From the moment we walked into the restaurant, to when we left, we were made to feel very special – nothing was too much trouble for any of the staff (not that we made any demands, but there was a particularly testing table that arrived as we were about to leave.) I loved the décor, it was just to my taste and we were sat at the window!
We did wonder who St. Petroc was, so we went to good old Google and found this: “St. Petroc, also known as Petrock, was a British prince and Christian saint. He was renowned for his goodness to both men and animals and he founded monasteries at Padstow and Bodmin. Although he had been brought up as a prince and trained to rule over people, he had a call to lead a holy life.”
We chose to have the Set Lunch at a cost of £26 each, with additional sides of Savoy Cabbage with bacon and chives and Tenderstem Broccoli with salsa verde.
We both decided on the same courses, Tomato Soup with Basil for starters, 4oz Steak Frites with thin cut chips and rocket salad for Mains and Sticky Toffee Pudding with Cornish clotted cream for dessert. I forgot to take a picture of the starter, but it was just soup!
The whole meal was absolutely delicious, hubby particularly loved the Tenderstem Broccoli and we ate everything, nothing was left to waste. The soup was very tasty, the steak just melted in your mouth, the chips were crispy with a light potato filling and the dessert was heavenly, not too rich, not too heavy and topped off perfectly with the clotted cream.
And just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, a special Happy Birthday plate was presented to the table!
The whole meal, including drinks, cost us £90 . I always say that I don’t mind paying that extra if the meal is worth it and boy was this meal worth it!
I am off work at the moment as I am recovering from bowel cancer and my husband booked two weeks off as our son was getting married and he wanted some time off around that. I received an email from Parkdean Resorts saying we could book a four day holiday for £89. I was a bit sceptical but it was true, so we booked to go from Monday to Thursday at St. Minver Holiday Park, Wadebridge, Cornwall, PL27 6RR.
Day One
The journey from Southampton to Wadebridge is roughly four hours, so we booked to stop off at The Jamaica Inn for lunch. This was a bit of a bucket list item for both of us, as every time we drove to Cornwall we threatened to go there, but never actually got there, but because it was my birthday, we decided to go for it.
Picture from Jamaica Inn website
We stopped off at The Jamaican Inn, luckily we had booked as it was very busy.
Our onward journey took us another 45 minutes where we found St. Minver Holiday Park quite easily and after booking in at Reception we found our caravan.
We booked a four berth caravan and when we entered we were pleasantly surprised by it. Sure, it wasn’t the biggest caravan we’d stayed in but it was only for the two of us and we wouldn’t be spending that much time in there, we were more concerned with the facilities the park had to offer and the location of it.
Living roomKitchen area
On looking at the map of the site and the entertainment programme it looked like there was a lot going on. We saw that there was an entertainment hub which housed the pub, showbar, restaurant, arcade and soft play area and the list of activities for the children was quite extensive, including an indoor heated swimming pool, plus bingo, karaoke and even a tribute band for the adults. I was quite impressed that you could order food from your table via their App and even have food delivered to your accommodation.
After unpacking, we decided to visit a beach called Polzeath Beach which is popular with surfers and we could see why when we arrived, the waves were awesome! We took a walk around the town centre, purchased an ice cream and took a wander down on the beach. There were lots of surfing classes and we spent a while watching the surfers ride the waves and some quite spectacular wipe-outs.
As it had been a long day, we drove back to the caravan and as we were both still full from the lunch at Jamaica Inn, we had a cup of tea and went to sleep….
Day Two
Today we had decided to go and visit Padstow which is one of my favourite places in Cornwall, my very favourite being St. Ives. But, instead of driving to Padstow we were going to park at Rock, which was only a couple of miles away and then catch the ferry across the bay to Padstow. This was a good decision as the car park in Padstow is way up on a hill and whilst this is fine in the morning walking down, it’s very tiring after a long day and having to walk up this steep hill, plus after chemotherapy and bowel surgery, I’m still not up to full strength so I’m not sure I would have even made it!
We arrived and parked up and went for a walk along the sea front to take a little look at the place where the celebrities live, people like Gordon Ramsay and Dawn French. We spotted Paul Ainsworth’s restaurant, The Mariners on the sea front and it did look fabulous, somewhere we’d love to go for a special occasion.
We walked back as we could see the ferry was approaching Rock Beach. The ferry only took card payments and it cost £3.00 – Adult Single, £1.50 – Child Single and £3.00 – Bike.
The ferry dropped us off at the harbour and after checking what time the last ferry back to Rock was, we went off to explore.
Padstow is a fishing port and is situated on the west bank of the River Camel. There is a lot of shops to visit, we particularly like the glass art that you can get from Cornwall, plenty of tea rooms, restaurants and of course, pasties. After a cup of coffee and a piece of cake, we took a stroll round and sat on a bench on the harbour just people watching and enjoying the view.
After a delicious meal at Rick Stein’s, we had another wander and stumbled across a craft fayre and never one to walk past one of this, we went in. There were lots of stalls to have a look around and I bought a ceramic heart necklace which was very pretty.
We then caught the ferry back to Rock, thankful that we didn’t have to go up that steep hill back to the carpark and drove back to the caravan site.
