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Sirena Reviews to Date


gdlamberth
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We had a 14 month old on the last couple of days of our Nautica cruise (left the ship on July 15th) but apparently it was a crew member's wife and child. I'm not sure how long they were going to stay on board but the rest of the crew were all thrilled to see the baby.

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I would as cheaper than a Nanny.. Plus easier to handle than a 3 year old..

 

What about the crying/screaming that babies that age are prone to do from time to time - some more often than others.

Who really wants to listen to that?

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What about the crying/screaming that babies that age are prone to do from time to time - some more often than others.

Who really wants to listen to that?

 

I would hope i had a suite and my husband and take turns staying inside the cabin. i watch more 2 and 3 year olds on ship cry.. been on small ships for years- gee, a crying baby vs one that runs down halls, jumps in pools, think the lobby their playroom.. take a baby each time.. there are days i scream but easier.

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I would hope i had a suite and my husband and take turns staying inside the cabin. i watch more 2 and 3 year olds on ship cry.. been on small ships for years- gee, a crying baby vs one that runs down halls, jumps in pools, think the lobby their playroom.. take a baby each time.. there are days i scream but easier.

 

I will stick with my earlier post regarding Nice, France

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We had a baby in the stateroom next door to us on Riviera the year before last. She didn't disturb us at all. The soundproofing must be good :). Also the family were part of a bigger group who took turns at looking after her.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Currently on board and IMO, Sirena is lovely. Staff is well organized, extremely friendly and seem very happy to be here. Head Chef is visible in every dining venue, every day -- thinking he has clones! We've seen lots of staff we remember, and they us, from other cruises.

 

A criticism on previous cruises was that the Somms mostly didn't have a clue but that is not the case here - they are very well trained and knowable.

 

Some children on board - perhaps 10 to 15, generally 8 to 16 years old and seem mostly well behaved. There is an infant on board - really - no more than 5 months old! Who on earth thinks this is the right place to bring an infant!

 

Why was there an infant on board? O's policy is that any child must be one year old as of the first day of the cruise.

 

The policy reads as follows:

 

Children, Infants and Unaccompanied Minors

Infants must be one year of age as of the first day of the cruise. Guests traveling with a young infant that does not meet the infant policy will be denied boarding. No refunds or other compensation shall be due from Oceania Cruises as a result of the denial of boarding to an underage infant or any accompanying Guests. Any Guest under the age of 18 must be accompanied by and occupy the same stateroom as an adult 18 years or older. Oceania Cruises does not provide for the care, entertainment or supervision of children.

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In reading numerous posts , it would seem that the majority of these child problems and problem children is on the port intensive med cruises... and some South American cruises.... Just an observation

The Asian , and Pacific/ south Pacific cruises seem not to have the same problems Alaska mid summer might too be a problem area.

 

Moral...take cruises that are longer and to regions in remote areas... Tahiti Fiji China Might be good insurance

Edited by Hawaiidan
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  • 5 months later...
Has anyone else noticed the decidedly mediocre reviews Sirena has received so far? I know one of the really bad reviews focused on missed ports and there is the usual back and forth on food. That said, there seems to be a fair amount of carping about condition of the ship as a whole, the smaller cabins specifically, and even about service. We've only been on O once and that was the Marina so I don't have any R class experience to balance comments about a refurbed R ship; or, a recently refurbed ship of any sort. Anyway just looking for thoughts of folks with more relevant experience than me.:o Based upon our past experience with O, DH and I talked friends and family into a 12 cruise aboard Sirena early next year. These reviews are making me a bit uneasy.

 

Thanks for allowing me to whine:o

Greg

 

 

 

I resurrected this from ancient history since we have just completed our 12 day Papeete - Papeete cruise on Sirena; and, I can now answer some of my own questions. I have submitted a review that will (I hope) be posted soon; but, wanted to hit some highlights here.

 

There were 9 of us (friends and family) on this trip. DH and I have cruised mostly with Regent or Silversea and most of the others are Celebrity veterans. Ages were 55-81, 7 avid snorkelers and two non-swimmers (yeah, I couldn't figure that one either:rolleyes:). Hopefully, that'll give some insight into biases we may have.

 

First, an observation: Even with as much "managing expectations" as I could muster everyone of us had the original impression of how small the cabin was ( we were in C1s). That said we all agreed that there was sufficient room for each couple.

