ORIANA in search of the Northern Lights

 For her fourth cruise since returning to service ORIANA returned to a destination unlike any other: Norway, from the deep fjords to the North Cape it is truely a destination few can rival, in the summer it is called 'The land of the Midnight Sun' and in winter when the days are at their longest, it becomes the go to destination for those looking for one of natures breathtaking displays, The Northern Lights.
It has become something of a custom for ORIANA to head north during February/March taking her passengers in search of the often elusive Aurora borealis.
Among the ports visited during these 'northern adventures' is Alta which is said to be the Northern most settlement with over a population ofover 10,000.

ORIANA docked in Alta, Norway, 3rd March 2018, Photo Copyright: Paul Crane

Other ports of call ORIANA made during the cruise included Åndalsnes where she called on the 28th Feb as shown below and Tromsø the third largest urban area inside the Arctic circle.

ORIANA alongside in Åndalsnes

Two modes of transportation, ORIANA contrast with a passing charter train, Photos: Leif Johnny Olestad

Still the Norwegian Fjords

As ORIANA is currently underway back to Norway and to the port of Andalsnes, we share some more images from her previous cruise, depicting her last call in the destination mentioned above on 25 February, where she is seen during a snow shower, and also a stern shot taken at dusk while berthed in Alta three days later. The author describes the temperature being -18º at that moment!

ORIANA is currently performing the exact same itinerary as the previous one, a 12 night cruise calling in Andalsnes, then Tromso, Alta and finally Stavanger, before returning to Southampton on the 18 March, where she will once again prepare to cross the Atlantic Ocean westbound to the Caribbean on a 24 night voyage.

Images: MattyBoy

ORIANA's stay in Alta

Arriving on the afternoon of 28th February in the port of Alta often refered to as 'The City of the Northern Lights" in their search of the elusive light display.

ORIANA alongside in Alta

 With a full day and 2 nights in port there is no better place and plenty of time for ORIANA's come face to face with the Northern lights.
Although it was a highlight other activities on offer while ORIANA was in Alta included visiting or even staying overnight in a igloo style ice hotel, taking a ride on a huskey pulled sledge or for something a lttle different a chance to ride a snow mobile .
ORIANA departed Alta shortly after 3am this morning and is now on route to Stavanger where she will arrive on the 4th March.

ORIANA returns to Norway

Yesterday ORIANA made her first call of the year in Northern Europe Åndalsnes, Norway.

ORIANA docked in Åndalsense

Arrving fresh from her Caribbean adventure the snow capped mountains and landscape of Norway  offer a vast contrast to the ports she visited on the other side of the Atlantic where her passengers enjoyed swimming and sunbathing on her open decks while island hopping or sailing up the Amazon river.

Larger than any building ORIANA is still dwarfed by nature

Departing Åndalsnes ORIANA is now at sea and en route to the city of Tromsø inside the Arctic Circle.

Photos Copyright: Leif Johnny Olestad

ORIANA at Alta

Having departed from Tromsø shortly after midnight local time on the 14th March ORIANA arrived 8 hours later at the most northerly call of her Northern lights cruise the port of Alta located in Finnmark county.
Spending 2 full days in port it's location in the far north of Norway make it the perfect vantage point to spot the often elusive Aurora Borealis itself with the world's first Northern Lights observatory .

ORIANA docked in Alta 14/3/16

 As well as looking skyward while in Alta ORIANA's passengers had many different choices of  how to spend their time while docked.
For those with a taste for adventure a thrilling ride by a Husky pulled sledge through the stunning and snow covered landscape followed by a stop at a Lavvu, a traditional Sami shelter or for something different a visit to Alta's Ice hotel or combine the visit with a ride on a snow mobile.

ORIANA docked in Alta as the light fades

However the true attraction for ORIANA's passengers the anticipation of seeing the Aurora Borealis across the night sky, a dancing veil of light illuminating the frozen darkness.
Having spent two nights docked ORIANA departed Alta shortly before midday local time and is now on route at an average speed of 15 to 16 knots to Stavanger where she will arrive on Friday.

