Shipyard Delays Mean Popular UK Cruise Ship Forced To Cancel Sailings

P&O Cruises has been forced to cancel two sailings on popular ship Iona, after the cruise ship’s refurbishment set for March 2025 was delayed by the shipyard until October of that year.

P&O had already planned ahead for the refurbishment of the ship in March and had avoided selling itineraries for the ship during that window. But now the shipyard won’t be able to accommodate Iona, meaning the refurbishment has been delayed and now two cruises have unfortunately been cancelled.

The cruises in particular were G532 and G533 set to take place on 4th October 2025 and 18th October 2025 respectively.

Guests have been contacted by email and told that they will be issued a full refund automatically, along with £100 per person onboard credit for a replacement cruise – but only for the first two passengers in a cabin, so families are capped at £200.

Many guests have taken to social media to complain – while the cancellation is not the fault of the cruise line, guests are disappointed in the lack of support for rebooking alternative cruises, since many are priced a lot higher.

Often, when cruise lines are forced to cancel a sailing, they will offer guests to transfer to an equivalent one without paying extra, but that offer has not been extended to Iona guests at this time.

There is also no confirmation of what Iona’s refit will entail. The ship only launched in 2020 but P&O likes to make sure ships are refurbished on a regular schedule, to keep them at their best.

There is also no confirmation yet as to whether P&O Cruises will offer new cruises to fill the gap in March when the ship was originally due to undergo her refit, but it’s likely.

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