During the early hours of morning ORIANA had continued her Northward course towards the Northern Spanish port of Vigo, up until this point ORIANA’s on board time had remained at Greenwich Mean Time/Western European Time throughout the cruise however in preparation for her arrival in mainland Spain ORIANA’s clocks were advanced by one hour 2am.
Waking at 7am we found that by this time ORIANA was about several miles from the Spanish coastline and according to the Navigational channel currently proceeding at the slow speed of 15 knots as she continued her approach.
Looking through the window at this time it still quite hard to make out anything fully because the sun had yet to rise and the only illumination came from buildings and street lights on the shore.
It was I thought going to be interesting being in Spain having heard days before that like much of the European mainland it had been effected quite severely by Snowfall, although from our cabin window it was not possible to see if there was any snow in the early morning “Blue Hour” or madrugada which is both Spanish and Portuguese for Morning and Dawn respectively.
When it was light enough to see more beyond ORIANA’s sides it was possible to see on the banks of the river isolated patches of frozen ground but in general there was not much to be seen as ORIANA continued on her route towards Vigo.
According to the cruise log “All the pre-arrival checks complete we readied ORIANA for her entrance into the Ria de Vigo’s estuary. AT 0730 ORIANA navigated her way through the narrow between the Isla de Cies and the Spanish mainland, where we cleared away our anchors and rang ‘standby below’ on ORIANA’s engines.
With ORIANA ready in every respect for her arrival into Vigo’s natural harbour, ORIANA continued her approach.”
At about this time I took a brief walk onto the promenade deck to savour for a few moments the arrival and the atmosphere, there was several other passengers were also doing the same.
For breakfast we were lucky enough to be given a table near a window of the restaurant allowing for some fairly impressive views of the land as we continued our approach to the port.
With a little over an hour remaining until ORIANA reached her berth many on board were enjoying a traditional “Full English Breakfast” in The Peninsular Restaurant many would be embarking on tour excursions almost as soon as the ship docked so they were “having a good old fashioned breakfast” to build up energy for a busy day.
As was normal for my breakfast two servings of fruit was the order of the day, after all needed to leave room for larger meals later in the day!
While we enjoyed breakfast ORIANA continued her course towards the berth and watching out of the window it was possible to make out some observers looking on, and what a beautiful sight on this day they had to behold in the incomparable grace of ORIANA.
As we continued our breakfast it was interesting to watch as at around 08:15 the pilot boat passed by the window on route back to its station a logical assumption being that the pilot had boarded and the boat was returning to the shore.
The assumption was correct and to add more detail from the log- “ORIANA continued navigating her way up the Southern Canal before embarking the local pilot at 08:17”
A little later at around 08:30 while many passengers continued with their breakfast and others in preparation for the ship arrival many others were once more attending Catholic Mass being held in Chaplin’s Cinema.
Within another 10 minutes ORIANA began making her final approach to the berth.
Finishing Breakfast and returning from the deck it was possible while looking forward to see a section of the now open bow door where an officer stood communicating with the bridge during the approach to the berth.
Once ORIANA was paralleled alongside her berth she was gently thrusted alongside where she made “all fast” by 0910 hours exactly on time.
With ORIANA secured alongside Captain Brown gave for the last time on this cruise his arrival speech and with all arrival formalities completed gangways ready all were free to proceed ashore.
As expected the first ashore were passengers who were embarking on tour excursions, after collecting their excursion stickers from a desk in the atrium they proceeded ashore to wait for their coach to arrive.
On the dockside ORIANA’s photographers had donned sailor’s suits and were posing with passengers while they had their photos taken.
All good fun, and helping I guess to take peoples mind off the fact that the cruise was drawing near its end.
While having our photograph taken I was speaking with one of the photographers who I had noticed it was written came from my hometown.
When I mentioned that to her, she surprised me by saying that she lived only across the street from me but that she often had seen me while out walking.
Quite a coincidence I thought to myself, of all the people I could have a met so far from home!