We were going to go to the Entertainment Hub but we were very tired and so we just chilled in front of the television watching The Great British Bake Off, munched on a few pork pies that we had brought with us and then departed to the bedroom and I haven’t slept that well for a very long time…
Day Three
On our journey down to St. Minver Caravan Park, we saw a sign for Pencarrow House, it wasn’t a National Trust house but privately owned, so we made a mental note to visit it if we had time over the next couple of days. Well, day three afforded us this chance and so we headed over to it early morning to book a house tour.
Pencarrow HouseLanhydrock House
It’s a standing joke between us that wherever we go somebody always knows hubby and today was no exception. As we walked into the shop a voice said, “Hello Phil, what are you doing here?” The lady who worked behind the counter used to work in one of the buildings he runs as the Catering Manager!
A walk around the gardens and a guided tour of the house and we were on our way to Lanhydrock house, but not before have a bite to eat at a pub we passed along the way.
We had downloaded a free National Trust pass so we used this to gain entry to Lanhydrock House, which was just as well as it was quite expensive at £20 each.
After a look around the House, we would have loved to had spent more time there but we had a meal booked at Bodmin Jail before we went on our ghost walk, we had to move on.
The rain was coming down which added to the eerie feeling about the jail. We arrived fully expecting a meal but was told that even though we booked it online for a time of 16:45, they weren’t open at that time for meals but did open at 17:00 for a set menu. On looking at this menu it was £50 per head, so we decided against it and found a lovely little pub down the road and had a bowl of tomato soup each!
Back to the jail for 18:30 and we booked in for our ghost walk.
The walk around the jail was very interesting, we were told about the different ghosts that haunted the jail, facts about some of the inmates and we got to look inside the jails, which was a bit creepy.
The person who led the tour was very knowledgeable and we were surprised to find out it was his first tour he had ever done, so well done to that man!
It was at Bodmin Jail where the episode of Most Haunted was filmed and Derek Ocorah (a medium) was set up by Ciaran O’Keefe (sceptic) to expose him as a fraud….
After the tour we headed back to the caravan site where we went to the entertainment centre and feasted on a £12.49 pizza and a couple of drinks.
We took a picture of the different menus:
After feeling full after eating the pizza we did a quick tour of the amusement arcade where we won a couple of small teddies and then we headed back to the caravan for our final night before we packed to go home.
Amusement Arcade
Day Four
Phil got up early to go to a bakery we had seen at Rock the day before to buy some pasties and scones for when we got home. Phil is very partial to a cream tea and we hadn’t had time to fit one in this trip, so we bought one to take home with us.
We didn’t stop on the journey home, mainly because we sailed past the services we were going to stop at, so it was nice to have a ready-made tea when we did get back.
My view
We thoroughly enjoyed our time at St. Minver Holiday Park, so much so that we’ve booked five days next year this time staying in a lodge so that our families can come and stay if they want to.
Our lodge for next year
We found the park to be central for where we wanted to visit and there was plenty to do, from playing bingo, karaoke, swimming to walking through the woods.
The first thing we noticed was that it was decorated with Halloween decorations, they had a backdrop of a haunted house where you could have a picture taken.
We sat down at our reserved table (I would recommend booking ahead as it was very busy) and I ordered the Chef’s Steak & Jamaica Inn Pie which was served with creamy mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetables and gravy: Price £16.95
Hubby ordered the Jamaican Inn Burger with 6oz beef burger topped with Monterey Jack cheese, bacon, tomato, gherkin and salad in a toasted brioche bun served with skin-on fries: Price £15.95
Both meals tasted delicious, just what we needed, a hearty meal after three hours of sitting in a car in traffic! As I said before, it was busy, but the meals didn’t take very long to reach our table and we were far too full to order dessert.
We then headed towards the museum which focused on the author, Daphne Du Maurier and of course, pirates, smuggling and ghosts.
The cost to enter the museum was £3.95 for adults and £2.95 for children and OAPs.
Daphne Du Maurier
Well known for her novel, The Jamaica Inn which was a tale about Mary, an orphan, who lives with her Aunt Patience and Uncle Joss Merlyn, who was the Landlord of the Jamaica Inn and her uncle’s involvement in smuggling along the Cornish coast. One of her other well known novels is Rebecca which was a very successful film. There is a room created at Jamaica Inn which is full of memorabilia including her writing desk on top of which is a packed of the Du Maurier cigarettes named after her father.
Smuggling Museum
The Museum purports to house one of the finest collections of smuggling artefacts in the country. Custom taxes were first introduced in the 13th century but there was little enforcement of this until the 18th century when taxes were raised to fund foreign wars. Goods could be purchased much cheaper abroad and so smuggling became rife. Tea was six times more expensive in England than Europe. Other goods such as silks, tobacco and branding were also smuggled into Cornwall.
Paranormal Activity
The presence of paranormal activity here is one of the reasons we wanted to visit, we do like a good ghost story and if there’s any chance of an investigation we’re there. But unfortunately we didn’t have time to attend an investigation this trip, but it’s something we would like to do in the future! You can book a stay in one of their haunted rooms which includes a two course dinner and is £85 per person.
Most Haunted did an investigation here and said it was one of the spookiest they have ever recorded. Below is the programme they recorded….
After a look around the gift shop, I wanted to buy a Jamaican Inn t-shirt but unfortunately they had run out of stock, we then went to the farm shop and then we left the Jamaica Inn.
Where to go for our last breakfast? We went back to The Quays and had a fried breakfast and then we went back up to the top deck, but this time we went to the adult pool at the front of the ship.
