They say the children's pool will be removed from Deck 8. I'm not sure what Deck 8 is, but I know there is a children's pool aft on D Deck along with the wonderful Terrace Pool. I sincerely hope this pool is not being removed for cabins. If so it's a big disappointment and just another example of how a ship can be negatively altered in the name of enhanced revenue.

Ernie

Source: Cruise Industry News

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3/7/11 - P&O Cruises Reveals Details of a New Look Oriana
P&O Cruises has announced that when Oriana is transformed into a ship exclusively for adults in November this year, the ship will feature a different select dining restaurant, Ocean Grill by Marco Pierre White.

Oriana will undergo a transformation which will see the addition of 27 new cabins, including balconies and singles, in place of the current children’s areas. Sorrento, a stylish new, light and airy Italian restaurant with ocean views and an outdoor dining area will be added, the Oasis Spa will be updated, and the deck 8 aft children’s pool will be replaced with a relaxing seating area complemented by the existing deck bar.

Ocean Grill by Marco Pierre White will debut on board Adonia in May and also be added to Arcadia during refurbishment in late 2011. Ocean Grill will serve dishes such as Marco’s classic crayfish cocktail, grilled lobster with triple cooked chips, and one of his signature desserts ‘Sherry Trifle Wally Ladd’

P&O Cruises managing director, Carol Marlow, said:

“All of these enhancements have been made following feedback from our passengers and we can’t wait for them to enjoy these changes on board. We’re delighted that with these changes Oriana will become even more elegant and very well suited to passengers seeking a sophisticated environment exclusively for adults.

“Recent research has shown that passengers want an entirely different Select dining experience to that offered elsewhere on the ship and they also want a contemporary style. Marco Pierre White has proved to be a huge hit with our passengers so we have asked him to work his culinary magic on board Oriana, Arcadia and Adonia.

“These ships offer longer itineraries and Ocean Grill by Marco Pierre White will provide an evolving menu to offer a different choice of cuisine throughout the cruise.”

Marco Pierre White said: “Dining is about the complete experience and this comprises the surroundings, the company, the service and of course the food. Each element is as important as the other and the Ocean Grill will offer these in equal measure.”

The changes are reflected in the new P&O Cruises 2012 brochure so passengers can start to explore and book their next cruise holiday. The new program which has significant savings for early bookers goes on sale on April 5.

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[ 03-07-2011: Message edited by: eroller ]

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Originally posted by Thad:
I think it is the little pool shown on the right in this shot. Not the main pool in the middle..

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This is what I'm hoping Thad. I have no problem with the little pool being removed ... I just hope it's not the big one.

Oriana will undergo a transformation which will see the addition of 27 new cabins, including balconies and singles, in place of the current children’s areas. Sorrento, a stylish new, light and airy Italian restaurant with ocean views and an outdoor dining area will be added, the Oasis Spa will be updated, and the deck 8 aft children’s pool will be replaced with a relaxing seating area complemented by the existing deck bar.

[ 03-07-2011: Message edited by: dmwnc1 ]

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Originally posted by oslo dutch:
27 Cabins i quite a lot and where are they going to put those balconies? I am not so sure how the aft end will look after the refit. Carnival is known for putting hunger for revenue over ships esthetic. I think the whole pool deck will disappear and built full of cabins.

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The more I think about it the more I think you are probably right Reint. If so very sad to do away with this beautiful aft facing pool for the sake of balcony cabins.

Carnival can be a bunch of philistines when it comes to this. And I just hate it when the cover it up with all this spin.

One of my first cruises was on Oriana. It's a ship which is really close to my heart.

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Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:
From that image of her stern area, It looks like Carnival could get approx 9-10 veranda cabins on either side w/the remaining facing aft. A good designer could possibly make it work but I think she may end up looking like Prinsendam after her last refit.

