The first full day on board ORIANA’s Christmas cruise dawned on a slightly overcast Saturday entering the infamous Bay of Biscay.
Like most weekends the majority of passengers were enjoying an extra couple of hours in bed, ordinarily on a sea day I would still wake a little earlier than many of the passengers to enjoy having the majority of the ship to myself, however on this occasion I awoke a little later than other occasions due to being tired from the rush of the day before.
It had been during the early hours of the morning that ORIANA left the English Channel and entered the Bay of Biscay also known as Golfo de Vizcaya and Golfo da Biscaia.
Renowned for its rough weather and sea conditions it is considered to be home to some of the worse weather conditions in the Atlantic Ocean.
However on this morning the Bay was unusually calm and it was doubtful that even the lightest sleeper on board could not have claimed to have been disturbed by bad sea conditions.
Waking at about 8 am or so it was pleasant to see on ORIANA’s information channel that the air temperature was currently at 6 degrees although it might not have seemed to be anything to get excited about after 10 days of 0 as the maximum temperature and me not having a good tolerance of low temperatures it was quite a noticeable improvement.
It was also interesting to note that several of the ship’s crew members would be joining in Madeira.
Being a relaxing day at sea meant a later breakfast much I am sure to many passengers relief.
While preparing for breakfast that morning it was to my horror that I realised that I had misplaced the cable to my shaver meaning that much to my displeasure I would have to attempt to shave with a manual wet shaver, I hoped that there was plenty of plasters on board should I cut myself too much!
With the ordeal of shaving over and some minor injuries it was to breakfast walking down the corridor past the cabin doors towards the atrium it took me a few moments to notice that since the night before several Christmas decorations had appeared some of the cabin doors, surely I thought passengers own to make themselves feel more at home and the festive mood.
Before breakfast was served there was due to the festive period a Catholic Mass being held in Chaplin’s Cinema by Roman Catholic priest Father O’Shea who along who had joined ORIANA in Southampton.
At the same time being held in the Pacific Lounge was interdenominational Holy Communion for all religions was also being held by a member of the Church of England
Arriving at the Peninsular Restaurant we were greeted by a waiter who was directing passengers to his colleagues who would take them to an available table on this morning we placed on a table for six in the centre section of the room near the magnificent large painting on the wall entitled Journey of Odysseus.
Initially we were alone before being joined by a family of three who introduced themselves and proved to be very polite table companions for breakfast among the topics conversation was previous cruise which it seemed they were quite experienced, it was their first time on board on board ORIANA and from their first night on board seemed to like the ship.
They had cruised on board AURORA and had noticed several similarities between the ships most visibly in the exterior lines and in the arrangement of the cabins.
It was nice to enjoy a good natured conversation over breakfast which like all meals on board came with excellent service from the waiters.
It was interesting to watch the different people enter for breakfast being far removed from the formality of Dinner passengers looked a mixed bunch of people from those wearing sports attire such as tracksuits to polo shirts, casual trousers and short skirt.
With Breakfast over it was to the Promenade deck for an old favourite of mine while at sea several laps around the deck.
The air was slightly fresh with its signature smell of salt which was refreshing many ways.
While walking around the deck it was interesting to watch unexpected insights to those on board ORIANA on the starboard side the passengers who smoked were either sat on the deck chairs which they had grouped together near one part of the deck rail at the exercise conscious passengers were walking at speed in continuous circuit of the deck while at the same time several of the senior passengers walked hand in hand wrapped in long overcoats and with scarfs on.
Going inside there was many passengers, who having finished breakfast were on route to one of the many activities going on board this morning, beginning at 9am with a classes and advice on foot and leg care for the ladies in the Oasis Spa.
While in a contrast of activities in the sports court on the Sun deck a non-hosted Adult short tennis tournament was just beginning.
In many ways this day alone was a perfect example of what ORIANA’s design allows her to do perfectly allow for multiple activities to be taking place at once on board.
