Sirena Review - Aug 19-29

[johnnyi]

This was submitted in the reviews section, but I thought I'd post it here as well. I hope this might help others.

 

I traveled with my mother on this cruise, the Aug 19 voyage from Barcelona to Rome. As a point of reference, this was our 9th Oceania cruise. 5 have been on the small ships and 4 on the larger Oceania duo.

 

In our opinion, Sirena is alive and well and was exactly what we have come to expect and love with Oceania.

 

The ship looked great, very fresh and in line with the refurbishments on the other Regatta-class vessels. The carpet was still squishy new in spots. It was interesting to see the subtle changes made in Horizons, which really opened up the room and gave it a bit of a larger feel. The incorporation of Red Ginger is beautiful and exceeded how I thought it might look. The initial renderings of Tuscan Steak looked frankly boring to me, but upon seeing it in person it's very sleek and quite lovely. In regards to the cabins, we had an outside stateroom with full window on Deck 4. The beds were like butter. Divine. Best on any ship to date. Even better than Oceania's previous beds which were already lovely. Everything else in the cabin was fine and as we would expect. Yes, the bathrooms are small and weren't blessed with any renovation, so luckily you don't spend a lot of time in there. We knew about this all already fortunately. However, it was still a bone of contention though to new Oceania cruisers or new Regatta-class cruisers as this was overheard more than once during our voyage.

 

The food, with the exception of one entree (Lobster Thermidor) in the Grand Dining Room, was all delicious. Tuscan Steak's menu is large and includes so many entree choices. It is a bit confusing, but some of the pasta dishes that are listed as entrees can be ordered as a side dish. Red Ginger was exactly like Marina/Riviera, except on the smaller ships you have the advantage of tons of windows . We were lucky to get one of the coveted tables for two overlooking the wake of the ship. We didn't experience Jacques Bistro for lunch as this was an all port itinerary and we were ashore busy each day. The one day we did stay onboard in Livorno, Jacques was closed as they anticipated a nearly empty ship. As it has been mentioned in other reviews as a negative, we found the food temperature in The Terrace Cafe to be fine, no problems there at all. Lots of tasty lobster still available too, nightly. It is worth mentioning that food temperature of all hot entrees arriving to the table in the Grand Dining Room was HOT. And I mean HOT. (most impressive in our book). Tables for 2 in the Grand Dining Room were very popular on our cruise and those wishing for this arrangement often had to wait, but not long. Generally, if you arrived after 730pm, there would be a wait for a table for two. Ice Cream in the Terrace was not available as the display fridge was under maintenance the entire cruise, but the set-up in Waves was working fine. On the second to last day of the cruise, the Executive Chef changed. Mario out, Martin in. Judging by the remarks of the Hotel Director, it was clear that the new Chef Martin wasn't new to Sirena.

 

Staff were very friendly, talkative and service levels were mostly high, with some crew members going above and beyond. Our cabin stewardess was the most genuinely friendly stewardess we've ever had. Her assistant was adorable too and greeted us excitedly each time he saw us. We were always greeted by name by them both, come to think of it. As a team, they serviced the entire port side of cabins on Deck 4, which totals 25 cabins, yet they always had time to chat and we felt like we were the only room they had. Well done. It was also very flattering to be remembered by many staff over the course of the cruise. Drink service by the pool was very sparse towards the beginning of the cruise in the afternoons, but got better as the cruise went along. Happy Hour in Horizons from 10:30pm-11:30pm was often a big hit causing some service delays here but I do have to say it was unusually crowded. Extra wait staff was brought in most nights after the initial early cruise rush and often the head bartender jumped in to assist with the drink-making. Staff noted that on the previous cruise, the lounge was practically empty. Initial wine service in the dining room is fast, but it can be a longer wait later on when it's time close your tab. This has always been the case on our other cruises though, so we really weren't surprised. The Officers seemed to be a bit more present on this voyage and a bit more receptive to interacting with guests. (I know this has been a point of discussion throughout Oceania's life as a cruise line. Doesn't bother me one way or the other really, but worth mentioning for those who are curious). The Hotel Director/Cruise Director were very visible.

