Cruising on Iona: Here’s 6 Things That I LOVED, and 2 I DIDN’T!

P&O Iona is what’s known as an Excel class cruise ship, and she’s currently one of the largest cruise ships to serve primarily the British market. This ship is operated by P&O Cruises, and she shares a ship class with the likes of P&O Arvia, Carnival Mardi Gras and Costa Toscana, so she might look familiar to you, even if you haven’t cruised on her before. 

I took a 7-night cruise on this ship from Southampton to the Norwegian Fjords, and I loved so many aspects of the experience. That said, I also didn’t love some other aspects. In this post, I’m going to share both with you: 6 of the things that I loved, and 3 of the things that I didn’t.

If you enjoy this post (I really hope that you will), then please support my content by sending it to anyone who you feel might also enjoy it. I’ve also created a YouTube video to cover the content of this page - if you prefer videos to written form, then simply click into the video below to watch it now! While you’re there, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel - it massively helps me to reach more people!

1. I Loved - The Overall Design of the Ship, and How it Doesn’t Feel as Huge as I’d Feared!

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that Iona is a huge cruise ship. Spread across her 15 passenger decks, you’ll find 30 (yes, 30!) bars and restaurants, 4 swimming pools, a spa, a 4-screen cinema complex and so much more. Although she is a very large cruise ship, she’s surprisingly simple to navigate, largely thanks to some key design choices that are fairly typical of modern cruise ships today.

First, there’s a main atrium onboard that spans across three decks. This atrium houses many of the key onboard venues, including The Glass House and The Keel & Cow. Once you figure out what’s on each level of this atrium, and what venues are on either side of it, it becomes fairly difficult to get lost on here.

Another aspect of this ship’s design is that, for anyone who’s ever cruised before, you’ll probably know where some of the ‘predictable’ venues are going to be. For example, the Headliners Theatre is at the front of the ship on the lower decks, and the buffet is at the back of the ship on the main Lido Deck (Deck 15). Trust me - it’ll surprise you how simple it is to navigate around this ship after a day or two!

There’s a Main Atrium onboard Iona that spans across decks 6, 7 and 8. This atrium houses multiple key venues, and it’s never far away from the others!

Another aspect of design on this ship that helps passengers to navigate easily is signage. Iona must be among the best-signed ships I’ve ever cruised on - I was so impressed with the volume of signage on every single deck.

Around every corner is another sign pointing you in the direction of the venues on that deck. You’ll even find signage outside every elevator, and inside the elevators themselves.

The only part of this ship that I struggled with was the corridors that are full of passenger cabins. I found it difficult to know whether I was walking towards the front or the back of the ship when I was in these corridors, but everywhere else on the ship was signed perfectly!

There is a huge volume of signage around Iona, making it difficult to get lost onboard.

You’ll even find signage inside the elevators!

2. I Loved - My Cabin!

I booked a ‘PF grade’ Inside cabin for this cruise, which is actually the lowest grade of double-occupancy cabin available on the whole ship. A few weeks before my cruise, I received an email to explain that I had been upgraded to a ‘PC grade’ inside cabin.

This wasn’t quite the random suite-grade upgrade that I always cross my fingers and hope for with every travel booking that I make (doesn’t everyone?!). Instead, the reality here is that my physical cabin would have been largely the same as the one I’d booked - the new one was probably just in a slightly ‘better’ location.

There are actually seven grades of inside cabin on this ship, but that’s another story for another day…!

So, what was it about my cabin (which was one of the cheapest on the ship) that I loved? Well, I won’t bore you with the details of why I love an inside cabin, but I will stress the fact that the design of the cabins on this ship make them feel much brighter and therefore spacious than they actually are. I also felt that the overall finish was really strong, and my cabin felt more premium than the price point that it’s often available for might suggest!

Here are a few photos to show you - this is my ‘PC grade’ inside cabin on Deck 4 of Iona. It’s a nice space, right?!

3. I Loved - How Quiet the Open Decks Were!

As this cruise was undertaking a particularly scenic itinerary, and it was at the height of the summer season, I had thought that the open decks would be a really busy place to spend time throughout the cruise. However, I was delighted to find that the reality was the total opposite on most days.

Okay, if I was hoping to get a front-row position for sailing out of our most scenic ports, I’d struggle. However, if I was flexible with where I’d stand, it wouldn’t be a problem at all.

Fast-forward to our days ‘at sea’, and I couldn’t quite believe how quiet the outside decks were. Our weather was relatively windy, but it was around 20C (68F), allowing me to sit outside in jeans and a t-shirt while enjoying my afternoon coffee - I simply couldn’t understand why more people weren’t spending time out there.

If you’re considering cruising on this class of cruise ship and you’re concerned about the outside decks being incredibly busy, perhaps this could be your sign that it’ll be okay. I reckon it would be busy out here if we were cruising in a region like the Caribbean, but this itinerary allowed me to spend some time outside and escape the crowds in the sunshine… Bliss!

