Halloween on the High Seas- P&O Iona Oct 2024

[SquishTheWhale]

Finally over the bug, although have been busy planning for Florida as we just booked a last minute trip! From the cruise FB group it seems unfortunately lots have come down with a sickness bug on this cruise, some being confined to cabins for days. It happens, and with 1600 kids on board being gross as kids are I'm not surprised.

Day 1- embarkation in Southampton

We booked parking with Myparkingspace (or Yourparkingspace?) for Everystudent accomodation- I can dig up the exact details if anyone wants it. It was a bargain at around £40 for the week, and worked out really great. Secure gated site with a guard and only 10-15 mins walk from the cruise terminal. Even with a little one and a bunch of luggage it was easy. This is the only pic I have in the car park but you get the idea.

Dropped off our luggage around 11am which was super quick, then walked into Southampton to get some lunch and wait for our 3pm boarding.

We see you but we aren't allowed on you yet!

Gary's new boots were bothering him so he wanted new socks, and he'd forgotten contact lens fluid which is one of the only three things he is responsible for packing (yet still somehow my fault) so we ran a couple of errands and actually didn't get back to the terminal until 3.30. It definitely felt weird boarding so late!

Very quick and easy checking in and straight onto the ship. The atrium had a Halloween display set up which was nice. Unfortunately with such a late boarding time, all the reservations for The Olive Grove were gone (bar middle of the day on port days). The system seems unfair to me- it should be pre booking like the speciality restaurants.

Muster is the easiest of any cruise line I've experienced now- just scan cruise cards at your muster station straight after boarding and watch the video in your cabin. As our muster station was the atrium this took no time at all.

We then went straight to the cabin, 4455 midship seaview on deck 4. Absolutely loved this cabin! So cosy but modern. Spent lots of time in the window seat. The bed was soooo comfy and the bathroom spacious. The one downside was not loads of storage, but it was manageable. We heard no noise other than the ship sounds you would expect being that close to the water.

Hiro was desperate to go straight to the pool so off we went

Sadly the skydome pool was shut- this is my one big complaint about the ship. It was shut every day from around 4pm, so they could convert it to a stage. Meaning by the time we got back on the ship from port it was shut. We used the other pools but they were freezing cold. Just a shame with so many kids on board that the only pool at an acceptable temperature was shut so much.
Not P&Os fault, but it was also shut for the first whole sea day for cleaning, I assume a code brown. So we never actually got in it.

We didn't last long in the aft pool as it was so cold, so decided to ignore (feel free to tell me off!) the under 8s rule in the hot tubs and go in there. Normally I wouldn't, but they were barely hot so totally fine for young kids. More like normal pool temperature than a hot tub.

Dinner in the Horizon buffet

The lemon sponge was soooo good, we both had seconds (no custard for me!)

Ventura I think on her way out

We always found the food in the buffet good, although I would have liked a little more choice. I think they should offer some kind of basic pasta dish every night as this is a staple for kids! Also wish they had cookies for dessert. But no complaints on quality- we both agreed we enjoyed this food more than RCI earlier this year.

Hiro wanted an ice cream for dessert- this was reasonably priced from Snowflake gelato at around £3.

After that we explored the ship some more and it was time for bed! Unfortunately we didn't make any of the evening shows this cruise, but that's just part of having a young child.

[SquishTheWhale]

I am rubbish and so slow! Have been consumed with planning our Christmas Orlando trip, but I will complete this at some point as I like to have it as a nice diary for myself as well

Day 2- Le Havre

It always feels odd to have a port day first instead of a sea day! This port was originally supposed to be La Rochelle and I'm sure a collective groan went up when it was changed to the most hated port in the med, Le Havre.
However, we actually had a pretty decent day! We didn't want to pre book anything in case the weather was bad, so the plan was just to walk round the coast to the beach.

Gary attempted to haul this off to Cash4Gold

It took around 45 mins to walk to the beach, and was a fairly pleasant walk except for the immediate port area.

Okay, it's not going to win any awards for beach of the year, but Hiro had a great time digging in the rocks looking for 'fossils'. We of course ended up carting a massive bag of rocks back to the cabin with us. I think I found a geode?

There's also a large playpark here, and public toilets available next to it

We walked back via the town, but it was a Sunday and literally everything was shut. Gary wanted blister plasters but the only shop we could find open was a mini supermarket which didn't sell them. We did however get these which are so much better than pringles!

