Hi. Great review. Thanks. Looking at various cruise options and was nervous about the dining experience and food on P&O. You’ve made my mind up for me!
Thanks both for your great video! Been enjoying your channel for a couple of years! Followed your lead & did Valiant Lady in a 'simply suite' last year! We're booked on Iona Jan '24 for my 70th Birthday, first P&O! Sky Princess this May, loving the cruise life, hope to bump into you someday!
Thank you Penelope that is so kind. Did you love Virgin as much as we did? We hope to bump into to too on a future cruise. Hope your Sky Princess Cruise this May is amazing. We are sure it will be. Have a lovely day. Linzi and Mark
Your video is brilliant so thank you. I'm a cruise virgin and am going for my 50th next year. Just weighing up the pros and cons between Iona and ariva at the moment. Totally off topic...... But..... Could I ask where you got that beautiful red top with the little white polka dots on please. It's really really nice and I find it difficult getting things to fit on top so go for the shirred top like yours.
Thank you Sarah, so glad you enjoyed it, and celebrating a 50th on a cruise is the best way to do it. We did that for Linzi's 50th last year and it was so good. You are going to have a great time, whether you are on Iona or Arvia. Not off topic at all, you can always ask us anything. I got that little top from Shein, not expensive at all and fit so lovely.
Thank you so much 4bs. You are going to have a fantastic time on her in Feb, and we are positive you will love Keel and Cow (and the other places too). Have a lovely day, Linzi & Mark
Thanks Tom, we love doing our RUclips "research" before a cruise too. It gets you really excited and in the mood for the cruise. Have a fantastic time. Linzi and Mark
That was brilliant. So glad that you guys like the beach house this time. My experience in May on Azura was great. I can't wait to try Arvia. I practically have it mapped out like a Disney holiday! Lol.
Thanks Stu. Beach House was so much better, and we would and will absolutely go again. Love the fact you have mapped out your Arvia cruise like a Disney Holiday. We still map out our Disney holidays, even after all these years, and have bought books and food festival guides in the past too. Ha Ha Ha. Have a lovely day Stu. Linzi & Mark
Thanks for your review, very useful information. We are going on Iona next year for 14 day cruise. My only concern is the busyness of places and can you choose table for twos? What times did you dine for quiet times? Did you use room service?
Hi Ian, thanks for watching. Yes you can get tables for two in every restaurant, although at the busiest of times you might have to wait a few mins. The main dining rooms will ask if you are okay to share a table, just say no if you'd rather have a table for two. We went for this everytime. Dining times to avoid busyness really depend on the restaurant you are going. Speciality ones will be staggered seating so you won't notice it being busy. Main Dining rooms tend to be at their busiest right at the start of the sitting but ten to fifteen minutes later and the queues have gone down massively. We don't don't use room service on Iona, sorry but we did speak to others who did and it was quick and reasonably priced. Hope this helps. Linzi and Mark
Great informative review. Panna Cotta translation from Italian means cooked cream, what you were served was certainly not cooked cream! The sizzling stone plate steak with prawns looked amazing.
Another brilliant video just got back from spain portugal cruise Totally argee with your findings Epicurian had only one option for 10 days the same as yours service brilliant meal average and thats generous. Ps started cruise at £28 went to £30 finished £35 not worth it Keel and Cow without doubt.My other big moan is glass house menu all visable on app but when we got there the only do mini no mighty and they dont tell you. Can't wait until your full cruse review to see if you have as many cocerns as we do.Thanks again for your brilliant videos
Thank you Raymond. What a shame Epicurean was a similar experience to ours, and to keep putting price up makes no sense at all. Very weird choice P&O. Did we read that right, was Glass House serving some food? We were gutted it was not serving at all when we went on there, as it was one of our favourites on Ventura. I suspect we will have a few of the same concerns in the full cruise review, which will be out in a few weeks. Again, thank you for your lovely comment, and have a lovely day, Linzi & Mark
@@SuiteNatured Thank you for your reply i am sure that P&o are in some sort of cost cutting program it does not look good for future cruises.Our experience this time was poor the Iona will be a big debate if we go again
Hi Sarah, if your experience of these three is anything like ours you are in for a real treat 😀 We love a countdown to a cruise. Have a lovely day, Linzi and Mark
Hello, I will have a cruise on Iona next month. I heard you rated the Beach house in Iona was 2 of 10 but you said the steak and grilled prawns were good, so I am wondering that your experience in the Beach House was good or bad?
