Day Eight of my Review of our P&O cruise abroad the Oriana.

Day eight of our cruise aboard P&O's Oriana brings us full circle back to Southampton in England.

Our final morning onboard Oriana (for this holiday at least) and we awoke to find we were docking in Southampton at the new Ocean Cruise terminal.

We decided to breakfast in the formal dining setting of the Peninsular restaurant and therefore headed down for the first sitting at 07:00am. Having to choose a particular breakfast rather than having the freedom dining of the Oriental did seem a bit strange. The food however was still of an excellent quality with friendly and polite service.

So that there is not a mad rush for the gangways, P&O have a colour code system for disembarkation.

We had been allocated purple which meant we did not have to leave the ship until 09:40am. This was fine as we were in no hurry to end our holiday. There is opportunity to change your departure time if you need to by calling at the main reception.

As we had time to spare, and our luggage had been taken from our cabin shortly after breakfast, we stopped at the Terrace bar for coffee.

Looking across the waters of Southampton I spotted Fred Olsens', Black Watch ship whom we had berthed next to in Bilbao. They seemed to be tied up at the berth that we had left from a week earlier.

Sitting on the terrace with the flags waving gently in the breeze under a clear blue sky I thought back over our holiday.

The ship had proved to be as good as the brochure had promised. The staff were all polite and friendly. There had been lots of activities to do over the course of the week for all ages. From the kids clubs (we didn't need them this time) to workshops, tours, dance instruction, seminars, talks, shows and live music and much, much more. There was also plenty of space just to quietly relax in places such as the library or secluded deck areas without piped music spoiling the ambiance.

The ship was always clean and well looked after. The brasses around the ship seemed to be polished daily and the decks were cleaned every night.

Access was good throughout the ship, although some doors out onto the deck areas were so heavy, assistance was needed to open them.

All the restaurants were of a very high calibre, with plenty of choice of fresh, well presented and tasty food.

If anything let it down it was some of the evening entertainment in the main theatre. The comedian Paul Boardman was mediocre at best. He ran out of material before the end of his set which spoiled the performance. The cabaret star Jimmy James was unfortunately not our choice of music and having him on two different nights of a 7 night cruise was a bit too much. Fortunately P&O do offer alternative entertainment around the ship so we were always able to find something to enjoy.

It was a shame when our colour was called forward for disembarkation. We had really enjoyed our time on the Oriana.

Disembarkation was easy with ramped access leading up into the Cruise terminal. Luggage was laid out in deck sections. Our cases had got a bit separated but it was easy to locate them and load them onto a trolley.

As we left the terminal building signs pointed us to the car park where our car was waiting for us. After a short wait we picked up our keys and lettered location of the car within the car park and were able to load our luggage for the journey home.

Photo courtesy of Pengannel

Thank you P&O for a wonderful holiday aboard the Oriana. I look forward to joining you again next year this time on the Azura.

Day Seven of my Review of our P&O cruise abroad the Oriana.

As we came out on deck on day seven of our P&O cruise on board the Oriana, we were travelling in to Brest in North western France.

As we breakfasted in the Conservatory Restaurant, Oriana passed by many lighthouses and islands on the way into our berth in Brest. We berthed at 09:15am, the weather was good the location lovely a promising start to the day.

Brest is France's main navel port. It has many fine examples of maritime history many of which may be found in its Musée de la Marine, located in the Brest Castle.

Photo courtesy of S. DÉNIEL

As we disembarked we found that there were various stalls set up on the quayside selling typical Breton wares and souvenirs.

We again used the complimentary bus service provided by P&O to explore Brest.

The journey in was short the bus stopping at various points of interest along the way to allow passengers to get on and off depending what they wanted to see.

The City Hall or place de la Liberté dominates the central plaza in Brest. Normally fountains would be seen in the plaza with water cascading down the slope from the City Hall. Unfortunately during our visit these had been switched off as they were setting up for an event set to take place there that evening.

Just up from the City Hall was a lovely cafe with a large selection of coffees, and patisseries.

We chose a large raspberry cream tart each and sat watching the people of Brest go by, very nice.

Brest town centre was undergoing some major construction works whilst we were there to beautify it with fountains and gardens running down the length of the main street.

We caught the bus service back to Oriana's berth at approximately 2:00pm stopping to get a few souvenirs from the stalls before boarding.

After enjoying a late lunch on the rear terraces we opted to just enjoy the sunshine in a secluded spot at the very front of the ship. There were various activities available to do but on this occasion we chose just to enjoy the sunshine.

