P&O Cruises Reviews 11,517

A great week with P&O on the Arvia. Excellent, friendly, efficient and polite staff. Great food and choice suitable for all. First time cruiser and was very impressed- something for everyone. In particular it struck me what a great family holiday to do with a few different generations (if you are lucky to have a few living generations).

Fabulous ship, wonderful crew, great sailing to the Norwegian Fjords aboard this incredible ship, so much to see and do, reasonably priced drinks in comfortable bars, very good choice of dining options and plenty of entertainment.
I enjoyed every minute of it

P&O’s Arvia is fantastic modern ship with loads of modern amenities. The quality of service is decent in most areas but could certainly be improved in restaurants and bars. The buffet food is decent without being exceptional but the it’s a buffet after all. Ship excursions are expensive and are cheaper booked locally and the same operators will take children under 13 perfectly safely on the Norwegian fjords whilst P&O won’t allow them on the excursions. Overall P&O is good value for money and I’m sure we will sail with the again in the future

First time cruiser here. Really enjoyed myself .
Aurora. France Portugal Spain.

Only downsides were lack of time at places of excursions and the lack of Christian services over Easter . Only Catholic and 11.30 pm or 8 am. Better times of day would have been great

Other than this was very impressed by the hard work the staff put in to keep us safe . With norovirus on bourd they did a great job keeping the ship disinfected and clean.

As this was I our 1st cruise to the Norwegian Ffjords on the Iona, we did not know what to expect. However we did not have to worry as the ship, crew, service, entertainment and cleanliness were exceptional. Unfortunately we had to miss 2 ports but that was beyond anyone's control due to extreme weather conditions. Will definitely book and recommend P&O again.

Just back from a week in the Norwegian Fjords on board the Iona. It was our first cruise but definitely not our last, we had a fantastic time. Norway is beautiful though sadly the weather conditions prevented us from accessing two of our stops. But, P&O made sure there was still plenty to do on these extra sea days so our disappointment was minimal. 5⭐️ throughout.

Our 1st cruise. Made easy from start to finish by P and O. . Cabin steward Paulo went out of his way to look after us and Norway as a destination is 2nd to none. Missed two ports but you can't help the westher. Ship" Iona" was spotless . All staff were polite and helpful . So glad we had a fantastic experience as we have 2 more cruises booked prior to this one .

Our first cruise so I was nervous about embarkation, absolutely no need to be as so well organised with amazing helpful staff and crew members to guide you. We dropped luggage and were on board eating lunch within 20 minutes.
Cabin was very clean and had plenty of room, we had a balcony cabin, it was lovely and light, the bathroom has soap, shower gel and shampoo provided, conditioner can be requested.
Signing up to my holiday, the onboard app was easily done and from then on made each day so easy to plan, from booking meals to entertainment, reading the daily bulletin or checking our onboard spending.
The staff are amazing, so friendly and helpful, always on hand to get you a drink or answer questions. Service in the dining rooms and restaurants was excellent, and the food was exceptional, I cannot fault a single element of any meal, I finished nearly every plate.
The entertainment was great and there is something for everyone, my favourites were the silent disco, Sarah Dunne and seeing the wonderful Natalie Paris perform in the Limelight Club.
Sadly for us, Storm Dave was visiting and caused some issues, rough seas were felt and caused issues for some, glad I had considered nausea and prepared for it with medication so fortunately no sickness, I did feel the movement and know without taking precautions that I would have suffered. Also this lead to the disappointment of missed ports on 2 of the planned shore days, obviously cannot be helped and glad that my insurance covers missed ports, recommend getting insurance with cover for this reason. However the ship is a holiday in itself so no need to be bored, we ventured into the ships cinema screens to watch One Battle After Another, there are also a wide range of on demand films and programmes available on the canon televisions.
On board photography was great, we had a photo shoot with Zii, and picked out some beautiful photos to buy and take home, these were printed and ready to collect in just a few hours.
We had on board credit which is used before any payments come off your registered bank card, and all purchases are shown in our account on my holiday, we didn’t buy a drinks package and didn’t spend anywhere near enough to warrant needing one.
Disembarkation day was again very smooth, we chose express disembarkation, so had breakfast in the quays by 7, we were off the ship with our luggage and driving home by 7.30. We got lucky with the lifts when taking out luggage down from deck14.
Everyday the horizon was delivered and had important information about the day, there are also screens on every deck with information for the day.
We had a wonderful time and we’re looking at future cruises already.

For our first ever cruise, we made a great choice. From the ship, the food, the crew, everything exceeded our expectations.

Amazing ship amazing staff. If weather is bad it feels like you are cooped up otherwise I would give it five stars. Service is impeccable food you cannot fault.

We had a wonderful 7 day experience on the Iona. Very grateful to all the happy hardworking staff. Thank you for a wonderful holiday.

Standard of service by the staff throughout was excellent and the embarkation process was so simple and streamlined.

Plenty of activities for all ages during day and night time. Sadly didn't get much use of whirlpools because they were always at full occupancy, or being used by children. Very wide range of food across multiple restaurants and decks.

Missing the Stavanger and Haugesund ports was disappointing but that's not the fault of P&O Cruises, despite any reviews you may read. The weather dictates and the Captain made an informed decision on both counts and was very clear with the announcements.

I would personally go for an Adults Only cruise next time as it was all a little chaotic at times, but I would definitely use P&O Cruises in the future, but I do hope they expand their Adults Only options moving forward.

