The Oriana, a passenger ship under the United Kingdom flag, is currently located in the North Sea and West Mediterranean. It was launched by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth in 1995 and has become one of Britain’s most popular cruise ships. The ship has a beam of 105ft (32.2m), a draft of 27ft (8.2m), and a cruising speed of 24 knots. It is flagged Bermuda and is commanded by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.
The current position of the ship is at the North Sea, with the vessel en route to NOSVG – NOOLD, sailing at a speed of 19.2 knots. The ship is expected to arrive in Norway on July 30, 2021.
The former PO Oriana cruise ship was named Piano Land at Xiamen International Cruise Terminal in Xiamen, Fujian Province, China. It is currently located in the UK Coast Atlantic and West Coast Canada. Between 1981 and her retirement from service, Oriana was based in Sydney, Australia, operating to Pacific Ocean and South-East Asian ports. After a 24-year career with PO Cruises UK, the Oriana is now heading to new owners in China and completed her final sailing for PO.
Oriana is currently in Southampton preparing for her cruise to the Mediterranean. Passengers will be treated to some iconic features, such as the successful maiden voyage of the 1960 Oriana to Australia. However, a 50-night Caribbean, Mexico, and US cruise was cancelled in January due to technical issues. The ship left Sydney for the last time, under tow from the tug Lady Lorraine.
📹 P&O Oriana Full Tour – HD tour of P&O’s beloved Oriana (now Piano Land)
Welcome to my P&O Oriana Cruise Ship Tour. The Oriana has just been sold and will leave the P&O Cruises fleet in August 2019 …
📹 P&O CRUISE SHIP ORIANA – Behind the Scenes
A vintage video from P&O showing the beautiful cruise ship Oriana, once the finest UK cruise ship afloat. #cruiseship #cruising …
The very first cruise ship I went on in 1996 when she was only a year old. She was the pride of the fleet which replaced Canberra. I have been on Oriana 8 times in total of the 36 cruises I have done. It will be an emotional day to me when she leaves the P & O fleet. Cruising changed my life as I met my wife on Arcadia in 1998. Lovely article which shows off this wonderful ship very well. Shame the waterfall went.
We went on the Oriana in October for 18 days and really loved it we had a balcony cabin which was fantastic. The interior of the ship was beautiful and we could find our way around easily without getting lost like we did on the Azura. The reason we choose that ship was thats its much smaller and more personal x
Love this article. Thank you for sharing. I remember as a child when this ship was launched and I was fascinated. I loved the old livery. I do find it amusing that they have the union Jack on the hull, considering it is an American company. It makes me think who are they kidding. A bit like how British cunard is these days 😉
This ship is also highly unusual among cruise vessels in that it has a traditional Diesel–mechanical transmission instead of a Diesel–electric system. In other words, most cruise ships nowadays have Diesel engines (or gas turbines) driving generators which in turn power electric motors that turn the props, but Oriana goes the old-school route where the engines drive the props through a reduction gearbox. It has two variable-pitch propellers and four MAN Diesel 58/64 engines, which have a 58 cm bore, 64 cm stroke (hence the name), 13.2:1 static compression ratio, and rated speeds of 428 RPM (for 50 Hz power) or 400 RPM (for 60 Hz power). Each propeller is driven by one 6L (inline six cylinder) engine producing 7,860 kW (10,560 HP) at 400 RPM and one 9L (inline nine cylinder) engine producing 11,790 kW (15,840 HP) at 400 RPM geared together through a two-into-one gearbox. You’ll find propulsion systems where each shaft has two engines geared together (known as Combined Diesel and Diesel) mostly on non-high-speed RoPax ferries, although many military vessels have similar arrangements, sometimes using gas turbines or electric motors in addition to Diesel engines (Combined Diesel and Gas, Combined Diesel–Electric and Diesel, Combined Diesel–Electric and Gas, et cetera ).
I went on this ship for a cruise around the Med in 1995. I think it was only her 7th voyage so she was very new. I was 13 years old. Lovely to see all these spaces – brings back memories! I have article footage of the cruise too I had a new camcorder. Maybe I should upload some of it. 🙂 one thing I noticed is the atrium had a running waterfall down the stairwell when I was onboard. Now it looks like it’s some greenery?
Excellent article Chris. I have managed to sail on Oriana only once as when P&O decided to change her status to adult only I was unsure whether I wanted to travel with a much older clientele. Shame she is going though as she is a perfect size for those of us not inclined towards the huge mega ships which P&O seem to prefer?
I traveled on this Oriana her maiden season and also the original Oriana several times which wasn’t such a success but a beautiful design from the outside..I think the navy funnel is not traditional P&O or Orient Line colour and I personally don’t like the blue.Why did they change the colour some genius must have felt it was a wonder idea..This and Aurora were in my view the last of the real P&O ships before the larger Grand Princess series I think they have totally lost the feel of real cruise ships.I’ve traveled on most of the P&O ships dating back to Chusan,Arcadia and Iberia,Oronsay,Orsovo, Canberra and Original Oriana .I now cruise on the smaller ships such as Regent,Crystal, and Silversea .Mainly because they are the nearest to the old ships but with less entrainment.
I am the son of a former P&O and Orient Line Chief Engineer. I have never been a fan of the all white livery. I much prefer the OLD CORN COLOURED Hull, Green Waterline Paint strip; White superstructure and Corn Coloured Funnel. Leave the Union Flag painted on the bow. My late father was somewhat crushed the day all the “O” Boats of the Orient Steam Navigation company was changed from their corn coloured hull and funnel to the P& O Colours. I remember the fist Oriana.s maiden voyage on 3 December 1960. I hope the bloody Chinese look after Oriana 2, and hope she does not end up wrecked like her first namesake after the Chinese bought that ship.