Aboard Map / Ship maps / Iona

P&O Iona deck plan, deck by deck

A free map of Iona that works with your mobile data switched off. Give it your cabin number and it shows you where you are, with walking directions to anywhere on board.

This page is her deck plan written out in words too: every room the plan names, which deck it's on, and which side of the ship. I'm Ben, an ordinary passenger, and I made it because I couldn't find the Crow's Nest.

Open the map

Then add it to your home screen. It opens like any other app, and it works with no internet.

A phone showing deck 17 of Iona on the map. The Crow's Nest is pinned at the forward end, and the card below lists three steps: walk forward 95 m, about 33 doors, to the FWD stairs and lifts; go up 5 decks to deck 17; walk forward 80 m from the stairs.
The app on a phone: deck 17 on Iona, and the walk to the Crow's Nest from a cabin on deck 11.

Just want the deck list? It is at the foot of this page.

Sixteen decks, and the paper plan can't show you

Iona has sixteen passenger decks, numbered 3 to 19 with no deck 13. On the first day that's about fifteen too many.

The fold-out plan in your cabin shows all of it. The one thing it can't show is you.

So you end up at a lift lobby, working out whether the place you want is above you or behind you, and whether those stairs go that far.

Your phone is no help either. You'll be told to turn your mobile data off before the ship sails, and it's good advice: once past territorial waters your phone picks up the ship's own mast, and that's maritime data, billed on its own at £6 a megabyte. So you switch it off, and every map app on the phone stops working.

What the app does

It's free, there are no ads, and there's nothing to sign in to.

Shows you where you are

Point the camera at the number beside any cabin door and it puts you on the deck map. You can type the number in instead.

Your own cabin stays saved, and that is where directions start from, so finding anywhere else on board is one tap.

Walks you to anywhere on board

Tap Find, type a place, and it draws the route: which of the three stair and lift towers to head for, how far up or down, and how far along the new deck. These times are a guide, not a promise.

The answer is not always a lift. The Pearl Restaurant sits at the stern of deck 6 and Headliners Theatre is forward on the same deck, so that walk changes no decks at all.

Every bar, restaurant, pool, shop and toilet on Iona is on the map, each with a line saying what it is. Where a place costs extra, it says so.

Tells you which port, and which day

Give it the dates you sail and it works out which cruise you're on, then lists your stops: the day, the place, and the hours you have ashore.

Your stops on a phone: P&O Iona, Norwegian Fjords, seven nights, sailing 12 September 2026. Eight days are listed, from leaving Southampton at 17:00 to arriving back at 07:00, with Stavanger, Alesund, Olden and Haugesund in between and the hours ashore beside each one.
Your stops: the day, the place, and the hours you have ashore.

Says what's worth doing when you get off

Each stop is split in two: what costs nothing, and what costs money. The free half is what you can walk to from the gangway, and how long it takes. The paid half names the thing and says how you reach it, because at Olden the glacier is 22 km up the valley and the cable car is 6 km the other way. Neither of them is a walk.

No prices and no opening times. Both go stale in a file that sits on your phone for a month, and a wrong one costs you a morning.

Every port I have written up has a page of its own too, outside the app: what to do at each stop.

Before that, there is a checklist of the things worth doing at home: before you sail.

The Olden page on a phone, below the street map: under a heading reading Costs nothing, the flat fifteen-minute walk along the fjord to the village, the old church of 1759 and the house an American painter built in 1912. Under Costs money, Loen Skylift with the marked paths from the top of it, the Briksdal glacier, the Kjenndal glacier boat and a self-guided ATV ride in the valleys behind the village, each with a sentence saying what it is and how far out it lies.
What costs nothing, and what costs money, kept apart. This one is Olden.

Saves the street maps for your own stops

One button saves the maps for the places your cruise calls at, and it shows you the size before you agree. There are maps for 55 places between the two ships, ports and Norwegian fjords.

Save them at home and you have the streets of each stop on your phone, with no signal and no bill.

The Stavanger page on a phone: a paragraph about the herring town that struck North Sea oil in 1969, a note about the twenty-three life-size iron men standing around the town, and the street map of the harbour below it.
Every stop has a page of its own, and a street map you can save before you sail. This one is Stavanger.

