P&O Summer 2020 and IONA!

[Furby 441]

That time of year again, had the email from Bolsover about the sale dates for 2020, in September as expected.

But not expected, Iona doing her maiden season in the Fjords? What do we think about that?

[afcandrew 369]

Having had the pleasure of calling in at Geiranger & Olden, I certainly wouldn't want to be in either place when Iona lands over 5000 pax there....

What P&O don't seem to have made clear is how many cruises in the maiden season are going to Norway and when she is sailing other itineraries.  I guess they are giving out information in little chunks to try and keep up the interest levels.

[towny44 229]

There is speculation on other forums that current lack of LNG infrastructure is limiting the areas Iona can presently sail.  Which might mean it won't be doing the Caribbean, just yet.

[cruise chef 866]

I kind of share your views AFCAndrew, these places with smaller ships do seem crowded with the arrival of 3000+ people, so the thoughts of 5000+ could be too much. Or are P&O expecting a lot of their passengers to stay onboard and use the numerous facilities being mentioned about on IONA

[Furby 441]

13 minutes ago, towny44 said:

There is speculation on other forums that current lack of LNG infrastructure is limiting the areas Iona can presently sail.  Which might mean it won't be doing the Caribbean, just yet.

this is interesting, but there are many new ships being built that are going to be using lng so surley the infrastructure has to be able to keep up with the demand?

[afcandrew 369]

LNG power is still pretty new and I understand that out of 73 cruise ships currently on order, only 13 will be LNG.  Obviously, there will also be other (non-passenger) LNG vessels in the pipeline.

[Davybe 529]

Can some one explain what LNG is please??

I have the feeling this ship will be very crowded ,so I would not be rushing to book a cruise on it ....Davybe

[towny44 229]

23 minutes ago, Davybe said:

Can some one explain what LNG is please??

I have the feeling this ship will be very crowded ,so I would not be rushing to book a cruise on it ....Davybe

LNG = Liquefied natural gas which will replace heavy fuel oil or diesel as the major propulsion power source, but I am sure you knew that Davy.

Iona is certainly going to be far more crowded than the current behemoths, in fact the Oasis class will seem luxuriously spacious in comparison, and I worry that cabin and balcony space on Iona will be fairly cramped as well.

[mitch 325]

5000 passengers is at least 2000 too many for me lol.

[roncyn 22]

3000 more for me

[Jenjen 232]

Me too, can you imagine the fuss on tender port days, or sea days for that matter, no no no

[Davybe 529]

23 hours ago, towny44 said:

LNG = Liquefied natural gas which will replace heavy fuel oil or diesel as the major propulsion power source, but I am sure you knew that Davy.

Iona is certainly going to be far more crowded than the current behemoths, in fact the Oasis class will seem luxuriously spacious in comparison, and I worry that cabin and balcony space on Iona will be fairly cramped as well.

Thanks for that Towny, figured out the Liquid bit but to lazy to research the rest of it.?

You will probably have more room on the balcony than any other part of the ship? we tried Azura in its first year ,no room anywhere ,the sun deck were like seal colonies ? 

I would think like most ships Iona will carry more than enough fuel and the limited Bunkering places will be taken into account when they plan the schedules .If this LNG is greener then we will see more and more places to refuel....Davybe

[sinbad10 757]

I can remember the moans and groans at the loyalty club party on Arcadia when the Captain announced the building of Ventura had been agreed. Wonder how many went on to cruise on Ventura and Azura and wonder how many moaning now will eventually cruise on Britannia and Iona.

[towny44 229]

21 hours ago, Jenjen said:

Me too, can you imagine the fuss on tender port days, or sea days for that matter, no no no

Not a problem for us as my wife uses a wheelchair and cannot pass the "step over" test.  Unless of course Iona and P&O have now joined the 21st century and they will be fitting the wheelchair stair lifts on the stairs down to the tender dock, and then employ some shore based tenders that enable roll on roll off to be operated. 

[iknowlescourier 207]

We were on Symphony of the Seas earlier this year and never felt overcrowded, so I’m sure Iona will be fine for us.

[Davybe 529]

8 hours ago, iknowlescourier said:

We were on Symphony of the Seas earlier this year and never felt overcrowded, so I’m sure Iona will be fine for us.

It will all depend on how they lay the ship out, Azura and Eclipse are similar size and passenger numbers , Eclipse feels far more spacious than Azura...Davybe

[towny44 229]

9 hours ago, iknowlescourier said:

We were on Symphony of the Seas earlier this year and never felt overcrowded, so I’m sure Iona will be fine for us.

I hope you are right, but just a few facts for your consideration.

Symphony is 362m long x 66m beam it is 228,000 GT with a space ratio of 42.2 T per passenger, and 5400 passengers.

Quantum OTS, similar size to Iona and built at Papenberg is 348m long x 41.m m beam it is 168,000 Gt with space ratio of 40.1 T per passenger. and 4180.

Aidanova (sister ship to Iona) is 337 m long x 42m beam it is 180,000  GT with a space ratio of 34.61 T per passenger, and 5200 passengers.

As they say in the Dacia advert, "You do the Maths".

