ORIANA in Willemstad - Dutch Antilles

Photographs showing ORIANA's arrival in the port of Willemstad, island of Curacao in the Dutch Antilles on 22 January 2016, shining under a typical Caribbean Winter Sun.

On her way to dock at the Mathey Wharf berth at Willemstad's centre, ORIANA passed by the JEWEL OF THE SEAS, docked at the Ernest Voges berth, another cruise ship built in Meyer Werft Papenburg for Royal Caribbean International in 2004.

Having arrived from Port Castries in St. Lucia, the oldest unit of P&O Cruises current fleet continued with her 50 day voyage bound to Oranjestad, in the neighbor island of Aruba, Dutch Antilles.

Photographic Achievment: Cees Bustraan.

ORIANA and AZURA in Saint Lucia

Far from the terminals of their homeport Southampton under the blue Caribbean sky ORIANA met today with her fleet mate AZURA in Port Castries , St Lucia
As mentioned last week ORIANA is at present a 50 night cruise taking her around the Caribbean and USA before returning to Southampton via Funchal, Madeira.
In contrast to AZURA who repositioned late last year alongside BRITANNIA for the winter sailing out of Bridgetown, Barbados on fly cruises .
The map below shows ORIANA's and AZURA's positions in port today.

During the almost 6 years AZURA has been in service she has met with ORIANA on several different occasions both at their homeport and other ports of call,
Perhaps the first occasion was during AZURA's Maiden Voyage in 2010, ORIANA greeted her new fleet mate at sea while heading to Messina.

ORIANA passes AZURA during her Maiden Voyage April 2010

More recently in October last year the two met complete with new livery in Funchal, Madeir.

ORIANA and AZURA in Funchal 8th October 2015 

Following there departures from St Lucia  AZURA will head overnight to her next Island stop of  Dominica and ORIANA will spend a day at sea before arriving at Curacao in the Dutch Antilles on the 22nd of January.

Photo Copyrights : João Abreu and Steve Martin

ORIANA's Caribbean & American Adventure

Yesterday ORIANA made the first port of call of her first cruise of 2016 in Santa Cruz Tenerife on route to the Caribbean and the Americas on a tour of many of popular ports in the U.S and South America and Caribbean Islands including Bridgetown, Barbados P&O's home port while operating in the area during the winter months

ORIANA docked in Barbados

During the cruise ORIANA will also briefly visit Bermuda where passengers will be able to go on tours to Hamilton, ORIANA's port of registry since December 2006.

Map showing ORIANA's current cruise.

On her return across the Atlantic ORIANA will make her second call of the year in Funchal, Madeira before returning to Southampton.

Photo Copyright : P&O Cruises

First port of call in 2016

After spending the New Year in Tenerife, ORIANA made her first 2016 port of call in Funchal, Madeira having arrived in the afternoon on 1 January, joining the AIDA SOL, from P&O's sister brand AIDA Cruises, the only of 11 cruise liners that made an overnight from New Year's Eve.
ORIANA stayed for the night and the following day in port, then leaving bound to her homeport of Southampton, where she will prepare her upcoming Grand 50 day North America and Caribbean cruise.

Still for 2016 the Commodore of the P&O fleet has five calls scheduled in Funchal, the second one happens precisely during her next voyage, on 21 February, as she returns home on a transatlantic crossing back to the UK.

Photographic Achivement: João Abreu

ORIANA and P&O's Grand Event

Taking short trip back in time to 2012 we take a brief look at ORIANA during P&O's 175th Anniversary  year.
Fresh from her refit in December 2011 ORIANA complete with a new "duck tail" stern and now an adults only ship she started  2012 with  a 97 night world cruise, on the first leg of the voyage while transiting the Gulf of Aden she was escorted by RFA WAVE KNIGHT due to potential pirate activity in the area.  

Photo: Royal Navy.

During the course of the circumnavigation ORIANA made her  maiden call in Muara, Brunei.

However perhaps the highlight of the year was the celebration of 175 years of P&O's heritage and this was celebrated in many ways on board from having 175 year heritage sailaway parties to displays around the ship detailing the history of the company.

While in Sydney, Australia ORIANA celebrated the role assisted passage scheme played in the company's history and welcomed on board some special guests, many of those who had travelled to Australia on board ORIANA and CANBERRA in the 1960's under the scheme joining them as well was Carnival Australia's CEO Ann Sherry and  AZURA's God mother Darcey Bussell.

Later in the year as the Flagship of the fleet ORIANA was centre stage for the climax of the year's celebrations on the 3rd July the entire fleet met for the company's Grand Event including  a review by Her Royal Highness, Princess Anne, The Princess Royal and the Masters of Trinity house including ORIANA's first Captain, Commodore Ian Gibb.
Below we share some footage from Simon Jones a passenger on board ORIANA for her Grand Event cruise ,shot that memorable day firstly we see ORIANA and her fleet mates arriving and docked and then later some footage shot from on board.

Remembering ORIANA's debut and maiden call in Funchal

As the 20th anniversary year of ORIANA draws to an end, we are very delighted to present these stunning video footages of her inaugural call in Funchal, the first ever port of call of her maiden voyage after the christening by Queen Elizabeth II on 6th April and departure from Southampton on 9th April 1995.
The first video features images of her arrival on 12nd April and a detailed look of her interiors and public spaces. The second short film depicts her departure on the following day, a memorable moment in the history of the port, as a crowd of people witnessed live in port and along the seaside, paying farewell to the newbuilt cruise ship, at the time one of the World's largest, and the so called successor of CANBERRA, a well known ship by Madeirian people.

Videos filmed and produced by Paulo Camacho.

ORIANA and the QUEEN MARY 2 in Lisbon

Two of the greatest active icons of the British Merchant Navy, ORIANA and QUEEN MARY 2, were together last Saturday on 12 December 2015, in the historic port of Lisbon.
Both of them belong to a rare breed of passanger ships, unique in their own design, which is almost unexisting nowadays in the cruise industry. The amount of expectation and grandeur prior to their arrivals in 1995 and 2004 respectivaly, could be fairly compared to those of the great ocean liners of the past, having been christened in their homeport of Southampton by the Godmother they share, none other than Queen Elizabeth II.

And to increase the importance of their status, they also belong to the oldest British Maritime companies still active, P&O [178 years old] and Cunard [175 years old], and although the two were great rivals in the past, they presently belong to the same North-American group, Carnival Corporation.
After spending the day in the Portuguese capital, ORIANA left her berth first in the afternoon, followed some hours later by the QM2, who was forced to delay her departure due to a small fire in the engine room, that was shortly put under control. Also ORIANA, who was already underway some miles south, returned to the Tagus in the evening and docked at Jardim do Tabaco berth [where QM2 was previously docked] to disembark an ill passenger. She then left her moorings again and went on for her day at sea voyage to Casablanca, Marocco, having arrived on schedule today.

It isn't the first time that ORIANA and QUEEN MARY 2 meet in Lisbon, it also happened on 9 August 2006, and on that particular day the Cunard flagship, after leaving the Alcântara terminal, went upstream to give a traditional horn salute to ORIANA, before turning downstream again and bound to the open seas. One of those emotional and incomparable moments that only the ships and the sea can provide.

QM2 gives a horn salute to ORIANA in Lisbon - August 2006

Photographic Achivment [2015]: Ricardo Martins

Photographic Achivment [2006]: Luís Miguel Correia