 

What we all (or vast majority of us) loved:

  1. Terrace Café; especially the "All You Can Eat" sushi and lobster. At the end of the cruise I asked my brother if he had gotten enough snorkeling. he said "No, but I did get enough lobster":D
  2. The itinerary!!
  3. We had great weather for 90% of the trip. Overcast and winds in Raiatea reduced visibility for snorkeling.
  4. Handling of DH's Gluten Free request. She thought the GF bread was well done, she was able to establish a "standing order" for GF escargot every day at Jacques for lunch, and the ability of the Red Ginger to adapt menu items to a GF variation even when we ate there with a last minute reservation.
  5. The location of our cabins (deck 4 amidships 4044, 4046, 4048) was both quiet and convenient.
  6. Service was first rate with a couple of exceptions.
  7. Flexibility in MDR. I was able to order creamed spinach (one of my all time favorites) every night we ate there.
  8. Special entertainers (comic, magician and singer) put on high quality performances.
  9. Ship's Navigator gave a great presentation on the history of navigation on /cruise ships.
  10. The Surf and Turf sandwich at Waves. My brothers even discovered they could order the surf and turf, hold the turf and hold the bread:rolleyes:

Things that drew complaints or negative comments:

  1. Ice cream/milkshake bar opened at 0630 BUT CLOSED AT 1600:mad: Plus you couldn't order milkshakes from the Room Service menu.
  2. Celebrity veterans couldn't figure why there was only one show time given that the showroom doesn't seat but about 300 folks. Several shows on our cruise were Standing Room Only.
  3. Waiters at Terrace Café could not tell DH which items were GF...they always had to go ask which could take 4-5 minutes...a little long when working through a buffet.
  4. While DH's GF menu was coordinated 24hrs ahead of time; they were not able to identify GF desserts ahead of time and frequently the waiters didn't know which desserts were GF. Head Waiter and Maître D' were not happy about this but it never really got fixed.

So, while not perfect, all of us liked much more than we didn't like. To be honest, good weather and great snorkeling (two things O can't really do much about) made this a wonderful cruise for all of us.

 

I'm happy to answer any specific questions you might have.

 

Greg

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I resurrected this from ancient history since we have just completed our 12 day Papeete - Papeete cruise on Sirena; and, I can now answer some of my own questions. I have submitted a review that will (I hope) be posted soon; but, wanted to hit some highlights here.

 

There were 9 of us (friends and family) on this trip. DH and I have cruised mostly with Regent or Silversea and most of the others are Celebrity veterans. Ages were 55-81, 7 avid snorkelers and two non-swimmers (yeah, I couldn't figure that one either:rolleyes:). Hopefully, that'll give some insight into biases we may have.

 

First, an observation: Even with as much "managing expectations" as I could muster everyone of us had the original impression of how small the cabin was ( we were in C1s). That said we all agreed that there was sufficient room for each couple.

Things that drew complaints or negative comments:

 

Please forgive me for snipping your positives!

 

Ice cream/milkshake bar opened at 0630 BUT CLOSED AT 1600:mad: Plus you couldn't order milkshakes from the Room Service menu.Not sure about this complaint... Waves always closes at that hour, and that's where the"milk" bar is. I never tried to order milkshakes from Room Service any more than I tried to get a smoothie from Room Service. I always go to Waves during their opening hours ...

 

Celebrity veterans couldn't figure why there was only one show time given that the showroom doesn't seat but about 300 folks. Several shows on our cruise were Standing Room Only.

How large are the Celebrity ships you're mentioning? Maybe they have more ability to do two shows? Since Renaissance days the "R" ships -- I'm talking Renaissance and Oceania, NOT Azamara -- there is only one show. Our experience is that it is usually crowded, but with dinner hours being what they are I really don't see how the smaller ships could handle two shows. Maybe that's because I don't often go to them!

 

Waiters at Terrace Café could not tell DH which items were GF...they always had to go ask which could take 4-5 minutes...a little long when working through a buffet.

That's why people with gluten problems are recommended to notify the ship in advance. Then you can see the menus in advance and know just what is right or wrong for you. No, the waiters aren't aware of this. The kitchen IS.

 

While DH's GF menu was coordinated 24hrs ahead of time; they were not able to identify GF desserts ahead of time and frequently the waiters didn't know which desserts were GF. Head Waiter and Maître D' were not happy about this but it never really got fixed.