After passing through the terminal building we were greeted on the other side by a sign with ORIANA on it and also written “Welcome to Vigo ORIANA”, here most of the snow had melted away leaving only a few patches of snow.
Since we were virtually near the centre of the city there was no need for a shuttle bus, much like in La Coruna which I had visited two years before also on board ORIANA it really wasn’t the impression of Spain that I had grown up seeing.
When most in the UK talk about Spain they think of almost all year round sun, sea and Sangria.
However this was on the Atlantic Coast of Spain and as such was very different from the stereotypical images from the Mediterranean coast but it was none the less interesting.
Rather than the beaches of Benidorm or the Costa del Sol Vigo was more of a working port so to speak being Spain’s largest fishing port.
For the history fans among ORIANA’s passengers there was also plenty to take in since Vigo was rich in history from being attacked by Sir Francis Drake to religious pilgrimages.
However despite the history what immediately caught my eye was Segways roaming around the area it seemed to catch other people’s attention as well, for a while it seemed that many coming from the ship would be content for a while just watching the Segways.
The reaction was natural; whereas in Spain and many other countries Segways were a regular sight to see while “out and about” in the UK the law doesn’t see them as a safe form of transportation so their use is restricted to private properties.
These Segways were for tours of the city and it seemed they were attracting quite a number of ORIANA’s passengers and after trying them out many did indeed embark on a tour of the city, well beats walking I guess!
Statue and a Segway.
Either by themselves or by one or through one of the ships organised tours there was many historical and cultural sights that Vigo had on offer.
The most popular of sight that people were visiting was the Cathedral of Santiago De Compostelea and the surrounding medieval city all of which was considered with its medieval architecture and it’s history to be one of the must see sights in the Galicia region of Spain.
“Enjoy a tour of the Agro de Bazan Winery and then sample three different Albariño white wines: Granbazan Ambar, Granbazan Verde and Contrapunto. Granbazan Ambar has an attractive straw yellow colour and its aroma has tones of ripe fruit, fennel and flower petals. Granbazan Verde, a typical Albariño wine with a fruity after-taste, has an aroma with hints of apple and fennel. Contrapunto has fresh fruit aromas and pleasant floral notes. After your tasting, there will be a chance for you to purchase your own bottles to take home.
Your wine tasting spree continues at Parador de Cambados, a former 17th century stately home, with samples of more regional red and white wine. A selection of appetizing Spanish ‘tapas’ will be served accompanied by coffee, tea or soft drinks.”
As much as we had wanted to embark on one of tours it seemed that most of the tours available for Vigo required a great deal of walking which of course was not an option for my father and also with pushing his wheelchair would make things more difficult.
It wasn’t too much of a disappointment there was still much of the city we could explore from where we were.
Nearby there atop of some steps there was a sculpture of sorts in the form of a dismembered statue lying seemingly on its head, interesting I thought.
Opposite the statue there was what I am sure would be of interest to most of the lady passengers, the Centro Comercial shopping centre, naturally my mother was indeed attracted to it so my father and I dutifully followed.
Like most shopping centres it had a mixture of shops from a supermarket to electrical stores, travel agencies and cafés it seemed that during this cruise when that not on board ORIANA we were exploring ashore by trying out the local coffee and biscuits.
Being in a shopping centre it was the natural place to find a souvenir shop which offered an excellent place to buy all kinds of memorabilia relating to Vigo the surrounding area, in some ways remind me of small souvenir shop that we had passed very briefly in Funchal.
Leaving the Shopping Centre the sound of a Spanish guitar and singing could be heard as the singer sang the Spanish language song “Guantanamera” much to amusement of the other passengers in the area who were attempting to join in mostly unsuccessfully, at least they were having a goodtime and making the most of the last port of call of this cruise something which I am sure was on other passengers minds well.
The time slowly approaching midday we headed back on board ORIANA going through the procedure which by know we knew perfectly, place any bag, loose objects mobile phones etc being welcomed back on board by the welcoming sound of music softly playing through the public address system and a smile from a member of the reception staff walking back towards the reception desk.
