We booked this last minute P&O Iona 7 night Norweigian Fjord cruise sailing from Southampton as our first post-Covid cruise. Ports of call included Stavanger, Olden, Innvikfjorden (cruise by), Alesund, and Haugesund.
Standing 19 decks tall, totalling 184,089 gross tonnage, and with a maximum capacity of 5,206 passengers, the P&O Iona is certainly no shrinking violet.
Coupled with the large Union Jack painted across the bow, it would be hard for the Norweigian locals to mistake the arrival of anything other than thousands of British tourists aboard one of P&Os newest mega ships. Did the sheer size of this ship negatviely impact our time aboard? Read on to find out.
Booking and Embarkation
We booked this cruise via seascanner.co.uk as this was the best online price at the time. Seascanner offer a more execution only service with less of the “advisory” discussions one could have with real life agents. However, if you know what ship and itinerary you want then we find they often – not always! – have some of the better pricing online.
In terms of embarkation, we boarded the ship at Southampton cruise terminal. The process was smooth and efficient and we were onboard within 20 minutes of arriving at our allotted time. Once onboard we headed straightaway to the muster station* and then dropped our bags off in our cabin, which both took a total of around 10/15 minutes. Overall, it was a rapid and stress free experience with minimal to no queuing or waiting around.
*for those new to cruise ships, this means the place on a ship where passengers should assemble in the event of an emergency. By law all guests must attest to have going to this place at the start of their holiday.
Dining & Food
Like most modern ships of its size, P&O Iona offers guests a plethora of dining options across paid/upcharge and free/included in the fare restaurants. We have tried our best to list all of them below. Needless to say we unfortunately did not have the chance to personally try all of them on a 7 night cruise.
Our favourite included restaurant for casual dining for either lunch or dinner was The Olive Grove located deck 8 aft. The only catch is you that you need to pre-book a slot ahead of time either via the P&O app or face to face with the front of house. We strongly suggest booking several slots throughout your itinerary this as soon as you get onboard.
Looking at our meal photos above starting on the far left was the Beef Bucco which is a slow-cooked Beef Shin with Olives, tomatoes, pomme purée, and friarielli broccoli. It was melt in the mouth and seasoned very well.
In the middle was the Crema Catalana Orange and Lemon-scented Catalan-style Crème Brûlée. Oh my…this was hands down the best dessert of the entire cruise and a fond memory 2 years and several cruises later. I think we would book a cheap last minute cruise just to try this restaurant and specially this dessert again.
Although not shown here, we also adored the Affogato (hard to get this one wrong really) and the Torta Gianduia Flourless Chocolate and Roasted Hazelnut Cake. Again, all on the menu at the Olive Grove.
Finally, on the far right this was not in the Olive Grove but rather the Main Dining Room (MDR) and happened to be on the celebration night. This is what P&O call their gala or black tie night of which there is one on each 7 night cruise and during which the MDR offers a special five-course dining menu. On this evening I opted for the lobster thermidor, and whilst being inoffensive didn’t particularly wow as the sauce lacked depth. Nevertheless, it was a nice treat.
As mentioned we only had time to stick to a few of these dining options. As we like to keep the costs down on our cruises, we always give the main dining rooms and buffet a good chance before shelling out on paid for/upcharge alternatives. In terms of service, all of the restaurants generally did not disappoint. We were always seated promptly and the menu choices were diverse enough to cater to veg and non-veg eaters alike.
Above from left to right were all taken in the MDR, the sticky toffee pudding, medium cooked beef steak with potatoes and green beans, and prawn and avocado starter. Each of them were well cooked and presented and we could not find fault.
Finally, below are a few snaps from the Epicurean venue (we enjoyed the food and evening so much we forgot to take any photos of the food…woops!). This is the “fine dining” upcharge option located on deck 17 forward. We booked this as a special treat before our cruise started as it is sold at a discount of £28pp rather than circa £35pp once onboard. We can certainly recommend this for a special occasion as dedicated seating area and waiting staff gave a more elevated and intimate feeling that the MDR. We even took our own bottle of wine which we later found they did not charge us any corkage fee for. The food was also a notch above the MDR in terms of presentation and quality.
See the full list of dining options below:
1. Included: Main Dining Rooms
- Pearl Restaurant: Offers Freedom Dining with table service for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
- Coral Restaurant: Similar to Pearl, providing Freedom Dining options throughout the day.
- Opal Restaurant: Open for dinner with Freedom Dining.
- Aqua Restaurant: Serves breakfast and dinner, also under the Freedom Dining system.
2. Included: Casual Venues
- Horizon Restaurant: An all-day self-service buffet offering a variety of dishes from around the world.
- The Quays: A multi-venue dining piazza featuring:
- Hook, Line & Vinegar: Serving classic fish and chips.
- Boardwalk Diner: Offering American-style dishes like burgers and hot dogs.
- Fusion: Presenting a range of Asian-inspired dishes.
- Taste 360: Offers a street-food-style dining experience with dishes from around the world.
- Grab & Go Bar: Ideal for quick bites, offering a selection of ready-to-eat snacks.
3. Upcharge: Specialty Restaurants
- Sindhu: Features Indian-British fusion cuisine in an elegant setting.
- The Epicurean: Offers a blend of classic and contemporary fine dining.
- The Glass House: Curated by wine expert Olly Smith, pairing wines with a selection of dishes.
- The Keel & Cow: A gastropub serving premium steaks and gourmet burgers.
- The Limelight Club: Combines dining with live entertainment and cabaret performances.
- The Olive Grove: Focuses on Mediterranean cuisine, offering dishes from regions like Spain and Morocco.
- The Beach House: Provides relaxed dining with Caribbean and Southern American classics.