And it all keeps working with no internet

Open it once on wi-fi at home and it copies itself onto your phone: every deck, every cabin, every venue, every route. After that it asks the internet for nothing.

Open the map

Do it at home, while you still have wi-fi. It's much harder once you're aboard.

The deck plan in detail

Where the cabins are, and which side

Eleven of the sixteen decks have cabins on them. The number beside your door tells you the deck and roughly how far back you are, and on Iona it tells you the side as well.

Even numbers are on the port side, the left as you face the front. Odd numbers are on the starboard side. So 9302 is a port cabin, and 9301, the same distance along the ship, is a starboard one.

This is a fact about the ship rather than a rule I have picked: away from the middle of the ship it holds for every cabin position on the plan, and it's printed on Iona's own lift-lobby boards, which list Port 8302 to 8332 and Starboard 8301 to 8341.

I have photographs of two of those boards, on decks 8 and 16.

Two things stop the number being the whole answer. The middle of the ship is one: some cabins sit so close to the centreline that neither word helps. The ends are the other.

At the bow and at the stern the last row of cabins runs across the width of the ship instead of along it, so the numbers there sweep from one side to the other at the same distance back, and higher stops meaning further aft.

Forum answers get this wrong regularly. The counts and the worked examples are below.

Iona has 2,612 cabins, on 11 decks: 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17.

Even to port and odd to starboard holds on every one of those decks. 66 cabins on Iona are drawn within a whisker of the centreline, where neither word tells you much.

At the stern, the last row of cabins on decks 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15 runs across the ship rather than along it: 8 cabins on each of decks 9, 10, 11, 12 and 14, and 6 cabins on deck 15. That is 46 cabins in the stern rows, where the numbers sweep from one side to the other and a higher number is not further back.

The bow does the same on decks 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15: 8 cabins on each. That is 56 more, so 102 cabins in all sit in a row that runs across the ship. Deck 8 is in that list and not in the stern one, because its cabins stop short of the stern.

The three stair and lift towers

Iona has three sets of stairs and lifts, and that's the whole of how you get about. Every route is three steps: walk to the nearest tower, change decks, walk forward or aft along the new deck. That's why a cabin number is enough for the app to give you directions.

The one that catches people is the aft tower. It stops at deck 16, because deck 17 and above is open deck at that end of the ship. Standing on the Sky deck at the stern, the stairs you want are forward or amidships, and a lift that doesn't exist is a long walk back.

A change of decks costs more than the walking does, which is why a bar two decks up can come out further away than one at the far end of your own corridor. These times are a guide, not a promise.

Each tower against the decks it reaches. The scale runs from deck 19 down to deck 3. There is no deck 13.
  • FWD stairs & lifts
    Stairs and lifts at the forward end of the ship, serving decks 4 to 19.
  • MID stairs & lifts
    Stairs and lifts amidships, serving decks 3 to 19.
  • AFT stairs & lifts
    Stairs and lifts at the aft end, serving decks 5 to 16. For decks above 16, use the FWD or MID stairs.

Toilets and launderettes

The things nobody photographs and everybody looks for. Both are on the map, and searchable by name in the app.

Public toilets, marked WC on the map. They are on 7 of the public decks, and the app will find you the nearest one.

Self-service launderette. There are 9 on board, one each on decks 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15 and 16. If your cabin is on any other deck you'll have to change decks to do the washing.

What I have checked, and what I have not

Every position on this page comes out of P&O's own deck-plan PDF, the April 2024 one. The text sits in the file as text, so it's read rather than scanned, and then a second independent redraw is checked against it.

The room names are read off a newer export of the same plan, dated 29 August 2024, because names change and positions don't.

Iona's cabin frame is also anchored to photographs of the ship's own lift-lobby boards, which is the best evidence in this project and the reason Iona is the ship I would trust first. Arvia has no such anchor, and her own page says so.

What hasn't happened: nobody has walked Iona with this page in their hand. The map is a sketch: places are where they really are, but walls and corridors aren't drawn.

The scanner has never read a real cabin number off a door, because I haven't been aboard since I built it. Fares are the likeliest thing here to be out of date, and rooms do get renamed between seasons.

There is an "email a correction" link in the app and I read every one.