We set sail back out passed the lighthouses and picturesque scenery at 4:00pm. The sea was perfectly calm the weather was gorgeous and hot and sunny. A very nice afternoon.

Dinner this evening in the Oriental restaurant was smart casual. The food again was excellent served by our waiter John and his assistant Ismail. We were presented with a presentation folder of our menus of this last week as a memento of our holiday which was a very nice touch.

The evenings show was a musical extravaganza in the Theatre Royal. Great visually and musically, a nice way to spend the evening.

After the show we migrated to our usual spot in the Crows Nest lounge to while away the rest of the evening listening to good music whilst supping coffee or Mocktails.

We had visited Brest before, but it was good to return to see it again as it is a lovely part of France.

A great day helped by beautiful weather.

Day Six of my Review of our P&O cruise abroad the Oriana.

This morning, our sixth day aboard P&O’s Oriana, we awoke as we docked in Bilbao in Northern Spain at 07:00am.

Looking across from the ship we could see we were berthed along side Fred Olsen Cruise Lines ‘Black Watch ship.

As you can see from the above photo, the Black Watch ship is considerably smaller than the Oriana. It was joked among the Oriana customers, that the Black Watch could be used as one of the Oriana’s lifeboats. Although this analogy may not be true the difference in size was considerable.

We decided following breakfast to take one of the complimentary coaches provided by P&O from our berth into the town of Bilbao.

This was the only port in which we were required to carry our passports ashore. This was at the request of the local authorities, although we were never asked to show them.

Bilbao is home to the Guggenheim Modern Art Gallery. An art gallery famous not only for its wealth of treasured art inside it, but also for the structure of the museum itself. The avant garde architecture of the museum stands out against the river as you travel into Bilbao on the coach.

The complimentary coaches drop you off in the town centre and pick up at regular intervals throughout the day. Disabled passengers were catered for with a specially adapted coach with a rear lift allowing wheelchair users the same opportunities to explore Bilbao.

We strolled along the river bank from the town centre to the Guggenheim gallery a distance of approximately 20 minutes.

Some of the architectural features outside the art gallery are stunning such as this sculpture of silver balls.

I couldn't resist zooming in on this sculpture to capture the repeated reflections and contemporary feel of the art.

Another contemporary piece of sculpture outside the gallery is the giant spider 'Maman' by Louis Burgeois who sadly passed away last week aged 98.

Due to time restrictions and wanting to explore more of Bilbao we decided to not pay to go in to the gallery, instead wandering back into the centre before heading back to the ship at 3:00pm.

We spent the afternoon relaxing on the ships rear terraces. The ship cast its moorings at 4:29 accompanied by another sail away party. This time the entertainment team encouraged us to bid fair well to all those aboard the Black Watch as we left port.

The evening meal in the Oriental restaurant was a formal/ Black and white themed evening. This meant dinner jacket or tuxedo for the gentlemen and cocktail dresses for the ladies.

The food was again exemplary, with delights such as;

Wild Boar, Duck and dried fruit terrine with cider jelly and toasted brioche for starter.

Followed by;

Cream of Asparagus soup with parmesan croutons.

Main course was;

Breast of English pheasant wrapped in bacon with roasted fig and celeriac mash, gaufrete potatoes and thyme gravy.

A dessert of

Sachertorte with white chocolate mousse and an apricot curd shell to follow.

The meal was then rounded off with,

a cheese board and fresh coffee with speciality truffles.

After this beautiful meal we relaxed in the Crows nest lounge with evening mocktails and listened to the sounds of High Life.

Photo courtesy of GrahamAndDairne

Today had been a wonderful day. Great weather, lovely location and exceptional atmosphere aboard the Oriana.

Day Five of my Review of our P&O cruise abroad the Oriana.

The fifth day aboard P&O's cruise liner the Oriana was spent at sea.

Photo courtesy of jaywood_uk

Having left Ireland the night before we were cruising down through the Bay of Biscay towards our next destination Bilbao, Spain a distance of 545 nautical miles.

As we knew that today was to be spent at sea we decided to have a lie in and went for breakfast in the Conservatory restaurant at 09:15am.

Having checked out the 'horizon' mag the night before Mel and I had chosen different activities to partake in this morning. Mel went off to practice her dancing in Harlequins. First Line dancing followed by a bit of waltzing.

