A cruise passenger said she had 'the worst Christmas Day of my life' after waiting until 10.15 p.m. to have dinner with 7 children

A passenger on board the Iona said she had "the worst Christmas" of her life.

P&O Cruises

• A cruise passenger had "the worst Christmas Day" of her life on board P&O Cruises' Iona. 
• She tweeted that her party that included seven children had to queue for two hours for dinner. 
• Another Iona passenger said the "Christmas party spirit" had gone when she was eventually seated.

A cruise passenger said she'd had "the worst Christmas day" ever after she and her party were forced to queue for two hours to have dinner. 

The passenger, named Claire, tweeted P&O Cruises about her experience on the Iona: "The worst Christmas Day of my life, was given a 8.15pm booking although have 7 children with us and then a 2 hour wait in a queue."

Her comments were first reported by The Times of London. 

Margaret Hardcastle, another passenger on the Iona, told Insider that restaurant reservations "played no bearing in what we were given."

—Margaret Hardcastle (@MBHardcastle) December 26, 2022

 

After arriving for an 8:15 p.m. booking, she "soon realized that this queue, of several hundred people possibly, was just to get into the Horizon buffet." 

By the time Hardcastle was seated, she said "the Christmas party spirit had gone for everybody. People were tired, bored, hungry, keen to get fed." Dinner was "okay," but some Christmas touches were missing, she added.

After posting a video on social media, Hardcastle was offered a table in the ship's top "fine dining" restaurant for New Year's Eve. "My anticipated repeated fiasco has been averted," she told Insider.

A spokesperson for P&O Cruises told Insider: "We are so sorry for those guests affected by an isolated IT issue on Iona which caused a delay to dining for a proportion of guests on Christmas Day. This service was certainly not up to our usual high standards and we wholeheartedly apologise."

"We are doing everything possible to ensure our guests have a wonderful holiday for the rest of their time on board this cruise and enjoy all the activities, entertainment and celebrations."

The Iona is the biggest cruise liner ever built for the UK market, with more than 30 restaurants and bars and a capacity of 5,200 passengers, according to the website cruisecritic, which said it has the "feel of a lively but classy floating resort".

The ship is due back in Southampton, England on Monday after sailing to the Canary Islands, Portugal and Spain.

The problems come after passengers on another P&O cruise ship, the Arvia, said Christmas Day was an "absolute disaster," with some waiting until 11 p.m. to have dinner.

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