Questions people ask

What deck is the Crow's Nest on Iona?

Deck 17, the Sun deck, right at the forward end and on the centreline. It's a forward-facing observation lounge and bar. The deck number on its own can still leave you a long walk away, because deck 17 runs a long way from front to back, so the route is: forward stairs and lifts, up to 17, and it's in front of you.

Are even cabins port or starboard on Iona?

Even numbers are port, the left as you face the front. Odd numbers are starboard. That holds on all eleven cabin decks.

I have checked it against all 2,612 cabin positions on the deck plan, and away from the middle of the ship not one of them breaks it. It matches Iona's own lift-lobby boards too, which list Port 8302 to 8332 and Starboard 8301 to 8341.

The exception is the 66 cabins drawn within a whisker of the middle line, where the side hardly means anything.

Which side of the ship is cabin 9744 on Iona?

Port, hard against the rail, right at the stern of deck 9. It sits in the row that runs across the back of the ship, so 9746, 9748 and 9750 are beside it working inwards, not behind it.

My cabin number is higher than my friend's. Am I further back?

Usually, but not at the ends of the deck. On decks 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15 the last row of cabins runs across the ship instead of along it.

On deck 9 that row reads 9744, 9746, 9748, 9750 from the port rail, then 9745, 9743, 9741, 9739 on out to the starboard rail, all the same distance aft.

The forward end of the same deck does it too: 9108, 9106, 9104, 9102 to port, then 9103, 9105, 9107, 9109 to starboard.

Even is still port and odd is still starboard in those rows. It's only how far back you are that stops being true.

Does Iona have a deck 13?

No. The decks run 3 to 19 with no 13 at all, which makes sixteen passenger decks. Cabins are on 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17.

Which decks are the restaurants on?

Aqua and Opal face each other across deck 6, the Gala deck, and Pearl is at the stern of the same deck. Coral is one deck up, at the stern of deck 7.

The Horizon buffet is on deck 16, the Lido deck. Sindhu, The Olive Grove, The Keel & Cow and The Quays are all on deck 8, the Promenade deck. The Epicurean is forward on deck 17.

Which side each one is on, and how far forward or aft, is in the deck list on this page.

Where is Anderson's on Iona?

Deck 6, the Gala deck, mid-aft and on the port side. It's the quiet one: a panelled lounge bar and library. Aqua and Opal are a few steps away on the same deck, so it's the obvious place to go before or after dinner without touching a lift.

Which deck is The Club House on Iona?

Deck 8, the Promenade deck, right at the stern and on the centreline. Live music and comedy, with its own stage. From the main dining rooms on deck 6 it's two decks up and further aft, so the aft stairs and lifts are the ones to head for.

Which decks have a launderette on Iona?

Nine of them, one each on decks 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15 and 16. If your cabin is on deck 8 or deck 17 there is no launderette on your deck and you'll have to change decks to do the washing.

How do I get from my cabin to the theatre on Iona?

Walk to the nearest of the three stair and lift towers, change decks, then walk forward or aft. Headliners Theatre is forward on decks 6 and 7, one room two decks high with an entrance on each, so the tower you want is the forward one.

What is there to do in Olden from a cruise ship?

The village is a flat fifteen-minute walk along the fjord from the pier, and the old church at the end of it went up in 1759. Everything else is inland. The Briksdal glacier is 22 km up the valley, and Loen Skylift, one of the steepest cable cars anywhere, is 6 km the other way.

The rest of it is on the Olden cruise port page.

Can you walk to the Briksdal glacier from Olden cruise port?

No. It is 22 km up the valley from the pier, on roads the coaches use, which is over four hours each way on foot. From the car park at the far end it is a further three kilometres of track up to the ice, or you ride that stretch in one of the open troll cars.

The rest of it is on the Olden cruise port page.

What can you do in Stavanger from the cruise port for nothing?

Gamle Stavanger starts a few minutes from the berth and you walk straight into it: about 170 white wooden houses on cobbled lanes, all still lived in. The cathedral has been in use since about 1125. Twenty-three life-size iron men stand around the same streets, every one cast from the same body.

The rest of it is on the Stavanger cruise port page.

Can you hike Pulpit Rock on a cruise stop in Stavanger?

