The hotel was nice, the rooms fantastic and the staff were great, but it wasn't for us. We are in our mid seventies and we like to have food that is not too spicy, although there were some items that were not spicy. The drinks menu is very limited, and we had hoped for some liquers to choose from. The a la carte restaurant was disappointing as the menu didn't change at all. We felt that had this hotel been listed with a lower star rating, it would have been great. Please don't let our opinion alone affect your decision, everyone has different expectations as well as wants. Have a lovely holiday.
I didn't ask, so I don't know if they would store them for you. I do know that our next cruise with them has been cancelled as they are doing a refurbishment on this ship, so the cabins may be different.
We made 3 complaints, but they didn't do anything until I took the video. There were 2 cabins involved for our party, ours and our son's next door, so there was no offer of a move and no refund. I asked for a refund of the difference in cost between our balcony cabin and an ocean view cabin, as we felt that was what we had, but that request was ignored. The only compensation we were offered was on board spending money, which we felt we had to accept. By this time we only had 1 evening and 1 full day, which was the last day before disembarkation and it was at sea, in which to spend it. This felt like it had cost them nothing, but our cruise was totally ruined. There was nothing done about the swimming pool; it was not closed, it was not supervised, there were no notices put up. I had booked a cruise on Arvia, Iona's sister ship, but we have now cancelled that.
Thank you so much for this very interesting and in-depth review. I have just booked my first cruise with Cunard for June next year, I will be in this state room 7105 and couldn’t believe my luck when I found your review 😊
I didn't see one. They do have a spa and an indoor pool, so maybe they have a gym in that area, but we didn't use either so we cannot say if there was one or not.
Oh I’ve heard other people complaining about the water from the pool .. not being able to use there balconies 😡 I’ve just been sent email from p&o regarding bidding for upgrade to balcony cabin ..minimum bid £310 which I was going to do but not so sure now .. I’m a widow so I’ve know one for support now … I will look at the deck plans .. did you do select or early saver .. 99 % of our cruises my husband and I did early saver .. I’ve done 2 this year on my own on Arvia and Arcadia both inside cabins and very satisfied what I had ..Take care Lesley xx
Sorry to hear of your loss. Cruising is one of the holidays that can still be enjoyable as a single person. We booked select as we like to know which cabin we are going to get. We chose a cabin at the stern as we thought the views would be amazing in Norway, which they were. The only video I saw before we booked was from someone who said that they got the occasional splash from the pool above, which I thought wouldn't be too bad. I did not think that there would be some really rotten people who thought it would be great fun to spoil other peoples cruise.
Great video, thank you I would have demanded to be moved from that cabin, totally unacceptable, what a poor design. I hope P&O have seen your video, I have sent it to my friend who is planning a trip next year and she has decided to use another cruise line, if they ignore this what else are they ignoring!
My wife & I sailed on the QV in 2011 for a Panama Canal cruise & we loved it. You did a great room review. My only complaint is you should've cut the music while you were talking & used it only at the beginning & end. The ship didn't have Britainnia club in 2011. I noticed your room# put you in the Club which from the vids looks beautiful. Hopefully you were able to put together some footage of that venue
Thank you for your comments. Our cabin was not a Britannia Club cabin at the time that we went, so we didn't have the extras that you get for that. I used a new movie programme with the music, and it didn't sound so loud when I played it back before I posted it. I have now made it much quieter on my videos since this one.
Thank you for such an interesting and informative video. We have cruised many times, and are on QV later this year. Our preferred lines are Cunard, Fred Olsen and P&O. Best Wishes from Leamington Spa 🚢
Glad you liked the video. I try to include the sort of information that I would like to know. Our preferred lines are also Cunard, Fred Olsen and P&O, but not the large ships, such as Iona; especially after having tried a week on her.
It’s changed a bit from the last time I went, going to look back at my video. I came in from the other direction so didn’t have that sharp turn. And look like they have changed where the dog walk are is.
I love this. We have sailed on the Queen Elizabeth and loved it. We are booked on the Victoria on 1st Sept. I am so pleased you showed us the under bed storage. Thank you.
