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| Member Cruise Review |
P&O Cruises Oriana September 2006 by Derek Kane Mediterranean |
Oceana & Arcadia, with the Oriana pipping the Aurora due to it's highly intelligent layout. She has been refitted since we were on her last 09/2006. The only thing that disappointed us then compared with when we were last on her in 1999 was the displacement of the carefully composed original modern British art-work in some of the public rooms, that helped inform and compliment the overall art- work and colour schemes, with the dreadful "virus" of onboard art-auction "kitsch". Regretably, this is becoming all to common on cruise ships in general, as can be witnessed on Oceana. Report on Oriana 9/9/- 27/9 We had a relaxing and enjoyable cruise in what in my view is one of the two best vessels in the P&O fleet (in terms of both indoor and outdoor layout/facilities) and overall ambiance/decor. Most of the shortcomings and disappointment we experienced from our recent, previous cruise (Oceana July '06) was not repeated and I would therefore propose that cruising with P&O ex.UK in a lower grade cabin with a good discount remains excellent value for money. ARRIVAL ======== We arrived at the terminal about 1 hour later then we had planned (13:30 instead of 12:30) due to delay in taxi arrival and very heavy traffic conditions. We only live 40 mins away from the terminal and underlines my view that if you are coming any great distance, travel down the day before. Check-in was quick. The X-Ray machine started to "chew" my hat-box which probably explained why my appearance on the embarkation photo showed me to look somewhat "emotional & excited", as one is faced with a ships photographer as you turn the corner into the embarkation lounge. I must admit I would have preferred to have been able to sit down for 10 minutes or so and sort myself and things out prior to this being taken, but as it happens embarkation was taking place straight away and within a couple of minutes we found ourselves on board. The standard outside cabin (Mrs Kane insists on daylight) on F deck was of slightly more generous proportions then her Oceana equivalent and was full of light, assisted by a large window facing mirror and two attractive still life prints. We unpacked our 4 items of hand luggage, had a quick scan of the in- cabin literature, accounted for our 9 pieces of luggage and then went off to buffet lunch up in the Conservatory which we ate out on the open Terrace bar deck. We then returned to the cabin to unpack speedily (assisted by most garments being on hangers) and placed 4 lots of nested cases under our beds with shoes, bags and garments (for later in the cruise) left in 3 of the innermost. Our cabin steward took 2 other cases away to the baggage room. We then had about 40 mins left to enjoy some mild weather up on deck with a drink before the safety drill required attending to. ORIANA ======= It has been 6 years since we last stepped on to this ship (and indeed 5 years since being on any P&O UK spec'ed ship) and were struck by how much more tasteful and restrained her decor is and the intelligent layout of her, compared with ex.US market ships. She has mellowed and improved in my view and will hopefully remain in P&O's ex.UK service for many, many years to come. Few changes to report in those 6 years with only the creation of a Cyb@Study in the former Iberia room (mis-identified by me on a report a few days ago as the Uganda room) and what appears to be an upgraded Al Frescos from a day time pizzeria to a 24 hour cafe offering differing items according to time of day (a la Cafe Jardin or Bordeaux). One retrograde step has been to allow the "virus" of art auction inventory to spread around areas of the ship other than in its designated area and indeed replace some of the original interesting and coordinated Modern British art-work with a hodge-podge of "art" that quite frankly belongs on the rails of Green Park on a Sunday morning. When Oriana was launched, a highly interesting and carefully commissioned body of British art (coordinated by Tom Tempest-Radford) was placed around the ship to enhance and inform the overall decor, design and ambiance. The most jarring area is now the corridor from Queens Court to the Peninsular Restaurant where the harmonious and restrained oil pastels of Seraphim 1 to 8 have been replaced by a collection of "kitch", jarring, unconnected, unbalanced, mainly representational "art", that is totally out of context with the setting. The art auction inventory in my view should be confined to the "art" gallery plus during the viewing hours of the actual auction venue, for those few passengers who seemed to enjoy this offering. I went to an auction once on the cruise (to observe) and there were about 30 passengers in attendance (out of c. 1800) with only a few bidding/buying. The best facilities of the Oriana are: Her Crow's Nest - the best in the fleet in my view. Her outdoor areas and pools. Her Theatre Her dedicated cinema. In new cruise builds this seems to be a dispensable amenity. The wrap-around promenade deck. The indoor promenades linking the various public rooms across decks D & P. PASSENGERS =========== This may well have been an "Adults Only" cruise as there was only c.6 children on