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Anyone who has sailed on Oriana would probably agree that the terraced decks could be improved. There is a bar there, but on sailing outside of child season it can be very very quiet - and it is a beautiful setting - easily one of the best sterns at sea - yet there is no proper bar, like there are on sterns of 'uglier' ships I've been on like Celebrity Millennium.

It does not say in the press release that all of the cabins will feature balconies. In the space taken up, it would be more than possible to feature 27 cabins - I presume that the aft facing ones will have windows like they do on C deck and above. When you look at the space available, you could easily get 12 balconies in there plus some outside view cabins as well as some obstructed view and inside.

I have looked at the deck plan, and simply by copying the cabin size from other decks, I can easily get 26 cabins:
12 balcony cabins.
5 aft facing outside cabins.
5 inside cabins.
4 obstructed view cabins.

Please see the comparison I have made:

This is all without extending into any open deck space. I would also assume that the single cabins would be smaller units, therefore it is more than possible to get another one in.

On this basis, I have amended the picture as posted by dmwnc1 - to show what the outside would look like buy putting 6 balconies on each side, opening up the space occupied by Peter Pans and Decibels on either side. Then opening out the windows which look out from the pool deck in a similar was as there is on B deck.

I don't think the results are too bad - the fact is Oriana has to move with the times. I don;t think we will be seeing the carcrash that was the HAL improvements or Arcadia's new rear end.

Of course, the only thing that could affect this is where the MPW restaurant is to be... I don't understand where the space for that is coming from and the press release doesn't say!

[ 03-07-2011: Message edited by: P&OOfficer ]

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Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:
From that image of her stern area, It looks like Carnival could get approx 9-10 veranda cabins on either side w/the remaining facing aft. A good designer could possibly make it work but I think she may end up looking like Prinsendam after her last refit.

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Unfortunately if Carnival's past track record of hatchet jobs ... I mean refurbishment's is any indication of their attention to aesthetics, don't expect much with ORIANA.

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Originally posted by P&OOfficer:
Whilst I would not be surprised if it did 'ruin' the stern - I seem to think that these changes will be sympathetic as well as actually improving the ship.

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Thanks for your visuals. Nice job! If ORIANA's refit is along the lines of your revised deck plan and profile, then there is nothing to worry about. Of course that is a big "if" right now. Looking at your revised deck plan, the one thing that really doesn't work is having to walk down a passenger cabin corridor to get to the pool. That is a little odd.

Hopefully Carnival doesn't remove the pool all together and add balcony cabins all the way around the stern.

I it will be interesting to see the plans when they are released. The press release states nothing about removing the entire Terrace Pool, just the children's pool. That could actually be the case, or just a convenient omission.

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Originally posted by eroller:
[....]The press release states nothing about removing the entire Terrace Pool, just the children's pool. That could actually be the case, or just a convenient omission.

Ernie

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Originally posted by Ernst:

I guess there is no reason to be overly pessimistic about this conversion since the press release explicitly says 'the deck 8 aft children’s pool will be replaced with a relaxing seating area complemented by the existing deck bar' (see also dmwnc1's posting above).

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There are actually two pools back there. A small children's "paddling pool" and a full size, adult Terrace Pool. I'm hoping it's just the small "paddling pool" that will be removed.

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Originally posted by eroller:

There are actually two pools back there. A small children's "paddling pool" and a full size, adult Terrace Pool. I'm hoping it's just the small "paddling pool" that will be removed.

Ernie

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Originally posted by Ernst:

I don't believe the large 'Terrace Pool' will be simply replaced with a seating area - this would not make sense - also 'children's pool' is pretty clear, I guess. No worries.

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Yes my concern is not that the Terrace Pool would be replaced by a seating area, but with new balcony cabins. I agree the press release clearly states "children's pool" but press releases have not always been accurate in the past. If I take it as face value then all should be good and the ship actually improved. This is my hope.

I find this press statement also not very clear. And I suppose the bean counters at Carnivals HQ can't care less how the ship will look like. As long as there is more revenue coming in.