We sat in one of the wooden pods and played cards, but this time I was well and truly beaten, so hubby was the champion this holiday! We had a cup of the weakest Costa I have ever had and then decided it was time to go and buy some presents for the family.
We had a mooch around the shops and bought some perfume, gin and cuddly toys plus the Iona Toblerone. A stop off for fish and chips at The Quays, I wasn’t too keen on the mushy peas, but the curry sauce and the fish was wonderful.
Ice cream tea before…
…and after!
We had promised ourselves that we would try the Ice Cream Tea at Ripples, this had a surcharge of £11, but you only need to purchase one, it’s more than enough for two people. Hubby loves ice cream, but he had to admit defeat and leave some.
We had managed to book The Limelight Club for Sonia tonight, so we joined the queue and took our seats.
I was looking forward to this evening, but it also meant the end of the cruise, so it was mixed feelings. We were served up a three course meal while the Limelight Band, which was an all-female band, together with Laura, the singer, sang a few songs to us. She was very good, very relaxed on stage.
Sonia was very good, she sang some of her hits plus a couple of covers, together with a funny story about when she was in the Eurovision Song Contest made for an entertaining evening and we even got to meet her after the show!
A final Baileys and Jamesons at the Cocktail Bar in the Atrium and it was time to go to bed and set the alarm for an early start in the morning to get home.
Of all the views we took photographs of during our cruise, this is probably the one that we always remember!
We decided to spend today on the sun deck as we hadn’t been up there very much. So after a late breakfast, we ventured up on the top decks to find a couple of sunbeds. We found some on the shady side, which half an hour later turned into the sunny side!
We both finished our books, drank some mojitos, cider and strawberry daiquiri. Hubby went swimming in the infinity pool, we saw dolphins and a whale and generally had a relaxing morning.
We played cards in the Sky Dome, which again, I won. We had a salad from the Horizon buffet because we were going to the Epicurean Restaurant in the evening and didn’t want to fill up with food.
This meal was booked via the *UCP and it was absolutely divine. The food was amazing, as you can tell from the pictures.
Phil had the Alaskan Snow Crab, Langoustine and Salmon Caviar Cocktail – Pea and Chervil Custard, Parchment Bread and a Cucumber Mojito and I had the Chicken and Morel Mushroom Mousseline with Pistachio Crumble – Duck Liver Parfait, Sweet and Sour Pickled Vegetables and Spinach Anglais.
Our main courses were: hubby had Black Cod and Canadian Cold-water Lobster Tail with Avruga Caviar Gratin – Bouillabaisse Fondue and Bee Pollen Dressed House Salad and I had Maple-glazed Saddleback Pork T-Bone – Air Crackling and Scrumpy Jus – which I have to say that there was a LOT of pork, but it was sublime.
Dessert was Lemon Meringue Tart for me and hubby had the Belgian Chocolate Jaffa Cake.
We chatted to an older couple sat on the table next to us and we found out that they are going on the same cruise as us in March next year, on the Britannia, cruising around the Caribbean and then sailing back to Southampton!
We finished off the night at the 710 Club, where the band was as good as ever, but there was some trouble with people trying to get it, thinking that we had been sat in there all night. The waiting staff were very patient telling them that this was not the case, but all the time they queued up for the next show, we could hear them talking loudly outside. When we came outside after our performance, the queue started cheering.
After a quick cocktail at the Cow and Keel, the Honeyed IPA we then retired to our cabin.
We decided to skip breakfast today as we were eating at the Olive Grove at lunchtime today, so after our morning trek around Deck 8, we went to the shops. We ended up in a shop which sold watches, (hubby LOVES watches) where he bought an electronic Tag Heuer for him and then a jewellery shop where we purchased a white gold band with diamonds for me.
We then spent the rest of the morning in the Sky Dome, reading, swimming and having a few drinks, much need rest and relaxation.
Greek Mezze at the Olive Grove
We booked lunch via the My Holiday app, at the Olive Grove, we couldn’t get in for an evening meal. This was a lovely restaurant. Hubby decided to have a Chocolate Oreo Cookie milkshake and I had a Cool Sunset cocktail, which was wine, cranberry juice and lemonade, which was very nice. Hubby’s cocktail froze and he had trouble drinking it after that!
We shared a mezze starter (pictured) which was roasted vegetables, humous and tazeki with beetroot dressing and olives. I had carbonara for main course and hubby beef bucco. The carbonara was delicious, even better than Bella Italia’s version!
Hubby enjoyed his main dish and the waiter recommended Aspall Cider to go with it.
Pudding was a lemon creme brulee for me and had baklava. Both were delicious and we polished them off quite easily.
In the afternoon we searched out the infinity jacuzzies, we fond an empty one easily. They were lovely to just sit in and gaze out to sea, plus they were only for one to three people in the same bubble, so it was nice and personal.
Dinner was in the Aqua restaurant, it was smaller than the Coral Restaurant and the service was very slow in here, it took ages to get our main course. It seemed like the waiters didn’t know whose dinner was whose, plus the coffee was stone cold! I had a Malbec and hubby had a Pinot Grigio.
We went to Brodies and sat in on the 8 o’clock quiz, which we thought was quite hard and from there we went to the Headliners Theatre to watch the production, Centre Stage. This was better than Festival and some of the lighting effects were incredible.
After that we decided to call it a night, I think all the late nights were starting to catch up with us.
Today is our wedding anniversary: 36 years! Included in the Ultimate Celebration Package is breakfast in bed, which included a half bottle of champagne.
