P&O Iona Northern Europe Christmas Markets Cruise

If you’re looking for information about the accessibility on the P&O Iona cruise ship then head to my previous post, this is more of a travel diary for people to see what we got up to and what this P&O Iona Northern Europe Christmas Markets Cruise had to offer!

General P&O Iona Cruise Information

So the Iona is Freedom Dining which means you don’t have a set slot and can dine whenever, the only time food wasn’t available seemed to be between 9-11 pm and then after 11 pm only the Horizon Buffet was open (and room service) and it was extremely busy. They catered for everyone’s needs and they were special stations at the buffet or you could simply ask anywhere else for dietary needs. Across the 19 decks, there are 14 restaurants and 19 bars, 12 hot tubs, 2 regular pools, 2 infinity pools, and a hydro pool at the spa. With 6 theatres and entertainment lounges, including an actual cinema, as well as entertainment in Brodie’s (the pub) and atrium, there is so much to see and do!

There are lots of places to eat at that are included and then we tried a few that cost a little extra too. We had alcohol drinks packages which were very strict on only 15 drinks a day and one drink every 15 minutes, which would be fine but when you can barely get served 1 drink an hour, I definitely think they should relax it. It’s one thing I didn’t think we’d be without a drink or hungry on a cruise but with our bad timing and not enough staff, it happened a few times. You just have to make the most of it though and you definitely can’t take it out on the poor staff just doing their best.

The Cabins

We had two Accessible Balcony Cabins (video on my last post) and one inside Cabin on deck 12. For general room information, the beds were extremely comfortable. The rooms were very quiet and pitch black, the accessible bathrooms were more than big enough and we all had a comfortable stay.

 

 

In the standard inside cabin, the door was smaller than standard size and there wasn’t much room in the bathroom or to get around but they also have a large sofa bed and bunk bed in the wall with plenty of storage. You would definitely struggle with more than 2 people inside but it is very true what they say about not being in your room much. That being said my friend said that if he does another he definitely wants a balcony as well as it was just so lovely being able to go out there.

P&O Iona Northern Europe Christmas Markets Cruise

This cruise was to visit Christmas markets but only Hamburg actually had any Christmas markets that were easy to get to. They were utterly amazing though with 3 different ones that were very close together and easy to visit. We’re taking next-level Christmas markets where every single detail was thought of, down to a toy train going around the top of the market! We were in Rotterdam for 2 days as there were tours to go to Amsterdam and the option to get there yourself too. Finally, Zeebruges had lots of options but it was quite a trek into actual Bruges.

Here’s what we got up to…

Day 1 – Embarkation and Sea Day

Arriving at the terminal we used the CPS booking option when booking our cabin rather than extra room credit so that was all very easy to do with clear instructions. We unloaded the car and wheelchair with ease and made our way to the terminal. It was extremely busy and had a weird layout where we had to come back through everyone going through security, so felt massively in the way whilst people were being patted down but again all clear instructions, and friendly staff, and we were through within no time. The terminal bridge itself was very difficult on a steep incline and weird ramps between connections, it caused a lot of pain and we didn’t get off to a good start.

We then got lost, eventually got to our rooms and left straight away for a drink which meant we didn’t see the Horizon newsletter of what was on, didn’t read instructions on how to activate our drinks package or any of the other information we needed at all.

We ended up in the Emerald Bar on Deck 6 chatting away, making friends and drinking cocktails (that we were charged for as no one said we needed to activate our cards). They were really nice cocktails though. We had heard things get booked up fast so we made sure to make a booking for the first night and headed to The Olive Grove, this is a speciality restaurant where some dishes cost a little extra but it’s only a few pounds. We really enjoyed it but were a little worried that we had made a mistake and that cruising wasn’t for us! We headed to The Club House for some drinks and finally to the Horizon buffet afterwards as my friend doesn’t like a lot of food so we needed to make sure he got something to eat and finally headed to bed.

Day 2 – Sea Day

Our phones weren’t connected to the Internet with being at sea so they didn’t go back an hour meaning we nearly missed all the breakfast times and the only place we could go was the Horizon Buffet. We nearly couldn’t find a seat as it seemed like a lot of people had done the same! It was a big shock being around so many people and we had really hoped to find quieter spots but it just didn’t work out like that the first few days.

