Onboard ORIANA

Harlequins

Amidships on the promenade deck is ORIANA’s most popular dance venue Harlequins.
Easily visible while walking along the promenade Harlequins welcomes passengers to come and dance with its double chrome doors and statue of Harlequin and Columbine.
Once inside the theme continues with smaller statues adorning the outer edges of the room at the back of the seating.

In order to allow as many people as possible to enjoy the venue there is plenty of comfortable seating on offer and a full service bar which offers dancers refreshment between dances and to the audience who enthusiastically watch and applaud.

Situated in the centre of the room is the impressive inlaid wooden, sprung dance floor which has the double distinction of being both the largest onboard ORIANA in the P&O Cruises fleet making ORIANA the ship to be on for avid dancers.
It is equipped with state of the art lighting and sound systems which among other things allows for audio inputs to switched from the sound system to the live band or host
To add a real sense of occasion the adjoining stage is equipped to take a live band and its from here during the evenings that guest band Natural High can often be heard playing different styles of music while dancers either enjoy a slow waltz or a up tempo dance.

During the day it becomes the perfect venue for dance classes held by the ORIANA’s dance instructors who teach a variety of ballroom dances and also classes by the entertainment team who host a variety of lively dance classes including : Tab dancing, Country dancing and Line dancing.

During the evenings when the bar opens and the live entertainment begins Harlequins acts as a exquisite ballroom allowing for both amateur and experienced dancers.
On various nights special dances are held such as the captains welcome dance on the first formal night aboard and the Black & White dance which is held on another formal night during the cruise.

On festive cruises a special evening dance is held on both Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day.
Harlequins was designed to effortlessly alter its role during the later hours of the night the emphasis changes to that of a disco and Harlequins becomes a fashionable nightclub which has dancing until the early hours of the morning.
One of the most popular nights hosted in Harlequins is the 60s and 70s night, where the guest band play all the popular songs from those decades with the entertainment team dressed in the wardrobe era to evoke memories for the passengers who experienced it first hand.
In general Harlequins opens about 7:30 pm however this occasionally changes to 9pm depending on the evenings entertainment, if there is no specific dance on then it's normal for a live band to play any requests and then for music to be played on the sound system while the band rests
Harlequins normally closes at about 1 or 2 pm the following morning

Photo © P&O Cruises