I took the below photos during the final day of my cruise, as we sailed between Stavanger (Norway) and Southampton (England). For reference, both photos were taken early afternoon around midday.

The open decks onboard Iona proved quiet throughout the days ‘at sea’ - not what I expected at all on a ship of this size!

Iona was sailing at full capacity while I was onboard, but everyone wanted to spend time on the inside of the ship!

4. I Loved - The Differences Between Iona and her Sister Ship, Arvia.

I cruised onboard Arvia about 18 months prior to cruising on Iona, and I thought that the two ships would feel identical to each other to the untrained eye. However, I was so intrigued to find that this wasn’t the case, and I think it’s really important that people understand the differences between these ships before making the decision of which would be the best fit for them.

To offer you some background, Iona was specifically designed for cruising in cooler climates (hence why she’s currently servicing the Norwegian Fjords at the point of writing this article), while Arvia was designed as P&O Cruises’ ‘Sunshine Ship’. She was launched in the Caribbean, and she currently spends a large amount of the year operating fly-cruises out of Barbados. When she’s not over there, you’ll often find her offering sunny itineraries in Europe, largely over the summer period.

One of the most noticeable differences between these two ships is the SkyDome, which is the name given to the area that houses the main swimming pool up on Deck 15 of the ship. On Arvia, the roof is retractable, which allows the outside to be ‘brought in’. It’s an incredibly popular spot to spend time in during the day, largely due to the fact that the roof can be opened and closed to suit the weather conditions. For this reason, both levels of this space on Arvia are designed with ‘relaxing in the sun’ in mind, with lots of chairs and loungers across both decks.

On Iona, it’s a different design. The roof doesn’t retract - it’s fixed - making this feel like much more of a permanent venue than it does on Arvia. The lower level (deck 15) has lots of upright seating options, and the upstairs houses a combination of tables and chairs, and also what I’d refer to as ‘stadium seating’. This layout allows Iona to use the SkyDome as an entertainment space in the evening, which is something that’s not as natural a fit with the layout on Arvia.

Here are a few shots of both SkyDome areas on both ships - can you see the differences? The first photos are from Iona, with the second being from Arvia.

Another interesting difference between the two ships is on the subject of dining. At the aft (back) of the ship on deck 6, you’ll find four main dining room-style restaurant venues onboard Iona. On Arvia, you’ll find two, with the other two spaces being home to the 6th Street Diner and The Olive Grove, two slightly different restaurant venues that are bookable separately.

Personally, I found it much easier and quicker to get a table for dinner on Iona, probably due to the fact that there are many more tables and therefore covers operating with a ‘main dining room’ approach, but I did really miss the other venues. In particular, I wished throughout my cruise that Iona had a 6th Street Diner - I loved it in there on Arvia!

6th Street Diner is a venue on Arvia that doesn’t feature on Iona at the point of writing this article!

5. I Loved - The Speciality Dining!

If I’m being completely honest, the ‘included’ food on my Iona cruise was nothing worth writing home about. That doesn’t mean it was ‘bad’, but it was probably what I’d have expected from a cruise selling for the price that I paid for mine.

While on Iona, I ate at both Sindhu and the Epicurean, two of the upcharge restaurants, and felt them to be absolutely worth their cover charges. Sindhu is P&O Cruises’ take on an Indian restaurant, and the Epicurean is their version of a fine dining restaurant.

My recommendation to you is to plan to upgrade your meals on a couple of evenings of your cruise at the speciality dining venues - if your meals end up like mine while on my cruise, you certainly won’t be disappointed! I would also urge you to check for deals and promotions. I noticed while booking my meal at Sindhu before the cruise that there was a promotion that would result in me receiving a free bottle of wine (up to the value of £35) if I booked a table at a speciality restaurant on the first night, and of course I took them up on that!

Sindhu is P&O Cruises’ take on an Indian restaurant. In my eyes, it’s a thumbs up!

Here’s my Thali plate - this was a £5 surcharge over the regular cover charge, but worth it in my opinion!

6. I Loved - The Value for Money that This Ship can Offer!

Before I go any further on this, I should stress that I didn’t actually get a bargain on my cruise, largely due to the fact that it was during the school holidays. That said, I felt it was incredibly good value for money for 7 nights on a cruise ship like this during the summer season.

Both Arvia and Iona are cruise ships which are capable of offering some incredibly low fares, if you’re both flexible and willing to stay in the less luxurious cabins. For example, if you do a quick search for the off-peak months, you’ll likely find some very well-priced inside (and often even sea view) cabins available.

I’ll share more details with you on the exact price that I paid for my cruise over on YouTube. On that point, are you subscribed to my YouTube channel? You can find my over there by searching for ‘Fraser at Sea’, by clicking here, or you can click into the video below. In this video, I show you every single venue onboard Iona - you’ll probably find that interesting if you’ve made it this far through this post!

Now that I’ve covered the six parts of the cruise experience onboard Iona that I loved, let’s move to look at the aspects that I didn’t love.