Snacks being the obvious priority.

Back on board and in the cabin they'd left Hiro a little activity pack which was so nice. Didn't get anything like this on RCI.

Checked out our photos- these are the prices if anyone is interested. I think there was also an unlimited package but couldn't see a price for that.

Photo opps are quite limited on board, we ended up buying 5.

Dinner from the buffet:

Everything was very nice, no complaints. We left Le Havre in the dark- it was quite a long port day to fit in the excursions to Paris.

Who doesn't love a hot tub sail away!

[SquishTheWhale]

Day 3- Sea Day

I always enjoy a sea day, as long as there isn't multiple in a row.

Today was mostly spent chilling out, eating and swimming.

Pretty much every meal for Hiro:

Why do they eat so badly on holiday?

The pools are freezing. The only indoor pool, the skydome, was out of action all day for cleaning.

We also saw The Animal Guyz, who needed pre booking. We have seen them before and the show was brillint, they are so funny. I did notice they had less animals than their shows on land- I'm assuming just the restrictions of what they can bring. Still great but Hiro got bored when there wasn't an animal on stage.

They are a guest show so you will only find them on certain cruises- I think mainly school hol ones.

We had lunch in The Quays but for some reason I don't have any pics- it was lovely though! I had fish n chips and everyone is right, it was delicious.

Afterwards we headed to Snowflake Gelato to tick off something we really wanted to do, get the ice cream afternoon tea. This was SO good and amazing value! It was about £13 and included a coffee. We couldn't finish it between us.

Honestly incredible value, I think you'd pay 40 quid for that in a fancy ice cream parlour on land. Do not get one each!

Tonight was formal night and I wanted to dress up for pictures, and eat in the MDR. In hindsight we should have just eaten in the buffet and ignored the slightly weird feeling that comes with being in formal gear in the buffet. We joined the MDR virtual queue at 6pm and it was well gone 8 by the time our table was ready. Ended up feeding Hiro in the buffet and we should have just eaten there too.

The photo lines were taking about 45 minutes each too.

MDR was ok, but not worth waiting that long for.

The amuse bouch was nasty, but I hate bloody mary's so not really surprised. Gary drank his. I had the pea soup which was ok. It was supposed to have ham in it and I didn't find any.

Gary had two starters, the asparagus and ravioli. I don't think he was overly impressed with either.

We both had the steak for main

This was fine, but came in two options- medium or well. The waiter didn't actually ask me but mine arrived medium which is fine, thats what I'd have asked for. However it was more medium rare so I left the centre which was too bloody for me.

We ordered Hiro the crepes from the kids menu as he'd already eaten in the buffet

And I also ordered mango sorbet for both of us as it's Hiro's fave. It arrived kind of melted.

Gary had apple tarte- he said it was nice

The MDR and atmosphere was nice but definitely feel like we should just have gone to the buffet, it was not worth the wait.

[SquishTheWhale]

Day 4- Bilbao, Spain

Switched to external image hosting for better pics- was being lazy using the Dibb uploader before!

The only port we had 'ambitious' plans for- i.e. not just having a wander. This was Ionas maiden call to Bilbao, and the largest cruise ship ever to have visited, which is pretty cool! As it was a fairly short port day- 8 til 4- I roused everyone early and grabbed some bits from the buffet to bring back to the room.

We were off the ship around 8.45 and straight onto a shuttle into Bilbao. You dock around 25 mins drive away as Bilbao itself is more inland. I'd read that this shuttle was chargeable unless you booked select fare, but nobody was charged. Maybe because it was the maiden call and they wanted to see how things went?

We had zero wait for the shuttle but I saw on the FB group that those departing a little later had up to an hour wait so a lot didn't bother. What a shame, because Bilbao was wonderful!







We didn't pay to go into the Guggenheim as it isn't something we were that interested in doing, and I heard the outside is the most impressive thing.

There is a huge playpark next to it, and some water/smoke features. There is also a public toilet which was terrifying as it seemed to be on a random cleaning cycle where it would turn off all the lights, hiss and spray water at you while you were trying to do your business. Fun.



When we got off the shuttle, the guide recommended that we walk along the river and across the bridge to the old town so that's what we did. Lots and lots of tourist tat shops (I don't say that as a negative, love them!) and cafes.





