Overall disappointment! 4 different cabins in total!
Deck 4 housekeeping manager, visited our cabin 1st January 2024 about the amazing intermittent grating/ banging noises which started at about 7.30 am as soon as Iona had left Southampton Water after the 31 hour delay because of windy weather.
He had been told this was a known problem probably related to fundamental design features of Iona, in particular aspects of the hydraulic systems.
Our cabin (4302) was only 2 cabins away from the port side deck 4 access used in Southampton for staff related movements onto the ship.
The hydraulics problem may therefore be fairly localised.
What is really surprising and disappointing is that there is a known design problem and yet P&O are happily continuing to sell the cabin without notifiying passengers.
Luckily staff sorted us a new cabin, initially without disrupting noises – a balcony cabin on deck 10 – by early afternoon, which meant we had only 2 nights in 4302.
The disruption of packing/ unpacking was frustrating.
Cabin 10726 (port side near back) seemed an excellent balcony cabin until The Club House on deck 8, 2 decks below, started belting out loud noise from Pulse the performing group.
Once we were going to bed earlier (Sunday 7th) we had “bang bang” loud music all evening until 11.45, despite a telephone call to complain, much earlier.
On Monday 8th we were moved temporarily to inside cabin 10127 (front starboard) so we could sleep OK.
On Tuesday 9th we were moved to another balcony cabin 10501 (mid- starboard).
Ship design problems – Southampton weather delay – the special reason for Iona being unable to depart Southampton.
Apparently, if the weather conditions involve more than a forecast 6 metre swell it was inadvisable for Iona to leave port (hence the 32 hour delay in departure).
However, other ships were departing in similar conditions.
Is this another fault in Iona’s design which passengers should be told about because “the weather” is always never P&O’s fault! As a result of the ship’s design there is a greater likelihood of cancellations or delays.
The whole itinerary was rejigged but then port authorities in Alicante would not allow a ship the size of Iona in port because of forecast wind speeds! Design issue again? Although we have experienced a number of weather-related problems on other cruises, Iona seems to trigger delay and cancellation with a much higher probability.
Deck access and visibility – Compared to other P&O ships when we had the slightest weather problem the result was large outside areas being cordoned off.
e.g.
promenade deck 8 was regularly cordoned off near the bow.
Visibility from the ship on the promenade deck is also much worse because of the extra amounts of protective glass that are difficult to adequately clean.
On older ships the promenade decks always have normal levels of protection (i.e.you can lean on the handrails) which mean that you can easily see what is going on in port or out in the oceans.
Easy viewing of sea creatures is an important part of ocean cruising.
It is more difficult on Iona.
Port queuing and the size of Iona – P&O have poorly chosen certain ports for a ship carrying over 5000 passengers.
Lisbon port coped well despite another large ship being in at the same time, However getting onto Iona itself involved long queuing.
Vigo simply couldn’t handle the volume of people.
Extra charges – New £2.50 charge for any cabin food or drink whether ordering “free” breakfast items or items you are also charged for.
Another extra charge we did not expect because we have never had it before.
Costa Coffee with a free cake no longer available.
Always been available at certain times of day in at least one location on other P&O ships.
Excellent behind the scenes tour for £75 finishing on the bridge and meeting the Captain.
As with so many things on this Iona cruise, it didn’t include certain items which were previously included when I went behind the scenes on Azura a few years ago.
I had to pay £25 for an excellent photo with the Captain.
Also, at the end of the tour, there was no longer any get together with senior staff, normally an excellent opportunity to ask about items prompted by going behind the scenes.
However, senior staff were still there at each stopping point (the main theatre, the engine control room and the anchor area and the bridge).
There was no longer any visit behind the scenes in the kitchen.
In addition, I was given a USB stick which was supposed have photos of the trip, because camera use was no longer permitted.
The memory stick contained no photos of the trip locations, only photos of restaurants and external ship views.
I threw it in the bin.
Food quality and virtual queuing problems – Overall, we found a significant decline in food quality – more ordinary dishes and slightly reduced quality.
I would rate the food quality slightly better than Wetherspoons! However, all the waiters were good, including the head waiters I spoke to, mainly in the Aqua restaurant.
Also, the quality of gluten free substitutes I ordered was significantly poorer than previous cruises.
Virtual queueing was a big problem in that 2 of our queues were each over 1 hour, even though the queue was listed as very short (2 or 3) for over 1 hour.
The system gives no indication of how long it was likely to be to wait.
Also, some electronic notifications never arrived and I had to regularly keep rechecking the My Holiday app.
I consider the Virtual queuing system needs significant overhaul to improve its reliability, as does My Holiday accessibility in various areas of the ship (e.g.
Reception – which was acknowledged by staff to be a difficult area!!).
