Just returned from Sirena

[West Windsor girl]

Great cruise on Sirena. Haven’t been on Oceanea since before Covid.  Nice to see they are better than ever. The crew was terrific and the food was outstanding. We were recently on a Silversea. Cruise and were very disappointed. Oceanes Wins hands down.

[Mrose11]

Hi fellow Floridian

thanks for posting, we are boarding the Sirena on the 22nd

our last Oceania cruise was 13 years ago

glad to hear you enjoyed

[Izzy'sMoms]

2 hours ago, West Windsor girl said:

Great cruise on Sirena. Haven’t been on Oceanea since before Covid.  Nice to see they are better than ever. The crew was terrific and the food was outstanding. We were recently on a Silversea. Cruise and were very disappointed. Oceanes Wins hands down.

Thank you for your review. We have only sailed Oceania and have always loved every cruise . We booked our first Silversea cruise for next year based on itinerary. I know that this is an Oceania board, but could you please share the reasons that you were disappointed with Silversea.

[cayman09]

From another Floridian, we were on Sirena in January and loved it. Great food in all venues and the staff was terrific.

[West Windsor girl]

We think Silverseas food has taken a significant slide. We have taken many Silverseas cruises and loved them. They no longer have a main dining room and have replaced it with 4 or 5 restaurants. They never changed the menus on a 14 day cruise and quality of the food was average at best. We took our kids and grandkids o a Royal Caribbean and the food on this mid priced ship was equal to or better tha Silversea. We never had a bad meal on Silversea, but only had one outstanding meal. We loved every meal on Oceania. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Stockjock]

Good to read some positive comments.  We have a cruise booked later this year on Sirena, which will be our first on Oceania.  I've read so many poor reviews, I've considered cancelling, plus, we're concerned that it might be boring.  But at this stage, I figure that the best way to know is to try it for ourselves.

[mango puddin]

On 4/14/2024 at 12:20 AM, West Windsor girl said:

Great cruise on Sirena. Haven’t been on Oceanea since before Covid.  Nice to see they are better than ever. The crew was terrific and the food was outstanding. We were recently on a Silversea. Cruise and were very disappointed. Oceanes Wins hands down.

May I ask what you didn’t like about Silversea? Thanks

 

(Silversea was on my list of considerations)

[AmateurGO]

Hey Mrose11, we will also be boarding Sirena on 4/22 for the British Isles cruise.  Also, we are born and raised Floridians, although we did move "up north" to Atlanta area a long time ago.

See you on board.

[AmateurGO]

Oh, and cayman09, we were also briefly on Sirena in January.  We were on our favorite island, Bonaire, when some good friends on Sirena stopped there.  We gave them a tour of Bonaire and they gave us a tour of Sirena and their Vista suite.  It is purely a coincidence that we are now about to board Sirena for our own cruise.

[tigerfan75]

6 hours ago, AmateurGO said:

Oh, and cayman09, we were also briefly on Sirena in January.  We were on our favorite island, Bonaire, when some good friends on Sirena stopped there.  We gave them a tour of Bonaire and they gave us a tour of Sirena and their Vista suite.  It is purely a coincidence that we are now about to board Sirena for our own cruise.

I am curious as to how you boarded an O ship without being a passenger.  We have Family in several ports, and have been unable to have them come aboard.  THANKS for your help.  Happy cruising.

[Kay S]

47 minutes ago, tigerfan75 said:

I am curious as to how you boarded an O ship without being a passenger. 

My question, too.  Wouldn't that cause some security concerns?

[mauibabes]

Ditto, never been allowed for us.  We ended up going on board Crystal to meet up with friends. Must be the Suite life 😇

Mauibabes

[AmateurGO]

in a word (well, three words):  "It wasn't easy"

We had planned for this opportunity well before our flight to Bonaire and our friends boarding the ship.  They apparently talked to the right people and were told that they (the officers) could make it happen.  We (wife & I) did have to provide our passport info (numbers, dates, etc.) at least 3 days prior to the port call so they could be checked/researched.  

When time came to board the ship, the security (dock worker security) guy wouldn't let us onto the dock because we were not on a list he had of visitors.  (So I assume this kind of thing is not that unusual.)   Someone had not done their paperwork and that was soon straightened out, but we did have to surrender our passports during our stay on Sirena (about 2 hours).   I do suspect that their "status" in the Vista Suite probably helped grease the process a bit.  

So, it can be done, but must be planned well in advance and I think it helped that they were persistent.  

[ORV]

It does happen all the time with Travel Agents. As reported for people that have the right connections, or are staying in one of the top rooms can tend to make it happen. 

[Mrose11]

Those of you who have been on the Sirena, are jeans appropriate in the dining room and restaurants ( nice jeans of course )

[EJL2023]

1 hour ago, Mrose11 said:

Those of you who have been on the Sirena, are jeans appropriate in the dining room and restaurants ( nice jeans of course )

They are allowed, nice ones as you noted. We were on Sirena in January/February. Did not see them a lot but on occasion.  Of course saw more in the Terrace and shorts there also. 

[babysteps]

On 4/17/2024 at 8:19 PM, AmateurGO said:

.   I do suspect that their "status" in the Vista Suite probably helped grease the process a bit.  

We were in a regular Veranda cabin and did this in 2019 in NYC where we had an overnight. Worked with I think it's called "special services" at O. The process took a bit and was done well ahead of sailing (a couple of months?) . For a fee we were able to host our guest at dinner. 

