The 2012 Voyage - New cruise experience

1- Departure & Day at the North Sea - 09/06 & 10/06/2012

Not everyone is extremely lucky enough to say that their child dream has come true, and I am fortunate to say that mine has indeed come true on the 9th of June 2012, in the moment when I was boarding ORIANA at the Queen Elizabeth II terminal in Southampton, ready for my first cruise ever, that would take me none other than to the stunning Norwegian Fjords.
It was truly hard to believe this image of being onboard her, that first started to take shape on that afternoon of 13th of April 1995, as 4 year old boy, when I watched ORIANA's departure after her grand maiden call in Funchal, first port of call of her maiden voyage, was actually happening and I was there in the flesh, I have never felt so lucky in my life!
On that same June morning, when I was heading off to Southampton, in the company of my good friend Steve, and fellow author of this blog, who was also boarding ORIANA later on, the excitement couldn't be higher, the journey seemed endless, as I was always looking at the clock eagger to arrive at the destination.

When we finally arrived at the Southampton docks, we first passed by the cruise ships GRAND PRINCESS and CELEBRITY ECLIPSE, berthed at the Mayflower and City terminals, and shortly after AZURA, docked at the Ocean Cruise terminal, just the opposite of Berth 44, where the big White Star Line liners used to dock in the past, like TITANIC, before the departure of her ill fated maiden voyage in 1912. As we continued along, we could see posters hanging on light posts advertising P&O's 175th Anniversary, and the big celebrations that were going to happen the following month in this port, with the highlight being of course the parade of the then 7 ships of the P&O fleet down Southampton Water.
Then the sight we were most looking forward to see... we spotted ORIANA! Facing her bow to us from the QEII terminal, it was the first time I saw her outside my bithplace Funchal, and she looked amazing, still in her full white livery and buff funnel.

As mentioned before, she was about to start a 7 night itinerary to the Norwegian Fjords, calling respectivaly at Bergen, Geiranger, Olden and Stavanger, ports/cities which I will write about with more detail in the next posts. Curiously she had arrived early on that morning from a cruise to the Atlantic Isles, so I saw her in Funchal just six days before.

Following our arrival at the QEII terminal, and after all check-in and security procedures were done, it was time for a photo near the gangway, surely a precious souvenir of this memorable moment, just before we finally made our way onboard, and there I was standing in ORIANA's fantastic Atrium, looking at its beautiful glass ceiling which changed colors from green/yellow during the day, and blue at night, and also the waterslide, that was replaced later in 2016 for a living wall.

 After we settled in, it was time to go out on deck and wait for the departure, standing in the balcony above the Crow's Nest we saw CELEBRITY ECLIPSE leaving first and passing by us on her way out of Southampton Water, GRAND PRINCESS followed and engaged in a nice horn fight with ORIANA. And then, we just had to wait for the passage of the RO/RO vehicle carrier AUTOSTAR, to begin our departure, and off we went! Thrusting from the berth with the sound of the band performing along and down at the quayside.

I will now quote the text from our cruise log compiled by at the time third-officer Mathew Tucker, for a better insight:
But before hand, let's introduce the officers that were on ORIANA's bridge in this cruise:

Captain: David Pembridge

Deputy Captain: Ashley Cook

Safety Officer: Dawid Kowalski

First Officer: Aureliano Mazzella

Second Officers: James Stewart / Brent Bolton

Third Officers: Mathew Tucker / Alex Trezins / Ian Smithson

Deck Cadets: Christopher Doyle 

Weather: Fine and dry

Wind: West with south force 2

Barometric Pressure: 1012.4 mb

Temperature: 13ºC

"During the day ORIANA lay quietly alongside the QEII terminal, starboard side to quay, embarking our passengers. Additionally, stores and oil bunkers were loaded, ready for our cruise to the Norwegian Fjords.

At 16:36, with all pre-departure checks completed, Captain Pembridge rang "standby bellow" and ORIANA was ready to sail and we began singling up our mooring lines. With all lines gone and clear at 16:50, ORIANA began to manoeuvre off the berth at the QEII berth, using her engines and thrusters. Thrusting off the berth at 16:53, ORIANA commenced coming astern at 16:56, ready to turn and head down the river. After swinging to port at 17:03, ORIANA proceeded down Southampton Water passing Dock Head and then Fawley Oil Refinery at 17:26. ORIANA then completed the famous turns, firstly rounding Calshot Spit at 17:39 to enter the Thorn Channel and then rounding Bramble Bank at 17:48, before passing Cowes and transiting the Eastern Solent between No Man's Land and Horse Sand forts. A southerly course was then set towards the Nab Tower where the pilot disembarked at 18:38 and ORIANA was full away at 18:54. Passing the Nab Tower to the north at 18:30, ORIANA set a northerly course as we headed up the coast, England to port and France to starboard, to enter the Dover straits."

As the log reports above, we were then bound to the North Sea, where we would spend the next day at sea, before the arrival at the first port of call Bergen. Later on our way to the Oriental restaurant for dinner, we went out on the Terrace decks first, astern of the ship, to admire the views, and spotted CELEBRITY ECLIPSE in the distance, as we had surpassed her since our departure from Southampton.

