After some time in Panama City and a slow trip back home, our bags are unpacked and I am now provide this very subjective, but hopefully balance, review. Overall, we had an excellent cruise with good to excellent food and service. By way of background, we have only sailed on Oceania and this was our 6th cruise with them.
Embarkation
We had registered for a 12:30 boarding time but found ...
The Sirena is one of 4 small ships owned by the upmarket Oceania Cruises. The selling features are its small size, under 700 passengers, no crowds, lines, and children.
The officers, staff and crew could not have been nicer.
I was impressed by Carson Turner, a super - talented cruise director… a really affable guy who is also a talented singer and performer. Actually, the entire ...
Oceania has always been my favorite cruise line. The last two cruises have changed my mind. I traveled on Insignia in August and Sirena in November. On both cruises I missed what I had become accustomed to on Oceania which was tremendous food, attentive service and kindness/concern from the officers and staff. What I saw recently are over stressed workers who are stretched very thin, a decline in ...
This is our third cruise on Oceania, out of about sixty cruises overall, a 24 day Amazon River cruise beginning and ending in Miami.. It was among our most disappointing cruise experiences. Oceania is usually classed as an “Upper Premium” cruise line, one that sells itself as providing a luxury experience. What Oceania provided on Sirena was at best a premium product. Cutbacks are evident ...
We booked a penthouse suite and splurged because it came with a butler and the ability to have meals in our room, plus a balcony. Our butler, Samrat, was excellent and if you can afford the cost of a PH room I’d recommend it. Only do not book room 8045. We asked to be changed the minute we got into the room because as Samrat was talking, I couldn’t pay attention due to the scraping noises above ...
Decided to write up a review to share our thoughts and insights in hope it might help others.
Summary:
This was our second cruise overall and first on Oceania. Our prior cruise was on NCL in 2010 with ~4200 people. Far too crowded for our tastes. We picked this cruise due to wanting to see several places (and islands) in the eastern Mediterranean on a smaller ship. Overall, we were pleased ...
We picked this cruise for the itinerary along with the expectation that Oceania was one of the better cruise lines. The itinerary did not disappoint (albeit very busy) but Sirena was a big disappointment.
Embarkation: There was conflicting and last minute details on how and where to check in. There were endless emails about watching the safety video. We checked in online and the photo ...
So many things were wrong with this cruise!
First and foremost, the reception desk girls were rude. When I asked a question I would mostly get one word answers. Eg. “Do you have a lost and found?” They answered “Here”. I had to prod her for more specific answers. Courtesy such as “How may I help you” or “What are you looking for?” was non-existent. Another time we asked for help to ...
As we did not plan ahead of time a trip to Europe for this year, going on a cruise seemed like a good option and fit the dates for our vacation. This was our first cruise with Oceania
We were dissatisfied with these excursions:
1) Sorrento/ Capri
Too hectic to get to / back from Capri. The tour guide was good. Restaurant for lunch should be included to avoid going around to ...
Our 3rd and final Oceania cruise. Frankly we fail to understand the number of repeat guests. I guess my main quibble is the quality - variable quality - of the food. It's like we are all extras in a restaurant promotion video who have been programmed/coached to play fine-dining guests - whatever the food is like. 'The finest cuisine at sea' is one of Oceania's mottoes. It just ain't. Raw poached ...