Sirena - Onboard now sailing to Rio

[Hibiscus13]

Hi all - I know there is another live thread for this sailing already, but thought I'd give some alternate perspectives to those posted. By no means do I want to diminish the other passenger's enjoyment of this cruise but in a lot of ways the experiences she is having are opposite to ours - especially regarding the food and staff onboard. There have been a few posts recently from new to Oceania passengers who might also be interested in hearing some current thoughts.

 

Someone on that thread asked specifically about the food on board, does it live up to the Oceania expectations and reputation. We have only sailed Oceania one other time, this past February on Riviera. We chose Oceania then because of their reputation as a food and wine lovers line, with options and interesting choices for lots of tastes. We were not disappointed with that cruise. We enjoyed the ship, the staff, the food and the wine.

 

If our experience on Sirena on this voyage had been our first with Oceania, we would not have booked again. There have been some really nice meals on this ship, but there have also been inedible dishes, poorly cooked meat, overcooked everything. There are some amazing crew working unbelievably hard to make everything go smoothly, and there are crew who toss bread baskets onto tables at diners in the GDR, without so much as eye contact.

 

If you are thinking about adding a wine by the glass beverage package to your booking, prepare to be disappointed. By Day 3 several offerings were 'sold out' and not replaced. Liked the Chardonnay on Day 2? Couldn't have it on Day 3 of a 35 day sailing. Last night at Tuscan Steak we were not presented with the usual olive oil menu (which was memorable, there were at least 10 bottles on the list) because there were no choices left, just one kind available.

 

Sound picky? Not really when you consider the cost of this voyage, it's a substantial amount of money to be disappointed as often as we have been. We have spoken to lots of people on board, some have zero complaints (and that's awesome) and some are angrier than you can imagine. I know that's the case on most sailings, but there are some legitimate areas that Oceania needs to take a look at. We will probably spend a lot of money on cruises in the next 20 years, and we will be a lot more cautious about who gets those vacation dollars.

[ORV]

Thanks for your report. I've seen a few of those things you mentioned, and agree that the powers that be need to, in the famous words of Barney Fife, nip it in the bud.

 

For the most part though our recent TA on Marina was one of our favorite on Oceania.

[Paulchili]

Thank you for your post.

I am sorry to hear about your experiences. It doesn't sound very good - and no, you don't sound too picky based on what you have posted. Observations from prior O cruisers have added value in as much as they can compare current experiences to prior ones rather than based simply on expectations.

[Mura]

Crew components do regularly change, but someone tossing a bread basket on the table is something I've never seen.

 

We were on Sirena in October 2016 -- so that's quite a while ago! -- and our experience was not at all what you are reporting. (I'm not doubting you!) If standards have slipped so much, more attention needs to be paid.

 

Mura

[Hibiscus13]

Thanks for the replies - after posting this we headed for lunch and found meat in the vegetarian lentil and bean dishes (not sure what true vegetarians would eat here) and took pics of the empty dishes piled on our table that were ignored for half an hour by wait staff as they stood at the clearing station directly behind us (we asked for water glasses, side plates, after being ignored for that time too). I've started taking photos because I suspected there would be doubters as to the level of service we have been experiencing.

 

And at dinner tonight we were informed that the ship is out of two more wine by the glass choices, it's hot, people are drinking whites, and the two Sauvignon Blanc options are both sold out. I suspect our white wine of choice will be gone shortly...expect mutiny to ensue....

[Hibiscus13]

Crew components do regularly change, but someone tossing a bread basket on the table is something I've never seen.

 

We were on Sirena in October 2016 -- so that's quite a while ago! -- and our experience was not at all what you are reporting. (I'm not doubting you!) If standards have slipped so much, more attention needs to be paid.

 

Mura

 

Even sadder, the tossing of the bread basket happened on NYE in the GDR. It was honestly the worst we've ever seen on a ship and our meal that night was so disappointing. We met others leaving the Dining Room that night as disappointed as we were - we've yet to return to eat there...

[Paulchili]

Even sadder, the tossing of the bread basket happened on NYE in the GDR. It was honestly the worst we've ever seen on a ship and our meal that night was so disappointing. We met others leaving the Dining Room that night as disappointed as we were - we've yet to return to eat there...

 

In a way they are making it easy for you. When you are this unhappy about everything, it makes your decision not to return to Oceania a slam dunk :D.

[bitob]

Go to the gm for a serious sit down. Don’t deal with anyone else.