As you can see, it also included Danish pastries, fruit, pain au chocolat, yoghurt, orange juice and continental meats. We mixed the champagne and orange juice and had a Bucks Fizz.
Next it was time for our couple’s massage, another part to our UCP*, we had chosen to have a hot stone massage which was an extra £10 each but it was definitely worth it. It was really relaxing, and no, I didn’t fall asleep! One funny thing was that when we were in the treatment room and the two masseurs were explaining what was going to happen, hubby started stripping! I shouted to him to stop and wait until the ladies had left the room, they laughed and said, “He’s keen!”
The giant jacuzzi.
We had booked into the thermal suite for £25 each for two hours. This was sooo relaxing, it had a salt steam room, a steam room, sauna and an amazing shower, which lit up like a disco and you never knew where the water was gonna spray from or what temperature it would be! The thermal beds were heaven, that’s somewhere I could go to sleep.
Cumberland Sausage with bubble and squeak mash
Ploughman lunch
Honeyed IPA and Stormzy cocktail
After lunch at the Cow and Keel, joined the virtual queue and got straight in, we had a rum cocktail each and hubby had a Black Sheep ale, which was recommended by the waiter, Mary. We ordered the sharing dessert, not so much “sharing” as hubby always has more than half!
We then went to an area of the ship that we said we wouldn’t go to – the Art Gallery! We saw a picture (left) which caught our eye by Rebecca Lardner, of course and there is somewhere in our front room where it is meant for, so we bought it. The man who worked in the art gallery was called Alex and he was very knowledgeable, we had a lovely chat to him about all the artists we have bought art from. When he found out it was our anniversary he insisted that we came back in the evening to collect the paperwork and he would treat us to a cocktail!
It was celebration night tonight, so I wore my old faithful black and white dress (about eight years old now) and hubby wore his tuxedo. We had booked dinner at the Coral Restaurant at 6:00 PM.
As we walked into the restaurant it was lovely to see the ladies in their dresses and the men in their formal wear. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man look bad in a tuxedo.
The menu was devised by Marco Pierre White, which consisted mainly of fish, so hubby was very happy. I had the chicken and we had a glass of Prosecco each and a glass of Malbec with our main course.
We made our way to the art gallery and met up with Alex, who true to his word, ordered us a cocktail. We spent the next half an hour chatting about art and drinking our cocktails.
Manuel Martinez
Then it was time for the Headliner Theatre to watch Manuel Martinez, magician and comedian, he was funny in places, but his accent seemed to drop a few times. Overall though, we enjoyed it.
We had seen that the band, Pulse, were performing a set of guilty pleasures in The Club House, so we went down there and actually found a seat! We ordered a Pina Colada for me and a Jamesons for hubby.
The atmosphere in The Club House was really fun, everyone was singing and waving their hands in the air, no dancing though. and the evening ended on a real high!
Gone midnight and we get back to the cabin, it was a wonderful anniversary!
Breakfast in The Quays this morning – waffles and pancakes! Lovely!
As the weather was overcast this morning we went back to the Sky Dome. I decided to buy a notebook so I could write down my diary entries, I didn’t take much notice of the price, which was a mistake as when I was in the lift I realised it cost £16.00! I got hubby a Costa to soften the blow about the price, but when I told him he nearly choked on his coffee!
As we enjoyed our breakfast at The Quays we had lunch there as well. I had fried chicken and chips from the American Grill, which as I’m a KFC fan, I was looking forward to and hubby had a Katsu curry from the Asian Kitchen. I’m pleased to say that the fried chicken exceeded my expectations. We washed it down with a bottle of Corona each.
As the weather still wasn’t wonderful we thought that a trip to the cinema was in order, the films being shown were A Quiet Place 2 and Blithe Spirit, and as we have seen Blithe Spirit, A Quiet Place 2 it was.
We had about an hour before it was time for the cinema, so we found a quiet place in the Atrium and started our card tournament. This is something we do on every cruise, we play Rummy and the points are carried forward throughout the holiday with the winner proclaimed at the end of the cruise! Not being one to brag, but I won by two points, first round to me!
The cinema wasn’t very large, it probably seated about 40 people, less due to the social distancing measures taken but strangely you could take off your masks here, but not in the theatre?
There was the obligatory person who thought the whole cinema should hear what he was saying which was quite annoying until their conversation went:
“Did you see the dolphins today?” “No I didn’t, but what I really wanna see is an orchid.” “Don’t you mean orca?” his friend questioned and I have to say a few people had a little titter to themselves.
The film was good, we enjoyed it and I have to say that Cillian Murphy played a great role!
We were eating at Sindhu in the evening, as we had ordered the Ultimate Celebration Package we chose the day and time for our meal. Whenever we cruise with P&O we always eat here and it never fails to disappoint.
I had the Parsee Lamb Cutlets for my starter followed by the Duck Tikka Malabari and hubby had the Kerala Nyannd Masala Tian with the Signature Thali Plate for his main course. We had a glass of Prosecco each with our starter and a glass of Beefsteak Malbec with our main courses.
Whilst we were waiting for our order a lady with two friends came in, I didn’t really pay much attention as she went into another part of the restaurant, but hubby said to me that he was sure it was Miriam Margolyes. I’m a huge fan of hers, I love it when she’s on a TV chat show, she’s so forthright and down to earth.
I was kicking myself for not paying attention to this lady and we spent a large part of the dinner discussing how we were going to check out if it was her or not.
