Happy Birthday to me…

I love celebrating birthdays, especially my own.

I was lucky enough to go on a 2 night cruise for my birthday which was my present from my husband Adam.  We had a lovely time on board P&O Oriana. It was my birthday the day we boarded the ship.

Adam had bought me a specially made T-shirt for my birthday as I love to cruise so I wore it to board the ship, what do you think?

I must admit she is one of my favourite P&O ships, I especially love the aft of the ship and the tiered decks overlooking the pool.

              

Oriana was last refurbished in 2011 and due to be refurbished in December 2016 and I think in areas she is ready for a makeover. Overall impression of the ship was great though, well laid out and easy to get around on board. Very spacious and lots of quiet seating areas if you don’t want to go to a show or one of the bars.

A few facts on Oriana:-

Tonnage:- 69,840
Passengers:- 1880
Crew:- 760
Decks:- 10
Restaurants:- 6
Bars:- 7
Pools:- 3 & 4 Whirlpools

Entered service in 1995 and was launched by HRH Queen Elizabeth.

Adam had decorated the cabin with banners which was a surprise for me. He took them himself and just put them up but you can pay to have the cabin decorated for you by P&O – see a previous blog about this.

The cabin I thought was a little on the small side compared to other ships I’ve been on but sufficient enough, I found the bathroom extremely small but it did the job I suppose.  I don’t usually have an outside as like a balcony but as it was only 2 nights it was fine.  There are not many balconies on Oriana so you do pay if you prefer a balcony.  Our cabin was on deck 10 port side aft – cabin A302. A good location but did feel a bit of vibration in the night being at the back and high up.

         

We had lunch by the pool once on board which was lovely whilst we waited for the cabins to be ready.  General buffet food so had burgers & salad etc which was very tasty actually and I really enjoyed my lunch.

We had been allocated ‘Anytime Dining’  so could go for dinner anytime between 6-9pm which was great as didn’t have to be ready for a certain time.  The first night was formal night which is unusual as on the last 2 mini cruises I have done it was on the second night but I was pleased as it meant I was able to dress up for my birthday & my husband in his Tuxedo,  I love seeing the men in their best dress on board as no something you see very often at home.

In the afternoon after lunch we went to walk around the whole ship and get our bearings so I could take lots of photos to share with you. We started at the bottom and worked our way up to the top.

So now we had our bearings we headed to the cabin as they were ready & unpacked, then headed up to the top deck to meet some of my colleagues who were also on board for birthday drinks whilst we sailed away from Southampton.

After sailaway drinks we went back to the cabin to get ready for our evening meal. We were in the Peninsular Restaurant which is used for anytime dining, we had decided to dine with my colleagues Kirsty & Edward so it was lovely to have people with us to celebrate.  The table had been decorated with balloons by the staff which was a lovely touch.  The meal was lovely and the portions were quite big really compared to other meals I’ve had.

Here is the menu for that night:-

There was also a selection to choose from Marco Pierre White Menu, this is one of the speciality restaurants on board but had a cover charge of £22.95 per person.  We were happy with the main dining room so ate there both nights.

After we had finished our meals a group of waiters gathered round the table & sang ‘Happy Birthday’ along with guests from other tables – it was lovely & a great way to enjoy a birthday on board – again!  Adam ordered a lovely bottle of champagne to share with the table – I love champagne so I was a happy bunny..

I love a bit of Karaoke and on was on in Lord’s Tavern at 10.30pm  so we popped into the show for half an hour then went there, it was a great night, Adam & I both sang a couple of songs and had a great night.

The next day we were due to dock in Zeebrugge – now the last time I went on a mini cruise in May we didn’t get there due to bad weather conditions so I was praying we could this time & lucky enough we did.  The weather was awful though, cold & raining but didn’t stop us going to Bruges for the day.

We didn’t do a shore excursion, we did it on our own which is so easy.  There is a free shuttle bus from the port to Blakenburg where you take the train to Bruges, approx 20 minute ride then a 15 minute walk into the town or you can get a cab which is approx. 7 euros. The only thing we had to remember was that the ship time was different than land time but the guide on the coach advised which is the latest train to take back for the last shuttle bus.

We walked to Bruges but took a cab back to the station as loaded up with Belgian Chocolate & goodies, we spent the day with my colleagues and had a fantastic day walking round the squares.

We went to a fantastic tea room called ‘The Old Chocolate House’ – we had the best ever Hot Chocolate, it was made in a way I’ve never seen before – see for yourself:-

We bought Belgian Chocolate from Dumon which is one of the best shops, Adam had eaten most of his on the train back it was that nice.

Once back on the ship we headed to the ‘Crow’s Nest’ the bar on deck 13 at the front for the British Sailaway Party where the staff organise a sing song whilst we leave port, this is usually done on deck but as the weather was so bad we had to do inside.

We then went for afternoon tea which was lovely, little sandwiches and cakes with tea or coffee – I love this when on a cruise.

I then did what I always do when on a cruise, no matter what the weather is like, went in the Jacuzzi, freezing outside but lovely & warm in it.

It was then time to get ready for dinner, again a lovely meal but I wasn’t that hungry as had eaten so much at afternoon tea but was nice all the same.  I was really impressed with the food & the portions so a big thumbs up for that.

We joined in a quiz after dinner ‘Name that tune’ which was great fun, with Adam being a DJ we did pretty good and came joint top but then lost in the tie breaker – nevermind it was great fun all the same.

I did have a really good time on Oriana apart from a few niggles, the toilet wasn’t very clean in our cabin and areas by the pool were a bit tired and some of the staff could have done with being happier as some of the waiters were quite miserable along with some bar staff which I didn’t expect, although I experienced the same on Azura on a 2 night mini cruise.  Maybe that is why as the staff can’t get to know you so probably won’t get any extra tips, well not these ones anyway.  Some staff were great and couldn’t do enough for you but the minority let the side down. Mini cruise or not they should give the same service in my eyes.

Here are a few pictures of the ship:-

Oriana is a beautiful ship and I would love to go on her for a longer cruise to experience everything as quite a lot to do in the evenings and only being 2 nights didn’t get to do everything,  she is typical British P&O ship though and my favourite of the fleet so far.

So if you fancy a cruise on Oriana, give me a call on 0330 303 8208 or email me at [email protected].