Oriana and Oceana for sale

[Cruisemeister2002]

Of the three sister ships Aurora, Oceana and Oriana I can't really split which is/was my favourite between Oriana and Aurora with Oceana definitely in third place. If pushed I'd say Oriana as we had some fabulous cruises on her. I'm amazed at how much these old ships are up for sale for. But then the new one's coming online are over a billion. I suppose it's unsurprising given covid and the cost of new ships that prices are rising, ships are getting bigger and extra's are being pushed. Must say though that I prefer the ships with less than 1000 passengers but can't see the mass cruise markets ever building small ships again.

[LondonLad60]

3 hours ago, P&O SUE said:

Only had a short cruise on both of these ships but I wanted to go back on them both, lovely memories.

After Adonia went, Oriana became my favourite ship. It wasn't perfect by any means - there again, what ship is? For example, with only one deck of balcony cabins anyone wanting a balcony had to make sure they booked early, and the noise and vibration from the propulsion system has been well documented in other threads. I hadn't cruised on Aurora at that point, so I can't compare Oriana with her, but Oriana ticked more boxes for my wife and I than Arcadia and Oceana did. Just my 2p's worth.

[majortom10]

Had an OK cruise on Oceans moreso because of people we met onboard rather than the ship. Oriana never liked the ship and certainly didn't shed a tear when she was sold.

[Lee Jones Jnr]

I've never even been on Oceana for a look around, I just never liked the look, especially the fat backside.

[terrierjohn]

On 3/18/2024 at 11:15 AM, Lee Jones Jnr said:

Oceana is the ugly sister to the twin Cinderellas Aurora and Oriana anyway

But she was built for the american market  which made her light years ahead of the P&O pair as far as modern day cruising is concerned.

[Lee Jones Jnr]

5 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

But she was built for the american market  which made her light years ahead of the P&O pair as far as modern day cruising is concerned.

How so?

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, Lee Jones Jnr said:

How so?

You only have to look at the Atrium on Oceana to realise she is a modern cruise ship, not a dowdy old dowager like Oriana or Aurora.

[Lee Jones Jnr]

12 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

You only have to look at the Atrium on Oceana to realise she is a modern cruise ship, not a dowdy old dowager like Oriana or Aurora.

Ah. I anticipated something more than decor preference.

Do you know why Aurora was kept alive and Oceana was killed? I don’t but I’d be interested to know what influenced that decision.

 

[yorkshirephil]

39 minutes ago, Lee Jones Jnr said:

 

Do you know why Aurora was kept alive and Oceana was killed? I don’t but I’d be interested to know what influenced that decision.

 

I wondered why they kept Aurora as they are both similar in size and were built around the same time. I have cruised on both and would have been hard pressed to pick between them.

Maybe it is because Aurora is so popular with P&O customers, but that is only a guess.

[Cruising Nomads]

Oceana was originally built to be in the Princess Cruise Fleet. That is why the Atrium was as it was. Just look at all the other Princess ships.

[Bill Y]

1 hour ago, yorkshirephil said:

I wondered why they kept Aurora as they are both similar in size and were built around the same time. I have cruised on both and would have been hard pressed to pick between them.

Maybe it is because Aurora is so popular with P&O customers, but that is only a guess.

Aurora is an all weather ship capable of long voyages, have not personally sailed on Oceania but have heard it said that Oceania was built for Princess for warm weather cruising so plenty of space outside but not so good when everybody was confined inside. @molecrochip may be able to shed some light on the decision.

[molecrochip]

Oceana (as opposed to the high end cruise line Oceania) was built for Princess when Princess was part of P&O. She was due to operate Winter Caribbean and Summer Alaskan cruises so was designed for passengers to be outdoors either in the sun in the Caribbean or sightseeing in Alaska.

 

When Carnival merged with P&O Princess, there was a reorganisation of the Sun Class ships. In 2002, Ocean Princess became Oceana and Sea Princess became Adonia. Adonia was the temporary replacement for Arcadia which became Ocean Village. Later, Adonia would transfer back as Sea Princess once the new Arcadia arrived.

[yorkshirephil]

16 minutes ago, Bill Y said:

Aurora is an all weather ship capable of long voyages, have not personally sailed on Oceania but have heard it said that Oceania was built for Princess for warm weather cruising so plenty of space outside but not so good when everybody was confined inside. @molecrochip may be able to shed some light on the decision.

