Why is Oriana so expensive?

[BanburyBlue]

I’ve just been researching cruises for later this year, and was quite surprised how expensive Oriana compared to other P&O ships?  I assume this is down to the size of the ship?  But even so, there seems to be a massive difference to the extent that on some ships, even longer cruises are cheaper than Oriana?

[PrincessPete]

Possibly as it is Oriana's last year before she leaves the fleet this summer? I know many people (including us!) who are having one final sailing on this lovely ship.

Don't know if my point is valid though, and others may be able to come up with more plausible reasons!

Kind regards. 

Peter

[Thejuggler]

Because people must be happy paying more.  With fewer passengers there is also less opportunity for on board sales of alcohol, from shops etc etc to increase income.

 

The smaller Princess ship cruises out of Dover were always much more expensive than the Grand class trips from Southampton.

Edited January 15, 2019 by Thejuggler

[BanburyBlue]

We did a cruise on the Oriana a couple of years ago and really liked it.  One really good thing was that you got to know a lot of the other passengers as you saw them again and again.  But I don’t remember it being that much more than the other ships.  There was an 18 day Med cruise that would cost upwards of £7k for the both of us, whereas a 15 or 16 day on another P&O ship was something like £4-£5k.

 

from experience on other cruises, Oriana does seem a very popular ship.  So perhaps that’s it - people are prepared to pay for one last go.

 

 

[john watson]

One factor, if you look at Balcony Cabins and their prices.   Oriana only has one full deck of balconies and a small number on another deck.  Consequently if you compare "like for like" and look at cruises sailing in a balcony cabin, as opposed to an Ocean View, on Oriana you should be in a very rare cabin.   On extremely modern design ships the choice is often Balcony Cabin or Inside, i.e. no Ocean View Cabins in the design as these have been eliminated.  It is virtually no more expensive to the cruise line to operate a balcony cabin against a window cabin but they can get more money for them.  The larger size of the modern design ship allows them to run cruises cheaper per passenger due to economies of scale.

 

I should imagine newer ships have significantly more fuel efficient power plants too.  Oriana is about 23 years old, hopefully they have updated things.  Refitting interiors are going to be needed and I suspect this is quite a labour intensive process on older ships whereas newer ships probably are built with simpler more durable interiors.

 

Regards John

 

 

[happy v]

I think it is because Oriana seems to have the most interesting itineraries, for us anyway. We have been on this ship more than any other and although I like the ship I don't like the cabins at all. However she has some cracking itineraries. I hope another ship will take these over when she leaves and I will be able to travel in a better cabin.