We then headed off around the ship exploring away before heading to one of the included main dining rooms for lunch. It was always a very odd menu for lunch in these main dining rooms, and it seems like they had got a great deal on artichokes as it was all I saw for the first few days! 

Everywhere was super busy with it being the first sea day and everyone wanting to see everything so I was super pleased to have booked my dad and I into The Epicurean which is the fanciest fine dining restaurant on board. It cost £30 each for a 3-course meal and was so worth going to. My mum and Alfie decided to stay with our friend as they wouldn’t have enjoyed the food as much as us.

We ordered the Alaskan Snow Crab, Langoustine and Salmon Caviar Cocktail and Seared King Scallops and Scallop Tartare to start and we originally wanted to go there for the Giant Indonesian Tiger Prawns but unfortunately, they didn’t have any that day so we had 4 very large prawns instead. I took a photo to compare with the size of my head! The entire experience took 2.5 hours and included coffee and a little treat at the end too. It was a great experience and something I’d definitely recommend, it was extremely luxurious! 

We then met up with everyone else in the atrium after an hour of looking for them and headed to The Club House for drinks and music. The Club House was such a great spot!

Day 3 – Hamburg Christmas Markets

I woke up with the worst pain I’ve been in for years but we were already planning on getting off after the big rush of everyone else so we took it easy, took tablets and headed off down the horrible terminal bridge. There were taxis right outside but we used Uber just to make sure we ended up in the right place. The taxi drivers were really great and helpful and we were so pleased we went because the Hamburg Christmas markets are so beyond beautiful! There were 3 or 4 in total, the main ones outside the city hall, more around the corner and then I think 2 lots of white tents. The stalls were wonderful and with such beautiful things on offer, everything was utterly flawless. It was very busy but I made sure to go around a few times to see everything we possibly could. The food was also great, we ended up with some pork buns, flatbread and of course, bratwurst!

We ended up buying a little Christmas house decoration, a Himalayan rock salt lamp (we already have two so this was for next to my mum’s bed) and then I got some antique jewellery that I was obsessed with and wore out the next night for a celebration evening.

After a few hours in Hamburg, my hair needed a wash and although I had actually packed Flash with Bleach to clean up the bathroom, I headed to the salon on board and they fitted me in straight away for the most amazing hair wash of my life! It was like a spa treatment. I ended up having a full Keratese treatment and even buying some of the products too (he was a tad pushy but I understand that they have to be, plus we had on-board credit to spend so why not!) I had my hair curled and joined the others for tea in the main dining room.

Thankfully the main dining rooms for tea were much better than lunch! If you booked via the app you could get an early sitting or if you wanted a prime time then you’d simply join an online queue system. I was getting a little stressed at all the admin so my friend booked us in for places and then if we changed our mind we’d simply cancel and free up the spot for someone else, but it definitely took the pressure off of making sure everyone was fed with having things booked in!

I wasn’t taking too many photos as we were on holiday after all but I believe we headed to The Club House and either saw a magician or a comedian! Either way, we really enjoyed both whatever nights we saw them.

Later that evening we popped to The Quays which was extremely good, 3 different stations where you just go up and get what you want. Fish & Chips, Asian Kitchen including Katsu Curry (which was actually one of the nicest we’ve ever had!) and then Street Food burgers. It was always good food here and lots of seating. Here’s a photo of the Katsu Curry and then their full english as for breakfast time it turned into an english breakfast bar, pancakes, and omlettes! 

Day 4 – Sea Day

We were booked in for half 7 breakfast and the plan was to eat and then nap which we definitely needed! You couldn’t fault the main dining rooms for breakfast apart from the over-fanciness when you asked for some ketchup, they’d bring a tiny bowl with an even tinier spoon and offer one little bit that they then spread on the side of your plate. Ended up with a dry sausage most days but I appreciate the effort!

Back to the main dining room for lunch and I should point out that some of the portions were extremely small but you can order more than 1 thing if you want! As it’s all included. It did feel a little weird doing this but it’s a great way to try something new or share, or in this case, just get a decent amount of sushi.

Most days I just went around in my heatless roller and had little to no makeup. The daytimes were definitely less casual but even at night time, people didn’t always dress up. This was celebration night or formal night as you might know them, judging by how everyone had been so far I wasn’t expecting many to dress up but it was actually the opposite. There must have only been a handful of people who didn’t and some people went all out! It was so nice to sit in the atrium and watch all the pretty dresses and fancy suits. Everyone had already been so complimentary towards us so we made sure to dish out the compliments and it was such a lovely vibe of everyone going around telling each other how lovely they looked.