Hi Meiva, thanks for watching our stuff, and we will clear this up for you. On Ventura (our previous P&O cruise) The Beach House was our lowest rated restaurant on any cruise line with a score of 2 out of 10. However, lots of people messaged us to try it again when we went on Iona, and it was a completely different experience. The service was great and the food really good, and we gave it a 7 out of 10 and will absolutely go there again in a future cruise on the Iona class ships. So we'd say we you are on Iona next month, absolutely give it a go. Hope this helps, have a lovely day, Linzi and Mark
Hi, thank you 😀 Yo can book via the app/website about two to three weeks from departure, just keep checking it daily from three weeks out. And of course you can book on board via the restaurants directly. If there is one you really want and on a specific day, then it's worth booking in advance, but it's the same price on P&O whether you book on board or in advance, which is not the same with all cruise lines. Linzi and Mark
@@SuiteNatured Thank-you! We really enjoyed your videos on the Iona. We aren’t going on her until 2024, but it’s our first holiday away without our children and we are super excited. All the best. Chris
@@imperialfish1922 Thanks Chris. Oh that first holiday away without kids. Wow. You'll have an amazing time. And get to stay out as long as you want and sleep in as long as you want too. 😀
He he. The worst thing about making these food videos is thatbwe are often starving after recording them and then go check the fridge and are very disappointed 😂 Linzi and Mark
Thank you Carmel, and we love to show food from cruise ships, so we are a perfect match 😂 Glass House is so nice, it was a shame they weren't serving the food when we went on, fingers crossed for next time, Have a lovely day, Linzi & Mark
Virtually all the meals were a really good size, with only the main dining room on Gala Night(s), being the exception where they seemed on the smaller sizes. Linzi & Mark
Ha ha ha Robin. Just enough to be able to get enough content for the videos and not too much that we have to get a new wardrobe in our last port 😂 Linzi and Mark
The Keel and Cow was excellent only issue is with the timing so choose wisely,you can be lucky and get a seat straight of but normally you have to book and wait then when your called you are told everything is cooked fresh and the wait will be up to 45 mins.
Thanks Ken. Closed captions should be available which will may make it better? We do intend to do more professional subtitles in 2023 though rather than relying on RUclipss auto generated ones. Linzi and Mark
Really entertaining and informative. Just off to eat the contents of the fridge now! 😋
Ha Ha Ha, we had to do the same as soon as we finished recording it yesterday Kirsty. Glad you enjoyed it. Linzi & Mark
Hi. Great review. Thanks. Looking at various cruise options and was nervous about the dining experience and food on P&O. You’ve made my mind up for me!
We are so glad it helped J N. Linzi and Mark
Thanks both for your great video! Been enjoying your channel for a couple of years! Followed your lead & did Valiant Lady in a 'simply suite' last year! We're booked on Iona Jan '24 for my 70th Birthday, first P&O! Sky Princess this May, loving the cruise life, hope to bump into you someday!
Thank you Penelope that is so kind.
Did you love Virgin as much as we did? We hope to bump into to too on a future cruise. Hope your Sky Princess Cruise this May is amazing. We are sure it will be.
Have a lovely day. Linzi and Mark
@@SuiteNatured We loved it! A very Happy New Cruising Year to you both!
Your video is brilliant so thank you. I'm a cruise virgin and am going for my 50th next year. Just weighing up the pros and cons between Iona and ariva at the moment.
Totally off topic...... But.....
Could I ask where you got that beautiful red top with the little white polka dots on please. It's really really nice and I find it difficult getting things to fit on top so go for the shirred top like yours.
Thank you Sarah, so glad you enjoyed it, and celebrating a 50th on a cruise is the best way to do it. We did that for Linzi's 50th last year and it was so good. You are going to have a great time, whether you are on Iona or Arvia.
Not off topic at all, you can always ask us anything. I got that little top from Shein, not expensive at all and fit so lovely.
