Iona - No fly cruise from Southampton with P&O Cruises - April 2022
After more disappointment and another cancellation, we were eventually able to re-book for the Easter holidays! So, the wait began again. Luckily, this time we made it onboard for a week’s cruise on Iona!
We had the most brilliant week despite the awful weather which left us stranded in Rotterdam for almost half of the cruise (rather than the planned one day!). We missed 2 ports due to the weather and only managed one more stop in Zeebrugge. This didn’t detract from a great week and we certainly hadn’t booked for the weather or itinerary.
Actually, on the day we embarked, it was sunny in Southampton and we all managed time in the outdoor hot-tubs which was brilliant fun and quite novel – being able to drive to the port and start our holiday straight away was very different from the drive to the airport, bus from the car park, 2 hour check-in, flight and transfer the other end! You really can start your holiday straight away with a no-fly cruise and I am sure we will do one again!
We had already planned a day at the zoo in Rotterdam and so we did that on our first day – it’s a brilliant day out and we spent quite a few hours there. We even navigated the tube to get there under our own steam and then walked the last part (very thankful to google maps!!). As we had a second day, we walked over the bridge into the city and just explored until the weather (which by then had turned much worse) got the better of us! I think we were all very grateful to be back on the ship and in the warm when we got back! By the third day we felt we had covered enough of Rotterdam in the rain and wind so decided to stay onboard all day. After 3 nights and 4 days in Rotterdam, we were finally given a weather window and were able to sail. This meant we got a stop in Zeebrugge. We took the free coach to a little seaside town called Blankenberge (rather than the obvious trip to Bruges). The beach there is amazing and on a hot summers day we could have spent all day there but the wind was still strong so despite the sunny and blue sky photos, it was absolutely freezing. So after half an hour on the beach we mooched around the shops along the high street, stocked up on Belgium chocolates and bought a couple of souvenirs to bring home and then it was back on the coach to the ship.
Iona is a great ship and one we would happily cruise on again.
We booked a standard balcony cabin which was great – I ventured out onto the balcony a couple of times and it was nice to have the outside space but with the weather we definitely couldn’t make the most of it!! The cabin was just about big enough for 3 of us – a double bed and sofa bed meant there wasn’t a huge amount of floor space but it was fine for a week and we’d stay in one again. The main issue we had was that the cases wouldn’t go under the bed as they had a solid side to them and as they were hard cases, they wouldn’t fit in the wardrobes so we were constantly moving them around to access various parts of the cabin.
We found the open dining worked well and were able to book a table at a suitable time most evenings via the onboard App. There were ample eateries included as standard and we particularly enjoyed the pizza around the pool and the fish and chip shop!
The entertainment onboard was also very good. We loved the shows they did over the main pool. We visited the theatre a couple of times and also participated in model clay-making sessions and watched a magic show!
All in all, a great week and cruising with children is definitely a great way to holiday!
