"As with her cherished namesake and her sister the sacred CANBERRA, old acquaintance will be more than enough to ensure that whenever the great ships of Britain are brought to mind, another ORIANA shall now never be forgot."
Oriana
ORIANA berthed in Funchal as the replica of Columbus SANTA MARIA passes by. 8 October 2015
Following an overnight stay and full day in port by 6pm on the 13th April 1995 ORIANA was ready to depart Funchal, Madeira and head South to the Canary Islands. ORIANA's welcome the previous day had as warm as any could and now with preprations completed the city had turned out to wish the ship well as she continued her Maiden Voyage. At about 6:10pm ORIANA made her way off the berth blowing her distinctive horn as she headed out. People of all ages lined the sea front to see her sail for some the sight would stick with them for many years.
The scene was certainly one fitting for P&O's new flagship,elegant, modern yet classic, she looked perfectly serene departing and is still remembered many years later with the moment captured in a photograph which local postcards and ond other keepsakes have featured ever since.
Having spent 3 days at sea from her successful departure from Southampton ORIANA made her way to first port call, Funchal, Madeira.
ORIANA arrives in Funchal, Madeira 12/4/1995: Luís Filipe Jardim
The Portuguese Island had been an important port for P&O since it's earliest days and since the transition to cruising had been popular among repeat P&O passengers.
As is customary ORIANA and her passengers recived the warmest of Madeiran welcomes, local flowers being presented to the passengers as they stepped off the gangway. Seeing as ORIANA would be remaining in port overnight a fireworks display in her honour was also put on in the evening. Being that this was her first call a group of local enthusiasts visited the ship where a plaque commemorating the call was presented to Commodore Ian Gibb, who in turn presented a plaque featuring ORIANA's own Coat of Arms.
Sunday 9th April 1995 It was a fairly grey overcast Sunday as passengers arrived at Southampton's Mayflower terminal, pulling up in cars, taxis and coaches, their luggage dropped off before joing the check in queue. These are scenes repeated regularly in the port, this occasion however was different for there 1,636 passengers were embarking the Maiden Voyage of ORIANA, ,P&O's newest and first custom built cruise ship, advertised as The First Super liner Built for Britain she perfectly blended modern British cruising tastes with the traditional from teak promenades to her Art Deco/Edwardiana styled interiors. Behind the scenes ORIANA was also a technical marvel her navigational
equipment was the most advanced yet fitted aboard a civilian ship and
her intergrated bridge system wouldn't become standard for another 5
years at least.
Departing her berth ORIANA was escorted by a flotila of small crafts wishing her well as she made her way down Southampton water. Despite the overcast skies and the wind picking up sightseers lined ORIANA's route. Seen below ORIANA passes Cowes on the Isle of Wight on her Maiden Voyage.
Heading into the English Channel ORIANA turned south and made her way down towards her first port of call Funchal, Madeira.
Departure day, the beginning of your cruise, for seasoned and novice cruisers there is nothing quite like it, often planned months in advance Passports/cruise tickets, check, Packing, double check, Dog, collected yesterday. Then the journey to the cruise terminal, for the majority of those cruising from the UK, the journey to Southampton, nearing the docks a first glimpse of your ships' funnel and upper looking for the correct dock gate, and finally arriving at your terminal ready to show passports and tickets. P&O Cruise 571 departing on the 9th April 1995 was in many respects no different, yet in everyway it was a very different journey the 1800 passengers were about to embark upon not only were they sailing on a Maiden Voyage they were sailing on board ORIANA, the new flagship of Britains oldest shipping company, its first dedicated UK based cruise ship designed with the British passenger in mind standing in contrast to her mass market US cousins. On a technical level ORIANA was a masterpiece of martime design
being the fastest passenger ship built for 25 years and the fastest
purpose built cruise liner in the world while at the same time her
design remained somewhat traditional giving her passengers the best of
both worlds.
