the same schedule for our Iona cruise. Thanks again. P.S. Fingers crossed that you get in Epicurean tonight. Given your experience with the 710 Club, could it be worth turning up to see if they have any no shows?

I think you'll find the 2 show night performances are for the things like the Sky's the Limit.  Certainly on here if it's a guest act for one night only they are the 3 a night performances.

[Selbourne]

3 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

I think you'll find the 2 show night performances are for the things like the Sky's the Limit.  Certainly on here if it's a guest act for one night only they are the 3 a night performances.

Thanks. If there’s 3 shows, are they 6.30pm, 8.30pm and 10.30pm?

[GinaS]

9 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Many thanks. You are an absolute star providing all of this info. If there are 3 performances, is the first one at 6.30pm? Just wondering whether a good plan (for us) could be the 6.30pm show, followed by pre-dinner drinks, during which time we get in the virtual queue for dinner, and then eat late when the MDR is less busy. That way, if service is slow we aren’t under any time pressure.
 

Obviously the challenge will be knowing, in advance of the cruise, what time to book the speciality restaurants for when we don’t know whether there will be 2 or 3 performances each night. We don’t like to eat very early. If you still have the Horizon schedules for each day of the cruise and could possibly post photos of just the evening schedules I’d be incredibly grateful. I would assume that it would be broadly the same schedule for our Iona cruise. Thanks again. P.S. Fingers crossed that you get in Epicurean tonight. Given your experience with the 710 Club, could it be worth turning up to see if they have any no shows?

Pre-booking on Arvia had probably around half the headliner shows 3 times around 6:30 or 6:45. So you could possibly book your shows and then specialty dining afterwards once you know which you have. I think dining pre-booking opened the day after entertainment. 

Assuming it's similar for Iona?

Edited May 24, 2023 by GinaS

[GinaS]

Does anyone know if the quays are open for lunch on embarkation or is the main buffet the only option? Thanks 

[Selbourne]

4 minutes ago, GinaS said:

Pre-booking on Arvia had probably around half the headliner shows 3 times around 6:30 or 6:45. So you could possibly book your shows and then specialty dining afterwards once you know which you have. I think dining pre-booking opened the day after entertainment. 

Assuming it's similar for Iona?

Thanks. I have a feeling that it may be different on Iona and you can only book the theatre shows (and MDR) once on board, day by day? However, it’s all very confusing and when you think you’ve got it sussed it seems to change again, even for the same ship between one cruise and the next!

[happy v]

Are you sure you can only book Headliners onboard. We booked at home. Either way the early show was 6.45pm

[thornegirl]

37 minutes ago, GinaS said:

Does anyone know if the quays are open for lunch on embarkation or is the main buffet the only option? Thanks 

Yes the Quays is open on embarkation day. Had the fish and chips 

[Selbourne]

13 minutes ago, happy v said:

Are you sure you can only book Headliners onboard. We booked at home. Either way the early show was 6.45pm

Which ship were you on? It seems that you can pre book shows on Arvia but the situation with the other ships (including Iona) is less clear - and when you think you understand it changes! 

Edited May 24, 2023 by Selbourne

[happy v]

It was Iona.

Worth mentioning though is every night after I read the Horizon I altered and cancelled bookings to fit in all the entertainment I wanted to see. Unlike the other ships there are so many acts that don't appear in the theatre. 

[TigerB]

3 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

After lunch we left the ship and immediately outside was a lady promoting the land train

 

23 pounds each for a 70  minute round trip with commentary

 

To cut a very long story short I ended up sat next to the driver on the 1.30pm train we booked. Another celebrity I met today

 

He drives the train for a hobby since hls wife died sadly from cancer 4 months after he retired. He retired 6 months ago.

 

His job before he retired was the host of Radio Norways Breakfast Radio show for many years. With 250,000 listeners!

 

I said "you must be famous then"

 

He said "everybody knows my voice but luckily not my face."

 

When I first read this, my eyes read Radio Norway but my brain read Radio Norwich. Then I couldn't shake the image of you sat next to Norway's very own Alan Partridge, with his driving gloves and Casey Jones hat.

[Megabear2]

I'm sitting in the 8.30 show now.  One before was I believe 7.00pm

[Megabear2]

4 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Thanks. If there’s 3 shows, are they 6.30pm, 8.30pm and 10.30pm?

6.45, 8.30 and 10.30.

 

For some reason we had a 7.00pm just once and understand the Take That show on Friday which was the early offering has.moved to Saturday with all those booked being notified on their app.  I envisage some difficulties for those who booked via reception unless they think to give them a message by telephone or in Horizon.

 

Not sure what to make of cancellation reliability. Originally tonight I had the 8.45pm at 710 club booked but changed it around to see the theatre at 8.30pm.  However a message appeared for me in the app this afternoon advising of a change of artist in 710 Club for my booking.  That seemed to.inficate my cancellation wasn't showing somewhere it should.  Might be causing some of the problems with no shows ICF mentioned at his Iona show.

