Live from the Oriana

[PrincessPete]

Hi all, just a posting while sitting in Andersons on the lovely Oriana, 5 days into our 28 night cruise.

We have had a great time so far, despite the heavy seas, a lot of rolling about and fierce winds. 

The Captain announced today that we could not reach Bermuda on schedule Friday despite the ship going flat out since leaving Southampton last Friday.

So we now get there a day late but still have the scheduled day and a half there. We then sail on to The Bahamas as scheduled but miss out the port of Grand Turk. After the Bahamas we go straight to St Maarten  and resume the original schedule. 

We have not heard any complaints at this as clearly something had to give. Everyone seems massively relieved we still have the overnight in Bermuda plus the call in The Bahamas.

Even as the fastest ship in the fleet Oriana could not keep to schedule and I guess only the liner Queen Mary 2 could have kept up speed with these winds.

Back to the cruise itself, weather apart it has been great, and the guest lecturers amazing.

Shaun Wallace from ITV's "The Chase" has been the Celebrity Speaker and he has simply been brilliant. Standing room only at his talks and his "Audience With......" when interviewed by Hughie Taylor.

He is such a nice man, a hugely interesting life story, has time to talk to everyone plus competing in the quizzes He takes in good spirits the banter when he gets one wrong! More anon on the other excellent lecturers.

The food and service has been exceptionally good - more on that anon also and hope this is of some interest. 

Kind regards Peter

[Purdey16]

Hi princesspete , it sounds like you're doing the same itinerary that we did on our October cruise on Arcadia 28 days ,sorry to hear you've had some rough weather and having to miss grand Turk we were very lucky not to miss any ports  I'd would of loved to see Shawn Wallace he's so funny , glad you're doing a live review I will be following along hope you're internet is good as it's taken me 1/2 hr to write this with mine .Have a great holiday

[Eglesbrech]

Nice to read a live review and so glad you are having a great cruise.

 

Enjoy your ports and if you have time keep us all posted about your adventures.

[Balernocalling]

Who is Captain at the moment please? We are doing a back to back from 22nd March. Really looking forward to it. You are lucky having Shaun Wallace on board....he sounds as if he would be fascinating.

 

[terrierjohn]

1 minute ago, Balernocalling said:

Who is Captain at the moment please? We are doing a back to back from 22nd March. Really looking forward to it. You are lucky having Shaun Wallace on board....he sounds as if he would be fascinating.

 

He bored the pants off me when I caught part of one of his lectures on Ventura, but then I never watch the chase.

[AndyMichelle]

Thanks for taking the time out to post Peter, it sounds like you are having a fantastic time, very jealous....

Make sure the 'Dark Destroyer' is on your quiz team..

looking forward to further updates.

Andy

[PrincessPete]

Great day today, Thursday. Seas very choppy again overnight but have now settled down and it is much smoother. Plus the sun has been out all day and the sky blue 😀😀. Still quite windy but a big improvement!

In answer to a question, the Captain is Sarah Breton who we have seen around the ship quite a lot and is very down to earth and approachable. 

The lectures/entertainment this week have been amazing. As well as Shaun Wallace (who takes part in all the quizzes, as I said) there has been a hugely interesting series of lectures from retired Detective Rod Renton. Very popular and an additional one tomorrow on our extra sea day heading to Bermuda.

Going back to last Friday, embarkation was easy, stepped out of our taxi at 1230 and we were having lunch in The Conservatory at 1400 with all luggage in our cabin.

Based on some previous reviews the big surpruse for us has been the outstanding food. Also, we have the best waiters in the history of cruising!! 

More anon, happy to answer questions. 

Kind regards. Peter

[P&O SUE]

Thanks for posting Peter, glad you’re enjoying your cruise.

[mercury7289]

PrincessPete

 

So good to hear positives comments.

 

Well Done!

 

White Russians in Anderson's  Pre Dinner, wow sets the evening for us.

We do not need entertaining, happy to talk to the staff and other cruisers.

On board again in May 19 nights.

 

Looking forward to it.

[PrincessPete]

Today's update from the Oriana. The seas have continued to calm right down and there is very little movement now. Quite a cloudy day after yesterday's sun.
Another very busy day onboard with quizzes and lectures for us and loads of other choices.
The retired Detective did an additional talk called "Nostalgia", all about life in the 60's and 70's - the food of the time, the toys, wrestling, TV programmes, radio, eating out (Berni Inns where prawn cocktail, steak and Black Forest gateau were the norm 😂😂) etc etc with lots of pictures. Hugely well received by the audience. He is a larger than life person and it was great fun, much more so than my description suggests.
Well, we are a quarter through this 28 day cruise. Where did the week go?! It has absolutely flashed by. We have had a great time despite the choppy seas and lack of sun. The "Oriana" is a lovely ship with almost a "Country House Hotel" feel to it. Such a shame she is leaving the fleet. The service and food have been outstanding. Pre dinner drinks in Anderson's (with no piped music) is a delight

We arrive in Bermuda tomorrow morning for an overnight stay. Everyone is looking forward to touching dry land although it will seem strange after being cocooned on here for 8 days. In a way it feels like the end of a segment as the lecturers all leave tomorrow and we now start a spell of 7 port days out of 11. 
More anon!