This was our 2nd cruise with p&o and it didn’t fail to impress.
Sailing from Southampton to the Norwegian fjords on the Iona.
The experience was effortless and much preferable over flying! We booked our car in with cps car parks and left it with them while we set sail.
Once we’d cleared check in and passport control which took less than hour we were on board and ready to start our holiday. Once on board we checked in with our muster station and was given our cabin key. Our cabin was spacious clean and had everything we needed. It was well equipped with a hair dryer, sofa bed, tea & coffee, fridge & tv which has a route map, safety info and a live camera from the bridge. Had a good choice of films and tv shows but didn’t need them with the amount of things to do and entertainment on the ship
We’d booked a 7 day cruise with 4 ports in Norway, unfortunately due to bad weather we only managed 2 😞 but p&o put extra entertainment on for the extra sea days and the staff on board was exceptional, every member of staff we spoke to was friendly, knowledgeable and nothing was too much effort. The entertainment was magnificent and the animal guys show was outstanding well worth a watch especially if you have young children.
The food was as good if not better than any restaurant at home! We tried the buffet at horizon the first night at 6pm and it was like a bun fight, couldn’t move and everyone on top of each other, the next night we ate at coral a restaurant on deck 7 which was a sit down meal and the food was amazing and a very good selection to choose from. We ate there for the duration of the cruise and the menu changed each night so you weren’t eating the same thing each night. Our waiter Christian who served us for the rest of the cruise was excellent, he was always polite and nothing was too much effort.
The whole experience of cruising with p&o has been magnificent, take it easy and relax by the pool or fill your time with shows and entertainment we found there’s something for everyone.
Thoroughly enjoyed it and value for money. Would definitely be going back again.

Absolutely awful. I’d never set foot on a P&O cruise unless you paid me

Wow, what an incredible experience! Just returned from a cruise on Iona to Norwegian Fjords. It was literally a dream vacation! Amazing food and hospitality! 5 stars for the entire staff who worked incredibly hard during the stay! The options for dining, entertainment, activities were superb! Super polite staff, 10/10 for cleanliness, and food tasted amazing! Highly recommend!

Just returned from a 7 day cruise on the Iona to the Fjords our first cruise, really enjoyed it the whole ship runs like a well oiled machine, the staff are fantastic as is the food , unfortunately the weather was rough so couldn’t get into two of the four ports but we still had a great time , Norway is stunning

Overall exceptionall. Great Experience on a first time cruise.

We have just enjoyed a week on Iona on the Norwegian Fiords holiday. We had a great time with good friends. Unfortunately due to the high winds we missed two ports which was a great shame but we can’t argue with the weather… The ship was very clean, modern and very spacious. The staff were lovely with the bar staff and dining room staff happy to discuss their family set up with many leaving family at home for 6 months whilst they work on the ship. We met all sorts of nationalities. The food was always excellent but I feel some were too large and I do wonder if maybe there could be a small and large option. From start to finish embarkation and disembarkation was worked like a well oiled cog. The public areas where the W/C’s are were often blocked in the evening but there are loo’s everywhere and were always immaculate with cleanliness!

P&O Iona Norwegian cruise was a total waste of money , no wonder they were rated 2nd from bottom of all the cruise lines by Which...

2 cancelled ports out of 4 planned stops for what turned out to be against very dubious weather forecasts.
With only the 2 stops P&O sailed us around for 5 solid days then back to Southampton basically on a very overcrowded ship.
Conveniently P&O have no liability for missed ports as detailed in their small print , but benefited from large savings on port costs no doubts.?
Shocking communication and couldn't care less attitude demonstrated by P&O, if you were in your cabin or sleeping at 7.30 am you would have missed at least one of the port cancellations!!.

Don't bank on visiting all the advertised ports if you book with P&O cruises, what a set of Cowboys!
Avoid them if you have any sense , we will be.

We took our first ever cruise on Iona, from Southampton to the Norwegian Fjords and had a brilliant time time. A few thoughts:

The ship IS your holiday - Before the cruise, I saw Iona simply as the mode of transport to take us on the holiday. As it turned out, the weather gods were against us and we only made 2 of the 4 ports, so the overwhelming sense of feeling shortchanged started to set in. Of course there is LOADS to do onboard so it wasn't an issue. But, my advice is to flip your approach to Iona being the star of the show and the ports are a bonus.

Don't worry about the lingo - Cruise cards, booking restaurants, MDRs, packages for this and that... what seems like a mindfield soon becomes second nature and the staff are incredibly helpful.

Everyone becomes the Captain - in the event of port cancelations, a large proportion of your fellow passengers miraculously acquire 30 years of maritime experience overnight and are willing to share across breakast tables how they would run the rest of the itinerary.

Mid-cruise guilt - This is a personal one and difficult to put across in words, but I couldn't help feeling just how much food, drink and general indulgence there is going on - a sense that a lot of very fortunate people are having an amazing time whilst waited on by a crew, 90%+ I imagine are on minimum wage. Be respectful and don't waste food.

You set the mood - The whole cruise thing is a shared experience, and the general vibe of the boat is palpable. You have the power to make someone's holiday. Keep smiling and give people time (Particularly at Breakfast)

Other observations in headine form:
The toilets are great - with a very powerful flush.
The laundrettes are worth a visit - less to do at home.
The duck thing becomes ridiculously addictive.
You will become an expert at opening teabag sachets.
You will never quite know which way your room is.

Happy sailing!