Iona's Pre-Christmas Cruise - A Diary

[zap99]

3 minutes ago, Waju said:

We booked Iona ages and ages ago just to see what a 'big' ship was like - our preferred ship is the adult only Aurora - but since we booked Iona we've had two short staycations on Britannia and MSC Virtuosa.  We enjoyed both of them very much, mainly because they weren't anywhere near full.  I think I would've hated both of them if they had sailed at capacity!

We had a couple of staycations last year on Britannia. I think she is probably our favourite. We have been on Brittania a few times when full, precovid. That was fine. A couple of times on Independence if the seas when she was full. That was ok as well. Once all this stuff has gone ships will be back to full capacity, as they were designed for.

[davecttr]

6 hours ago, SarahHben said:

Dave am I right in thinking you had a mid ship deluxe cabin on the curvy bit? I’ve been searching the internet for photos or videos of one of those but can’t find anything. Did you take any photos of the cabin?

Yes, 9.429 with the bed near the balcony. The cabins are the same width as normal ones but somewhat longer depending on their location. The bathrooms are the same etc and the balcony had a curved rail with room for 2 chairs and a table. My photos turned out awful but this is the sofa end with plenty of space next to the wardrobe. the big wooden thing I moved next to the bed as a more substantial bedside table. The steward moved it back and then gave up after a few days. the sofa was not very comfortable as like a lot of the seating aboard, especially the Crows Nest with very deep seats of 'leather' which I slide off.

[Solent Richard]

2 hours ago, picsa said:

 

Who sits in their cabin? The couch is for sitting on whilst putting your socks on, and that is it!

 

 

I am really surprised they are still stocking Apple products.

 

Apple are really keen that retailers do not deviate from their RRP, really really keen to the extent that retailers might find difficulty in obtaining stock if they do.

 

So when I was on Iona back in September it was surprising to see Iona's duty free store stocking Apple products, particularly as P&O's website says "Enjoy a minimum saving equivalent to the VAT on every item compared to its UK high street price or RRP and receive a further discount (up to 10 per cent) if you’re a member of our Peninsular club." 

 

And so I asked the price of one of the Apple products and when they told me what it was I expressed surprise as that was Apple's UK retail price - Where was the 20% off plus my Peninsular club discount.

 

To cut a long story short, it took days of phone calls between the duty free retail manager and their shore operation, which is obviously Hardings, with the retail manger constantly saying "um, no", but not being able to explain why not (other than the obvious. that they would be in trouble with Apple).

 

Eventually the involvement of the P&O's senior manager who oversaw the management of non-food operations onboard resolved the blockage and they agreed to do it at the discounted price (and the manager threw in a free meal in Epicurean as an apology for the time taken to resolve).

 

So really surprised that Apple products are still stocked, or there is not an *except Apple products exclusion on the P&O duty free webpage.

Good afternoon.

 

You make an interesting case.

 

I too had wondered on the advantages but as they only had Apple watches and a few other accessories I didn't pursue it.

 

The reason I brought it up was that had they stocked an Apple  laptop I would have been interested in replacing my current model that i purchased in the ocean going Apple shop onboard Celebrity Infinity some years ago.

[SarahHben]

2 hours ago, davecttr said:

Yes, 9.429 with the bed near the balcony. The cabins are the same width as normal ones but somewhat longer depending on their location. The bathrooms are the same etc and the balcony had a curved rail with room for 2 chairs and a table. My photos turned out awful but this is the sofa end with plenty of space next to the wardrobe. the big wooden thing I moved next to the bed as a more substantial bedside table. The steward moved it back and then gave up after a few days. the sofa was not very comfortable as like a lot of the seating aboard, especially the Crows Nest with very deep seats of 'leather' which I slide off.

Many thanks for that. Assuming the layout is the same on the decks above I think my parents cabin and my sister's cabin will have the same figuration as yours. My cabin has the bed on the left as you walk in so I think our sofa willl be next to the balcony.