@@SuiteNatured thank you. I love shein, looking at costumes on there at the moment. Thank you for your help 🙂
Excellent review, perfect prep for our Iona cruise in February. Quays, keel and cow and limelight on the list, cheers for sharing guys
Thank you so much 4bs. You are going to have a fantastic time on her in Feb, and we are positive you will love Keel and Cow (and the other places too). Have a lovely day, Linzi & Mark
@@SuiteNatured yes we can’t wait. Going to take a look at your other Iona uploads as well this week to get us ready. Have a lovely day. Tom
Thanks Tom, we love doing our RUclips "research" before a cruise too. It gets you really excited and in the mood for the cruise. Have a fantastic time. Linzi and Mark
That was brilliant. So glad that you guys like the beach house this time. My experience in May on Azura was great. I can't wait to try Arvia. I practically have it mapped out like a Disney holiday! Lol.
Thanks Stu. Beach House was so much better, and we would and will absolutely go again.
Love the fact you have mapped out your Arvia cruise like a Disney Holiday. We still map out our Disney holidays, even after all these years, and have bought books and food festival guides in the past too. Ha Ha Ha. Have a lovely day Stu. Linzi & Mark
Thanks for your review, very useful information. We are going on Iona next year for 14 day cruise.
My only concern is the busyness of places and can you choose table for twos?
What times did you dine for quiet times?
Did you use room service?
Hi Ian, thanks for watching.
Yes you can get tables for two in every restaurant, although at the busiest of times you might have to wait a few mins. The main dining rooms will ask if you are okay to share a table, just say no if you'd rather have a table for two. We went for this everytime.
Dining times to avoid busyness really depend on the restaurant you are going. Speciality ones will be staggered seating so you won't notice it being busy. Main Dining rooms tend to be at their busiest right at the start of the sitting but ten to fifteen minutes later and the queues have gone down massively.
We don't don't use room service on Iona, sorry but we did speak to others who did and it was quick and reasonably priced.
Hope this helps. Linzi and Mark
@@SuiteNatured Thanks, very helpful
Great review guys! We're on Iona in August, so really good to see all the different food options on offer 😉
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. You'll have a great time on there in August.
Great informative review. Panna Cotta translation from Italian means cooked cream, what you were served was certainly not cooked cream!
The sizzling stone plate steak with prawns looked amazing.
Hi John, thank you.
The sizzling stone plate with the steak and prawns was really good. Couldn't really blame anyone else if we overcooked it though 😂
Another brilliant video just got back from spain portugal cruise Totally argee with your findings Epicurian had only one option for 10 days the same as yours service brilliant meal average and thats generous. Ps started cruise at £28 went to £30 finished £35 not worth it Keel and Cow without doubt.My other big moan is glass house menu all visable on app but when we got there the only do mini no mighty and they dont tell you. Can't wait until your full cruse review to see if you have as many cocerns as we do.Thanks again for your brilliant videos
Thank you Raymond. What a shame Epicurean was a similar experience to ours, and to keep putting price up makes no sense at all. Very weird choice P&O. Did we read that right, was Glass House serving some food? We were gutted it was not serving at all when we went on there, as it was one of our favourites on Ventura.
I suspect we will have a few of the same concerns in the full cruise review, which will be out in a few weeks.
Again, thank you for your lovely comment, and have a lovely day, Linzi & Mark
@@SuiteNatured Thank you for your reply i am sure that P&o are in some sort of cost cutting program it does not look good for future cruises.Our experience this time was poor the Iona will be a big debate if we go again
Great review as always - love the scores out of 10 format as it makes us so much easier to compare.
Thanks Karen and Stuart. Linzi and Mark
Next time I want to try Sindhu, Keel and Cow beach house on Iona. The countdown has begun! X
Hi Sarah, if your experience of these three is anything like ours you are in for a real treat 😀
We love a countdown to a cruise. Have a lovely day, Linzi and Mark
Hello, I will have a cruise on Iona next month. I heard you rated the Beach house in Iona was 2 of 10 but you said the steak and grilled prawns were good, so I am wondering that your experience in the Beach House was good or bad?
Hi Meiva, thanks for watching our stuff, and we will clear this up for you.
