25 February 2025

I have recently returned from a P&O Iona 7-night February half term cruise with my family, where we visited Hamburg, Rotterdam and Bruges. We had good weather and very calm seas. It was below freezing in Hamburg and Rotterdam, but it reached a lovely 16 degrees in Bruges a couple of days later! One of the highlights of our trip was visiting Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, a huge model village where we also participated in a fun family VR experience. In Rotterdam we visited 3 fantastic attractions - the Euromast, the Pancake Boat and SS Rotterdam - and loved travelling around by water taxi. In our final port of Bruges we visited the Choco-Story chocolate museum which was really interesting and educational, plus had unlimited chocolate tastings! We stayed in a 4-berth sea view cabin on deck 4, in a convenient mid-ship location. The cabin had a sofa bed and pullman for our children, and a lovely window seat for gazing out to sea. We usually choose a balcony cabin, but the window cabin worked well for us at this time of year. We dined in all four main dining rooms over the week and were very impressed. Service was friendly, professional and efficient and the food choices were very good. Our evening at Epicurean was exceptional. For more casual meals we really enjoyed the Quays’ fish and chips and the Mediterranean style food in the Olive Grove. Our favourite bar on board was the Crow’s Nest for its fantastic views, great service and laid back yet elegant atmosphere. Our children loved swimming in the indoor pool, attending theatre and sky dome shows (Sky’s The Limit, Festival and Digital were all big hits) and joining in with the activities at the kids club (The Reef). Despite there being many children on board we always managed to book our children into the kids club sessions they wanted to attend. The Reef staff were fabulous and there were so many different activities for the children to enjoy. We also participated in a number of family activities on board, including various themed treasure hunts around the ship. The ice cream afternoon tea at Ripples was a real treat on this cruise too.

15 December 2024

I recently sailed on P&O Iona on a 7-night Northern Europe cruise with my family. Our ports of call were Rotterdam, Zeebrugge and Le Havre. We stayed in a 4 berth ocean view cabin on deck 5. This was a great location, mid-ship and low down, for a winter cruise. We were conveniently close to the mid-ship stairs and lifts and it was just one deck up to the atrium on deck 6. The cabin had a lovely window seat for chilling out and watching the movement of the sea. Our port highlights included the Dutch Pinball Museum in Rotterdam and the sandy beaches of Blankenberge, Belgium. Our children played happily on the sand for ages, despite it being December and us all being wrapped up in winter clothes. The beach was vast with fine, pale sand. The Christmas decorations on board the ship were absolutely beautiful, tailored to each area of the ship, and made Iona look stunning. The extra little touches on board for Christmas took this voyage a notch or two above a regular family cruise. For example, we enjoyed a pantomime on board plus full Christmas dinner one evening in the main dining room. There were also festive films on every day in the cinema. Iona hosts one formal night per week and this was an elevated event on this cruise as everyone dressed up even more than usual in sparkly Christmas outfits. Our second sea day was then designated “Christmas Day” where passengers were all encouraged to dress up in festive outfits and the crew wore Santa hats. This created a really fun and festive atmosphere on board and this felt like a bonus gala night. We dined in Coral, one of the four main dining rooms onboard, most evenings and were very impressed. Service was friendly, professional and efficient and the food choices were very good. We also really enjoyed our other dining experiences on board, especially at the Olive Grove. We loved this Italian themed venue for both its food and atmosphere. We also had a very good meal at Sindhu which is a beautiful and exclusive feeling venue. The Reef kids club was really popular with our children who chose to spend some time there every day joining in with the various games, competitions and activities on offer. Our children really warmed to the staff on board who were fun, enthusiastic and took time to get to know the children and engage them with varied activities. Staff took the children out and about around the ship on treasure hunts, and to festive cinema and theatre shows. We also very much liked the Sky Dome area on Iona for its indoor pool, which we used most days, and the evening shows. The shows were very dramatic and eye-catching with dance, acrobatics and impressive light shows. We attended the theatre most evenings as there was so much family friendly entertainment on offer. We enjoyed Digital and Sky’s the Limit with the Headliners cast, a Cinderella pantomime, a Christmas show called Deck the Halls and the Greatest Days Take That production. We watched Rise, Spark and Triboo in the Sky Dome. Our favourite bar on board was the Crow’s Nest for the fantastic views, great service and exclusive atmosphere. Although not the weather for sitting outside we also loved the wrap-around promenade deck on Iona which we walked most days, and all the top deck outdoor areas. We really liked the Beachcomber pool area, the giant outdoor chess board and the kids splash area. We hope to come back on Iona on a summertime cruise soon to make the most of these facilities.

