Oriana’s Final Cruise

Reports about cruises on Oriana

anniec
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Re: Oriana’s Final Cruise

#26

Post by anniec »

barney wrote: 08 Aug 2019, 09:45
Thank you for the wonderful reports Sue.

It feels like we are right there with you.

Saved me a few bob :clap:
Hear hear! Really enjoy Sue's reports.

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Mervyn and Trish
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Re: Oriana’s Final Cruise

#27

Post by Mervyn and Trish »

Although we've moved on and not cruised on her for a while I'll be sorry to see Oriana go. She was our first ever cruise in 1999 and I'll never forget that initial "Wow" walking into the atrium for the first time. The main reason we deserted her was our next cruise was on Aurora and we got a taste for balcony cabins, which of course are fewer and more expensive on Oriana. We did manage to stretch to one on our last trip after her adults only refit.

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Stephen
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Re: Oriana’s Final Cruise

#28

Post by Stephen »

Mervyn and Trish wrote: 08 Aug 2019, 13:32
Although we've moved on and not cruised on her for a while I'll be sorry to see Oriana go. She was our first ever cruise in 1999 and I'll never forget that initial "Wow" walking into the atrium for the first time. The main reason we deserted her was our next cruise was on Aurora and we got a taste for balcony cabins, which of course are fewer and more expensive on Oriana. We did manage to stretch to one on our last trip after her adults only refit.

Same here, although it was 2006 when we were on her..........and being laid up for two days with sea sickness :sick:
Last edited by Stephen on 08 Aug 2019, 13:59, edited 1 time in total.


Whynd1
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Re: Oriana’s Final Cruise

#29

Post by Whynd1 »

Thank you Sue for your lovely report.
So sad to see Oriana leave the fleet.

Lindsey


welshynurse
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Re: Oriana’s Final Cruise

#30

Post by welshynurse »

Really lovely to read your reports
Oriana was my first cruise and got some lovely memories of quality time with Dad on it

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Suekersh
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Re: Oriana’s Final Cruise

#31

Post by Suekersh »

Belfast, Northern Ireland
Wednesday, 7 August 2019

The forecast was for a mixture of sun and cloud.
The port provided a shuttle bus to Donegal square in the centre of Belfast. On the bus we passed the troubled Harland & Wolff shipyard. There were men with banners saying Save our Shipyard.

Our plan was to catch the HO HO bus but when we found out is was 1 3/4 hours round we decided against it. Our friends decided to go for it and we arranged to meet up with them in the Crown Liquor bar for lunch. Last year when we were here we had booked a Black Cab tour so we had already seen the must see sights and had been to the Titanic museum. The city centre has many interesting buildings.

The rain stayed away all morning and we arrived at the Crown Liquor saloon still dry. We managed to secure the last private booth. There are ten of these differently-shaped cosy and elaborately carved wooden boxes, lettered from A to J. The bar is now owned by the National Trust and is extremely ornate with so many stained glass windows. It is a traditional Victorian pub dating back to 1826, and has a huge choice of real ales and serves classic pub food.

The food was excellent but the service a little slow.

Back on ship preparations were being made for the final Sailaway Party. As the weather wasn’t as bad as forecast Hughie announced that it would take place on the Aft deck rather than the Pacific Lounge as planned. The weather wasn’t great and kept spitting but at least it gave everyone a chance to see it.
Paul Ludlow did a short speech and afterwards the crew ,officers and some of the artistes on board performed. We didn’t see it all as it was late starting and we have early sitting dinner.

Straight after dinner it was the Ligurian Tier cocktail party in Harlequins. Only 108 Ligurian plus 20 most travelled passengers.
Paul Ludlow spoke again and confirmed that Aurora was NOT being sold BUT if someone offered him silly money then it would be different. He assured us that P & O will continue to cater for our age group but that the big ships are the future for P & O. The champagne and other drinks flowed well and there were plenty of canapés on offer.

