31st May
First Landfall - La Coruna
With the Bay of Biscay behind her ORIANA had continued on her route towards Spain and the Northern port city of La Coruna.
Approaching the Spanish mainland and being approximately 4 nautical miles (7.41kms) away from Point De Castro at 5:40am ORIANA set a due south course placing her bow ‘head to wind’ and continued on her course inbound for La Coruna
While the majority of her passengers were still sleeping ORIANA set her final courses for her approach to the port.
ORIANA continued upon her course for a little under an hour and half before a little after 7 am ORIANA’s local pilot for the transit boarded ready to impart his knowledge of the port and its waters to the bridge crew as ORIANA continued her navigation.
Some minutes later ORIANA once again sped up slightly and continued on her route towards the berth
Waking on this morning at a little before 7.30am my first ‘port of call’ after a morning shower was a brief walk out on deck to see what if any sights that were on offer.
Initially there was not much to see except for mist and rocky outcrops and islands, the wind blowing across the promenade deck was indeed fresh and grey coloured seas were looking decidedly angry as it lapped against ORIANA’s hull, not exactly the Spain I had heard about and was expecting to see!
With the wind continuing to pick up speed there was discussion among several passengers who were of the opinion that it was most likely a tug would be required for ORIANA to dock in a little over an hours’ time.
With the clouds ominously looming in the sky I headed down one deck to breakfast.
Over the next half or so ORIANA made her way slowly towards her berth reaching it at around 8am.
From where we had been seated in The Peninsular we could see slightly ahead and could make out the rather wind swept stevedores stood in their high visibility jackets.
With an average speed of 16-17 knots ORIANA had travelled 566 nautical miles (1048.90km) since her departure from Southampton.
Venturing out on to the sun deck so time after her arrival while ORIANA Captain Reid was making his arrival announcement my first impression of the port was somewhat mixed not really knowing what to think of the port.
It definitely was not what I had expected of Spain but then mostly in the UK it is the sun drenched Mediterranean coast rather than this its wetter Atlantic coast much like the saying of the rain in Spain!
It seemed that a few of the other passengers on board were a little unimpressed with the city that was laid out before them they saying that it reminded them of the South West English resort of Weston-Super-Mare, famed for the tide being out much of the time, only difference here being that there was sea.
Since the weather was less than favourable, while the description in the brochure was of a Crystal city with white & glass fronted buildings, while there was certainly such buildings in the overcast conditions they were not exactly glistening.
Whether or not many would many passengers were going to get the opportunity explore the port was also a good question with ORIANA sailing in 5 hours’ time at 1pm and the rain deterring some from exploring.
Those however who had booked their tours for the morning had no reservations about heading off ashore and one glance down to the quayside revealed a line of passengers fresh from their tour meetings in the Theatre Royal all in rain coats and carrying umbrellas with their rain coat going off on their excursions.
The rain it seemed for the time being had ended and like many of the other passengers who like us planned on going ashore to do their own thing made a gamble on leaving the warmth and comfort of ORIANA to explore.
Disembarking the gangway my first thoughts were at looking for the first time close up at ORIANA’s new logo, the first ship in the fleet to introduce it ahead of the addition VENTURA’s debut the following year.
To my mind it was quite effective and not over the top simply stating the company’s name and a sun logo, unlike other cruise companies whose logos are at times big and brash and which to my mind takes attention away from ship itself.
Continuing further from the dock it was my aim to take the opportunity of taking some decent shots of ORIANA in particular with her new port of registry on her stern.
A task which was in most ways successful despite the overcast conditions and the threat of yet more rain!
Walking further from the ship we reached some tourist shops and sheltering as the rain began once again we took the opportunity and purchased some souvenirs while waiting for the rain to once again pass.
Pass it eventually did and taking the opportunity we continued walking near the sea front passing as we did many small fishing boats all at the end of their ropes with some having a alone fisherman casting their lines.
Walking onwards we passed by the local hospital an aged building which had a great view out sea and as another passenger from the ship noted conveniently to the dock should any accidents happen nearby.
While our time on shore may have been cut short by the awful weather conditions ORIANA with her library and Cyber study offered at least to learn about the port its self.
From what I had read the port had a rich history and also an interesting geographic fact about it.
The berth ORIANA was now occupying was named the Transatlantic Quay reflecting the fact that La Coruna is the nearest port in Europe to the most famous transatlantic destination port New York.
ORIANA during a previous visit.
Of further interest the area was also very historic and not too far the port about 1.5 miles/2.4 km from the city centre was one of the oldest working roman lighthouses in the world known today as the Tower of Hercules.
Indeed P&O’s own description for the port read:
“It is a charming mixture of old town and new town also with a couple of beaches along the two-mile stretch of coastline it overlooks. The colonnaded Maria Pita Square is at the heart of the old town, with many shops, bars and restaurants all around. There are various fascinating museums including the interactive House of Mankind plus an aquarium and planetarium.
Corunna is also the main Atlantic gateway to one of the most ruggedly scenic regions in Spain - Galicia. Among its attractions is one of the world’s great pilgrimage destinations: Santiago de Compostela, with its Romanesque cathedral.”