On Ventura (our previous P&O cruise) The Beach House was our lowest rated restaurant on any cruise line with a score of 2 out of 10. However, lots of people messaged us to try it again when we went on Iona, and it was a completely different experience. The service was great and the food really good, and we gave it a 7 out of 10 and will absolutely go there again in a future cruise on the Iona class ships. So we'd say we you are on Iona next month, absolutely give it a go.
Hope this helps, have a lovely day, Linzi and Mark
Hello, thank you very much for your quick response and clear explanation. I will have a go. Many thanks.
Hi. Great video! When and where do you book the restaurants please?
Hi, thank you 😀
Yo can book via the app/website about two to three weeks from departure, just keep checking it daily from three weeks out.
And of course you can book on board via the restaurants directly. If there is one you really want and on a specific day, then it's worth booking in advance, but it's the same price on P&O whether you book on board or in advance, which is not the same with all cruise lines.
Linzi and Mark
@@SuiteNatured Thank-you! We really enjoyed your videos on the Iona. We aren’t going on her until 2024, but it’s our first holiday away without our children and we are super excited. All the best. Chris
@@imperialfish1922 Thanks Chris. Oh that first holiday away without kids. Wow. You'll have an amazing time. And get to stay out as long as you want and sleep in as long as you want too. 😀
Beach house was my favourite, followed by Sindhu then epicurean YUMMY!
Beach House was really good on Iona Sal, massively different experience to the one we had on Ventura which was not great.
😂really enjoyed your blog great fun and useful
Thank you so much Hayley.
Have a lovely day. Linzi and Mark
Soooo much food! Full up just watching 😮but thank you 🎉
He he. The worst thing about making these food videos is thatbwe are often starving after recording them and then go check the fridge and are very disappointed 😂
Linzi and Mark
I'm starving.
Love you guys❤
He he he, sorry Frank. We are always starving when we finish editing and doing the voice over from our food ones too.
Linzi & Mark
Instant sub for the Yorkshire Gold 🤣🤣
Thank you Mark & Gem ❤️ you can’t beat a cup of Yorkshire Gold.
Linzi and Mark
I love to see food on cruise ships ,yours is great, I love glass house on Iona ❤
Thank you Carmel, and we love to show food from cruise ships, so we are a perfect match 😂
Glass House is so nice, it was a shame they weren't serving the food when we went on, fingers crossed for next time,
Have a lovely day, Linzi & Mark
The dress you are wearing at the chef’s table is 👌🏻 where is it from
It was from Shein Jennifer
Thank you!
@@SuiteNatured thank you! I’ve just been on shein and got so many bargains for our cruise, thanks for the tip ❤️
Great video, love your blue skirt
Thank you Helen. We love that blue skirt too. Linzi & Mark
Thank you for sharing great review
Thanks for watching Vicky, glad you enjoyed it. Linzi & Mark
@@SuiteNatured did u find a cruising duck ?
Sadly no. And we did have a good look round. We are determined to find one on our next cruise.... Or the one after 😉
Linzi and Mark
Portions look a good size
Virtually all the meals were a really good size, with only the main dining room on Gala Night(s), being the exception where they seemed on the smaller sizes.
Linzi & Mark
@@SuiteNatured thinking of going on one this summer
Thanks for this review..........will be looking elsewhere me thinks.
You are welcome G H. Thanks for taking time to watch, Linzi & Mark
REMEMBER TO THIUMBS UP 👆
Goodness…. How much do u eat 😅😅
Ha ha ha Robin. Just enough to be able to get enough content for the videos and not too much that we have to get a new wardrobe in our last port 😂 Linzi and Mark
call me a heathen but i do like my meat actually cooked....i couldnt eat some of the raw meat they serve
Okay Heathen 🤣
Seriously though they will cook it however you want it. If you want it very well done they will prepare it that way for you 😀
@@SuiteNatured lol i do like it well done
It’s served how you want it the same as restaurants all over the world
The Keel and Cow was excellent only issue is with the timing so choose wisely,you can be lucky and get a seat straight of but normally you have to book and wait then when your called you are told everything is cooked fresh and the wait will be up to 45 mins.
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would be much nicer with the subtitle
Thanks Ken. Closed captions should be available which will may make it better?
We do intend to do more professional subtitles in 2023 though rather than relying on RUclipss auto generated ones.
Linzi and Mark