Walking forward though the port corridor passing the plaques that adorned the wall telling of ORIANA’s maiden calls in various ports around the world
Taking the forward lifts to Deck 8 instead of having lunch in The Peninsular Restaurant we thought that a lighter salad like meal in the relaxing ambient of Tiffany’s would be a good alternative and with a relaxing beer to compliment it.
Nowhere as large as the meals available in the restaurant it was none the less excellent, I chose to enjoy a freshly prepared French style sandwich complete a mozzarella side salad after the shame of having eaten two desserts the night before I thought I needed cut down a little for the day!
Seated near the staircase we were near another table which was occupied by senior passengers who were reminiscing about previous cruise experiences, some of those were indeed old memories dating back to the 1970’s and the previous ORIANA and CANBERRA
It seemed strange to me how they could reflect on having to share toilet facilities yet still have enjoyed it, such I guessed was the power of P&O and their ships.
In contrast walking from the corridor alongside the ORIANA Rhodes Restaurant were a group of ORIANA’s younger passenger set, talking about the most important of subjects to a 10 year old who was the better Video game hero Sonic or Mario ?
In many ways it was the perfect cross section of those on board from the youngest setting out on their first cruises to oldest on probably about their 90th or so.
It was also interesting to note that being a festive cruise there was about 150 or more children on board yet because they were being kept occupied and not roaming around all the time it never seemed that there was that many on board.
After our light lunch I took the opportunity to take a walk up onto the Sun deck and oddly looking around the sights reminded me of Bergen in some respects, going back inside to The Crow’s Nest during these afternoon hours it seemed to take on the atmosphere of a relaxed informal venue where passengers were sat in conversation or reading or in some cases sleeping, a change to the formality and sophisticated cocktail venue that it became in the evenings.
Playing across the sound system in The Crow’s Nest was the sounds of modern contemporary music such as singer James Blunts’ Wisemen.
Looking out from the forward facing window out over the Deck Tennis Court several of ORIANA’s deck crew were performing their regular checks maintenance showing the dedication to keeping their ship clean and tidy even down to the smallest detail.
The peace and quiet that was presently occupying The Crow’s Nest was broken temporarily with the beginning of a full safety drill which included the closure of all fire doors and lower down in the ship watertight doors.
The bridge in an earlier announcement had pre-warned that the drill would be taking place and had asked passengers to stay clear of the fire doors.
The whole drill had lasted no longer than about 15 minutes and within moments of it finishing all had returned to their relaxing on board.
For the rest of the afternoon there was a variety of activities going on around ORIANA from physical activity less strenuous pursuits.
In The Lords Tavern football was the order of the day with Birmingham City playing against Chelsea and later more matches, as to be expected the bar was at full capacity with overly enthusiastic fans, not being one of them it was top of my list to avoid on this occasion.
In Chaplin’s Cinema the festive film season on board continued with deck the halls while for those who were looking for slightly more action could head to the Sun deck and to Deck Quoits on the starboard side followed by Shuffleboard on the port side.
In the Oasis Spa and Fitness Centre double lectures of foot and ankle care was in progress, interesting I thought to myself the things you can learn while taking a luxury cruise, who would have thought!
While for those looking for treatments during the last days of the cruise had the option to indulge in a Catalonian Mud wrap, which I can imagine was a big hit for some on board
And of course with all these activities going on around there was those who just wanted to contact home and were either in the Cyber study emailing or making use of the Wi-Fi available in The Crow’s Nest to talk with friends and family via Messenger and Skype.
With a little over a remaining hour until ORIANA’s departure I again took a walk around the deck the it was interesting to listen to the sounds of Bagpipes playing from somewhere near the terminal, a very interesting sound to hear in Northern Spanish City!
Elsewhere looking from the portside promenade it seemed was possible to see small boats and slightly larger crafts passing up and down the river, I could imagine that being on board one of smaller boats sailing by ORIANA would make her look impressive in size as well as in style.
Back on the Sun deck ORIANA had received some winged visitors who had perched themselves on the deck rail.