board ( 2 or 3 babies/toddlers, a couple of c.12 year olds and 1 or 2 older teenagers) all who seemed to be well taken care of by both their parents and the youth team (about 1 for every pair of "kids"!). No doubt due to length of cruise, time of year, and special theme (Music Festival at Sea), most passengers were of retirement age and beyond, with many very elderly together with lots confined to wheelchairs/electric buggies and sticks and zimmers. By & large most of the passengers were a good humoured lot and I did not hear many moans & groans. This was certainly the first cruise I have been on where the FIRST sitting was over subscribed and it was noticeable that the 2nd sitting never seemed to be very full with tables near us being empty throughout the cruise.It was announced during the Portunus Party that the Sapphire/Gold Cocktail parties were the largest since the inception of the club and that the 1st sittings had to be split across 2 venues (Crow’s Nest & Pacific Lounge).Certainly the ship felt quieter when we would come out from dinner to attend an entertainment c.22:30 and was virtually completely asleep by 23:45 with just a few "younger" sorts in the bars, casino or Harlequins then (Harlequins body count c.midnight: about 12). We were not aware of the Special Theme at the time of booking. With a large contingent of musicians, this theme did dominate both evenings and sea days and no doubt met the wishes and aspirations of the majority of the mature passengers. Entertainment =========== We went to one show (Eurovision) which was enjoyable, a Karaoke evening in the Lords Tavern which was not, due to poor choice of songs available and only a few takers to the mike (myself included), a couple of game-shows, but with no invited passenger participation (other than to be the audience), a couple of late night cabaret spots (Maurice Grumbleweed who did his best with what was a small audience and was okay and Jimmy Cricket who was buttock-clenchingly awful with an audience of c.20 who just didn't seem to adapt to the situation (his pacing for example seemed to be allowing for uncontrollable laughter and mirth from the audience between each "joke" when all he was getting was embarrassed silence) and a highly enjoyable crew show hosted for the last time by Ian Fraser. The balance of our evenings was spent usually in the syndicate quiz which was always bursting at the seams. We usually arrived only just in time (with no room for a spare one to join a table) and would take a "seat" out in the Thackery room. As a syndicate of 2 we seemed to still do well as we often came 2nd. Although I won a few individual quizzes the pattern many days seemed to be coming 2nd or just missing out on the tie-break (always the bridesmaid, never the bride!). Other than port days the vast majority of our time was spent on the open-decks relaxing and reading. Again, due to the advanced age of many passengers there always seemed to be plenty of sun-beds available (even on the many sea days), many of the passengers electing to spend the day in doors attending Music at Sea, handicraft classes, interest seminars, bridge, etc. On one sea day I spent from 7am to 7pm out doors on one of the aft terraces only moving to have lunch or a comfort break. CUISINE======= My confidence in P&O cuisine has been restored, after our poor, recent experiences on the Oceana, with a much improved quality of cooking and serving. I can only report on 1 duff dinner main course out of 16 eaten in the main restaurant (we ate on 2 other nights at the Indian & Asian buffet, but did not feel the need to spend extra dining alternatively, as we were enjoying both the main dining room offering and our table companions).The desserts were often a delight and the service from our table stewards was good and attentive. It would be fair to say that our table was made up from "younger" elements of the passengers together with one of the engineer officers from whom we got some amusing and interesting stories regarding ship life. Our table was a good humoured one and many a pleasant evening was spent over dinner and the coffee/mints. We also gained an entry along with other passengers to the Chief Engineers Cocktail party in the Captain's lounge. By bringing on board some BYO (both from home and at a port call) and being charged £7.50 (less Portunus discount) corkage, as well as supplementing from the P&O list, I felt that I has "improved" on the wine offering. The £7.50 charge represents good value considering that some of the wines I brought on board would have been described as premium. WEATHER: ========= Perfect virtually the whole way. Black Sea threw up a bit choppy Northbound during the late afternoon / evening and on the 1st evening & 2nd day at sea home bound after Palma was about the choppiest. The last day at sea, Biscay was a glacial calm with clear blue skies and a last lovely afternoon up on deck after the packing. All in all a most wonderful cruise, if a bit lacking in my perspective from the entertainments and distractions I personally seek. A special mention to a recently promoted to Captain, Charlie Carr. A most engaging Master with the passengers and crew, who gave many an amusing comment from his announcements from the Bridge. Derek “The Monocled Mutineer” Kane ||||| o Q < \__/ |>o<| |