The multi-million pound overhaul to the ship named by HM The Queen in 1995, also includes the addition of Sorrento*, the new Italian restaurant concept also launched on Adonia, but this time with an outdoor dining area; a newly designed aft deck with bar; refreshed decoration in the public areas and Oasis Spa, which also now features thermal loungers and a dedicated aerobics floor; and a new look to the Al Fresco Mediterranean cafe. Oriana departs today on a 17 night Western Mediterranean Christmas and New Year cruise, before departing on a 97 night world cruise on January 5, 2012. P&O Cruises managing director, Carol Marlow, said: “It is wonderful to welcome Oriana back into the fleet today with a fresh new look including new cabins, new dining options and all exclusively for adults. “Oriana is the most established ship in our fleet, having been named by HM The Queen in 1995. Since then she has carried hundreds of thousands of British cruisers all over the world and I know that everyone will be excited to see her after her latest make-over.” *A cover charge will apply in Ocean Grill by Marco Pierre White (£12.95) and Sorrento (£5.00).

You can view recent photos of Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2 HERE including photos of the recently refurbished Queen Mary 2 public rooms. the new carpets were very soft under foot.

I would like to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy 2012!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

P&O Cruises will have top names from the highly-rated BBC programme on two Oriana cruises – a 12 night Canary Islands cruise on 28th May 2012 and a 14 night Fjords cruise on 14th July 2012. Passengers can learn how to jive, foxtrot, rumba, quickstep and more from the professionals and join acerbic judge Craig Revel-Horwood for a night in the theatre.

As some of Strictly Come Dancing’s most loved professionals show off their award-winning routines, passengers will also be able to see a collection of the exquisitely intricate costumes worn by the celebrities and stars this series.

P&O Cruises managing director, Carol Marlow said: “We are so excited to bring the magic of the Strictly ballroom to Oriana this summer. Our passengers will be able to learn with the professional dancers, watch extraordinary show dances and hear some of the secrets of this global phenomenon.”

Richard Halliwell, Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing With The Stars’ commercial brand director, said: “The Strictly brand is very well suited to an ocean cruise given the heady mixture of elegance, romance, high-class entertainment and exhilarating destinations. We’re very excited about this new adventure with P&O Cruises and I believe Craig Revel-Horwood has already packed his bags!”

Prices for Oriana’s X206 12 night Canary Islands cruise departing 28th May 2012 start at £1,349 per person. Departing from and returning to Southampton, ports of call are Ponta Delgada, Horta, Madeira, Gran Canaria, Lisbon and Vigo.

Prices for Oriana’s X212 14 night Fjords cruise departing  14th July 2012 start at £1,599 per person. Departing from and returning to Southampton, ports of call are Stavanger, Alesund, Trondheim, cruise in Trondheimsfjord, Ny Alesund, Tromso, Bergen, Eidfjord and cruise in Hardangerfjord.

Dancing with the Stars is one of BBC Worldwide’s flagship brands. Sold to over 75 countries worldwide, with 35 local versions produced, it is a global phenomenon which now holds the Guinness World Record for the Most Successful Reality TV Format of all time.

Queen Mary 2 is back after her refit with a new look Commodore Club, Golden Lion pub, and the Veuve Clicquot champagne bar looks better than ever with a sparking makeover. 1200 workers have worked on the refit and fitted new carpets and lighting in all the staterooms and many of the public areas. The 1310 staterooms have all had a makeover, with especially designed carpet inspired by the Q of QM2. Gracious new styling has taken place in both the Queens and Princess Grill dining areas. And the Grand Lobby is looking more inviting than ever with a top to toe makeover. Sir Samuels and Canyon Range spa were also included in the refurb.

Watch this short video and see for yourself how stunning she is – not that she hasn’t always been!

I will be onboard Queen Mary 2 myself on Monday attending a function and hope I get chance to see all the enhancements for myself. Watch this space!!

On 11th September 1993 we boarded Canberra in Southampton for a 16 night “Venetian Romance” cruise to Lisbon, Malta, Zakinthos, Loutraki, Trieste, and Palma. But Lisbon had to be missed after we hit a memorable storm in the Bay of Biscay.

I have very vivid memories of that cruise despite it being 18 years ago. The children were only little aged 4, 6 & 8, but seasoned cruisers non the less. For some reason we had strayed from our usual D deck cabin location to a cabin up on B deck aft. Mum and Dad were next door. As we entered the Bay of Biscay it was obvious from early morning that we were going to have a bumpy ride. Despite the Captain advising against going outside, I can remember standing on the aft of A deck and literally being pushed back by the strong winds. Stupid thing to do now I think about it! Moving around the ship became increasingly difficult and the Captain eventually advised that we all should stay in our cabins for our own safety. But being cooped up in a small bunk bedded cabin, with 3 young children, at the aft end of the ship was not my idea of fun. The children started to feel seasick, something that had never bothered them before, so it was time for a walk round. Mum was next door curled up in bed, convinced we were all doomed!

It was like a ghost ship. Nobody was around. Walking around was difficult. Tables and chairs were sliding across the tiled Alice Springs floor, so we retreated to the Playroom. Only the Childrens Officer was in there doing some paperwork, so we settled on the beanbags and put some videos on to keep the kids entertained. The ship was banging and creaking like only Canberra could. Looking out onto the Games Deck the spray from the sea was battering the ships rails. As one of the big waves hit us the ship lurched and the big metal chest that was secured to the wall broke free and went hurlting across the floor towards the Childrens Officer as she sat at her desk. I dont know how, must have been instinct I guess, but the kids Dad could see what was about to happen and jumped over the railing from TV area and pushed the big chest out of the way before it hit the Officers desk. The filing cabinet came off rather worse for wear though!!

We stayed in the playroom for quite a while as it seemed the safest place at the time. When we did venture out it looked like a tornado had swept through some areas of the ship. Alice Springs was a mess. Slot machines had fallen over, tables and chairs all over the place. The Crows Nest had a window blown out. Nanny was not amused when my eldest went and told her how exciting it had all been while she had been laid in her bed. She had missed everything! Funnily enough she just wanted her big orange lifejacket lol. We took the Kids to Childrens afternoon tea in the main restaurant and were asked to just step over and around all the plates and cutlery that was strewn across the floor. Im sure I didnt make do with sandwiches for my Gala Dinner either!

Somewhere, I do have a video tape of the days events that we filmed at the time, so if and when I find it I will get it converted to a viewable format.

Captain Rory Smith was our Captain and from memory I’m pretty sure that Hamish Read was Deputy Captain. I note for the ships log that the Navigators were Roger Bilton, Paul Martin, Dave Bancroft, Chris Bourne, Giles Helmann and Sarah Brenton.

Sarah, of course went on to become P&O’s first female Captain.

The Bridge team produced the following entitled “A Day to Remember” and I note at the end that the general consensus was that we would have to wait another 25 years to experience such weather again. Mmm, they got that wrong, I only had to wait 14 years for my next ‘storm at sea’! I look forward to my 2018 cruise with interest!!

S.S. CANBERRA A DAY TO REMEMBER

The 12th  September 1993. It is not a day that you will forget easily, and no doubt you will be able to dine out for weeks on the events of that tempestuous twenty four hours. Like the fishermans tales, the story may get better with each passing day, so I felt that you should have the basic facts before you start. They do not need enlarging!!

0600 hrs  Canberra enters the Bay of Biscay to a rising force 6 wind. The ship is steady but the barograph is falling. We have 375 miles to go to clear the Bay of Biscay. By 10.00pm we should be clear of the Bay and on our way to Lisbon.

0800 hrs  The wind continues to rise and the barograph to fall but the ship remains steady. Captain makes sure all of the passengers are awake by broadcasting a warning of “A depression approaching”

1015 hrs  Church service held. Congregation sang the seamans hymn “For Those in Peril on the Sea”

1100 hrs  Seasickness and depressions arrive by the score and people take to the beds. The ship begins to pitch and spray flies across the deck. Speed is being reduced to make the pitching and ship movement less severe.

1200 hrs  Captain considers having lunch but decides against it.

1215 hrs  Having missed his lunch the Captain decides to cheer passengers up by broadcasting the weather situation and forecast. Fails dismally except for a hearty few who venture out on deck against best advise. Wind is now severe storm force 11 with a rapidly rising sea and swell. Open decks declared out of bounds. Entrances roped off.

1400 hrs  Wind is now at its strongest at storm force 12 with winds constantly in excess of 65 knots. Ship is proceeding very slowly, just maintaining steerage way, to ride out the storm. All passengers requested to stay in public rooms or their cabins. Canberra pitching to very high seas and 45ft swells.

1500 hrs  Spray and occasional green seas break over the bow. Ship riding conditions very well. Many passengers do not think so! Doctor very busy! Other ships hove to all round the Bay of Biscay. Seeing the gyrations of the other ships, bridge team very happy to be on Canberra.

1615 hrs  four life rafts washed overboard. Fifth liferaft inflates, flies over the starboard bridge wing (much to the surprise of all on the bridge!) and lands on the Observation Deck. Whilst doing so the lines become tangled in the rigging and it bends the top mast. Not to worry, Canberra can now fit under the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Chief Officer battles with liferaft which wants to join the other four overside. Chief Officer wins. Liferaft retrieved.

1700 hrs  At last the wind is decreasing to a mere force 10. Being hove to for hours has delayed the ship to such an extent that the Lisbon call not possible and Canberra will, when conditions allow, proceed directly to Malta. Galley staff are cooking Gala Dinner and opening two sandwich bars for those who will not make the restaurants. Demand expected to be high!

2100 hrs  Ship is clear of the Bay of Biscay, eight and a half hours behind schedule, somewhat battered and salt stained, but safe.

It was generally agreed by a number of “old Salts and Jack Tars” that it was at least 25 years since they had seen the seas like those experienced on 12th September 1993. The general consensus was that with one every quarter century we shall be retired when the next one comes and someone else can have the pleasure of delaing with it.

Bad as it was, and having through fate, been forced to experience the storm, you could not have been in a better ship to do so…. The White Whale …….CANBERRA

Signed – Sarah Brenton, Navigator

Staterooms – We will refurbish every stateroom on board Queen Mary 2 – all 1,310 of them. Each of the Queen’s Grill Grand Duplex, Master and Penthouse Suites will receive a fresh individual design. All of our Queen’s Grill Suites, Princess Grill and Britannia Staterooms will receive new carpets, curtains, bedcovers, linen and some will also see new soft furnishings. The designs will be very much in keeping with the current designs and with the overall ship – but with a fresh look. I am really pleased with how they will look and our returning loyal guests will I am sure be delighted. I have always recognised just how important it is to feel comfortable in your stateroom – a home from home. The designs on Queen Mary 2 are very enduring and when the ship returns to service in December her staterooms will be more appealing and comfortable than ever.

Golden Lion Pub – our guests have worn the Pub out. The Pub lunches are more popular than ever, the bar area is always busy and sport and musical events are increasingly popular. So we have completely redesigned this room. Below are a couple of shots of how the new Pub will look. It recreates the best of British Pubs as well as the comfortable American Country Club feel. We will achieve more comfortable seats and more of them. We will have new and improved screens for sporting events and we will still be able to have our famous Jazz evenings and daytime activities.

Canyon Ranch – goes from strength to strength on Queen Mary 2. One of the highlights of our Canyon Ranch is the wet area and Spa Pool. Well we are completely refurbishing the teak surrounds of the pool and doing a lot of work in other areas of the spa. We will have a range of new exercise machines in the gym area and some new and improved features in the salon. Canyon ranch are one of our most prized partnerships – when it comes to health, relaxation, exercise and wellness – they are the real thing and I am so pleased we are investing in further improving the facilities.

Commodore Club – one of the most iconic bar locations at sea up on deck 9 forward. No radical changes here – but as you can see form the design layout below we are investing in new carpets and refurbishing and adding to our beautiful white leather furniture.

Children’s Club – one of Cunard’s best keep secrets. We have excellent facilities – but although they were industry leading in 2004 it is time for us to invest further in the facilities. We will refurbish the area, including the very latest in electronic gaming and entertainment – I am looking forward to trying them out for myself.

Sir Samuel’s – Originally designed when the ship came into service as a venue to offer the very best in classic wines. The advent of Cappuccinos, Lattes and Espresso has changed our approach and the room is very busy day and night. So time for new carpets and some new chair covers which will give the room a real lift.

Grill Restaurants – We will lay down a new carpet design for both the Queen’s Grill and Princess Grill Restaurants. These will be very much in keeping with the overall design but I think will give a lighter feel to both restaurants – which remain amongst the best restaurants at sea or on land.

Carpets – We will be refreshing the carpets in many areas of decks 2 and 3 both in public rooms and through our wonderful central walkways and landings. In one or two areas – and our guests have mentioned this on the blog – we have some wear and tear of the flooring under the carpet. We refurbished much of this in the last refit and will complete the work this time round.

What are we not doing – One area that I have received questions on is Kings Court – the equivalent to The Lido area on Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria. Given it’s location, and the fact that it covers such a large area with many sections – some of our guests have in the past found the area can be quite confusing – especially the first time you visit it. To make significant changes to the actual structure of this area would be very difficult and prohibitively expensive given it’s scale. So we have been tackling this in different ways. We have been looking carefully at customer flow, our food and beverage offering and in particular how we best manage the service in Kings Court. We have plans to increase the alternative dining opportunities and themed evenings, and removing possible confusion by not having too many different serving stations at breakfast. This has significantly improved the situation and we will continue to focus here and make sure we create the appropriate experience for our guests.

Other areas– as ever we will take the opportunity to complete the regulatory and necessary checks and works below deck and that program is in place. Interestingly part of the technical work will be to add a Skycon to the ship. What is a Skycon I hear you say? You may have seen them on other ships but surprisingly Queen Mary 2 did not have this feature. It is a small rail that goes round the higher decks of the ship, to which you add a cage for the deck crew to clean and maintain many of the external railings and windows. When in port you will often see Cherry Pickers around Queen Mary 2 – tall extended cage like cranes to reach those parts that man simply cannot reach. With the addition of a Skycon we will be better able to maintain these areas of the ship and not have the expense of Cherry Pickers in port, so there you have it – some inside knowledge on what we have to do to make the ship look as she does.

To make this happen we will be adding enough carpet to cover 10 football pitches. We will be adding miles of fabric – and we will have a team of thousands of workers to make it happen.

In these tough economic times it remains very important for us to continue to invest in both the technical and hotel areas of our ships. With Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth we are fortunate to have two very young ships that provide a fabulous experience for our guests. In Queen Mary 2 we have something very special, the most famous ocean liner in the world and a ship that still turns heads everywhere she goes – she is unquestionably the pride of our fleet. And that is why we will be investing in the ship and in our future guests experience through the upcoming refit.

 Cunard Line, one of the oldest names in shipping but with the youngest fleet at sea, is to offer its guests the opportunity to be married on board for the first time in its 171-year history.

Peter Shanks, Cunard President and Managing Director, explains:

“Most of our competitors have been developing increasingly popular and lucrative Weddings at Sea programmes, and these are now very big business in the cruise industry. We receive a lot of enquiries about the possibility of being married on one of our ships particularly about weddings mid-Atlantic on board Queen Mary 2, which no other company can offer”.

Cunard’s ‘Weddings at Sea’ programme will begin after the World Voyages have been completed in Spring 2012 and will offer a number of packages on all three ships. A brochure detailing the programme will be issued in November, and the programme will go on sale in December 2011.

If you are considering a Wedding at Sea I can highly recomend it. As well as arranging many other happy other couples big day at sea, I also arranged my own Wedding blessing at sea, so I have first hand experience.

Contact me on 02476 742135 for more details and be among the first to be married at sea on one of the 2012 Cunard Voyages!