After a brief morning announcement from the bridge predicting a slightly rough passage of the Bay of Biscay with sea conditions during the day would worsen, before wishing all passengers an excellent day on board ORIANA that I thought to myself was assured.
Being a dutiful son I had arranged for my father to try out the hair salon so dropped him at the Oasis Hair Saloon on deck 12 waiting for a little while in the elegant and restful waiting room he was attended by Lisa one of the hairdressers who was from New Zealand and from what I could tell seemed to be missing home somewhat, I guess being the Christmas period didn’t help her to feel any better, of course that being one of downsides of working at sea.
Leaving him we headed up one deck to The Crow’s Nest where the bar was just about to open, in a scene that was reminiscent of the year before many of the passengers were reading, I assume the views out over the ocean offered the perfect back drop to enjoy their novels.
While sitting with a cup of coffee we were joined by an elderly couple who were more than happy to share their stories of many years of cruising dating back to their first on board ORIANA’s name sake in the mid 1970’s although their first encounter with the ship had been some years before in the 1960s, although both agreed that this ORIANA was much more comfortable and luxurious.
At 10am on one side of The Crow’s Nest the first of the arts and crafts classes which was looking at cake decoration and seemed to be very popular amongst many of the female passengers.
While nearby in The Medina Room a presentation was being held about health and weight loss which, perhaps because of the quality and quantity of food on offer during meal times on board also had a full attendance.
For those who were travel minded in the Theatre Royal the first of the Port Presentations was being held and focused on Las Palmas, Gran Canaria.
19th December Horizon Newspaper.
There was also many other activities being held on board mostly focused on the Promenade deck and deck 8 including: line dancing in Harlequins followed by dance classes being held by ORIANA’s guest dance instructors and card tournaments.
So that all on board felt comfortable in Andersons Cruise Director Gary and some of his team were holding a chat morning for the travelling alone passengers.
After about an hour we returned to the Spa to collect my father who from what it seemed had been enjoying a good conversation with the hairdresser, as we left many other of ORIANA’s passengers were arriving in order to what I guessed would be some hair and beauty therapy before the first formal night and the Captain’s Cocktail party, it seemed all the ladies wanted to be looking their best for the Captain!
Just about to begin at 10:45am was the first in the series of jewellery talks beginning with diamonds which from what I could tell was to the despair to some of the married men hoping that it would not give wives any ideas about expensive jewellery gifts although at least one gentleman I spoke to was planning to hide in the Lords Tavern after the talks finished.
Another meeting that was taking place on board was the W.I or Women’s Institute a UK based community project founded in 1915 to promote women’s contribution towards the local community.
Although by far the most festive activity happening on board this day was an invitation for those who would be interested in joining the Passenger Christmas Choir which would headed by the Cruise Director Gary and be performing at various venues around the ship their first rehearsal being later in the day at 2pm.
And it seemed that was not the only singing going on around the ship, marching around the promenade deck in what seemed like an ORIANA club tradition was the crew and along with many of the children on board.
With the time fast approaching midday we knew that lunch would soon be served.
At midday the ships bell sounded 12 times to begin the officer of the watch’s announcement which he began with an update on ORIANA’s navigational progress, since departure from Southampton until ORIANA’s current position of 46° 39.2 N007°22.7W having travelled 359 Nautical miles (665.2km) since departing Southampton with 959 Nautical miles (1775.5km) remaining until reaching Madeira on the 21st.
During lunch which as usual was at ORIANA’s normal high standard I had noticed that there was a lack of passengers at lunch which was somewhat confusing knowing how most would be unable to resist a good all inclusive meal.
Well whatever the reason I was more interested in the menu it offered several options which I had never tried before so decided to try Greek Moussaka.
As expected it was delicious and along with the wonderful view out across the sea what I asked to myself could be better?
