An early return

Three days earlier than planned ORIANA is due to arrive in Southampton later this afternoon due to a seal that needs replacing on one of her propeller shafts.
As reported last week ORIANA had been sailing to Funchal, Madeira at reduced speed due to a combination of the seal problem and the rough sea conditions.
Having stayed overnight in Funchal ORIANA called at two further ports Gran Canaria and Tenerife.
The repairs are expected to be completed in time for her next cruise on the 1st March, with her current passengers being offered the chance to remain onboard for the 3 days she'll be docked in Southampton.
At present ORIANA is near Bembridge on The Isle Wight she is estiamted to dock at the Ocean Terminal  at 17:20.

 On P&O's Facebook page they announced the change of itinerary on  20th Feb with the following post
"We would like to let you know that ORIANA's current cruise will be returning to Southampton three days earlier than planned to conduct some necessary repairs to one of the ship's two propeller shaft seals. The repairs, whilst required, have no impact on the ship's safety.

Captain Camby has kept passengers fully informed of the situation and all passengers will be able to remain on board and enjoy the dining and entertainment offering on ORIANA whilst in Southampton until March 1, 2014 as planned.

All customers will have the choice of receiving a credit of 100% of their current cruise to use on a future ORIANA Cruise in 2014 or 2015, or a 40% cash refund.

Our decision to bring the ship back early has not been taken lightly and we are deeply sorry that customers' holiday plans have been impacted.

ORIANA's next cruise will still depart as planned on 1 March " 
P&O's decision has been met by a mostly  positive response and shows that despite some  comments from critics the company is putting the safety of their passengers and the maintenance of fleet before profits.
 

Stormy seas for ORIANA

With the severe weather which has been causing havoc across Atlantic coast of Europe it is perhaps unsurprising that cruise ship calls have been affected considerably with early arrivals and later departures in attempt to ride out the passing storms This was the case with ORIANA on her previous cruise when she arrived early in Southampton to avoid the worst of the weather.
Although she did indeed  encounter bad weather off the coast of Spain last month as captured in this video.

Due to the weather and a minor technical problem with the bearings in one of her Propeller shafts ORIANA had sailed at a reduced speed of 14 knots to Funchal, Madeira  where she is making an over night call and is due to depart tomorrow at 15.45.
 

ORIANA docked in Funchal 20/02/2014.