After a much deserved rest on the first night, the day at sea started early with a great will to explore ORIANA's public spaces, and we can tell immediatly she has nice sober areas, for example an interesting reading room: "Anderson's" and a sports pub: "Lord's Tavern", very fitting of a British marketed cruise ship, and even her own cinema theatre: "Chaplins Cinema". She has a nice and easy layout to hang around, without any concerns of getting lost like what happens in some huge floating resorts nowadays. And of course, it was also a good excuse to sit back and relax in the Crow's Nest, ORIANA's superb panoramic lounge located above the bridge, thus offering excelent views to the immense sea that surrounded us:

Weather: Overcast skies

Wind: West with north force 3

Barometric Pressure: 1011.2 mb

Temperature: 11.3ºC

"In the early hours of the morning, at around midnight, ORIANA started the transit of the Dover straits, as we continued our north easterly course to Norway, and our first port of call, Bergen. With the transit successfully completed, with little shipping to concern us, ORIANA came onto a more northerly course and by around 5 am, we were abeam of Harwich to port at a distance of around 50 nautical miles. By 8:30 am, ORIANA was fast approaching the North Sea, and the famous oil rigs, transiting past Corvette Field. At 16:17, ORIANA encountered restricted visibility. This meant that ORIANA's bridge was manned at a higher level, and that our fog signal was sounded. Since departing Southampton to midday ORIANA steamed a distance of 348 nautical miles."

As mentioned in the log, what started to be a normal overcast day at sea, deteriorated a bit in the afternoon, with the appearence of fog. From time to time, we could listen to the horn signs, in order to let others know of our position in very low visibility conditions. But no reasons of great concern, as the officers manned the ship well, so we were in good hands and getting closer and closer to Bergen.

João Abreu

Lisbon farewell

ORIANA seen heading upstream in the river Tagus, early in the morning of 12th June 2019, as she was arriving for her 125th and last call in the port of Lisbon.
The Portuguese capital was one of the fortunate destinations included on her maiden voyage 20 years ago, as ORIANA made her inaugural call in Lisbon on the 20th April 1995, a special occasion which we recall in the video bellow, of the warm welcome given by the locals and Commodore Gibb showing the brand new P&O flagship to the local authorities. In the end, it's also possible to watch her departure from a bridge perspective, with the Commodore having a different opinion than of the harbour pilot, as to the best course to take downstream.

Much like the many other ports where ORIANA has called in a regular basis, Lisbon will keep many good memories of this former P&O and Britain's flagship, we can highlight here one of the meetings with the QUEEN MARY 2, on 9th August 2006, and when the Cunarder left the Alcântara cruise terminal and headed further upstream just to salute ORIANA, before starting her journey down to the open sea.
For our post on that particular day click here.

Special thanks to Luís M. Correia (Ships & the Sea), for his contribution.

The day when Funchal said farewell to ORIANA

Sadly, we all know that sooner or later all things in life come to an end, and on the 7th June 2019, it was time for Funchal to say farewell to the ORIANA, presenting her a very special and much deserved tribute at the time of her departure, an excelent proof of a special relation strengthened in the last 24 years.

As we have been writing lately here in the blog, ORIANA is due to leave the P&O fleet already in August, the result of her having been sold to Chinese interests last year, thus she is now undertaking her last cruise around the Atlantic islands, a 16-day itinerary including calls in the archipelagos of Azores, Madeira and Canaries, also calling in Lisbon on the 12th June, these ports having in common the fact they will all see ORIANA now for the very last time, surely with this name at least.
Her maiden voyage, 24 years ago between the 9th to 23rd of April 1995, saw her calling to some of these ports, such as Funchal, that was the very first destination of the inaugural cruise, after the christening in Southampton by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 6th April and the departure three days later from her homeport.

ORIANA arrives for the very first time in Funchal on 12th April 1995. Photo: Luís F. Jardim

The brand new ORIANA, then the first cruise ship built specifically for the British cruise market, was also the new flagship of the British Merchant Navy, replacing the venerable QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 in that role, and even ranked amongst the largest passenger ships in the World, surpassed only by ships such as QE2 herself, NORWAY and the recent Sovereign class of Royal Caribbean.
More than enough reasons for a highly antecipated maiden call in Funchal, which at the time was not used to welcome brand new cruise liners like ORIANA, since the majority of them, ordered by companies such as Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess... for construction in the main European shipyards, headed off to the Caribbean on their delivery voyages, their main area of operation. Not only that, ORIANA was built as a successor of the CANBERRA, having many of her features inspired by the 1961 built ocean liner, that was also a well known visitor in Funchal, greatly recognized by the locals, and much beloved by the British cruise customer base.