I had surprisingly chosen to do a Digital Photo editing course in the deck 13 Medina room. The course was a little basic but I did learn a few new tricks and short-cuts. It also gave me the chance to play about with photos, a bit of a passion for me as you may have guessed.

After meeting Mel up again with Mel in the Crows nest for a drink we decided to go for a stroll around the deck before going to the formal dining 'Peninsular restaurant' for lunch.

The acclaimed speaker Harvey Mann, famous for being only one of a few people that has been allowed to live with the 700 mountain gorillas in the Virunga mountains of Rwanda gave a talk in the Pacific lounge following lunch.

Maybe the highlight of the day (some may even say the cruise) was also held this afternoon. It was the famous 'Chocoholics Buffet'.

The Oriental resteraunt was transformed into a sea of chocolate. There was huge carved chocolate eagles and Unicorns.

Chocolate fountains with marshmellows and fruit. Every type of chocolate cake imaginable.

Buffet photos are stills from my ipod nano video capture.

The carvings were all done by the head chef and were very exquisitely detailed.

There was also an opportunity to take a look behind the scenes in the ships galley. The galley serves more than 12,000 meals every day. An enormous undertaking in an enormous galley.

After our buffet we took the opportunity to rest beside the pool on deck 11. Oriana heats their pools to a lovely 30 degrees centigrade. You can see the steam rising off it in the mornings.

The evenings meal in the Oriental restaurant was a semi-formal attired venue. This meant a smart shirt and trousers, with jacket for the gentlemen and smart separates or an elegant dress for the ladies. The ship sets dress codes for each evening with attire ranging from smart casual to semi-formal to formal.

Following dinner we decided to go to the Charlie Chaplin Cinema and watch the film 'Avatar' (this time with no interruptions by announcements). A great film.

After the film Mel went to the Harlequin lounge to put her dancing instruction to good use in the 'Hoedown' and I went to the Theatre Royal to watch the comedian Paul Boardman. He was good but he seemed to run out of material before the end of his set and therefore resorted to quick one liner jokes.

We met up again in the Crows Nest for our late evening Mocktails accompanied by live music by the group 'High Life' before retiring to our cabin.

Today we had been at sea all day, but the amount of options for entertainment available had been extensive. There had been lots of other options for things to do around the ship but not enough time to be everywhere at once.

A very good day none the less.

Join us tomorrow as we move onto Bilbao in Spain.

Day Four of my Review of our P&O cruise abroad the Oriana.

The fourth day of our cruise aboard P&O's ship the Oriana found us visiting Cobh (pronounced Cove) in the south coast of Ireland.

We cruised passed the Roches Point lighthouse a little after 07:00am and proceeded down the entry channel to the picturesque port of Cobh docking just after 08:00am.

We were able to watch the ship cruise down the approach and dock in Cobh whilst enjoying a full cooked breakfast next to the panoramic windows in the Conservatory Restaurant.

Many of the passengers were taking booked excursions to the surrounding area and into Ireland's second largest city of Cork. Others decided to avail themselves of the frequent railway service, that left from the station directly adjacent to our dock.

We had decided that we would not go on an excursion and, as the weather was good, we instead take a look around the very picturesque town of Cobh.

The first building you come to, on disembarking the ship, was the Cobh visitor centre.

In here was an exhibition cataloguing the history of Cobh over the years. Passengers of the Oriana were extended a discount for entry into the exhibition, though it was still fairly expensive at 8 Euro's each.

The exhibition is called the Queenstown story, this is due to the time when Cobh was renamed Queenstown following the visit of Queen Victoria in 1849. It tells the story of Cobh's somewhat ill fated history.

Two and a half million people emigration by ship from here to get away from the effects of the potato famine between 1845-49. Many of these died in the crossings.

It tells of the liner Sirius the first transatlantic steamer to go from Cobh to America in 18 days.

It also chronicles the ill fated sailing of the Titanic in 1912 which left Cobh after picking up 123 passengers on her maiden voyage, only to sink 4 days later, 400 miles south of Newfoundland with the loss of 1,513 lives, 83 of those had joined the ship at Cobh.

There are many beautiful examples of architecture throughout Cobh such as the square above with its arch leading through to rows of brightly coloured houses leading up the hillside.

The Neo-Gothic Roman Catholic St Coleman's Cathedral stands prominent over the town. Built of granite it was commissioned in 1865 but not completed until 1915 at a cost of £235,000. Its impressive 287 foot spire hosts the largest carillon (47 bells) in Ireland.