I still don't see the problem. I would not expect waiters to know which were GF and which were not. I can agree that if the menu was coordinated ahead of time you should have known which desserts were GF.

 

So, while not perfect, all of us liked much more than we didn't like. To be honest, good weather and great snorkeling (two things O can't really do much about) made this a wonderful cruise for all of us.

 

I'm happy to answer any specific questions you might have.

 

Glad to hear that despite these problems you were happy with the cruise. We were on Sirena in October and had no complaints ... it was the usual "R" ship experience.

 

Mura

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If you have food sensitivity

when you go to the Terrace or Waves you should request to speak to the Chef so he can guide you through the options that are safe to eat

The rest of the dining venues are taken care of by the advanced menu

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I resurrected this from ancient history since we have just completed our 12 day Papeete - Papeete cruise on Sirena; and, I can now answer some of my own questions. I have submitted a review that will (I hope) be posted soon; but, wanted to hit some highlights here.

 

There were 9 of us (friends and family) on this trip. DH and I have cruised mostly with Regent or Silversea and most of the others are Celebrity veterans. Ages were 55-81, 7 avid snorkelers and two non-swimmers (yeah, I couldn't figure that one either:rolleyes:). Hopefully, that'll give some insight into biases we may have.

 

First, an observation: Even with as much "managing expectations" as I could muster everyone of us had the original impression of how small the cabin was ( we were in C1s). That said we all agreed that there was sufficient room for each couple.

Things that drew complaints or negative comments:

 

Please forgive me for snipping your positives!

No sweat!

 

Ice cream/milkshake bar opened at 0630 BUT CLOSED AT 1600:mad: Plus you couldn't order milkshakes from the Room Service menu.Not sure about this complaint... Waves always closes at that hour, and that's where the"milk" bar is. I never tried to order milkshakes from Room Service any more than I tried to get a smoothie from Room Service. I always go to Waves during their opening hours ...

 

I understand closing Waves at 1600, it's a "food" place. I would rather the "refreshment" places like the bars and beverage (milkshakes, smoothies, coffee, etc,) establishments be open when I get back from a all day or all afternoon excursion or outing and am looking for something cool and refreshing to tide me over until dinner. Not a deal breaker, just a preference.

 

Celebrity veterans couldn't figure why there was only one show time given that the showroom doesn't seat but about 300 folks. Several shows on our cruise were Standing Room Only.

How large are the Celebrity ships you're mentioning? Maybe they have more ability to do two shows? Since Renaissance days the "R" ships -- I'm talking Renaissance and Oceania, NOT Azamara -- there is only one show. Our experience is that it is usually crowded, but with dinner hours being what they are I really don't see how the smaller ships could handle two shows. Maybe that's because I don't often go to them!

I understand that folks who don't normally go to the shows wouldn't care how crowded they were. Frankly, we normally don't go. However, on this trip we had a "perfect storm" of traveling with a group of friends and family who like to go to the shows and some really good specialty entertainers.

 

 

Waiters at Terrace Café could not tell DH which items were GF...they always had to go ask which could take 4-5 minutes...a little long when working through a buffet.

That's why people with gluten problems are recommended to notify the ship in advance. Then you can see the menus in advance and know just what is right or wrong for you. No, the waiters aren't aware of this. The kitchen IS.

 

 

I'm going to take issue with you here. First, we did notify the ship in advance of DH's Gluten issues. Second, I absolutely do expect wait staff at restaurants (once you get above the Outback, Chili's level) to know ingredients in all dishes. I also expect table staff at bars/lounges (again, once you get above your local or sports bar sort of place) to know how the various cocktails are prepared. Maybe that's just the way I trained my employees or maybe it's my prior experience on Regent and Silversea coming through? That said, the Senior Head Waiter (Faustine in this case) did know how all dishes were prepared, it is just that he's really busy and I hate to soak up so much of his attention.

 

While DH's GF menu was coordinated 24hrs ahead of time; they were not able to identify GF desserts ahead of time and frequently the waiters didn't know which desserts were GF. Head Waiter and Maître D' were not happy about this but it never really got fixed.

I still don't see the problem. I would not expect waiters to know which were GF and which were not. I can agree that if the menu was coordinated ahead of time you should have known which desserts were GF.

