35 night Caribbean cruise Jan 2026 on Iona from Southampton.

[Stokie33]

We’ve done quite a few cruises ranging from 2 - 14 nights but saw this one and the price is quite reasonable plus my husband is adamant he will never ever fly again after a bad flight over 15 years ago.

We’ve got to the point where cruises from Southampton have lost there shine as been to most of the destinations a few times so looking for a new adventure plus it’s his 50th birthday in Sept 2025 so want to do something special.

 

We did 3 seacations so a 3,4 and 7 night at sea so not phased by the sea days as you can always find something to do.

 

We’re a bit phased by the thought of 35 nights on a cruise ship, can anyone who’s done a cruise longer than 2 weeks please give us some insight and the positives and negatives, 

 

I know everyone’s thoughts are individual, but looking for something totally different and wondering if this is it.

 

Thanks for any help in making the decision, my leaves already sorted and my hubby’s already started deciding what he’s taking after telling me last month he’s done with cruises 😂

[Selbourne]

We are currently on day 50 of a 65 night cruise, having never done a cruise longer than 24 nights previously. If you’d asked me a year ago I’d have said that it would have been way too long for us, but it’s been fine.
 

Like you, flying isn’t an option, and we fancied seeing the Caribbean. We don’t like sea days (we cruise for the ports) but have coped with them so far (we have the long run home to come though). 
 

If you want to see lots of different places, the Ventura 35 nighters are much better IMO, as they tend to do a lot more ports. Iona (and Arvia) cruises tend to be a little ‘port lite’ as they have less ports and more sea days compared to identical length cruises on other ships. The flip side is that in return for fewer ports and more sea days, prices are cheaper. We’d rather pay more and have more ports (there are 28 ports on our 65 night cruise) but as you like sea days your priorities might be different. 
 

I’m sure that you will both have a fabulous time. Don’t be phased by the 35 days. You’ll be surprised how quickly it goes!

[bobstheboy]

We are doing this one but next year. If you are having a balcony my advice is a port side one. You will get the sun both ways across from Tenerife to the Caribbean. Having done this crossing a few times from the Canaries, you should get warm weather.

[BouncingWheel]

I too would vouch for a Ventura type itinerary over an Iona one simply because Iona starts off with less port days and these longer cruises tend to miss ports so less becomes even less.

My wife and I did 51 days to Oz and 31 back last year so a lot of sea days. We made a lot of friends and found lots to do onboard to keep us busy - you get into a routine and it feels like a 2nd home though the first week with rough seas across the Atlantic were a challenge!

[bobstheboy]

My take on Iona v Ventura is the route to the Caribbean is not so good on Ventura. Going from Northern Spain to Bermuda is a colder journey than from Tenerife to the Caribbean. Personal choice but I prefer the more southerly crossing.

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, bobstheboy said:

My take on Iona v Ventura is the route to the Caribbean is not so good on Ventura. Going from Northern Spain to Bermuda is a colder journey than from Tenerife to the Caribbean. Personal choice but I prefer the more southerly crossing.

I agree and Iona has a lot more to offer than Ventura, especially the auto doors for disabled  travellers, not forgetting Venturas tiny TVs, and she is showing her age.

[cruising.mark.uk]

My wife and I are also seriously considering one of these cruises in the next couple of years.  I agree that the Ventura itinerary is slightly more attractive, but we love sea days and, for us, Iona wins hands down in terms of the ship.

 

The optimist in me hopes that P&O prices for 2026 might reduce as the date approaches (at present the per diem for our preferred cabin is significantly higher than it is for a 2-week Med / Europe cruise on Iona / Arvia out of Southampton).  We can generally get a deck 9 Conservatory Mini Suite on a Select Price on a 14-day cruise for between £250 and £300 per day for 2 pax (taking OBC into account).  Currently, the price for the Iona 35-day in Jan 26 is around £400 per day for 2 pax in the same cabin (also taking OBC into account).

 

However, from 2026, there will be more competition / berths available for these longer non-fly Caribbean cruises.  Cunard has recently released their new itineraries up to Jan 27.  QM2 has traditionally done a couple of these long Caribbean cruises late in the year (Oct / Nov) and over Christmas.  Those continue in 25/26.  But, I see that, in addition, Queen Victoria has a 35 day Eastern Caribbean on 4 Jan 26 and a 28 day Eastern Caribbean on 22 Feb 26 from Southampton.  Across the 2, that's an additional approx 5000 pax.  So, more choice of ship and more capacity might lead to lower prices?

