Sirena or Riviera for a First Oceania Cruise?

[Croooser]

If the itinerary has more than one or two sea days, then we would strongly prefer O class for the larger ship as common areas tend to be downsized on the R class. Also, two specialties vs four is a factor for us.

 

Having said that, for a desirable itinerary with ports on most days, we would be quite satisfied with R class. 

 

If both classes of ship sail similar itineraries, then we would opt for O class every time.

[zteamtwo]

Riviera--no contest.  AND, if you can afford it--concierge cabin (A category).  Many, many benefits to having a concierge or above cabin.  Post--if you choose concierge and I will tell you the details of this category.

[YourWorldWithBill]

3 hours ago, zteamtwo said:

Riviera--no contest.  AND, if you can afford it--concierge cabin (A category).  Many, many benefits to having a concierge or above cabin.  Post--if you choose concierge and I will tell you the details of this category.

We chose concierge on Riviera for our 10 days in November, after reading all the benefits. Is there anything special that it would be good to know?

[MarkWiltonM]

We prefer Riviera over Sirena. Mostly because of the huge bathroom on Riviera vs the miniscule bathroom and itty-bitty shower on Sirena (if you're in a veranda stateroom). The buffet and selection on Riviera is also larger than on Sirena. We also found the Grand Dining Room food a bit better in terms of consistency on Riviera than on Sirena. 

[Vineyard View]

We initially chose Concierge on Marina for May. Several regulars on a thread a month or so back were discussing the extended balconies on Marina on deck 7 in B3 category. They are much larger than standard balconies. There were several posters who felt that, of you are on an itinerary that will be conducive to using your balcony, and if you in fact do spend time there, that it is worth moving to. We gave up a free bottle of champagne, earlier restaurant reservations, use of concierge lounge, and free use of lasso therapy pool. First O sailing, so hoping it is a good move! 

[lackcreativity]

I appreciate the information about cabin selection, and I bet it is useful to others. On our travels we fly economy and have sailed in Viking's Veranda cabins. While we could afford the more expensive cabins, we prefer to travel more often so we take the more economical option. After appreciating the balcony that is on every Viking cabin, I won't consider an inside cabin, but I might give an Ocean View a try. 

 

My thought at this point is that since both itineraries I am considering are appealing, perhaps it would be wise to select the Mediterranean itinerary on Riviera as a better test of whether Oceania will be a good fit for us. If all goes well, we could always try Sirena in the future.

[sabrefan]

We have been on Oceania 4 times, once on Riviera, twice on Marina and once on Regatta. We have also sailed on Viking twice. I prefer Oceania over Viking by a little bit. I would choose Marina or Riviera over Serena. We are currently booked on Vista in September 2024.

[cruisemom42]

On 9/9/2023 at 3:21 PM, Snaefell3 said:

Interesting Sirena fact: Between sailing for Renaissance (as R Four) and Oceania she sailed for Princess first as Tahitian Princess and then as Ocean Princess.

 

And R Three (now Azamara Onward) was the Pacific Princess. Back in the day when mass market lines still had smaller ships....

 

[zteamtwo]

18 hours ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

We chose concierge on Riviera for our 10 days in November, after reading all the benefits. Is there anything special that it would be good to know?

Bill--excellent choice.  Here is why:

1. Access to the Concierge lounge on deck 9 (hope you are on this deck)--great coffee and snack food throughout the day, watch TV or read paper while your cabin is being cleaned and get help from the person that works there.

2.  Access to the outdoor Spa that is forward on the ship and has small pool and usually uncrowded lounge chairs.  Go thru the Spa and use your key card to access that private area.

3. Early access to make reservations for the 4 speciality restaurants. I believe it is 60 days early for Concierge. Go to Oceania webpage at midnight (eastern time) on that 60 days before cruise.

4. It sounds like you have never been on Oceania, if so, it is a great benefit, to be able to bring wine or liquor on board at any time and if you do not have a drink package then this can save you money.  You can only drink this in your cabin.

5. Early Boarding time.  These are the top reasons.

Please go to youtube and search for "tours of Riviera" to see everything.

[LHT28]

16 minutes ago, zteamtwo said:

1. Access to the Concierge lounge on deck 9 (hope you are on this deck)--great coffee and snack food throughout the day, watch TV or read paper while your cabin is being cleaned and get help from the person that works there.

2.  Access to the outdoor Spa that is forward on the ship and has small pool and usually uncrowded lounge chairs.  Go thru the Spa and use your key card to access that private area.

 

!  spend the extra steps & go to Barristas for  coffee it is MUCH better

2  Riviera  has a large T pool

[zteamtwo]

Yes---that is a picture of the small pool in the private area forward in the ship that Concierge has access.

[LHT28]

2 minutes ago, zteamtwo said:

Yes---that is a picture of the small pool in the private area forward in the ship that Concierge has access.