After lunch I thought a nice drink in Lord’s Tavern would be the perfect way to spend the early afternoon on board however my plan was somewhat changed when we arrived to find the bar filled with over excited sports fans watching of all things Football, not really being a Football fan while at home I certainly was not going to spend my time on board ORIANA watching it so instead headed further forward to club like surroundings of Anderson’s, which thankfully with its relaxed atmosphere offered a much better alternative than slightly over excited football fans.
With ORIANA still far from land many of the passengers who were not enjoying the beauty therapy or other activities were at the Tours office located in the atrium to arrange their excursions.
Since our plans were to explore by ourselves it was not something that we would need to do however it was interesting to read on some of the tours that were available, for the first port of call Madeira these included Tea at the world famous Reid’s Palace Hotel and coach tours taking in much of Madeira’s stunning natural features.
Example of some of the excursions on offer.
It was while walking by the nearby Knightsbridge shop that a sudden realisation occurred to me, because of having just come off of ARCADIA the day before we had sent much of our formal clothing to the laundry for cleaning including all of my formal trousers and they would not returned to the following morning!
Thankfully ORIANA’s well stocked shops had some available although somewhat more expensive than I would have hoped it was a necessity.
With new trousers in hand and time moving on it was time to get back to the cabin and prepare for the Captain’s Cocktail Party and Gala Dinner.
Heading back to the cabin we passed Roy our cabin steward who was dutifully going about his work as one of the many members of ORIANA’s crew ensuring that the ship was kept looking perfect for her passengers.
With time approaching 6pm we were again walking towards the lifts this time dressed formally along with the rest of the passengers.
Taking the lift from Deck 6 up to Deck 13 stopping of at every deck on the way allowing passengers in it sometimes can be quite an interesting experience to see who will getting in the lift some are polite and talkative while others obviously believe themselves to be of the upper class and would be more interested in inspecting their fellow passengers.
Thankfully we arrived fairly quickly at Deck 13 and already there was a queue at both the starboard and port entrances to The Crow’s Nest with a member of crew ready at each to let the passengers in when ready which thankfully was not only a minute or so.
We entered through the Starboard door and were welcomed by Captain Brown who had a brief chat with us and also had photo taken by the ship’s photographer before finding ourselves a seat around the room.
Captain Brown welcomes his passengers.
No sooner had we been seated then a waiter was at our sides offering free drinks, there was Champagne, Gin, Red and White Wine and not only being one free drink no sooner had the waiters seen an empty glass on the tables then it was replaced by a full one.
With all seated Captain Brown began his speech to welcome all on board and to wish good festive cruise to all before warning that despite the currently calm conditions tomorrow the sea would be getting considerably rougher but as he reminded us not to worry because ORIANA would take good care of us and get us to Madeira with no problems.
With his speech over the Captain gave a toast to Christmas on board ORIANA.
After spending a few moments more enjoying the free drinks we decided to head off towards dinner although I thought it seemed like there were passengers who would be happier to spend the evening enjoying the drinks rather then head to dinner.
Arriving about 5-10 minutes later we were greeted by the both our head waiter Austin and one of our table waiters Manoj who had waited to take my father to the table.
It was interesting to see all the passengers for the first time during this cruise wearing their finest it was like watching a scene out of a film set in the early 20th Century with Lords and Ladies entering a 1st class dining saloon of an ocean liner for a grand dinner with every bit of the style and excellent surroundings that such a scene brings to mind.
It was interesting while at dinner, which was truly faultless to speak with some of you fellow passengers who were on a table near to ours who were comparing ORIANA with their last cruise experience which had been on board QUEEN MARY 2, of course ORIANA is much smaller but it was their opinion that in general movement through ORIANA was easier and ORIANA felt to have more space because of QM2 being filled with more larger rooms.
In terms of service they felt the only difference was with Cunard’s crew wore white gloves.
During dinner a red rose was given to each of the lady passengers by the head waiters.
It was amusing to hear one child ask her mother if the rose was to be eaten as well.
