Oriana stranded! – The Great British Weather Does It Again!

As springtime arrives so does warmer weather, longer evenings and calmer seas right? – Wrong! It has been reported today that hundreds of passengers are stranded aboard a cruise ship and a voyage delayed after it was unable to dock in Southampton due to a storm this morning.

Looks like the great British weather has done it again! P&O Cruises has confirmed the Oriana was unable to berth at Southampton Ocean Terminal this morning due to storm force winds and, as I write this, still awaiting a time to dock. P&O says the weather forecast will allow the ship to dock at around 7.30pm this evening at Ocean Terminal, with passengers able to stay on board overnight if they wish.

The Oriana was supposed to be departing tonight for a four-night cruise to Guernsey and Zeebrugge but has now been delayed for 24 hours, P&O in their generosity have given all passengers a 50 per cent discount.

A spokesman for P&O Cruises said: “Having looked at the weather forecast Oriana is planning to leave its current position around 7.30pm this evening to move to the Ocean Terminal, Southampton. Once the ship is secured then luggage will be off loaded into the terminal. Those passengers who wish to leave the ship will then be able to do so around 9pm, for those staying on board tonight all bars will remain open and there will be a full programme of entertainment as well as dinner with complimentary wine.”

Sounds good to me, half my money back and free wine – perfect!

Seriously though, I appreciate people have arrangements to keep and this kind of delay can cause havoc with Easter holiday plans but I’d love to hear from anyone who was/is on this cruise. In true British fashion did everyone make the best of it and enjoy themselves, did the complimentary wine ease the situation or was it more of an endurance contest?

I’d love to hear your stories.

Bye for now.