Farewell Oriana

So the rumours have been true and P&O have finally announced  that Oriana will leave their fleet next year.  In a statement last week P&O Cruises senior vice president Paul Ludlow said:

“Oriana is an original, and a much loved P&O Cruises ship. Whilst we will miss her, her departure will allow us to focus on our remaining mid-sized and larger ships as the fleet expands with Iona and her sister ship in 2020 and 2022 respectively. Oriana will be with us until August next year so there will be plenty of opportunity to celebrate her time with us. Those guests who have sailed on Oriana will then be able to enjoy holidays on Aurora and Arcadia, both of which are exclusively for adults and have a very similar on board feel, and experience the re-vitalisation taking place over the next year.”

In the last couple of years P&O have sold 2 of their smaller ships Adonia and now Oriana, these will be replaced by 2 new much bigger ships Iona in 2020 and her sister, as yet to be named, in 2022. So yes their passenger capacity will increase but at what expense?

I personally like Britannia but a lot of  P&O customers don`t. They often say she is too big, ( the new ships will be even bigger ) corridors are too long and that she is ” bland”. I think she is quite a sophisticated ship, probably more like Celebrity in style than traditional P&O, her lighting is stunning and her decor upmarket and quite low key, but she is definitely not a traditional P&O ship in the style of Oriana, Oceana and Arcadia,

Ive said it before and I`m saying it again, why do cruise lines think that ships have to be bigger and bigger? Does bigger mean better ? Clients were upset when Adonia left the fleet so surely two new medium size ships to replace her and Oriana would be a better option than two huge ones? The destinations would be far more interesting and far less hassle for passengers disembarking in ports of call, never mind the endless queues at check in, especially in Southampton.

So sadly Oriana is going  but she does still have some sailings left which are now selling out fast. Her last voyage is on 22nd July 2019 when she will sail up to the Arctic Circle for an 18 night  voyage. There are still cabins available to book but these are likely to sell out very quickly.