Iona Winter 20/21

[Britboys]

Had an e-mail from a TA this morning saying that Iona will spend winter 20/21 in Northern Europe, Spain, Portugal and the Canaries.  Depending what they do with other ships in the fleet, there could be some cheap deals on the far horizon...

[molecrochip]

Just guessing...
Iona: Canaries and European cities
Britannia: Caribbean

Azura: Caribbean

Ventura: No-fly Caribbean/US East Coast
Oceana: Middle East & India
Arcadia: No-fly Caribbean/Spain med pre Xmas then World Cruise after (due Sydney 20& 21/02/21)

Aurora: No-fly Caribbean/Spain med pre Xmas then South American after?

[Britboys]

12 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

Just guessing...
Iona: Canaries and European cities
Britannia: Caribbean

Azura: Caribbean

Ventura: No-fly Caribbean/US East Coast
Oceana: Middle East & India
Arcadia: No-fly Caribbean/Spain med pre Xmas then World Cruise after (due Sydney 20& 21/02/21)

Aurora: No-fly Caribbean/Spain med pre Xmas then South American after?

 

Sounds a very reasonable guess.  Information on P&O website now says that Iona will be visiting Bruges, Hamburg, Rotterdam & Amsterdam (from Rotterdam) in Northern Europe and Lisbon, Cadiz, Tenerife, Gran Canaria & Madeira for winter sun.  On the basis of her first season in Norway, I am guessing she will only do two itineraries across the winter season.

[daiB]

2 hours ago, Britboys said:

 

Sounds a very reasonable guess.  Information on P&O website now says that Iona will be visiting Bruges, Hamburg, Rotterdam & Amsterdam (from Rotterdam) in Northern Europe and Lisbon, Cadiz, Tenerife, Gran Canaria & Madeira for winter sun.  On the basis of her first season in Norway, I am guessing she will only do two itineraries across the winter season.

There is also information about Barcelona and Valencia and Gibraltar and also mentions of late stays and overnights. This is on a blog site. So I think more than the two. But anything is better that the bus service in Norway. 

 

I think we may be booking something on her.

[Britboys]

That's interesting - thanks Dai.  You won't be surprised to know that I won't be booking anything on her .  I might be tempted by something on Aurora or Arcadia though - to celebrate my 60th birthday!

[terrierjohn]

It's interesting that none of the itineraries mentioned are for the Med., and yet she was reportedly calling at Gibraltar in Jan and Feb, I wonder if that's still the case?

And what do P&O do about VAT when all the ports are in the EU?

Edited February 11, 2019 by terrierjohn

[daiB]

2 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

It's interesting that none of the itineraries mentioned are for the Med., and yet she was reportedly calling at Gibraltar in Jan and Feb, I wonder if that's still the case?

And what do P&O do about VAT when all the ports are in the EU?

John there is mention in another source of Barcelona, Valencia Alicante and Gibraltar. The full details are clearly not on the P&O site yet.

[Britboys]

According to the Port of Gibraltar website, Iona appears set to call there on 3/12/20, 7/1/21, 4/2/21 and 11/3/21.  Of course, by then there may well be different arrangements regarding VAT to the ones in place now...

[terrierjohn]

On 2/11/2019 at 1:26 PM, daiB said:

There is also information about Barcelona and Valencia and Gibraltar and also mentions of late stays and overnights. This is on a blog site. So I think more than the two. But anything is better that the bus service in Norway. 

 

I think we may be booking something on her.

Just checking the 4 dates that Iona is visiting Gibraltar in winter 2020/21, there are 35  days between the first 2 and the last 2 and 28 between the  2nd & 3rd, and all 4 are on Thursdays.  I am guessing that Iona could be doing 14 night Med and Canary cruises and 7 night northern cities cruises.

 

[eddie11]

This article in a trade journal might give a few more pointers as to Iona’s winter schedules

 

http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/articles/323647/iona-winter-2020-21-schedule-revealed-by-po-cruises

[P-L-B]

3 hours ago, eddie11 said:

This article in a trade journal might give a few more pointers as to Iona’s winter schedules

 

http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/articles/323647/iona-winter-2020-21-schedule-revealed-by-po-cruises

Thanks for posting the link.

