Bye Bye Oriana

P&O have announced that the Oriana ship which is the oldest ship in their fleet is to leave in August 2019. it’s also the smallest ship in the fleet at present with only 1880 passengers. She will be still in the fleet for another year so there will be many cruises still to go, as this is one of the most original and loved ships owned by P&O. She has a good number of repeat customers and I had a lot of good feedback from customers who booked the Oriana with me. The other medium size ship the Aurora will be refitted next spring as an adult only ship.The line plans three key areas of investment in shore excursions, dining and entertainment across mid-sized ships Arcadia and Aurora and Oceana as well as the larger ships Britannia, Azura and Ventura from summer 2019.

The departure of Oriana,  follows P&O Cruises ordering two large, 5,200-passenger ships.

The first, named Iona, is due to enter service in 2020 and will run on Liquefied Natural Gas. The second as yet unnamed 180,000 ton ship is set to join the fleet in 2022, giving a 50% hike in capacity in five years.A special final sailing on Oriana will be announced shortly. Further details of the new guest experiences will be announced over the next year.investments will be made across the line’s mid-sized ships Arcadia and Aurora and Oceana as well as its larger vessels Britannia, Azura and Ventura. Although I have not been on her myself I am sure she will be solely missed by a lot of P&O customers but I am sure they are going to give her a good send off in the final special voyage next year. The ship has been in the P&O fleet since 1995 but a lot has changed in the cruise industry since those days. What do you think? Have you been on it?