In terms of the passengers boarding covered a broad range,mostly
there were regular P&O cruisers members of P&O's POSH club but
there was also passengers who were new to cruising beginning their
"cruising life" with the ship designed to usher in the new era of UK
based crusing, while the majoritiy of passengers were British and had
come from all over the UK to join ORIANA for her maiden sailing there
were some who had travelled from further to join the ship, including from the Netherlands to Australia.
To greet the boarding passengers the first edition of ORIANA
Today the ship's own onboard newspaper they and a letter frm
ORIANA's Master Commodore Ian Gibb, welcoming them on board and sharing
some of the effection which the crew and company had already come to see
ORIANA with.
A warm welcome from Commodore Gibb
It wasn't only for those on boarding who were anticapting ORIANA's
sailing ship spotters and enthusiasts were eager to see her sail and to
that end P&O published the times at which they estimated ORIANA pass
certain points on her journey down the Solent and to the sea as shown
below
With passengers boarding at 4pm the first entertainment held onboard
ORIANA for her fare paying passengers began with Piano music on offer in
The Crow's Nest some or for different tastes there was music being
played in both Harlequins and The Pacific Lounge followed by the obligatory
safety drill held at 5pm and shortly after 6pm to the sound of The
Horn Pipe played by The Band of the Royal Corps of Signals. To begin ORIANA's sea going career her first port of call would reflect
P&O's history and heritage, leaving Southampton behind ORIANA 2 days
at sea would follow before reaching Funchal, Madeira one of P&O's
most popular ports call, here she would spend overnight allowing the
passengers to take in the beauty of the city and islands while a local
Folkloric group would be boarding to entertain the passengers with local
dance and traditions before departing for the Canary Islands. In her 24 year service she would become a familiar sight in those destinations with Madeira in particular having an affinity with the ship over her career.
ORIANA arrives makes her Maiden Call at Funchal, Madeira :Luís Filipe Jardim
ORIANA's Maiden Voyage proved to be resounding success and helped to birth a new short lived era for the company before it demerged the cruise operations 5 years later leading to eventual meger with Carnival to form faceless by the numbers Carnival PLC/UK. In the years since a number of P&O Cruises ships have entered service all promising to be the next generational leap for the company, with the exception of AURORA in 2000 none of the others lived up to the promise ORIANA brought to P&O and the UK cruise market.
For regular cruise passengers there is nothing like embarking on board a new ship especially a Maiden Voyage and alongside the boast of being the first to enjoy the new ship's amenities and being on deck with pleanty of firehose welcomes for the ship making it's debut in each port.
Just like any other cruise picking up momentos also become something of a hobby on board and being the Maiden Voyage a once in a lifetime event it seems more poignant to pick up and keep such items to recall in the years to come.
Such is the case for ORIANA and today we look at some of the items collected from her Maiden Voyage.
Firstly a couple of unique Maiden Voyage/Season items available during the cruise from the ship's photography shop, firstly a image of ORIANA during her later stages of fitting out and secondly a image of ORIANA on her Maiden Voyage signed by Commodore Gibb.
Another must on board ship for aficionad, postcards on sale in gift shop here we have one of ORIANA herself and one showing her ventern fleetmate CANBERRA in all her glory.
While for ladies a compact mirror would make a small and practical keepsake.
Alongside the items for sale on board other items such as menus, invites etc made for another excellent keepsake to recall ORIANA's first days at sea such as this one below, the first invite sent out to her passengers for ORIANA's first formal event in service, for those present certainly memory to cherish as Commodore Gibb and the ship's company turned out in style to greet those on board.
While even some more basic items from the Maiden Voyage were also collected by those eager to collect everything they could from the ship including as shown below cabin Key cards.
Following her maiden departure from Gibraltar ORIANA returned to Portuguese waters.
Firstly to Praia da Rocha in the Algarve the famous resort region of mainland Portugal where ORIANA once again anchored.