Only with a long day in port. It is a ferry, then a bus, then four to five hours of walking there and back, and people do miss the ship over it. The Lysefjord boat is the other way to see it: about three hours out and back, passing under 600 metres of cliff.

Deck by deck

A few words do most of the work on a ship, so here they are once.

Port
The left as you face the front.
Starboard
The right.
Forward
Towards the front.
Aft
Towards the back.
Bow
The front end of the ship.
Stern
The back end.
Amidships
The middle.
Centreline
The line straight down that middle, bow to stern.

The length of the ship is split into five zones, and the deck lists below use the app's own words for them: forward, mid-forward, midship, which is the amidships one, mid-aft and aft.

Positions come from the published deck plan. Where a room has a fare word below, the app knows whether it's in your fare or charged. Where it has none, I don't have one for that room, and a blank isn't the same as free.

Deck 3Medical

No cabins on this deck.

  • Medical Centremidship · port sideThe ship's doctors and nurses. Open surgery hours are in the daily programme; in an emergency call 999 from any ship phone.

Deck 4Staterooms

Cabins on this deck: 281. There is also a launderette.

Deck 5Spa

Cabins on this deck: 261. There are also toilets and a launderette.

  • Treatment Roomsforward · port sideSpa treatments. Book at the Oasis reception.
  • Thermal Suiteforward · centre of the shipHeated loungers, saunas and steam rooms. Book at the spa.Costs extra
  • Gymmid-forward · centre of the shipFitness suite. Free to use; some classes are charged.

Deck 6Gala

No cabins on this deck. There are toilets.

  • Headliners Theatreforward · centre of the shipThe main show lounge, two decks high. West End style productions, no ticket needed.
  • Scene (teens)mid-forward · starboard sideTeen club, 13 to 17.
  • Oasis Spa & Health Clubmid-forward · port sideSpa treatments, thermal suite and salon. Treatments are charged.
  • Art Gallerymid-forward · centre of the shipGallery and art auctions.
  • The Limelight Clubmid-forward · starboard sideSupper club with live music. Ticketed, and it books up.Costs extra
  • Grand Atriummidship · centre of the shipThe three-deck heart of the ship. Bars, live music and the main staircase.
  • Vistasmidship · port sideCafe bar looking out over the sea. Speciality coffee is charged.
  • Emerald Barmidship · starboard sideBar overlooking the atrium.
  • The Harbour Shopmidship · port sideEssentials, souvenirs and sundries.
  • The 710 Clubmidship · starboard sideIntimate live music room.
  • Anderson'smid-aft · port sideQuiet lounge bar and library, panelled and calm.
  • Ocean Studiosmid-aft · starboard sideThe cinema. Films through the day.
  • Aqua Restaurantmid-aft · port sideOne of the four main dining rooms. Waiter service, menu changes daily.Included in your fare
  • Opal Restaurantmid-aft · starboard sideMain dining room, facing Aqua across the ship.Included in your fare
  • Pearl Restaurantaft · port sideMain dining room, right at the stern with windows on three sides.Included in your fare

Deck 7Parade

No cabins on this deck. There are toilets.

  • Headliners Theatreforward · centre of the shipThe main show lounge, two decks high. West End style productions, no ticket needed.
  • Casinomid-forward · port sideTables and slots. Opens once the ship is at sea.
  • Brodie'smid-forward · starboard sideTraditional pub with quizzes, sport on the screens and a proper bar.
  • The Glass Housemidship · centre of the shipWine bar with small plates. Wine and food both charged.Costs extra
  • Receptionmidship · centre of the shipGuest services. Accounts, questions and lost property.
  • The Photo Hubmid-aft · starboard sideShip photographers' prints and camera gear.
  • The Avenue Shopsmid-aft · centre of the shipThe shopping street: fashion, watches, perfume and the duty free.
  • Shore Experiences · Loyaltyaft · starboard sideBook excursions here, and the loyalty desk for Peninsular Club queries.
  • Coral Restaurantaft · centre of the shipMain dining room at the stern of the Parade deck.Included in your fare

Deck 8Promenade

Cabins on this deck: 122. There are also toilets.