Hiro and I snacked on the picnic I made last night in the buffet but Gary wanted something more so he got noodles from this little cafe, which he said was great. He speaks a little Mandarin (not as much as he should when it's his mother's first language) and he thinks they gave him extra because of that!




I was very happy to see my favourite Spanish shop, Ale Hop. It's a bit like Flying Tiger but way better. Hiro chose some toys and I bought this little haul





The neck cushions were only 10 euros each so I got them with our 2025 Florida trip in mind- now we'll be using them much earlier than planned!

Walked back through the main town towards the coach pick up, which brings you round the back of the Guggenheim so we could see the last sculpture:





There are free toilets inside the Guggenheim as well that you don't need to have paid for entry to use. Wish I'd known that before using the terrifying loo by the play park.

When we got to the pick up point the line was insane. Literally never ending. This was it stretching out before and behind us. We joined around 2.45 I believe, last pickup was 3.30.





Now I saw a LOT of complaining about this situation on the FB page, to the extend that one passenger was trying to organise a group complaint against P&O. But I will say this for them:

It was a FREE shuttle
The line was immense but moved quickly- we were on a coach in around 30 mins
It was Ionas maiden call here and they hadn't dealt with a ship of this size before
They had P&O reps there managing the line
They had coaches arriving every couple of minutes- I don't see what more they could have done
It was FREE

So I have no complaints. I don't know what the situation was with those who turned up at 3.30 expecting to get the last coach, and there was still a line. I'm guessing the P&O reps made sure everyone got on. We heard announcements for two missing passengers but that was it- if they'd stranded those waiting in line still there would have been loads left behind.

[SquishTheWhale]

We had lots of locals waving us off which was nice



Sailaway from the hot tub again until it we got hungry



We then managed to totally lose Gary! He went to get changed in the loo and just never came back. Hiro and I hung around for almost an hour and got a couple of mocktails



And eventually gave up and went for dinner. Must have just been a miscommunication as we expected him to come back to the hot tub area after getting changed, but he went down to the cabin. I didn't know, but he'd put his cruise card in my bag so he couldn't get into the cabin! We'd rung the cabin several times from the public phones and assumed he wasn't there as he didn't answer, but he couldn't get in so had been waiting for us outside the door. Oops.

The plan had been dinner in the Quays so we decided to go there to see if we could find him. I grabbed a fish n chips as there was no queue and then queued for the burger counter. When I returned Hiro had been picking the batter off my fish



I also had a burger and Hiro had nuggets and chicken gravy





All was very good- I'd rate the fish n chips the highest, burger was a pretty standard cruise ship burger.

As we were walking out we finally bumped into Gary. He'd gone to the gym as he couldn't find us or get into the cabin. We were heading to the cinema to watch the kids movie, Trolls, so he said he'd get something to eat then see us there. He had the fried chicken which he said was really really good.

Hiro found his first duck so was very pleased



I'd read you need to be in the cinema 20 mins or more beforehand to get a seat, but we had it all to ourselves until 10 mins before and there was plenty of empty left.



The cinema is a great feature, however take ear defenders for kids- it was LOUD. It was hurting my ears so god knows what it was doing to the kids. I had to run back to the cabin for Hiro's headphones.

[SquishTheWhale]

Day 5
A Coruna

Another port we'd never heard of before taking this cruise! But it turned out to be a lovely city on the sea. The plan was to walk through the town to the beach.

The port area right where you dock is lovely, lots to see.





Then engaged in our favourite holiday activity of browsing the local supermarket where Gary bought a pan au chocolat as big as his face, and we got some chocolates and treats as presents




Hiro was in a grump because they didn't have the same sonic the hedgehog surprise eggs he'd bought at the supermarket in Le Havre, because obviously the reason we cruise is to buy chocolate eggs with toys inside. He settled for some knock off Spanish kinder eggs.

The beach was very nice, although the sun went in quite quickly and didn't come back out, which made it less enjoyable- especially for Gary who'd decided to jump in the sea!





So we packed up after an hour and walked along the bay- and realised we should have set up in this far more sheltered cove!



I was desperate for the loo and we found some on the other side of this fountain, if anyone ever needs to know where they are!





Obviously the sun had also come back out now we'd left the beach.

Walked back through parks and the city, enjoying the sights.



This fountain was full of fish





I wanted a magnet as we get one from every port, and we hadn't seen a tourist tat shop except for when we first left the ship, so we headed back over that way. On the way we found a Belgian fries shop with an ice cream parlour next door so obviously had both





Not sure I'd call them Belgian fries, more chip shop chips- but they were so good!