[backbiter]

Thanks for the review. A great read with great photos.

We were on the same cruise and had a lovely time. Very impressed with the ship, the food and the entertainment.

We felt very safe throughout and couldn't fault P&O and the crew for the way they implemented and upheld Covid safety measures.

Like you we were very disappointed to miss out on Hamburg, but we did enjoy the excursion to Rouen.

All in all, it was a great cruise. 

[zap99]

2 hours ago, davecttr said:

Yes, 9.429 with the bed near the balcony. The cabins are the same width as normal ones but somewhat longer depending on their location. The bathrooms are the same etc and the balcony had a curved rail with room for 2 chairs and a table. My photos turned out awful but this is the sofa end with plenty of space next to the wardrobe. the big wooden thing I moved next to the bed as a more substantial bedside table. The steward moved it back and then gave up after a few days. the sofa was not very comfortable as like a lot of the seating aboard, especially the Crows Nest with very deep seats of 'leather' which I slide off.

We had the same configuration and I had the same bruised toenail that a few other folk had.🤔

[picsa]

4 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Picsa, re your concerns about Apples pricing, the 20% VAT is applied after Apples RRP, so that price e is not discounted  equally I would imagine that P&Os peninsular discount would be considered as a specific cruise ship discount not available to everyone.

 

If so it is incredibly odd that if you take a look in duty free shops which do sell Apple products that they are not discounted in the same way as all the other products for sale.

 

And it was also odd that it took P&O ship management to intervene before Hardings honoured the offer (and that wasn't a simple matter of a conversation between P&O ship management and the onboard Harding's staff, but P&O ship management speaking to Hardings on-shore).

[Solent Richard]

12 hours ago, picsa said:

 

If so it is incredibly odd that if you take a look in duty free shops which do sell Apple products that they are not discounted in the same way as all the other products for sale.

 

And it was also odd that it took P&O ship management to intervene before Hardings honoured the offer (and that wasn't a simple matter of a conversation between P&O ship management and the onboard Harding's staff, but P&O ship management speaking to Hardings on-shore).

What I had noticed and alerted me was the notice on one of the counters offering 'Interest Free' credit...

 

 

Had there been an Apple MacBook Air on offer my inclination would have been to pay with my ship card and gain the 10% Caribbean discount. All hypothetical of course though I've often wondered why Cunard don't have an Apple outlet considering the numbers of US citizens that cruise with them.

[Britboys]

On 1/2/2022 at 8:14 PM, Solent Richard said:

Apologies for the delay in producing this latest of my cruise blogs, blame a fast and free Christmas & New Year social programme...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2022/01/02/iona-a-pre-christmas-cruise-diary/

 

 

 

******

 

Great blog as usual. Good to hear of your experiences and see your photos - especially as I am unlikely ever to sail aboard Iona. She's not for me but horses for courses...

[Solent Richard]

On 1/4/2022 at 7:42 PM, Britboys said:

Great blog as usual. Good to hear of your experiences and see your photos - especially as I am unlikely ever to sail aboard Iona. She's not for me but horses for courses...

 

Thank you.

 

I can understand what you're saying and, as Ive often stated, Iona is designed for the younger generation and newer cruiser: but it was fun trying her out.

 

[purplesea]

We're due to sail on her next Saturday and if I have worked it out correctly our sofa is next to the wardrobes too.  Will see!

[Bazrat]

On 1/2/2022 at 8:14 PM, Solent Richard said:

Apologies for the delay in producing this latest of my cruise blogs, blame a fast and free Christmas & New Year social programme...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2022/01/02/iona-a-pre-christmas-cruise-diary/

 

 

 

******

 

Really interesting blog it as wetted our appitite for our TA on her soon to be sister ship next year

[Solent Richard]

On 1/6/2022 at 6:27 PM, Bazrat said:

Really interesting blog it as wetted our appitite for our TA on her soon to be sister ship next year

Thanks for the kind comment @Bazrat . I wish you Bon Voyage.