domingo, 26 de abril de 2020

Layup and changes to ORIANA

It is fair to say that since ORIANA has been under Chinese ownership not many changes have been made to make her "The first ship exclusively built for the Chinese market"
On the whole the majority of the ship's decor has remained unchanged with little to no effort being made to make her uniquly British designs Chinese.
Naturally some changes were made name room changes etc a new albeit oddly placed childrens area built out of the former Crichtons card and game rooms, a new steak house grill from the former Lord's Tavern bar and the removal of the Terrace Bar, and various other minor but on the on the whole not a great deal of work.

In service as 'PIANO LAND'
Due to the ongoing Coronavirus/COVID-19 the ship left service on the 29th of January and was put into lay up in Shanghai.
Laid up in Shanghai
She remained in Shanghai for 2 months finally departing for the port of Zhoushan formerly known as Chusan, a name familiar to anyone who is aware of P&O's history and heritage, where she arrived on the 3rd of April at the Cosco Zhoushan Shipyard.
Shortly after arrival at Zhoushan
Alongside as seen from a drydocked ship. Photo:Arvin Gonzaga
10 days after she arrived at the shipyard it was announced by owners Astro Ocean Cruises via Cruise 
Industry News that "it will spend a month to refurbish the PIANO LAND, taking the opportunity with the ship out of service to make some key upgrades"
It continued "The PIANO LAND, which is the former P&O ORIANA, is heading to a drydock in Zhoushan operated by COSCO for the work. The facility has previously handed emergency repairs for both Royal Caribbean International and SkySea Cruises."
It is worth noteing that during her time at the ship yard in contradiction to the company's/Cruise Industry New's claim, the ship never entered drydock even the crew boasting they were the wet dock team.
The Wet Dock crew pose on the covered former Riviera Pool. Photo Rowel Pacatang‎
The article further details work being carried out during the refit,the ship would  receive a completely new HVAC system which could allow upto 100% fresh air to be circulated through out if necessary.
It also announced that several further changes were being made to ORIANA/PIANO LAND's interiors, several of the ship's cabins would be set up for 'Medical situations'.
It was also mentioned that possibilty of the ship returning to service without any inside cabins signifcantly reducing passengers on board.
This to be honest is not surprising the images and low number of reviews point to the ship sailing with far fewer passengers on board than in her P&O days not unexpected seeing as a domestic Chinese cruise market hardly exists in any form.
In addition to reducing cabin numbers on board Astro Ocean also announced the addition of a new class of suite which will feature it's own dedicated dining area making up a new ship within a ship concept akin with MSC's Yacht Club concept.
Render of the new class of suite. Astro Ocean Cruises/Cruise Industry News
And judging from the image in the article the design is underwhelming, generic and as unispired as it is possible to get, quite the contrast to the aforementioned MSC Yacht Club.
Elsewhere, on Deck 7 the shopping area has been further expanded beyond the atrium itself into what was under P&O Anderson's resulting in an increase in space allowing for the introduction of 100 new international brands to shop from.
The former Anderson's as a new onboard shop but the P&O carpet remains.  Astro Ocean Cruises/Cruise Industry News
Having been docked in Zhoushan for 21 days ORIANA finally departed on the 24th April and arrived in Xaimen earlier today at 12:07 local time.
In need of a lick of paint ORIANA/PIANO LAND departs the Zhoushan shipyard.
Since a date for her return to service has not yet been announced, at the moment all that has been stated is planned resumption of service later this spring, it is assumed that she will remain in Xaimen for further layup and will either resume service form there or return to Shanghai to resume from there only time will tell.