Just off Oriana

[loobylouuk]

just off Oriana today.

At the risk of sounding like a know it all,... if any one has any questions please feel free to ask and i will do my best to answer.

Lou

[CASPALL]

10 days until I go!

 

Hope you had a great time!

 

You seemed to have some nice weather judging by the webcams.

What was the entertainment like? The food? Any bathrobes provided? Tell all!

Did they sell cheap bottles of spirits for you to drink in your cabin on your cruise? (If they did then I won't bother to take any on board)

 

Caryl

[dak]

just off Oriana today.

At the risk of sounding like a know it all,... if any one has any questions please feel free to ask and i will do my best to answer.

Lou

 

I didn't see you!

 

Are you sure you were there? :) :)

 

David

[loobylouuk]

10 days until I go!

 

Hope you had a great time!

 

You seemed to have some nice weather judging by the webcams.

What was the entertainment like? The food? Any bathrobes provided? Tell all!

Did they sell cheap bottles of spirits for you to drink in your cabin on your cruise? (If they did then I won't bother to take any on board)

 

Caryl

 

 

Hi Caryl,yes thanks we had a great time and the weather was generally very good although it was a bit choppy at times!

 

If i were you and depending on your tipple i would take your own booze on

There were some offers ie 1ltr Bombay Gin £10.50 and Smirnoff £6.50 but other prices were similar to Tesco.

 

Cocktail of the Day 2.50

pint of Lager £2.50 pretty much pub prices.

 

Food was great but a not very exciting in my opinion....meat and 2 veg being pretty much the order of the day

 

No bathrobes in Bucket i'm afraid (inside cabin)

 

Cinema was great with a good range of films...Shriek 3,Oceans 13,Spiderman 3, a mighty heart.

 

Didn't see much entertainment so cannot comment although there was a good comedian. make sure you get there quick cos them seats go!!

 

Plenty of sunbeds and seating which was nice and the pools are heated to about 29-30c which was fab.

 

It feels like ages ago already!

Hope you have a great time

Lou

[loobylouuk]

I didn't see you!

 

Are you sure you were there? :) :)

 

David

 

Hi David,did you have a good time? we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, although we did think we had joined the conservative party conference at one point!!!

I looked for you!..where were you hiding?

We spent most evenings in Lords as the bar staff were more friendly there.

You probably would have noticed my 5yr old Daughter as she Blacked her eye quite badly within the first few hours of being in kids club!!good start!

She also doubled as the lift monitor.!

ho hum back to work tomorrow to pay for the next one!

Lou

[CASPALL]

"No bathrobes in Bucket i'm afraid (inside cabin)"

 

It's a bucket for us this time as well I'm afraid. It will be our 3rd cruise on the Oriana this year and paying inside cabin prices for 2 of them is the best way to do that.

I will take my own robe with me!

Thanks for the advice on the plonk. Asda in Southampton will be getting my money I think!

Bought my seasick tabs already!

When are you cruising next?

 

Caryl

[Cambridgecruiser]

10 days until I go!

 

Hope you had a great time!

 

You seemed to have some nice weather judging by the webcams.

What was the entertainment like? The food? Any bathrobes provided? Tell all!

Did they sell cheap bottles of spirits for you to drink in your cabin on your cruise? (If they did then I won't bother to take any on board)

 

Caryl

 

Good as always, except the bit from Tunis to Malaga when we had a nice feisty blow which made some people 'icky . Take a bottle with you if you wish, the duty free was not released until the last weekend although that said the prices of drinks in all the bars were reasonable.

 

loobylouuk where were you!? I was in the Lords' many times including the Sat football matches but did not stay long though 'cause as a nonsmoker it did get a bit heavy at times. it was a very older average age group on this cruise (800 portunas gold members on board, but only 150 kiddies) but it was still really good to walk around the ship and be recognised by the staff by name. But thats part why we go back for more from Oriana and P&O!!

 

Anyway enjoy

 

Cliver

[mary-jane]

Great to have met you et al, thought the cruise was wonderful and was easily our best yet. Perhaps the fact that we'd left the kids at home and did not have to put up with their constant rivalry helped??? It would have been improved even more had they done some washing up between when we left and when we arrived home!!!!!

 

We were also really impressed that we did not come across a single wingeing passenger - has to be a first. Do let us know if you get across to the East of England as we'd love to meet up again.