 

In terms of entertainment, the production company of singers/dancers were great, in my opinion. This was the inaugural cast and they still have about 2 months left. Four shows were performed, all were to our liking except one. The final show, Acoustic Sessions, was our favorite. The four singers had very good singing voices and were complemented by a dance duo couple. The shows could have incorporated more material for this dance duo as you knew they had more talent, but were unable to show it. Offstage, the production company was very visible and friendly. We had three other guest entertainers. One Male Vocalist who did two shows, one Irish instrumentalist (flute) who did two shows, and then another Male Vocalist the final night of the cruise who I understand did an Elton John tribute. We didn't make it to the Elton John tribute show, but the other two entertainers were good and seemed to be well-received. The Cruise Director Corey was recently promoted and only on his second cruise I think. Perhaps it was just the crowd on our cruise, but I've never seen Horizons on the small ships as active as it was on our cruise. Corey had a lot to do with this I do believe since he was up there every night serving as DJ, dancing tirelessly (for hours) and getting people going. He's got a pretty good sense of humor and it was fun to watch the antics and people enjoying Horizons. It is our understanding CD Dottie Kulasa will replace Corey at the end of November. There was one enrichment lecturer onboard who gave only two lectures, so this could be disappointing for those expecting more here.

 

The first three days of the cruise, the a/c was on full force. Granted she's always cold, but my mother froze. Ironically enough, the day after the mid-cruise comment cards went out, the a/c was noticeably scaled back resulting in one happy mother.

 

Embarkation, disembarkation, and tender service were all a breeze. We did not visit the spa, gym or boutiques. It is worth noting that for our entire cruise, purchases onboard were subjected to a VAT tax. The extra VAT tax was 10% for beverage purchases, 21% for spa services and 21% for boutique purchases. We hadn't experienced this before on our Oceania Europe voyages. It really dashed any thoughts of going to the spa or taking advantage of their specials, I can say that for sure. Canyon Ranch isn't cheap to begin with, so when you add in the 18% gratuity plus the 21% VAT tax, it was enough to make your wallet shudder. The VAT tax probably didn't help the shops reach their targets either. We also had no sea days and very late departures from port, so the casino and boutiques were often closed for days in a row.

 

As a side note, most of the inaugural festivities mentioned in the promotional brochures for Sirena never happened (inaugural sail away celebration, inaugural cocktail celebration). Could be again due to the extended port times, however, we found the pool deck full each afternoon despite the long stays in port. This cruise had a younger demographic than previous ones with a good amount of couples in their 30s, who upon asking were drawn in by the itinerary and consequently were pleased with the Oceania experience. Some were wishing for more entertainment and/or live music offerings (live music is limited to be fair, but again we knew this going in). Also, there were about 8-10 kids onboard, mostly part of one large family group. All were well-behaved. Many cruisers were from England, Australia/New Zealand, the US/Canada of course and a contingent of Russians as well.

 

We participated in two Oceania shore excursions, which were well-organized and arranged, with excellent guides. However, don't plan to ask the Shore Excursions staff too much in detail about the ports of call if you are on your own. My mother was met with a rather surly answer/flimsy excuse for the lack of information they had to her question. These questions are better answered by the representatives from the port/tourist boards that arrive onboard in the lobby each morning from about 8:30am-12:30pm. This is an extremely helpful service and is one I hope Oceania does not discontinue. While waiting in line to speak to these representatives, I was shocked at the number of guests who went to their desk and plainly asked "I've never been here, what should I do?" For this reason, you may wait a little bit, so it's probably better to come with something a bit more specific. Your fellow guests who are eager to go ashore will appreciate this.

 

All in all, we were most pleased with our voyage on Sirena and would not hesitate to book this ship again. We were blessed with beautiful weather (more totally cloudless days than I can count). It was a wonderful experience.