ORIANA in Åndalsnes

Today during her latest cruise to Norway in search of the Aurora Borealis ORIANA called in town of Åndalsnes in the Isfjorden a branch of the Romsdalsfjorden the ninth largest fjord in Norway which is located in the Romsdal district of Møre og Romsdal county.

While ORIANA will not be visiting Norway again this year her call marks the first call at Åndalsnes of a P&O ship in 2016 the last will be by her near sister AURORA in September.

ORIANA sails through the Romsdalsfjorden

 Leaving the Romsdalsfjorden ORIANA is now once again heading north along the Norwegian coast at an avarage of speed of 15 to 17 knots  on route to Tromsø 400 km inside the Arctic circle it is Norway’s most northerly city where she will arrive in early hours of the 13th here ORIANA will overnight before heading to Alta.

Photographic Achievement: Leif Johnny Olestad

ORIANA in the village of Flåm

ORIANA seen last week in the port of Flåm, Norway on 5 March, surrounded by a stunning snowy landscape, typical of the Norwegian Winter season. Just like in Stavanger a few days before, she was also the first cruise ship of 2016 in Flåm, although some months ahead of the cruise season in Northern Europe.

Flåm is a village in Flåmsdalen, located in the municipality of Aurland in the Sogn og Fjordane county (Western Norway). It is part of the Aurlandsfjord, itself a branch of the Sognefjord, the largest and most well known fjord in Norway and the second longest in the World.

At the moment ORIANA is once again at sea, bound for Northern climes in search of the Northern lights, being scheduled to arrive in the port of Andalsnes on the 11 March.

This has become something of a tradition for ORIANA over the last 3 years, alongside longer transatlantic cruises of 20 to 50 nights.

ORIANA homeward bound leaving Flåm and the Aurlandsfjord.

Photographic Achievement: Tomas Østberg- Jacobsen

Exploring the different sides of Norway

Among the destinations ORIANA has visited over the years very few can offer such a diverse in one Country as Norway, from it's cities such as Oslo and Bergen home of the famous Byggen area  to it's distinctive and majestic natural wonders such as it's  fjords and glaciers
Below we share some photos from one such cruise with ORIANA from June 2012

 Arriving into Bergen ORIANA's mast passes under the bridge.

Entering Bergen ORIANA encounters some of her fellow Carnival group ships namely HAL's EURODAM and Aida's AIDA MAR and AIDA LUNA.

 The city's classic buildings prove a popular attraction for passengers.

Tall ship STATSRAD LEHNKUHL

 Also arriving during the day the Hurtigruten ferry MIDNATSOL on her regular course down the coast of Norway.

MIDNATSOL in Bergen

The following day after short overnight cruise up the coast ORIANA arrived in her next destination the scenic Geirangerfjord.
Amongst it's soaring mountains ORIANA again met with AIDA MAR.

 With nature as her backdrop ORIANA who had towered over the terminal in Southampton now looked almost humble as the colours of nature and waterfalls dancing down the mountains.

Also making another appearance from the previous day MIDNATSOL disembarking her passengers during  brief visit before heading back out into the fjord.

ORIANA's departure like the port of Geiranger itself  had much to offer shortly after sounding her mighty horn, ORIANA was saluted with fireworks which was become something of local tradition.
Leaving Geiranger ORIANA passed by one of the area's most famous sights the Seven Sisters Waterfalls
And on the opposite side of the fjord the Suitor waterfall said to be playfully dancing for the attention of  the Seven Sisters.

ORIANA's passengers gather to see the Seven Sisters

 The Suitor Waterfall

ORIANA's next two port of calls Olden and Stavanger  also would give ORIANA a look at the different aspects of Norway.
Photos Copyright: João Abreu & Steve Martin

ORIANA's "Voyage into Darkness"

Passengers lucky enough to be joining ORIANA for her Northern Lights cruise in March will also be able to bare one of natures other wonders.