I like the overnight and late departure options.

[tring]

I like the idea of overnights and late departures as well - it is something that always attracts us to a cruise, especially in the run up to Christmas when the cities are lit for the festive season.  We are not big ship people and even what are now the smaller P&O ships are larger than what we normally travel on, but given the increased prices of smaller vessels, that could just make us try a big one.

 

I see that pre-registration opens on the 18th March, so when can I expect to find details of the cruises, with the prices to be charged.  Are the cruises on the other P&O ships for winter 20/21 likely to be released at a similar time?  

Edited February 27, 2019 by tring

[Saab4444]

Does anyone know if and why the firts originally planned cruise on Iona (9 nights to Norway in May 2020) has been canceled? Does the ship arrive delayed?

[daiB]

1 hour ago, Saab4444 said:

Does anyone know if and why the firts originally planned cruise on Iona (9 nights to Norway in May 2020) has been canceled? Does the ship arrive delayed?

Is that the Maiden?

 

Why do you say it’s cancelled?

 

Is it just sold out o it showing?

[CarlaMarie]

I haven't heard anything that she is arriving late.  Has her maiden definitely been cancelled?

[daiB]

5 minutes ago, CarlaMarie said:

I haven't heard anything that she is arriving late.  Has her maiden definitely been cancelled?

I would not think so at this early stage please don’t get into a panic.

 

i suspect it is sold out and therefore no trace of it on booking sites. 

[molecrochip]

It’s sold out.

[CarlaMarie]

14 minutes ago, daiB said:

I would not think so at this early stage please don’t get into a panic.

 

i suspect it is sold out and therefore no trace of it on booking sites. 

 

Yes I expect you are right. 

[Selbourne]

4 hours ago, CarlaMarie said:

I haven't heard anything that she is arriving late.  Has her maiden definitely been cancelled?

 

No, it’s definitely not cancelled, it is sold out and has been for ages. P&O have a strange policy of making cruises disappear from their website when fully booked, rather than just show it as sold out. It’s also irritating as all the info about the cruise (for those already booked) dissapears with it!

[Balernocalling]

On ‎2‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 1:26 PM, daiB said:

There is also information about Barcelona and Valencia and Gibraltar and also mentions of late stays and overnights. This is on a blog site. So I think more than the two. But anything is better that the bus service in Norway. 

 

I think we may be booking something on her.

We are on her for the Maiden Voyage  Dai...…..Did not think we would, but realised you have to try the big one!!

[daiB]

3 minutes ago, Balernocalling said:

We are on her for the Maiden Voyage  Dai...…..Did not think we would, but realised you have to try the big one!!

Not long enough for us and repeat cruises mean a back to back is out.

 

Enjoy

[kenhem]

I am pleased Iona is based in the UK for 2020/21 winter cruises. I was expecting it to do Caribbean based cruises like other new ships have done. We do not do fly cruises so it will be nice to have the opportunity of sailing on a fairly new ship at this time of year, we will definitely  be booking.

 

[P&O SUE]

On 2/27/2019 at 8:59 PM, Selbourne said:

 

No, it’s definitely not cancelled, it is sold out and has been for ages. P&O have a strange policy of making cruises disappear from their website when fully booked, rather than just show it as sold out. It’s also irritating as all the info about the cruise (for those already booked) dissapears with it!

 

If you put the cruise number in the search box you can still bring up the cruise details. I agree though, annoying!

[Selbourne]

7 hours ago, P&O SUE said:

 

If you put the cruise number in the search box you can still bring up the cruise details. I agree though, annoying!

 

You can do that sometimes Sue, but not always and not in this case. If you search for G003 (Iona’s Maiden Cruise) you get the details of G004, the Cruise after! I think that P&O miss a trick with this. To show some cruises as ‘Sold Out’ must surely encourage some who are undecided to make bookings for other cruises? 

[davecttr]

I see those late departures and overnights might be because bunkering takes longer with that liquified gas stuff