 

 

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[Hibiscus13]

In a way they are making it easy for you. When you are this unhappy about everything, it makes your decision not to return to Oceania a slam dunk :D.

 

It does. Too bad we spent a significant amount of money to find that out.

[jo-b]

Go to the gm for a serious sit down. Don’t deal with anyone else.

 

 

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+1 there is no way he can know everything that happens onboard and unless someone tells them how can they put it right.

[ABoatNerd]

OP, thank you for your analysis and confidence in posting your experience.

 

As a new patron of Oceania (1 voyage in September), this does NOT give me confidence to book another cruise.

 

What you described is not acceptable on any cruise line period; and certainly not on Oceania given their product offering advertising and the cost.

 

I moved up from Celebrity and to be very frank, I expect a significant improvement in service, food etc. On Marina the experience was very good; I did not experience things as you have described, thankfully.

 

I am very mindful of the many posts on all the cruise boards, from long time patrons, all noting the declining standards on HAL, Princess, Celebrity etc. At the same time prices are increasing.

 

This had better not be the trend on Oceania.

 

I am even more concerned because I have to use Cdn$ to pay which makes my cruise 32% more expensive than most others.

[JimandStan]

I am even more concerned because I have to use Cdn$ to pay which makes my cruise 32% more expensive than most others.

 

To allay your concerns, perhaps it might be better to choose to sail on a Canadian Line.

You will save a great deal of money if you do.

:evilsmile:

[rmwchk]

Hibiscus13 did you fill out the MID CRUISE COMMENT CARD? I had 20 plus cruises with "O" but my worst experience was on Sirena in July 17. The Junior Head Waiter refused to change my meal in Grand Dining Room because I am on Low Salt Diet, this is very unusual for me according to my pass experience. I did fill out the Mid Cruise Comment Card but nobody got

back to me and tell me why this cannot be done. It is poor management and I will not sail that ship again.

 

Rosie

[Kate-AHF]

On Seabourn, wine by the glass is a popular form of roulette. Find one you REALLY like? Not so easy to get it again. Maybe, maybe not. Depends on who you talk to, and how much they like you. There was a Gavi di Gavi I fell in love with once. I would have hooked up an IV of the stuff if it were possible. I got everything from "I've no idea what wine you are talking about" (Main dining room, sommellier) to "Yeeeeah, we're out of that now" (Terrace cafe) to "Let me call around and see if I can find a bottle" (The Club bartender - and he did, and had another bottle delivered to the suite for my daily stash in the fridge.)

But never have I had my bread basket tossed at me. And going from 10 different olive oils to one is just strange. Sounds like there are a couple of cases of olive oil put in the wrong place somewhere on board, or it was ordered but didn't show up at the dock.

I agree with the thought that you need to speak to the Hotel Manager, one-on-one. They can't see everything, and they need to know.

[TERRIER1]

We were on the Marina in June and the myriad of olive oils and vinegars were not offered. The parmasan cheese wheel was also missing. Perhaps Oceania discontinued the offering. We were also on the Sirena for the inaugural in 2016 and we will not sail her again.

[bitob]

We just got off marina. Olive oils and vinegars offered as well as fresh Parmesan from the wheel.

 

We had a great cruise on sirena in March

Circumnavigating Australia. None of the aforementioned problems present

 

I would be in the general manager’s office. Posting here won’t improve things

 

 

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[robbie21]

We just got off marina. Olive oils and vinegars offered as well as fresh Parmesan from the wheel.

 

We had a great cruise on sirena in March

Circumnavigating Australia. None of the aforementioned problems present

 

I would be in the general manager’s office. Posting here won’t improve things

 

 

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bitob - as you know we were on the Sirena circumnavigation with you. There was a problem with availability of wine off the wine list. They ran out of many of the commonly requested wines. I know you did not notice as this is not a concern for you but we winos do care about this stuff. Had we not brought a lot of Aussie wine aboard with us we would have been very unhappy.

 

Agree that otherwise the cruise was great and that the general manager needs to hear directly from the passengers if problems are to be addressed. Whenever I have complained directly on on the mid cruise reviews I have gotten immediate results from the senior staff.

 

Robbie

[Flatbush Flyer]

+1 there is no way he can know everything that happens onboard and unless someone tells them how can they put it right.

 

 

 

And show him the pictures.

