Iona feedback

[Mervyn and Trish]

Has anyone on the forum done a cruise on Iona yet who could give us a bit of feedback, especially about eating.

We're on her in August for a family cruise with our daughter and grandchildren. We have been on all the other P&O ships and have no worries about size. We're happy with big and small. Clearly with the children (ages 9 and 10) it'll be very different from our usual experience with just the two of us.

Normally we prefer Club Dining, second sitting, with a couple of Select Dining experiences booked during the holiday. So we know where we're eating each night with no hassle.

Am I right in thinking that Iona is all Freedom Dining, with a range of restaurants, some free and some charged extra‽ Is there an equivalent of the traditional main dining room? Can you just turn up at the various restaurants or do some or all have to be pre-booked? Any recommendations for the children, who love eating out and are used to it? I just want to have all our ducks in a row so we don't waste valuable holiday time in queues we didn't need to join! Any tips welcome.

[david63]

I think that part of the problem is that due to the Covid restrictions Iona has never actually been fully "operational"

[Mervyn and Trish]

I wondered about that. But any clues welcome, however limited.

[towny44]

When fully operational Iona will have 4 MDRs, Opal, Pearl, Coral and Aqua, they will all be freedom dining, and bookable via the new computer system you can use once on board, lots of details about this on the website.
There is the usual ludo deck horizon buffet, and then the Quays, which is a bit like a shopping mall food court, they have fish and chips, asian fusion and fried chicken with some al fresco eating on the prom deck, all these are included in the cruise price. Then there is also the Olive Grove, which is mainly free but does have some pay extra items.
Above that you are into speciality restaurants Epicurian, Sindhu, Glass House, Beech House and the new steakhouse Keel and Cow.

[poole boy]

hope the booking system works better for you than it did for us we had a weeks holiday last august and only managed to get one successful booking at 12..00 for diner time on the last day in aqua and found the food far better in the main dinning room upstairs, but the ship was only half full because of corvid and very short of staff I would hope that p&o would have sorted these problems out by now.
but we found nothing really wrong with the ship except we found it to big for us

[Jan Rosser]

My granddaughter and her boyfriend are on Iona at the moment - 7 day cruise to Fjords. They were late leaving Southampton so Stavanger was cancelled - they are in Olden today but another port Hellslyt cancelled - again weather issues and has been substituted with Flam. They are loving it though and said the ship is enormous so plenty of exploring to do. They’ve been on the Troll cars today to the glacier - she sent me photos of the glacier and the comparison with our trip there in 2014 is unbelievable!

It’s the first time the boyfriend has been on a cruise and he’s loving it although the ship is “moving” a bit so he’s put wristbands on tonight. They’ve bought the drinks package and she is delighted to get discount - it must be policy to give passengers when they reach 18 the loyalty points accumulated from previous cruises as a child.

She loves the dressing up - always has and has persuaded the boyfriend to wear a suit too - nice to see that the younger generation is carrying on the tradition. Not sure how many people are doing the same.

She took one (extremely heavy) suitcase and has complained the wardrobe space isn’t big enough but I know how much she takes so not surprised!

Looking forward to her next message about the trip

[screwy]

Not sure about Iona but on our Ventura cruise that we came back from on Saturday there was no need to book a table in freedom dining, we just turned up about 8-15 no problem.! We were always asked if we minded sharing, in fact Cinnamon was largely empty at times.

[LadyPCruiser]

The only problem we had was eating in the restaurant and getting to see a show - it seemed for us it was one or the other - loved the olive grove but very popular so book as soon as you get on board !

[screwy]

Just got back from 2 weeks on Iona.
Wasn’t really sure what to expect but was pleasantly surprised.we had a balcony cabin on deck 10, just by the aft stairs/ lifts,perfectly placed for us.
I would agree with other comments about the placement of the wardrobes,too close to the bed but it wasn’t a big problem.,furnishings were very good.

We thought it was a very spacious ship,especially the promenade deck,lots of beds,chairs ,tables etc. we especially loved the atrium,the marble flooring and chrome staircase is excellent. We had the feeling that at times it was like sitting in a nice hotel,which I know it is, we enjoyed drinking in the glasshouse, full marks to the bar staff,especially Myra.

We had breakfast in the Horizon but gave up with it for lunch and used the Quays, what an excellent concept.
The holiday app is a pain,frequently going offline, we certainly never booked a table for dinner.

There appears to be a lot of new restaurants staff who are not fully trained up but who cares,everyone has to learn.

Overall we had a very good cruise and would certainly go on her again.

Ps.

We thought the entertainment was a bit lacking for our taste but they won’t suit everyone.

[Stephen]

Thanks John

[Whynd1]

Thank you John, am due to cruise on her for the Christmas markets cruise.
Usually for me it's either Arcadia or Aurora but am looking forward to the Iona.


Lindsey