While docked in Torshavn in the Faroe Islands on the 20th March ORIANA and her passengers will be present to witness the last Solar Eclipse that will be seen in Europe until August 2026.
Following the event the Islands are planning a full celebration of local cuisine and culture.
While the eclipse will most certainly be a memorable if the often elusive Aurora Borealis does make a appearance than ORIANA's passenger will certainly never forget a look at mother nature's more mysterious phenomena.
It could be said that once more in her 20th year ORIANA is following in her famous mother CANBERRA's wake as she too cruised "into darkness" in 1973 on a special cruise to the coast of Africa to witness the longest solar eclipse of modern times.
 Details of the cruise can be found here

ORIANA the video star

Like many subjects ships and shipspotting features in many videos on video shareing sites such as Youtube and of those many feature our very own ORIANA one such video is featured below and shows ORIANA departing Geiranger, Norway on the 12th June 2012  and was filmed from the then brand new AIDA MAR.  It offers a great view of the ship as slides serenely past the AIDA MAR and even features the authors and founder of this blog among the passengers standing above the bridge forward of the Oasis Spa and Hair Salon.

 Meanwhile back in the present today sees ORIANA returning to one of P&O's favourite ports of call Funchal in Madeira and makes the second Portuguese call in so many days having sailed from Lisbon on Monday.

ORIANA's passangers watch the approch to the Ponte 25 de Abril (25th of April Bridge) departing Lisbon.

Webcams showing ORIANA in Funchal.

ORIANA is due to depart Funchal at 17:30  when she sails for La Palma.

ORIANA's Northern Adventures

One of the truly spectacular cruises undertaken in europe during the winter months is up the coast of Norway and deep into the Arctic Circle in search of one of nature's most amazing specticales the Northern Lights, an experience that those who have been lucky enough to do it never forget.
At present ORIANA is on the last leg of one such cruise which has seen sailing into many remarkable ports along the way such as Tromsø the second largest city in the Arctic Circle and Alta on of the North most settlements in the world and famed for it's Ice hotel.

The often elusive Northern Lights make an appearance.

The cruise has been blogged online by cruise critic Danielle Fear known as CruiseMiss who has been on board for the cruise her blog can be found here.

ORIANA returns to Southampton on the13th March and will depart once more for the Northern latitudes in search of the Aurora Borealis.

ORIANA in Stavanger

One of the most visited ports during the Norwegian Fjords cruises is the city of Stavanger a city in the Norwegian sense the charming city known as Norway's Oil capital mixes the modern with the traditional with new construction projects under way near traditional wooden style houses.

 For passengers it also gives a different look at Norway instead of the rural natural villages of the deep fjords a offers a experience of urban Norway.

Below a video from the lens of local shipspotter Harald Oanes showing ORIANA departing earlier this year.

More of ORIANA in Geirangerfjord

 Below we present several photos recently sent to us of ORIANA at anchor in the Geirangerfjord 12th June during the authors cruise on board.

Many thanks to Phil Green for sharing with us.

ORIANA in "Natural" Norway

While  we continue work on bringing our new Cruise Experience we present below a selection of photos of ORIANA in the naturally beautiful Geirangerfjord taken on the 12th June.
Despite  its small size boasts some truly awe inspiring sights which is guaranteed to leave an impression on all cruise passengers who sail through it.

A interesting comparison, ORIANA and a pedalo.

Meyer Werft's masterpiece joined by one of their newest builds AIDAMAR.

At the top of her 55 metre air draught ORIANA's funnel contrasts with the nature of the fjords.

One of the most famous features of the fjord the Seven sisters waterfall draws spectators to ORIANA's forward decks.

ORIANA leaves the Geirangerfjord in her wake as spectators look on.

New Cruise Experience-coming soon

While yesterday marked the end of the authors cruise on board ORIANA we will over the course of the next weeks be writing up and sharing our experiences of ORIANA as she cruised effortlessly around the coast and Fjords of Norway as we shall attempt to convey some of the experiences that were on offer to give a small "taste" of whats to come we include below some of the many images taken during this remarkable cruise.

 A proud name.

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 ORIANA at anchor in Geirangerfjord

 ORIANA in Olden

 A glimpse inside ORIANA