I do not consider it small compared to the  Hot tubs sizes  on the other ships 😄

[ORV]

On 9/9/2023 at 12:47 PM, ToxM said:

Not sure I would agree on the accessibility of R class ships, whilst they are smaller and easier to navigate the doors to open decks for those in a wheelchair or a walker would be difficult. O class access to open decks is much easier. 

 

Both classes are small enough to be relatively easy. 

 

I speak from experience of pushing my mum around on Marina for a week and also spending time with able bodied Marital Unit on Sirena. 

 

As for OP’s question about which ship - if you want to have the optimum experience, I would say start with Riviera, then you will start with the full experience, and you can decide if you want to go full on niche O experience on an R class. You will also benefit from talking to other guests onboard who will give you face to face benefit of their experience on the R class. 

 

My 02c: I like O class - I look forward to Marina being given the Riviera upgrade - she will be spectacular. My first O experience was on Marina so she will always hold a special place in my heart, but I loved Riviera at Christmas. 

 

My heart however belongs to Sirena - I loved the very small ship experience, but I can understand it’s not for everyone. Sirena in a PH on a transatlantic was one of the favourite times in my life. 

 

Start big, if you fall in love, go smaller. 

Good information in this post. It bears reading twice. 

[YourWorldWithBill]

5 hours ago, zteamtwo said:

Bill--excellent choice.  Here is why:

1. Access to the Concierge lounge on deck 9 (hope you are on this deck)--great coffee and snack food throughout the day, watch TV or read paper while your cabin is being cleaned and get help from the person that works there. 

Please go to youtube and search for "tours of Riviera" to see everything.

Thanks for the note; yes, we are on deck 9. And @LHT28, definitely looking forward to the thermal pool; that was a favorite on our Viking cruises, so we hope it's as good.

[iramack]

2 hours ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

Thanks for the note; yes, we are on deck 9. And @LHT28, definitely looking forward to the thermal pool; that was a favorite on our Viking cruises, so we hope it's as good.

Bill,

Steve in Preston Hollow here.

I am heading out for the Riviera on the 26th from AMS to BCN.  Looking forward to my first Oceania Cruise as well.  We have a B2 cabin on deck 8. I have cruised most mainstream lines as well as Seabourn and Viking. First time trying O. Can't wait to see how things are on board.  I cruise for the ports and ship experiences, not necessarily the food.  It will be nice to have a lot of choices for dining and drinking on board. Also the Spa area is very important to me as I enjoy sauna and steam daily before getting ready for cocktails and dinner.  I will certainly keep you posted on the happenings on board.........

Edited September 11, 2023 by iramack

[YourWorldWithBill]

3 hours ago, iramack said:

Bill,

Steve in Preston Hollow here.

I am heading out for the Riviera on the 26th from AMS to BCN.  Looking forward to my first Oceania Cruise as well.  We have a B2 cabin on deck 8. I have cruised most mainstream lines as well as Seabourn and Viking. First time trying O. Can't wait to see how things are on board.  I cruise for the ports and ship experiences, not necessarily the food.  It will be nice to have a lot of choices for dining and drinking on board. Also the Spa area is very important to me as I enjoy sauna and steam daily before getting ready for cocktails and dinner.  I will certainly keep you posted on the happenings on board.........

Steve, Thanks for connecting. I said on some post that although we also cruise mainly for the ports, after all that I've heard about the food on O it was impossible to resist. I'll be interested in hearing how you compare it to Viking and Seabourn.

I look forward to hearing from you. We're in an older part of Dallas, near White Rock. On our last cruise on HAL to Norway I met someone who went to the same elementary school I did; what are the odds?

Edited September 12, 2023 by YourWorldWithBill

[Vineyard View]

2 hours ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

Steve, Thanks for connecting. I said on some post that although we also cruise mainly for the ports, after all that I've heard about the food on O it was impossible to resist. I'll be interested in hearing how you compare it to Viking and Seabourn.

I look forward to hearing from you. We're in an older part of Dallas, near White Rock. On our last cruise on HAL to Norway I met someone who went to the same elementary school I did; what are the odds?

I am really quite Interested in your feedback on the food as well compared to V and SB. I agree Bill that itinerary drives our decision, but on board experience also in important, including food. Our TA espoused on Oceania for the food and their itineraries, so a great combo recommendation. We are familiar with Viking and have sailed Seabourn. In our opinion, SB was in most ways superior to Viking for our individual tastes. 

[shank63]

We prefer Riviera because of the 4 specialty restaurants, and Riviera was our first Oceania cruise.  However, we have also sailed on Sirena and absolutely enjoyed it, the smaller ship has a wonderful vibe.  We would choose between the two based on thee itinerary and be happy either ship.

[Redtravel]

Only book R ships if you can get a suite. Sirena is a nice ship. However, cabins are small. Bathrooms are tiny.  I would only consider booking Sirena for the itinerary. We were on Sirena in 2020 when the lockdown started. We skipped most ports. There wasn’t much to do on the ship.  On Marina or Riviera, cabins are huge.  My TA described standard veranda cabins as suites on most ships.  Larger ships have more things to do.