We went to the late show in the theatre which as the Headliners performing for the very last time We’ll Meet Again. This was the last time ever that this show will be seen on any of the fleet. It was an apt ending for both the ship, the cast who having worked together since January, the crew who are all going to different ships or home on leave and the passengers whose cruising days on Oriana are over for ever.

The 4 Tunes were singing in the Pacific Lounge and we headed there to listen to them. It was standing room only and we only stayed for a short time.

Tomorrow is our final Sea day.

Sea Day to Southampton
Thursday 8 August 2019

The weather was fine and the sea calm which it had been for all this cruise. We have never experienced such calm seas before.

After breakfast we continued with the packing and had the bulk of it done before the final battle of the sexes.
The noon day announcement was very emotional as an officer had written a poem about a Oriana. There were many tissues out.

The ladies won the battle easily and were awarded the extra 20 points for the most photos of leprechauns. The final score was 2740 to the ladies and 2470 to the gents. Anthony gave the Captains a bottle of wine but as Brooke doesn’t drink wine she past it to me. Anthony did a fabulous job running the Battle of the Sexes Quiz and although it wasn’t as ferocious and vocal as many of the Battles I have attended he kept good order at at all times. We joked with him about favouring the men but he was very fair.

Our men met us for our last lunch on Oriana in the main dining room, then at 3 p.m we all headed to Tiffany’s to meet up with other friends. We got a couple of tables together and swapped photos and tales of the cruise. We will meet Bob and Maureen again next year on Aurora and Brian and Denise on Arcadia if not before, but it was very sad to say goodbye to Brendan and Rob as they are from Oz and we have no idea when we will see them again. They have invited us to stay with them in Oz but as we don’t want fly any more it probably won’t happen. I did jokingly say that we could sail out on Arcadia and stay with them for a year until Arcadia returns but that wasn’t met with any enthusiasm.

Maureen and I left to get our final days Bingo ticket which was held in the Pacific Lounge. I had never seen so few passengers in for the very last session. The reason was the jackpot of just over £500 had been won already, we probably wouldn’t have bothered playing if we had known.
However I am glad that we did as I won the very last game on Oriana. It was a shared win of £320 so £160 each. I shared my winnings with Maureen as we have a 50/50 agreement.

It was formal night even though it was the final night of the cruise. It was a bit of a rush as we had arranged pre dinner drinks for 6 p.m. as we needed to use up the last of our cabin supplies.

It was Marcos lobster menu and the Parade if the Chefs for our final dinner. We drank the wine from the Battle of the Sexes, and P & O gave everyone a glass of bubbles to toast the chefs, waiter and wine stewards.
We said our goodbyes, collected our final night menu and rushed to the theatre to get seats.

Claire Sweeney who had performed as a dancer on Oriana’s maiden cruise had been invited back for the final cruise. She was fabulous and kept the audience enthralled with her stories and her singing. It was a wonderful final performance on Oriana and she got a standing ovation.

The comedian John Evans was in the Pacific Lounge but having seen him a couple of nights ago we opted instead for a Harlequins and a final dance on Oriana’s lovely ballroom floor. We will so miss this ship .

Tomorrow we dock in Southampton at 8 a.m.















.

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GillD46
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Re: Oriana’s Final Cruise

#32

Post by GillD46 »

While not a ship we cared for, it does sound so sad.

I hear passengers are not allowed off the ship until 11am, any info on this?
Gill


cruisin_duo
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Re: Oriana’s Final Cruise

#33

Post by cruisin_duo »

Thank you Sue for taking time to update us on Oriana’s last voyage with P&O. Sad that we won’t get to sail on her again.

Safe journey home.