  • The Keel & Cowmidship · starboard sidePub-style dining and beer on the Promenade. Food is charged.Costs extra
  • The Promenade Shopmidship · port sideSundries and gifts on the Promenade.
  • Grand Atrium (open below)midship · centre of the shipBalcony level looking down into the atrium.
  • Ripplesmidship · port sideIce cream counter. Charged per scoop.Costs extra
  • Sindhumid-aft · starboard sideSpeciality Indian restaurant with its own bar. Cover charge, worth booking ahead.Costs extra
  • The Quaysmid-aft · centre of the shipCasual food court on the Promenade. Everything here is in your fare.Included in your fare
  • The Olive Grovemid-aft · starboard sideMediterranean speciality restaurant. Cover charge.Costs extra
  • The Club Houseaft · centre of the shipLive music and comedy at the stern, with its own stage.
  • Sunset Baraft · centre of the shipAft bar with the wake behind you.

Deck 9Staterooms

Cabins on this deck: 316. There is also a launderette.

Deck 10Staterooms

Cabins on this deck: 303. There is also a launderette.

Deck 11Staterooms

Cabins on this deck: 310. There is also a launderette.

Deck 12Staterooms

Cabins on this deck: 306. There is also a launderette.

There is no deck 13.

Deck 14Staterooms

Cabins on this deck: 312. There is also a launderette.

Deck 15Staterooms

Cabins on this deck: 284. There is also a launderette.

Deck 16Lido

Cabins on this deck: 89. There are also toilets and a launderette.

  • Bridgeforward · centre of the shipThe navigation bridge. Crew only.
  • Laguna Barmidship · starboard sidePoolside bar under the SkyDome.
  • Taste 360 & Sundaesmidship · centre of the shipCasual counters by the pool, and the ice cream bar. Charged.Costs extra
  • SkyDomemidship · centre of the shipCovered pool under a glass roof, with food and bars around it. Open whatever the weather.
  • Crystal Barmidship · port sideBar beside the SkyDome, by the middle lifts.
  • The Beach Housemidship · starboard sideRelaxed speciality dining off the buffet. Charged per dish.Costs extra
  • Horizon Restaurantmid-aft · centre of the shipThe buffet. Open through the day, help yourself, no booking.Included in your fare
  • Infinity Pool · Baraft · starboard sideAdults-only infinity pool at the stern, with its own bar.

Deck 17Sun

Cabins on this deck: 28. There are also toilets.

  • The Crow's Nestforward · centre of the shipForward-facing observation lounge and bar, best view on the ship.
  • The Ivory Suiteforward · starboard sidePrivate dining and function room.
  • The Epicureanforward · port sideThe fine dining room. Cover charge and the dressiest room on board.Costs extra
  • SkyDome (upper)midship · centre of the shipThe gallery level looking down into the SkyDome.
  • Sky Barmidship · centre of the shipTop-deck bar above the SkyDome.
  • Night Nurserymid-aft · port sideSupervised night nursery for the youngest, booked ahead.
  • The Reef Receptionmid-aft · centre of the shipSign the children in and out for the kids' clubs here.
  • Scubasmid-aft · centre of the shipKids' club for 5 to 8 year olds.
  • Splashersmid-aft · port sideKids' club for 2 to 4 year olds.
  • Surfersmid-aft · port sideKids' club for 9 to 12 year olds.
  • Deck Gamesmid-aft · starboard sideOpen-deck games area.

Deck 18Panorama

No cabins on this deck. There are toilets.

  • The Retreatforward · centre of the shipQuiet adults-only sun deck. Charged, and it needs booking.Costs extra
  • Beachcomber Pool & Barforward · centre of the shipOpen-air pool and bar on the Panorama deck.
  • Sun Deckmidship · centre of the shipOpen sun deck with loungers.
  • Jogging Trackmid-aft · centre of the shipThe track that wraps the deck. Keep clockwise.
  • Splash Zonemid-aft · starboard sideOpen-deck splash play area for children.
  • Panorama Pool & Baraft · centre of the shipOpen-air pool and bar at the stern.

Deck 19Sky

No cabins on this deck.

  • Sun Deckmid-forward · centre of the shipOpen sun deck with loungers.
  • Sports Arenamid-aft · centre of the shipThe sports court.
  • Golf Netsaft · centre of the shipGolf practice nets.