[Zoey123]

We are getting ready to book an Oceania cruise this summer and am wondering if drinks are allowed in the Library, and if so, is there wait staff or could we go to the bar in Red Ginger or the Tuscan Grill to grab a drink and sit in the Library? We will probably end up with aft area cabins, and with my elderly parents thought that might be a better place to have a cocktail before dinner rather than going all the way up to the lounge.

 

Other questions:

 

Are there formal nights?
Is the ship as casual as it seems?
Examples of daytime activities on sea days? (It will be my 25 year old niece’s first cruise and worried she will get bored on sea days)

How is the entertainment?

 

Thanks,

[bradpole]

On 4/13/2024 at 7:20 PM, West Windsor girl said:

Great cruise on Sirena. Haven’t been on Oceanea since before Covid.  Nice to see they are better than ever. The crew was terrific and the food was outstanding. We were recently on a Silversea. Cruise and were very disappointed. Oceanes Wins hands down.

Glad to hear you had a great cruise!  We board 2 weeks from today... can't wait!

[bradpole]

18 minutes ago, Zoey123 said:

We are getting ready to book an Oceania cruise this summer and am wondering if drinks are allowed in the Library, and if so, is there wait staff or could we go to the bar in Red Ginger or the Tuscan Grill to grab a drink and sit in the Library? We will probably end up with aft area cabins, and with my elderly parents thought that might be a better place to have a cocktail before dinner rather than going all the way up to the lounge.

 

Other questions:

 

Are there formal nights?
Is the ship as casual as it seems?
Examples of daytime activities on sea days? (It will be my 25 year old niece’s first cruise and worried she will get bored on sea days)

How is the entertainment?

 

Thanks,

Formal nights?  Thank goodness, NO!

Casual as it seems?  For Gentlemen in the evenings slacks and collared shirt for the Grand Dining Room or the specialities.  If dining the the Terrace shorts are fine.  Although dressing to a higher standard is fine if that is something you enjoy.  There are gents who do wear a jacket and tie.  

 

Activities... "one does not book an Oceania cruise for entertainment" is the best advice I can give you.  We enjoy the sedate atmosphere, others may not.  For us we enjoy hunkering down with our Kindles with periodic breaks to participate in the "BIG O Points" events.  They are nothing challenging, but fun.  There are usually 3 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon; Baggo, golf putting, table tennis in the morning followed by shuffleboard and mini golf in the afternoon.  There are usually some lectures in the lounge, but they usually don't interest us.  

 

The evening entertainment is fine, no lavish production shows on these ships!  Most days the piano player will be in Martinis before dinner, the string quartet later in the evening, then the show at 9:30 in the lounge.  Sometimes the band will play up in Horizions after the main show.  

[pinotlover]

31 minutes ago, Zoey123 said:

We are getting ready to book an Oceania cruise this summer and am wondering if drinks are allowed in the Library, and if so, is there wait staff or could we go to the bar in Red Ginger or the Tuscan Grill to grab a drink and sit in the Library? We will probably end up with aft area cabins, and with my elderly parents thought that might be a better place to have a cocktail before dinner rather than going all the way up to the lounge.

 

Other questions:

 

Are there formal nights?
Is the ship as casual as it seems?
Examples of daytime activities on sea days? (It will be my 25 year old niece’s first cruise and worried she will get bored on sea days)

How is the entertainment?

 

Thanks,

To further answer questions not yet addressed, neither the Red Ginger nor the Tuscan Grill have bars. Additionally those venues are only open for dinner or other special events such as wine tastings.

 

I would never take a 25 year old on an Oceania cruise. You might find the very rare exception that may enjoy it, but very rare are the key words.

[ORV]

44 minutes ago, Zoey123 said:

We are getting ready to book an Oceania cruise this summer and am wondering if drinks are allowed in the Library, and if so, is there wait staff or could we go to the bar in Red Ginger or the Tuscan Grill to grab a drink and sit in the Library? We will probably end up with aft area cabins, and with my elderly parents thought that might be a better place to have a cocktail before dinner rather than going all the way up to the lounge.

 

Other questions:

 

Are there formal nights?
Is the ship as casual as it seems?
Examples of daytime activities on sea days? (It will be my 25 year old niece’s first cruise and worried she will get bored on sea days)

How is the entertainment?

 

Thanks,

You might do a little more research on Oceania before you book this. On first glance I'm not sure it would be a good fit for your multigenerational trip. 

[DrHemlock]

1 hour ago, Zoey123 said:

is there wait staff or could we go to the bar in Red Ginger or the Tuscan Grill to grab a drink and sit in the Library?

There is no wait staff for drinks in the library because...well...it's a library: a contemplative place filled with books for browsing or reading (or sometimes napping) in a quiet environment.  Of course, you can grab drinks at one of the bars (e.g., Martinis) and take them to the library for pre-dinner socializing, and no one is likely to make an issue of it.  However, you likely will not be appreciated by your fellow passengers who might be visiting the library for the traditional reasons.  

Anyway, there's no need to go "all the way up to the lounge" when Martinis is positioned on a lower deck towards the rear of the ship.

[pinotlover]

One will often find a goodly portion of those reading in the library with their eyes closed and mouth open. 😇

[Twiga]

We enjoy the library for reading.  It is very annoying when people carry on conversations.  As @DrHemlocksaid, Martinis bar is a good place for drinks and socializing.