The day when Funchal said farewell to ORIANA

Sadly, we all know that sooner or later all things in life come to an end, and on the 7th June 2019, it was time for Funchal to say farewell to the ORIANA, presenting her a very special and much deserved tribute at the time of her departure, an excelent proof of a special relation strengthened in the last 24 years.

As we have been writing lately here in the blog, ORIANA is due to leave the P&O fleet already in August, the result of her having been sold to Chinese interests last year, thus she is now undertaking her last cruise around the Atlantic islands, a 16-day itinerary including calls in the archipelagos of Azores, Madeira and Canaries, also calling in Lisbon on the 12th June, these ports having in common the fact they will all see ORIANA now for the very last time, surely with this name at least.
Her maiden voyage, 24 years ago between the 9th to 23rd of April 1995, saw her calling to some of these ports, such as Funchal, that was the very first destination of the inaugural cruise, after the christening in Southampton by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 6th April and the departure three days later from her homeport.

ORIANA arrives for the very first time in Funchal on 12th April 1995. Photo: Luís F. Jardim

The brand new ORIANA, then the first cruise ship built specifically for the British cruise market, was also the new flagship of the British Merchant Navy, replacing the venerable QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 in that role, and even ranked amongst the largest passenger ships in the World, surpassed only by ships such as QE2 herself, NORWAY and the recent Sovereign class of Royal Caribbean.
More than enough reasons for a highly antecipated maiden call in Funchal, which at the time was not used to welcome brand new cruise liners like ORIANA, since the majority of them, ordered by companies such as Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess... for construction in the main European shipyards, headed off to the Caribbean on their delivery voyages, their main area of operation. Not only that, ORIANA was built as a successor of the CANBERRA, having many of her features inspired by the 1961 built ocean liner, that was also a well known visitor in Funchal, greatly recognized by the locals, and much beloved by the British cruise customer base.

Photo: Luís F. Jardim

Thus, in the bright sunshine morning of 12th of April 1995, the mighty presence of the new ORIANA slowly approached through the bay of Funchal surrounded by a large fleet of small craft that went to sea to welcome her, and so did the dolphins that were jumping out of the water on this memorable day. And so under the guidance of the veteran Commodore Ian Gibb, she then secured safely her position at the berth by stardboard, where she would remain for the rest of her 2-day call.
As the lucky inaugural cruise passengers were going ashore, some ladies dressed in Madeirian folk costumes waited for them by the gangway to offer traditional souvenirs of the island, after they were presented with a traditional folkloric show while the ship was berthing.
Later on that day, after the return of the majority of its aprox. 1,970 passengers that were out exploring Funchal and the rest of Madeira, they also had the chance to witness a fireworks display sent from the sea, prepared exclusively to celebrate the arrival of ORIANA.
The following day, in the afternoon of the 13th of April, she was ready to release her moorings and cast off bound to Tenerife, again under the eyes of a crowd of thousands that were on shore to enthusiastically watch the departure. What spectacular memories these passengers, crew, and the locals back then had the chance to keep from this amazing event!...
A perfect premonition of 24 years of great friendship and close connection that followed, as ORIANA made a total of 161 calls (160 in Funchal + 1 in the neighbour island of Porto Santo in 2000), and it's also interesting to state that she never visited Funchal less than five times per year, save a few exceptions, while on the other hand in 2002, she managed to reach a record number of ten calls.

And as it is a P&O tradition for many years, to have at least one of their ships in Funchal to celebrate the New Year, ORIANA was present ten times on this date, the first being already in her inaugural year, and since then followed the years: 1998/1999/2000/2002/2004/2006/2008/2009 and finally 2010, her last Silvester night in Funchal.
After all this time, we could never have imagined, or perhaps had the will to accept, the ideia of saying farewell to her, at least this early, when we remember of the long career her predecessor CANBERRA had, with twelve more years of operation than ORIANA, even despite all the technical problems she suffered on her final years, but times change, and so did P&O, which is no longer the same as that time, now owned and managed by Carnival UK since 2003.

And so on this overcast and slightly grim June morning, fitting for the occasion, ORIANA made her last approach through the bay of Funchal coming from Ponta Delgada, what a fine sight that will be surely missed, and under the command of Captain Sarah Brenton, she made her way in order to berth by postside at around 7:30 am.

The clouds kept on dominating the skies for the rest of the day, with the sun peaking from time to time providing a little bit of warmth in downtown Funchal, and at nearly 5 pm it was under this scenario that ORIANA was ready to release her moorings, a local tug was already nearby having just turned on its water canons to salute the last departure, that happened precisely at 5:05 pm. On the quayside, a large Madeirian flag could be seen on display, and a folkcloric group was performing while she was casting off the berth, with the tug then escorting her out of port and staying close until the rest of the manouver was done and the pilot disembarked. The sound of many horns could be heard, as in a deep and warm way of ORIANA saying goodbye... Then she set her course southwest, bound to Santa Cruz de La Palma, leaving Funchal on her wake for the last time.

It was without a doubt, almost a decade and a half of great moments and fantastic memories, many of which we will keep on sharing and sharing yet again, until the last of her remaining time with P&O and beyond!... As long as the sun rises in the infinite horizon, ORIANA will sail forever in our hearts.

To get to know in full detail on how ORIANA was born, from the early plans, the construction to her maiden voyage, click in these links: (1/2/3) or here:(1/2/3), to read our post with all that is to know about her maiden call in Funchal click: (1/2), and if you want to read and see some pictures about her presence in New Year's Eve click here.

We also would like to thank very much to Luís F. Jardim, Luís Fernandes and Rui Sousa, for their precious contribution to this post.