Cabin & Accomodation
We booked a standard inside guaranteed cabin (guaranteed meaning we did not pay to select a specific deck or cabin number and were happy for P&O to randomly assign one to us closer to the sail date.)
The room set the tone for the rest of the ship, in the sense that it was minimalist, clean, and modern. The room was approximately 135 sq ft and although not the most spacious, it served our modus operandi with cruise ship rooms in very much just being a place to shower and sleep, then rinse and repeat. Does it feel a tad compact with two adults manoeuvring around the end of the bed to use the toilet or get changed? Yes. Is it something we expected? Yes. Did it negatively affect our experience? No. More often than not, a positive or negative experience is closely bound – as with anything in life – to misaligned expectations. We knew the cabin would be on the small side.
As it is on land where homebuyers often look to newly renovated bathrooms and kitchens as a must have, so it is at sea. We were therefore very happy with the cabin bathroom/toilet which was spotless and evidently newly designed and built with no sign of rust or wear. The solid clear shower door in lieu of a horrible body clinging shower curtain was a massive plus as was the LED backlit mirror. The shower head was large and powerful and there was ample storage for toiletries.
Turning to the room itself, it contained plentiful wardrobe and cupboard storage space and several hooks for hanging jackets and bags. The TV was large and modern and the movie and tv streaming options were many.
Ship & Amenities
Iona has four main swimming pools: the SkyDome; Infinity; Panorama; Beachcomber (adults only); and Splash Zone (mainly for kids). She also has several whirlpools/hot-tubs dotted around. On a colder northern European cruise such as this one, I found myself gravitating towards these hot tubs rather than the swimming pools. My only gripe would be we found them to run a little cold and would have loved P&O to crank up the heat just a notch. Perhaps there is a combination of health and safety and energy saving legislation that restricts them from doing so. If not, and its pure costs saving, then it would be a quick win for a better customer experience on colder routes.
The Infinity pool at the aft of the ship, as expected, offers expansive views out to sea. The Beachcomber is surrounded by six circular wooden clad seating areas and bookended by the Beachcomber bar. As it was adults only, it had a much calmer feel than other parts of the ship.
Talking of tranquillity, the SkyDome is certainly not. Apart from transiting through, we pretty much actively avoided the SkyDome area as it tended to be a family/kids filled echo chamber of screams and excitement. Sure, these families are having a great holiday and we have nothing against that. However, if you are a young or retired couple I can safely presume you would have a more enjoyable time swimming and lounging around the other pools. The ONLY plus I can say for the SkyDome is that on colder cruises, as it is entirely covered by an elliptical glass roof, it will run warmer and keep you out of any bad weather.
We were immediately enamoured with the Promenade Deck on deck 8 that wraps around the entire ship. As we were in an inside cabin, I often beelined for this deck as we were cruising through the Norwegian Fjords. The photos below are from the early hours of the morning with only a few brave souls wrapped head to toe in waterproofs. The views are expansive and breath-taking, and should one want to dart from port to starboard or vice versa it can be done with great ease via the mid-ship…no need to run all the way around!
Turning to the bars and other venues and areas, the ones that really stood out to us were:
– The Club House (deck 8 aft)
This venue hosts daytime entertainment including guest speakers and family game shows. In the evenings it transforms into a lively late-night venue with live music. We found it to be very empty during the day so a perfect spot for quiet enjoyment/reading etc. The art deco design with marble effect table tops and gold accents make this space feel rather posh and glitzy.
– Anderson’s Bar and Library (deck 6 midship)
The Anderson’s bar felt quite tucked away and rather intimate. We often came here for a pre-dinner or pre-show drink. The USP of this particular bar is that it has a speciality gin menu featuring gin that includes one exclusively distilled onboard called Marabelle Gin. Bottoms up!
– Grand Atrium
The Grand Atrium features a sweeping stainless steel staircase with marble effect steps and a large three-storey/deck floor to ceiling window which allows a lot of light to pour in giving a sense of space and not confinement like some older P&O ships (Britannia, we are looking at you unfortunately). That being said, we rated this area as one to pass through or linger for a short time. Catch it at the wrong time however and it could become a bit overwhelming with the cacophony of chatter and noise. We preferred to enjoy a quiet drink elsewhere.
Entertainment & Activities
We booked the majority of the restaurants (virtual queues for freedom dining) and events via the P&O My Holiday app. It worked without fault.
One evening we decided to venture to the cinema. P&O have designed the entrance to this brilliantly with large light bulbs overhead and an art deco styled numbering to the movie posters. It felt very chic and clean. Most importantly, how great does it feel to walk into the cinema “for free” (yes we paid via the cruise fare), but you know what I mean. It’s £15pp in London these days so happy days.
The gym was modern and equipped with everything one would typically see in a PureGym for example. Never too crowded and plenty of free weights.
There is also some more traditional onboard entertainment also. Deck Quoits or Shuffleboard anybody? No not us either.
Service & Staff
Considering tips are included on all P&O cruises, the level of service we received from staff was impeccable. Our cabin was always made up on time and left spotlessly clean by our cabin steward and we were served promptly and professionally in all venues.
Value for Money
We paid £399 per person for an inside cabin and a 7 night itinerary. This was a “last minute” booking – meaning within 8 weeks of the sail date – in early 2023 and fares at the time of writing are roughly £600/700 per person in 2025. We found this to be exceptional value and would happily pay the higher average price in today’s market.
We cannot fault what P&O have done with the Iona at this price point. Considering the ship was at near full capacity, we were impressed with the feeling of space and distance from the thousands of other passengers on board. We found the decor to be clean, modern, but not excessively garish or glitzy and were very happy with the service and quality/selection of food and drink. Overall we give the Iona a solid Cruise Consensus score of 8/10.