It was a good feeling to be eating in this elegant room with its cut crystal light fixtures and art deco table lamps with none one person being treated any better than anyone since everyone on board was enjoying being “1st class”
As wonderful as the meal is sadly dinner always comes to its end soon rather than later and when leaving this night Manoj once again pushed my father to the entrance of the restaurant before bidding us goodnight.
So the night was still young as the say and it was quite a choice on offer as to what to do.
We decided that the theatre was a good option there was a comedy show from Welsh Singer/comedienne Diane Cousins who is quite famous among P&O and other cruise lines regular passengers for her shows having worked previously on CANBERRA in the early 1990’s.
Her humour style was keeping in good taste unlike some of the other comedy around; her jokes including comparison of ORIANA to an RCL cruise ship by saying the only way ORIANA’s passengers would climb the funnel would be to put a free buffet on top of it.
While we were waiting for the show to begin we started talking to an elderly lady who would be staying on board for the next cruise, she was telling us that for her the only ship was ORIANA no other ship could even compare, in her opinion not even AURORA came close, just another one of ORIANA’s fans I thought to myself
With the show we headed for the final time of the night down the promenade deck, this time to Harlequins.
Here for the night was much like last year Natural High the guest band on board was performing for the Captain’s Gala Dance although the Captain himself unsurprisingly wasn’t here or dancing
It was all very formal with the dances being mostly ballroom styled perhaps being befitting of such a dance, although by the end of the night when the band had packed away its instruments the formality would give way to a lively disco hosted by the ships DJ.
When the time did reach midnight and the disco began we decided perhaps it was time to rest and returned to the cabin to retire for the night.
Sunset in the Bay of Biscay.
Sunday,
Waking the next morning having left the Bay of Biscay some hours previously we found the Captains prediction had been correct the sea conditions had worsened although it was not affecting ORIANA’s progress who was still maintaining a speed of in excess of 23 knots it was noticeable that outside the wind was whipping across the sea.
Despite the fact that ORIANA wasn’t being affected too much at this time the restaurant was fairly empty for breakfast it seemed initially that we would be having a table for 8 to ourselves before we were joined by another group of three passengers.
Thankfully they were like the family from the day before very friendly and talkative during the course of the breakfast they were talking about the sea conditions and also said that they had heard from other passengers that there was a possibility that we would not be able to dock in Funchal like had been the case on her previous cruise, however I later found out that the actual truth regarding that was that ORIANA was scheduled to be at anchor in Funchal’s bay rather than in dock, but this was cancelled due to heavy seas.
After breakfast had finished there was another day on board and as could be expected there was many things going on around the ship even though it was a Sunday, traditionally a day and it seemed all on board were ready for full day of activities beginning with more tennis in the sports court located on the sun deck .
Much like the day before there was many different events happening on board, for those who would rather find a less tiring weight loss method than exercise there was a lecture taking place in The Crow’s Nest about weight loss focusing on changing eating habits and eating healthier, very hard to do on board ORIANA with so many beautifully prepared dishes on board.
While down in Harlequins the sound of country music and the band Steps filled the air as the entertainment team hosted another line dancing class, an experience that both younger and more senior passengers seemed to enjoy although I think they needed to take a few more lessons before they perfected they the moves were learning.
Also being held more as a matter of importance for some than an activity was a Church Service in the Theatre Royal being held by Staff Captain Chris Bourne to remind those who wanted to attend the sound of Church Bells sounded through the ship.
Although not being a very religious person myself I did appreciate that for those who were it was nice to have option of still attending a religious service.
At 10:30am the first of the days “Popular Culture Quizzes” started in Lords Tavern with a quiz dedicated to the British television programme Doctor Who and its spin off Torchwood and was quite interesting to hear sound of the battle cry “Exterminate!” as I was walking through the Photo Gallery.
Deciding that my knowledge of the subject of television series was a little unreliable at times we moved on deciding not take part
Alongside the expected activities on offer there was also a slightly unusual and I would say one that you would have to be interested a lot in to attend, this was a talk from a criminologist about the subject criminology, not very festive but for those who did have an interest I would imagine a must see lecture
Surely not for me but for those who had an interest it must have been fascinating but just before Lunch the world of drugs and murder had little to appeal to me.