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Originally posted by eroller:

Yes my concern is not that the Terrace Pool would be replaced by a seating area, but with new balcony cabins. I agree the press release clearly states "children's pool" but press releases have not always been accurate in the past. If I take it as face value then all should be good and the ship actually improved. This is my hope.

Ernie

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I was always disappointed that P&O didn't put a bar or lounge out to the pool deck - as they had with the Alice Springs bar on Canberra.

I think it would be foolish to butcher the aft decks to the extent that people are fretting about.

1. The new adults only passengers are exactly the type of pax who would use these aft decks.
2. The stern is one of the trademarks of Oriana, the likes of which will probably never be built again.

As the stern is so remarkable, I don't think that P&O would look to remove it - after all, with the HAL refits - whilst they are really ugly now, the aft decks were still quite ugly before when compared to Oriana to the point where you can't compare them at all.

If P&O were going to remove the pool, or move it up a deck, we would see more than 27 cabins being added. I also believe that lifeboat capacity is restricting the new cabins, meaning that some current 4 berths will now only be sold as 2 (this is unconfirmed - but would make sense for Adults Only)

Also, it would be all too easy to convert the aft facing cabins on B&C decks into balcony cabins without altering the appearance of the ship - I have to be honest, I would have done this.

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Originally posted by P&OOfficer:
I agree, though there is no way to get to the terrace pool unless you come up the aft outdoor stairs from the Promenade Deck, or down from C deck in the terrace - unless you went through the often locked kids areas - so to walk down a pax corridor is not really an issue. there are other ships where pax cabins but onto the pool deck - albeit these are usually on the top pool decks. It was always quite a difficult place to get to - if anything this will make it easier.

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Certainly no worse than getting to the aft pool on QM2 unless you walk through Todd English.

What the designers may do is have a nice wide direct access corridor from the aft stairs to the aft deck and pool. The cabin corridor by this area could be smaller and run parallel to the direct access corridor. This is what I have seen when there are crew cabins next to passenger areas. The crew have their own corridor parallel to the passenger one. P&O will want to keep these new cabins desirable, and no one wants the corridor in front of their cabin to be a main thoroughfare. Too much noise.

In any case it looks as if this may not be such a bad refit after, and may actually improve the ship (I'm all for making ORIANA adults only!).

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Originally posted by eroller:

What the designers may do is have a nice wide direct access corridor from the aft stairs to the aft deck and pool. The cabin corridor by this area could be smaller and run parallel to the direct access corridor.

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Oriana already has something like this on deck 6, where a wide corridor runs from the atrium to the Peninsular Restaurant - a cabin corridor runs along side it, with door ways at certain intervals. I saw this in the refitted area of Caribbean Princess where the Crown Grill now is (where the casion was) - there is a wide corridor, which runs partially alongside a pax corridor where some new window suites are.

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Originally posted by P&OOfficer:

To add to this, I would have put a 'day bar'/patiserie in under the recess where the outdoor kids area is, which the new wide walkway would lead to!

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There you go! Now if the Carnival designers put as much thought into the refit as we did, ORIANA will be good to go! LOL

I remember looking at the Ruby in Casablanca and saying to my girlfriend, I WISH I was allowed to sail on her!

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Originally posted by P&OOfficer:
This might be unpopular, but the best people at refits in my opinion are Saga.

I remember looking at the Ruby in Casablanca and saying to my girlfriend, I WISH I was allowed to sail on her!

I haven't seen anything of their ships that I don't like - and I'm under 30!

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I agree Saga did a beautiful job with both the ROSE and RUBY. Of course they were smart enough not to really mess with the original design, and basically just updated the decor.

The exception being the aft pool on SAGA RUBY. They basically ripped out the lovely in-ground pool so the Lido could be expanded, and built a very shallow above-ground pool farther aft. It's really a poor excuse for a pool. It also enabled them to add inside cabins below as there is no more pool well. Essentially this is what HAL did with "The Retreat".