Quite possibly, we have done two 35 night Caribbean cruises on Oceana and didn't perceive any inside space issues during the cold and wet days. I would imagine money was one of the main factors.

[terrierjohn]

4 hours ago, Lee Jones Jnr said:

Ah. I anticipated something more than decor preference.

Do you know why Aurora was kept alive and Oceana was killed? I don’t but I’d be interested to know what influenced that decision.

 

I imagine the fact that Oceana was a few years older than Aurora, and possibly because Oceana was more saleable.

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, Bill Y said:

Aurora is an all weather ship capable of long voyages, have not personally sailed on Oceania but have heard it said that Oceania was built for Princess for warm weather cruising so plenty of space outside but not so good when everybody was confined inside. @molecrochip may be able to shed some light on the decision.

I dont believe that Aurora is any different to all the other cruise ships built around the same time. She was certainly not built as an ocean liner, and has no deeper draught than Oceana or Arcadia.

[ovccruiser]

My first cruise with P & O was on Oceana, probably the worst crossing of the Bay of Biscay we have done. Weather was about force 10-11 seas were rough and we had windows blow in on Deck 7 towards the front and also the window to mid ships bar area, you can see a sheet of plywood covering one of the windows

[Presto2]

On 3/22/2024 at 1:52 PM, molecrochip said:

Oceana (as opposed to the high end cruise line Oceania) was built for Princess when Princess was part of P&O. She was due to operate Winter Caribbean and Summer Alaskan cruises so was designed for passengers to be outdoors either in the sun in the Caribbean or sightseeing in Alaska.

 

When Carnival merged with P&O Princess, there was a reorganisation of the Sun Class ships. In 2002, Ocean Princess became Oceana and Sea Princess became Adonia. Adonia was the temporary replacement for Arcadia which became Ocean Village. Later, Adonia would transfer back as Sea Princess once the new Arcadia arrived.

Thanks for this, it is really interesting. Our first cruise was on OV2 - I thought that OV1 was like a car ferry?

[Valfan]

On 3/22/2024 at 3:00 PM, terrierjohn said:

I imagine the fact that Oceana was a few years older than Aurora, and possibly because Oceana was more saleable.

They entered service a couple of months apart, Oceana in Feb 2000 as Ocean Princess, transferring to P&O Cruises in 2002.  Aurora entered service for P&O in April 2000.

[davecttr]

Oceana did not have a Crows Nest. Actually it did have a forward lounge with dance floor etc but that was converted into the buffet. I think the ship design was pre buffet era. I liked Oceana and she was my favourite ship.

[Cruisemeister2002]

I preferred both Oriana and Aurora to Oceana. But I think it was just the destinations more than the ship. We did several crossings of the Atlantic on both Oriana and Aurora, but the cruise we did on Oceana was a last minute thing so we had casual dining which we both dislike, we like eating around 8 to 8.30 so second sitting in the MDR is what we like. The Ports of call I remember included the Azores and the Canary Islands and Madeira. A bit of a strange combination, one I have not seen since. Many of the meals weren't very good and not very hot either. Not saying Oriana was perfect as the last cruise we had on her was 2016 her 20th year and she had a fire in the engine room leaving Miami. The coastguard were informed and we had to go back into Miami and consequently miss Key West. We weren't too bothered as we had been there before, but some passengers threw their toys out of the pram as they would have liked to have gone to Key West. Aurora has still many admirers and although she has great memories I wouldn't sail on her again as the facilities are very yesterday. My next cruise I am trying Sky Princess as our last cruise with P&O on Ventura was a long, long way from being satisfactory.

[Valfan]

5 hours ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

Not saying Oriana was perfect as the last cruise we had on her was 2016 her 20th year and she had a fire in the engine room leaving Miami. The coastguard were informed and we had to go back into Miami and consequently miss Key West. We weren't too bothered as we had been there before, but some passengers threw their toys out of the pram as they would have liked to have gone to Key West.

I was on that cruise with the fire in the engine, the forced return to Miami and the missed port of Key West.  It was in 2015, returning in early May.  We had terrible humidity for 11 solid days and nights which I found quite scary. I'd never experienced anything like it.

Yes a lot of passengers put in complaints and we ended up with £100 OBC each and a free bottle of wine. The complaints obviously continued from some people after we got back as we all received a big hamper out of the blue after we'd been back home for a week or two. It was the best hamper we'd ever seen.