This new ship MS IONA, at 183,900 GT and with up to 5200 passengers, will be an attraction in itself. MS Iona will be the first cruise ship built for the British market to be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), to make her more environmentally friendly.
MS Iona has 17 restaurants, including 8 specialty restaurants, and 12 bars. There are four main dining rooms, and a first for the fleet – all dining is Freetime Dining, guests choosing just where, with whom and when for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Specialty dining, for a cover charge, is available in Sindhu for Indian cuisine by Atul Kochhar, Brodies for the best of British, Keel & Cow steakhouse, The Epicurean with British-Mediterranean specialties, the Beach House for dinner grills and seafood. On the Lido Deck, you’ll enjoy buffet meals in a classy setting at Horizon.
Near the pool take a Grab and Go snack, burgers and gourmet pizzas from the SkyDome Pizzeria & Grill, and classic fish and chips. The Quays Piazza on the Promenade Deck is a self-service food-market style venue, where guests can dine casually and try a range of foods – from Asian street food to classic American diner fare.
P&O Iona cruise ship deck plan shows 18 decks (16 passenger-accessible, 11 with cabins), a total of 2610 staterooms for 5204 passengers (max capacity is 6264) served by 1762 staff-crew. The boat has 17 dining venues (11 restaurants plus 6 food bars, including 9 breakfast-serving, 7 coffee-serving, 5 Afternoon Tea-serving, 8 specialty restaurants, 4 MDR-dining rooms), 12 bars and lounges, 4 swimming pools (1 indoor, 3 outdoor/2 Infinity), 18 outdoor Jacuzzis (whirlpool hot tubs), SkyDome (retractable glass-roof cover over Pool Deck), 13 entertainment venues (including adults-only), kids-dedicated zones (indoor-outdoor facilities), 22 elevators (passenger lifts located forward-midship-aft).
The boat has 8 laundrettes (self-service laundry rooms for passengers) located midship on decks 4-5-9-10-11-12-14-15.
PHOTOS
FULL SPECIFICATION
| Name | Iona |
| Owner |  Carnival Corporation & plc |
| Operator |  P&O Cruises |
| Port of registry |  Southampton, U.K. |
| Ordered | 6 September 2016 |
| Builder | |
| Yard number | S. 710[2] |
| Laid down | 29 May 2019 |
| Launched | 18 February 2020 |
| Sponsored by | Irene Hays |
| Christened | 16 May 2021 |
| Completed | 9 October 2020[1] |
| Acquired | 9 October 2020 |
| Maiden voyage | 7 August 2021 |
| Identification |
|
| Status | In service |
| General characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Class and type | Excellence-class cruise ship |
| Tonnage | 184,089 GT[1] |
| Displacement | 87,306 t (85,927 long tons; 96,238 short tons)[1] |
| Length | 344.5 m (1,130 ft 3 in)[3] |
| Beam | 42 m (137 ft 10 in)[1] |
| Draft | 11.8 m (38 ft 9 in)[1] |
| Decks | 16 complete, 3 partial[1] |
| Installed power | Total Installed Power: 61.7 MW (82,700 hp)[3] |
| Propulsion | 2 × 37 MW (50,000 hp)[3][1] |
| Speed | Service speed: 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph)[3] |
| Capacity | 5,206 passengers |
| Crew | 1,762 |
