- Launched
- October 2020
- Gross tonnage
- 184,089 GT
- Passengers
- 5,206 (max), 4,300 (double occupancy)
- Crew
- 1,800
- Length
- 344 m
- Home port
- Southampton
Iona entered service in October 2020 as P&O's first LNG-powered ship and the largest vessel ever built for the British market at the time of delivery. She sails a summer Norwegian Fjords and Northern Europe programme, with Canary Islands and Iberia sailings through the winter — all from Southampton, all fly-free.
Iona was designed around SkyDome: a two-deck glass-domed atrium with retractable roof, pool, staging, and full bar service, which effectively doubles as an all-weather event space on ships that sail a lot of shoulder-season Northern European itineraries. It is the single most successful new-build design element P&O has introduced this century.
The dining portfolio is the most complete in the P&O fleet — Epicurean, Sindhu (Atul Kochhar's pan-Indian venue), Olive Grove, The Glass House (Olly Smith wine bar), Keel & Cow (grill), Beach House — alongside four buffet-anchored main dining rooms and an all-day Quays casual venue.
Adults-only spaces are meaningful without segregating the ship. The Retreat sundeck and Oasis Spa Retreat give couples a materially quieter environment on family sailings, and the ship's size means the family and adult zones rarely collide in practice.
Highlights
SkyDome
Two-deck glass-domed atrium with retractable roof, pool, and full-height staging — signature venue of the modern P&O fleet.
LNG propulsion
First British-flagged cruise ship to run on liquefied natural gas — dramatically lower SOx and NOx emissions vs. conventional marine fuel.
Fly-free from Southampton
Year-round Southampton deployment — no fly-cruise flights, no long-haul transfers, sterling pricing throughout.
Dining portfolio
The deepest speciality-dining line-up in the P&O fleet — Epicurean, Sindhu, Olive Grove, The Glass House, Keel & Cow, and Beach House.
Same class
Sister ships
Also in P&O Cruises
Other ships in the fleet
Launched 2015
Britannia
P&O's modern national flagship — the ship named by the Queen and the platform that repositioned the brand as a genuine large-ship operator.
Launched 2008
Ventura
P&O's original modern family flagship — refurbished mid-life and still one of the fleet's core round-Britain family ships.
Launched 2010
Azura
Ventura's sister — refurbished, family-oriented, and P&O's second Caribbean fly-cruise ship alongside Arvia.
Launched 2005
Arcadia
P&O's adults-only mid-size flagship — the fleet's dedicated long-haul and world-voyage ship.
Launched 2000
Aurora
The smallest and most classic ship in the P&O fleet — adults-only, port-intensive, and the closest thing to a traditional ocean liner in modern British cruising.
Available on this ship
Onboard experiences
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P&O Cruises
The UK-sourced British-market leader — Southampton-departing, sterling-priced, and split between family flagships and adults-only classics.
Carnival Corporation & plc (parent group)
Carnival Corporation is the world's largest cruise operator by fleet and passenger volume, parent of nine cruise brands spanning contemporary to ultra-luxury — including Carnival, Princess, Holland America, Cunard, Costa, AIDA, Seabourn, and Britain's P&O Cruises.
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