There was lots of little play parks we kept coming across and all were so well maintained. We found that in Bilbao too, playparks everywhere!



Magnet acquired and Hiro in a sulk because he hadn't bought a toy in a whole day



Loved this port, so beautiful and loads to see!

[SquishTheWhale]

While Gary and Hiro were in the hot tub (again) I said I'd pop down to the Olive Grove to ask if they could get us in for dinner. I really wanted to book but as we had such a late boarding time, everything was gone by the time we were able to check. I do think this system is unfair and they should let you book it two weeks out like the other restaurants. However, great success, they could fit us in!



Gary and I shared the sampler starter, it was good



Hiro had a pizza, pepperoni only isn't on the menu but you can ask for it. They did offer to make a child size one, but we wanted to try some too!



I had lasagne, and Gary had both lasagne and the beef!





All was so good, you are getting speciality dining here for no additional cost. We'd eat here every night if we could get in (we tried- couldn't get in again!)

For dessert we had the chocolate torte and lemon tarte. I was stuffed so didn't have any apart from a taste of the rosewater ice cream which was really interesting





Hiro was adamant he wanted dessert. Had a few bites then literally turned over and fell asleep. Oh to be a 4 year old

[SquishTheWhale]

Day 6
Halloween at Sea

A really lovely day at sea, and P&O really did it right having lots of Halloween fun without going overboard (pun not intended) to annoy guests who weren't interested.

Some breakfast in the Horizon







They have this giant deckchair in the skydome which is great for pics



We were keeping Hiro out of the pools today as he had a rash, probably from spending hours marinating in the hot tubs. So we hung around in the cabin for a bit- we woke up quite late, meaning we missed our 10am reservation for The Animal Guyz. But we managed to get in on standby for the 12pm show.





Lunch in The Quays- it does get very busy on sea days, but we didn't eat until fairly late so managed to get a table. Burger for Gary, Katsu and (I think Malaysian?) curry for me.





We then went up to The Reef, which is the kids club. Hiro refuses to go in the clubs, which is a shame as they looked fantastic. The space of the club itself looked so much better than the one on Oasis of the Seas. However they were doing a scavenger hunt where you had to follow the clues to spell a word, and also count all the pumpkins you found. Hiro LOVED this.





The trail finished in the atrium where they could turn in their sheets for a prize. For a free activity this was brilliant and took about an hour.





We then went back to our cabin to get changed for the evening. Hiro had a halloween costume, but I didn't want to feel silly if no adults dressed up so had a halloween print dress and Gary had a shirt. I really wish I'd brought a proper costume! People went ALL OUT. It was the nicest atmosphere with everyone dressed up and people having fun but in a safe way.

First we went Trick or Treating, it was Hiro's first time doing this and what a lovely way to do it, inside in the warm and knowing nothing dodgy will happen! Pre-cruise people had signed up on the FB group to say they would be taking part, but we just took from the ones that had been left outside of doors unless there was a sign saying to knock.







There was so many kids taking part! There was nothing official announced by P&O regarding trick or treating but everyone understood the assignment. We did 3 decks, by this point we were tired even though Hiro begged to do more! He had a giant bag of candy so we persuaded him to put most of it outside our door as all ours had been taken already.

We then went to get some photos, they had special Halloween ones set up





We went back to the cabin intending to go back out to dinner, but Hiro started watching a movie on the TV and didn't want to move, so Gary told me to go eat as he wasn't that hungry. The selection on the TV is brilliant, all free and lots of very new movies.





I popped to the grill next to the skydome pool to grab some food to take back to the cabin. I think this is called Taste 360? We hadn't managed to try it yet as the queue was always huge and slow moving. It's the only place on board to get pizza, chips and nuggets etc so think with so many kids on board it was in high demand. Tonight they also had lasagne which Gary said was very nice.



We then went for a walk around the ship to see what was going on. They had lots of Halloween themed activities throughout the day, such as a costume parade and discos. Up in the skydome they had a silent disco. Hiro really really badly wanted to try it, I think because the headsets looked cool and enticing. So we queued for 20 mins, and one group before us they ran out



He was totally distraught by this, in the way that only overtired children can be so we decided not to wait on the uncertainty of someone quickly returning headsets for us to use, and took him back to the cabin while he wailed 'headphonnesssss' the whole way through the ship.