Just back from a week in the fjords on magnificent Iona.
Amazing ship with wonderful facilities, bars and restaurants.
Staff were lovely and entertainment was excellent.
Particularly enjoyed the Take That musical and singer, Kalon Rae.
Food on board was great.
Plenty of choice.
I’ve seen many reviews saying that the Horizon buffet is awful but this was not the case on our cruise.
There was a huge choice of quality food.
Sirloin steak and smoked salmon for breakfast one day! You don’t get that at home…well, not at my home anyway! Unfortunately there was quite a lot of things about Iona that we just didn’t enjoy: 1.
Queueing for EVERYTHING.
The virtual queue for evening dining is just too stressful.
Having to stare at your phone for up to an hour and still not being sure of getting a table just wears you out.
We failed to get into the Keel & Cow three nights running and the lady in charge told us that the galley can only cope with 15 orders.
What mad man thought that one up? 15 orders with 5800 people on board ??? 2.
Getting a drink in the popular bars took ages…or not at all.
We had the lowest bar tab of any cruise we’ve ever been on simply because we couldn’t get served! 3.
Celebration night should be scrapped.
It’s a complete nonevent.
The menu in the MDR was just awful.
My starter was so tiny I was convinced the waiter had given me someone else’s dirty plate! 4.
Audience behaviour in theatre and clubhouse was appalling.
I felt sorry for the lady magician who couldn’t compete with the noise even though she was miked.
I understand that a magic show at 3 in the afternoon is gonna attract kids…but if my kids had behaved like that they would never have been allowed in a theatre again! 5.
Lifts.
Crazy.
Every ride was a magical mystery tour! 6.
Muzak.
Loud music is piped EVERYWHERE around the ship.
You just can’t escape from it.
And finally, top tip…do not arrive at the terminal too early.
You will be placed in a sort of holding pen outside where you can watch thousands of people boarding before you…! It’s fun for about 5 minutes but wears a bit thin after two hours! Our fault for arriving early I suppose…! To sum up : We had an OK holiday.
Any holiday is better than staying at home! But for us, Iona is just too big and too busy and it would take a really good bargain offer to entice us back for more !