Back to the meal, it tasted very good, but they seem to have diverted from the traditional Indian meal, to more of an Indian meat with vegetables. Over coffee we decided to go out onto Deck 8 and walk past the window to see if it was her for sure.
So plan in operation, we walked along the corridor to find the door which led to Deck 8, “Here it is, I think,” announced hubby and pushed open a big grey door. But to our horror, it didn’t lead to the outside deck, but straight back into Sindhu restaurant!! Hubby did a hasty retreat and we hurried down the corridor to find the correct door and were soon outside on Deck 8 laughing at our mistake, remembering the look of shock on the diner’s faces. “But was it her?” I asked him, “I don’t know, I was too busy backtracking out of the door,” he replied. We walked along Deck 8 and took a quick peek into the window and saw this person, hubby was still adamant it was her, but I still wasn’t sure.
It was time to go to the Headliner Theatre to watch Festival. The Headliner’s cast sang festival songs, it wasn’t great to be honest, the dancing seemed very rushed and so some were out of time. The songs were sung fast and loud!
We rushed to the 710 Club hoping to see the 9:30 PM showing and we arrived there at about 9:20 PM and was delighted to see there was no queue. We stood at the entrance of the club and soon there were people behind us forming a queue, somebody asked us, “Is this the queue for the 10:45 performance?”“No,” we replied, “The 9.30 show.” “Are you sure?” they asked, “People went in about 15 minutes earlier.”
9:30 PM came and the doors showed no sign of opening, the queue had grown to around 50 people, “I think we’ve got this wrong,” I whispered to hubby, “I think they’re about to start.” “I do too,” he replied, “Let’s leave quietly,” and so we quietly slipped out of the queue we had created. As we headed towards the stairs, I heard one lady say, “I just joined this queue, I’m not even sure what it’s for.”
After a walk around the ship, we decided to wait in the Atrium for the 10:45 PM session in the 710 club and we ordered a mojito each while we waited. It was entertaining watching everyone psyche each other out, waiting for the first couple to start the queue (which we’re good at apparently), and as soon as someone did, the rest quickly followed suite.
Inside the venue, I ordered a Raspberry Brulee cocktail and hubby had a pint of Fosters. The band was just as good as before and the guitarist, Alistair, sang some Beatles songs beautifully.
We went to the Club House afterwards, again it was full, but we stood at the back and listened to the adult version of his show, it was funny, but I preferred his family show.
By the time this had ended, it was 12:15 AM, “Happy Anniversary,” hubby whispered before we went to sleep.
A good day on board and the weather didn’t dampen our enthusiasm!
The morning of the cruise passed quicker than I thought it would – after packing and grabbing a quick lunch in the Royal Victoria Country Park, where we could see Iona docked, it was time to book our Uber.
The Uber arrived promptly at 3.12 PM and as the Southampton Boat Show was happening, plus Southampton FC were playing West Ham, we thought the traffic might be bad, the Uber driver even said, “I’m not sure why I picked up this fare, I wanted to avoid Southampton today,” but her worries were unfounded as we breezed into Southampton, taking only about 15 minutes.
On arrival at Ocean Terminal, we immediately saw where to leave our suitcases and we were directed towards the COVID testing area. We must have queued for about 10 minutes and after having our COVID certificates checked and boarding pass looked at, we were having our tests done. The test itself was very easy, just up the nostrils, the lady administering mine said I was very relaxed!
Onto filling in another Health Questionnaire and then sitting in the departure lounge waiting for our results. Typically, hubby’s came in first and then I had a nervous wait for about three minutes waiting for my result. It seemed to take forever and it wasn’t helped by hubby saying to me, “If your result is positive then I’ll go on board and wave to you as we pass our village. You can go back to work on Monday.! But thankfully, it came through and we were on our way to the booking in desk which took about five minutes and then it was onto security. Pre-COVID security was always the most nerve-wracking, but now it was a breeze.
And then it was the moment we had been waiting over 18 months for…. we were on a cruise ship!
After being scanned in at our muster station which was The Glass House, we made our way to our cabin on the 14th deck and a standard balcony.
These were the flowers from our Ultimate Celebration Package that we purchased before we boarded. We decided to buy this package as it was our 36th Wedding Anniversary on the Tuesday of the cruise.
Overall, we were impressed with the cabin, on our arrival there were flowers, chocolates, a bottle of champagne, slippers and a dressing gown each waiting for us. There should have been a couple of commemorative champagne glasses but these weren’t there, but after a chat with the room steward that was remedied. The cabin could sleep four people via sofa bed and a Pullman bed, but I think it would have been a bit of a squeeze especially if it was four adults. The storage was a bit limited, but it was fine for hubby and me.
My next task and I say task as that is what it felt like, was the dreaded My Holiday app. At first I loaded it onto my iPad, but it was very slow and as soon as I loaded it onto my iPhone it sped up considerably. I managed to book Sonia in the Limelight Club for Friday night, mainly because we were watching shows on the rest of the evenings and Coral Restaurant for Celebration Night and Aqua Restaurant for Wednesday night.
So it was time to explore the ship, but first stop was the Laguna Bar to activate the Ultimate Drinking Package, what I mean by activate is put a sticker on our cruise card!
A quick look outside and we ended up at the Sunset Bar where we had our first cocktail, a Pina Colada. From there, we decided to visit Brodies, the English-styled pub, it was very quiet, but I suppose people were having their dinner by now. A Cider for me and a Guiness (or two) for hubby, although at first he was disappointed they didn’t have it on draught, but he said that the canned Guiness was very good.