 

In this case the Maître D at the MDR takes issue with you. Since the desserts are NOT on the "read ahead" menu (allowing the chefs to make last minute changes) the waiters ARE supposed to know which desserts are GF! Turns out there is at least one and usually two desserts on each menu that are GF. The first several times we ate in the MDR DH just had ice cream to finesse the issue. And I'll take the hit for not mentioning it immediately to the Maître D.

 

So, while not perfect, all of us liked much more than we didn't like. To be honest, good weather and great snorkeling (two things O can't really do much about) made this a wonderful cruise for all of us.

 

I'm happy to answer any specific questions you might have.

 

Glad to hear that despite these problems you were happy with the cruise. We were on Sirena in October and had no complaints ... it was the usual "R" ship experience.

 

Mura

 

 

I've responded or expanded in BLUE above.

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Do you have any photos of the C1 cabins? We are looking at them as well?

Thanks

 

 

 

Sorry:( we have some great snorkeling photos but none of the cabin. As I indicated (I thought:o), while small, it is absolutely fine for one or two adults. The C1 may not be suitable for you if you spend a lot of time in your cabin reading or watching movie selections, but otherwise its fine. And I would definitely recommend the 4044/4046/4048 (or odd numbered equivalents) location as being really great.

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If you have food sensitivity

when you go to the Terrace or Waves you should request to speak to the Chef so he can guide you through the options that are safe to eat

The rest of the dining venues are taken care of by the advanced menu

 

I agree the advance menu concept is EXCELLENT for the MDR, Red Ginger and Tuscan Steak. As I think I indicated, a variant of it also worked really well at Jacques. Waves is pretty easy, "Surf and Turf, hold the bread":). Other allergies at Waves (onion, garlic, etc) ahold be pretty easy for the passenger to identify and avoid.

 

Terrace on the other hand is a bit different. The potential allergens could be cooked into the dish and not visible. While 55% of the US population has food allergies, only about 18% of the population have food allergies with significant reactions. So 18% of 600 pax and say 1/3 eat in The Terrace on a given night...hmmmm, that's about 30 folks for the chef to walk through the line at the buffet.:confused: When faced with explain something to thirty different customers or once to my staff, I have generally chosen to explain it once to my staff. But that's just me.

 

Again, I want to say none of these issues were deal breakers. Generally the GF issue was handled with aplomb by all O staff. Back in my DoD days I worked a project called CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT. The concept has always stuck with me. As Hal Moore used to constantly say, "You can always do one more thing to improve."

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In reading numerous posts , it would seem that the majority of these child problems and problem children is on the port intensive med cruises... and some South American cruises.... Just an observation

The Asian , and Pacific/ south Pacific cruises seem not to have the same problems Alaska mid summer might too be a problem area.

 

Moral...take cruises that are longer and to regions in remote areas... Tahiti Fiji China Might be good insurance

 

 

I can only assume you didn't notice one of the crew members family on board the Sirena on our 21 days from L.A to Papeete. A 4 year old daughter and an 18 month old son.

They ate everyday at Waves or the Terrace cafe breakfast and lunch. They were so well behaved I guess a lot of passengers didn't notice

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In reading numerous posts , it would seem that the majority of these child problems and problem children is on the port intensive med cruises... and some South American cruises.... Just an observation

The Asian , and Pacific/ south Pacific cruises seem not to have the same problems Alaska mid summer might too be a problem area.

 

Moral...take cruises that are longer and to regions in remote areas... Tahiti Fiji China Might be good insurance

 

I can only assume you didn't notice one of the crew members family on board our 21 day cruise on Sirena this January 4th L.A to Papeete. Mother and 4 year old daughter and 18 month old son. They ate everyday in the Terrace cafe or Waves for breakfast and lunch.

They were so well behaved I guess a lot of passengers didn't notice.

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  • 5 months later...

The best spot for excursion info for your particular cruise is the Oceania Roll Calls Board for your cruise. People organize on those boards.

 

Also you can check Ports of Call Boards.

 

Lots of good info on those boards that are part of Cruise Critic.

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  • 1 year later...
Sailing on her next week, so will let you know my opinion when we come back

 

I will appreciate your comments when you return. My family and I are booked on the Sirena sailing out of Miami on 10th Oct and I am concerned at the bad reports that I have read. Hope you have a better experience and enjoy your cruise.

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