su-arizona

We have cruised with Windstar several times, and cruised on the Star Pride a couple years ago. As you know, the Star ships are former Seabourn ships. So all the cabins are suites; quite large and nice. Unlike O ships, there are no real balcony cabins and most all cabins are the same size; don't waste your money on a 'balcony". There is no selection of restaurants, but the food is generally quite good (though not as good as Oceania). The service is generally better than Oceania IMHO, and the crew is much friendlier. We enjoy the open bridge and interaction with the ship's officers -as past guests we were invited to dine with them several times. Because the Star's are such small ships, it's easier to meet and hang out with other guests. And the Star ships, like other Windstar ships, have the sports platform. Not much of a plus in Monte Carlo, but lovely in beachy ports.

The Star Pride had been very recently 'refurbished' when we cruised. While the cabin was nice, the rest of the ship was not. I posted a review, and to Windstar's credit, it appears many of the problems I and others complained about have been corrected on the other Star ships as they were refurbished. I'm considering Star Legend in the Caribbean this winter since I've been convinced that they've done some creative remodeling. And I can't imagine cruising the Caribbean without a sports platform!

JimandStan,

I don't know how you guys know everything, but you ought to write a book of cruising tips.

I also leave fabric softener sheets in my suitcases after they are emptied, so they smell nice and fresh the next time I pack.

I heard FDR at on the christening video say Serena (like Williams) but on the ship Captain Reesa (Italian) and his crew said See-rain-a. Maybe it depends on the native language pronunciation?

I met a cruiser on Sirena who is a single woman who was in E-class. She hated it, because she said that the boats create lots of noise early in the morning since they're used by the crew. She also felt a lack of privacy due to this. She much prefers inside cabins. I did peek into a deck 7 inside while it was being cleaned and it seemed quite nice.

I had recommended the E cabin to a single female friend who just couldn't afford the single supplement for a veranda. The woman I met was in the same situation, but said she wouldn't take a guarantee cabin again (which is how she ended up in E) because she disliked the E cabins so much.

Perhaps a single female might have a different opinion than the more vocal male cruisers...

Since Dan ran me thru spin-dry when lecturing about my Tide pods in a a previous post....

I brought and used my Tide pods on Sirena last month. And for what it's worth, the laundry on Sirena was such a huge mess that the ship's soap was available in large bulk boxes on the laundry room floor. It was just cheap Italian wash soap - no special blend. The old soap dispenser was still on the wall (though not working) and had a couple other regular US brands, so apparently not a problem on Princess....And I asked a housekeeping senior staffer, and they said no problem using my Tide pods. And my laundry got clean.

Oh, and BTW, I always bring lots of fabric softener sheets too. They are a prized commodity in the laundry.

And excuuuse me, but my first Oceania cruise was on Nautica (loved it). And my first R-class cruise was on the R3 in Tahiti. I did know what to expect. Read my review for the details.

What I did not expect: The generally poor food/beverage service. On most Oceania ships, we tend to eat in Terrace Cafe often. Service was very poor in Terrace Cafe. There's been lots of discussion in this forum regarding the health aspects of eliminating the self-service 'buffet'. For this Sirena cruise, the alternative was no service. The line servers often didn't speak English so they didn't understand what you wanted; or they didn't know what to do at their stations; or they simply didn't do anything. And this of course didn't help the food quality either.

And beverage service there (and in Waves, and Horizons, and Sirena Lounge) was largely non-existent.

When we mentioned this to F&B managers, we were told that new staff was introduced in Terrace Cafe, more experienced staff were in the GDR and the most experienced staff was in the speciality restaurants. This seemed to be mostly true, but I don't think it forgives awful service in Terrace Cafe. We never had this experience before.

It's all discussed at length in the review. And it doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the cruise overall - I did. But I know what I expected, and Sirena did not meet my expectations. There's an itinerary I'd really like in the spring - but I won't sail on Sirena again.

An O-life excursion we had booked was cancelled because the ship missed the planned port. Destination Services offered us a $100 OBC or another excursion, which I thought was very fair - and more than I expected!

For our cruise last month, we used Oceania air for the first time (took the credit and booked our own air on previous cruises) since Oceania was offering a $99 Premium Economy upgrade. I posted previously on this thread discussing our excellent experience booking - and changing - our air arrangements.

Since we've now completed our trip, I wanted to say how pleased I was with both the booking of the air and how the air arrangements turned out. We flew nonstop Tampa->Frankfurt and Frankfurt->Tampa in premium economy booked on Lufthansa. They were two of the most pleasant flights I've experienced recently. The connecting flights to Lisbon and from Paris were pretty much like US interstate cattle cars, but that's what I expected in the height of summer. And that's not a problem with Oceania's air.