It took so long in the main dining room on celebration night that I had to pop back up to the room and take some tablets. It’s a little uncomfortable to get up and move around when the restaurants are so busy, so I was seizing up too much. I’m so glad I went back out though as we ended up in the SkyDome listening to Nicki Simms singing and she was absolutely amazing and completely made our night! The cocktails were great there too and we were so glad to have stumbled across it in perfect timing.

Day 5 – Rotterdam

Throughout the night whilst travelling to Rotterdam was the most beautiful scene, it looked picturesque and something from a Christmas card all lit up at night. It was so beautiful in the morning too and we kept taking so many photos! Unfortunately, I couldn’t get off due to the terminal bridge being even steeper with a weird drop but my dad and Alfie went to the Rotterdam Food Markets and had a great time. They went via a quick taxi and found it very easy to get around. My friend and I explored around the ship, and had Paella in The Olive Grove which was one of the best meals on board!

We were booked into The Limelight Club later that evening to see Matt Cardle and he was utterly fantastic! He took a while to come on but apparently it was how slow some people were eating so the house band welcomed him first and they were also really great! The food was some of the best we had on board and with being such a small venue, the service was really great as well! We then caught the late night showing in the Skydome which was ariel performers this time, very fancy!

Day 6 – Rotterdam

My friend also wanted to see Rotterdam so it was finally time for some spa for me and mum! I would have loved to put how magical the spa was, and I guess it was, but getting down there in a wheelchair was ridiculous. The corridors and changing rooms were so small, so awkward, so hard to navigate, doors would open and block the corridor you needed to go down and in the end, we just left the chair under a desk and apologised to the others in the spa, who said it was obviously fine and what were we to do. We luckily got a very quiet time for the spa, it was technically accessible but if you’re disabled then you know that can look like a million things.

There was complete flat access to everything but the pool, as naturally, it needed to not be level in case of rough seas. It was easy enough to get in with the steps and handrails and once in, we didn’t get out for our entire slot of 2 hours. It was really lovely and on a timer for all the hydro jets to come on at once. The two-rounder jets were a little aggressive but still great to use!

We then headed back up to the main area of the spa and both had our hair washed and styled for the evening. Mum agreed that it was the best hair wash ever and definitely a treat on holiday (plus to use up our onboard credit).

For the evening’s entertainment, we headed for the earlier slot in The Club House which was 80s night. This was the only entertainment we (the younger ones) didn’t completely love but overall entertainment on board was much better than we thought it was going to be! We then headed to the late-night viewing at the theatre, yep, there’s an actual theatre on board! We saw Deck The Halls which was all Christmas songs. It was very easy to get into the wheelchair spot and we really enjoyed it even if I did nod off a few times! There’s something about very loud music and warm theatres that give the perfect nap conditions. We then headed to the balcony to take photos and videos of the choppy seas that we could definitely feel more that night!

Day 7 – Zeebruges

We really wanted to visit Bruges but lots of people had told me how difficult it was. After breakfast, we headed down to the coffee bar for my vanilla latte and saw what I can only describe as an actual slide for a terminal bridge! It was so steep I definitely wouldn’t have been able to manage it and it would have resembled a game of bowling which I don’t think the other passengers or bowling pins, would have liked.

My dad and Alfie got off but the boat doesn’t go directly to Bruges so you have to take a shuttle bus to Blankenberge and then a train into Bruges, or you can just stay in the first town which is what they did and here’s a cute pick from Blankenberge.

My friend loves a pub quiz so we rushed to get there in time only to find out it wasn’t on! So off we went exploring around the ship again and I took him to The Crow’s Nest, which is next to the Epicurean that dad and I went to. It’s a much quieter, fancier place for drinks that you can see all around the front of the ship. Definitely, a must-visit and worth the trip as it’s right at the other end of the ship and again only accessible by some lifts. We then swung by to get my mum who was already eagerly waiting by the lifts and headed back to The Olive Grove for the best lunch yet!