We went back on board the Oriana for lunch at 12:30 in the conservatory restaurant.

The weather unfortunately clouded over in the afternoon, so we decided to visit the Charlie Chaplin cinema to watch Disney's, Princess and the Frog. Unfortunately this was marred by the continuous interruptions over the tannoy system, informing passengers and crew of essential Fire Door testing. The sound was cut for the announcement but the picture kept going hence lots of key sections of the film were missed.

Following the film we went to the Crows Nest bar to grab a quick coffee floater and hot chocolate.

Mel went from here to the Oasis Spa as she had the opportunity to sample a free acupuncture session that afternoon. She said it helped her to relax and allowed for a very restful sleep that night

.

While Mel was having her acupuncture session, I went to the 'sail away' party at the rear terrace area of the ship. P&O have a sail away party on their ships every time the ship leaves a country to go on to a new one. There is lots of singing, flag waving and games for the children, including entertainment by the ships team and the children's ship mascot Noddy.

Following our evening meal taken in the Oriental restaurant we went to see the show

F-ABBA-ULOUS in the Theatre Royal. As you may have guessed from the title this was a tribute to the songs of ABBA. It was lively, fun and well performed.

After the show we retired to the Crows nest for live music and mocktails before retiring late to bed, remembering to put our clocks forward to GMT +2.

A great and informative day spent in Cobh and on-board the Oriana.

Day Three of my Review of our P&O cruise abroad the Oriana.

Day three aboard P&O's Oriana was a day set to be spent docked in Dublin.

Photo of Oriana sailing into Dublin courtesy of Liffey River cruises.

We were up for breakfast in the Conservatory Restaurant fairly early as we had booked ourselves on a river and coach tour of Dublin due to leave at 08:30am.

We docked in the port of Dublin just after 08:00am. The weather was bright and sunny and relatively warm. A good day for touring Dublin.

We left the ship via the gangplank on deck 4 which was only slightly sloped so was easily accessible by disabled passengers. Your on-board pass was checked as you departed for security and emergency procedure precautions. Passports were not required only your ships pass card.

We boarded the coach that would take us to our first part of the tour that of a river tour up the Liffey through the centre of Dublin.

Our river cruise was provided by 'Liffey River Cruises'. The boats tour guide was very informative and his information seemed accurate and it was laced with plenty of humour. The Liffey is the name of the river that flows through the centre of Dublin. The name Dublin is derived from 'Dubh Linn' in Irish which translated means Black pool. So as our river guide said we were not in Dublin but rather Blackpool. The river cruise was very low to the water a big difference from the height of the Oriana. We were soon to realise this was necessary due to the number of bridges we would be passing under on our trip up the Liffey.

There are 24 bridges across the river in Dublin one of them is the spectacular Samuel Beckett Bridge or as the Dubliners call it the harp bridge. It was designed by Santiago Calatrava and it was built in Rotterdam by Hollandia (who also did the steel work for the London Eye) and shipped whole by barge across to Dublin.

The picture above shows a recurrent theme around Dublin that of harp. This one is on the side of the Loopline railway bridge (Liffey Viaduct). The harp is the emblem of Ireland and is portrayed in many forms around the capital.

The next leg of our tour was by coach. Our tour guide was a lady called Sheila who obviously knew her subject matter and was able to give plenty of detail to the route as we went around Dublin.

We were taken past Trinity College the oldest university in Ireland. It was founded by Queen Elizabeth I in 1592. Examples of distinguished alumni of the University are Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, Oliver Goldsmith and Samuel Beckett.

Dublin's St Patrick's Cathedral (shown above) was built on the site of the original church of 1181. It was built on the site of the holy well used by St Patrick to baptise converts in the 5th Century. The cathedral pictured above was dedicated in 1254.

We proceeded from central Dublin into Phoenix Park one of the largest enclosed parks in Europe. It is bigger than all of London's city parks combined and more than twice that of New York's Central Park.

It is also home to Ireland's Presidential residence Aras an Uachtarain pictured above.

The cross pictured above was erected for the visit of Pope John Paul II to Phoenix park in 1978 when he conducted an open air mass attended by over a million people.

The Papal throne used at that time is still on display in the parks visitors centre.

The mornings tour was rounded off by Ashtown castle where we were given time to have a wonder around the visitors centre and a quick drink and cake from the cafe.

The chocolate crispy cakes on offer where some of the largest I've come across and very delicious.