So from start to finish, our first experience with O air was excellent. As I said in my previous post, you need to know what flights you want before working with O air - the flights we took were not the first (or second or third) offers proposed. But if you get Oceania to agree to the flights you want, the experience can be terrific.

Don't miss your opportunities to dine in Sirena's specialty restaurants - particularly Red Ginger. Renovations in Sirena are spotty overall, but Red Ginger is gorgeous - much much nicer than on Marina and Riviera. The service and food in Red Ginger are also superb. Tuscan Steak's decor is nice, but more pedestrian, and the food is not at the level of Toscana or Polo Grill.

On Sirena, both restaurants have tables overlooking the stern of the ship, and they are a memorable setting for a special dinner. I would suggest trying a less popular night (IE not a sea day), and reserving for 2 dining alone at a relatively early hour to have the best chance of securing one of these tables. We spoke with the maitre d' in advance of our 7:30 reservations, and he advised arriving around 7:20. We were able to obtain lovely window tables for all three of our 7:30 reservations by doing this. For an 8:30 reservation on a sea day, no such luck.

Interesting thought. I just received a new catalog from Viking Ocean this week with two days in Havana on an itinerary in 2017. We're planning to book it.

Marne, we're in the same boat (literally!) renting a Europcar on Saturday to tour and return later in the week. Hopefully someone who knows the area will reply!

There is parking at the Docks Vauban complex:

http://www.docksvauban.com/services-liste/parking/

which appears to be accessible via a shuttle front the cruise terminal (hopefully taxis will also be available at the dock!). There does appear to be a fee for parking, so hopefully it's also a safe place to park.

Waves offers a wonderful 'lighter' lunch - burgers, sandwiches, salads. Absolutely terrific surf & turf sandwich. And wonderful shakes too. It's my favorite lunch venue in warmer months/climates.

Just saw the USA Today posting on Sirena. As usual, they have included many photos of most everything on Sirena. Sorry I don't have a link handy, but it should be easy to find.

Looks lovely; we'll see for ourselves in two weeks.

I have seen quite a few shore excursions sell out, and can recall at least a couple of excursions which were filled months prior to departure.

On our next cruise, I chose the OLife shore excursion option rather than the OBC because I wanted 2 specific shore excursions. I was unable to book independent tours for these, and expected that they would sell out prior to departure (in part because I couldn't book independent tours...) and I wanted to book well in advance.

I just received my "Final Cruise Vacation Summary" for a July 27 departure on July 6 - just as jancruz said. However, I received it from my TA - and my correct email address is correctly listed in the passenger information form that came in the packet. So I assume Oceania does not send the email directly to the passenger if booked by a TA.

Sounds like the OP should contact the TA - especially if they had to track down their 'blue book' as well.

So I have been watching the reviews closely, and some folks on our roll call have expressed similar concerns about the Sirena reviews. Our first O cruise was on Nautica (and also on Renaissance R3 some years before - hence the "R-class' ships) and I thought the balcony cabins were quite nice at the time. I do fear I've been spoiled by the 'O-class' bathrooms more recently...and my biggest concern from the reviews is the "clingy shower curtain" that appears frequently in many of the reviews to date...I don't recall that, sounds pretty distasteful.

Eleven reviews don't make for a very good sample size, particularly since there are several reviews from the inaugural cruise...Seems to me back in the "old days" they referred to those things as "shakedown cruises"? Not a very marketable term, but probably still accurate.

Most reviews were very positive about the food and beds, so I think I'm safe there, and they hopefully have worked out many of the service kinks. That covers the most of the time I will spend aboard.

My big concern, and the reason I cancelled my next Marina cruise and booked on Sirena, is whether we will be in close proximity to the ports on the itinerary. There seems to be a disturbing trend on the O-class ships to dock far from the 'listed' port. So when we plan to be in Bordeaux, I hope we are actually in Bordeaux - not an hour away. If so, I expect we'll have a good cruise.

Either way, I'll let you all know when we return. And maybe add some photos too, now that they're supported on CC...

Great location for doing your laundry! You might have some occasional banging door noise, but shouldn't be much of a bother. The laundry is a great place to meet other passengers, but wild parties are rare:D

We've used them 4 times between the port and Rome and they have always done a terrific job. Last time in Oct 2015 they took 6 of us from the Marina to Rome and picked us up at a set time/location to return to the ship. Check their web site - they're terrific.