 

 

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[bitob]

bitob - as you know we were on the Sirena circumnavigation with you. There was a problem with availability of wine off the wine list. They ran out of many of the commonly requested wines. I know you did not notice as this is not a concern for you but we winos do care about this stuff. Had we not brought a lot of Aussie wine aboard with us we would have been very unhappy.

 

 

 

Agree that otherwise the cruise was great and that the general manager needs to hear directly from the passengers if problems are to be addressed. Whenever I have complained directly on on the mid cruise reviews I have gotten immediate results from the senior staff.

 

 

 

Robbie

 

 

 

Ah yes. There was a wine problem. Lol. Just wasn’t my problem. Of course you dealt with it beautifully

 

 

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[Hibiscus13]

We had our meeting with the GM this morning, as well as the Food and Beverage Manager. It was not my intent to just come to CC and complain, I wanted to give a rounded perspective for other one time or new to Oceania guests. We have seen it on this ship, and others, on this CC board and others - those who are die hard fans of something do not often see issues where there are problems, they put up with it because they don't want to feel badly about something they've decided to support.

 

That doesn't help the cruise line and it doesn't help future guests make informed decisions. I did not sit with the GM to give him a long list of complaints. I want my experience to be awesome, and I want to help them make it so - constructive and specific things that can improve everyone's experience.

 

They have run out of a lot of wine, the provisioning was not nearly enough for the consumption on the ship. Which is odd, we have noticed a lot fewer pax drinking on this ship than on any other sailing. On the plus side, they are going shopping today in Manaus to try and find something, and promise updated wine menus (right now we play guess which wine is available with the sommeliers to see what's available to drink).

 

We have another two weeks onboard, we are hoping for improvement in areas that can immediately be dealt with. Whatever the outcome, we are pleased at the opportunity to speak with those that may make decisions to improve the situation.

[Hibiscus13]

Hibiscus13 did you fill out the MID CRUISE COMMENT CARD? I had 20 plus cruises with "O" but my worst experience was on Sirena in July 17. The Junior Head Waiter refused to change my meal in Grand Dining Room because I am on Low Salt Diet, this is very unusual for me according to my pass experience. I did fill out the Mid Cruise Comment Card but nobody got

back to me and tell me why this cannot be done. It is poor management and I will not sail that ship again.

 

Rosie

 

We did. And had calls from the appropriate heads of departments to say thank you for the comments. But the food specifically has been a sore point of a lot of guests on the ship.

[Hibiscus13]

OP, thank you for your analysis and confidence in posting your experience.

 

As a new patron of Oceania (1 voyage in September), this does NOT give me confidence to book another cruise.

 

What you described is not acceptable on any cruise line period; and certainly not on Oceania given their product offering advertising and the cost.

 

I moved up from Celebrity and to be very frank, I expect a significant improvement in service, food etc. On Marina the experience was very good; I did not experience things as you have described, thankfully.

 

I am very mindful of the many posts on all the cruise boards, from long time patrons, all noting the declining standards on HAL, Princess, Celebrity etc. At the same time prices are increasing.

 

This had better not be the trend on Oceania.

 

I am even more concerned because I have to use Cdn$ to pay which makes my cruise 32% more expensive than most others.

 

Exactly - we wouldn't be as upset if we hadn't paid boutique pricing for mass market experiences. We chose this sailing and this ship because we were pleased with our first experience on Riviera (this is the only time we've ever sailed twice on the same line) and our expectations were high. Given the chance to provide feedback we're keen to see how things go for the next two weeks.

[pinotlover]

This experience of the ships running out of various wines , sold by the glass, is becoming commonplace. So much so that it’s hard to image it’s only an issue of poor logistical management. Chardonnay is the most popular and most sold wine in the US. It’s hard to imagine the ship ran out on the second to third day of a cruise only because of poor inventory management. I wonder the real story of what’s behind this!?? Hope for more bottle sales?

[GICNJC]

It sounds like a problem with provisioning.

 

If that is the issue it is then one of: incorrect order amounts; back orders; missed delivery times.

 

Any one who has received a order late can relate. The problem with a delivery point that constantly moves makes the issue more intense.

 

That said, good cusome service would have subsituated higher valued wines.

 

The waiter who threw the bread basket needs to be spoken too, and if happens again be thrown off the ship in the next port.

 

I sail Oceania for the food and vIsiting new places and talking to locals. Wife for food and wine and conservation.

 

Generally, we have found Oceania staff to be very accommodating.