AileenB
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Re: Oriana’s Final Cruise

#34

Post by AileenB »

Thanks again from me Sue. Love to read your reports. A bit sad about Oriana .... only on her once in 2016. Met you on the cruise to New Orleans at the Battle of the Sexes! :-)

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allatc
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Re: Oriana’s Final Cruise

#35

Post by allatc »

So it's Farewell to Oriana. Sad moment. although I recall she has always had some problems particularly with vibration.
It was Oriana that got me (us) into cruising. Back in the 1990's she was used for a corporate event called City IT where IT system and component vendors would hire her for a a weekend and then invite prospective clients for a hard sell. It sounds like a jolly but as a client I can say it was hard work. We embarked Friday afternoon. Muster drill at 5pm followed by Opening session in the theatre. Oriana sailed to Guernsey
Dinner at 7pm hosted by someone hoping to sell to you, followed by entertainment in lounge.
Breakfast at 8am hosted by someone hoping to sell to you; meetings every 45 minutes with people hoping to sell to you; lunch in there somewhere; dinner at 7pm, yes with people hoping to sell to you, Sunday morning 6am breakfast, 7.30 disembark.
It was said they sold more booze on that two day event than in a normal week.

I found myself thinking " if I wasn't in these continual meetings I think I could take to this cruising lark".

So it was that we did our first proper cruise in 2000 on Aurora in her maiden season, and it's all thanks to Oriana.

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Manoverboard
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Re: Oriana’s Final Cruise

#36

Post by Manoverboard »

A fond farewell indeed :clap:

We first observed the beautiful Oriana when she was berthed in Madeira pre Millennium I recall, several years later we booked a cruise on her to the Fjords.

How can we ever forget that majestic white piano being played on the stern deck as we glided out of Olden or maybe it was the heavy snow in Copenhagen that did it for us as we slid and skidded up a mini hill towards her berth during a Christmas Market's Cruise.

Nice memories old girl, Oriana not Sue of course :(

.
Last edited by Manoverboard on 09 Aug 2019, 18:06, edited 1 time in total.
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Kenmo1
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Re: Oriana’s Final Cruise

#37

Post by Kenmo1 »

Just been catching up with your brilliant review,Sue, while eating my beans on toast as we come back to reality. We were lucky this morning to get off when we did as we managed to catch the 10.45 am Red Jet back to the Isle of Wight and I am now packing for our coach trip on Monday for our 5 day visit to Edinburgh for the Tattoo. However, that disembarkation this morning seemed a bit of a mess but we were ok as our cabin was on C deck and they let A, B and C get off because only their luggage had been offloaded by 10.20 am. What time did you manage to get off ? It must have messed up any train connections for people from the other decks, although anyone on PO coaches would have been waited for but the train service doesn't do that. We were certainly so lucky with the weather and the seas on this fabulous cruise. We did tours in Torshaven, Lofoten Islands and Honnisvag to the North Cape and loved the scenery everywhere. We even had an extra hour at the lovely beach on the Lofoten Island as our coach broke down and we had an extra hour there while a huge pick up truck pulled the coach off the small ditch, all the time causing massive queues with all those mobile homes which were trying to get into the car park. We had been to both Tromso and Alesund before and I was gutted to find that the Arctic Cathedral in Tromso was shut in the afternoon so we couldn't go in. We had walked across the bridge first thing and decided to go up in the cable car first thinking that would be the busiest but it made it too late get into the Cathedral so walked back across that bridge to the Radison Blu feeling very disappointed. In Alesund we climbed the 418 up and down Mount Aksla but the 10 years since we last did it certainly caught up with us and our knees. Thank you again for the super review. Hope Garry has recovered from my accosting him on deck 8. Next time perhaps he could show my husband where the launderette is. Best wishes, Maureen.

