First timer review of Sirena

Thanks for your review. We are nervously awaiting our first Seabourn cruise next month. We have loved Oceania but our last cruise was not up quite to the standard we had enjoyed previously so we thought we would try something else.

 

I suspect we may be returning to O with our tails between our legs – but you don’t know until you give it a go.

I am sure you will love your Seabourn cruise, I hope you have availed yourself of the Referral Credit voucher, given by someone who has sailed Seabourn before and you a first timer.

We have sailed both Oceania and Seabourn and there are differences.

Happy sailing.

Haven not cruised "O" for a while, however everyone should understand that the bottom line is important to a company. That said when a guest/passenger doesn't get what they pay for, thinking the ship is ready and it's not. Well the company will really have a problem with the bottom line. And if you have a problem on one ship-you'd have to wonder about the other ships. I agree a letter should have gone out with an offer from "O".

Rick

I accept all of your comments regarding the refit. They are perfectly sensible.

 

However the trained staff you cite are apparently unable to ensure that guests have clean cutlery and crockery in most food locations on the Op's cruise.

 

As someone who has recently booked their first Oceania cruise on Marina ( which looks the most stunningly beautiful ship) after many happy experiences on Azamara this is rather disquieting.

Spursgirl,

I agree with everything Lyn had said above in post # 22.

We have sailed many times on O (several of those on the Marina) and have never seen dirty cutlery.

I think you can put that particular fear to rest for your Marina cruise :)

I hope that you'll enjoy your first O cruise. Please let us know how it went.

Exactly. Stuff always happens. It was the Marina for the glass issue. They asked if I wanted another salad but I passed. Figured I dodged one bullet that day and didn't want to push my luck. Dirty dishes on the others. I just asked for new cutlery and/or glasses.

 

On the Sirena I had the door falling off the desk and kick plate of the closet hanging on by a nail. The furniture was in really poor shape but I was in a B cabin not a PH which was totally redone. The Sirena needs a lot more money to be put into her before she comes up to par with the other R ships. All the soft goods were replaced but there are other issues. Two washing machines were broke (I think they still are) and the freezer at Waves was broken. It doesn't taken a major investment or time to get a new ice cream freezer. Minor issues but it puts the problems into perspective.

 

Everyone keeps saying the Sirena was left in poor shape by Princess. No corporation buys a major asset without thoroughly doing an inspection and estimating the cost of refurbishment based on the inspection. I just think Oceania said we are investing "X" amount of money into refurbishing and then drew the line where that money would go. There were a lot of folks asking where the $50million went.

 

They lost a golden opportunity for satisfying and retaining first time Oceania cruisers and lost a lot of loyal repeaters. I don't have the exact number but a little over 50% of the inaugural were repeaters and the rest new to Oceania. First timers didn't feel there was value for money compared to the other lines they sailed.

 

Loyal old timers felt it was time to look elsewhere. No one said they "would never return" but there were a lot of unhappy campers. This was not an inexpensive cruise. Your cabin shouldn't have soiled carpets, nailed shut drawers, toilets that don't properly flush, dirty toilet brushes, used workmen's clothes left in the closet, etc. The food and service was very good but then again Del Rio and the Pepin family was on board. It sort of made me sad that my favorite cruise line put forth such a negative impression for the first timers and changed so much for those of us who sailed her for a long time. Oceania is part of a large corporation now and there is a difference from when the line was smaller. Bottom line first and passengers second.

Sorry to read this.

I know that you are an experienced O cruiser and hence I value your opinion about Oceania.

I can only hope that your last sentence does not prove to be prophetic :(

Thanks for your review. We are nervously awaiting our first Seabourn cruise next month. We have loved Oceania but our last cruise was not up quite to the standard we had enjoyed previously so we thought we would try something else.

 

I suspect we may be returning to O with our tails between our legs – but you don’t know until you give it a go.

We have sailed on Seabourn once before and will try them again next year.

I would like to hear about your experience on Seabourn.

Sirena?

 

I do not think any cruise line is perfect & stuff does happen even on Oceania ;)

 

SPURSGIRL

if you are looking for reasons to complain BEFORE you board then you will not enjoy any cruise jmo

I am interested in your opinion in the same way as I am of everyone who posts on these boards.

Perhaps though, it might be helpful to distinguish between a concern and a complaint before you post.

Paulchili,

I am sure you are right. We enjoy all of our cruises immensely and I have no reason to suppose that our Marina experience will be any different. As I said previously she looks a most gorgeous ship.

Wripro-

 

That is perfectly brilliant advice.

If we were talking about a manuscript or a novel-

With a Cruise ship, however, even if one were to put aside the wisdom of allowing a multi-million dollar asset to sit idle for that additional length of time, there is a crew of several hundred people who must be considered.

 

There really was no other option except to complete as much as they could in the time that they had in the Shipyard, because if you lose the trained staff the first few "post refit" cruises are going to be a disaster, no matter what the ship looks like.

