P&O Cruises, Iona, Northern Europe Review

Iona, Northern Europe

A lovely new ship, the shortcomings of Britannia were overcome with excellent lift access. Venues apart from main dining rooms and paid venues had ample availability to see shows. Brodies was so popular for the quizzes etc that it was one of the hardest venues to access. All in all a good looking ship with a decent design... but not perfect.
Balcony cabins on deck 5 although the second top GB grade had smaller metal framed balcony’s which you could see straight onto neighbours balconies, this is the grade that many saver fares will be “upgraded” Into. There is no way those balcony’s could be considered better than others other than by being more central, room size is identical. The cabins on the promenade are really over looked by people walking around, this in the niche just in front of the central section are overlooked too. Some cabins at the back complained about water spray from the infinity pool a few decks above. The worst of all is the virtual queuing for groups larger than 2. We were a group of 5 - three nights out of 7 we had to wait between an hour and two hours to get a main dining room Table, this had a knock on effect as pre booked entertainment venues could not be attended on time. This really ruined a good holiday. For this reason if you are a family and travelling in a school holiday, I would not recommend this ship unless you like self service buffet dining.