HOLIDAY CRUISE

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 81, 29 December 1934, Page 12

HOLIDAY CRUISE

Orient Liner Oronsay

A HANDSOME SHIP Due at Wellington This Morning On a holiday cruise from Australia the 20,000-ton Orient liner Oronsay is, due at Wellington at 9 o’clock this morning from Brisbane, via Auckland, ami will berth at the King’s Wharf. Tins splendid ship brought 850 passengers, the great majority of whom are Australians making their first visit to New Zealand.

The Oronsay, which is making her first visit to New Zealand, carries two classes of passengers, and on the present voyage there are about 500 travelling in the first class and 350 in the third class. Some 30 who joined the vessel at London are making the round voyage. The holiday cruise proper began at Fremantle on December 11, and thereafter large additions to the company were made at Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Festive Entertainments. The largest contingent joined at Sydney, where about 350 embarked. About 20 of the travellers made Auckland ’their port of destination and another 20 are leaving at Wellington. Entertainments in keeping with the spirit of the festive season were very thoroughly organised and entered into with great spirit and heartiness by the tourists. A carnival dance was held last Friday on the way from Sydney to Brisbane. After leaving Brisbane on Sunday passengers were entertained with the cinema and an orchestral concert. The chief events of Monday were a gymkhana in the morning' and a race meeting in the evening. On Christmas Day nothing was lacking to ensure the happy celebration of the occasion with all traditional circumstance. Children’s parties, cocktail parties and dinner parties were numerous. Auction bridge and contract bridge tournaments are proving popular and the swimming pools, of which there is one for each class, are very well patronised. Ideal weather was experienced on the passage across the Tasman Sea, which was made at a speed of 184 knots. On arrival at Auckland, four parties elected to travel overland by car to Wellington through Waitomo, Rotorua 1 , Wairakei and Napier. Another party went to Waitomo and returned to Auckland via Rotorua, and others left for Wellington via Waitomo and New Plymouth. A special train took 280 to Rotorua, and a party of 70 went there by motor-car, both companies rejoining the ship at Auckland. A 20,000-Ton Liner. The Oronsay, which was built at Clydebank by John Brown and Co., Ltd., is a handsome ship of 20,000 tons gross register, with a load displacement of 26,600 tons. Her principal dimensions are: —Length, overall. 658 feet; length, b.p., 630 feet; moulded breadth, 75 feet; moulded depth to A deck, 80 feet. She is propelled by twin-screws, driven by single-reduction geared turbines of 19,500 horse-power, giving her a speed of 20 knots at full-power. Steam is supplied by 10 oil-fired boilers. The ship is said to be very economical, with a fuel consumption of .91b. per shaft horse-power per hour. Complement of Over 2000. The Oronsay has accommodation for 592 first-class and 1202 third-class pas-, sengers, making with a crew of 440 a total complement of 2234 persons. A special feature of the ship is the spaciousness of her passenger accommodation, and the unusually large areas of deck space. On D deck, devoted to first-class passengers, are 134 rooms, accommodating 190 persons ift single • and double berths. There are also a special suite of rooms and 14 cabins de luxe. Spacious Apartments. The first-class dining saloon, approached from a -spacious foyet on E deck, extends the full width of the . ship and is 72 feet in length. It is a remarkably handsome apartment, painted in tones of ivory and white, with sculptured panels. The central portion of the dining sqloon is carried up to the height of two decks and decoratei. by pilasters supporting a deep, enriched cornice and ornamental ceiling. The fifSt-class lounge on B deck is 99 feet in length, and is a notably fine example of shipboard architecture. Its beautiful parquetry floor aud its tasteful and' luxurious furnishings are outstanding. The lounge is panelled in mahogany from floor to ceiling, and the whole effect is heightened by tlie column and pilaster treatment in marble with capitals and bases in bronze. There are 41 windows in the lounge, which has an area of 2000 square feet. The smok-ing-room, 48 feet square, is situated on B deck, and adjoining is a handsome cafe. A large space on B deck is convertible into a ballroom. A handsome writing-room and a large swimming pool are other notable features.

The third-class passenger accommodation is of a very high standard, the comfort of travellers being aimed at in every apartment. The dining saloon extends the full width of the ship, and is 66 feet in length.

A reception will be held on board the Oronsay between 11 a.m. and 12.30 p.m. to-day, and the ship will be open for inspection by the public this afternoon. The Oronsay is timed to sail at midnight on her return to Sydney.