ORIANA of 1995: History in the Making revised -- Part 1

The Interior Design

As mentioned in last week's post a important addition to the team was made in October 1991 when Robert Tillberg was appointed as coordinating architect to Project Gemini as he explained
“The most important period was before the contract, when I was the only person working with P&O’s team on Gemini/ORIANA. That was when we laid the plans and decided the functions of the different rooms and their ambiance.”

Robert Tillberg

Tillberg’s brief was effectively what P&O had come up with in the early planning stages, a ships interior that was British in character yet in its design modern.

“When the contract was signed, P&O and I decided to give some of the public rooms to other architects.”

These were British architect John McNeece to work on some of the public rooms and Norwegian Petter Yran to work on the cabins, both experts in their field of work.
Among other projects John McNeece had worked on several prestigious projects including interiors for RCL's SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS, then the largest purpose built cruise ship in service.

John McNeece

Petter Yran also has pleanty of experience with passenger ship design work including lounges, dining venues and cabins on board premium cruise ship SEABOURN PRIDE.

Petter Yarn

In order to get an idea of exactly what was needed Tillberg took two trips onboard CANBERRA to get a feel for what was required

Of the experience he said “ I was very impressed by not so much by the ship, because she is a old ship and had been altered and added , but I was impressed by the atmosphere onboard”.

It was now that Tillberg had a better view of what his designs should incorporate.

Cutaway image of Oriana as completed.

The first public space he began working on was perhaps one of the most important for the ship, the area which would give the passenger their first impression of life onboard ORIANA, the atrium.
Standing 4 storeys tall at the heart of ORIANA, the atrium's’centrepiece is a elegant curved spiral staircase which sweeps from D Deck to F Deck.
Behind the staircase set into a marble wall is a waterfall that runs the entire height of the atrium emptying into a pool beneath the last flight of the staircase.

Each level of the atrium has its own name which contains some of the ships amenities, beginning on F Deck and working up they are, Garden Court which contains the reception desk, E Deck - Queens Court that holds the lower level of Knightsbridge shopping along with the emporium shop,
Promenade Deck- Royal Court which contains the upper level Knightsbridge shopping,
Here Tillberg worked closely with McNeece allowing him free reign to create a functional yet elegant shopping space for ORIANA.

Concept art for the atrium shopping area

E Deck shopping area

D Deck- Tiffany Court which contains Tiffany’s Bar which allows passengers to enjoy a wide ranges of drinks while relaxing under a stained glass tiffany styled art deco ceiling.

Tiffanys

Although the atrium is indeed a beautiful and elegant introduction to the style of ORIANA passengers who are more accustomed to the North American cruise market might find it lacking in the glitz and glamour those ships feature as standard, it is the perfect realisation of P&O’s concept, refined good taste and above all very British in character.

Cabins

While Robert Tillberg worked with John McNeece on the public areas Petter Yran worked on what was required from the most important rooms onboard ORIANA the passengers cabins,
After being given the basic brief from Tillberg he was free to do what he wanted to achieve the final product.
To begin with it was necessary to look at what was required from the cabins both decoratively and from a practical point of view,
Firstly the cabins needed to welcoming to the passengers and inevitably have to give the atmosphere fitting of a premier cruise ship also in order to accommodate ORIANA’s longer cruises the cabins would require a
large amount of storage space, this is achieved by each cabin having a minimum of 12 draws for clothes storage with a further two in a unit next to each bed and a full height wardrobe with capacity for shirts, suits, and evening dresses.
As with the rest of the ship the cabins had to reflect a unique style of their own, at the time with most ships entering service for the North American market the trend was for cabins to be scaled down versions of hotel rooms,
“Virtually all new cruise ships today are designed for the North American Market” Yarn commented on being interviewed at the time
“ I have never known before of any cruise ship in the world where 96-97 per cent of the passengers would be British”
“When they come onboard a ship they expect the interiors to look more ship like and functional, whereas the Americans expect a floating hotel.”
So for the overall look of the cabins he adopted a ship like design making use of as much wood and wood laminates as possible and avoiding the use of shape edges around cabin furniture
Another requirement for cabins was of course for all to have on-suite bathroom facilities a feature that was lacking in parts of CANBERRA’s accommodation due to the original nature of the venerable liner.
Another feature to note about ORIANA’s cabins bathrooms is the number which include a bath, about 50 % of the bathrooms do, this is significantly higher number than would be found on a US market ship where the number would be 20 - 30 per cent,

Artist impression of a suite

Of the 914 cabins on board 594 are outside cabins, 118 include balconies of these 8 are suites and 16 are mini-suites, the remaining 320 cabins onboard are inside cabins.