Yikes! That’s awful. A bit worried about this now…We are booked into 10743 for a fjords cruise next year and although not directly below the infinity pool as you were, we are offset, depending on the way the wind is blowing we may get soaked too :( thanks for sharing the video. I have emailed p & o and asked them for a cabin move or other solution to the issue.
Our son was in cabin 10740, which is the same position as yours, but on the other side. They couldn't use their balcony either as the water went over most of theirs as well, although they did have a little bit of an overhang from the balcony above them so one chair stayed dry. Hope you get either a change of cabin, or no-one throwing water over the edge of the infinity pool during your cruise.
We have sailed with P&O a few times, and have more cruises already booked with them. This is the only time that we have been below an infinity pool, so it has never happened before. I have not heard anything from P&O concerning this problem since we got home. To be fair, this was not the fault of P&O, except for the designer not thinking about rotten teenagers and young adults reckoning it would be fun to try and drench the balconies. We saw some adults looking over from the side of the pool, whom we assumed were the parents, but they were doing nothing to stop it. This pool is unsupervised permanently by the crew, just a walk by now and then. The water stopped coming over for short periods during the day, so we surmised that this was when a member of the crew was near the pool. We have decided to never go on a cruise on board Iona again.
@@lesleyanddudley Completely agree. We are thinking of Iona for our video, but with the help of your review, this tells us that we should not book any rear cabins. Thank you!
Love those walk in wardrobes. A feature shared with the P&O Azura and Ventura cabins. You really put a lot of fabulous detail and attention to these cabin videos Lesley. really impressive.
We are curious about Cunard, so your video presented a lot of detail about the cabin accommodation we were interested to see. We've never come across draws under a bed. Would imagine people forget the stuff they put under there sometimes when they pack to disembark. And interesting facts about electrics and charging 👍
Thank you. We did find that we only needed one of the drawers under the bed, so we left the other one empty. After we had put our suitcases out the night before disembarking, we checked everywhere to make sure we hadn't forgotten anything, and noticed the cabin steward had place the items for the following guests in one of the drawers, including the bottle of wine. We left it there, obviously, but I wonder how many take it, then find they have a bill for it added to the card they registered when boarding.
I said this because as we were waiting to disembark I heard a couple telling someone how easy it would have been to take the wine, but they thought that they had better not.@@BritsAbroadTravelCruise
Sorry, I meant to say the cruise left Southampton on 24 June 2023. We left home on 23 June and stayed overnight in Southampton. We were a party of 6. Our daughter and her partner had a sea view room, but our son and his wife were next door to us, and even with a small overhang on their balcony, they still had the same problem.
We did get compensation, as did every cabin that was effected, but it had to be as 'on board spending money'. This was only after we had complained 3 times, as well as showing them the video I had taken. By then we only had 1 day and a few hours in which to spend it. I did hear that this was also after the hotel manager had gone to one of the other cabins to talk about it, stepped out onto the balcony and got soaked.
Good grief, what a barrel of laughs you are. Just back from a wonderful week here. Location is excellent, staff amazing, food really good (particularly the freshly cooked fish dishes). Sure, the rooms are dated, but the air con was fine and it was all immaculately clean.I'm sure if I'd taken a magnifying glass and a tape measure i could find plenty of issues. But if you enjoy it for what it is, you'll have a great time. Ignore this bitter small minded review, and enjoy your holiday.
I stated what it was like whilst we were there. There was no way we could say what it would be like after our stay. You were lucky that the weather was such that you needed air conditioning, we needed heat as it was cold, which didn't work. Good for you if you liked it, but we didn't and will not return.
I only stated what it was like whilst we were there. Perhaps it was better on the occasion that you stayed there. If that is the case then either we were unlucky, or you were lucky.
As we were away for only 4 nights, we didn't mind it too much. Some people always pick inside cabins because they say you only sleep and get changed in your cabin, and you can't see the size when your eyes are closed. It also gives them more money to spend with the lower price for the cabin. With us, on longer cruises we have gone for a sea view, which is the same size but has natural light coming in, or a balcony.