There is an express bus to/from Nice Airport to Monte Carlo and Menton. It runs about every 20 minutes and is very reliable, comfortable and quick. As I recall, it's about 18euros per person. It stops at Place d'Armes which is quite near the port as well as a couple other places in Monte Carlo, think maybe the casino and train station. You can find info on Nice Airport website,

I have rarely used the pool area on any Oceania ships, and we are usually ashore touring most days. But when I do want to relax in the sun, or enjoy a soak after a long day of touring, I always head for the spa deck. It's always been quieter and less crowded than the pool area, and I prefer a jacuzzi to the pool.

My absolute favorite is the thalassotherapy pool/spa on the Riviera. It's a great place for aching legs and feet. Sailed on Marina for the first time last year, and was really disappointed that it lacks the same pool/spa configuration.

I've been reluctant to jump in since we have taken the credit and booked our own air on all of our previous Oceania cruises. On those past cruises, the air credit was very close to what we ended up paying with our TA booking our preferred flights. We always arrive prior to the start of the cruise, and usually stay a few days after as well.

We are using Oceania air for the first time on our cruise next month. We chose to do so because O offered the $99 premium economy upgrade, which was very attractive compared to what we would have paid for the upgrade on our own. Our TA negotiated with Oceania for awhile to get the flights we wanted on the airline we wanted, but was eventually able to get our desired nonstop to Europe and a good connection.

After the airport bombing in Brussels, I was concerned about our connecting time on our booked flights through Frankfurt. The connection met the time requirements, but I was concerned and asked my TA to see if O could give us an earlier flight from Paris to Frankfurt. Oceania did give us an earlier flight - our TA said that they originally wanted to charge us an additional air deviation fee for this, but since they could book the same fare class they waived this and booked the earlier flight for us.

So...in the booking process, I have to say that Oceania has been very accommodating. Hopefully, it will all turn out as nicely when we take the flights. I would suggest going into the process knowing what flights you want - the first flights suggested were not ones we would consider and our TA began suggesting the alternatives we wanted until found a mutually agreeable flight.

We embarked from Monte Carlo on Marina in October 2015, and overnighted in Monte Carlo on Riviera in September 2012. On both cruises we docked in the same exact location on Quai Rainier III in Port Hercule - the central marina in Monte Carlo. The Oct 2015 embarkation couldn't have been easier. There is a terminal at the end of the quay and Oceania staff met us there and took our luggage, and we boarded right after we arrived.

As others have said, you can't count on a specific location in any port, but I would be very surprised if there was tendering required for embarkation in Monte Carlo.

If you haven't purchased transfers from the Nice airport, we avoided the ~100 euros cab ride and took the Nice Airport Express bus for 18 euros each. Bought tickets outside the arrivals area and waited about 15 minutes for a very fast and comfortable bus transport to Monte Carlo. Got off at Place d'Armes and ended up walking to the ship because we we able to walk before we were able to catch a cab. Not terribly fashionable to pull our luggage to the ship, but it was a 10 minute downhill walk from the stop...

For past cruises, I have chosen sharing when booking specialty restaurants online. On our past couple cruises, sharing has resulted in being seated at a very large table - which was awful. We typically have a starter, salad and entree. Our last time in Toscana at a sharing table for 8, there were 2 couples having every course, and two individuals sent back courses and requested new ones while we all waited...in short, we were at the table for many hours.

Conversely, we had a lovely dinner shared with one other couple in Polo. If I could choose sharing with a smaller table, I'd certainly do so....but for our current booking, I just went for no sharing to avoid the "big table" sharing situation... I don't recall ever having a choice of table size for sharing (other than with others you plan to dine with of course).

I believe the OP was questioning a "class system" that denies passengers in certain cabins access to various ship amenities - restaurants, bars, pools, etc? And I believe we can all agree that Oceania does not have a similar "class system". Some cabins have free access to some spa facilities, but any passenger can pay to access them, right? Some cabins can make earlier restaurant reservations, but all passengers can access all restaurants, right? Some cabins can board the ship earlier than others, but all passengers can board at a specified time, right?

To my knowledge, the only amenities restricted to a certain cabin class are the Concierge and Executive Lounges. It seems most posters agree that they aren't a big deal.

So it seems to me that there's a lot of agreement that there's not much of a "class system" on Oceania. But for the record, I do feel badly for the people who arrive (often by Oceania air, I believe) on the day of departure and have to wait hours in a boarding terminal after a long flight.

We could be a lot more helpful by letting new folks know that they can pay a modest air deviation fee to arrive a day early and book a night at a hotel of their choice so they don't have to wait in the terminal or pay Oceania's inflated rates for pre-cruise hotels. I've met a number of people who weren't aware of this option.

There is a short review and many photos in a Sirena album on Cruise Critic's Facebook page as well.