Instead ORIANA’s multi talented Cruise Director Gary was hosting what was being called “Music a la carte” in The Crow’s Nest so we decided to attend there instead.
Basically while seated at the Piano with over 1000 songs to play, he and his assistant gave out booklets with a list of songs for passengers to choose from and in some order he would play the music on the Piano and sing the song.
One such request was the theme from TITANIC My Heart Will Go On.
Before starting to play he said “well we are in The Crow’s Nest and it doesn’t look like there are any Icebergs in the area just yet, to which the Bar staff all replied by holding up a lifejacket each much to the amusement of the passengers who all clapped and laughed enthusiastically.
With midday approaching came 12 bells and the announcement from the bridge since midday on the 19th to ORIANA’s current position ORIANA had travelled 521 nautical miles (965km) with 438 Nautical miles (811km) remaining to ORIANA’s arrival at Madeira.
At lunch that day I was reminded why it was that I am not a fan of open sitting dining, given a table for 4 we initially thought that we would be having lunch by ourselves unfortunately this was a false hope as we were joined by a senior lady who seemed perhaps unintentionally be annoying with everything she said, claiming that her friend on Deck 6 had told her that every cabin on the deck had water flood into it during the previous evening and that there was pipes in the corridors to remove the water.
I was a little confused since when we looked out from the Restaurant’s entrance down a accommodation corridor there was no pipes and near our own cabin on the starboard side there had been no water or pipes an hour ago.
Just to double check I asked her which cabin her friends were in and to my surprise she said E127, I then showed her my cruise card with the cabin number and said well I am sure I wasn’t sharing a cabin with any of her friends.
Thankfully she remained quiet after that for the remainder of lunch.
With Lunch over with we went to the Theatre Royal where Cruise Director Gary was giving a talk on a subject he knew very well, his own life and times on the ocean waves although to some it might have seemed a little vain talking about yourself it was actually very interesting, over the course of his career he had met many famous people and been an entertainment officer on many different companies vessels before his last post before joining P&O which was as the fleet entertainment manager for P&O’s fellow Carnival brand Costa Cruises.
After the talk and slightly extended question and answer session it was followed a chance which we took to purchase one of his books which contained many of his stories.
With only an hour or so before dinner remaining we headed back to the cabin to prepare which for tonight was an informal dinner which only required a jacket rather than a jacket and tie.
Reaching The Peninsular it was a relief to see through the windows that the sea conditions had begun to improve slowly.
After we sat down and were waiting for service to begin we spoke to the head waiter from the year before on his final months of service after 30 years with the company, although he was looking forward to his retirement he admitted he would miss much of his work.
I thought to myself after so many years of service working most days with demanding passengers it will be strange to leave all this.
After another elegant meal served with ORIANA’s typical first class style we headed once more for The Crow’s Nest at about 8:45pm where for the entire night Natural High was performing a style of music which they often didn’t the chance to, Jazz.
Although I had never really listened to Jazz before I found it to be quite enjoyable and was in keeping with the style of The Crow’s Nest.
Although we hadn’t intended on staying all the evening due to the good music and pleasant atmosphere we did end up staying the majority of the evening, before we retired for the night however we had one thing to do.
On our last night on board ARCADIA one of her Waiters had asked us to pass on his regards to one of the members of Natural and we took the opportunity to while buying a CD the band had recorded on board.
Natural High's CD recorded on board ORIANA.
Before leaving for the night the singer mentioned that tomorrow we would be seeing ARCADIA since she also was bound for Funchal.
A December Sunday at sea on board ORIANA was drawing to close although I was sure that the casino would have late night gamblers in it to the early hours for me it was time for rest, far ahead of ORIANA laid the small Island of Porto Santo and beyond for a festive return for her to her first ever port of call Madeira.
Photo Copyrights : P&O Cruises & Steve Martin
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