Ocean Village – Where are they now?

‘The cruise for people who don’t do cruises’

I remember one of the very first cruises I did was on Ocean Village. This was back many moons ago but I think one of the best cruises I ever did. We flew from London Gatwick and joined the Ocean Village 1 for a seven night Western Mediterranean cruise.

Of course I was much younger at the time and the ship felt huge but when you compare her in size to something such as the Azura or the Independence of the seas she is actually fairly small at 63,500 gross tonnes.

For those that never sailed on Ocean Village, you may have still been on the ship as she has always lived in the P&O and Princess family.  Ocean Village 1 was launched in 1988 and sailed under Princess Cruises as the Star Princess between 1989 and 1997.  She then went over to her better known position as the Arcadia for P&O cruises up until 2003 which is when she first went across to Ocean Village.

It’s a similar story with the Adonia.  Before being taken over by P&O, she was owned by Princess Cruises.  If you go even further back and look at the old Adonia (the sister to the Oceana) you’ll find she was the Sea Princess so went from Princess to P&O and then back to Princess. However this can also happen before they even hit the waves.  The current Arcadia wasn’t actually built with the intention of sailing for P&O. When she was ordered, she was due to be the new Vista Class ship for Holland America and then signed over to be the new Queen Elizabeth before it finally being decided that she’s be the new Arcadia.

Back in 2003 when Arcadia sailed as Ocean Village, it was the start of something new.  A brand of cruise aimed at the younger market and maybe we have Ocean Village partly to thank for introducing younger people to cruising.

The Arcadia was renamed Ocean Village and repainted as part of the refit to get her to attract the younger market.  Featuring the unforgettable vivid purple, yellow and red swoosh across the front of the ship, she was instantly recognisable. The internal areas of the ship were completely renovated to remove the more traditional and British interior for a more lively and casual feel.

For those who did travel on the old Arcadia this may feel like a trip back in time.  The library and the Canberra Room were taken out and a new casino was put in its place.  The Horizon Court Lounge was completely gutted and replaced with the Bayside Club as the Gym.

Ocean Village was to reflect a new style of cruising, a more British freestyle cruise for the younger generation. Maybe this is also what has made NCL as big as they are today with their Freestyle ways, except Ocean Village just offered buffet dining unless you wanted to pay to eat in the James Martin Restaurant.  The food was great and all around the clock.

Also during the transformation from Arcadia to Ocean Village she had a large steel arch fitted over the Lido Deck where they would perform breath taking acrobatic shows on the deck.

 Now let’s have a look at the history behind Ocean Village 2.  She again started under the P&O and Princess banner as the Crown Princess between 1990 and 2002.  She then became the A’Rosa Blu and served from 2002 to 2004.  A cruise line with a similar concept to Aida, they were established in 2001 as a subsidiary of P&O and Princess Cruises.  The design of the company was to serve the German market alongside the Aida fleet. The Aida fleet was also acquired by P&O back in 1999.  In 2003 P&O and Princess merged with Carnival to form the Carnival Corporation PLC.  The A’Rosa brand was sold soon after the merger and was purchased by a private company who are still in operation to this day.

After this she was given to Aida and sailed as the AidaBlu from 2004 to 2007 before transferring across to become Ocean Village 2.

She was a fairly similar ship to Ocean Village although she was a Crown Princess Class of cruise ship and at 69,845 gross tonnes, she was slightly bigger.

A second ship was built to the same design which also sailed under the Princess name as the old Regal Princess from 1991 to 2007 when she transferred across to P&O Australia to sail as Pacific Dawn.

In April 2007, the ship was transferred to Ocean Village to become the second in the fleet and after a small refit she was christened as Ocean Village 2 by Jodie Kidd and Jemma Kidd.

So here is the big question, what did happen to Ocean Village?  On the 30^th October 2008, Carnival Corporation & PLC announced the closure of their Ocean Village brand. Sadly both of the ships were then transferred across to P&O Australia where Ocean Village now sails as Pacific Pearl and Ocean Village 2 as Pacific Jewel.

Ocean Village 2 was the first to leave as she left Ocean Village on the 14 November 2009 for a two week refit at the Sembawang Shipyards in Singapore which included minor upgrades and renovation of her facilities. Bearing in mind it had been two years since joining Ocean Village, she only needed a minor refit and a spruce up.

Ocean Village left and sailed on her final farewell voyage on the 21^st October for a 23 day cruise taking in the Middle East and India and finally stopping in Singapore where she entered a dry dock at Sembawang Shipyard to become Pacific Pearl.  This also marked the end of the era and the end of the Ocean Village Cruise Line. She had some new features such as the Salt Grill by Luke Mangan and the sea screen on the pool deck.

For all you Neighbours fans out there, on the 27^th August 2010, the Soap opera filmed scenes on board the Pacific Jewel.  Actors and crew took five hours to shoot on and around the ship taking in the running track and circus arena on the top deck.  Some of the crew were given the chance to be extras on board.

Ocean Village 1 and 2 have provided some very happy family holidays.  We loved their relaxed style and sense of fun found on board and it was a home from home. My favourite part was the back of the ships as they were tiered although no one really seemed to use this area.

Now we have MSC, NCL, Island and Thomson Cruises but personally, for me, none of them hold a flame to the memories I have from Ocean Village.

Have you sailed on Ocean Village?  I would love to hear what you thought of the ships and whether you think they made the right move in moving to Australia?

[email protected] – 0800 408 6143 – www.tomstravels.co.uk