P&O images of La Coruna.
As far as the excursions on offer from ORIANA were concerned Santiago de Compostela was the top seller and had attracted mostly the senior passengers and those with an interest in history and architecture.
During lunch the rain had stopped and in fact the sky had cleared but the wind still was bitterly cold and the coach tours returned to the dockside and unloaded some rather wind swept passengers on to the quayside and they rushed on board seeking shelter on board ORIANA.
With time moving quickly moving onwards and some still at lunch ORIANA prepared for her departure from the berth.
Emerging on to the starboard promenade there was already many people at the deck rails waiting for ORIANA to depart.
The wind was still very strong and as a little 1:16pm ORIANA blew her horn and thrusted off the berth.
As ORIANA’s ‘voice’ sounded across the port and she moved off the berth a tug moved behind the stern and took up position on the port quarter.
On the dockside a few onlookers braved the weather as they waved up to the promenade.
Clearing the berth by 1:29pm ORIANA began with the assistance of the tug SERTOSA VEINTIOCHO began her swing to starboard after completing she continued on her route out of the sheltered harbour disembarking the local pilot 1:38pm.
And so after only a brief call ORIANA left mainland Europe behind her heading out once again to the Atlantic.
With our next destination being Lanzarote some of the passengers mused that it was finally beginning to feel like a Canary Island cruise, well technically with only two of the of the four destinations in the cruise being in the Canaries it was something of an exaggeration to say that we were on Canary cruise but the sentiment was indeed true with the weather forecast predicting high temperatures & clear skies.
Now at sea and with all her passenger dried out since returning ORIANA had come into own with her shops open, the slots machines and the tables of the Casino had opened and true to form the gamblers on board were there trying their luck, depending on what the turn of the tables brought them their afternoon would either be a good or bad one.
Elsewhere on board the younger passengers from the children’s and teens area had their own activities to keep them occupied from some pools games in the largest swimming pool on board Crystal Pool for the older age groups to a “Funhouse” set up in Harlequins.
Meanwhile for her more mature passengers ORIANA also had various activities of different types going on.
Much like the day before there was much on offer activity wise and it was just a matter of what exactly people wanted to do.
In Chrictons the usual fair of card games were in full swing, passing by I noticed that it was the same few people who had been there the day before playing.
While in Harlequins the quest dance instructors were given their Improvement Dance Class to those wanting to brush up on their Waltz and Cha Cha before the room became the domain of the youth crew and their charge.
Later still the sounds of the American west would be filling air as ORIANA’s largest dance venue hosted line dancing with the associated “yee haa !” that would be bring, popular with most ages the more senior passengers on board would surly make a interesting and energetic sight!
At the same time in Lords Tavern Cruise Director Joff was hosting the second of the cruises progressive quizzes as well as given out the scores for the previous day it was amusing to see some of the lower scoring teams take the news, while some were ok others decided that the was obviously something amiss with the scoring.
Some it seemed were taking what was intended as a harmless bit of fun far too seriously with one passenger complaining to another that the quiz had been arranged so as one passenger in particular would win a case if ever I had seen it of being a bad loser!
Being at sea it is not surprising that it was the best time to be meeting fellow passengers and while taking the atrium staircase got talking to an elderly Welsh couple who were veteran P&O cruisers having cruised for many years starting with the famous and iconic CANBERRA.
Asking their opinion on which was the better ship they answered quite surprisingly ORIANA, it wasn’t for the fact that ORIANA had full en suite facilities compared to CANBERRA whose accommodation did not include private toilets throughout or that ORIANA was larger their reason was simply that in their opinion CANBERRA wasn’t as luxurious as ORIANA.
Although they had liked CANBERRA and had enjoyed many good times on board from the first time they boarded ORIANA they knew which they truly preferred although they said they rarely mentioned to their fellow P&O veterans after all their memories of CANBERRA made the ship almost sacred.
Parting they were on route to the Theatre Royal where classical pianist Melanie Spanswick was just about to be begin her first performance of the cruise which would feature music from composers such as Mozart and Liszt.
While a year before the performance would have been held in the Curzon room, its removal in favour of the ORIANA Rhodes restaurant made either the theatre or Pacific lounge a piano venue.
As the afternoon moved into early evening passengers began returning to their cabins in preparation for dinner.
For this evening the dress code was informal dress which despite the title still required a line of formality so most on board would look smart.
While dinner was served in its normal high style entertainment on board continued apace while the main show for the evening was a solo performance by Welsh comedienne and vocalist Diane Cousins a performer who was famous among the experienced passengers on board having performed on cruise ships since the late 80’s and early 90’s.
Elsewhere on board general knowledge fans had the opportunity to “strut their stuff” so to speak with ORIANA’s very own version of the game show of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
As the evening continued and ORIANA’s decks filled with music and laughter she remained on her southern course with another day at sea ahead Lanzarote and the Canary sunshine awaiting her.
Photos Copyright P&O Cruises & Steve Martin
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