On Iona now

[Andrea1]

Hi. Just a quick post to say we are on the Iona now. Will let you all know what we think when we get back.
James

[Smilesonfaces]

Hope you are having a fantastic time. We'll be there Saturday !
Need to pack, have nails done and set off down to Southampton on Friday

[katiec68]

Have a fabulous trip!

Only 4 more days for us

Looking forward to hearing what you think about it xx

[Loobylou_82]

See you all on Saturday. Did my packing today. Getting excited.

[Smilesonfaces]

Originally Posted by Loobylou_82

See you all on Saturday. Did my packing today. Getting excited.

See more...

You're organised. I will pack on Thursday afternoon ready to leave Friday morning. This is quite good for me as I have been known to stay up the night before packing !

Have you packed a mix of summer clothes and clothes just in case weather isn’t good ? I am used to travelling light and can easily do 2 weeks with hand luggage only. This time I seem to be taking so much stuff.

Managed to print e tickets and luggage labels today but had to use computer at work, couldn’t do it on iPad. I’ve even been doing daily covid tests this week at work. Wish I could hibernate before we go !

[FloridaAnn & Co]

Have a fantastic time all of you
😀🍸💡🛳

[kevbrydon]

Iv'e just noticed Health Declaration form is online to complete ..and 2 new shows for the Theatre ...well one person Neil Lockwood life of music & Neil Lockwood in Concert


getting close now ...

[Andrea1]

Hi all.
Just a quick update on our recent Staycation on Iona.

Firstly, the Covid testing was very simple and we received our texts in about 20 minutes.

Our cabin was on deck 5, and was really very nice. The balcony was a lot smaller than other ships we have been on.
The ship is designed very different from your average cruise ship. There are 19 decks, but you can only get outside on deck 8. Because we were only at 50% capacity, it wasn't too busy. But I would imagine with full capacity, deck 8 could get very busy.

The food was fantastic. (I think we have certainly put on a few pounds) The waiters were very professional and polite, but not overly friendly. It was difficult to have a laugh with them. (I have photographs of menus if anyone wants me to post them on here)

The shows were absolutely amazing. Some of the best we have ever seen on a cruise.

Now just a couple of not so good points.

The lifts are not wheelchair friendly. There seems to be a problem with the doors closing too quickly. About 2 to 3 seconds. So if you were in a wheelchair like I was, it made it almost impossible to use the lifts with someone to help hold the doors open. I spoke to Guest Services and they said that they were aware of the problem and that it was a design fault which needed to be fixed by the company which built the lifts. They also said they had had a lot of complaints about them, and that it may take 2 to 3 months to get them fixed.
I would have thought something as important as the lifts would have been checked before she took her maiden voyage.

The entertainment in the evening was fairly good, but there was very little to do during the day. (Unless you fancied Line Dancing or talks about Orca Whales).

The mask mandate onboard seems a bit over the top considering you can sit right next to people in the dining rooms less than a foot apart without wearing masks, but going back to your cabin down the long, usually empty corridors, or walking around the ship which is so large it was very easy to social distance, you must wear a mask.
I can understand wearing them in the lifts and in the theatre, (Although we were all socially distanced in the theatre as well)

Saying that, we had a nice break, and the ship is nice with plenty of room.

Would we go on it again? Probably not. Its not the best or friendliest ship we have been on. We certainly will not go on another cruise until the mask mandate has been lifted.

[Twentyyears]

Originally Posted by Andrea1

Hi all.
Just a quick update on our recent Staycation on Iona.

Firstly, the Covid testing was very simple and we received our texts in about 20 minutes.

Our cabin was on deck 5, and was really very nice. The balcony was a lot smaller than other ships we have been on.
The ship is designed very different from your average cruise ship. There are 19 decks, but you can only get outside on deck 8. Because we were only at 50% capacity, it wasn't too busy. But I would imagine with full capacity, deck 8 could get very busy.

The food was fantastic. (I think we have certainly put on a few pounds) The waiters were very professional and polite, but not overly friendly. It was difficult to have a laugh with them. (I have photographs of menus if anyone wants me to post them on here)

The shows were absolutely amazing. Some of the best we have ever seen on a cruise.

Now just a couple of not so good points.

The lifts are not wheelchair friendly. There seems to be a problem with the doors closing too quickly. About 2 to 3 seconds. So if you were in a wheelchair like I was, it made it almost impossible to use the lifts with someone to help hold the doors open. I spoke to Guest Services and they said that they were aware of the problem and that it was a design fault which needed to be fixed by the company which built the lifts. They also said they had had a lot of complaints about them, and that it may take 2 to 3 months to get them fixed.
I would have thought something as important as the lifts would have been checked before she took her maiden voyage.

The entertainment in the evening was fairly good, but there was very little to do during the day. (Unless you fancied Line Dancing or talks about Orca Whales).

The mask mandate onboard seems a bit over the top considering you can sit right next to people in the dining rooms less than a foot apart without wearing masks, but going back to your cabin down the long, usually empty corridors, or walking around the ship which is so large it was very easy to social distance, you must wear a mask.
I can understand wearing them in the lifts and in the theatre, (Although we were all socially distanced in the theatre as well)

Saying that, we had a nice break, and the ship is nice with plenty of room.

Would we go on it again? Probably not. Its not the best or friendliest ship we have been on. We certainly will not go on another cruise until the mask mandate has been lifted.

See more...

Really great to have some honest reviews, I love the look of it but some things made me feel it was maybe not for us, I think you have confirmed it.
US friends of our have always said they think we would like Celebrity and after watching the Lodge guys I think I agree.
First time Princess cruise next week.

[holidaysaver75]

Really fascinating read as I'm about to ring a book a cruise on Iona to the fjords next summer. Our other option was Princess, with ports in Northern Spain / La Rochelle / Guernsey. Be really interested to hear which you'd choose. There will be 8 of us - a 12 year old, a 15 year old then 6 adults.