[perl]

Thank you. I am happy you had a positive experience, I have only seen a majority of negative posts regarding the Sirena and the Cabin size. Did anyone of the cruise have comments regarding the Penthouse cabins/

[Paulchili]

Johnny,

Thank you for this very comprehensive review.

I am glad to hear that you enjoyed the cruise and that Sirena is running "smoothly" in your opinion. Particularly so as we wil be on her this December.

Paul

[smilin jack]

Thank you for that great review...

 

Just about all the other reviews complain about the small bathrooms...I would of guessed that all the bathrooms on all the R ships are the same size. Is that right, or are they smaller on the Sirena....They couldn't get much smaller.....

[robandlil]

Thank you for your excellent review.

When we booked I thought we could access the ala carte restaurants at will. From these boards I now know that we will be limited in getting reservations.

 

So I'm hoping you will tell me if there are any menu items that only appear in Tuscan steak or Red Ginger and never appear on the MDR menu.

 

I don't want to miss a once in a cruise chance to try veal Oscar, (for example) but I now know to skip the lobster Thermidor.

[nyfeds]

Thanks for posting your Sirena cruise review. Sounds like you had a great experience. Looking forward to the same for us next month. Appreciate you taking the time to post!

Denise

[Mura]

Great review, thank you. We board in a month and it seems that Sirena will be as we recall our other "R" ship ventures.

 

Robandwil asks about the "a la carte" restaurants -- by which I assume they mean the specialty restaurants. Yes, you need reservations but you are guaranteed a certain number depending on your cabin category and the length of the cruise. DH and I are among those passengers who often fail to use all the reservations available to us because the specialty restaurants have "set" menus whereas the GDR and Terrace change daily, with many choices.

 

And I wouldn't assume that the lobster thermador is ALWAYS a failure. I've had dishes on the "O" ships that occasionally failed although usually were lovely. Still ... you know what you want to risk. The thing is: you can always send it back and order something else!

 

 

The bathrooms on the "R" ships below the PH level are indeed small. While we've only been in the "A" and now "B" cabins, I assume they are all the same. In the past (we started out on the R2 with Renaissance in 1999) I remembered the shower negatively, but in June we took a downgrade (for a bunch of dollars) to a B1 from a PH, and this time the shower didn't bother me so much. I'm no thinner! What bothered me more was once I stepped out of the shower and tried to find room to dry myself.

 

I have decided that the bathroom itself is the size of a nice walk-in shower! Let that be your guide.

 

The bathrooms in a PH are comfortable, the bathrooms in the VS and OS cabins are quite spacious. (I'm talking about the "R" ships.)

 

 

Perl, the PH cabins are very comfortable. They are smaller than the PH cabins on the "O" ships, but still very reasonable. A comfortable bathroom. (It used to have a tub/shower combo but I believe they are being changed to a large shower, starting with Sirena. I'll tell you in a month.)

 

A nice sitting area. You have room to eat in the room if you wish. And the veranda is also a good size. NOT as large as on the big suites, but two lounge chairs (as opposed to mere chairs) fit.

 

We're looking forward to our return ...

 

Mura

[UAL_FlyGal]

johnnyi, PLEASE take a well deserved bow!!

What an excellent review. You covered all the bases and then some! Bless you for taking the time to post!!

[LHT28]

Thanks for your comments on Sirena

 

a couple of comments

the shore excursion people are not there for independent travellers ..they are there to SELL O excursions .. so do your homework before you board the ship

The Tourist reps are informative on some things but I am always amazed at the number of people who line up with no clue what the port is about

 

We have been in A,B & C cabins on the other R ships the bathrooms are all the same ...small but functional

[globevest]

Johnny many thanks for your review. We are looking at Sirena for 2017 and you helped with our decision.

[portofrome]

Thank you for the review.

[robandlil]

Still hoping to find out if there are any menu items in the specialty restaurants that never appear in the MDR.

 

And/or does anyone have photos of the menus?

[LHT28]

Still hoping to find out if there are any menu items in the specialty restaurants that never appear in the MDR.

