Live report - Iona G305 Canary Islands

[Fionboard]

Maybe this pool should be adults only?

[zap99]

16 hours ago, wowzz said:

Perhaps they wanted to go to a bar that required formal dress ?

I imagine you are right. Perhaps they like eating in the buffet. Perhaps they like to dress formally to wander sound the ship. Lots of reasons are possible, but their choice.

[Britboys]

13 hours ago, Goosebear Mum said:

we’ve been up to the buffet after the MDR, to get a hot dessert, as evening meals on Aurora never had a hot option…. So we’d often do a ‘movable feast’… starter and main in MDR, then dessert later!!! If it was formal night, we’d often see others doing the same.

Wow, that's unusual. Always had a hot dessert option on Aurora...

[Britboys]

On 2/18/2023 at 10:50 PM, Ardennais said:

The new-look safety drill is very easy, but I do wonder how people would cope in a real emergency. There were only 1900 Peninsular club members on Iona last week, out of 5200, so I took that to mean that over 3000 were either first time cruisers or P&O virgins. The old system meant that you had to concentrate. It’s rather worrying really! 

I often wonder what would happen in a real emergency situation aboard a ship or aircraft. Sense and consideration may go out of the window. At least there are wider 'human traffic' spaces on a ship...

[Britboys]

18 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Of course. That explains it! We avoid the buffet like the plague and have never felt the need for a midnight snack when on a cruise, but maybe when we are on Iona this summer……..  😂 

That's only happened to once, one night on a Marella cruise. I think we went to dinner about 7/7.30 and I was actually hungry about 10.00. The other 6 nights were okay.

[paulatsea]

1 hour ago, Rupert2251 said:

Why not make it an adults only pool, or was it the adults(?) you were talking about?

Close the pool .

[davecttr]

10 minutes ago, paulatsea said:

Close the pool .

Indeed, an announcement from the captain that if the incidents happen again the pool will be closed for the duration of the cruise

 

Meanwhile why have P&O not designed an engineering solution?

[paulatsea]

58 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Indeed, an announcement from the captain that if the incidents happen again the pool will be closed for the duration of the cruise

 

Meanwhile why have P&O not designed an engineering solution?

Stupid design to have a pool with an overflow above balconies - hard to believe this wasn’t thought about. Is Arvia the same ?

[Advanced Diver]

1 hour ago, davecttr said:

Meanwhile why have P&O not designed an engineering solution?

It does have a shield which looks like it will catch water in all but the roughest seas, but of course it's harder to engineer away deliberate misbehaviour.

[daiB]

21 hours ago, TigerB said:

 

Probably filling up after the meagre portions in the MDR.🤭

No not at all, read my post it was Arcadia. The people when I was there were having full meals and not top ups. As I said they outnumbered those not formally dressed. Now it may be that these were experienced cruisers and had been around when the rule was that the dress code of the day was in force over the whole ship after 18.00. This was the case up until 2007/8/9.

[db51]

