By Sue Bryant
P&O Cruises’ new flagship Iona set sail on its maiden voyage out of Southampton on Saturday, more than a year after the original date planned for its launch that was postponed due to Covid-19.
The 5,200-passenger ship – the biggest ever built for the UK market – is sailing at just under 50%, in line with UK government regulations, on a seven-night voyage around the UK.
Only double-vaccinated adults are on board, with all passengers tested in Southampton prior to embarkation.
The departure followed a visit to the Liquified Natural Gas-powered ship by aviation and maritime minister Robert Courts (pictured).
“This really is a momentous day for P&O Cruises,” said president Paul Ludlow. “It’s palpable how excited the crew are to welcome people back.”
About 85% of passengers on Iona’s maiden voyage are repeat P&O customers. They can make use of several new features, including the first gin distillery at sea and the two-deck SkyDome entertainment space which, set under an enormous glass dome, is rigged for aerial shows.
The ship also has a four-screen cinema and a nightclub, The 710 Club, overseen by Gary Barlow, who will join several cruises in 2022. Ludlow said details of the shows will be announced over the next couple of months.
P&O Cruises’ Iona off the coast of Iona in Scotland
New onboard restaurants include Mediterranean-inspired Olive Grove and the Keel and Cow steakhouse.
“The ship is designed so that over the course of seven days, you can’t do it all, so you’ll have to come back,” said Ludlow. “We want to give people dilemmas at every turn.”
Current social distancing measures mean half of the seats in most onboard venues are out of use.
Mask wearing is required all around the ship, a policy under constant review in consultation with guests.
Iona’s maiden voyage and its short season of round-Britain cruises that follows have no ports of call. However, the vessel will drop anchor off its Scottish namesake island of Iona on Monday, for an evening of celebrations and fireworks.
P&O Cruises is scheduled to restart international cruises from September.
This summer’s cruises are for adults only but from September 25 the line will start to carry families again.
Any under-18s who are not double vaccinated will be required to take a PCR test before sailing, included in the cruise fare.
Ludlow said P&O Cruises hopes to have its entire fleet operational again and occupancy back up to 100% by March 2022.
Work is on schedule for the launch of Arvia, a sister ship to Iona, in December 2022, he confirmed.
Ludlow was bullish about sales and trade relationships. He said its Shine Rewards Club agent portal has “worked really well” with 15,000 individual agents now registered.
“It’s been more valuable than ever for us during lockdown, as it’s allowed us to stay close to our agent partners,” he said.
“When we look at 2022 and 2023 bookings, we’re out-performing historical trends. We’ve never seen forward booking momentum like this. The majority of forward bookings have been made without future cruise credit, too. We’re still attracting new business.”
