Iona Dining Guide: Restaurants, Costs, and Best Choices
Iona’s included variety is the reason to start with its four Freedom Dining rooms, Olive Grove, Quays, Horizon and poolside food.
Epicurean earns a special evening, Limelight earns one for its act, and Keel & Cow is the smaller splurge when a particular burger or steak appeals.
Short version: Use Olive Grove for Mediterranean plates and The Quays for flexible lunches, then add Epicurean for a formal occasion or Limelight for the featured performer; buy a Keel & Cow burger or Sindhu meal only when that particular menu appeals.
Iona dining at a glance
- Included: Coral, Opal, Aqua, Pearl, The Olive Grove, The Quays, Horizon, and Taste 360.
- Additional: Epicurean, The Keel & Cow, Sindhu, The Glass House, The Beach House, Ripples, The Limelight Club, and most room service.
- The Olive Grove is included but selected premium dishes carry published supplements.
- Use My Holiday for live queues, reservations, menus, pound prices, opening times, and dress codes.
The current Iona page separates included and specialty dining
The official Iona dining page lists The Olive Grove, Horizon buffet, four Freedom Dining rooms, The Quays, and Taste 360 as included. It separately identifies Epicurean, The Keel & Cow, The Beach House, Sindhu, The Glass House, Ripples, and The Limelight Club as dining for a little extra.
That exact roster is the planning anchor because P&O Cruises venues vary by ship. Bars, café drinks, room service, and a special menu within an included restaurant still require their own price checks.
Coral, Opal, Aqua, and Pearl are Freedom Dining rooms
Coral, Opal, Aqua, and Pearl occupy Iona’s lower dining zone around Decks 6 and 7 and share the complimentary Freedom Dining program. They are four physical rooms rather than four different specialty cuisines, with breakfast and dinner service published on the exact ship page.
Join the My Holiday queue when ready and choose the room that fits the party and wait; dinner is flexible, while breakfast and any lunch opening follow the daily program.
The Olive Grove is included with selected supplements
The Olive Grove on the Deck 8 Promenade is an included Mediterranean restaurant with antipasti, paella, tagines, and sharing plates as representative dishes. P&O Cruises currently publishes small supplements on selected premium dishes, so included access does not make every menu line free.
Reserve or join the Olive Grove queue through My Holiday and distinguish included dishes from marked supplements before ordering; the included menu can already make a complete meal.
The Quays is one included food hall
The Quays on Deck 8 is an included food hall with live cooking counters, not three separate full-service restaurants. P&O Cruises has described Fusion, Hook, Line & Vinegar, and Boardwalk Diner as its Asian, fish-and-chips, and American-style counter concepts.
Walk The Quays before choosing so each person gets the counter they want, then meet at the same table; different stations can serve at different times.
Horizon is the buffet for all three main meals
Horizon Restaurant is the included buffet across the aft area of Deck 16, with breakfast, lunch, and dinner choices plus daily included afternoon tea between lunch and dinner. It is Iona’s broadest walk-in option for mixed appetites and quick port-day timing.
At Horizon, start with counters actively preparing food instead of filling a plate at the first station; Beach House later uses a dedicated part of the upper-deck dining area for a separately charged evening.
Taste 360 is a casual included Lido counter
Taste 360 is an included outdoor counter on Deck 16 near the SkyDome and pool area, serving casual food such as burgers, hot dogs, pizza, and itinerary-inspired street food. It has no connection to Princess Cruises’ projection-based 360 dining experience.
Taste 360 fits naturally into a pool day; choose from the live street-food display and use Horizon or The Quays when weather closes the outdoor counter.
Epicurean is the formal specialty choice
Epicurean on Deck 17 is Iona’s formal modern British restaurant; a June 2024 visit recorded dinner at £35 GBP onboard or £28 prebooked, excluding drinks, so treat those as dated examples and use the current My P&O Cruises total for your voyage.
Reserve an unhurried Epicurean dinner when a special occasion matters, and choose afternoon tea separately when that experience appeals; neither price nor tea availability should be inferred from the dinner quote.
The Keel & Cow is an individually priced gastropub
Keel & Cow on Deck 8 charges by the dish, making it a smaller commitment than a full restaurant cover; the Prime Minister burger, with dry-aged beef, blue cheese and bacon, is the comfort-food order to consider.