1. I Didn’t Love - The Huge Volume of Children Onboard!

I mentioned above that I chose to book a 7-night cruise on this ship knowing that it was during the school holidays, and now I’m saying that I didn’t like how many children were onboard. You might be asking yourself why I booked this cruise in the first place, so let me explain.

My previous exposure to this ship class, on Arvia, was also during holidays, but it was only a short cruise. I felt that, because of the fact it was a short cruise, I didn’t get a real feel for what cruising on one of these larger ships from P&O Cruises is like. In order to get a true flavour of the experience, I wanted to try it when it’s able to offer the family-friendly environment that it promises and prides itself on online.

During my cruise, there were 1,500 children onboard. When you actually pause to think about that number, it’s huge! If all of those children were staying in double-occupancy cabins, this would result in 750 cabins on the ship being full of children! Obviously this wasn’t the case - most of them would have been in triple of quadruple occupancy cabins with their parents or guardians, I’m sure!

I didn’t feel that the cruise experience was negatively impacted by a large presence of children, and I would say that P&O Cruises did a fantastic job of keeping kids busy. They had a group onboard who specialised in children’s entertainment through a series of dinosaur shows in the theatre, plus a wide range of other events all across the ship. They also have a large kids club onboard - it’s called ‘The Reef’, and you’ll find it up on Deck 17. I guess lots of children must use this facility, as it would explain where they spend time if the decks didn’t feel overrun by children!

While this isn’t a huge factor for me to consider when booking my cruises, I do think it’s important that you understand the number of children that could be on your cruise if it’s something that’s important for you.

‘The Reef’ is the kids club onboard Iona, and you’ll find it up on Deck 17 of the ship.

2. I Didn’t Love - The Design of the Promenade Deck…

If you’ve cruised on this class of ship before, or if you’ve been doing your research online, there’s a fair chance that you’ve come across this one already. When I cruise, I absolutely love to spend time walking laps of the ship out on the Promenade deck. It’s where I often feel most closely connected to the ocean - out there, I often feel as though I’m completely alone with my thoughts.

On both Arvia and Iona however, the Promenade Deck is different…

First, let’s talk about balconies. There are many balcony cabins that actually front directly onto the open deck, making it a relatively public space to spend time. When you look upwards, you quickly realise that almost every balcony on the whole ship can see the promenade, so you’re probably not going to get that ‘alone with your thoughts’ feeling out here.

I’m talking about this from the point of view of someone who was staying in an inside cabin, but this is also a really important point to think about if you’re considering cruising in a balcony cabin - do your research to check the position of your cabin, in order to be sure that you’re not going to be dissatisfied with it when you arrive.

Lots of cabins face onto the Promenade Deck, making it a relatively public place to spend time…

If you’re considering booking a balcony cabin or mini suite on Deck 8 of Iona or Arvia, check your position to be sure that you won’t be disappointed to see, for example, people walking past…

It’s not just the location of balcony cabins that I didn’t love about the Promenade Deck. The glass barriers down here are, for most of your walk around the deck, really high. They were exceptionally clean and therefore not difficult to look through at all, but I personally would have loved them to be even a few inches lower.

I guess these are probably here for safety reasons, but I’ve been on other ships of similar sizes and been able to see the ocean much easier thanks to the lower screens and railings - is this an added precaution in the case of these ships? I can’t answer that for sure, but it would make sense…

There are some fabulous viewing spots available by using the ‘bridges’ that essentially hang off the side of the ship on Deck 8. Here, the glass dividers don’t go up anywhere near as high as on the rest of the deck - it’s one of the best places to pause to take it all in on the ship! Personally, I really wish this were the case for more spots than this small area!

Want to enjoy the scenery, or the views of the ocean from the Promenade Deck? Aim for the bridges, which you’ll find on either side of the ship on deck 8!

3. I Didn’t Love - The Wait to Get Onboard…

I’ve boarded lots of cruise ships in the city of Southampton. For some, I’m amazed to be walking up the gangway to board the ship a mere 10-15 minutes after arriving at the terminal, but for others it’s not quite as simple.

In the case of both Arvia and Iona, my boarding experience hasn’t been great. For my recent cruise onboard Iona, I boarded the ship just over 2 hours after arriving at the terminal, which doesn’t cover the boarding process in glory at all.

There is a coffee truck outside the terminal in Southampton, which is welcome when you enter your second hour of queueing - let me tell you… My biggest piece of advice if you’re planning to cruise on one of these ships is to be prepared. When you go to board the ship, pack a bottle of water, or maybe even bring a coffee in a travel mug - you’ll thank yourself later if you’re left outside in the queue…

Boarding in Southampton? Be prepared - it might take you a couple of hours to get onboard…

That’s it - that’s 6 of the things that I loved about Iona, and 3 of the things that I didn’t. I really hope you’ve enjoyed this post. If you have, then please consider checking out some more of this website - every view is a massive help to me, so thank you!

Why not head over to one of these posts next?