ORIANA of 1995: Cruise Experience 2012

An afternoon at sea and the Captain's Cocktail Party.

The Afternoon on board ORIANA started for us as with several others on board listing to the Midday announcement from the bridge.
Beginning with ORIANA's position of 54° 17.9'N 003°49.5'E the officer of the watch gave a brief overview of the ships movements from departure from Southampton to the present time, since her departure we had travelled 348 Nautical miles ( 644.9 Km) with 424 Nautical miles (785.7 Km) remaining until our arrival at Bergen the following morning.
He then continued with some general knowledge of the area we were passing before wishing a good afternoon to all.
As could be expected being just after midday many of ORIANA's passengers were heading to the Peninsular Restaurant for lunch, while we would follow in a few moments we took a little more time to take in the view from arguably the best venue on board and for a few moments the sounds of Julio Iglesias singing Guantanamera somehow complimenting the view from the windows as ORIANA cut her way through the North Sea.
Finally leaving The Crow's Nest and reaching the restaurant it gave the feeling familiarity having not dined here since the evening of the 27th December 2009 it was pleasant to see it again looking around it held many memories from past cruises remembering sitting at various places in the room for evening Dinner it was nice to be back.
Despite potentially being served by these particular waiters once in the cruise the service they were giving was excellent and as high as the previous evening.
The food which was on offer this afternoon offered some the British public's most treasured meals prepared in the first class P&O style.
As with the evening it was hard to decide what to choose but finally a favourite of mine won out, Moussaka a dish I had first tried on board ORIANA's fleet mate ARCADIA and unsurprisingly here on ORIANA it was up the same high standard my recommendation must have been a good one since João too chose the same dish and enjoyed it as a first time experience.
The meal was of the highest quality as was the service and it was interesting to compare with the Oriental to see their similarities and differences between the two.
Finishing the meal João was impressed enough to leave a comment card commenting on the high standard of service received during the meal.
Lunch over with we got back to the important business of continuing the enjoying the afternoon on board as were the other passengers.
Much like the morning most of the passengers had there plans for making the most of the time on board either relaxing or keeping themselves entertained.
Some of the activities included the Port presentations for Olden in the Theatre Royal at 2pm and Stavanger in the Pacific Lounge at 4pm, often passengers wishing to equip themselves with all the information about the upcoming ports in order to make the most of their time ashore of course it wouldn't be too much of loss if they missed the presentation as most it would be repeated later via the ship's in cabin television service.
A staple of entertainment on board ORIANA since her introduction into service classical musical recitals are still live and well on board despite the replacement of the Curzon Room recital venue with a alternative dining Restaurant there was still several suitable venues on board and today there was one being held in The Crow's Nest at 2:30 pm with Classical Pianist Andrew Zolinsky playing the first of his two concerts of the cruise.
Elsewhere between 2pm and 2:30pm a number of other varying activities were beginning behind The Crow's Nest in the Medina Room the first of the Arts and Crafts classes were taking place at the other end of the scale down on the Promenade Deck in Harlequins the ship's dance instructors were giving their first lesson of the cruise while in the Spa/Gym a class in detox to achieve better health and weight loss was undoubtedly proving popular with the image conscious among the passengers.
In many ways it exemplified one of the reasons why ORIANA is such a popular ship choice for cruise passengers even after 17 years in service,despite not having 3D cinemas, Planetariums water slides or surf simulators the ship still offers within her elegant venues varying activities that appeal to a wide range of passengers.

The Horizon paper giving a glimpse of the activities on board.

After an afternoon of relaxation the evening was drawing near and the Captain's Cocktail Party so passengers on the first sitting were returning to their cabins to prepare for after a day of pampering many of the ladies on board would undoubtedly be ready to look and feel like a millionaires
Leaving the cabin we passed Daniel who was going about his evenings work although he allowed enough time to have a quick chat.
Passing through the atrium on route to the Pacific lounge it was again a hive of activity this time mostly the casual day wear had given way to the dinner suit and cocktail dresses while the atrium staircase and its waterfall were offering it self as an elegant backdrop for passengers having their first formal portraits taken.
By the time we arrived at the Pacific Lounge there was already a queue at both port and starboard entrances we were on the port side which was where the Captain would be meeting passengers and posing for a photo.
The queue seemed at first to be one which would take quite a time to go down but instead it went rather swiftly soon we were met by one the entertainment officer who was ready to introduce us to Captain Pembridge .
Despite his heavy responsibility for P&O's flagship and the safety of all on board her he was down to earth receptive and despite the amount of passengers waiting to see him he was more than happy to spend a few moments to chat and pose for a photograph.
On this occasion the captain was pleasantly surprised and impressed that among his passengers was a Madeirian.

The Authors meet Captain Pembridge.

The venue was unsurprisingly fairly full and in general it would be fair to say that we were certainly amongst the youngest there but it seemed that age wasn't overly relevant only that everyone seemed to be enjoying their ambiance of the party, families and groups traveling together sat and stood with drink in hand while else where complete strangers became acquainted with each other in many ways it was a perfect example of how passengers on cruise can build friendships.
Having recently cruised on fleet mate VENTURA it was a pleasure to see that on board ORIANA the Cocktail parties were still being held in venues instead of on the various levels of the atrium the practice which is common on board the larger ships of the fleet.
While waiting for the Captain to begin his speech we took the time to take in the rooms new décor proper, it now featured a completely different decorative scheme instead of the oranges and blues of its former self the new look featured Reds and Golds and featured new lighting along the base of the reupholstered seating.
As the Captain was ready to begin his speech the Cruise Director introduced him which received a round of applause from the passengers.
The speech was standard in that it was full of jokes regarding weather and what to expect during cruise as well as being a general welcome to all the passengers.
With the speech over most began moving towards the exits since it was almost time for dinner it seemed though not every passenger was quite finished since they were taking their drinks with them.
Although it was only short journey outside to the lifts and from there one deck down it seemed that with the passengers from the party it was a longer and slightly frustrating task .
Of course though it was worth it with the waiters in the restaurant ready to serve.
While the service and food was every bit as exceptional as it had been the night before somehow this felt more special more of a sense of occasion with passengers dressed in their finest.
For a moment it one could have been forgiven for thinking they were in a different time with the beautifully prepared meal ,silver service and elegant surroundings.
The evening began in the way it would go on with a variety of entertainment on offer in Harlequins the formal dance was an option for those among the passengers who enjoyed the traditions of formal nights, while elsewhere around the ship various musical entrainment was on offer.
After retiring for the night to our cabin it was interesting to find that on both beds amongst his other jobs Daniel had found the time to place a towel animal.