Edited May 24, 2023 by Megabear2

[Ardennais]

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Which ship were you on? It seems that you can pre book shows on Arvia but the situation with the other ships (including Iona) is less clear - and when you think you understand it changes! 

We were able to pre-book most of the shows on Iona (Feb) and Britannia last month. I also printed the schedule before leaving home which was lucky because the ‘app’ crashed on Iona and didn’t work for over 24 hrs. 

[Ardennais]

3 hours ago, happy v said:

It was Iona.

Worth mentioning though is every night after I read the Horizon I altered and cancelled bookings to fit in all the entertainment I wanted to see. Unlike the other ships there are so many acts that don't appear in the theatre. 

We did that too, also on Britannia. 

[Selbourne]

25 minutes ago, Ardennais said:

We were able to pre-book most of the shows on Iona (Feb) and Britannia last month. I also printed the schedule before leaving home which was lucky because the ‘app’ crashed on Iona and didn’t work for over 24 hrs. 

I know where to pre-book dining on the cruise Personaliser (the options currently being ‘Coming Soon’ or ‘Enquire on Board’ underneath each restaurant) but I haven’t noticed any equivalent options for booking entertainment. The entertainment tab just has generic info and isn’t configured for bookings. Do booking options suddenly appear on this tab 2 weeks before the sailing or do I need to be looking somewhere else?

[Ardennais]

1 minute ago, Selbourne said:

I know where to pre-book dining on the cruise Personaliser (the options currently being ‘Coming Soon’ or ‘Enquire on Board’ underneath each restaurant) but I haven’t noticed any equivalent options for booking entertainment. The entertainment tab just has generic info and isn’t configured for bookings. Do booking options suddenly appear on this tab 2 weeks before the sailing or do I need to be looking somewhere else?

Yes they do appear 2 weeks before sailing. With the 7 nighter on Iona, we could pre-book all the theatre shows. The Britannia cruise was a 12 nighter and we could only book the first week (I think) before sailing. 

[Megabear2]

When you click into dining options or entertainment options a banner was appearing stating for safety reasons you would be able to book from such and such date. I have seen this message for every post covid cruise I've taken,/booked and it appears every time as a banner in.bold.

 

For this Arvia cruise they were 24 hours apart, 14 and 13 days before departure. The entertainment opened at midnight, the dining sometime before 8.00am.  I clicked in at just after.midnight and they immediately showed the book.now button.

[Interestedcruisefan]

12 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Thanks. If there’s 3 shows, are they 6.30pm, 8.30pm and 10.30pm?

6.45pm for the first show tonight

[Interestedcruisefan]

8 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

6.45, 8.30 and 10.30.

 

For some reason we had a 7.00pm just once and understand the Take That show on Friday which was the early offering has.moved to Saturday with all those booked being notified on their app.  I envisage some difficulties for those who booked via reception unless they think to give them a message by telephone or in Horizon.

 

Not sure what to make of cancellation reliability. Originally tonight I had the 8.45pm at 710 club booked but changed it around to see the theatre at 8.30pm.  However a message appeared for me in the app this afternoon advising of a change of artist in 710 Club for my booking.  That seemed to.inficate my cancellation wasn't showing somewhere it should.  Might be causing some of the problems with no shows ICF mentioned at his Iona show.

 

710 club was the band last night.  It was full and they were absolutely brilliant. 4 superb musicians. 2 of them only joined up this week. They were playing and singing new songs together literally for the very first time last night.

 

When we left my wife said for future cruises we need to try and book 710 club every night. It's such a great start to the evening!

 

I was thinking the exact same before she said it

 

I would say it's the best experience on the ship bar none. So intimate. Such great drinks. And so much talent. 

[Interestedcruisefan]

12 hours ago, happy v said:

Are you sure you can only book Headliners onboard. We booked at home. Either way the early show was 6.45pm

Home and onboard

[Interestedcruisefan]

On 5/23/2023 at 7:11 PM, Cathygh said:

@Interestedcruisefan how many people can you add to a virtual queue for the MDR please? 

Also have you seen any sign of a chocolate buffet in Horizon? Pre covid I found it  by accident as it was never mentioned in Horizon. (Why call the buffet and the entertainment schedule Horizon?- rhetorical question, no answer required unless someone actually knows!)

Don't have the  chocolate answer yet but  have some useful info for MDR booking

 

I spoke to the Coral restaurant MDR manager at length last night

 

He said the following:

 

At Coral and Pearl (the 2 bigger MDRS) they personally can take physical reservations for timeslots at any time of night for upto 6 people max at the desk and you can book days in advance

 

For reservations of 7 to 11 people you have to use the virtual queuing app. He can't reserve tables personally for that number. He would show people how to use the virtual queue though

 

For tables of upto 8 he said it's very very rare that walk ups upto 6.30pm won't be sat down immediately in Coral  and Pearl

 

After 6.30pm they should expect to be given a pager

 

They have 2 queues all the time 

 

Having used the virtual queue and seen how easy it is I can't recommend not using it

 

But even for those who hate the sound of using an app for MDR they are really geared up to try to help and accommodate 

 

I think there's way too much fuss made in general about MDR problems that in reality don't exist or can easily be solved simply by speaking to the restaurant managers

 

Who want to help

 

The guy was great to speak to.