11 November 2024

I recently sailed on the Regal Princess around the British Isles in the school holidays (August 2024) with my family, including my husband and our two children aged 8 and 9. Ports of call - Cobh for Cork, Dun Laoghaire for Dublin, Belfast, Holyhead, Greenock for Glasgow, Invergordon, South Queensferry for Edinburgh and Le Havre. Our port highlights: - We absolutely loved Fota Wildlife Park, which was just 10 minutes by train from Cobh. I would describe it as a safari park that you walk around. It was absolutely huge and we loved seeing the giraffes, and being able to walk amongst wallabies and kangaroos. - Belfast was brilliant because we spent a fun day catching up with friends who live there. We loved the tropical greenhouses and the Botanical Gardens and we were really impressed by the Ulster Museum, especially how hands on and interactive some of the areas were for children. - We also enjoyed Invergordon, because it was a walk off port, which was so easy and made for a relaxed day. Although the town was small we enjoyed exploring the local gift shops, museum and doing the mural trail. - Edinburgh was a highlight, not just for the castle and the Royal Mile; we also really enjoyed the smooth tender ride in the sunshine with beautiful views of our ship and the Forth Bridge. - Our biggest surprise was Le Havre. Many people had told us they don’t usually bother getting off the ship when docking here, and when we had visited previously we had taken an excursion to the smaller local town of Honfleur. However, this time we headed into Le Havre itself, specifically to the beach area, Plage du Havre, and we were really impressed. There were sandy volleyball and football courts (which were great for building sandcastles in, as well as playing sports of course!), the beach itself and the sea to paddle in, kiosks with beach snacks and adventure playgrounds that kept our children very happy. Seeing an extreme sports festival being set up, and the contestants practising, was the icing on the cake for us. Our ship highlights - - The Retreat - We visited the Retreat early on in the cruise when the weather wasn’t so good, but then totally forgot about the area! Big mistake, it would have been stunning in the sunshine and we wish we had spent more time up here, including in the adults only pool. - Camp Discovery kids club (The Lodge for 8-12 year olds) - This was absolutely loved by both our children. They had so much fun up there, made friends (one of our children now has a new pen pal!), and took part in so many competitions and craft activities. They also attended a really fun kids club pizza party one evening with the club. - The Buffet Menu - This was exceptionally good, especially the international themed nights. We loved how the different options each night often tied in with our ports of call. - The included "freebies"! We loved the fact that ice cream up by the pool was included in the standard cruise fare, plus that we could get free hot chocolate at the terminal each time we returned to the ship (plus cookies/brownies when it was tender port!), and my daughter loved collecting a new pendant each day from the Effy jewellery store. - The family fun fair in the atrium on one of the sea days was another family highlight. The children loved taking part in various activities and competitions to win raffle tickets for the prize draw. My daughter was thrilled to win the Captain Stanley cuddly toy she had been admiring in the gift shop all week! - The sushi - We had a great meal at Seafood Terrace, and were really impressed by the lunchtime sushi banquet in the buffet; the selection was vast. - The sports decks at the top of the ship were brilliant, with so much space and great facilities and equipment (pickleball, basketball, golf, mini golf, table tennis, shuffleboard, walking/jogging track). Along with the gym, spa and pools, these facilities were amazing for anyone who wanted to stay active on their cruise. - Our cabin, a spacious mini suite, was in a great location on the lido deck. A lovely perk of this cabin type was being greeted with a glass of champagne. We would happily return and sail on Regal again, or one of her sister ships. We found her stylish, and the staff were both friendly and professional. The British Isles itinerary was very quiet, with a mainly adult, internationally mixed crowd on board. The ship felt calm, spacious and rarely busy. There were enough children on board for family and kids clubs activities to run, and for our children to make friends, however the number of children on board overall was low. This was perfect for us. Of course, the medallion technology on Princess was a great perk too - being able to locate each other on board easily, opening our cabin door automatically when we approached and charging items to our bill using no-touch technology were great. Overall, a fantastic experience that we would happily repeat.