Iona live 12th August 2023

[ParisHilton]

Oh beachcomber bay seems to be an adult only pool that's not in the paid for retreat.  So I guess that's the place to be of you can.

 

Sat on crows nest as we pull out of Stavanger . Nice vibe. And a pint of John Smith's.

 

Phones seem to sync to local time on Stavanger. I guess as people use roaming.   I left mine in the cabin as a guy in the lift was puzzled as he'd manually moved his an hour forward.actually I don't understand how he was still confused. But watch out. It did distract me from pretending to be the lift voice and announcing every floor to the annoyance of my daughter and the amusement of others.

[Son of Anarchy]

5 hours ago, gsmt47471015 said:

If she is the lady from Hungary with blonde hair she is an exceptional pianist 😀

Elena is from Russia.  We first met her on Iona in November, she then went on to Arvia.

 

 

[Presto2]

1 hour ago, ParisHilton said:

Oh beachcomber bay seems to be an adult only pool that's not in the paid for retreat.  So I guess that's the place to be of you can.

 

Sat on crows nest as we pull out of Stavanger . Nice vibe. And a pint of John Smith's.

 

Phones seem to sync to local time on Stavanger. I guess as people use roaming.   I left mine in the cabin as a guy in the lift was puzzled as he'd manually moved his an hour forward.actually I don't understand how he was still confused. But watch out. It did distract me from pretending to be the lift voice and announcing every floor to the annoyance of my daughter and the amusement of others.

Thanks so much got your daily update.

Know what you mean about the lifts .. every time we go on an American cruise line we come home we can say 'Stand clear of the doors please" in fluent American.

Of course on the older PO ships you end up speaking the floor numbers in the Queens ..nor Kings .. English !

Edited August 14, 2023 by Presto2

[gsmt47471015]

43 minutes ago, Son of Anarchy said:

Elena is from Russia.  We first met her on Iona in November, she then went on to Arvia.

 

 

Ah ,well that clarifies that ,thank you , the lady we saw on Azura was definitely from Hungary but for the life us we cant remember her name 🤔 

[ParisHilton]

Glass house wine list I think. The flight of wine sounds fun.os that essentially a board of tasters?

 

apologies if some images duplicated. It's a challenge from the phone!

[ParisHilton]

Quick thought.

Some cabins seem to be laid out so the sofa is nearer the window than the bed.  That seems to be a marginally better configuration. Just for sitting and looking out of the window.  (We have sea view , not balcony rooms)

[ParisHilton]

Also, they could let you pick up messages from you room phone remotely I'm sure. That would be another simple way to touch base with your party!

 

I've only seen a few singing acts in the SkyDome so far , none of the aerial bits. The acoustics are awful. Also it doesnt seem to cater well for wheelchairs.  It didn't look especially but did think it seemed tricky. 

 

We did find an accessible toilet though with a wave to close , lock and open the door which my girls loved.

 

The grown ups went to Sindhu and said it was lovely, I took the girls to horizon.  I think it might be my taste as much as anything, but there was nothing to tempt me to over eat. Nothing wrong with what we had, though thinking about it. It's quite a low bar for me to complain about food. No queues when we got there about 7 I think.

 

We put together a small travel hunt for the adults to do, leaving some small rubber ducks at guest services to be collected when asked for a message from Daffy duck. They tried to oblige but the communication got lost somewhere. We did get the ducks to hand over though.

 

I went there yesterday as the balances in rooms aren't updating. They apologized and happily printed out the bill so far. Can't fault guest services so far.

(Minor quibbles.it is noisy there and hard to hear what they are saying. My hearing isn't great to be fair and there's half a dozen conversations in close proximity)

Not sure how easy it would be from a wheel chair as just because they are further away. Possibly they come out from behind the desk.  

 

Not managed to fit in a run yet, but clocked up 27k steps walking around Stavanger and the boat. (was 20k just on the ship yesterday)

 

Right. Off to see what awaits today....

[AndyLovesCruises]

Does anyone know what the first boarding time is and the last?  

[Cloudyrain]

54 minutes ago, ParisHilton said:

Also, they could let you pick up messages from you room phone remotely I'm sure. That would be another simple way to touch base with your party!

 

I've only seen a few singing acts in the SkyDome so far , none of the aerial bits. The acoustics are awful. Also it doesnt seem to cater well for wheelchairs.  It didn't look especially but did think it seemed tricky. 

 

We did find an accessible toilet though with a wave to close , lock and open the door which my girls loved.

 

The grown ups went to Sindhu and said it was lovely, I took the girls to horizon.  I think it might be my taste as much as anything, but there was nothing to tempt me to over eat. Nothing wrong with what we had, though thinking about it. It's quite a low bar for me to complain about food. No queues when we got there about 7 I think.