Two "Visitors"
Down below on the Lido deck ORIANA’s passengers who had returned were taking advantage of the break in the cloud cover and gathered around the pools, for me it was always interesting to see people of all ages and sizes on the sun loungers and in the pools from what I had observed it seemed that the elder passengers has found their favourite spot in the Jacuzzis.
Heading to terraced decks where preparations for the Great British Sail away were beginning, the area was bedecked with Union Flags and the terraces were rapidly filling with passengers and were beginning to look somewhat like amphitheatre.
At a little after 5:15 pm the members of the entertainment team arrived at the terrace pool some with the flags of each of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom.
The music began with music from the various regions of the UK beginning with the popular Folk song “I Tell Me Ma” for Northern Ireland, I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) representing Scotland, for Wales the music turned to Delilah from the most famous of Welsh singers Tom Jones.
To round off the tour of the UK with a song from England and unfortunately me it was the English football song Vindaloo although named for the Indian dish which took its name and origin from the Portuguese dish Carne de Vinha d' Alhos the song had been well known much to my despair in the late 1990’s in England.
Passengers of all ages enjoy the Party.
After the Country music, it moved onto more popular music beginning with Queen’s We Will Rock You encouraging passengers to join in with foot stomping and clapping.
As the music continued behind the scenes ORIANA was beginning for the final time this cruise her pre departure checks, with the music in full swing all it seemed were enjoying her last minutes in port, glancing over the starboard side it seemed that the locals standing near the Shopping centre and dock were watching the great ship most likely waiting to watch her sail gracefully back towards the sea.
During the party Captain Brown made his departure speech informing that the all checks had been completed and ORIANA would be sailing within the next 10 minutes for her home port and then advised to join Gary and the team on the terraced decks which I to me seemed was where most passenger were.
Next was back to the cabin to prepare for dinner, for tonight the dress code was Semi-Formal so a Jacket with tie or just Jacket was acceptable, it also marked the last time during the cruise where any real effort was required for dressing for dinner.
Passing through the atrium and being greeted by several passengers with a polite “Good Evening” it made the feeling of ORIANA’s timeless elegance feel all the more solid and real.
Arriving at the Restaurant we greeted by a Smiling Manoj who was ready to take my father to our table.
This Dinner was also The Chaine des Rotisseurs Dinner and honoured the ships Chefs who had expertly created some excellent meals.
After a brief introduction by Cruise Director Gary the Galley “Brigade” made their way through from the galley to much applause from the Passengers.
It was also an interesting dinner for conversations; the couple on the table near ours were talking about their good QM2 experiences while later saying that ships such as the GRAND PRINCESS were too large for their liking their ideas of ship sizes I think was a little strange to say the least.
Also talking to our waitress Cherry who was talking about various ships she had worked on and her hopes of being assigned to AZURA for her maiden season.
As it turned out she was on the maiden cruise of AZURA the following April.
After a fantastic dinner which was truly 1st class as we had come to expect over the last 8 evenings, we headed for the Theatre where the sounds of the Las Vegas and Elvis Presley were to be enjoyed with Viva Vegas.
It was excellent with every song and dance routine being perfectly performed.
After it finished we decided on The Lords Tavern to attend “The Great British Pub Night”
It was a mixture of competitions, music, quizzes, games, and general fun.
The quizzes included music recognition which included a piece of music playing and passengers trying to recognise it or where it came from.
Others were film scenes to see if who could name the film scene first, the most memorable of these on this occasion were from The Naked Gun film series which met with a lot of laughter.
Coming to an end at around 11:30pm it was quick walk down the corridor to Andersons for a quick “nightcap” as a late night drink would have been called on the old liners.
Sitting in the elegant surroundings where the sound of conversations complemented the clinking of glasses and occasional laughter.
Another night came towards it end and of course it reminded us that our time on board its self was coming to an end
As ORIANA continued on her course all that laid between us and home was the Bay of Biscay and of course one more valued day at sea.
Photos Copyright :P&O Cruises & Steve Martin
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