ORIANA at Blohm & Voss for a major refit

P & O CRUISES "ORIANA" arrived this wednesday at the famous Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg for one of the most talked about refits of the last few years, the ship will undergo an overhaul and technical upgrades as well as conversion to adult only cruising, please visit my CRUISE SHIPS AND LINERS blog for other posts and pictures of this beautiful passenger ship, if you have a particular interest on the day to day life of the vessel, please visit one of the most accomplished blogs on the subject, ORIANAOF1995.BLOGSPOT.COM

Two photos of ORIANA, the first in September 1995, only four months old and at Calshot on the 27th September 2011, the last time I saw the ship before the refit that will certainly bring changes to her profile

Cruise ships at Calshot last week

The 27th of September was another busy day for Southampton as far as cruise ships were concerned, VENTURA, AZURA, ORIANA and BALMORAL were in port, it was a splendid day, warm temperature, the beginning of the heat wave that hit the UK last week, I was on my way to Portsmouth to take the night sailing to Le Havre, my main goal was to see ORIANA, not just because is one of my favourite ships but also because she is due to a refit that will inevitably change the appearance of the stern of the vessel, I just hope I won´t be disappointed next time I see her. Photos here of the AZURA, VENTURA and ORIANA, BALMORAL would come later already pitch black, it is quite evident the beauty of ORIANA´s beautiful lines compared to the newest additions to P&O CRUISES fleet