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Happydays
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Re: Oriana’s Final Cruise

#38

Post by Happydays »

As usual I enjoyed reading your reports! You certainly know how to enjoy yourself 😉

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Happydays
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Re: Oriana’s Final Cruise

#39

Post by Happydays »

Kenmo1 wrote: 09 Aug 2019, 19:06
Just been catching up with your brilliant review,Sue, while eating my beans on toast as we come back to reality. We were lucky this morning to get off when we did as we managed to catch the 10.45 am Red Jet back to the Isle of Wight and I am now packing for our coach trip on Monday for our 5 day visit to Edinburgh for the Tattoo. However, that disembarkation this morning seemed a bit of a mess but we were ok as our cabin was on C deck and they let A, B and C get off because only their luggage had been offloaded by 10.20 am. What time did you manage to get off ? It must have messed up any train connections for people from the other decks, although anyone on PO coaches would have been waited for but the train service doesn't do that. We were certainly so lucky with the weather and the seas on this fabulous cruise. We did tours in Torshaven, Lofoten Islands and Honnisvag to the North Cape and loved the scenery everywhere. We even had an extra hour at the lovely beach on the Lofoten Island as our coach broke down and we had an extra hour there while a huge pick up truck pulled the coach off the small ditch, all the time causing massive queues with all those mobile homes which were trying to get into the car park. We had been to both Tromso and Alesund before and I was gutted to find that the Arctic Cathedral in Tromso was shut in the afternoon so we couldn't go in. We had walked across the bridge first thing and decided to go up in the cable car first thinking that would be the busiest but it made it too late get into the Cathedral so walked back across that bridge to the Radison Blu feeling very disappointed. In Alesund we climbed the 418 up and down Mount Aksla but the 10 years since we last did it certainly caught up with us and our knees. Thank you again for the super review. Hope Garry has recovered from my accosting him on deck 8. Next time perhaps he could show my husband where the launderette is. Best wishes, Maureen.
I hope you've packed something waterproof it hasn't been cold but the last few days it's been wet☔🌂 good luck!

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Suekersh
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Re: Oriana’s Final Cruise

#40

Post by Suekersh »

GillD46 wrote: 09 Aug 2019, 11:10
While not a ship we cared for, it does sound so sad.

I hear passengers are not allowed off the ship until 11am, any info on this?
We should have been off for 10 am but Captain Sarah in her wisdom decided to turn the Oriana around before berthing. No idea why but hopefully there was a valid reason as it delayed the offloading of luggage. We were on D deck so our 10 am disembarkation became 10:30 am. We were kept well informed by the Hotel General Manager and if you can remember my first report regarding the wasp sandwich eating woman well she was still chewing on them as we disembarked. She was always first in the queue for everything but as the suitcases had been disembarked in deck order they let off A B and C Decks first. She had to wait and wasn’t happy and let everyone know about it. None of us were happy but at least we could understand the safety issues of passengers getting off whilst still unloading luggage for our deck.
Unfortunately we had a long distance to travel and where we are normally on the road for 4 1/2 hours it took us 7 1/2 hours to get home.

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Suekersh
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Re: Oriana’s Final Cruise

#41

Post by Suekersh »

Kenmo1 wrote: 09 Aug 2019, 19:06
Just been catching up with your brilliant review,Sue, while eating my beans on toast as we come back to reality. We were lucky this morning to get off when we did as we managed to catch the 10.45 am Red Jet back to the Isle of Wight and I am now packing for our coach trip on Monday for our 5 day visit to Edinburgh for the Tattoo. However, that disembarkation this morning seemed a bit of a mess but we were ok as our cabin was on C deck and they let A, B and C get off because only their luggage had been offloaded by 10.20 am. What time did you manage to get off ? It must have messed up any train connections for people from the other decks, although anyone on PO coaches would have been waited for but the train service doesn't do that. We were certainly so lucky with the weather and the seas on this fabulous cruise. We did tours in Torshaven, Lofoten Islands and Honnisvag to the North Cape and loved the scenery everywhere. We even had an extra hour at the lovely beach on the Lofoten Island as our coach broke down and we had an extra hour there while a huge pick up truck pulled the coach off the small ditch, all the time causing massive queues with all those mobile homes which were trying to get into the car park. We had been to both Tromso and Alesund before and I was gutted to find that the Arctic Cathedral in Tromso was shut in the afternoon so we couldn't go in. We had walked across the bridge first thing and decided to go up in the cable car first thinking that would be the busiest but it made it too late get into the Cathedral so walked back across that bridge to the Radison Blu feeling very disappointed. In Alesund we climbed the 418 up and down Mount Aksla but the 10 years since we last did it certainly caught up with us and our knees. Thank you again for the super review. Hope Garry has recovered from my accosting him on deck 8. Next time perhaps he could show my husband where the launderette is. Best wishes, Maureen.
Hi Maureen, it was great to meet up with you again. Garry was certainly surprised by the strange lady accosting him in the corridor but he was more concerned about what your husband thought when you said you wanted to take him home with you.
Hope to meet again in the future but unfortunately not on the lovely Oriana.