Pina Coladas at Sunset Bar Cheers to our first meal on Iona!
We headed back to the cabin to get ready for our evening meal (we hadn’t booked anything yet) and as we sat on the balcony overlooking Southampton Docks we met our cabin neighbour, Paul. After a little chat we decided that we would like to eat at the Cow and Keel tonight, so we joined the virtual queue of six people and by the time we had gone down the six or so flights of steps to reach the Cow and Keel, our My Holiday app told us that the table was ready. You had to pay a supplement for these meals.
On reading reviews on Facebook about this restaurant, I had sung the praises of it to my hubby, he is a chef and so enjoys good food and boy were we not disappointed!
Hubby had a salmon starter, which he said was the best he’d had in a long while and he was totally gobsmacked with the Prime Minister Burger. I had the duck lollipops (pictured) which was totally delicious and pork belly for my mains, again delicious. This was all washed down with a couple of glasses of Beefsteak Malbec each. I’m not a huge fish fan, so you’ll find out that hubby will choose fish more often than not when we’re away.
We didn’t have any room for dessert, which is unheard of for hubby as he loves his desserts, so we agreed to come back another time and try them, all for the sake of research of course!
A walk around the Promenade Deck where we saw the infamous conservatory cabins. They didn’t look too bad to us, but it was at night and the deck wasn’t busy. We ended up at the Sunset Bar and decided to go into the Club House where the band, Pulse, were about to play a session of pop songs.
They played some great songs, but it felt strange not being able to dance but there was plenty of arm waving and chair dancing. The set only lasted about 35 minutes, which didn’t seem very long and I enjoyed a Pina Colada and hubby had a beer.
From there it was up to the Crows Nest, which did take a bit of finding, but we managed it eventually. There was a piano player and I had my usual night cap of a Baileys and hubby had a Jamesons. One thing I don’t understand with the Unlimited Drinks Package is that you cannot order a double Baileys, which would still be under the £6.95 cap, I mean, it would save the waiter’s an extra trip to the bar!
A walk back to the cabin at around 12:15 AM, a very good start to our cruise!
After having to cancel our cruises over the last 18 months, we are now booked on the Iona, sailing on the 11th September from Southampton, for a seven day staycation.
This isn’t the first time we have sailed with P&O, in fact this will be our sixth cruise with them, we have also cruised with Royal Caribbean, Cunard and Princess Cruises.
So, as this next cruise will be a little different from our normal cruises, no stopping at ports, Iona’s first set of staycation cruises after her maiden voyage, different ways of booking restaurants and entertainment etc., I thought I would keep a diary of the days leading up to sailaway and also days spent on board!
Friday, 10th September, 2021
1 day to go…
I had an exciting email from P&O yesterday, no, not an upgrade, but because we have booked the Ultimate Celebration Package, they wanted us to tell them which specialty restaurants we wanted to book and the date and time! So Sindhu and the Epicurean are both booked!
So packing will start today and finish probably just before we get in the taxi tomorrow. I know that people approach this task in very different ways. I had a colleague at work who kept a spreadsheet of clothes she and her husband were taking and then created another one which detailed which clothes they were wearing on what day! This was printed and put up in their wardrobe. I am split between huge admiration for someone who can be that organised and horrified with the amount of planning this involves!
Hubby is the packer, he is great at cramming rolled up socks, pants and just about everything into the suitcase. Once packed then it is the search for the padlocks, you know the ones you put somewhere safe after your last holiday and which are never to be found again!
I love it when the suitcases are packed though, they are locked with the baggage labels on them, in the hallway waiting to be loaded into the taxi and then you turn around and spot the pair of shoes that you have forgotten to pack!
So I wish my fellow cruisers luck with their packing today, those that have already packed, well done and those who are lastminute.dot.com like us, welcome to the club!
Thursday, 9th September, 2021
2 days to go…
Days at sea:
Love them or hate them, days at sea are a necessary part of your cruise, I mean, how else would you get from one place to another? We love sea days and have cruised across the Atlantic on a number of occasions.
How do we keep ourselves amused?
We both love playing cards, Rummy in particular. We have an ongoing game throughout the holiday with a continuous score sheet and playing with the “Williams Rules” our scores go up and down, until the last day when the winner is announced.
I like to take the opportunity to read on sea days, relaxing in a sun bed and drinking a cocktail. One thing that I do when I’m walking around is, I like to see what people are reading, I’m not sure why, maybe it’s like peering into a stateroom when the door is open, just natural curiosity.
The book I am taking with me is Richard Osman’s, “The Thursday Murder Club.”
I have been wanting to read this for a long time and seven days at sea is the perfect opportunity.
There is a book that I would recommend which is perfect for lazing around the pool and reading…. Love and Chocolate Biscuits written by, ahem, ME.
You can buy it from Amazon, it probably wouldn’t arrive in time for this cruise, but for future cruises…
Hubby isn’t a big reader, so he likes to go off and join in the deck quoits and shuffleboard competitions, he meets new people whilst doing this and we usually end up sharing a drink or two with some of them!
Wednesday, 8th September, 2021
3 days to go…
It’s getting nearer!! Three days and it’s time to complete the Health Questionnaire. In fairness, it’s only a matter of checking off some boxes, so it only takes about a minute to complete, then to print off and add to my ever-growing pile of documents to take with me on Saturday morning.