 

We put together a small travel hunt for the adults to do, leaving some small rubber ducks at guest services to be collected when asked for a message from Daffy duck. They tried to oblige but the communication got lost somewhere. We did get the ducks to hand over though.

 

I went there yesterday as the balances in rooms aren't updating. They apologized and happily printed out the bill so far. Can't fault guest services so far.

(Minor quibbles.it is noisy there and hard to hear what they are saying. My hearing isn't great to be fair and there's half a dozen conversations in close proximity)

Not sure how easy it would be from a wheel chair as just because they are further away. Possibly they come out from behind the desk.  

 

Not managed to fit in a run yet, but clocked up 27k steps walking around Stavanger and the boat. (was 20k just on the ship yesterday)

 

Right. Off to see what awaits today....

We have two wheelchairs in our group and always found the side of the skydome near the blocked-off buffet entrance to be the best venue for us as we could move chairs and tables about, it wasn’t a cut-thru once the entrance closed, and there was plenty of space for chairs etc, and easy access to the disabled toilet. The staff will move loungers for those wheelchair users who want to sit up front (for a clearer view) 😊

[Mad4WDW]

10 hours ago, ParisHilton said:

Glass house wine list I think. The flight of wine sounds fun.os that essentially a board of tasters?

 

This is awesome, thanks so much for taking the time do this and upload them really appreciate it

[ParisHilton]

Welcome. Only took 2 mins .

 

Sailing out of hellysund today. Internet is back. Horizon tells us that is off today. I got a wry smile when I asked for a refund. As if I'm the first of many about to hot them. He did say it's be back at 8.30 but clearly it's back now!

Hellysund (sp?) Nice view. V little there if you don't do an excursion. We took advantage of the quiet pools and tried to get high enough to enter clouds.but it was only a half arsed effort and didn't quite make it.

 

The show at headliners stopped due a to a tech fault about fifteen mins before the end of the 8.30 showing and wasn't fixed by the 10.30.  felt like my prayers were answerd. I could see it was well done and most seemed to be enjoying it, bit just not my thing. Same for the bird show at SkyDome. Fantastic gymnasts but was struggling to stay awake. Too late for me and warm atmosphere.  Don't be put off by my negativity though, I fell asleep at cirque du soleil in Vegas.  Actually SkyDome you are generally much closer to the action which is good.

 

Had my first cup of tea today which was nice. And had breakfast in pearl which was decent.

 

Off to limelight shortly then silent disco while the girls go to beach hut , SkyDome , highlight (the 9 year old is already moaning its just a singer and will be boring).  

 

Oh negativity about yesterday also fuelled by being dragged to the country music type thing. Thankfully not for long and it was very popular .

[ParisHilton]

Topped up on crisps chocolate and pepsi max again . Always seems to be supermarket near where we dock.

[ParisHilton]

Gareth gates last night was good. Tasty food and decent entertainment.

Silent disco was lots of fun.

Flagging this morning, body is struggling.

[AndyLovesCruises]

It sounds like you are going to need a holiday when you get back!   

 

How are you finding the overall experience?  Have you felt crowded at all ? Been keeping an eye on the temperature over the last few weeks and Apple always has it sitting around 19 in the outer towns and a few degree's cooler in the Fjords. Are the open decks busy still ?  

[ParisHilton]

Crowded in horizon for busy times for sure. Decks seems pleasantly not busy , I assume you mean outside ones? I wouldn't want to be in one of the main pools unless I was with kids. Beachcomber does seem large enough for adult guests want to laze in a pool.

Depends on your point of view of course, I love London and new York and the hustle and bustle.  But I've not felt stuck behind anyone else when walking about or as if people are barging past. The lifts can be quite busy but mostly I take the stairs, though I know it after twelve flights up!  

I e never been to a European resort hotel so I can't compare.

I would say they've got the basics spot on. The shower for example is clean just hot enough,just fast enough. Certainly not a rainforest steam room effect, bit not weak or cold that you spend ages faffing to get the it right. No warnings about steam setting off alarms of the door is open either. Couple of sachets of two types of coffee in the room . Not a coffee machine nor too few sachets.  For me everything seems to be at 'my' budget and expectation level.  Except onboard customer services. Admittedly they know my name now, but they are totally on top of everything. Yesterday for example I went down to see what would happen to some shorts we think might have gone out with the towels. We were out in touch with the Laundry manager who said he'd be in touch if they were found.  Would be so easy to say come back here on Friday and check.  (Fwiw, we found them in the cabin so I can't update you on the tale)

[ParisHilton]

Up to see sunrise this morning, but it's hiding behind the clouds , glimpsed the sun setting last night and it looked fab through our window. Tried to get up on deck to take some pics but missed it . Will put some effort into catching it today.