Artist impression of a standard outside cabin

As P&O proudly said in the official book of ORIANA "ORIANA, From Dream To Reality, “the ship is a one-class ship: first class, unlike other prestigious ships that had gone before her if you book the cheapest grade of cabin or the most expensive suite you are guaranteed to receive the same high standards of service."

Public Rooms

Onboard ORIANA the public rooms are located on Sun Deck, Lido Deck, D deck, Promenade Deck and the main restaurants on Dec.

Tillberg’s aim with the interiors was to create a feeling of openness and to emphasize the size of ship this most apparent the public rooms on the upper decks these are The Crows Nest , Medina room and Cyber Study on the Sun Deck, The Gymnasium, health spa, The Conservatory buffet restaurant on the Lido deck.

This was achieved by using where ever possible large floor to ceiling windows, creating spaces which allow a maximum amount sunlight and of course stunning views.

This is creates the perfect ambiance for The Crows Nest bar, a bar with views that no other onboard no other can rival,

Named after the similarly used bar on Canberra The Crows Nest’s design is inspired by nautical themes and includes a authentic classic style ships compass and a model of one of P&O’s R Class ships built in the mid 1920s and to add a to add a unique aspect the individual seating all has the word ORIANA and the previous ORIANA’s badge proudly displayed.

A room that always attracts many passengers, the sights t o behold from here very from the Norwegian Fjords to the Panama Canal or just to watch the sunset over the open seas.

Concept art for The Crow's Nest

Another area which is important to many passengers is located one deck below The Crows Nest on the Lido deck that is ORIANA’s health and fitness spa complex -The Oasis Spa, also including the ships Gymnasium this is another area which makes use of floor to ceiling windows,
To allow for the passenger to relax completely the Spa includes: Steam room, a Jacuzzi, a hair and beauty salon, massage treatment rooms, as built the suite of rooms was finished with a "Aerobic Disco" area used for work routines, aerobics etc, this room would later be removed an replaced with Al Fresco a popular alternative dining venue.
　

Another room onboard which bespeaks the origins of ORIANA, is Andersons located on the promenade deck,
Named after Arthur Anderson one of the founders of P&O the room takes its inspiration from the late 19th/early 20th century London clubs and with its wood panelling and traditional furniture could easily have fitted in onboard a Edwardian ocean liner.
The room features as a tribute to its namesake a bronze relief depicting Anderson.
Andersons forms the first of the main run of public rooms on the deck.

Andersons

Concept drawing of Andersons

Further aft on the promenade deck is Harlequins one of the rooms given to John McNeece, ORIANA’s ballroom during the day and early evening, it changes function to that of nightclub during the later hours.To welcome passengers to dance in Harlequins a statue of Harlequin and Columbine dancing stands guard at the entrance.

The entrence to Harlequins

Featuring the largest dance floor in the P&O Cruises fleet, Harlequins continues the nautical/exploration theme by having a large compass motif at the centre of it's inlaid sprung dance floor, all of which goes in to making this the largest and most popular nightspot onboard.

Concept for Harlequins

Continuing aft on the promenade is another of McNeece’s rooms the onboard sports bar Lords Tavern as the name suggests its theme is a cricket one, a tribute both to the much loved game and to the Cricketers Tavern onboard Canberra which over the years had become one of the liners most popular venues.
In order to create a feel of a sports bar McNeece used many references to cricket, careful examination of the bar will reveal that the ends are shaped as cricket balls, the carpet in part of the room is designed to look like a cricket pitch and the most obvious feature aside form the memorabilia on the walls is a large mural depicting Lords cricket ground.
Being typically British in it is decorative style its described by some as being one of the only true examples of a authentic British styled bar at sea.