For the final port of call ORIANA headed up the River Tagus to the Portuguese capital of Lisbon a port which P&O has a long history of visiting including the previous ORIANA on her shakedown cruise in 1960.
On this Maiden visit due to work maintaince work ORIANA made her way to the Jardim do Tabaco terminal rather than the preferred Alcântara terminal. While ORIANA's passengers enjoyed themselves in the historic city Commodore Gibb and ORIANA's crew played host to the local port authorities and press holding tours of the ships passenger and work spaces, and later to British Ambassador to Portugal and his wife both of whom were eager to see Britain's latest flagship.
Making the most of the last port of call ORIANA's passengers returned to the ship ready for her early evening departure and to wish the great ship on her way a local folk group preformed on the quayside.
Leaving the romance of Casablanca behind her ORIANA next arrived at Gibraltar on the 18th April, for her British passengers a home away from home.
Entering the Gibraltar strait at 6am and boarding the pilot shortly
after ORIANA continued her course where she arrived at her berth at 9:01
am.
For many the cruise offered the chance to explore a little of 'Britain in the sun' as many refer to the Gibraltar, from it's history including the evactation of many of it's citizens during the second world war to popular UK highstreet shops and the duty free merchandise available to purchase the port had a little of everything to offer.
However for one couple the port was to serve as the venue a special day.
Being UK registered it was not possible to be married on board, it would be over 11 years before ORIANA's first wedding would take place but on this Maiden Voyage ORIANA had her first on board honeymoon.
Following her triumphant call in Funchal ORIANA made a short overnight trip of around 257 nautical miles to Tenerife the first of two ports of the cruise in the Canary Islands to be followed the next day with a call in Lanzarote the latter of which would see ORIANA on anchorage for the first time.
Both ports being popular ports for P&O's as well as British holidaymakers.
During this leg of the cruise an impromptu gathering was held where many veterans from the previous ORIANA memories and brought along many menus, price lists and many other momentos from the old ship.
So far ORIANA had lived up to the memory of her namesake and was impressing on her passengers she was a fitting as CANBERRA's replacement as P&O's flagship.
Moving away from the Atlantic Isles the cruise next brought ORIANA to Morocco and the city of Casablanca symbolic once again P&O's history and it's close ties with North Africa.
The city, it's Spanish name coming from it's Portuguese Casa Branca, is famous for it's mix of French, Spanish and Moorish architecture and for being the setting for the wartime Hollywood romantic drama of the same name set the perfect scene for a port of call on a great ship's Maiden Voyage
Following on what was a very special first day of ORIANA's maiden call of the inaugural voyage, the 13th April 1995 found ORIANA still berthed in Funchal for one more full day.
Scheduled to depart at 6 pm later on, the best spots along the city's coast and the harbor were being filled by a crowd of people wishing again to have the best view to the newest cruise ship afloat. Only the New Year's Eve fireworks in the capital of Madeira could compare to such a gathering.
The importance of this event would lead to the release of a small series of local postcards with aerial images of ORIANA, made to promote the destination Madeira, which could be seen for sale in every souvenir shop for many years to come.
ORIANA's maiden call in Funchal was to remain one of the biggest, if not the biggest event this port ever had, at least until Cunard's QUEEN MARY 2 made her inaugural call on 15th January 2004.
On a sunny morning of 12 April 1995, a maiden visitor
could be seen approaching the breakwater of Funchal, Madeira on her inaugural
voyage. A maiden visitor that had been the highlight and subject of great
expectation worldwide, in the years prior to her launch.
Known at the time as the largest ship built in Germany
in the last 80 years, the largest ship exclusively dedicated to the British
cruise market, and the newest flagship of Britain's Merchant Fleet, it was none
other than P&O Cruises' brand new ORIANA!
Apart from all of these features, which were more than
enough to make this a very special call in Funchal,
ORIANA was also seen as the
successor of the venerable CANBERRA, at the time a ship that had been calling
in this port frequently for a long time, thus being a well known visitor among
the locals.
