Prior to 2020, if someone had mentioned the word “cruise”, I would picture an elegant, old-fashioned ship, filled to the brim with rich elderly people, eating fancy fine dining food, all dressed in their formal attires. Cruises have always been associated with the elderly here in the UK for quite a while. It wasn’t until 2021 that my perception on the whole matter had changed.
We were very kindly treated to a cruise by family. Once I found this out, my initial instinct was to research, see what the cruise ship we were going on was like, what sort of food was catered on board etc. I was blown away. We would be going on a week-long cruise on board P&O’s Iona ship, new to 2020, the cruise ship featured numerous bars on board. Plenty of restaurants (which I’ll go into more detail in a moment), a cinema with 4 screens, multiple swimming pools, a shopping complex and so much more!
The food options is what got to me, there was your classic formal dining in the 4 main dining rooms, but you also had the buffet option on the top deck. Then you had The Quays situated in the middle of the ship offering burgers, fish and chips and curries, as well as a selection of breakfasts in the morning. Multiple ice cream parlours on board, one offering an ice cream-cream tea, a selection of ice creams laid out in the style of a cream tea. You have Sindhu, the premium Indian restaurant, Keel & Cow, and a gastropub. Epicurean, is a sophisticated fine dining experience. Taste 360, a poolside cafe offering up burgers, pizza slices and chips, and that isn’t all of the choices.
It wasn’t then until we got on board that my preconception of cruises being just for the elderly was completely wrong, it was filled with people of all ages and all walks of life. Singles, couples, families, and retirees. Since then, we have been on a total of 4 cruises, and have 3 more lined up next year alone. We are hooked.
The Taste Trekker 
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