Line dancing was ok. Led by the fitdance instructor and it was her first attempt at running the class.  I excused myself shortly after the warm up when the words grape vine were uttered. I've tried numerous times to learn grapevine, but like the macarena I've come to terms with knowing it's something I'll never be able to do.

The rest of the family had a much needed lie in , so it was a lazy day. Walked over to haugesund which is a decent sized town after the last couple of sports. Mooched about for about an hour and spent about 100nok to get the bus back as simply couldn't be bothere to walk. Sun came out properly for the first time I think and the infinity pools were very busy.

Horizon buffet mainly due to not really worth paying for kids portions in the speciality restaurants and quite booked up.  We might have gone back to beach house but that was pretty much booked.  Kids enjoyed sing 2 on the telly and I dipped in and out but mostly watched Jack Ryan on the phone. My wife was in and out of it with a migraine too.

 

Kind of nice having a last day as a seaday to tick off the things everyone wants to do on board. Requests to use the gym from the 12 year old. Another session in the dance studio (really a fitness studio). Fit dance (honestly were not some Olympic family, I know it sounds like it). Visit the launderette, just out of curiosity. 

The female singer was loved by everyone so I think we are off to see her in the clubhouse. Breakfast at pearl. I'll go but not sure if I'll partake. I'm craving croissants so I may succumb. Maybe bacon on croissant if I'm feeling really decadent.

The wife had a couple of days where she seemed really keen to try keel and cow so maybe we'll try for lunch. Difficult though as it's not really something for the kids so need to get something in them to tide them over. Let's see how that goes.  . My only experience with speciality dining on board has been sail away evening at the olive grove and a limelight club meal.  I'd not spend that again on the limelight club purely for the food . I'd not spend it solely on the entertainment either. Probably just about worth it for the two combined. Though by the time you've added drinks for two , that's about £100 for the evening for a couple .

It's really difficult to properly evaluate cost as so many things (meals) mainly are so much cheaper than you'd get in a restaurant. But then you have to remember you've already paid a decent amount for them. I guess it's why Norway seems so expensive ( that plus the fact it is, even with a bit of an fx shift in our favour). Ice cream though at £2.50 a scoop is normally priced, but not subsidised.  Drinks seem cheap to me . £6 for a pint , £12 for a cocktail as a guideline. And we had £700 of onboard credit between three of us . In hindsight, probably should have spent less on drink on sail away day and enjoyed a few more Costas.

Oh the duty free seems reasonable too. I havent priced up perfumes or alcohol, but it seems to be decent price, u like airports I've been to where it's definitely cheaper to buy from Amazon.  Though if you have left over credit it's essentially free .

[ParisHilton]

Early evening on the last day. I've bumped into quite a few people clearly ready to head home. My youngest is packing. But really avoiding spending the two hours in the club house that the extended family feel is worth waitin for the family. I'm polishing of my bottle of sambuca and am past caring. Had a nice break for a game of 'giant' chess. Played another family earlier, their suggestion. Would have just played with my girls and not thought of playing anyone else but it was fun. There's so much stuff like that on here to just do if you are that way inclined , or not do if you can't be arsed. I e been picking faults on pretty much every post, but I think you can see they are niggles and nothing more.

 

The staff on board are fantastic I assume they are paid peanuts so shareholders can take their cut and some of this is taxpayer bailout money and I feel kind of bad. Smiles and thank yous and tips where I can to apprentice how privileged we are to be here.  Not a dream holiday, not perfect, but I'm not sure any holiday can be .  Really hard to find fault , I guess things people don't like are more that it's not their taste, but there's such a lot of choice. Right better help packing and see what the fuss about this singer is all about .

[CarlaMarie]

1 hour ago, ParisHilton said:

Early evening on the last day. I've bumped into quite a few people clearly ready to head home. My youngest is packing. But really avoiding spending the two hours in the club house that the extended family feel is worth waitin for the family. I'm polishing of my bottle of sambuca and am past caring. Had a nice break for a game of 'giant' chess. Played another family earlier, their suggestion. Would have just played with my girls and not thought of playing anyone else but it was fun. There's so much stuff like that on here to just do if you are that way inclined , or not do if you can't be arsed. I e been picking faults on pretty much every post, but I think you can see they are niggles and nothing more.

 

The staff on board are fantastic I assume they are paid peanuts so shareholders can take their cut and some of this is taxpayer bailout money and I feel kind of bad. Smiles and thank yous and tips where I can to apprentice how privileged we are to be here.  Not a dream holiday, not perfect, but I'm not sure any holiday can be .  Really hard to find fault , I guess things people don't like are more that it's not their taste, but there's such a lot of choice. Right better help packing and see what the fuss about this singer is all about .