Besides we can also refer to another important factor
surrounding this maiden call, at the time it was not common to observe brand
new ships like ORIANA in Funchal. After the great "boom" of the
cruise industry in the late 70's/80's, most of the larger and new ships were
being built in Europe as well but for the North-American market, cruising
essentially in the Caribbean, during the Winter, and Alaska on the Summer
months, as depicted by the most famous companies, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, NCL,
and Princess... Eventually ORIANA would operate on a different schedule,
not on a turn-around basis in a specific region, but on distinct cruises to Med,
Northern Europe, Canary Isles and also Caribbean and World voyages based in
Southampton, as she still does nowadays.
Therefore at around noon, ORIANA was “sliding” through
the flat seas on her way to the harbor, and much like what happened in her
homeport days before, a flotilla of small craft went to sea welcoming the new
superliner in great style, along with the local tugs dressed overall for the
occasion. Even the dolphins were jumping out of the water to have a good
glimpse of ORIANA.
On shore thousands of people gathered at seaside to
witness this grand event. In the previous days she had been already a huge
highlight among the local Press.
After docking at her designated berth, the passengers
were presented with a performance from a local folkloric group, while leaving
the ship’s gangway, being at the same time, offered with typical souvenirs from
Madeira.
Later on, Commodore Gibb welcomed onboard several
authorities and entities for the traditional plaque exchange ceremony, and
kindly invited everyone for a tour around his brand new ship.
With the day nearly at its end, and as ORIANA prepared
to overnight in Funchal, there was still place for a fireworks display, a final
special touch truly placing her inaugural call among the most memorable moments
this port ever had.
ORIANA seen in Funchal, Madeira during her most recent call on 9 April 2016, twenty one years after having departed from Southampton on that same day for her inaugural voyage to the Canary Islands. Funchal was none other than the first port of call of that highly antecipated cruise on P&O's and Britain's newest flagship, having arrived at Madeira's capital on 12 April 1995 and staying in overnight for the following day.
ORIANA arrives in Funchal, Madeira for the first time on her maiden cruise. Photo: Luís F. Jardim.
After Funchal the brand new ORIANA at the time, visited Tenerife followed by Lanzarote, Casablanca in Morocco, Gibraltar, Portimão and Lisbon in Portugal's mainland and finally returning to Southampton on the 23 April.
A promotional postcard of Madeira launched at the time depicting her departure on 13 April.
Nowadays with a 21 year career and being the oldest unit in P&O Cruises' active fleet, ORIANA is still proving successful among the British passengers, and most certainly overlooks beyond the horizon many more years of service, hopefully with the name she has always held with pride!
At the moment ORIANA is back in Western waters on a 35 day cruise from/to Southampton, and in the long eastbound crossing between the UK and the Caribbean Sea, her crew took advantage of the only stopover in the Atlantic to perform tests and exercices, as demanded by law, to the lifeboats and tenders on the starboard side, before the 6 day sea journey bound to Philipsburg, St. Maarten, to which she departed later in the evening.
As the 20th anniversary year of ORIANA draws to an end, we are very delighted to present these stunning video footages of her inaugural call in Funchal, the first ever port of call of her maiden voyage after the christening by Queen Elizabeth II on 6th April and departure from Southampton on 9th April 1995.
The first video features images of her arrival on 12nd April and a detailed look of her interiors and public spaces. The second short film depicts her departure on the following day, a memorable moment in the history of the port, as a crowd of people witnessed live in port and along the seaside, paying farewell to the newbuilt cruise ship, at the time one of the World's largest, and the so called successor of CANBERRA, a well known ship by Madeirian people.
When ORIANA returned to Southampton from her Maiden Voyage on the 23rd April 1995 after a meer 3469 nautical miles (6424 km) her first passengers disembarked with their lasting impressions of the new liner.