Kind regards Peter

[Clodia]

Yes we shall all miss Oriana. Just been watching you edge into the dock at Bermuda on a ship tracker. Enjoy!

[Presto2]

Lovely to keep up with your reviews of your cruise. Sad in some ways that she will be leaving P&O ,, bet many passengers will miss her.

[PrincessPete]

Today's update.....lovely day in Bermuda, we are berthed at the Royal Naval Dockyard which has been massively redeveloped since our last visit in 2000 (on the Love Boat "Pacific Princess".) 
On that occasion we berthed in Hamilton right by Front Street - today we got a ferry from the Dockyard which afforded great views of the countryside en route. The ferry is $4.50 pp each way with tokens you buy at the Tourist Office - all extremely easy to do.
We were somewhat disappointed with Hamilton compared to our last visit - lots of the smaller shops have closed, as did the famous Department store Triminghams many years ago.
It is still a perfectly pleasant cruise stop but, for us, lacked the "Wow" factor of 20 years ago.
On the other hand the Dockyard area is really interesting and we look forward to a few hours there tomorrow morning before we sail at 1400.
All remains well on Oriana - we had the first Headliners show last night (other than the Welcome Aboard one.) It was very good - we haven't seen them for several years so it (tribute to the Palladium) was newish for us but we appreciate not for others!
A few people complaining about staying two days in Bermuda (err, it was in the brochure when you booked folks!!).
For us it was nice to come back, albeit with our slight disappointment at Hamilton - we look forward to the Dockyard tomorrow though.

A fair amount of sun today but not all day, no rain fortunately. 
Oh well, it's Anderson's time yet again!!
More anon. 
Kind regards Peter    

[PrincessPete]

A further update from the "Oriana".........well, after our turbulent and delayed crossing  to Bermuda it has been delightfully calm seas en route to the Bahamas. Today is the second of two sea days before we get to Freeport tomorrow morning. Both sea days have been very hot with calm seas and non-stop sunshine. 
I can only comment on the cruise from our point of view but we are having a brilliant time and, walking around talking to people, there seem to be very few complaints. Some people are understandably disappointed at not going to Grand Turk and feel P&O could easily have slotted in a replacement port. They probably have a point as we have been cruising at a really low speed since leaving Hamilton. Anyway, personally we're not that bothered and are just having a great time on the sea days.
The food and service remaining outstanding.

Also, the shows have been excellent, especially the Headliners with "Stage Door" a couple of nights ago. I appreciate that many on this Forum complain at the shows not changing (again, they have a point). All I can comment about from here is that the full house at the show gave the Headliners a rapturous reception.

There are so many options during the day it is difficult to choose. However, the sun won yesterday and today!
It's onto the Bahamas tomorrow, then a couple more days at sea and after that the Caribbean. We are still three days away from being halfway through the cruise!
Further updates in due course. Kind regards Peter

[mercury7289]

Peter

 

It is a joy to read your reports. 

 

So positive, also as you intimate, things happen, but you go with the flow.

 

Brilliant

 

We have been on board Oriana 3 times, since 2017, and boarding again in May for 19 nights.

 

In Andersons, we drank, White Russian or Pimms and Croft Original,the waiters will now who we are!

 

Last time on board October/November 2018

 

Thank you

 

 

 

 

[PrincessPete]

A further update.....

Sadly today there was a death onboard. An urgent medical response announcement was made around 0630 calling staff to a cabin just a few along from us. We heard later that a passenger had passed away.

We are in Antigua today and on returning to the ship at lunchtime saw a funeral car by a gangway - while boarding up a nearby gangway we saw a coffin being carried off the ship.

It seemed to show a lack of respect doing so directly in front of dozens of passengers but perhaps local regulations dictated what had to be done and when.

All very sad but it must happen from time to time, particularly on cruises with an older clientele.

We can only pass on our thoughts to the spouse of the passenger concerned.

For obvious reasons I will refrain from any updates on our cruise today and will post again in a few days.

Kind regards Peter

[AndyMichelle]

1 hour ago, PrincessPete said:

A further update.....

Sadly today there was a death onboard. An urgent medical response announcement was made around 0630 calling staff to a cabin just a few along from us. We heard later that a passenger had passed away.

We are in Antigua today and on returning to the ship at lunchtime saw a funeral car by a gangway - while boarding up a nearby gangway we saw a coffin being carried off the ship.

It seemed to show a lack of respect doing so directly in front of dozens of passengers but perhaps local regulations dictated what had to be done and when.

All very sad but it must happen from time to time, particularly on cruises with an older clientele.

We can only pass on our thoughts to the spouse of the passenger concerned.

For obvious reasons I will refrain from any updates on our cruise today and will post again in a few days.

Kind regards Peter

Very sad Peter.

You can't help but feel for the family of the poor soul.

Thank you for showing necessary respect, many wouldn't...

I hope you can still enjoy the rest of your cruise.

Andy

[Presto2]

Really respect the way you have spoken of this. Our thoughts go our to the family too. So sad. 