Photo: Luís F. Jardim

Thus, in the bright sunshine morning of 12th of April 1995, the mighty presence of the new ORIANA slowly approached through the bay of Funchal surrounded by a large fleet of small craft that went to sea to welcome her, and so did the dolphins that were jumping out of the water on this memorable day. And so under the guidance of the veteran Commodore Ian Gibb, she then secured safely her position at the berth by stardboard, where she would remain for the rest of her 2-day call.
As the lucky inaugural cruise passengers were going ashore, some ladies dressed in Madeirian folk costumes waited for them by the gangway to offer traditional souvenirs of the island, after they were presented with a traditional folkloric show while the ship was berthing.
Later on that day, after the return of the majority of its aprox. 1,970 passengers that were out exploring Funchal and the rest of Madeira, they also had the chance to witness a fireworks display sent from the sea, prepared exclusively to celebrate the arrival of ORIANA.
The following day, in the afternoon of the 13th of April, she was ready to release her moorings and cast off bound to Tenerife, again under the eyes of a crowd of thousands that were on shore to enthusiastically watch the departure. What spectacular memories these passengers, crew, and the locals back then had the chance to keep from this amazing event!...
A perfect premonition of 24 years of great friendship and close connection that followed, as ORIANA made a total of 161 calls (160 in Funchal + 1 in the neighbour island of Porto Santo in 2000), and it's also interesting to state that she never visited Funchal less than five times per year, save a few exceptions, while on the other hand in 2002, she managed to reach a record number of ten calls.

And as it is a P&O tradition for many years, to have at least one of their ships in Funchal to celebrate the New Year, ORIANA was present ten times on this date, the first being already in her inaugural year, and since then followed the years: 1998/1999/2000/2002/2004/2006/2008/2009 and finally 2010, her last Silvester night in Funchal.
After all this time, we could never have imagined, or perhaps had the will to accept, the ideia of saying farewell to her, at least this early, when we remember of the long career her predecessor CANBERRA had, with twelve more years of operation than ORIANA, even despite all the technical problems she suffered on her final years, but times change, and so did P&O, which is no longer the same as that time, now owned and managed by Carnival UK since 2003.

And so on this overcast and slightly grim June morning, fitting for the occasion, ORIANA made her last approach through the bay of Funchal coming from Ponta Delgada, what a fine sight that will be surely missed, and under the command of Captain Sarah Brenton, she made her way in order to berth by postside at around 7:30 am.

The clouds kept on dominating the skies for the rest of the day, with the sun peaking from time to time providing a little bit of warmth in downtown Funchal, and at nearly 5 pm it was under this scenario that ORIANA was ready to release her moorings, a local tug was already nearby having just turned on its water canons to salute the last departure, that happened precisely at 5:05 pm. On the quayside, a large Madeirian flag could be seen on display, and a folkcloric group was performing while she was casting off the berth, with the tug then escorting her out of port and staying close until the rest of the manouver was done and the pilot disembarked. The sound of many horns could be heard, as in a deep and warm way of ORIANA saying goodbye... Then she set her course southwest, bound to Santa Cruz de La Palma, leaving Funchal on her wake for the last time.

It was without a doubt, almost a decade and a half of great moments and fantastic memories, many of which we will keep on sharing and sharing yet again, until the last of her remaining time with P&O and beyond!... As long as the sun rises in the infinite horizon, ORIANA will sail forever in our hearts.

To get to know in full detail on how ORIANA was born, from the early plans, the construction to her maiden voyage, click in these links: (1/2/3) or here:(1/2/3), to read our post with all that is to know about her maiden call in Funchal click: (1/2), and if you want to read and see some pictures about her presence in New Year's Eve click here.

We also would like to thank very much to Luís F. Jardim, Luís Fernandes and Rui Sousa, for their precious contribution to this post.

ORIANA's new lease of life

With just over 2 months left in P&O service we can reveal some further details relating to ORIANA's new life as PIANO LAND.
On Thursday 24th May Star Travel Ocean Cruise, the joint venture between  China Travel Group and COSCO held a press conference to local media explaining it's aims and the product they will be offering, most interestingly a model of ORIANA displayed her new look as PIANO LAND.

The first reveal of PIANO LAND

 While lacking finer details seemingly there will be no external changes to the ship herself aside the change of livery which will see her bow once again being free of any hull art and will retain a blue funnel with added details, while a not a patch on her original P&O livery the overall effect is far from tasteless look the name "PIANO LAND"  might suggest
According to the company's management it's overiding aim is to be "a strong national cruise brand" and in turn "become the leader in the Chinese market", in the past attempts to have a home grown Chinese cruise market have been far less than successful and have all ended in failure with the ships' maintenance being generally poor and the quaility of the product being overall poor, this too the company is looking to change saying "The product would be high-quality with a resort-like experience at sea."
While there is still a lot we do not know about ORIANA under her new owners, we do know she will depart Southampton at midnight on the 10th August and will head for Greece for refit becoming PIANO LAND the name being of honour  Gulangyu Island, which is known as the ‘Island of Music’ because of its reputation for music appreciation, located 5 minutes sailing from Xiamen where she will be home ported.
She will then arrive in China by the Autum when her new life will begin, ORIANA will be gone and P&O will to many be damaged beyond repair.