P&O Cruises has officially marked the construction of its next new ship, Iona, with a coin-laying ceremony at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany.
A bronze coin from Iona Abbey, in the Isle of Iona, just off the Isle of Mull, in Scotland, along with a slice of precious green Iona marble from the island have been welded to the ship.
The coin laying is a long-held ship-building tradition which is to bring good luck to the ship and its crew through from construction to the future at sea. Iona will be 118,000 tonnes and will carry 5,200 passengers and will start her 2020 Itineraries in May 2020 doing 7 night fjord cruises in Norway. In her winter Itineraries Iona will be visiting Spain, Portugal and the Canaries. Iona will also be the greenest, powered exclusively by liquefied natural gas.
Iona will feature a gin distillery, four-screen cinema plus the adults-only Limelight Club that will play host to a series of Strictly Come Dancing experiences.
There is still plenty of availability on Iona for 2020. August sailings Inside cabins for a family of 4, 2 x Adults and childern aged 12 and 7 for example, inside cabin £2896 in total with free car parking at Southampton. Thats not bad considering thats all your food and entertainment is included. Where else can you have a 3 course meal, a show and a live entertainment show every night.