 

Thank you for sharing your cruise with us, and I'm pleased you have had a nice time. It must have been very new as a first timer, and I have enjoyed reading about the cruise from your perspective with fresh eyes. The big question is.... would you cruise again? 

[ParisHilton]

The family loved the cruise and had a great time and with that in mind , funds permitting we would cruise again. Iona seems to be the 'best' ship so it might be hard to step down. That said other passengers listed other cruise lines with more stuff for children , I think ice skating and karting were mentioned. That just seems insane. Would make sense to call at ports with more of those sorts of activities I guess. Though from my perspective that's pandering too much to the kids.

I'd crusie again , but personally I think I'd prefer a city break. Although Iona is huge I did get a bit stir crazy.   And everything feels a bit 'prescribed' though that may partly be due to our budget.  I would certainly suggest it as a holiday to option   especially after reading this thread for the caveats.

 

Disembarking was another example of how well it all work, pack your bags. Leave then outside the room the night before  Get to the gangaway at a specific time and collect your luggage as you leave.  Breakfast available in quays and horizon and possibly others bit I did t check for those.  We went to they gym 20 mins before our alloted time and despite a crew cleaning it we could have used it.For first timers it might have been worth mentioning your passport won't be checked. Maybe we are another case as I was guardian for the passports across three cabins. 

[Cloudyrain]

2 hours ago, ParisHilton said:

The family loved the cruise and had a great time and with that in mind , funds permitting we would cruise again. Iona seems to be the 'best' ship so it might be hard to step down. That said other passengers listed other cruise lines with more stuff for children , I think ice skating and karting were mentioned. That just seems insane. Would make sense to call at ports with more of those sorts of activities I guess. Though from my perspective that's pandering too much to the kids.

I'd crusie again , but personally I think I'd prefer a city break. Although Iona is huge I did get a bit stir crazy.   And everything feels a bit 'prescribed' though that may partly be due to our budget.  I would certainly suggest it as a holiday to option   especially after reading this thread for the caveats.

 

Disembarking was another example of how well it all work, pack your bags. Leave then outside the room the night before  Get to the gangaway at a specific time and collect your luggage as you leave.  Breakfast available in quays and horizon and possibly others bit I did t check for those.  We went to they gym 20 mins before our alloted time and despite a crew cleaning it we could have used it.For first timers it might have been worth mentioning your passport won't be checked. Maybe we are another case as I was guardian for the passports across three cabins. 

I would recommend a med cruise to be honest: a port-intensive one. As much as I love Norway and the Fjords, I much prefer med-ports as I prefer wandering about cities on holiday and visiting museums etc. Based on your review you might prefer a fly cruise with Marella or NCL as they tend to do 6 ports in 7 days - and after all that port time you will appreciate a day off being stuck on the ship 😉

Edited August 19, 2023 by Cloudyrain
Clarity

[molecrochip]

20 hours ago, ParisHilton said:

The staff on board are fantastic I assume they are paid peanuts so shareholders can take their cut and some of this is taxpayer bailout money and I feel kind of bad. Smiles and thank yous and tips where I can to apprentice how privileged we are to be here.  Not a dream holiday, not perfect, but I'm not sure any holiday can be .  Really hard to find fault , I guess things people don't like are more that it's not their taste, but there's such a lot of choice. Right better help packing and see what the fuss about this singer is all about .

Glad you had a good cruise. Do come back.

 

The staff on board are not paid much in UK comparison terms. However, what they earn is significantly more than they earn back home. As the staff have free board, food, healthcare on board, they tend to send a lot of their money back home.

 

Additionally, working on a cruise ship is a major leg up the career ladder in their home countries. Many crew who have done multiple contracts go home into senior hospitality roles because of the quality of their training.

 

No taxpayer bailout funds is paid to crew. Never has been. Working off-shore they did not qualify.

 

Yes - shareholders ordinarily take a cut but that's the purpose of any company (no different to say, Tesco). In fact, due to Carnival having to completely stop during Covid, any profits are paying down debt (which the company had to take on to survive).

[Presto2]

Thanks for the time you've taken keeping us up to date as someone new to cruising. Really appreciated. 

[ParisHilton]

Welcome. I've learnt so much off here myself.

The family are more looking at anthem of the sea

[Presto2]

39 minutes ago, ParisHilton said:

Welcome. I've learnt so much off here myself.

The family are more looking at anthem of the sea

Everyone is different and wants something different. I still want PO Oceana but they keep telling me she is now baked bean cans !!!!

[royallondon]

46 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

Everyone is different and wants something different. I still want PO Oceana but they keep telling me she is now baked bean cans !!!!

Does that make her a “has bean”?