I went on a cruise at the tail end of June which also happened to be the first time I’d left the shores of blighty since October 2019 when, ironically, I went on a cruise to Mexico after some time in Anaheim. The reason I went on this cruise is outlined in back to cruising, but I thought I’d take up a spot on the weekly vlog schedule to tell you how I felt about it.
As cruising is changing a bit post-pandemic.
A good decision
Was the cruise the right decision? Yes. I’m getting that out of the way first because there are parts of this that are going to make it look like I didn’t enjoy it at all, but this isn’t true. I really enjoyed it, but then I went into it with specific outcomes.
I wanted an environment on the ship that would allow me to enter that zen state which results in me reading five books in seven days. Check. I wanted to see some of the glorious scenery of the Norwegian Fjords. Check. Ideally, catch some good weather so I could spend some time out on the deck and see the glorious colours of a mountainous location. Check.
I also got to do this without faffing with flights considering all the airport issues and flight cancellations.
It was all a win.
The good ship Iona
Truth be told I didn’t so much choose P&O I chose Iona. I chose Iona because it didn’t operate with a lot of the tradition I’m told P&O normally operates with and had taken on a lot of the modern conventions like freestyle dining.
There was a lot of Iona I didn’t actually see, but this is often the case on cruise ships as I don’t visit the bars and alcohol-focused lounges. In the case of Iona I never even went to the main theatre.
Iona offers a great environment.
I loved the wrap-around promenade, which sits above the lifeboats so you can literally walk all around the ship without any impediment via a wide promenade. It’s brilliant. It also means there are plenty of places to relax out in the sun weather allowing. The only disadvantage to it is most of it isn’t in range of waiters bringing drinks. Iona really needs one of those Medallion systems like on Princess so you can be brought drinks anywhere on the vast promenade.
The Sky Dome is fantastic. If I wasn’t out on the promenade or eating I was probably in the Sky Dome. It is a mix between the pool, a relaxing lounge and at night an entertainment venue that is covered so even in bad weather you can utilise the Sky Dome. The only disadvantage to the Sky Dome is size. It’s not that it’s small, but if the weather doesn’t allow people to go outside seating locations can be highly prized.
The other surprising thing about Iona is, despite it being the eighth largest ship in the world, I didn’t think it felt big, but I was mid-ship just one level below the Sky Dome and I never had to walk the full length of the ship. I probably had a position advantage compared to where I spent a lot of my time.
I liked the Iona so much that if they could have fit into its design an area like the observation lounge on the Norwegian Bliss as well as the Sky Dome the ship would have been almost complete perfection in terms of the environment it offered.
The Norwegian Fjords
I’ve been to mountainous locations before, both the Candian Rockies and the Jungfrau Region of Switzerland, so I came prepared. I had the layers and was ready to make a go of it whatever the weather. Fortune looked down upon us and we had a day at sea going to Norway which was glorious and every other day we had the crew and excursion team saying it’s the first time they’d had good weather for weeks.
One time they even got delayed getting out of Southampton!
It all comes down to Olden and Geirangerfjord, everything else is either a sideshow or general cruising and these locations were fantastic. I enjoyed the cruise, but these were the money shots. I specifically liked going up the Loen Skylift and hiking around at height above the Fjord. Fantastic.
Iona doesn’t actually dock at Geirangerfjord which is all a bit weird. Everyone seems to get a special message before they cruise telling you this. While this was initially a pain as you end up paying £60 to get a ferry there and back it was actually great. As I got to see the fjord with the tops of the mountain enshrouded in mist and then coming back I saw it in glorious sunshine. This means I’d got a way better cruise-by than Iona offered in the evening as I could see it from all sides.
The rest of it
The oddities came with the rest of the experience, which didn’t dent my experience because of what I was looking for, but it wouldn’t take much for that not to be the case if I’d had different goals.
The entertainment was okay the entertainment just lacked that West End vibe. I never visited the main theatre because a few people I met independently described it as people trying too hard. I saw the literal Broadway show Six on my last cruise so I felt I was setting myself up for disappointment. As for the Sky Dome gymnasts? Let me introduce you to Creativiva: Masters of daring who do nothing daring or exciting. Instead, they deliver low-rent Cirque du Soleil shows featuring weird-ass narratives, filler gymnast moves and then forgot to make it exciting.
The rock concert in the Sky Dome was an energetic experience, if you count energetic being people in their eighties tapping their chairs or rocking backwards and forwards in a way that leaves you wondering if they’re excited or losing their marbles.
The buffet was almost there in that it only ever seemed to be 30% open and with a very limited range. I was excited about the buffet based on my last cruise which was large and extensive, giving different themes every night and always had a vast international range. This was always mostly British focused with a few token International offerings that didn’t inspire. It just seemed lazy.
The main dining restaurant was fine both times I used it. The trouble was I just never left the place excited by what I’d eaten. I enjoyed it. The odd course was interesting. I just couldn’t say I was excited by it. One time I ate there and within an hour I was down at The Quays ordering fish & chips.
I went to a number of restaurants with an extra charge or a potential extra charge and they were either not that special (The Olive Grove) or exciting (The Beach House) but you later found out you got the reduced post-pandemic version of what you ate. One of the best things I had was the best burger at sea at The Keel and Cow. I don’t like to call it fine dining but nice dining. This is different to my cruise in 2019 when I was excited by and inspired by the food I ate, even in the buffet.
Rewind to 2019
It’s probably unfair to compare this cruise to the one in 2019 because I have no idea what P&O looked like pre-pandemic or what the NCL experience is post-pandemic. I do know that NCL free at sea now delivers only 1 speciality restaurant in the 7-day cruise deal rather than the 3 I got so they are cutting back.
It seems cruising is not the same post-pandemic, which is disappointing. I guess they have to claw back those pandemic losses somehow. I think cruising is going to be offering less for more money for a long time and it may even result in even more structural changes around the range of included items compared to up-charged offerings.
A bit like what we’ve seen with resort hotels in places like Las Vegas they’re going to do anything to keep the headline cost down on the booking site and then obfuscate and upcharge to ensure you actually pay more.
And, Finally…
I’ll admit this cruise left me in a strange place. While this cruise delivered all that I wanted I could easily see how it could have been very different if the criteria were different. This was certainly the case with some long-time P&O cruisers who seemed to really dislike it due to the operational changes (apps, freestyle dining, etc) and some of the cutbacks.
Personally, I am considering another cruise on Iona as I did like the ship itself. It would just have to be the right deal. The one I am keeping an eye on is a 14-night cruise to the Canary Islands as I really want to give a longer cruise a go to see how it pans out. It keeps getting posted at a very nice price and it’s not adding any single supplement at all, which is pretty crazy.
We shall see how it evolves as at the moment it’s showing fully booked.