[iknowlescourier 207]

I am sure me and the Missus can squeeze into 70 T of space :-). Poolside space doesn't bother us as we are not sun worshippers and prefer the shade. I think what could be of importance is the amount of entertainment going on. RCI ships tend to have numerous ticket only shows going on at the same time in different areas of the ship which spreads passengers out, where as P&O tend to have only a couple of things going on, sometimes one after the other which causes a wave of people all going from one area to another at the same time and over filling those areas if you get what I mean.

[HthrEdmndsn 88]

19 hours ago, iknowlescourier said:

I am sure me and the Missus can squeeze into 70 T of space :-). Poolside space doesn't bother us as we are not sun worshippers and prefer the shade. I think what could be of importance is the amount of entertainment going on. RCI ships tend to have numerous ticket only shows going on at the same time in different areas of the ship which spreads passengers out, where as P&O tend to have only a couple of things going on, sometimes one after the other which causes a wave of people all going from one area to another at the same time and over filling those areas if you get what I mean.

I disagree. On the larger ships many different activities happen at the same time, or overlap. That was certainly the case on Britannia on my last cruise. As an example the Theatre show and the Cabaret show were certainly on at the same time, at 8.30 and 10.30 (two shows) each. You could go to one at 8.30 then the other at 10.30. So the audience was split. That is why I prefer the larger ships with more activities which spread passengers out. On smaller ships, with fewer venues, and therefore only one show/activity at a time you do get the situation described above. A fellow passenger was complaining to a member of the Entertainment Team that she couldn't do two activities at the same time. The member of staff sweetly smiled and said "good, the system is working, you need to choose". 

In my experience smaller ships are more crowded than the larger ones because on smaller ships everybody is herded from one venue to another at the same time. Whereas on the larger ships that doesn't happen. 

[sinbad10 757]

1 hour ago, HthrEdmndsn said:

I disagree. On the larger ships many different activities happen at the same time, or overlap. That was certainly the case on Britannia on my last cruise. As an example the Theatre show and the Cabaret show were certainly on at the same time, at 8.30 and 10.30 (two shows) each. You could go to one at 8.30 then the other at 10.30. So the audience was split. That is why I prefer the larger ships with more activities which spread passengers out. On smaller ships, with fewer venues, and therefore only one show/activity at a time you do get the situation described above. A fellow passenger was complaining to a member of the Entertainment Team that she couldn't do two activities at the same time. The member of staff sweetly smiled and said "good, the system is working, you need to choose". 

In my experience smaller ships are more crowded than the larger ones because on smaller ships everybody is herded from one venue to another at the same time. Whereas on the larger ships that doesn't happen. 

That was certainly true on our last trip on Aurora. Massive queues for the 8-30 show in the theatre and then one hell of a push and shove when everyone was racing down to Carmen's at the other end of the ship for the show  after the show had ended in the theatre. We sat with a couple on first sitting and every night they missed dessert and tea/coffee so they could be at the head of the queue for the 8-30pm show. Not certainly my type of cruise.

[afcandrew 369]

Conversely, I don't feel that has been my experience at all.  Never experienced a problem getting into shows on Aurora or Oriana, whereas the one cruise I have done on Azura, I found every venue to be full and really struggled to get a seat anywhere - every night over a 14-night cruise.  Maybe it is a first-sitting problem?  I always go second sitting so do the 10.30 theatre performance and sometimes an 8.30 in Carmen's/Pacific Lounge.

[HthrEdmndsn 88]

13 minutes ago, afcandrew said:

Conversely, I don't feel that has been my experience at all.  Never experienced a problem getting into shows on Aurora or Oriana, whereas the one cruise I have done on Azura, I found every venue to be full and really struggled to get a seat anywhere - every night over a 14-night cruise.  Maybe it is a first-sitting problem?  I always go second sitting so do the 10.30 theatre performance and sometimes an 8.30 in Carmen's/Pacific Lounge.

Yes I agree 8.30 shows always fuller. Kept getting told by staff that the 10.30 was far easier to get into. Though as a solo traveller I could always find a single seat.

[cruise addict 164]

Too large for us. It will be a nightmare embarking and disembarking. I have enough to trouble trying to find the suitcases now!!!

[sammy sun 1084]

I'd certainly be willing to give it a try but I dont' have overly high hopes for Iona. It's not necessarily the size of the ship that puts me off but rather what they've done with it. This was a real opportunity for P&O to do something different but instead it appears to be more of the same with the exception of "Courtyard Balconies" 🤔. It's hardly a wow factor. 

I'm not saying I need all the hustle and bustle of a Royal Caribbean ship to keep me happy because I don't but I just feel P&O could have done more to overcome many of the negative perceptions people have of them of late.

[HthrEdmndsn 88]

5 hours ago, cruise addict said:

Too large for us. It will be a nightmare embarking and disembarking. I have enough to trouble trying to find the suitcases now!!!

Well, again I found disembarkation much smoother and civilised on the larger ships. 

On Aurora and Oriana we were herded into bars and corridors with little or no seating. Announcements were by word of mouth as nobody could hear the official ones. By contrast on Britannia, because of the number of venues it was more comfortable and relaxed and organised.