From the amazement of her new innovating features and the inevitable comparisons to CANBERRA for the first few days, by the end of the two weeks the ship's character her unique identity was beginning to establish itself and it was this atmosphere along with the quality of the ship and the service offered by her crew which her passengers picked up on.
As can be seen below her passengers reactions reflected the general feeling on board being one of satisfaction with the ship.
Many of those passengers on board also had interesting personal stories to tell relating to ORIANA and her namesake such as Arie Oosten a Dutchman whose passion for ships brought him to be on the maiden voyage of the world's newest superliner and also others such as the couple who first met on board SS ORIANA just two of the stories which filled the decks of ORIANA during her triumphant Maiden Voyage.
Leaving Africa behind ORIANA next arrived at Gibraltar on the 18th April, for her passengers a home from home.
Entering the Gibraltar strait at 6am and boarding the pilot shortly after ORIANA continued her course where she arrived at her berth at 9:01 am.
For two of her passengers however instead of a typical day ashore exploring they were instead getting married with the rest of the cruise serving as their honeymoon
There has always been a romantic side to ships and it could truly be said that ORIANA's career from the start was full of romance.
Departing Gibraltar ORIANA again headed north for her last two ports of call, having called first in the "Cruise Capital of Portugal" she now called at the mainland.
Firstly Praia Da Rocha on the Algarve on the 19th where she spend the day anchored off the coast and the finally on the 20th ORIANA sailed up the Tagus to the Portuguese capital Lisbon.
P&O's ties to the city had began early in the company's life with it being a major port on the regular mail route their liners of time were engaged in, by the 1920's the authorities had even agreed to extend one of the berths to accommodate the new class of liners which were then being built,
Later still ORIANA's namesake would visit the city many time over the years including during her shakedown cruise in November 1960 prior to her own Maiden Voyage.
With her last port of call of the cruise behind her ORIANA set off for home.
For 4 passengers on board ORIANA this was second time they had embarked on the Maiden voyage of "ORIANA" since they had served as crewmembers on board the previous ORIANA during her first run down to Australia, including that ship's on board photographer who had developed the first colour photographs at sea on that voyage.
And like her namesake 35 years before ORIANA was bringing new and exciting features to cruising not only being the newest ship afloat so far she with her first class decor and service,unique features and innovative on board pastimes was proving to be the ship which all that would follow would have to live up to
17th April 1995
ORIANA's next port of call was Casablanca one of the largest cities in North Africa and just as famous for the Hollywood movie as it is for it's long history and cluture.
Having spent the previous day cruising at an average speed of 12 knots the ship arrived in Casablanca shortly before 8am.
Staying alongside for the day in fine and clear conditions and to allow her passengers to experience a truely atmospheric and romantic sunset she departed at 7:11pm for her short journey to Gibraltar
A short overnight journey from Funchal brought ORIANA to the first of her two calls in the Canary Islands Santa Cruz, Tenerife and 14th April and then on then on the 15th Lanzarote where for the first time she would be on anchor and making use of her tenders.
Both ports being well known to P&O's passengers and for ORIANA ports she would visit often in the years to come.
ORIANA arrives in Tenerife 23/12/2009
While ORIANA was for the first time entering far off ports on board 200 or so of those on board were veterans from ORIANA's namesake having cruised on the older ship many times over the years and between a lifetime of memories from days and nights spent on her.
As a nod to the old liner and to give a chance for memories to be shared and to look at each others momentos from her a get together was arranged in The Curzon Room, Commodore Gibb himself even joining in to share his stories and listen others.
One of the passengers familiar with the former ORIANA was Jack Crawford who back in the late 1950's had worked on the design of the ship and gave a short interview comparing the two ships.
Wednesday 12th April 1995
After two days at sea and having sailed 1312 Nautical Miles (2429 km) at an average speed of 20.9kts the morning of 12th brought ORIANA to the Madeira Islands passing Porto Santo around 9am the ship set a southwesterly course towards Madeira itself where she was expected to arrive at around midday.
