In Focus: ORIANA's last call at Gibraltar

As ORIANA's time with P&O Cruises rapidly reaches it's end all of her remaining cruises bring a farewell to ports she has visited many times over the past 24 years and yesterday (the 26th May as this is being written) ORIANA made her last call at Gibralter.
ORIANA's maiden call at the Overseas Territory was during her Maiden Voyage and brought her first wedding celebrations as two of her passengers George and Tracy Clifton were married while ashore  and enjoyed the rest of the voyage as their Honeymoon alongside their 2 children.
For George it was fitting way to celebrate his special day as he had trained with P&O as engineer partially aboard the old ORIANA.

24 years later ORIANA bid farewell to the port for the last and once again we extend our thanks to Coxswain Craig Duggan for sending us photos taken from ORIANA during her departure.

Ships anchored at Gibraltar, the last time this familar sight will be seen from ORIANA

As another chapter of ORIANA's career came to close, in a fitting farewell a fireboat escorted out the port echoing the warm the welcome she had recieved almost a lifetime ago.

A fireboat farewell for the First Lady of the P&O Cruises

ORIANA is presently en route Southampton where she will arrive on the 30th May.
On her next cruise she will make perhaps her most poignant farewell to Funchal, Madeira, the first landfall she made on the 24 year adventure which has been her career.
Photos: Craig Duggan

In Focus: ORIANA's Final Departure from Barbados

Today we take a brief look at ORIANA's lasr departure from Bridgetown, Barbados, P&O's home port in the Caribbean, marking the beginning of her last Eastbound Transatlantic crossing from the prespective of a member of her crew.
The folllowing images were kindly sent to us by Craig Duggan a Coxswain on board and shows ORIANA's final Caribbean departure from an angle seldom seen by the majority on board.

Looking from ORIANA's port bow the forward mooring ropes are still secured

 

Looking aft from the port side bow door ORIANA'S thrusters disturb the water as she manoeuvres away from the berth

ORIANA heads astern passing other docked ships

WIND SURF alongside as ORIANA continues her departure

ORIANA heads turns ready to head out to sea and her last eastbound transtalantic crossing

 Departing from Barbados ORIANA headed out into the Atlantic for her last crossing arriving at Praia de Vitoria in the Azores six days later bringing her Transatlantic activities to a close which had be staple of her itineraries since her Maiden Season 24 years ago.

Photo Copyrights: Craig Duggan

Penultimate call in Funchal

Sadly, gone were the days when writing a post like this was unthinkable, but still the worst came... We all were sure that we would write about ORIANA for many many years to come, but seems like the bad omens became true, in the end P&O is not the same company as it was 25 years ago, so she wouldn't have the same treatment and such long career as her predecessor CANBERRA had, said and done! The result of the current trend of modernization and massification of the cruise industry.

Yesterday it was ORIANA's penultime call in Funchal, a city which will always have a special connection to her, the first landfall of her inaugural voyage 24 years ago, after departure from the homeport Southampton on 9th April 1995.

At about 7 am she was making her way into port, coming from Praia da Vitória, Azores archipelago, while on a 16-day itinerary around the Atlantic Isles, and after a typical cruise day visit, she left her moorings at nearly 5:30 pm, casting off slowly and silently too, which almost felt like a sign of the demise that is about to come upon her. Soon the pilot disembarked and she was bound to La Palma, Canaries.

The last call under P&O's flag will happen next month already, on the 7th June, and most certainly in Funchal that day the emotions will be on a high level, just like on that historic overnight call on 12/13th April 1995, but on a total opposite feeling.

Images taken with a mobile phone, thus the not so good quality, but between capturing the moments or not, best to capture with what we have.