 

xJ&A

[loobylouuk]

Great to have met you et al, thought the cruise was wonderful and was easily our best yet. Perhaps the fact that we'd left the kids at home and did not have to put up with their constant rivalry helped??? It would have been improved even more had they done some washing up between when we left and when we arrived home!!!!!

 

We were also really impressed that we did not come across a single wingeing passenger - has to be a first. Do let us know if you get across to the East of England as we'd love to meet up again.

 

xJ&A

 

 

Hey hi Mary-Jane!!......

It was lovely to meet you both 2

Its a small world, i bet A was just as suprised as N to see each other!

N went back to work today he was not impressed at having to do that!

But he who wants to cruise and is not retired must work to pay for future cruises!!

Lou x

[loobylouuk]

loobylouuk where were you!? I was in the Lords' many times including the Sat football matches but did not stay long though 'cause as a nonsmoker it did get a bit heavy at times. it was a very older average age group on this cruise (800 portunas gold members on board, but only 150 kiddies) but it was still really good to walk around the ship and be recognised by the staff by name. But thats part why we go back for more from Oriana and P&O!!

 

Anyway enjoy

 

 

Hi Clive,

My husband and i(ooh that sounds a bit regal!......thats the Oriana effect!!) mostly proped up the bar or sat as far away as poss to the smokers in Lords.

We didn't get to see any of the footy games....up the Hammers! because we were otherwise engaged in Harlequins watching the childrens talent show etc

This is such a small forum that we should all have met up really it would of been nice to put a face to a name...........maybe next time.

Err it wasn't you who pinched me deck chair was it......they looked a bit gold:D :D :D

Lou

[loobylouuk]

"No bathrobes in Bucket i'm afraid (inside cabin)"

 

It's a bucket for us this time as well I'm afraid. It will be our 3rd cruise on the Oriana this year and paying inside cabin prices for 2 of them is the best way to do that.

I will take my own robe with me!

Thanks for the advice on the plonk. Asda in Southampton will be getting my money I think!

Bought my seasick tabs already!

When are you cruising next?

 

Caryl

 

Hi Caryl, we are booked onto Venturer for May 30th next year, i am really looking forward to that.

Mind you i've been looking at Independance of the Seas as well that looks amazing and as a young family....did i say young, i mean with young kids it might be a good option, not that Oriana wasn't enjoyable cos it was but i did feel that the cruisers were mostly very elderly and that the ship was traditional in most of its approaches probably to much so for us.

How about you?

Lou

[CASPALL]

"I did feel that the cruisers were mostly very elderly and that the ship was traditional in most of its approaches probably to much so for us."

 

I know what you mean. Our 2nd cruise (which was also the Oriana) was a 17 day one to the Bosphorous&Black Sea and was a bit like that. In fact it almost put me off cruising!!! I worked in a care home for the elderly at that time and to come on a cruise and be faced with more zimmers and motorised scooters than I had ever had to face at work was a bit of a shocker!

We have never ever met so many bad mannered people (loads of queue jumpers as well!) They had the poor waiters and cabin stewards running around after them - they were more like care workers than P&O stewards!!!

Definitely underpaid!

I'm kinda worried that our cruise next week might be a bit like that, but we'll just have to make the most of it whatever. My poor hubby hasn't had any time off work since our March cruise so he is desperate for this holiday!

Our next cruise is in January - San Francisco to Auckland and we're also on the Ventura in June. You'll be able to prepare me for that trip too!

Thanks for your input. It's your information that makes this forum!

 

Caryl

[CASPALL]

Another question! Are they still serving bubbly at the Captain's welcome reception? On our last cruise they seemed a bit mean with the fizz and we only managed to get one glass. We wondered if they were phasing it out to save money! They were overly generous with the spirits and wine though.

 

Caryl

[jhoney]

Sorry guys, I missed you all. Must have been too busy doing the quizzes. And we generally spent more time in the Crows Nest than in Lords Tavern.

 

For anyone interested, I have posted a small collection of pictures at

 

http://www.*****/travelpage/aspgallery/view_ad.asp?Ad_ID=2963

[Cambridgecruiser]

Sorry guys, I missed you all. Must have been too busy doing the quizzes. And we generally spent more time in the Crows Nest than in Lords Tavern.

 

......Crows Nest every morning after breakfast with the daily crossword normally just to the right of the daily chart, also on your Malaga sail away pic I was the other side on the same deck taking photo's as well:D

 

Cliver

[CASPALL]

Nice pics jhoney!

