IT was a joint celebration – two beautiful ladies celebrating their 21st birthdays on the same day.

So of course they had to spend it together after a remarkable association that began with a little help from the Daily Echo many years ago.

When Mary and Dave Miell spotted a competition in the Echo to find someone who was born on the same day that P&O’s cruise ship Oriana was named by The Queen in 1995, they realised their little daughter Charlotte shared the date.

As a result, three-year-old Charlotte and mum and dad found themselves as guests on board Oriana to meet the captain and wear his hat, tour the ship and enjoy a fabulous lunch. It was an exciting day out that the family never forgot and three years later when Charlotte was six years old the family spent their first holiday cruise on board.

It was the start of a life-long association for Charlotte, who with Mary and Dave, was to travel a further eight times on Oriana. And when the family realised both Charlotte and Oriana were to celebrate their 21st birthday this month, where else could they celebrate both occasions but on board once again.

To mark the occasion, Charlotte relived the moment she got to wear the captain’s hat, received a special birthday cake on board and was surprised when she was provided with her own stateroom for the voyage when she had expected to share with her parents.

“Everyone was so nice, but they always have been on Oriana,” said Charlotte, who is studying graphic design at university. “That’s the wonderful thing about Oriana, all of the crew are always friendly and everyone treats you so well.”

Mum Mary agreed: “Oriana has become part of the family so of course we had to be here for Charlotte’s birthday,” she said when the ship returned to Southampton this week.

“When we first stepped on board years ago after the Echo competition we were wowed but we never thought we would get to sail on her. Then look what happened!”

That first cruise to the Mediterranean in 2001 came about through difficult circumstances when both Mary and her own mum were recovering from serious illnesses but decided the best recovery plan would be to take to the ocean waves.

“The whole family came, and that has been the case for a lot of our trips with as many as ten of us travelling at a time.”

The Miell family’s love-affair with Oriana had to be put on pause for a couple of years when she became an adult-only ship and Charlotte was too young to travel on her. But as soon as she turned 18 the family were back on board.

“We have travelled with other P&O ships and they are lovely too, but we always come back to Oriana. There’s just something special about her,” added dad Dave, who celebrated his own birthday on board last week and is well known in Southampton for his Dave’s Disco and Karaoke business. “I always joke that if I needed to I could hopefully get a job on board with the entertainment team.”

During their times on board the family have sailed the Mediterranean, the Baltic, Norway and to the Canary Islands where they spent Christmas on board one years. “That was a wonderful holiday,” recalled Mary. “We did wonder if it would be full of people wanting to get away from Christmas but far from it, the ship was totally decorated, there was lots to do on Christmas Day and we even had Father Christmas coming down the chimney – well, the funnel.”

And did Charlotte mind spending her special birthday with the ‘grown-ups’ on board Oriana?

“Of course not. I’ve always travelled with my family and I couldn’t be anywhere else for my 21st,” she said.

And while the Miell family haven’t decided where they will be cruising to next year, they say there’s every likelihood it will be on board a certain P&O ship they have come to know so well.