Countdown to ORIANA - ORIANA in the News

With the publicity surrounding ORIANA's Maiden Season which had been building steadily from mid 1994 through early 1995 it was not surprising that the press would also be reporting on progress of the new ship and her importance to P&O and the UK cruise market.

 When ORIANA finally reached her new home in Southampton the televison cameras also came out to greet the liner with the news later that evening being filled with the ships arrival and footage from on board showing what was on offer to her maiden season passengers.

 It of course goes without saying the naming day in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, was also to be covered in every smallest detail both in print and also by the cameras which would broadcast the event far beyond Southampton water.

Countdown to ORIANA - Selling ORIANA to her public

For passengers embarking on a cruise often "the first port of call" as it were is the cruise brochure where descriptions are often given for what the passengers can expect on board and a full list of the cruises to tempt the both experinced and cruise and those who are new to cruising.
Particularly in the mid 1990's when the use of the internet was limited, a brochure picked up from a travel agents or sent directly from the cruise line was the only way to plan a cruise and it was also a perfect way to introduce ORIANA.
Featuring its own logo which became so iconic of ORIANA herself it appears on much of the Maiden voyage/season souvenirs which were available on board and would later be reused for AURORA 5 years later.

To begin with the brochure draws the attention to the fact that ORIANA is designed for the British market a selling point which set her apart from all new other new builds at that time.

Using concept art drawn up during her design stage the potential passengers are guided around ORIANA's public spaces from the Crystal Pool on the lido deck proudly procliamed as the largest on board any cruise ship, to the various bars, lounges and Restaurants.

While ORIANA had been designed to have an affinity with CANBERRA it was a matter of course that there would be marked differences between the two, ORIANA's role of full time cruise liner contrasted vastly with the liner service CANBERRA had been designed for over 3 decades before, so the brochure talks about the ways P&O had ensured there would be a sense of continuity between the two ships including the appointment of  Commodore Ian Gibb as ORIANA's first master, a familer face to passengers fond of CANBERRA.

On board CANBERRA there was also publicity for ORIANA being put into action with the new flagship being shown on menus, P&O certainly was making every possible effort to ensure that the venerable liner's
eventual successor would be well received by her future passengers.

Countdown to ORIANA - Preparing for a maiden season

With the launch of any new ship the owners marketing deparment works exteremly hard to begin selling the ship to the public even before any of the cruises go on sale, a full advertising campaign to attract existing and new passengers alike to sample the new delights of the new ship.
When the ship is as important as ORIANA the marketing becomes even more so, not only would the ship need to single handedly capture 10 % of the UK market and the less than enviable task of joining CANBERRA as her new fleetmate and taking her place as flagship, CANBERRA's regular passengers had become extremely loyal to her and it would take a lot of clever marketing to convince them to cruise with the new ship.
She also was to take the place of rival Cunard's QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 as the flagship of the British Merchant Navy, P&O certainly had a lot of work to do to introduce ORIANA to the public.
 We are going to look at some of the ways that P&O publicised ORIANA and touch upon how some of her crew prepared for their new charge.
 We start by looking at Countdown to ORIANA, series of 9 magazines which P&O released quaterley from Spring 1993 to Spring 1995

The magazines looked into many aspects of the development of ORIANA from such as designs for public rooms and cabins to looking at those behinds the scenes such as the designers and introducing the officers who would guide ORIANA through her maiden season.
Each magazine focused on an area of design showing various concept drawings of the areas, theses included public rooms and cabins as shown below.

  As seen below to give an insight to the ship the deck plans, which are more or less accurate to the ship as built, were released before names had been assigned to the various venues on board.

 Other topics included covered various updates on the construction of the ship.

In the later issues the magazines also introduced perhaps the most important element to ORIANA's success her crew.

 Introducing Ian Gibb as ORIANA's Master.

  Each magazine was rounded off with questions and letters from the public about ORIANA and general news from P&O along with contact details for registering interest in ORIANA's maiden season.