Edited February 22 by cruising.mark.uk

[Stokie33]

Thanks for all of the replies, we’re on Iona in June and do find the newer ships more appealing, 

Will be having more conversations in the next few days 😂

[Megabear2]

1 hour ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

My wife and I are also seriously considering one of these cruises in the next couple of years.  I agree that the Ventura itinerary is slightly more attractive, but we love sea days and, for us, Iona wins hands down in terms of the ship.

 

The optimist in me hopes that P&O prices for 2026 might reduce as the date approaches (at present the per diem for our preferred cabin is significantly higher than it is for a 2-week Med / Europe cruise on Iona / Arvia out of Southampton).  We can generally get a deck 9 Conservatory Mini Suite on a Select Price on a 14-day cruise for between £250 and £300 per day for 2 pax (taking OBC into account).  Currently, the price for the Iona 35-day in Jan 26 is around £400 per day for 2 pax in the same cabin (also taking OBC into account).

 

However, from 2026, there will be more competition / berths available for these longer non-fly Caribbean cruises.  Cunard has recently released their new itineraries up to Jan 27.  QM2 has traditionally done a couple of these long Caribbean cruises late in the year (Oct / Nov) and over Christmas.  Those continue in 25/26.  But, I see that, in addition, Queen Victoria has a 35 day Eastern Caribbean on 4 Jan 26 and a 28 day Eastern Caribbean on 22 Feb 26 from Southampton.  Across the 2, that's an additional approx 5000 pax.  So, more choice of ship and more capacity might lead to lower prices?

There's also the new Queen Elizabety fly cruises from Miami which may take some of the people who are able to fly and are seeking the sun rather than just the cruise experience.  We are looking to book on at least two of these and add on extended stays in Florida with our friends through January and February. 

 

In January 2025 we have opted for the 35 night QM2 cruise rather than our traditional P&O Christmas/New Year fly cruise with the decision made purely on the repeat P&O itinerary with no change of island calls. Although the Cunard itinerary is very much of the same ilk to the Iona offering the passenger ratio being lower on QM2 and a superior daytime activity offering on seadays made the decision quite easy.

Edited February 22 by Megabear2

[Angel57]

1 hour ago, Stokie33 said:

Thanks for all of the replies, we’re on Iona in June and do find the newer ships more appealing, 

Will be having more conversations in the next few days 😂

I’m also on Iona (for the first time) in June and I am finding the reports from our CC friends most useful.

[yorkshirephil]

We are also on the Iona cruise to the Caribbean. We have taken several 35 night cruises from Southampton and loved them all. It is a bit of a leap of faith taking such an adventure after only having done 14 nights, this is the position we were in when we took our first 35 night cruise. Having been on the more northerly route several times either to Bermuda or via the Azores we now prefer the southerly route to Tenerife. It really depends whether it is the ports that are priority or just the cruise/warmer weather. 

For us the Atlantic crossings are great as it is gradually getting warmer as opposed to getting off the plane into the Caribbean heat. There is always plenty to do around the ship or you can just laze about which is more our thing. Great way to take a chunk out of the usually horrible wet cold winters.

[bobstheboy]

You have summed up the reasons why we enjoy trans Atlantic cruising via the southerly route. We enjoy warm sea days and never get bored just chilling, reading and walking around the ship, stopping for a coffee or drink as we please.

 

Roll on Jan next year.

[sandancer]

Hear, hear Bob. We are also on the 35 nighter on Iona Jan 25. We are also doing the 14 night NYE immediately before so a 7 week one for us. 

[yorkshirephil]

1 hour ago, sandancer said:

Hear, hear Bob. We are also on the 35 nighter on Iona Jan 25. We are also doing the 14 night NYE immediately before so a 7 week one for us. 

We have also booked the 14 night NYE cruise too. I was surprised that they did this as every long cruise we have had always had a short cruise before it so you didn't get the benefit of 10% B to B discount on the more expensive cruise. Happy days.

[Ilovemygarden]

Quite a few of us from this board on it then - I am too.  A bit apprehensive as I haven’t done 35 nights solo although have done long ones before. 

[Stokie33]

We did one of the 7 night seacations on Iona but our cabin got down graded even though we booked on launch day and after getting told “well you’re on a lovely ship what are you complaining about” we’ve steered clear of P&o for 3 years but after seeing all of the videos decided to try again, we’ve been on other cruise lines in the meantime but like I said above running out of ports to visit.