 

And/or does anyone have photos of the menus?

There are several items that are only in the Specialties otherwise why would people bother going

 

The link to the Preismans blog have the GDR menus plus

 

http://www.thepreismans.com/riviera16_menus.htm#grand

 

You can see sample menus for Tuscan Steak, Jacques Bistro & Red ginger on Sirena at

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/ships/sirena/cuisine/

Edited September 4, 2016 by LHT28

[newbie60]

Spent 21 days on Sirena in a PH2, disembarking shortly before the OP embarked. The PH space was identical to all other "R" ships and the completely remodeled bathroom was excellent! The walk-in shower took the entire space that had been a bathtub. Two shower heads - one could be used as a hand-held, the other a rainshower type. Very nice vanity arrangement with what I perceived as much more storage space on the other R ships.

 

Totally agree with the interaction of the crew and senior staff. Chef Mario was absolutely everywhere - in every dining venue - at every service. Man was amazing.

 

Corey is a very good CD - he was on the Insignia during the unfortunate fire incident. He had been an Assistant CD prior to that and he truly got thrown into a mess on that cruise.

 

GM Raffaelle Cinque is a delight and he runs a great hotel.

[conom]

Thanks so much for your excellent review. Will be on Sirena in January 2017

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[pinotlover]

Great review of the Ship, Thanks a lot. I'm booked on other O ships through 2017, without ever being on her, but this review gives me motivation to book a cruise just to try her out.

 

FWIW, the OP did address an issue that HawaiiDan and I have mentioned in other threads. That being, that after initial fast wine/beverage service in the restaurants, the pace slowly falls off. Two glasses of wine, certainly; three glasses of wine, um probably/maybe; four glasses, dream on!. It's not the constant free pour service you get on river cruises by design, regardless of the type of package you have!

[bitob]

This was submitted in the reviews section, but I thought I'd post it here as well. I hope this might help others.

 

 

 

I traveled with my mother on this cruise, the Aug 19 voyage from Barcelona to Rome. As a point of reference, this was our 9th Oceania cruise. 5 have been on the small ships and 4 on the larger Oceania duo.

 

 

 

In our opinion, Sirena is alive and well and was exactly what we have come to expect and love with Oceania.

 

 

 

The ship looked great, very fresh and in line with the refurbishments on the other Regatta-class vessels. The carpet was still squishy new in spots. It was interesting to see the subtle changes made in Horizons, which really opened up the room and gave it a bit of a larger feel. The incorporation of Red Ginger is beautiful and exceeded how I thought it might look. The initial renderings of Tuscan Steak looked frankly boring to me, but upon seeing it in person it's very sleek and quite lovely. In regards to the cabins, we had an outside stateroom with full window on Deck 4. The beds were like butter. Divine. Best on any ship to date. Even better than Oceania's previous beds which were already lovely. Everything else in the cabin was fine and as we would expect. Yes, the bathrooms are small and weren't blessed with any renovation, so luckily you don't spend a lot of time in there. We knew about this all already fortunately. However, it was still a bone of contention though to new Oceania cruisers or new Regatta-class cruisers as this was overheard more than once during our voyage.

 

 

 

The food, with the exception of one entree (Lobster Thermidor) in the Grand Dining Room, was all delicious. Tuscan Steak's menu is large and includes so many entree choices. It is a bit confusing, but some of the pasta dishes that are listed as entrees can be ordered as a side dish. Red Ginger was exactly like Marina/Riviera, except on the smaller ships you have the advantage of tons of windows . We were lucky to get one of the coveted tables for two overlooking the wake of the ship. We didn't experience Jacques Bistro for lunch as this was an all port itinerary and we were ashore busy each day. The one day we did stay onboard in Livorno, Jacques was closed as they anticipated a nearly empty ship. As it has been mentioned in other reviews as a negative, we found the food temperature in The Terrace Cafe to be fine, no problems there at all. Lots of tasty lobster still available too, nightly. It is worth mentioning that food temperature of all hot entrees arriving to the table in the Grand Dining Room was HOT. And I mean HOT. (most impressive in our book). Tables for 2 in the Grand Dining Room were very popular on our cruise and those wishing for this arrangement often had to wait, but not long. Generally, if you arrived after 730pm, there would be a wait for a table for two. Ice Cream in the Terrace was not available as the display fridge was under maintenance the entire cruise, but the set-up in Waves was working fine. On the second to last day of the cruise, the Executive Chef changed. Mario out, Martin in. Judging by the remarks of the Hotel Director, it was clear that the new Chef Martin wasn't new to Sirena.