Not very helpful review. We have stayed here a few times and the hotel is lovely friendly and amazing. The socket which isn't a power point is a shaver point in the room. The doors do close and can be fixed if reported. The rooms have heating and ac all year round. The hotel is warm in May and August. The chairs and sofas are comfortable. The safe and mini bar are only with all inclusive. The areas outside are for half board guests and places to eat and drink. The snack bar is inside the main hotel not shown. The rooms are amazing well kept and if you report stuff it gets fixed. They are big enough and easy to use even for a big person. Even being in a chair you can get around the hotel just fine with no problems. The rooms also have kettles in them. The two hotels are not being knocked down. They were built in the 70's and have age but with class. We have stayed in Hilton hotel with digital key but there is nothing wrong with having a room key. The reason they have not been updated is because of the mainland government won't let them due to the area being protected. The hotel want to update both and have just been allowed to update the sister hotel. This one has new beds and more of them. The drinks are good. They don't have list of drinks but they will make most drinks if they have it when asked. The hotel is clean and looked after. Many new hotels look much worse than this. It is a four star as ratings are based on services like laundry room service many things people don't even use. There was never a huge que for toilets and there are plenty as there is one in every room. The chairs and sofas are perfectly comfortable. Many guest love the hotel and return many times every year. Until you have stayed you won't know how good the place really is.
I have only shown and stated what it was like whilst I was there. I have made it as clear as I could with the video. As I stated, I was there on an all-inclusive package and there was a drinks menu for that, which was very limited. I have stayed in other Rui Palace Hotels, and they were a whole lot better than this one. I do not expect to have to go up to my room every time I want toilet, when there should be good toilets for everyone in the public areas. I didn't bother with the so-called snack bar, which was only open at lunch time, as they only supplied sandwiches which you made yourself, toast which you cooked yourself, cakes, yoghurt and fruit whilst I was there, but I did state that it was in the main building and you could take your lunch outside. What has staying at the Hilton, (of which I am an honours member), got to do with this hotel? I was not complaining that you had to have a key for the room, I was pointing out that the lock was loose, so it was tricky to get the key in first time every time. I am sorry if you didn't like my video, but it was about showing what it was like for us, and the sort of thing that could be expected by others.
@@JamesBond-se1kl As you could see on the video, there were no signs showing where the toilets were, so I never found them. If they were inside the actual spa, the doors were not open all the time, in fact they wee locked for a good deal of the day.
Thanks for sharing. I'll be on the QV this Summer -- can't wait. 7:52 do you get a complimentary bottle of bubbly? At least you do on the Queen Mary 2 👍🏾
We didn't get a bottle of Champagne, but we did get a complimentary bottle of sparkling Italian white wine. We thought this was because there was no sail away party, but we didn't know for sure.
Lesley, we are cruisers and caravaners. Can I make an observation, it would be wise to obscure your personal information from your videos. We loved your Cunard and Red Kite videos. There is no need for paranoia but be careful with what you share with the wider world. Kindest regards, Ian.
Hi Ian, thank you for that. It didn't occur to me that I was showing so much of my personal information. I was trying to show what you need to go on a cruise, as the very first cruise we went on no-one told us what we needed, so it ended up being embarrassing. That was in the days before information could be found on line.
I have to second Banksy's comments. Your full name, email address, telephone number and date of birth are all on here. That's more than enough information for a scam to happen. As he said, no need for worry, but I'd seriously consider against keeping the video listed to the whole world. I'd suggest you edit the video to obscure the personal information. Take care, and thank you for sharing your impressions whilst travelling.
I forgot to add that it's wonderful how you want to help people. Maybe in future, you could do similar. Take some post-it notes with you. Use them to cover sensitive information, such as booking references, barcodes and your personal details. That way you can share the experience, but keep your data secure. - oh and don't forget to obscure your bag tags too. 🙂
Great video, what a lovely site, wish we’d known about this place before we had to give up touring. I’d have loved going here, it looks extremely well kept and lovely and quiet too. You do a great job of explaining and showing us the amenities.
Thank you. I try to show the sort of things that I would want to know. I am sorry you had to give up touring. We caught the 'bug' when we went to New Zealand for a holiday some years ago.