 

We definitely need to take that leap of faith and do the 35 nighter as it’s something we’ve talked about for a few years and the only way we will get to see the caribbean.

 

We went on Iona in 2019 and whilst it’s a lovely ship we do prefer the newer ones.

[terrierjohn]

41 minutes ago, Stokie33 said:

We did one of the 7 night seacations on Iona but our cabin got down graded even though we booked on launch day and after getting told “well you’re on a lovely ship what are you complaining about” we’ve steered clear of P&o for 3 years but after seeing all of the videos decided to try again, we’ve been on other cruise lines in the meantime but like I said above running out of ports to visit.

 

We definitely need to take that leap of faith and do the 35 nighter as it’s something we’ve talked about for a few years and the only way we will get to see the caribbean.

 

We went on Iona in 2019 and whilst it’s a lovely ship we do prefer the newer ones.

I don't think you were on Iona in 2019, she only went into service after the post covid restart in 2021.

Edited February 22 by terrierjohn

[sandancer]

7 hours ago, yorkshirephil said:

We have also booked the 14 night NYE cruise too. I was surprised that they did this as every long cruise we have had always had a short cruise before it so you didn't get the benefit of 10% B to B discount on the more expensive cruise. Happy days.

No 10% for us. We didn’t book them as a B2B. There were months between the two bookings. We added the 35 night when we were on Azura last October. No mention of a B2B discount. 

[yorkshirephil]

35 minutes ago, sandancer said:

No 10% for us. We didn’t book them as a B2B. There were months between the two bookings. We added the 35 night when we were on Azura last October. No mention of a B2B discount. 

We booked the 35 nighter when it was released then rebooked it while on Aurora in October with the 10% discount plus triple OBC. We only booked the 2 weeks to Canaries in December but still got the 10% discount off each cruise for B2B. You don't need to book them both at the same time. You do have to book select to get B2B discount.

[tring]

55 minutes ago, sandancer said:

No 10% for us. We didn’t book them as a B2B. There were months between the two bookings. We added the 35 night when we were on Azura last October. No mention of a B2B discount. 

 

I agree with Phil, you do not have to book the cruises at the same time for the -10%, we have done it with a couple of cruises adding a second cruise at a later date.  As PHil saya has to be select bookings for both cruises and they have to be over a certain length (?7days).  If it looks like it was not done for you, time it was queried, though it is possible the price of the second booking was reduced to a level that took account of the -10% on both cruises.  

 

Did you book both cruises the same way, i.e. through the same agent, or direct with P&O, though not sure that would make a difference?

 

[sandancer]

The first cruise was transferred from another booking. I don’t know if that would make a difference. The 35 night one was booked onboard Azura and the agent was made aware that we were already booked on the NYE cruise as we tried (without success) to get the same cabin. Maybe I should ask our TA to look into it. 

[tring]

1 hour ago, sandancer said:

The first cruise was transferred from another booking. I don’t know if that would make a difference. The 35 night one was booked onboard Azura and the agent was made aware that we were already booked on the NYE cruise as we tried (without success) to get the same cabin. Maybe I should ask our TA to look into it. 

 

We have transferred a cruise and got the discount as well.  If the onboard booking agent was aware it was to become a b2b, I suspect t they would have calculated (or more to the point the computer would have calculated) the discount when you were given the extra price you needed to pay for the 35 night one.  Of course they always advertise a headline price, which will likely be the cheapest available cabin grade at saver fare.  A select fare, even if a low grade cabins, will be a much higher price.

 

Still worth asking though and if booking is now with an agent, they should look into it as you probably know.

 

[yorkshirephil]

9 hours ago, tring said:

 

 

Still worth asking though and if booking is now with an agent, they should look into it as you probably know.

 

Always worth asking, it sometimes depends on the person you are dealing with and their knowledge. I was always under the impression that if you re-booked a cruise you would lose your deposit and not necessarily get the same cabin. However when we re-booked the Iona cruise whilst on Aurora we were re-booked to the same cabin and our original deposit which was only £100 would be held until the balance of the re-booked cruise was due. Every day is a school day.

[Stokie33]

Sorry meant Ventura not Iona in 2019

Edited February 24 by Stokie33

[Ardennais]

I remember my husband and I standing on the our balcony as Ventura was leaving Southampton in January 2020. It was a Friday and I said something like “we’ll be back here in six Fridays”. It was a wonderful cruise and the 35 nights flew by - we had done a few 18 nighters before then. I would happily cruise to the Caribbean and back on Ventura again.