[5682miles]

It’s very thoughtful of you Peter to post live updates and it’s good to know you are having a great time onboard. We are sailing on Oriana on the Canaries cruise on 25th April - it can’t come soon enough. I was wondering if you could let me know if there are any morning classes taking place in the gym on Oriana. We find that the gym offering varies considerably between cruise companies so whilst we never assume or bank on anything, it would be great to know in advance. Many thanks in advance. 

Sharon 

[PrincessPete]

Further to earlier postings.....
we are continuing to have an excellent time on the lovely "Oriana". 
We are now heading home on the second sea day since leaving Barbados. The weather during our stay in the Caribbean was very hot and sunny although clouding over in Barbados. 
Everyone we spoke to seemed to enjoy the islands although visiting Antigua on Sunday did mean a lot of shops were shut. 
In St Maarten there were five other ships in port meaning 12,000 + passengers swamped the town and main beach in Phillipsburg, but we still enjoyed the day.
Having been to all the islands before we largely did our own thing, apart from St Lucia where we opted for a private tour. That turned out to be very disappointing but I will refrain from mentioning the company name (but will write a review on TA about it).
Since leaving Barbados we had a lovely sunny day yesterday but today is damp and overcast
Fortunately P&O have laid on further top quality daytime entertainment and lectures (readers of my earlier posts will see the westbound crossing was great with Shaun Wallace and other excellent guests).
On the return trip we now have Sue Holderness, Marlene from "Only Fools and Horses", whose first lecture yesterday was  rapturously received by the audience.
Malcolm McFarlane is doing a series of nostalgic lectures looking back at the 50's ands 60's music, TV and theatre, plus in the next few days talks on the classic Broadway musicals, Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. Again, perfect for us and the other passengers on this cruise and massively well received.

Just a few words now about things on the ship - written obviously from our perspective.
FOOD - this continues to be absolutely excellent in the Peninsular Restaurant, wide choice of food and always served hot.
SERVICE - our waiters remain the best ever! Although on Freedom Dining we have so far been allocated the same table every night, so have the same brilliant team nightly.
The service in the bars is also outstandingly good.
CONSERVATORY - we eat breakfast and lunch there, generally quite late and have never had any trouble getting a table. Food excellent there as well and the hot breakfast foods such as bacon, sausages etc are really good quality.

SUMMARY TO DATE - an excellent cruise and the nearly three weeks so far has absolutely flashed by. Overall the weather has been rather disappointing in view of the turbulent westbound crossing. 
The effect of this has been drastically eased, however, by the high standard of entertainment on sea days.
Boring sea days?? No way, not enough hours in the day to do everything!

For Sharon who posted, there are lots of gym classes, will detail them next time. I will not forget!
Three more sea days then The Azores.

More anon - best regards Peter

[AndyMichelle]

Loving the updates Peter, thank you for dragging yourself away from Andersons to post....

Glad you are having a great time, shame about the weather but good to hear P&O have delivered on the entertainment.

Andy

[Purdey16]

Thanks Peter for taking time out of your holiday and invite us along it's been great to follow and bring back memories of ours on Arcadia in October but unfortunately due to a passenger being very ill we missed our last port the Azores but called in LA Corona instead which was very nice and pretty  hope the weather is good for you coming back and not to rough like it's been here for a few days , enjoy your last week on board 

Sandra

[PrincessPete]

Further to.....

Well, its Anderson's time yet again  on the lovely "Oriana" as we approach The Azores on our 5th sea day since leaving Barbados.

The last two day's weather has been gorgeous with pretty much non-stop sunshine. It was only today that we noticed the drop in temperature since leaving the Caribbean - although it has still been in the 70's and really lovely.

The only problem with having good weather is how to fit in sunbathing with all the outstanding activities laid on during the day!

The guest entertainers at night have mostly been very good as well, particularly Dean Stansby who performed a sensational show in the theatre last night - a singer-pianist finishing with "Sweet Caroline" that had the audience dancing in the aisles. A great show. A couple of the acts were not that great and I will refrain from naming them. (obviously a matter of opinion, anyway, although the muted audiences for them seemed to agree).

Just focussing on a couple of matters I had seen on the Forum in the past...

DRESS CODE: has been exemplary on formal nights. I have been surprised at the almost total lack of jackets/tie on Evening Casual nights when earlier postings had suggested men of the age group on this cruise may have been more inclined to wear jackets. I must, of course, stress I appreciate the dress code does not call for a jacket so this is absolutely just an observation, in no way a criticism!

PASSENGER'S MANNERS: we had read of some rude passengers in the past, including to the crew. I have to say we have seen absolutely nothing at all like that, everyone has been polite and very friendly to each other and the wonderful crew.

Anyway, more in a day or two including details for Sharon re gym classes.

Back to my Peroni! 

Kind regards Peter

Edited March 17, 2019 by PrincessPete
Spelling

[mercury7289]

Peter

 

Try a White Russian!

 

I have them with extra cream.

 

Thanks for your update

 

[Presto2]

Thanks so much for these updates in the middle of your cruise. Just enjoy every second. :-)