 

Anyone with any MDR worries should just make a point of going to MDR manager and asking for best advice and help when they arrive on their cruise

 

And I'm sure will find a solution for their particular needs

 

 

[Interestedcruisefan]

9 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

6.45, 8.30 and 10.30.

 

For some reason we had a 7.00pm just once and understand the Take That show on Friday which was the early offering has.moved to Saturday with all those booked being notified on their app.  I envisage some difficulties for those who booked via reception unless they think to give them a message by telephone or in Horizon.

 

Not sure what to make of cancellation reliability. Originally tonight I had the 8.45pm at 710 club booked but changed it around to see the theatre at 8.30pm.  However a message appeared for me in the app this afternoon advising of a change of artist in 710 Club for my booking.  That seemed to.inficate my cancellation wasn't showing somewhere it should.  Might be causing some of the problems with no shows ICF mentioned at his Iona show.

 

[Interestedcruisefan]

29 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

 

710 club was the band last night.  It was full and they were absolutely brilliant. 4 superb musicians. 2 of them only joined up this week. They were playing and singing new songs together literally for the very first time last night.

 

When we left my wife said for future cruises we need to try and book 710 club every night. It's such a great start to the evening!

 

I was thinking the exact same before she said it

 

I would say it's the best experience on the ship bar none. So intimate. Such great drinks. And so much talent. 

We chose to sit at the bar seats in 710 club last night

 

Great view 

 

I would say the 710 club seats 100 guests approx

[Selbourne]

6 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

When you click into dining options or entertainment options a banner was appearing stating for safety reasons you would be able to book from such and such date. I have seen this message for every post covid cruise I've taken,/booked and it appears every time as a banner in.bold.

 

For this Arvia cruise they were 24 hours apart, 14 and 13 days before departure. The entertainment opened at midnight, the dining sometime before 8.00am.  I clicked in at just after.midnight and they immediately showed the book.now button.

Just checked the Cruise Personaliser for our next 2 P&O cruises (Britannia July & Iona August) and I have that banner for Iona but not for Britannia. I presume that means that we will be able to pre-book some shows on Iona but not on Britannia.

 

When you say that dining and entertainment options were 24 hours apart, which could you book first? Ideally it would be best to book entertainment first (as it’s at fixed times) and then book dining the next day, as you can then fit dining around the entertainment. 

[Interestedcruisefan]

So I need to apologies to MDRs. It's a Lot better than the buffet food and quays. But both of those remain good.

 

I think we've decided buffet and quays is for lunch for when we are really pushed for time

 

And MDR, Epicurean and other speciality are best for dinner

 

We changed plans and swapped a theatre show last night to dine Coral MDR again

 

After 710 club

 

I joined the queue whilst  in 710 at 7.37pm with 39 guests queuing and we were called at 7.51pm. With 15 minutes from then to get there. All very straightforward and simple. 

 

The 6 minute wait after 710 club  finished wasn't an actual wait as we slowly headed to the restaurant calling at the toilets on the way.

 

And as we came out of the toilets the table was called

 

Easy. There was zero queue at all for either walk ups or virtual guests again. 

 

The restaurant seemed busier than previous night. But still calm. It's all very well designed. You still see them carrying trays in and out but they have better designed screened areas they then  bring it from compared to the old days that stop you seeing as much work going on serving you

 

We both ordered starter followed by soup 

 

I had Iberico Ham croquet and chicken noodle soup

 

My wife had salmon gravadlax and tomato soup

 

For main I had roast beef and Yorkshire pudding (they asked how I wanted the beef and I ordered rare). It's good they can bring the roast beef how you prefer it. That's not normally an option in Sunday lunch restaurants in comparison

 

My wife had rainbow trout with prawns

 

For dessert I chose treacle pudding and my wife chose lemon delice

 

We also had cheeseoard to follow between us

 

Both nights give me the impression you can pretty much order any combination of food you fancy from the menu in any order and the waiters don't bat an eyelid

 

The lady on the table next to us ordered delice and ice creams together 

 

It took longer than the previous night. 90 minutes compared to 75 mins. Which is fine providing you dont have a time to hit after the meal which we didnt

 

We actually took the cheese and biscuits back to the cabin to watch a film. They gave us a plate cover to do so

 

Can't fault the food it was delicious and plentiful

 

Really impressed. We will do again tonight

 

We've booked 6.45pm headliners and will join the virtual queue about 7.20pm whilst in the theatre so table should be waiting more or less

 

The 15 min window they give you to claim your table really takes any pressure off to arrive at an exact time as well 

 

All vey civilised IMO once you know what you are doing 

 

And I class what we did last  night as spontaneous. 

 

Last minute we just swapped a theatre booking and booked a restaurant in literally seconds on the app 

Edited May 25, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan