Oriana still for sale

[majortom10]

I am not a lover of large ships, but tried Britannia with an open mind last January. She was in many ways better than the next largest P&O ship Ventura, with a noticably higher standard of furnishings in both the cabins and the public areas, plenty of tables in the buffet, less crowded tables in the restaurants and a marvelous Crows Nest. She did not however, feel like a ship. With no promenade deck she felt like a hotel with a rooftop swimming pool. It was almost as though the designers had set out to keep that nasty wet thing outside (the sea) out of sight and mind. And like most large hotels, she was completely impersonal with little of the camaraderie found in smaller ships. Whilst I would not say that I would not sail on her again if the itinerary attracted me, I am not in any hurry to do so.

Which leads to the question, who would choose her over other ships? Traditional cruisers appear in general to prefer smaller ships, whilst the new breed of sea vacationers who prefer large ships increasingly expect theme park type features such as wave pools, water slides, etc which Brotannia does not offer. She is you might say, a big version of a smaller ship with essentially small ship type facilities, and is in danger of falling between two stools.

 

Sorry but you are generalising and wrong we are in our late 50s done well over 40 cruises with different companies and different size ships since 1997. Our most favourite ship is QM2 and our favourite P&O ship is Britannia and the worst cruise ship we have cruised on is Oriana and would never set foot on her again and the smallest ship was Caronia and would never sail again on a ship that small.

[davecttr]

I am not a lover of large ships, but tried Britannia with an open mind last January. She was in many ways better than the next largest P&O ship Ventura, with a noticably higher standard of furnishings in both the cabins and the public areas, plenty of tables in the buffet, less crowded tables in the restaurants and a marvelous Crows Nest. She did not however, feel like a ship. With no promenade deck she felt like a hotel with a rooftop swimming pool. It was almost as though the designers had set out to keep that nasty wet thing outside (the sea) out of sight and mind. And like most large hotels, she was completely impersonal with little of the camaraderie found in smaller ships. Whilst I would not say that I would not sail on her again if the itinerary attracted me, I am not in any hurry to do so.

Which leads to the question, who would choose her over other ships? Traditional cruisers appear in general to prefer smaller ships, whilst the new breed of sea vacationers who prefer large ships increasingly expect theme park type features such as wave pools, water slides, etc which Brotannia does not offer. She is you might say, a big version of a smaller ship with essentially small ship type facilities, and is in danger of falling between two stools.

 

That is precisely the designers intention. The basic design was for the American market where the idea is keep the passengers buying stuff and not wasting time looking at the sea. Britannia has some good points, the Crows Nest and a spacious feeling in the buffet. The Glass House is a disaster and no promenade deck is a no no.

[Millers]

 

 

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[snaefell]

That is precisely the designers intention. The basic design was for the American market where the idea is keep the passengers buying stuff and not wasting time looking at the sea. Britannia has some good points, the Crows Nest and a spacious feeling in the buffet. The Glass House is a disaster and no promenade deck is a no no.

 

If Britannia was built for the American market how come P&O refer to her as the biggest ship built for the Briitsh cruise market?

Agree the Crows Nest is nice,Buffet is nice & roomy,Brodies is a nice room wasted IMO,really thought a lot of the 'artwork' rather poor & interior generally rather dark,juries out on the Glass House,at least we managed to get in there to eat when everywhere else was full!

[Denarius]

If Britannia was built for the American market how come P&O refer to her as the biggest ship built for the Briitsh cruise market?

Agree the Crows Nest is nice,Buffet is nice & roomy,Brodies is a nice room wasted IMO,really thought a lot of the 'artwork' rather poor & interior generally rather dark,juries out on the Glass House,at least we managed to get in there to eat when everywhere else was full!

It depends which way you look at it. Britannia was certainly built for the British market, but she is based on the Royal Princess, which was designed for the US market. Just like Ventura and Azura were based on the expanded Grand Princess platform and Arcadia is a design shared with Cunard and HAL. As another poster wrote elsewhere, the days are long gone when P&O could order ships like Oriana which were specifically designed for them, and nowadays must accept ships of a design shared with other Carnival companies. And these will inevitably be optimised for the US market.

[Saab4444]

It depends which way you look at it. Britannia was certainly built for the British market, but she is based on the Royal Princess, which was designed for the US market. Just like Ventura and Azura were based on the expanded Grand Princess platform and Arcadia is a design shared with Cunard and HAL. As another poster wrote elsewhere, the days are long gone when P&O could order ships like Oriana which were specifically designed for them, and nowadays must accept ships of a design shared with other Carnival companies. And these will inevitably be optimised for the US market.

 

 

 

Well, the new ships will be based on a design originally made for Aida and Costa so mainly for the German and European market.

 

 

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[davecttr]

Well, the new ships will be based on a design originally made for Aida and Costa so mainly for the German and European market.

 

 

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Aida and Costa are Carnival brands as is P&O. They are Carnivals latest Excellence Class and Carnival cruises has one ordered as well. They are powered by LPG and have brought back a 'promenade deck' with the lifeboats underneath. MSC have a similar design in their latest orders.

[Britboys]

Purely by way of clarification, the ships will be powered by LNG, Liquefied Natural Gas, as opposed to LPG, which is Liquefied Petroleum Gas. I think it is meant to be more environmentally cleaner - and no doubt cheaper :D.

 

It will be interesting to see the promenade deck as this will also host a number of alfresco eating and drinking venues.