Choose a burger for a flexible lunch or dry-aged steak for dinner, then price the actual dish and drinks from the menu; that is more useful than assuming one cover applies to both.
Sindhu and The Glass House are à la carte
Sindhu offers Indian-British fusion, while The Glass House pairs individually priced small plates and larger dishes with wine in the lower promenade and atrium dining zone. Neither should inherit a generic fixed-cover rule.
Sindhu and Glass House charge for the dishes ordered, with wine separate; use the current menu for the exact plates rather than budgeting from an older starter-and-main price list.
The Beach House is a paid upper-deck dinner concept
The Beach House operates as a separate evening restaurant within the Horizon area on Deck 16, focused on Latin American and Caribbean-inspired grills and seafood. It is not another complimentary buffet meal simply because it shares the larger room.
P&O’s dining price guidance quotes restaurant covers of £9.50–£35 GBP per person per occasion, subject to change; the Beach House booking supplies the actual cover and selected dish supplements for your sailing.
Ripples is a gelateria, not a steakhouse
Ripples is an individually priced gelateria for scoops, sundaes, gelato cakes, cookies, milkshakes, and related sweets. It is a counter purchase rather than a full restaurant reservation and has no connection to premium steak supplements.
Choose one Ripples dessert that looks special and read its display price; an included dessert elsewhere does not make the gelato counter complimentary.
The Limelight Club combines dinner and entertainment
Limelight combines dinner with a live act, so price the specific performer and evening in My P&O Cruises; the ticket buys the show as well as the meal and can differ from an ordinary restaurant cover.
Give Limelight priority when the featured act is the reason for booking; leave another evening for Epicurean rather than forcing two paced experiences into the same night.
Room service has item prices and an Iona delivery charge
P&O Cruises’ official room-service page says additional charges apply to each item except continental breakfast and that Iona also has a delivery charge. Service is available around the clock, but it remains cabin delivery rather than a physical restaurant.
Read the in-cabin menu for delivery charges, item prices and hours before ordering; a continental breakfast inclusion does not make every Iona delivery free.
Suite breakfast is a cabin benefit
Guests in eligible full Suites can have an included breakfast at Epicurean, while Conservatory Mini-suites and other mini-suite categories are excluded from that benefit. This is a cabin-category entitlement for a meal period, not general complimentary access to Epicurean dinner.
Use the suite breakfast benefit only when it belongs to the booking; buying a specialty dinner or drinks package does not create suite eligibility.
Reservations and queues need different tactics
Prebook Epicurean or Limelight when the fixed experience matters, then leave Freedom Dining and casual meals flexible; My Holiday manages queues for the relevant included venues.
The Quays, Horizon, and Taste 360 work as walk-in options, while individual paid outlets can have their own queue. Keeping these systems separate prevents a queueable included venue from being described as a scarce specialty booking.
A practical Iona dining plan
Begin with Freedom Dining, Olive Grove and The Quays to discover the included range, then use Horizon or Taste 360 on busy days; that covers seated, Mediterranean and casual food without extra covers.
Add Epicurean for the occasion, Limelight for its act or an à la carte venue for a smaller meal; there is enough included variety to skip another paid booking when nothing catches your appetite.
Compare ships without transferring concepts
My Disney Treasure dining guide explains rotational dining, while the Carnival Jubilee dining guide organizes another large ship’s counters and paid restaurants. Neither supplies Iona’s Freedom Dining, pound prices, or delivery rules.
The dining archive helps compare ships, while Iona’s own menus settle its GBP prices and queues.
Continue planning with the cruise tips, things to do, deck guide, best cabins, cabins to avoid, pros and cons.
How this guide was researched: This guide was checked against the cruise line’s current ship pages, deck plans, venue listings, and published policies. Details can change by sailing, so confirm booking-sensitive prices, hours, access rules, and cabin assignments before payment.
My bottom line for Iona
Iona has an unusually varied included base through four Freedom Dining rooms, The Olive Grove, The Quays, Horizon, and Taste 360. Its paid roster spans formal dinner, gastropub, Indian-British food, tapas, Beach House, gelato, entertainment dining, and room service.
Keep Taste 360 in the casual pool-food plan, distinguish Olive Grove supplements from included dishes and budget the actual order at each à la carte venue; that preserves variety without buying an unnecessary meal.