It was then back to the ship for a late lunch in the Conservatory restaurant followed by a well earned time spent relaxing by the pool.

We chose to go to the Conservatory restaurant for our evening meal as they were offering a full Indian buffet. The food was good though nothing out of the ordinary except for a very delicious lassi drink, a blend of yoghurt, milk and Indian spices. Mel liked the lassi drink so much, she kept going back for more.

The early evening was spent up in the Crows Nest watching as the ship departed Dublin followed by a concert by a classical guitarist in the Pacific Lounge.

It was all rounded off my coffee in the Crows Nest listening to Tritones.

Photo of Oriana in Dublin courtesy of Liffey River cruises.

A very memorable and enjoyable day spent in Dublin.

Day Two of my Review of our P&O cruise abroad the Oriana.

Day Two aboard the Oriana, was set to be a day at sea, travelling around the tip of Cornwall and heading up into the Celtic Sea on our way to our first port of call, Dublin.

For breakfast we chose the self service option in the lovely Conservatory restaurant.

It was high up on deck 12 giving a good panoramic view through the large windows running around all sides of the restaurant. There was a wide choice of options on offer ranging from a full English cooked breakfast to continental style breads, cheeses, hams through to fruits, yoghurts and various cereals. The quality of the food and the service of the staff were excellent. Access around the restaurant was good and the staff went out of their way to assist in carrying trays and drinks when needed.

The night before a horizon magazine had been left in our cabin listing what was going on and where it would happen.

On the front it highlights the expected weather and sea conditions, special events occurring and any specific safety notices. Inside is a detailed program of the days events on offer, showing times and places. One of the events listed was a photo club at 10am in the Chaplins Cinema. So after breakfast I went for a look around the ship, stopping in the cinema to see what it was about. Unfortunatly it had been a misprint in the magazine and the photo club would not be on, on this cruise, shame. Whilst I was there though I checked to see what would be showing later in the day and during the rest of the week in the cinema. Access to the cinema was good with dedicated areas for wheelchairs and their companions set out at the rear. I found that Avatar would be showing later in the week so would have to come back to see that.

As there was no photo club I tried my hand at the Horror Movies quiz one deck down in the Lords Tavern, a cricket themed bar. Unfortunately my memory was not good enough to win, but the drinks and atmosphere of the bar were good.

While I was making a fool of myself in the quiz my wife, Mel was having a go at the Line dancing lessons in the Harlequins Club. A venue that during the day catered for various dancing and exercise classes and in the evening became a Ballroom or nightclub in which to try out your newly acquired dancing skills.

Later in the morning we took a stroll around the deck. The weather was beautiful and sunny and as you can see from the picture not a cloud in the sky.

Very few boats passed us considering we were travelling through highly commercial shipping lanes. Some like the one above made for good photo opportunities though.

(I've tweaked it a bit in Photoshop to give it an extra artistic look).

Lunch was in the Peninsular Restaurant. This is the formal dining option for lunch. I chose the Grapefruit salad followed by a Waldorf salad and rounded up with Peach soufflé. Mel chose the Pea soup to start followed by Crab in its upturned shell for the main course and Peach soufflé for dessert. The service was good and the food excellent.

We had booked ourselves into the Oasis Spa that afternoon. I had chosen an Indian head and back massage which was very relaxing. Mel went for the full body massage and said she too felt very relaxed after it. Just what was needed at the start of the holiday to help us relax, take away any stress and set us up for the rest of the holiday.

We had been invited to attend a 'Meet the Captain' reception prior to our evening meal. This was held in the Pacific Lounge (which was also our emergency station) at the Stern of the ship. Drinks and canopies were provided and we were introduced to our Captain, Ian Huntley.

Dinner followed in the Oriental Restaurant.

The selection on offer was outstanding. The meal was all silver service dining. Served by friendly, experienced and polite waiters.

The food presentation was of a very high standard and the quality and taste were excellent.

The evenings main entertainment was a show in the Main theatre 'The Theatre Royal', entitled 'I Write the Songs' a production by the Headliners Theatre company, of music including artists such as Elton John and Barry Manilow. The show was entertaining, full of good music and dance. The theatre had plenty of seating available, (Although it filled up very quickly) and had good access for disabled passengers with dedicated areas for wheelchair users and their companions.

After the show it was up to the Crows Nest at the top of the ship for evening drinks whilst listening to the live music provided by 'High Life'.

A great end to our first full day aboard the Oriana.