 

 

 

Staff were very friendly, talkative and service levels were mostly high, with some crew members going above and beyond. Our cabin stewardess was the most genuinely friendly stewardess we've ever had. Her assistant was adorable too and greeted us excitedly each time he saw us. We were always greeted by name by them both, come to think of it. As a team, they serviced the entire port side of cabins on Deck 4, which totals 25 cabins, yet they always had time to chat and we felt like we were the only room they had. Well done. It was also very flattering to be remembered by many staff over the course of the cruise. Drink service by the pool was very sparse towards the beginning of the cruise in the afternoons, but got better as the cruise went along. Happy Hour in Horizons from 10:30pm-11:30pm was often a big hit causing some service delays here but I do have to say it was unusually crowded. Extra wait staff was brought in most nights after the initial early cruise rush and often the head bartender jumped in to assist with the drink-making. Staff noted that on the previous cruise, the lounge was practically empty. Initial wine service in the dining room is fast, but it can be a longer wait later on when it's time close your tab. This has always been the case on our other cruises though, so we really weren't surprised. The Officers seemed to be a bit more present on this voyage and a bit more receptive to interacting with guests. (I know this has been a point of discussion throughout Oceania's life as a cruise line. Doesn't bother me one way or the other really, but worth mentioning for those who are curious). The Hotel Director/Cruise Director were very visible.

 

 

 

In terms of entertainment, the production company of singers/dancers were great, in my opinion. This was the inaugural cast and they still have about 2 months left. Four shows were performed, all were to our liking except one. The final show, Acoustic Sessions, was our favorite. The four singers had very good singing voices and were complemented by a dance duo couple. The shows could have incorporated more material for this dance duo as you knew they had more talent, but were unable to show it. Offstage, the production company was very visible and friendly. We had three other guest entertainers. One Male Vocalist who did two shows, one Irish instrumentalist (flute) who did two shows, and then another Male Vocalist the final night of the cruise who I understand did an Elton John tribute. We didn't make it to the Elton John tribute show, but the other two entertainers were good and seemed to be well-received. The Cruise Director Corey was recently promoted and only on his second cruise I think. Perhaps it was just the crowd on our cruise, but I've never seen Horizons on the small ships as active as it was on our cruise. Corey had a lot to do with this I do believe since he was up there every night serving as DJ, dancing tirelessly (for hours) and getting people going. He's got a pretty good sense of humor and it was fun to watch the antics and people enjoying Horizons. It is our understanding CD Dottie Kulasa will replace Corey at the end of November. There was one enrichment lecturer onboard who gave only two lectures, so this could be disappointing for those expecting more here.

 

 

 

The first three days of the cruise, the a/c was on full force. Granted she's always cold, but my mother froze. Ironically enough, the day after the mid-cruise comment cards went out, the a/c was noticeably scaled back resulting in one happy mother.

 

 

 

Embarkation, disembarkation, and tender service were all a breeze. We did not visit the spa, gym or boutiques. It is worth noting that for our entire cruise, purchases onboard were subjected to a VAT tax. The extra VAT tax was 10% for beverage purchases, 21% for spa services and 21% for boutique purchases. We hadn't experienced this before on our Oceania Europe voyages. It really dashed any thoughts of going to the spa or taking advantage of their specials, I can say that for sure. Canyon Ranch isn't cheap to begin with, so when you add in the 18% gratuity plus the 21% VAT tax, it was enough to make your wallet shudder. The VAT tax probably didn't help the shops reach their targets either. We also had no sea days and very late departures from port, so the casino and boutiques were often closed for days in a row.

