P&O Cruises’ Iona ship is now in drydock maintenance, several months later than originally planned.
This is the first drydock work for the ship which launched in 2021. It is expected to receive routine maintenance and technical upgrades at the Damen Rotterdam shipyard.
Iona’s drydock slot was originally scheduled for March 2025 but had to be rescheduled due to a lack of shipyard availability. This resulted in the cancelation of two voyages this month.
A 14-night Canary Islands cruise departing on October 4 and the following seven-night Northern Europe cruise were scrapped.
Ship Resumes Sailing Later This Month
The ship is slated to resume operations from October 23. The cruise line offered full refunds to guests booked on these sailings as well as £100 in onboard credit.
However, some guests were left “angry and upset” as they struggled to find an alternative cruise vacation at a similar price.
“All guests have been provided with a full refund and on-board credit to use for a future cruise. We do hope they will be able to find a suitable alternative and we would be delighted to help with this,” the cruise line said at the time.
On completion of the drydock, Iona will operate a short two-night cruise and then a seven-night sailing to France and Spain.
It will also offer a range of Northern Europe and Canary Islands cruises. The ship’s winter program also includes a 35-night roundtrip Caribbean sailing departing Southampton in early 2026. Scheduled calls include St. Maarten, Antigua, Barbados and Grenada.
One of the largest ships in the UK market, the 183,900-gross registered ton Iona can accommodate 5,200 guests and is powered by liquified natural gas. The ship was delivered to P&O Cruises in 2020 but didn’t officially enter service for several months due to the pandemic shutdown.