First sea day was good - weather cloudy but little rain. The ship was rolling very slightly but considering it is February it was a perfect crossing of Biscay. Dh went for a swim before breakfast in one of the infinity pools and said he could do 7 strokes before he had to turn- he seemed happy enough and went for a run on the deck 17 ( ish) running track afterwards. We had breakfast in the Epicurean - it is beautiful with massive windows. The perfect end was when we saw 3 dolphins( maybe porpoises) jumping very close to the ship. We explored the ship afterwards, discovering the 2 table tennis tables which are inset in a sheltered area on one of the higher decks ( maybe 16). No one was playing so we had a game ( because the equipment was in a box next to the tables) I lost as usual but it was fun. Dh then went to listen to a talk in Forensics which I avoided and spent a nice time rearranging the cabin. We had lunch at 12.30 at the buffet ( dh loves buffets - no idea why) - it was busy but we didn’t have to queue and I was pleasantly surprised by the fish pie and spinach Wellington I had. Both were good. We ate in the outside sheltered bit where there was plenty of empty seating ( possibly because it wasn’t that warm. ) We did a few laps of the promenade deck later which is lovely- the main ship seems very well designed with lots of outdoor space to explore. The atrium is very crowded though always and there seem to be permanent queues for reception. In the evening we ate at the Olive Groce at 6 - pre booked and we walked right in.  We learned that there are only 160 children on board ( all of whom seemed to be in the Olive Grove at 6)  Service was good - not slow - we were finished by 7.10. It was a nice meal, the Italian sharing platter, then meat pizza( dh), the lamb tagine (me, 4.50 extra - nice taste but lamb was a bit tough) and side salad ( the Caesar one ) followed by huge dessert portions of lemon tart and chocolate and hazelnut cake ( both lovely - but we had to do another promenade walk afterwards- front was closed due to winds) At 8.30 we went to the theatre ( pre booked on the ‘ app ‘ ) to see Electra which turned out to be 2 excellent violinists - tip - do not sit in the front 3 rows - it is loud. Dh then made me do the promenade walk again - I did 10900 steps today! Still enjoying ourselves and like the ship a lot. 

[devonuk]

4 hours ago, paulatsea said:

Stupid design to have a pool with an overflow above balconies - hard to believe this wasn’t thought about. Is Arvia the same ?

Unfortunately yes 😬

[doog442]

1 hour ago, devonuk said:

Unfortunately yes 😬

 

Oh dear. I've just booked an aft cabin on Arvia for next Jan (Caribbean). However its slightly off to one side 11746 and away from the fallout zone which appears to impact the two central balconies going down however I'd still expect some splashback..

 

I guess if pool closures are being threatened by the Captain they'll be forced to engineer a solution pronto. In some pics I can see a screen but not in others, was it added later ? The obvious answer is to make the screen higher, similar to others like the Enchanted Princess.

 

 

[devonuk]

3 hours ago, doog442 said:

 

Oh dear. I've just booked an aft cabin on Arvia for next Jan (Caribbean). However its slightly off to one side 11746 and away from the fallout zone which appears to impact the two central balconies going down however I'd still expect some splashback..

 

I guess if pool closures are being threatened by the Captain they'll be forced to engineer a solution pronto. In some pics I can see a screen but not in others, was it added later ? The obvious answer is to make the screen higher, similar to others like the Enchanted Princess.

 

 

There are 2 rear infinity pools with different ‘screen’ arrangements so this might be what you saw?

[Dobbers]

Good to hear you’re having a good cruise and thanks for the updates. 
We are cruising the Canaries next week but not with P&O as they didn’t have flights 🙄🤣

[terrierjohn]

Well so far the cruise is running perfectly, no sign of any major queues at the the MDR, and the food is perfectly acceptable, even able to have an extra portion of chips without any problems.

Although there were comments that this cruise was sold out, someone told me that reception advised them that there were 1000 less passengers on this cruise than the last one, this may have been due to it being half term with lots of children on board.

The age profile on this cruise is definitely in the high 60s or 70s, as witnessed by Pulses guilty secrets show in the Club House, which started with Quo's Rocking all over the world,  and continued in the same vein, and had the dance floor completely overcrowded. I doubt their party Anthems show of more modern songs will have the same effect.

So far nothing to complain about, although the weather has been quite cool so far, but the sun is shining in Funchal and I am wearing shorts for the first time this cruise.

Edited February 22, 2023 by terrierjohn

[Gettingwarmer]

2 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Well so far the cruise is running perfectly, no sign of any major queues at the the MDR, and the food is perfectly acceptable, even able to have an extra portion of chips without any problems.

Although there were comments that this cruise was sold out, someone told me that reception advised them that there were 1000 less passengers on this cruise than the last one, this may have been due to it being half term with lots of children on board.