 

I'll paraphrase Churchill, "When you are going through hell, just keep going."

 

 

 

see: Catch-22

 

a set of difficult circumstances from which there seems to be no satisfactory resolution because of conflicting circumstances or regulations.

Okay. I'll give you all that. IF Oceania had stipulated that the ship would not be complete in all its pre sailing advertising and made some compensation because of it. You can't have it both ways. If the product is not perfect the price should reflect that.

Exactly. Stuff always happens. It was the Marina for the glass issue. They asked if I wanted another salad but I passed. Figured I dodged one bullet that day and didn't want to push my luck. Dirty dishes on the others. I just asked for new cutlery and/or glasses.

 

On the Sirena I had the door falling off the desk and kick plate of the closet hanging on by a nail. The furniture was in really poor shape but I was in a B cabin not a PH which was totally redone. The Sirena needs a lot more money to be put into her before she comes up to par with the other R ships. All the soft goods were replaced but there are other issues. Two washing machines were broke (I think they still are) and the freezer at Waves was broken. It doesn't taken a major investment or time to get a new ice cream freezer. Minor issues but it puts the problems into perspective.

 

Everyone keeps saying the Sirena was left in poor shape by Princess. No corporation buys a major asset without thoroughly doing an inspection and estimating the cost of refurbishment based on the inspection. I just think Oceania said we are investing "X" amount of money into refurbishing and then drew the line where that money would go. There were a lot of folks asking where the $50million went.

 

They lost a golden opportunity for satisfying and retaining first time Oceania cruisers and lost a lot of loyal repeaters. I don't have the exact number but a little over 50% of the inaugural were repeaters and the rest new to Oceania. First timers didn't feel there was value for money compared to the other lines they sailed.

 

Loyal old timers felt it was time to look elsewhere. No one said they "would never return" but there were a lot of unhappy campers. This was not an inexpensive cruise. Your cabin shouldn't have soiled carpets, nailed shut drawers, toilets that don't properly flush, dirty toilet brushes, used workmen's clothes left in the closet, etc. The food and service was very good but then again Del Rio and the Pepin family was on board. It sort of made me sad that my favorite cruise line put forth such a negative impression for the first timers and changed so much for those of us who sailed her for a long time. Oceania is part of a large corporation now and there is a difference from when the line was smaller. Bottom line first and passengers second.

I too am sorry to hear of such problems on your cruises.

We have had some mishaps like when they tried to poison DH not once but twice at the same meal in RG

It was so bad we cancelled 2 cruises

I finally convinced DH to try again in 2015

Next cruise was great but DH got sick & we had to leave the ship on day 6

then a B2B this spring was fairly good except for the long dinners 2-3hrs ..is way too long

Hopefully your next cruise will be better on whatever ship you sail

Lyn

Okay. I'll give you all that. IF Oceania had stipulated that the ship would not be complete in all its pre sailing advertising and made some compensation because of it. You can't have it both ways. If the product is not perfect the price should reflect that.

Henry

I agree if the ship was not ready at least give a refund for those still willing to sail on the first cruise

Give people a choice to put up with the unfinished ship with a discount or not sail

Henry

I agree if the ship was not ready at least give a refund for those still willing to sail on the first cruise

Give people a choice to put up with the unfinished ship with a discount or not sail

I don't think the issues were necessarily relegated to the inaugural. Unless Oceania was able to get into the lower level cabins and redo the hard furnishing (ie. fixed the cabinets where pieces of veneer were missing) the state of the ship continues until the next drydock. The cruise was fine but then again we got a lot of free booze, a cookbook and beach bag (lol) since it was the inaugural.

I would be interested to see what the folks who are on the ship now in the lower cabins have to say. Perhaps, they did update the cabins some more.

We never book on a new build or recently refurbished ship. Based on the comments on this and other boards best to wait at least 3 months for the bugs to be worked out regardless of the hype.

Currently on board in a PH. As stated, our cabin was completely redone including refinishing the cabinetry. Information from Senior Staff that was on board during the dry dock indicates 100% certainty that all the carpets in every cabin, in every category was replaced. If there was a stain, it was new.

This is an interesting cruise with about half repeat guests. Some of the comments from the newbies:

"For $50 million they should have put a laundry room on each floor"

"I thought this was a brand new ship"

"The cabinet doors stick (because they were refinished)"

Some comments from the crew were that the first month of sailing was absolutely hell. The ship was 100% full from the first cruise onward so there was no extra time or manpower to continue all the upgrading as fast as they would have liked. Apparently there is usually a "Family and Friends' cruise right out of dry dock so they can find the things that didn't get done and that had to be canceled because of the poor state of the ship and the amount of work that had to be done. So, unfortunately some of the earliest cruises bore the brunt (my friend was one of them)

Cannot speak to dirty cutlery as we have not found any.

