My mum’s review of her 70th Birthday cruise on The P&O Oriana

We set out on our first cruise on The Oriana on 30th January.  On reaching the Mayflower Terminal at Southampton we were ushered straight through onto the ship, so much better than going to an airport with all the crowds and stress.  We were thrilled to see our outside cabin, new carpets and found that for the first time we had a bath as well as a shower on board a cruise ship.

Our main dining room was at The Oriental Restaurant where we were served and looked after very well. My husband has to have gluten free food and one of the Head Waiters would come round each evening whilst in the dining room to let my husband browse through the menu for lunch and dinner the next day, and towards the end of our sitting at this restaurant was then able to order his meals for the next day happily.  The food and service was excellent in this restaurant.  We did try The Conservatory Restaurant, which was self service, sometimes at breakfast and lunchtime, which had a smaller amount of gluten free food to choose from.  This was good to use when we were going on trips or on our way back in the afternoon.

We were so surprised by the number of different lounges and bars on this smaller ship.   It took one back to a bygone age with all the classical decor.  The Crow’s Nest on Deck 13 was an amazing bar and lounge, so spacious with plenty of room for sitting .   Tiffany’s on Deck 8 Atrium was so relaxing especially in the evenings when we had the cocktail pianist playing.  I often visited the Harlequins Lounge where I had a go at line dancing on our days at sea.  Great fun, and well led by two of the Headliners Theatre Company. We were taught three dances each session and  all of us there enjoyed ourselves immensely.  My husband and I also tried a few of the ballroom and sequence dancing classes which were very well taught.  We also joined The Oriana Vocalists, which was a choir from about 100 strong brave passengers. This was very enjoyable, all in all we learnt to sing five popular songs and on the last day did a performance in the theatre.  Everyone enjoyed themselves practicing, it was very well led by two of The Headliners Theatre Company, who put many a smile on our faces and  a lot of laughter too.

The entertainment on board this ship was first class ranging from a couple of violinists who could play from classical to pop brilliantly, had the whole theatre standing and singing when they played the well know tunes from the last night at the proms.  The Oriana orchestra gave us a superb tribute to Glenn Miller.  The Headliners Theatre Company did some wonderful musical performances from various shows and different eras.  Twice we were entertained by a tribute band to the Four Seasons which were as good as The Jersey Boys, if  not better.  A few afternoons we were enriched listening to a classical pianist who was amazing.

We went on two trips on this cruise and was pleased to find that these were well organised.  The trip to Obidos from our dock at Lisbon was amazing.  It was so interesting looking round this walled medieval village.  We had an excellent guide with us on this trip.

Unfortunately on our days at sea the ship moved and rocked around a lot, it became very unsteady for people walking and we met a couple who stayed in their room for some meals as it was too difficult for the wife to walk while the ship was unstable like this.  A number of us felt very sick with the movement too.

We definitely would sail again on The Oriana in future, as it has a character all of its own and all the staff were so helpful.