Since then Queen Elizabeth has sailed over 125 000 nautical miles and carried over 50 000 guests. In January she set off on her Maiden World Voyage. She has had a series of Inurgural voyages plus her Maiden Christmas voyage. Cunard Queen Elizabeth has spent her first summer sailing from Southampton on a series of Mediterranean and Northern voyages, including her Maiden Round Britain voyage with the very special event in Liverpool. She has recently had her Maiden visits to Boston and Halifax during her latest North America voyage.

Guests onboard will celebrate Queen Elizabeths First Anniversary on Wednesday 12th October in Valleta, Malta to coincide with the anniversary of her Maiden Voyage in 2010.

This short video celebrates that memorable day and her highlights from her first year of service.

To Celebrate the First Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth Cunard are offering complimentary spending money of upto $1500 per couple on all 2012 voyages of 7 nights or more (excludes World voyage)

Inside Stateroom $100 OBC per person

Outside stateroom $150 OBC  per person

Balcony stateroom $300 OBC per person

Princess Grill $500 OBC per stateroom

Queens Grill $750 OBC per person

Applies to new bookings only confirmed between 11th October to 31st October 2011.

Contact me for more details on 02476 742135

As England’s rugby team competes in the World Cup in New Zealand, P&O Cruises own rugby team, the Ventura Vikings, is getting set for its fourth season playing in the Caribbean.

The Vikings rugby team was established in 2008 by Ventura’s youth director, Mark Price (33), after he decided to do something about missing his rugby playing days at home.

The first season saw Mark taking a bag of old rugby shirts and boots sourced from his local rugby club, Tynedale in Northumberland, out to the Caribbean. His first major challenge was to convince 15 fellow crew members, almost exclusively football players, that rugby was the sport for them.

Mark explained the rules of the game to them as they travelled on the coach to their first match at the Barbados Rugby Club’s home ground, the prestigious Garrison Savannah.

Support for Ventura’s rugby team has increased over the following three seasons with players now consisting of crew and officers from all areas of the ship.

Success has been mixed with just five wins over the past three seasons, however the team members are not disheartened.

Mark, whose job involves overseeing the day to day running of all the children facilities on board said:

“We have made a lot of friends in Barbados and the game is bringing the crew together which is fantastic. Everyone who has been involved has really enjoyed the experience and while not every result went our way, we go from strength to strength with every match.

“Last season we only just lost against Barbados’ national team so we are really looking forward to getting back out to the Caribbean this winter and giving it another shot.”

Support for the team continues to grow, with banners displayed around the capital, Bridgetown, announcing the arrival of the “mighty Ventura Vikings all the way from the UK” every time the ship arrives in port.

The Vikings fourth season starts in November and runs until March 2012, while Ventura is in the Caribbean. Rugby matches are played on the ships turnaround days in Barbados.

The wines were blended specially for P&O Cruises by Olly Smith at the Settisoli vineyard in Sicily, Italy. The wines are stocked on all seven ships in the P&O Cruises fleet and are firm favourites with passengers.

Olly Smith, said: “I’m so pleased and proud that these Porta Palo wines have won awards. I passionately believe that you don’t have to spend a fortune to enjoy good wine and my mission continues to be to share the best wines I can find with the entire P&O Cruises fleet. Cheers!”

Olly oversees The Glasshouse on board Azura. A new wine bar concept for P&O Cruises, The Glasshouse is a must for wine lovers. Featuring a state of the art Enomatic wine system, passengers can choose to try any of the 32 wines by the glass. A bottle can be opened, then preserved by using revolutionary inert gas so it does not react to the oxygen in the air allowing the flavours and characteristics of the wide range of selected vintages to remain intact, as if the bottle had just been opened and therefore able to be enjoyed by many.

Olly travels regularly throughout the year and in 2012 will travel on the following cruises:

•A208 – Azura 14 night Western Mediterranean cruise, 15 April  – 29 April 2012

•A211 – Azura 14 night Baltic cruise, 19 May  – 2 June 2012

•A216 – Azura seven night Norwegian Fjords cruise, 14 July  – 21 July 2012

•A226 – Azura 13 night Canary Islands cruise, 19 November  – 2 December 2012