How were the quizzes this time - still as popular as ever? One cruise we couldn't even get a table!

We won the bubbly once, but they've downgraded to a bottle of wine now I think!

 

Caryl

[jhoney]

Thanks Caryl

 

The syndicate quizzes were very popular most nights, but with a 10.45 pm start, it was sometimes difficult to keep a clear head and answer the questions correctly. Wine OR bubbly is on offer to the winners - we won three bottles of bubbly over the two weeks.

 

There was an individual quiz every evening at 6.00 pm which usually attracted a couple of dozen contestants, with prizes ranging from pen sets to picture frames.

 

On each sea day morning there was a team quiz for which a team was selected each day to set half of the questions. That was fun - and we won that, too.

[cruisingOAP]

went on a 10 day cruise with Oriana starting on Nov 5th.

This was the worst of of more than 15 cruises we have been.

Starting and finishing a cruise in UK is good for those who don't want to fly. Unfortunately it also attracts many passengers belonging to those members of the great British Public who should not be allowed to cruise.

There were too many dirty people on board who probably disregarded the precautionary health advice given by P&O.

Half way through the cruise the nasty Norovirus started to spread like wildfire through the ship. My wife caught it and was quarantined for 48 hours. They let me go in and out of her cabin without restrictions. I went down with the virus 18 hours after we disembarded in Southampton.

I wonder whether there were passengers with Norovirus infections on the previous cruise, ie the one which finished on Nov. 5th ?:mad:

[daiB]

went on a 10 day cruise with Oriana starting on Nov 5th.

This was the worst of of more than 15 cruises we have been.

Starting and finishing a cruise in UK is good for those who don't want to fly. Unfortunately it also attracts many passengers belonging to those members of the great British Public who should not be allowed to cruise.

There were too many dirty people on board who probably disregarded the precautionary health advice given by P&O.

Half way through the cruise the nasty Norovirus started to spread like wildfire through the ship. My wife caught it and was quarantined for 48 hours. They let me go in and out of her cabin without restrictions. I went down with the virus 18 hours after we disembarded in Southampton.

I wonder whether there were passengers with Norovirus infections on the previous cruise, ie the one which finished on Nov. 5th ?:mad:

 

I was also on this cruise and I am sorry you were affected by the virus, BUT I do object to your assumptions.

 

1. It did not spread like wildfire. less than 2 % of passengers and crew were infected.

 

2. From the start of the cruise I saw more precautions taken than I have ever seen.

 

3. This virus is prevalent in the whole population as we are seeing in hospitals at the moment.

 

4. The virus affects ships all over the world and has little to do with traveling Southampton to Southampton.

 

5. I object strongly to the following sentence. ' There were too many dirty people on board who probably disregarded the precautionary health advice given by P&O. ' The first person who caught the virus most probably had it before boarding, without knowing. I have never seen any definitive length of time for this for this to show after the first exposure.

 

 

 

 

Dai Bryson

[Cambridgecruiser]

I was also on this cruise and I am sorry you were affected by the virus, BUT I do object to your assumptions.

 

1. It did not spread like wildfire. less than 2 % of passengers and crew were infected.

 

2. From the start of the cruise I saw more precautions taken than I have ever seen.

 

3. This virus is prevalent in the whole population as we are seeing in hospitals at the moment.

 

4. The virus affects ships all over the world and has little to do with traveling Southampton to Southampton.

 

5. I object strongly to the following sentence. ' There were too many dirty people on board who probably disregarded the precautionary health advice given by P&O. ' The first person who caught the virus most probably had it before boarding, without knowing. I have never seen any definitive length of time for this for this to show after the first exposure."""

 

 

 

Hi I Agree will all except part of item 5 and I explain below

 

WE were also on X717 where once it also became apparent that there was a developing sickness situation all sorts of precautions were put into place.

 

For instance toilet doors wedged open, hot air hand dryers disabled to reduce the potential for small pockets of infection developing. Moreover the staff were on duty 24hrs wiping down/disinfecting the public areas (stairs lifts etc). Also extra staff were at the entrance to each of the eating area's with hand gel AND STILL PEOPLE TRIED TO AVOID CLEANING THEIR HANDS on the way in!! When I tackled one smartly dressed man going into dinner in his "DJ" about it he told me to mind my own business:mad: so please don't criticize the ship they can only deal with it if we also help.