As it was the last day we wanted to fit in everything we hadn’t managed already so next was Afternoon Ice Cream Tea at Ripples. Mum and Ryan clearly didn’t watch the videos I had sent them for research as they ended up ordering more at the bar not realising how much ice cream came out, and it was just for 1 person!!! We had to call back up when my dad and Alfie got back on the ship and then ended up giving it away to someone behind us who was very excited!

I was then finally allowed a nap but very reluctantly and some people did try to play alien sounds to startle and wake me. We then glammed up for the final time and got into the virtual queue for Keel & Cow, it didn’t matter how long it was going to take, I knew from my research that we needed to go! It really did impress as well and we were all gutted we didn’t go sooner.

For the last night, we decided to make my dad happy and simply go to the pub! There was such a beautiful singer on that I went around the corner to get a proper video of him but ended up looking like such a little groupie as no one else was that close to him! Max TooGood-Wolvey singing the most beautiful acoustics. We then heard them announce a pub quiz which we didn’t know was on and squealed with joy as Ryan raced around the corner to get us seats! It was the majority answer to the question wins and it was utterly hilarious! The presenters were so funny and everyone had a good laugh!

We finished the night in The Limelight Club after hours for karaoke with some of the hilarious people we had met and oh my it was such a perfect way to end the trip! We laughed, we sang along, and then we were super shocked by the extremely talented people!

On the last day, you’re asked to leave your cases outside the door so they can be ready for you at the terminal and I did such a good job at packing everything up that I had to tie my hair with a ribbon from the gift I left for housekeeping! We then sat on the balcony for a while and looked out into pitch darkness. Quite scary really! 

Day 8 – Disembarkation

You have to be out of your rooms by 8 am and we had the disembarkation time of 10:15 am, so we booked breakfast to make sure we were out within plenty of time to check the rooms for anything we had left.

They were running early with getting people off so we were told to go to our ‘station’ for instructions, so we went from Deck 7 to Deck 8, just to be told they were running early and can leave on Deck 6. A little annoying when the lifts take a while but we were off the ship and down the horrible terminal bridge for the last time. We then had to go the entire length of the car park for the car which would have made more sense to park wheelchair users closer. 

I asked on Instagram for any questions and here are some things I haven’t covered above:

Would it of been better to go at a different time of year? I know you went specifically for the Christmas market but did the cold/bad weather make the trip harder or more complicated at all?

Absolutely, everyone on board that had been before telling us that a summer/spring cruise wouldn’t have felt so busy inside because people are outside most of the time. It would have definitely had a more open and relaxed atmosphere as at times it was a bit overwhelming!

Did you avoid anything because thought wasn’t accessible/felt like it would be inconvenient?

We didn’t get off at 2/3 ports because we didn’t feel it was accessible to us but we managed to go everywhere else on board where we wanted to!

What accessibility was there for deaf/hard-of-hearing people?

We saw lots of people with white canes and in my accessibility on Iona post, I talk about the room doorbells, however, the actual P&O page will answer more on the things I didn’t see: https://www.pocruises.com/accessibility/impairments-and-disabilities

Was there anywhere quiet to chill apart from yourr bedroom (assuming your bedroom was quiet?)? 

There were lots of quieter spots and corners, you just had to move around more to find them, and outside was very quiet because of the cold weather but the odd person still went for a sit-down or walk around.

I think I saw children in some of your pics, how was it with them onboard? Tbh I think they would annoy me but hopefully, they didn’t affect you.

We were really surprised with how many were on board out of term time but honestly, they were some of the kindest kids I’ve ever met, several helped with lifts and my chair. Someone dropped a plate that went underneath me in the buffet and a young boy almost cut himself trying to move it out of my way that fast! (He was fine and I told him not to touch it and thanked him.) They didn’t bother us at all! 

Ooh could you hear the ship’s engine when you were trying to sleep? Or any other machine kind of noises?

You could hear when it started back up like a vibration or humming, and if you were in the Coral or Pearl dining rooms which are right next to it! You couldn’t hear it in the rooms though, they were so quiet and peaceful. Mum said she could hear a quiet humming but more like white noise than annoying.

Would we do another?

I actually think we would! Lots of people on board told us a smaller ship would be better but by the end, we were doing fine getting around and really do think we’d try the Iona again!

I ended up watching every single cruise blogger I could find, there are full walkthroughs and so much content on the P&O Iona so you can really find out anything about it!