Iona Review
Rating by category
Additional details
We had been waiting over 12 months to go on this cruise to the Canaries and Portugal and, as previous passengers on P&O ships, were looking forward to experiencing the newest addition to the fleet.
Boy were we in for a shock, after a three hour wait queuing, providing information multiple times and being told to sit down and wait by some pretty obnoxious P&O staff at Southampton we finally boarded the ship and it quickly became apparent Iona has been engineered to a price not designed to a standard.
Everywhere onboard looks the same so navigating around the ship is far from easy (it doesn't help when P&O can't even get the graphics on the display screens by the lifts to be in the same orientation as the ship - front is always at the top even if you are facing the stern).
Cabin Review
For a new ship the cabin is way behind the current design standard. The bed is hard (I'm ok with that) but the pillows are terrible and consequently didn't get a good nights sleep on the ship. Bed linen is cheap and not of good quality. There is no shaver socket in the cabin which is a major omission and only one EU socket and three UK sockets (no US sockets). A USB charging socket (not fast charge) is hidden in the bottom of the bedside lights.
Storage is poor by modern standards and, given P&O continue with formal nights, non of the hanging space accommodates a long evening gown. There are no drawers and a couple of not very deep cupboards (one only perhaps 5 inches deep).
Bathroom is ok but shower enclosure seems small, all toiletries are bolted to the wall Premier Inn style.
Cabin temperature is not set at an absolute e.g. 20C, but at what appears to be a +/- from ambient so it isn't set and forget.
Port Reviews
Lisbon
First time here and will definitely be visiting Portugal again. Don't miss the excellent custard tarts, they are superb.