I have printed off:
Covid Declarations
E-Tickets
Boarding Passes
Luggage Labels
Travel Insurance
Health Declarations
And don’t forget our passports!
But I am trying to get organised and put it all into plastic sleeves, so it will be ready for inspection on Saturday!
So I suppose the next thing we need to do is pack! We are very much lastminute.com packers and probably won’t pack until Saturday morning and as our boarding time isn’t until 3:45 PM and we live in Southampton, we will have plenty of time to do that!
Monday, 6th September, 2021
5 days to go…
So after trying yesterday to contact P&O, together with trying to purchase tickets for the Abba Avatar concert, (a long story!!) which both amounted to a fair amount of stress, today I phoned P&O on the stroke of 8:30 AM and after waiting for 40 minutes actually got through to an advisor.
The purpose of the phone call was to purchase the Ultimate Celebration Package, cost £399. I admit when I first looked at it, I did a double take on the price, but when you break it down, it’s not so bad as it includes dinner for two people in a Select Dining venue, (which is probably about £100), choice of a 50 minute facial or massage, (the cheapest is £63 per couple) bathrobe and slippers, (which you can take home), sweet canapes delivered to your stateroom, chocolates, flowers and a bottle of champagne, and as we are celebrating our anniversary, we thought it would be a nice way to celebrate.
While I was in this mode of buying packages, I took a deep breath and ordered the Ultimate Drinking Package for us both. Again, as I have mentioned before, I have been reading lots of pros and cons about this package, but as we do like cocktails, a glass of wine with dinner, evening nightcaps, coffees in the morning, spirits and ciders and beers, we decided that we would go for it, as we said to each other, “Let’s try it out and if it doesn’t work, then we won’t get it again.” I will let you know if it was worth it for us when I do my review of the cruise!
Sunday, 5th September, 2021
6 days to go…
Cruise anxiety has definitely stepped up a notch this weekend, I am getting worried about the dining arrangements in particular, maybe I’ll even come off this cruise lighter than when I boarded? I know Facebook can either be the font of all knowledge or the devil incarnate, but on reading people’s posts the MDR’s are either easy to book, with no waiting around or it’s hell on earth to get a table past 5.30 PM.
This morning hubby and I were laying in bed, wondering what we’d be doing this time next week, “Probably trying to book our breakfast!” was my husband’s reply, which was followed by laughter, slightly manic laughter I might add!
I am quite savvy when it comes to all things electronic, so I’m hoping that the My Holiday app won’t stress us out too much and I have read very mixed reviews about this app, but when all else fails, it’ll be trips to the Reception desk to try and book specialty meals, etc.
Holidays are supposed to be relaxing and stress-free, but if the lead up is anything to go by, I’m not so sure it’s gonna be!
Thursday, 2nd September, 2021
9 days to go…
Well, we’re into single figures!! From booking it up in March, when we had over 100 days to go, to finally getting to single figures. It’s time for that little bit of shopping; toiletries, new underwear (does anyone else buy new knickers for holiday?), a couple of shirts for hubby and a pair of not too high, not too low, evening wear shoes for moi!!
It’s also that danger period where the dreaded C word is around, no, not Christmas but COVID. I work from home so won’t be in contact with many people, but hubby is a Restaurant Manager who has five restaurants, so he is under strict instructions to wear a mask everywhere he goes. We have the lateral flow tests, so will be doing those next week and on the morning of Saturday 11th, and hopefully everything will be fine.
This is how I would like hubby to dress for work over the next nine days, but he might scare the customers away!
Tuesday, 31st August, 2021
11 days to go…
I found out that Sonia will be performing in the Limelight Club on this cruise and loving a bit of 80’s and 90’s music, we will be trying to book this. Sonia even Tweeted about it:
Sonia’s first hit was, “You’ll Never Stop Me Loving You,” released in 1989 and she represented the United Kingdom in the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest where she finished second with the song, “Better The Devil You Know.” She had 11 UK Top 30 hits, including” Listen To Your Heart” and “Only Fools (Never Fall In Love).” She also starred as Sandy in the West End revival of Grease.
Sonia’s first single reached number one.
If you like a bit of a boogie (strictly chair dancing of course), then I think this is the show for you!
Saturday, 14th August, 2021
14 days to go…
So spurred on by the Facebook posse advising to book the entertainment on board just after midnight, I set the alarm for 11:55 PM in readiness to hit the Book Now button on my cruise personaliser. As my computer clock rolled over to midnight, the advisory note that you can only book entertainment until after the 28th August disappeared and I clicked on the Entertainment tab, but there was nothing there. After a few minutes of searching the whole personaliser and then resorting to looking on Facebook, I found out I was 24 hours too early!!
Take two , 24 hours later, a bit like Groundhog Day, alarm was again set for 11:55 PM and this time success, I managed to book both shows, the comedian and the singer for 8.30 PM each night. But that was it, that was all we could book, the Limelight and the specialty restaurants are to be booked on board. So was it worth it? Probably not, but we are booked in now and we do love to watch a good show!
Tuesday, 24th August, 2021
17 days to go…
When it’s a sea day on a cruise, people often go to the shops to buy books, souvenirs, indigestion tablets, watches, jewellery and even that famous bar of Toblerone! But where do we head? Well, we head towards the art gallery. There is normally a get together at the start of the cruise, at the Whitewall Gallery, where you can have a free glass of champagne and a walk around the exhibits, but we always end up back there and more often than not, end up buying a piece of art.
