A brawl on board

It has been reported this week in the local press that during a 3 night cruise last weekend 5 passengers were removed from ORIANA in Zeebrugge after they began fighting on board.
According to the Hampshire based Daily Echo "reports from other guests on board the 69,000 ton vessel, a disturbance involving fighting and arguments among a family party broke out between late Saturday evening and the early hours of Sunday."

The group which are said to be from one family were interviewed by the local police were later refused permission to board the ship and had to make their own way back to the UK.
A P&O's spokesman later commented on the incident "We can confirm five passengers were asked to disembark ORIANA following an incident during the early hours of Sunday morning."
While it is never good to hear such news a cruise is of course meant to be an enjoyable event for all it is none the less good to see the crew took the stance to refuse their return to the ship.

Two generations of cruising

Often while cruise ships are in refit they meet with other ships and ORIANA is no exception such as May 2004 while she was undergoing a fairly short refit at the Lloyd Werft shipyard she was in the company of some very famous names from the end of the Transatlantic liner days Cunard's QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 undergoing her own refit and NORWAY, having been towed from Miami the previous year the former FRANCE was performing her final role as accommodation for the crew of PRIDE OF AMERICA who was nearing completion elsewhere in the yard at the time.

In the image below ORIANA devoid of her lifeboats is seen being maneuvered by tugs at her stern while the venerable NORWAY awaits her fate in the background.

 

 Just over 7 years later in 2011 while in Drydock in the Blohm & Voss undergoing her major refit and adult only conversion ORIANA met with QE2's successor on the Atlantic QUEEN MARY 2 .

A Maiden Call

Almost 20 years after her Maiden Voyage tomorrow ORIANA will once again make a Maiden call this time ORIANA will grace port of  Antwerp, Belgium as part of a 4 night Europe city break cruise, she will overnight in the port before proceeding to Zeebrugge at midday on the 25th.
Over the years ORIANA has indeed visited Belgium many times over the years it has been Zeebrugge she has visited either as part often the favoured destination on  2 night mini cruises
 More infomation can about the call  can be found here http://cruiseschepeninantwerpen.blogspot.be/2014/10/ms-oriana-in-antwerpen-leopolddok.html an excllent blog run by local ship enthusiast Sebastiaan Peeters.
 For almost 20 years ORIANA has been a recognisable sight on the oceans and ports of the world and tomorrow adds a new port to that impressive list.

A Comic Complaint

While ORIANA's crew try as hard as possible to ensure her passengers have the best cruise possible it is a reality that despite their efforts there will be complaints from some often over the most minor problems they can find from.
At the other end of the scale the Customer Service team based at Carnival House receive some often bizarre letters from passengers.
One such recent case has become somewhat popular on social site Facebook.
The below letter was sent to P&O regarding some "issues" the passenger had with his cruise on board ORIANA

This wannabe comedian begins in a strange way and then continues to point out what the numerous issues he had with the cruise.
To begin with he upset with the fact he had spent his hard earned money on a "timeshare cabin" and when ever he left the cabin in a mess the other "passenger" of the cabin would clean it up for them other issues he found included  "the outrageous prices" of the confectionery in the on board shop and the disgrace that not all passenger are allowed "to drive the ship" despite having asked the wine waiter several times, carrying on with the suggestion that the expensive art auctions should be replaced with "mobility scooters racing on the Prom deck along with other some strange activities.

While many companies would have simpley ignored the letter P&O went one better by playing along with the joke taking the time to reply to each of the points made in the letter.

Not surprisingly in the response the reply was taking any disciplinary action against the ship's crew for the issues raisesd.
Indeed sometimes passengers humour can be a little perplexing !

19 years of Popularity

For almost 20 years ORIANA has taken her passengers to her various ports of call in her signature high class and style, following in the wake of her namesake and famed 'mother' CANBERRA she has visited ports all round the world from ports closer to home such as Bruges to ports of call on the far side of the world such as those in Australia and New Zealand.
And during that time much like CANBERRA before her she has gained her fans who regularly cruise on board.

ORIANA arrives in Funchal, Madeira

Much has changed since ORIANA entered service both in the cruise industry and beyond but in a sure sign that ORIANA is still as popuar in this modern age of the "mega ships", as she ever has been  she continues to receive excellent reviews from her passengers: with comments from her passengers saying that ORIANA is "the friendly cruise ship ,she was immaculate and all Staff looked well turned out" the same reviewer also saying that " We found dining in the Oriental Restaurant was excellent and the waiting staff were very efficient and courteous."
Another cruiser commented that " we had a wonderful time first class service cant wait to go again on ORIANA." while another experienced cruise went as far to say "Cruise on ORIANA, I can honestly say one of the best we have done".
All going to prove that in the age of bigger is better, with ships including all types of novel and often ridiculous features in order to gain new custom, ORIANA still has her place in the heart of British cruising offering her traditional style with great service in elegant suroundings.

Photo Copyright: João Abreu

A cruise of meetings

During ORIANA's current cruise she has had several meetings with her fleetmates firstly OCEANA in Funchal, Santa Cruz de La Palma and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
On the last occasion to the ships sailed towards Gran Canaria almost in tamdem sailing 2.5 nautical miles (4.63 km) as can be seen from the AIS image below.

Today ORIANA was calling in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon where she met with another fleet mate this time AZURA as seen below, the Crown class ship was moored ahead of ORIANA.

To round off the cruise ORIANA is currently on route to Southampton where again she will meet with her fleet mates this time in the form of ARCADIA and ADONIA.

Another day, Another meeting

Today ORIANA once again had the company of her fleet mate OCEANA this time decorating the port of Santa Cruz de La Palma.
ORIANA arriving first despite the fact she departed Funchal yesterday later than OCEANA.
As OCEANA the proud flagship was already docked and was gleaming in the morning sun and was visible via OCEANA's webcam as can be seen in the webcam images below

Tomorrow the ships will again meet as their cruises take them both to Las Palmas Gran Canaria.