 

 

 

As a side note, most of the inaugural festivities mentioned in the promotional brochures for Sirena never happened (inaugural sail away celebration, inaugural cocktail celebration). Could be again due to the extended port times, however, we found the pool deck full each afternoon despite the long stays in port. This cruise had a younger demographic than previous ones with a good amount of couples in their 30s, who upon asking were drawn in by the itinerary and consequently were pleased with the Oceania experience. Some were wishing for more entertainment and/or live music offerings (live music is limited to be fair, but again we knew this going in). Also, there were about 8-10 kids onboard, mostly part of one large family group. All were well-behaved. Many cruisers were from England, Australia/New Zealand, the US/Canada of course and a contingent of Russians as well.

 

 

 

We participated in two Oceania shore excursions, which were well-organized and arranged, with excellent guides. However, don't plan to ask the Shore Excursions staff too much in detail about the ports of call if you are on your own. My mother was met with a rather surly answer/flimsy excuse for the lack of information they had to her question. These questions are better answered by the representatives from the port/tourist boards that arrive onboard in the lobby each morning from about 8:30am-12:30pm. This is an extremely helpful service and is one I hope Oceania does not discontinue. While waiting in line to speak to these representatives, I was shocked at the number of guests who went to their desk and plainly asked "I've never been here, what should I do?" For this reason, you may wait a little bit, so it's probably better to come with something a bit more specific. Your fellow guests who are eager to go ashore will appreciate this.

 

 

 

All in all, we were most pleased with our voyage on Sirena and would not hesitate to book this ship again. We were blessed with beautiful weather (more totally cloudless days than I can count). It was a wonderful experience.

 

 

Just my opinion

 

Chef Martin is the best chef o has and raffaele cinque the best gm. When they are together on a sailing it has to be great

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[tiller]

This was a really helpful review, thank you!

[ronrick1943]

Thank you for taking the time, nice fair review.

[perl]

Great review, thank you. We board in a month and it seems that Sirena will be as we recall our other "R" ship ventures.

 

Robandwil asks about the "a la carte" restaurants -- by which I assume they mean the specialty restaurants. Yes, you need reservations but you are guaranteed a certain number depending on your cabin category and the length of the cruise. DH and I are among those passengers who often fail to use all the reservations available to us because the specialty restaurants have "set" menus whereas the GDR and Terrace change daily, with many choices.

 

And I wouldn't assume that the lobster thermador is ALWAYS a failure. I've had dishes on the "O" ships that occasionally failed although usually were lovely. Still ... you know what you want to risk. The thing is: you can always send it back and order something else!

 

 

The bathrooms on the "R" ships below the PH level are indeed small. While we've only been in the "A" and now "B" cabins, I assume they are all the same. In the past (we started out on the R2 with Renaissance in 1999) I remembered the shower negatively, but in June we took a downgrade (for a bunch of dollars) to a B1 from a PH, and this time the shower didn't bother me so much. I'm no thinner! What bothered me more was once I stepped out of the shower and tried to find room to dry myself.

 

I have decided that the bathroom itself is the size of a nice walk-in shower! Let that be your guide.

 

The bathrooms in a PH are comfortable, the bathrooms in the VS and OS cabins are quite spacious. (I'm talking about the "R" ships.)

 

 

Perl, the PH cabins are very comfortable. They are smaller than the PH cabins on the "O" ships, but still very reasonable. A comfortable bathroom. (It used to have a tub/shower combo but I believe they are being changed to a large shower, starting with Sirena. I'll tell you in a month.)

 

A nice sitting area. You have room to eat in the room if you wish. And the veranda is also a good size. NOT as large as on the big suites, but two lounge chairs (as opposed to mere chairs) fit.

 

We're looking forward to our return ...

 

Mura

Thank you Mura. I will be on board in about a month.