Leading up to her arrival ORIANA's shop's opened briefly for passengers to stock with last minute essentials for their time ashore.
At 11.13 ORIANA embarked the local pilot ready for her approch berth and in a scene reminiscent of her departure from Southampton a small "fleet" boats and other small craft turned out to give ORIANA a warm welcome and escort the new arrival into the harbour.
On deck around the Crystal Pool to accompany the scenic arrival to Funchal Kool Blue on of ORIANA's on board bands played for passenger's pleasure and to add a sense of occasion for ORIANA's first arrival.
Further details of the arrival can be seen here http://orianaof1995.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/oriana-first-call-in-funchal-16-years.html
Docked by 12:03 as soon as clearence was given ORIANA's passengers began making their way ashore where they were greeted at the gangway by local folk band Boa Nova dressed in traditional dress and offering a small bouquet of local flowers to each passenger.
To make the most of the island and all it has to offer over the two days of the call there was on offer several tours each giving an insight into Madeira, these included the famous Toboggan ride from Monte or various bus tours taking in the the scenic splendours of the island
For the more active among the passengers the famed Levada walk was also an option or for something slightly different later in the evening dinner in a typical restaurant followed by traditional dancing.
As an added bonus each passenger taking one of the tours on offer received a special commemorative bottle of Madeira Wine.
While her passengers were enjoying what Madeira had on offer ORIANA received her first VIP's and Commodore Gibb resumed the public relations role that goes with being the master of a new cruise liner as welcomed on board associates of CEN, Clube de Entusiastas de Navios, in the time honoured tradition of ships making maiden calls ORIANA received her first commemorative plaque and in return Commodore Gibb presented the crest of ORIANA to the club.
Shown in 2009 CEN's plaque proudly displayed on board
To give the passengers a look at the traditions and culture of the island through the medium of dance on board ORIANA in the evening a local Folk band came on board to perform in the Pacific Lounge.
With cruise ships in general playing an increasingly important role in tourism in Madeira to celebrate ORIANA's maiden call the authorities arranged a fireworks display for the ship at midnight.
Over the days ORIANA spent on this inaugural call the weather remaind calm with the temperature reaching a maximum 18.5 degrees and for most the time spent in port it remaind clear.
Shortly after 6pm on the 13th with a rousing blast from her horn ORIANA departed her berth and much like her arrival the day before many of all ages turned out to send her on her way both on the sea wall near where she was berthed and on the city's Avenida do Mar on the opposite side of the harbour as can be seen in this postcard below.
Shortly after leaving the confines of the harbour ORIANA slowed to disembark the pilot before setting a Southerly course to the Canaries, around 257 nautical miles away.
After a triumphant departure from Southampton ORIANA's passengers had two days at sea to enjoy all the amenities that she had on offer from the extensive Gym and Spa and her swimming pools including the largest installed upon a passenger ship. With the upcoming Cokctail party on the evening of the 10th it was certain that many of the ladies on board would be eager to sample the treatments on offer with ORIANA's first formal occasion and the one that is perhaps most remembered on board a cruise the welcome on board cocktail party hosted by Commodore Gibb. During the journey south ORIANA's extensive open decks would come into their own as the ship met clear skies and sunshine While down of the promenade deck shows in the custom designed TheatreRoyal the first of it's kind at sea or a dance in Harlequins the largest dance venue on board her first passengers were spoilt for choice how they wanted to spend the free time days at sea gave them.
For those who wanted to try something different in Medina Room aft of The Crow's Nest on the first day at sea ORIANA was hosting the first "floating golf academy" the first session would include use of a new high tech golf simulator which would prepare those attending for the future lessons which would be held at Golf courses at the various ports of call during the cruise. At other times during the cruise another new introduction to the entertainment programme was being held Diving, for beginners lessons in both scuba diving and snorkelling were arranged in the Crystal pool while experts could join in with planned dives ashore the first being held in Madeira. There was also less strenuous pursuits on offer over both days there was nautical themed lectures and Port talks to tie into the excursions on offer in Chaplin's Cinema as well as of course films being shown at various times of the day.