Sketch bought on The VenturerPicture bought on The VenturerSculpture bought on Queen Victoria
Above is a selection of our art collection bought on board, all are Rebecca Lardner art and the price is cheaper than on land as you can apply your discount to these purchases!
When we return home from a cruise, the first question we get asked by our children is not, “Did you have a lovely time,” but “What art did you buy this time?” I think they are worried that we’re spending their inheritance!
When I see the picture hanging on the wall at home or the sculpture sitting on the shelf, it’s a lovely reminder of our cruise, albeit a bit more expensive than a fridge magnet!
Saturday, 21st August, 2021
21 days to go…
We received our cabin number today and we are on the 14th deck and midship, fairly near to the lifts and a stone’s throw away from the launderette, which I have since found out P&O have now opened – much to my husband’s delight, as he loves to say, “Well, that’s your sea days sorted,” when we pass the launderette room!
Sky Dome – Day and Night
On closer inspection of the ship’s deck plans, we are only two decks down from the Horizon buffet, the infinity pool, Sky Dome and the Beach House, which we are pretty pleased about. Obviously it’s a bit of a trek from the Theatre, Atrium and the Main Dining Restaurants, we do try and take the stairs whenever we can, but I think going up from deck 6 to deck 14 might be a struggle. I do think that the views we will get from our balcony will be amazing, we can’t wait to sail past our village as we leave Southampton and raise a cocktail to our friends and family!
We also received our boarding time, which was later than we would have liked, it is 1545 hours – as we only live in Southampton, it’s gonna be a long day before we can jump in a taxi and make the 20 minute journey to the docks.
This sort of brings me onto the subject of cruise anxiety – we have done 10 cruises before this one and I have never felt this anxious before a cruise before. I think the closest is when we fly to Barbados to join the ship there, I do become a little anxious in case we miss the flight or the flight is cancelled – but this is nothing compared to what I am experiencing now. From the stress of the COVID test, to booking entertainment, to figuring out the App, to deciding if the drinks package is worth it, to hoping that there is some speciality dining available by the time we board! Social media doesn’t help sometimes, there are a lot of conflicting reports on the performance of the app, availability at speciality restaurants and even the temperature of the pools!
But I will take each step as it comes and I am sure we will enjoy what Iona has to offer, we are just pleased to be able to go cruising once again!
Wednesday, 18th August, 2021
23 days to go…
Nothing to do with this cruise, but today we received an email from Royal Caribbean to say that we had cancelled our cruise in October! Of course, we knew that we hadn’t done this, plus our friends who we are going with also had the same email, so evidently computer was saying no to us going on holiday.
After waiting for nearly three quarters of an hour on the phone, I eventually got through to a nice man who confirmed that this was indeed the case and they were sorting it out and true to his word, a few minutes later we received confirmation that the holiday was back on!
I was especially worried about our friends as they have never cruised before and I don’t want them to be put off already! I am really looking forward to introducing them to cruising, hopefully they’ll be hooked.
Talking of future cruises, I think we have booked up enough cruises now, these will take us until April, 2023!
Tuesday, 17th August, 2021
24 days to go…
We are still patiently (or rather impatiently ) waiting for our cabin to be allocated. There has been a lot of talk on social media about the cabins on Iona, mainly the Conservatory Staterooms on deck 8, which look out onto a main walkway and which seem to be overlooked, but time will tell, if people don’t like them, then they won’t sell on future cruises.
I decided to take a look at my cruise dresses; over the years I have purchased a few of these, some in sales, some online and some from specialist shops.
I used to wonder how often ladies would turn up to the formal nights in the same dress… This actually happened to me on my last cruise, I wore this dress and as I was led towards a table by the waiter, there was a lady sat down in the exact same dress!
I am not joking, everyone stopped talking on the table and was looking from me to her, I didn’t really know what to say, so I just jokingly said, “Snap!” I wasn’t too worried about it, but I don’t think the lady was very happy, she ate her dinner rather quickly and her party left as soon as dessert was served!
There is only one formal night, or Gala Night as it is now called, on this cruise, so the decision is to be made which dress will I take? But I think that probably the decision will be made for me – it will be the dress that still fits me after my extra bit of Covid weight!!
Wednesday, 11th August, 2021
31 days to go…
We booked this cruise as soon as the bookings were opened, and have a balcony stateroom, because all the prices are Early Saver, we cannot book a particular cabin, it is allocated by P&O for us. So we can’t wait to find out where on the ship we will be!
We have been researching whether or not to buy the ultimate drinks package, which costs £39.95 per adult per day. This includes beers, spirits, cocktails, wines and Costa coffee, a great selection and because we both like spirits and especially cocktails, we will probably be buying this before we board.
I have joined the Iona Facebook Group and there is a special group for the actual cruise we are going on, G131N staycation cruise, for which I am doing a review for on the 16th September.
We do have a special event to celebrate whilst we’re on Iona, it’s our wedding anniversary on the 14th, so we’re hoping to book the Epicurean when we get on board to celebrate!
A journey through the meaning of life and anything else that grabs my attention!
Making My Home A Haven is important to me. Sharing homemaking skills. Recipes and food. Bible Studies. This is a treasure chest of goodies. So take a seat. Have a glass of tea and enjoy. You will learn all about who I am and Our Neck Of The Woods.
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