"As with her cherished namesake and her sister the sacred CANBERRA, old acquaintance will be more than enough to ensure that whenever the great ships of Britain are brought to mind, another ORIANA shall now never be forgot."
Oriana
ORIANA berthed in Funchal as the replica of Columbus SANTA MARIA passes by. 8 October 2015
16th August 2019: 7 days after her final P&O Cruise ORIANA found herself in the company of her former fleetmates AURORA and VENTURA for what would be her final hours in Southampton.
One final meeting Photo: Patricia Dempsey
In the week since her last cruise her P&O logo,livery ,name had all been removed and some items had been taken from the ship while temporary names were added to her. On board her new crew (supplied by V.Crew) were joined by some P&O crew who were remaining onboard until her arrival in Asia alongside her new entertainment troupe, provided by Sea Cruise UK. Over the week ORIANA had been in Southampton her departure day and time had constantly changed but finally at little after 8:30am ORIANA/PIANO LAND began to pulling
her lines up and shortly before 9am slipped her berth under the charge
of her V.Ships crew her horn sounding 3 blasts AURORA chimed in with a
final salute to her former fleetmate with 2 short and 1 long blasts.
ORIANA pushes off for the last time Photo: Patricia Dempsey
Heading down Southampton Water passing VENTURA docked in the Ocean Terminal with the two saluting as she passed.
ORIANA passes VENTURA Photo:ABP
ORIANA continued on her way as she had done many times over the years with many happy cruisers on board, only this time her cabins were only occupied with crew members and she wouldn't be returning.
Goodbye ORIANA Photo:Patricia Dempsey
As ORIANA moved on Southampton fell astern as did the Isle of Wight and she headed South towards the Bay of Biscay as she had so many times.
Outbound for the last time
ORIANA was heading to Piraeus,Greece where she would have her new logos and names added. While en route work would also begin on removing unwanted fittings such as furniture in the former Cybercafe and the stripping out the Terrace Bar. Photos: Patricia Dempsey
Two years ago today ORIANA made her way up Southampton water for the final time, her glittering 24 year career with P&O brought to a premature end taking with her the majority of what remaind of the authentic British line that had been so loved by their loyal clientele.
Final arrival taken from on board, Photos: Bob Bowler
As far as P&O and Carnival UK were concerned unique and custom built ships such as ORIANA were no longer relevant to the company, in sad contrast to her intoduction 24 years earlier, all that mattered to the American owned brand was the introduction of the third massed produced Excellence Class ship IONA, a true step backward for the company. As for ORIANA herself before the end of the day she had been handed over to her new owners and her name and bow livery crudely painted over, the letters which proudly stood under her funnel were cut from their supports all the while Paul Ludlow and the rest of his Carnival House team spouted empty platitudes about her service.
Today we say goodbye to a legend of British entertainment and firm favourite on board ORIANA throughout her P&O career, Tom O'Connor who has passed away aged 81. A presenter and comedian Tom will be known to many in the UK for hosting televison game shows throughout the 1970's and 80's such as Name That Tune and Crosswits among others. Trained as a Mathmatics and Music teacher his comedy career started with evening shows in the working men's clubs of Northern England before moving on to tv with a spot on The Comedians which launched Tom's tv career, Quiz shows followed and eventually he was givein his own show, The Tom O'Connor Show a mix of stand up and comedy sketches. Like many entertainers he found his way onto cruise ships and was often to be found on CANBERRA who he would later fondly make jokes about. In 1995 he was among the first entertainers to perform on board P&O's new flagship ORIANA during her Maiden Voyage.
Tom headlines ORIANA Today 11th April 1995
Two years later Tom would be among those on board CANBERRA during her Farewell Cruise. Over the years Tom would remain a firm favourite with the P&O fleet and other lines with British passengers enjoying his familiar sense of humour and often reused jokes.
Departure day, the beginning of your cruise, for seasoned and novice cruisers there is nothing quite like it, often planned months in advance Passports/cruise tickets, check, Packing, double check, Dog, collected yesterday. Then the journey to the cruise terminal, for the majority of those cruising from the UK, the journey to Southampton, nearing the docks a first glimpse of your ships' funnel and upper looking for the correct dock gate, and finally arriving at your terminal ready to show passports and tickets. P&O Cruise 571 departing on the 9th April 1995 was in many respects no different, yet in everyway it was a very different journey the 1800 passengers were about to embark upon not only were they sailing on a Maiden Voyage they were sailing on board ORIANA, the new flagship of Britains oldest shipping company, its first dedicated UK based cruise ship designed with the British passenger in mind standing in contrast to her mass market US cousins. On a technical level ORIANA was a masterpiece of martime design
being the fastest passenger ship built for 25 years and the fastest
purpose built cruise liner in the world while at the same time her
design remained somewhat traditional giving her passengers the best of
both worlds.
In terms of the passengers boarding covered a broad range,mostly
there were regular P&O cruisers members of P&O's POSH club but
there was also passengers who were new to cruising beginning their
"cruising life" with the ship designed to usher in the new era of UK
based crusing, while the majoritiy of passengers were British and had
come from all over the UK to join ORIANA for her maiden sailing there
were some who had travelled from further to join the ship, including from the Netherlands to Australia.
To greet the boarding passengers the first edition of ORIANA
Today the ship's own onboard newspaper they and a letter frm
ORIANA's Master Commodore Ian Gibb, welcoming them on board and sharing
some of the effection which the crew and company had already come to see
ORIANA with.
A warm welcome from Commodore Gibb
It wasn't only for those on boarding who were anticapting ORIANA's
sailing ship spotters and enthusiasts were eager to see her sail and to
that end P&O published the times at which they estimated ORIANA pass
certain points on her journey down the Solent and to the sea as shown
below
With passengers boarding at 4pm the first entertainment held onboard
ORIANA for her fare paying passengers began with Piano music on offer in
The Crow's Nest some or for different tastes there was music being
played in both Harlequins and The Pacific Lounge followed by the obligatory
safety drill held at 5pm and shortly after 6pm to the sound of The
Horn Pipe played by The Band of the Royal Corps of Signals. To begin ORIANA's sea going career her first port of call would reflect
P&O's history and heritage, leaving Southampton behind ORIANA 2 days
at sea would follow before reaching Funchal, Madeira one of P&O's
most popular ports call, here she would spend overnight allowing the
passengers to take in the beauty of the city and islands while a local
Folkloric group would be boarding to entertain the passengers with local
dance and traditions before departing for the Canary Islands. In her 24 year service she would become a familiar sight in those destinations with Madeira in particular having an affinity with the ship over her career.
ORIANA arrives makes her Maiden Call at Funchal, Madeira :Luís Filipe Jardim
ORIANA's Maiden Voyage proved to be resounding success and helped to birth a new short lived era for the company before it demerged the cruise operations 5 years later leading to eventual meger with Carnival to form faceless by the numbers Carnival PLC/UK. In the years since a number of P&O Cruises ships have entered service all promising to be the next generational leap for the company, with the exception of AURORA in 2000 none of the others lived up to the promise ORIANA brought to P&O and the UK cruise market.