As could be expected from past P&O passengers there was to begin with a fair amount of comparison to CANBERRA and it would become quite normal to hear the comment "It's not like this on CANBERRA !" The phrase could be heard so often that it become part of the comedy show hosted by comedian Tom O'Connor As mentioned above undoubtedly for most the Commodore's Welcome on board Cocktail party would be the one of the early highlights of the cruise and mark the beginning of the first formal nights on board ORIANA
So that they would not be left out along with the main party Commodore Gibb also attended a "Coke tail" party hosted for the ships younger passengers giving them their own social event before their dedicated childrens tea.
To round of the perfect evening on board the Stadium theatre group ,ORIANA's own theatre group named after the performance space on board CANBERRA were joined by ORIANA's other on board entertainers to form a variety show of song and dance.
For her first days at sea ORIANA had already proved herself to be a hit with her passengers and the next day she would make her first landfall Funchal, Madeira.
Sunday 9th April 1995
On an over cast April day cars arrive at Southampton with eager holiday makers on their way to board thier waiting cruise ship, porters on the dock side taking luggage to be loaded on board - a scene which has been seen by the port many times over the years and for the passengers on each it always seems like the most important of occasions however this time it really was a unique and once in a life time experience.
For these passengers were not only leaving British shores for 2 weeks to enjoy the sun in the Atlantic Islands and the Iberian Peninsula, they were sailing on the Maiden Voyage of ORIANA not only the new flagship of the P&O fleet and the British merchant navy but the first ship custom built for the rapidly growing UK market she was P&O's £200 million gamble into the future of cruising.
On a technical level ORIANA was also a masterpiece of martime design being the fastest passenger ship built for 25 years and the fastest purpose built cruise liner in the world while at the same time her design remained somewhat traditional giving her passengers the best of both worlds.
In terms of her passengers themselves they overed broad range,mostly there were regular P&O cruisers members of P&O's POSH club but there was also passengers who were new to cruising beginning their "cruising life" with the ship designed to usher in the new era of UK based crusing, while the majoritiy of passengers were British and had come from all over the UK to join ORIANA for her maiden sailing there were some who had travelled from further afield to be on board.
To greet the boarding passengers alongside the first edition of ORIANA Today the ship's own onboard newspaper they also received a letter frm ORIANA's Master Commodore Ian Gibb, welcoming them on board and sharing some of the effection which the crew and company had already come to see ORIANA with.
A welcome from Commodore Gibb
And for P&O's regular passengers a greeeting from the secretary of the loyalty club.
It wasn't only for those on boarding who were anticapting ORIANA's sailing ship spotters and enthusiasts were eager to see her sail and to that end P&O published the times at which they estimated ORIANA pass certain points on her journey down the Solent and to the sea as shown below.
To begin ORIANA's sea going career her first port of call would reflect P&O's history and heritage, leaving Southampton behind ORIANA 2 days at sea would follow before reaching Funchal, Madeira one of P&O's most popular ports call, here she would spend overnight allowing the passengers to take in the beauty of the city and islands while a local Folkloric group would be boarding to entertain the passengers with local dance and traditions before departing for the Canary Islands.
With passengers boarding at 4pm the first entertainment held onboard ORIANA for her fare paying passengers began with Piano music on offer in The Crow's Nest some or for different tastes there was music being played in both Harlequins and The Pacific Lounge followed by the obligatory safety drill held at 5pm and shortly after 6pm to the sound of The Horn Pipe played by The Band of the Royal Corps of Signals.
As was only fitting for the world's newest super liner a flotila of boats followed her out to wish her well on her journey while all on board some preparing for Dinner or enjoying the entertainment on offer began to settle in for the first time to life on board ORIANA.
