We don’t normally cruise in November, but decided to join some good friends and the Oriana’s Caribbean itinerary sounded perfect. The ship is in its last year for P&O and there were many onboard who were upset that she was leaving the fleet. However, she is in relatively good condition although there are few places on board that are showing their age. Generally the food was good in the MDR. We are not keen on self-service, so,cannot comment on the standard of food there.
We were amazed to find the Cruise Director, Hughie Taylor, was still working for P&O. We first met him back in the early 80’s on board Canberra. The entertainment programme was the same old and general consensus was that it needs updating. The guest speakers and many of the guest entertainers we had seen several times before. Again P&O need to look again at this, especially as many of their passengers are serial cruisers.
Unfortunately on this trip there were several medical evacuations by either helicopter or the ship turning back to a previous port. There were also many passengers using mobility devices. We thought that there was a restriction on how many were allowed aboard and found it worrying what would,happen in an emergency.
Good, plenty of storage. TV old fashioned and shower a bit small.