 

Clive

[cruisingOAP]

Hi Dai, I did not want to cause offence.

 

1. Perhaps "wildfire" was an exaggeration. But on Nov 11th the sanitizing team had more than 50 cabins to deal with where passengers had been quarantined.

Apparently at least 65 passengers had reported Norovirus symptoms and I heard one passenger saying that if he got it he would not report it to the medical department, as he did not want to be quarantined. You can safely assume that for every passenger who went down with the virus there was at least another who was incubating this highly contagious disease, i.e. more than 2% of passengers were on the ship with this damned virus.

 

2. The precautions which were taken by P&O were adequate, but somewhat inconsistent. E.g. Not all places on board where you could get food and drink required passengers to use the antiseptic alcohol gel to clean their hands.

 

3. Yes, unfortunately this virus is prevalent in the whole population.

There are just too many people who can't be bothered with personal hygiene.

More of them seem to go cruising nowadays and sadly some of my fellow men are just dirty pigs. I saw at least one leaving the cubicle in the gents and he went straight back into the ship without washing his hands. It also made me think how one hugely obese person reeking with B.O. would ever manage to get under the shower in his cabin. He must have struggled just to get through the door into his bathroom. Most bathrooms on the Oriana are not known for being spacious!

 

4. Correct, the virus affects ships all over the world. It seems to happen more often on large ships with larger numbers of passengers. I also believe some cheaper last minute no-fly offers can attract sometimes the wrong people, one of the down-sides of mass tourism, like on guy on a previous cruise who claimed he did not know there was a dresscode and therefore did not bring a jacket or tie, or a group of others who were sitting in the jacuzzi smoking cigars and dropping ashes on to the teak deck!

 

5. This was my 19th cruise and I still feel that, compared to my previous cruises, there were too many of the “wrong” people on board. Yes, I am a snob and am not ashamed to say that P&O has been dropping standards. It seems to be a very small percentage of passengers who spoil it for the majority of nice decent people.

 

Hope you only meet the latter ones your future cruises.

[BrianI]

I have just been on Oriana X719 and the precautions are still continuing. Some people were ill although not as many as on the previous cruise so we were told. Apart from that it was the best cruise I have been on

 

Brian

[dak]

5. This was my 19th cruise and I still feel that, compared to my previous cruises, there were too many of the “wrong” people on board. Yes, I am a snob and am not ashamed to say that P&O has been dropping standards. It seems to be a very small percentage of passengers who spoil it for the majority of nice decent people.

 

Hope you only meet the latter ones your future cruises.

 

I agree. I made the point of dropping standards to Steve Burgoigne last time we were on Arcadia. He, of course, disagreed and said that standards were as high as they ever were.

 

There's none so blind as those who won't see!!! :(

 

I think it's a pity and fear for the future since Carnival seen to have decided that it's the Princess barges for P&O and that is decending further into mass market.

 

 

David

[forest_]

What is it with dirty people on P&O!!!

 

I think you will find it on ever line you go on love. We were on Arcadia 2 years ago and my wife tells me that two young girls aged over 18 came out of the toilet and did not wash their hands!!!!! It seems its not just men.

[cruisingOAP]

I was also on this cruise and I am sorry you were affected by the virus, BUT I do object to your assumptions.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

5. I object strongly to the following sentence. ' There were too many dirty people on board who probably disregarded the precautionary health advice given by P&O. ' The first person who caught the virus most probably had it before boarding, without knowing. I have never seen any definitive length of time for this for this to show after the first exposure."""

 

 

 

Hi I Agree with all except part of item 5 and I explain below

 

WE were also on X717 where once it also became apparent that there was a developing sickness situation all sorts of precautions were put into place.

 

For instance toilet doors wedged open, hot air hand dryers disabled to reduce the potential for small pockets of infection developing. Moreover the staff were on duty 24hrs wiping down/disinfecting the public areas (stairs lifts etc). Also extra staff were at the entrance to each of the eating area's with hand gel AND STILL PEOPLE TRIED TO AVOID CLEANING THEIR HANDS on the way in!! When I tackled one smartly dressed man going into dinner in his "DJ" about it he told me to mind my own business:mad: so please don't criticize the ship they can only deal with it if we also help.

 

Clive

 

 

Hi Clive,

 

how sad that there are people who don't clean their hands. If there are too many of these type of people on board, the ship can't do a lot.

 

There are guys in "DJs" who belong to my category of "wrong" people.

How can we avoid them?