[Allisonjane]

Originally Posted by SquishTheWhale

Honestly it's not an easy one. I think if you go in expecting RC or NCL you'll be dissapointed. Things like food and entertainment won't be on quite the same level.

However I think Iona will have a lot more to give than Britannia does and will be better suited to the Fjords with the indoor pool. I spent a lot of time on sea days reading in the cabin which I don't normally on a cruise, we're normally out doing stuff having fun on the ship.

You might be luckier with the entertainment team as they tend to send the best staff to the new ship. Quizzes and game shows etc depend on what you like- we love the hilarious and slightly naughty ones like The Quest on RC. They were more sedate and family friendly on P&O. Quizzes seemed aimed at an older generation but that might suit you better than us (Not trying to imply anything!). The guest speaker did a lecture about German tanks in ww2 or something. The guest entertainer was an Annie Lennox tribute. Again just not our thing, hopefully you'd get luckier than we did!

They was lots and lots of dance classes on sea days which normally we'd love but being pregnant I wasn't quite up to it. So I think we'd have been more entertained in different circumstances! The last day was super rocky and as I couldn't take any travel sickness pills I was just blurrrghhh, never mind dancing. Luckily the sea calmed down in time for us to do the Cookery Club which was definitley a highlight!

The way I'd look at it I think is if RC and NCL score 9s and 10s then P&O was 6s and 7s. Which still makes for a perfectly acceptable above average experience. But not a wow one.

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Thank you for the reply.
It really is a tough one, we have sailed on Ncl Epic, Jewel and Jade and RC voyager, adventure and Libery, and also Disney Magic.
I prefer newer and larger ships, the bigger the better, that's why Iona appealed to me. That said Disney Magic was the smallest ship and my favourite cruise so far because the entertainment, food and service were so good.
We have done the Fjords before in August (7 years ago) with Royal and I remember the weather not being great so we were inside alot of the time, but there was lots to do. There will be 9 of us this time, ages 12-81, so we should be able to amuse ourselves, but still worried I will miss all the things I'm used to.
Price wise the Epic is probably closest but would have to add on flights, and we've done the itinerary twice already so that doesn't really excite me, but the weather would be better. We did love the Epic but now hubby is saying he doesn't want to go on a ship he's already been on.
Decisions decisions.