Lords Tavern

By far the largest room on the promenade deck is the Theatre Royal, located at the forward end of the deck, the 650 seat theatre offers full theatre style productions courtesy of The headliners, P&O's own theatre company, in keeping with the theme of entertainment the two entrances to the theatre are lined with photos of legendary film and theatre stars. To keep the passengers comfortable the room is heated and cooled by vents on the back of the seats.
It is also noteble that it is the first purpose designed theatre to be included on a cruise ship opposed to the more standard multi-purpose show lounge venues,

Concept art for the Theatre Royal

At the after end of the deck the second lounge which is able to stage a show or host an event the Pacific Lounge is one of the few rooms on board which has changed over the years

Concept art for the Pacific Lounge

Heading up to D Deck where more of the public rooms are located on this Deck is as mentioned before Tiffanys, Ocean Grill Restaurant, originally designed as the Curzon Room a Piano recital room , the Chaplin’s Cinema, Library and writing room and at the aft end of the deck the children’s facilities, which were removed during her refit in November/ December 2011.
Named after Charlie Chaplin, the cinema with a capacity of 200 is used to show modern and classic films but also is used to host lectures.
To have a dedicated cinema on board a modern cruise ship is actually quite a rarity. To reflect the nature of Chaplin himself passengers are greeted by not one but two statues of Chaplin in character as "The Tramp"

Chaplins Cinema and Peter Pans children's area

Chaplins entrance

The library and Thackeray writing room are two more rooms to give a special mention to, named after the renowned English writer William Makepeace Thackeray who once sailed on one of P&O's early ships Tagus the two rooms furniture and bookshelves were designed by the nephew of her Majesty the Queen, David Linley, the room gives a relaxed atmosphere within its wooden panels to read a book or magazine or to write letters home about your travels.

Restaurants

Onboard ORIANA there are two main restaurants The Peninsular and The Oriental. The Peninsular which seats 400 passengers at one time is located midships and The Oriental which seats 500 passengers is aft, in decorative style both have a similar style with mirrored ceiling panel and much and matching carpets and seating. The Peninsular Restaurant's colour scheme features a tasteful light green, and light coloured wood work, the forward walls are mirrored to increase the sense of openness, however the rooms most unique feature is a painting that covers the entire centre of the aft wall showing The Journey of Odysseus. The overall effects creates a bright and airy environment with unique Art Deco inspired lamps of the tables to help create sophisticated atmosphere.

The Peninsular Restaurant

The Oriental Restaurant located in the very stern is of similar style to that of Peninsular however the colour scheme is red with darker wood, however the most stunning feature here is not a work of art instead the room boasts sea views on three sides.

The Oriental Restaurant

ORIANA also feature three other dining venues, The Conservatory buffet, the afore mentioned Al Frescos Pizzeria, both located on the lido deck and Ocean Grill, formally Oriana Rhodes located on D Deck, Oriana Rhodes was the restaurant of chef Gary Rhodes until 2011 when in line with the new look and branding from P&O it was changed to Marco Pierre White ,The room was formerly The Curzon room a music venue where Piano recitals could be heard most nights it's walls adorned with magnificent tapestries.

Concept art for Thc Curzon Room

As hopefully can be seen words alone can not do ORIANA justice, but hopefully we have created some idea what thought went into creating the great lady and the thought process her designers also went through.
While the design work they did was to make ORIANA a world class liner able to compete and better any other afloat the foremost requirement they had to stick to was that the ship's character was to be entirely British and this was to be evident in every way possible.
It is therefore truly a testament that although aimed at the British market ORIANA has become popular with not only the target market but as well other nationalities among them Australian, Portuguese, Spanish and South African, a real tribute to the effort which was put into creating ORIANA.
To conclude Robert Tillberg and John McNeece reflect on ORIANA how her design differed from the older liners and the approch taken to the design.