UK cruise ship Iona to sail to the Fjords for inaugural season
P&O Cruises has announced its new flagship Iona, to be launched in 2020, will sail exclusively to the Norwegian Fjords during the inaugural season.
The ship will offer seven-day holidays to the Norwegian Fjords from May 2020, each leaving from and returning to Southampton.
P&O Cruises senior vice president, Paul Ludlow said: "From the initial stages of her build we knew that Iona would be sailing to the Fjords and as such, every single detail has been designed to maximize the views, the ever changing vistas and remarkable landscape.
"SkyDome, with its glass roof and temperature control will ensure that guests have an unrivalled viewpoint as the ship sails through the breathtaking vertical expanses of narrow gorges and blue sky and past mountains, glaciers and wildlife.
"Iona has been designed to make the sea the star. With incredible views guaranteed from all over the ship, the whole season of Fjords itineraries will enable guests to have the choice of when they want to travel to this spectacular area.
"P&O Cruises is the expert in delivering holidays to the Fjords and this expertise brings with it the most diverse range of excursion experiences; from action packed adventures to culturally vibrant towns and charming villages offering spectacular discoveries and delicious, traditional foods. Whether it is skiing or swimming, fishing or foraging, walking or whale-watching, a week on Iona will offer it all."
In all ports of call P&O Cruises has developed a diverse range of excursions and activities for guests. For example, at Olden, guests can take a trip on the Leon Skylift that carries them up to the summit of Mount Hoven, while in Bergen, adrenaline junkies will enjoy seeing the sights on Norway’s fastest zipline, which soars 300m from Mt Ulriken 643m high to Mt Floyen.
Iona has been designed to maximise views from three storey high glass walls in the Grand Atrium, to the innovative Conservatory Mini-suites. Guests are guaranteed an immersive experience as they cruise through one of the planet’s most spectacular regions on a cleaner and greener LNG- powered ship.
Iona is currently being built at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg and will be launched in May 2020. Holidays on Iona will go on sale in September 2018.
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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