Today 9th August with a tear in our eye, we said goodbye to Oriana for the very last time. Gerrards have maintained the carpets upholstery and soft furnishings on board
MV Oriana since her maiden voyage back in 1995.
Back in the early 1990’s P&O took a huge gamble with their vision of UK cruising into the 21st Century. I don’t think even the most optimistic of those in the industry at that time could have ever envisaged just what the UK cruise market would become by 2019.
When she was built in 1995, Oriana was the first new ship commissioned for P&O Cruises, and the first to be designed specifically for the British cruise market. She was also designed in the style of an ocean liner to facilitate long distance voyages and world cruises. She is the longest serving ship in the fleet, having been in continuous service with the company since she was launched. Her design was so well thought out, that even today, her passenger space is hard to beat.
Here are some old photographs of us working on board Oriana back in 1995.
Oriana 1995
Oriana 2019
Oriana throughout her service held the Golden Cockerel as the fastest ship in the
P&O Cruises fleet, replacing SS Canberra. When Oriana left the fleet today the Golden Cockerel was handed over to her sister ship, Arcadia. Oriana was the oldest, and longest-serving, ship in the P&O fleet.
One last look.
Her final port of call as ‘Oriana’ was to Belfast on August 7th, 2019 before returning to Southampton one final time. She was sold to a Chinese company and has now been
re-named ‘Piano Land’. She had been leased back to P&O for the last few months in order to complete her final voyages with P&O. The ship will sail to China and be re-fitted before sailing out of Xiamen for her newly formed owners, Well Star Travel Cruises.
We wish MV Piano Land all the very best for her future!