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Suekersh
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Re: Oriana’s Final Cruise

#42

Post by Suekersh »

AileenB wrote: 09 Aug 2019, 16:16
Thanks again from me Sue. Love to read your reports. A bit sad about Oriana .... only on her once in 2016. Met you on the cruise to New Orleans at the Battle of the Sexes! :-)
Aileen that was a fabulous cruise and my first on Oriana after taking early retirement on 31 December 2015. I was actually on Arcadia when I retired on the beach in St Lucia but I classed that as a holiday then.

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david63
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Re: Oriana’s Final Cruise

#43

Post by david63 »

Suekersh wrote: 10 Aug 2019, 20:22
We were on D deck so our 10 am disembarkation became 10:30 am.
In the recent past Ligurian tier have had priority disembarkation, next off after suites - has that now changed?

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GillD46
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Re: Oriana’s Final Cruise

#44

Post by GillD46 »

Gosh your journey home sounds horrid. Such a shame things ended badly. Still, you had a wonderful time and I’m sure the next one will be just around the corner.

Thanks for all the great reporting.
Gill

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Suekersh
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Re: Oriana’s Final Cruise

#45

Post by Suekersh »

david63 wrote: 10 Aug 2019, 21:29
Suekersh wrote: 10 Aug 2019, 20:22
We were on D deck so our 10 am disembarkation became 10:30 am.
In the recent past Ligurian tier have had priority disembarkation, next off after suites - has that now changed?
No change David, We had priority but the earliest disembarkation for this cruise was 10 am due to the planned late arrival at 8 a.m. it was even later due to Captain Sarah deciding to turn the ship round before docking. Normally they wait for all luggage to be off and in deck order before allowing any passengers off. The decision was made that once A B & C luggage was off to let those passengers disembark. This was changed quite swiftly to A deck passengers only but many were already off. As soon as D deck luggage was ready we were then given priority over those left on board. Not ideal but I think the ship did the best they could to manage the situation.


LadyPCruiser
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Re: Oriana’s Final Cruise

#46

Post by LadyPCruiser »

Really enjoyed reading your reports Sue - just come back from our cruise on Aurora - the ships are quite similar I thought - when is your next adventure?

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Suekersh
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Re: Oriana’s Final Cruise

#47

Post by Suekersh »

LadyPCruiser wrote: 19 Aug 2019, 19:47
Really enjoyed reading your reports Sue - just come back from our cruise on Aurora - the ships are quite similar I thought - when is your next adventure?
Hi,
Our next cruise is at Xmas on Aurora, then we doing back 2 back and staying on for the 55 night cruise to America and Caribbean.

The Aurora is very similar in size to Oriana and has the same tiered aft deck but I don’t find Aurora as easy to navigate round as a Oriana. No doubt I will get my bearings when we are not jumping from ship to ship. Aurora has the glass a House which is a plus but doesn’t have a Harlequins which is a minus.

When are you cruising next?

Sue

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