The age profile on this cruise is definitely in the high 60s or 70s, as witnessed by Pulses guilty secrets show in the Club House, which started with Quo's Rocking all over the world,  and continued in the same vein, and had the dance floor completely overcrowded. I doubt their party Anthems show of more modern songs will have the same effect.

So far nothing to complain about, although the weather has been quite cool so far, but the sun is shining in Funchal and I am wearing shorts for the first time this cruise.

What time have you been eating and did you join the virtual queue. 

[terrierjohn]

4 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

What time have you been eating and did you join the virtual queue. 

We have eaten at 6:30 and 7:30, and no queues, we did join the virtual queue but went to the MDR before it said out table was ready and gave our room number without any query. The service is faster than it was in October but still very friendly and efficient.

Edited February 22, 2023 by terrierjohn

[Interestedcruisefan]

On 2/18/2023 at 5:50 PM, Ardennais said:

The new-look safety drill is very easy, but I do wonder how people would cope in a real emergency. There were only 1900 Peninsular club members on Iona last week, out of 5200, so I took that to mean that over 3000 were either first time cruisers or P&O virgins. The old system meant that you had to concentrate. It’s rather worrying really! 

We had a similar message from the Captain on Arvia yesterday in the Caribbean but only 100 Peninsular members mentioned on this cruise?

 

However the message on Arvia  referred to top tier Peninsular club members specifically rather than all Peninsular Club members

 

Your message could have been the same message?

 

Average age  on this cruise seems far lower than what I've seen described on the canaries cruise so you may have more top tier peninsular members online board?

 

More like mid 50s on here I would say

 

Our message went on to congratulate Joan who was celebrating a special birthday yesterday with her family on board. And was the cruiser with the most sea days with over 3 years of P and O cruises under her belt and counting!!

 

If it was the same message?

Edited February 22, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Gettingwarmer]

15 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

We have eaten at 6:30 and 7:30, and no queues, we did join the virtual queue but went to the MDR before it said out table was ready and gave our room number without any query. The service is faster than it was in October but still very friendly and efficient.

Sorry to ask again was this for tables for 2. Thanks

[terrierjohn]

1 minute ago, Gettingwarmer said:

Sorry to ask again was this for tables for 2. Thanks

One of each.

[daiB]

49 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

One of each.

Keep the reports coming John as we are on in 3 and a bit weeks. Glad you are enjoying the ship, again.

[Ardennais]

6 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

We had a similar message from the Captain on Arvia yesterday in the Caribbean but only 100 Peninsular members mentioned on this cruise?

 

However the message on Arvia  referred to top tier Peninsular club members specifically rather than all Peninsular Club members

 

Your message could have been the same message?

 

Average age  on this cruise seems far lower than what I've seen described on the canaries cruise so you may have more top tier peninsular members online board?

 

More like mid 50s on here I would say

 

Our message went on to congratulate Joan who was celebrating a special birthday yesterday with her family on board. And was the cruiser with the most sea days with over 3 years of P and O cruises under her belt and counting!!

 

If it was the same message?

Possibly, but we got chatting to people, as you do, and a lot were first time cruisers.   There were lots of people in their twenties and thirties, so the average age was quite a bit lower I would imagine. Judging by comments made here frequently, seasoned travellers like to avoid the school holidays, so I can well believe that a significant proportion would have been novice cruisers. It was also a 7 night cruise which coincided with half term in the southern half of England. 

[Interestedcruisefan]

7 hours ago, Ardennais said:

Possibly, but we got chatting to people, as you do, and a lot were first time cruisers.   There were lots of people in their twenties and thirties, so the average age was quite a bit lower I would imagine. Judging by comments made here frequently, seasoned travellers like to avoid the school holidays, so I can well believe that a significant proportion would have been novice cruisers. It was also a 7 night cruise which coincided with half term in the southern half of England. 

Yes lots of first time cruisers on this one as well for sure.