Jayestravellingadventures

13.03.2025 – 18.03.2025

I have just come back from a 5 night cruise on the Iona and lets just say, I have marked this holiday as; If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry. I will explain why below.

It takes a lot to knock my spirit whilst onboard a cruise ship and I never moan. I understand things can happen and being in the middle of the ocean there is little you can do. I embraced the holiday to which I still had an amazing time and created a lot more memories.

It all started on the 12th the day we were due to head down to Southampton to stay in a hotel. We couldn’t find my passport… I destroyed my whole house looking for it. by 1500 I felt pretty defeated until mum came home from work and showed me a stash of old and new passports. You guessed it, mine was in there all along. Instead of looking for a red she was looking for the new black one. This was a huge relief and we then had to pack. We always stay at the Holiday Inn Express Southampton M27, Jct.7 and it has a bar open late with food and a variety at breakfast, it is perfect.

Embarkation day was very straight forward, we had a 1230 time so we left the hotel, stopped off at B&M (which is round the corner from the hotel), then drove 30 minuets to the dock to drop our car off with CPS (Cruise & Passenger Services) and out luggage. We were still slightly early so we walked 25-20 minutes to a Starbucks and enjoyed the view. We then met up with some family friends who were first time cruisers. The check in was very easy and straight forward, we got the stamp of approval to board and flew straight through security, all together it took us under 30 minutes.

We were soon settled in and had the hydro spa for the week (a further blog will be posted), as well as a surprise cake for my birthday was delivered. On the Iona you need to book restaurants every night, so for the first night we decided to head to deck 8 for some fish and chips.

Day two was a sea day so it was full of relaxation, and enjoying what the ship has to offer. As it was the celebration night we booked the Chefs Table prior to boarding the cruise. There was still seats available and the menu was no different then in the main restaurants, thankfully it didn’t cost us any extra.

We docked in Rotterdam for our first port, and we weren’t leaving until the evening of March 16th. There was plenty of time to kill so, we visited some landmarks such as; Cube Houses, Markthal and much more. We then done some shopping over the two days and brought the most amazing Stroopwafels from DiDis. The trains were on strike so getting to Amsterdam could of been harder so we decided to miss this, there is also the Zoo and Theme park which you could explore either by excursion or solo.

As we were in Rotterdam overnight we booked the epicurean which is extra £25pp. The food was delicious however there was an incident in the kitchen which meant that food took 55 minutes to come out causing us to rush because, we did not want to miss the evening entertainment. The waitress was amazing and got all three courses out in time for us to attend.

On the 16th I came back to my cabin made and 2 cards left on the bed from the sails team and P&O, a dog made out of towels and a banner on my door, it was such a lovely touch. Whilst getting ready for dinner my dress had broke so I had to scramble to find an alternative, we had booked The Limelight Club (£27pp extra) where we had Chris Judge signing, so it wasn’t jeans and hoodie attire. The food was delicious and having live entertainment topped off the experience. We ended the night enjoying my cake on our balcony.

Zeebrugge was out last port and there wasn’t much to offer in this port so we hopped onto a shuttle into Blankenberg. We had booked a chocolate making experience with time to explore however, this was unfortunately cancelled due to the lack of people booked onto the excursion. So there was some sightseeing as well as some shopping before bumping into our friends at a local café.

We didn’t have long in this port and the last shuttle was at 1530. Across the road from the security check point there is a shop which sells all kinds of chocolate and memorabilia which the town seemed to lack.

Once back on board there was a sail away party at the back of the ship, before heading down to the spa for the last time and having a deep tissue massage. It was just what I needed! We then raided the shops before trying to squeeze everything into our suitcases. There was lots of entertainment this evening including aerobatics in the sky dome and the Pulse banned in The Club House, all entertainment acts were extremely talented.

Disembarkation day is everyone’s worst day and the end to the holiday. Our suitcases were taken the night before so we only had our rucksacks and anything that we couldn’t squeeze into the suitcases. The buffet wasn’t busy so we had breakfast before saying bye to our family friends, (whom now have the cruise bug). The night before we were given a 0800-0845 time to meet and disembark however, when we got to the atrium we were advised there was no queue and the luggage was ready to collect.

From getting off the ship at 0720 to having the luggage loaded in the car at 0750 we were on our way home. The whole process was so straightforward and easy, the hardest part was finding your suitcase. You’ll be surprised at how common your suitcase is.

The holiday wasn’t plain sailing at times however it was extremely fun and worth every minute. Spending my 25th birthday onboard doing the thing I love whilst surrounded by family and friends really meant a lot. I cant wait to be back onboard soon and watch my friends cruise again.

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