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2 Americans on the Iona, Norwegian Fjords, April 29th

Grumpella

By Grumpella,
in P&O Cruises ( UK )

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Grumpella

Grumpella

Posted
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I will be doing a review of this experience, as I appreciate everything I have learned on cruisecritic.

 

This will be our 17th cruise:  5 on Carnival, 7 on Norwegian, 2 on Celebrity, 1 on Holland America and 1 on Royal Caribbean.

 

We are a married couple, 59 and 63.  

 

We are flying out tomorrow from Boston to Heathrow.  We booked tickets on the National Express bus to get to and from Southampton and will be staying at the Holiday Inn.

 

That's all I can report at this time.  lol

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Neecy1

Neecy1

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Hope you have a great time. Our neighbours are on this cruise too. We stayed at the Holiday Inn (Herbert Walker Avenue) last November, the night before our cruise on Iona. It was lovely and very convenient for the port and West Quay. Look forward to your review 

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wowzz

wowzz

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Just now, Eglesbrech said:

I look forward to reading your thoughts on the cruise. It will be really interesting to get a different perspective.

 

 

I'm a little trepidatious about what our American friends might find !

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Harry Peterson

Harry Peterson

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12 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

I look forward to reading your thoughts on the cruise. It will be really interesting to get a different perspective.

 

 

Me too. I suspect the view we have of ourselves might be rather different from that of someone from outside the UK.

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lincslady

lincslady

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If the Epicurean on Iona is as good as the food I have just looked  at on Arvia, why not suggest to the American couple that they should try to dine there - maybe frequently - especially as the cruises themselves are a reasonable price.

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Technoman2

Technoman2

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You should find it very enjoyable  with so many didning options to choose from. If you find the comedians tedious then dont stick around find another bar or maybe a live music event in the dome. The Lazer show in the dome was fantastic not to be missed. Enjoy and take plenty of money because a coffee in some of the ports like stavanger can cost $10+ for a basic coffee and food isnt cheap either.

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wowzz

wowzz

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25 minutes ago, Technoman2 said:

Enjoy and take plenty of money because a coffee in some of the ports like stavanger can cost $10+ for a basic coffee and food isnt cheap either.

No need to take actual cash. Credit cards are accepted everywhere. 

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Grumpella

Grumpella

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This was our first time flying Virgin Atlantic and they were very good. Food was good for airplane food and they offered plenty of tea, coffee, water, etc.. We landed at 10:40 am and were at Central Bus station by 11:20. Signs are clearly marked at baggage claim how to get to Central Bus station.

 

The National Express bus was prompt and clean. No issues. Taxis outside bus station in Southampton, 7 pounds to get to the hotel.
 

We are staying at the Holiday Inn. Very clean and feels safe. As we were very tired, we ate at the hotel restaurant. Excellent fish and chips and my husband had a few Camden pale ales.

 

We met many future cruise passengers, all on the Ventura or Iona.

 

Going to bed. Lol

 

 

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alpha whiskey

alpha whiskey

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15 hours ago, Grumpella said:

This was our first time flying Virgin Atlantic and they were very good. Food was good for airplane food and they offered plenty of tea, coffee, water, etc.. We landed at 10:40 am and were at Central Bus station by 11:20. Signs are clearly marked at baggage claim how to get to Central Bus station.

 

The National Express bus was prompt and clean. No issues. Taxis outside bus station in Southampton, 7 pounds to get to the hotel.
 

We are staying at the Holiday Inn. Very clean and feels safe. As we were very tired, we ate at the hotel restaurant. Excellent fish and chips and my husband had a few Camden pale ales.

 

We met many future cruise passengers, all on the Ventura or Iona.

 

Going to bed. Lol

 

 

Sounds like you had a good start to your holiday.

Looking forward to reading your reviews.

Have a great time! 

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Grumpella

Grumpella

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We arrived at the pier at 11:30 to drop off our bags. I must say I was very impressed that P and O separates the baggage drop off by your cabin floor number. I have never seen that done on any other cruise. 
 

There were very few people in line at that time, about 30, so we asked if we could get in line. We said we had a 3:15 check in time. The guy said no, they are being very strict. 
 

We walked over to the Old Towne area and had lunch and my husband had some beers. 
 

We arrived back to the pier at 2:30 and were on the ship by 3. The check in people were very fast and efficient. We were then separated by our muster station area before we went through security. We were told after we cleared security to go to our muster station and have our boarding passes scanned. Our luggage was outside our door when we went to our cabin.

 

The check in lady told us there were 12 Americans on the ship.

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Grumpella

Grumpella

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We did the virtual queue on the app for dinner in the Pearl at 5:30. It took 5 minutes before we were notified to head to the restaurant. We are not very picky about food. The food was ok.

 

The ship is very bright and clean. 
 

Our deluxe balcony (9741) is very roomy. It is an aft cabin. It is unusual in my opinion that the aft cabin balcony is above the sunset bar and not the ocean. Also, there is no light on the balcony. 

There are limited outlets, 1 on the side of the bed and 2 by the counter, 1 of which is for the water kettle. There is a USB plug in the light on the each side of the bed.

 

Don’t ask us about any shows or entertainment, we almost never do any. Lol

 

Oh, also unusual in my opinion, the buffet only has water for free drinks, no lemonade or iced tea.

 

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Pink-belle

Pink-belle

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Really looking forward to following along on your cruise adventure.

 

Iced tea isn’t drunk much here in the UK, unless it’s a flavoured bottled beverage.  I have seen people making it though, first brewing black tea or a fruit variety and then shaking it over ice.

 

Also lemonade this side of the pond is a fizzy drink, similar to Sprite.  Again Freshly squeezed still lemonade is something you can buy in bottles, but I don’t think is available on ship. 
 

there will be fruit juice available in the morning for breakfast. 

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Grumpella

Grumpella

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We had breakfast in the Pearl restaurant this morning. Food was ok. The food service was timely but as for getting coffee and juice refills, very slow.

 

We had lunch at the Quays. Excellent fish and chips. There is a section off to the side to get water, salads and desserts. 
 

The Grab and Go on deck 16 is empty, I was told there are “technical” issues and it has been broken for some time. Seems like cutbacks to me.

 

 

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smilesonfaces

smilesonfaces

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3 hours ago, Grumpella said:

We had breakfast in the Pearl restaurant this morning. Food was ok. The food service was timely but as for getting coffee and juice refills, very slow.

 

We had lunch at the Quays. Excellent fish and chips. There is a section off to the side to get water, salads and desserts. 
 

The Grab and Go on deck 16 is empty, I was told there are “technical” issues and it has been broken for some time. Seems like cutbacks to me.

 

 

The grab and go has never been opened on Iona. It was closed on other ships due to Covid and has never reopened. 
 

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