The food has been great in very venue and Red Ginger is actually better! But the ambiance of Red Ginger suffers by comparison to the larger ships. The windows and the shape of the room just don't make the same "wow" impression.

Any questions, ask - I'm on for another 10 days. Internet is quite good in most places except there are dozens, and dozens of folks walking around with their cell phones online at all times - blocking stairways, corridors, etc. You'd think we were on the streets of New York!

Currently on board in a PH. As stated, our cabin was completely redone including refinishing the cabinetry. Information from Senior Staff that was on board during the dry dock indicates 100% certainty that all the carpets in every cabin, in every category was replaced. If there was a stain, it was new.

 

This is an interesting cruise with about half repeat guests. Some of the comments from the newbies:

 

"For $50 million they should have put a laundry room on each floor"

"I thought this was a brand new ship"

"The cabinet doors stick (because they were refinished)"

 

Some comments from the crew were that the first month of sailing was absolutely hell. The ship was 100% full from the first cruise onward so there was no extra time or manpower to continue all the upgrading as fast as they would have liked. Apparently there is usually a "Family and Friends' cruise right out of dry dock so they can find the things that didn't get done and that had to be canceled because of the poor state of the ship and the amount of work that had to be done. So, unfortunately some of the earliest cruises bore the brunt (my friend was one of them)

 

Cannot speak to dirty cutlery as we have not found any.

 

The food has been great in very venue and Red Ginger is actually better! But the ambiance of Red Ginger suffers by comparison to the larger ships. The windows and the shape of the room just don't make the same "wow" impression.

 

Any questions, ask - I'm on for another 10 days. Internet is quite good in most places except there are dozens, and dozens of folks walking around with their cell phones online at all times - blocking stairways, corridors, etc. You'd think we were on the streets of New York!

Thanks for the updates

Too bad about the cell phone users I guess this is the new way of vacationers

What ever happened to unplugging & enjoying your vacation

"Any questions, ask - I'm on for another 10 days. Internet is quite good in most places except there are dozens, and dozens of folks walking around with their cell phones online at all times - blocking stairways, corridors, etc. You'd think we were on the streets of New York!"

Have you spoken with anyone in a " standard" A/B/C cabin regarding condition? I know that sounds tacky but most of the complaints I've read about "refurb" had to do with these classes of cabins.

Thanks,

Greg

Thanks for the updates

Too bad about the cell phone users I guess this is the new way of vacationers

What ever happened to unplugging & enjoying your vacation

I facebook all my pictures everyday. .Thank God I did as I replace my phone on my last cruise.

"Any questions, ask - I'm on for another 10 days. Internet is quite good in most places except there are dozens, and dozens of folks walking around with their cell phones online at all times - blocking stairways, corridors, etc. You'd think we were on the streets of New York!"

 

Have you spoken with anyone in a " standard" A/B/C cabin regarding condition? I know that sounds tacky but most of the complaints I've read about "refurb" had to do with these classes of cabins.

 

Thanks,

Greg

Greg, we know quite a few folks who are in those cabins. Some have absolutely no complaints about the condition. All soft goods are new. One couple who has done quite a few trips is very upset about the condition of their bathroom - apparently there are cigarette burns on the counter tops left over from the Princess days. And no one likes the shower curtains. But except for the cig burns, the bathrooms are the same as they have always been - no apparent upgrading whatsoever.

I think they are trying to refinish the cabinetry everywhere and will get to every cabin eventually. From our last cruise in Oct. 2015 on Regatta, I can attest that the cabinets, doors, etc. in our PH on Sirena are in a far superior to what we had on Regatta as they were showing typical wear and tear.

Tuscan Steak has a very sleek look and an interesting menu. It's nice to combine an Italian appetizer with a steak. MDR looks like every other "R" ship. Jacques Bistro is a disappointment. A very small list of specials daily but the standard menu doesn't change. They have taken pretty standard MDR luncheon fare and given it a French name but otherwise the same. One day the 'specials' for Jacques mirrored the Asian Buffet from Terraces but had fancier names.

Red Ginger doesn't seen to be going over well and extra reservations are available every night.

Greg, we know quite a few folks who are in those cabins. Some have absolutely no complaints about the condition. All soft goods are new. One couple who has done quite a few trips is very upset about the condition of their bathroom - apparently there are cigarette burns on the counter tops left over from the Princess days. And no one likes the shower curtains. But except for the cig burns, the bathrooms are the same as they have always been - no apparent upgrading whatsoever.

 

I think they are trying to refinish the cabinetry everywhere and will get to every cabin eventually. From our last cruise in Oct. 2015 on Regatta, I can attest that the cabinets, doors, etc. in our PH on Sirena are in a far superior to what we had on Regatta as they were showing typical wear and tear.

 

Tuscan Steak has a very sleek look and an interesting menu. It's nice to combine an Italian appetizer with a steak. MDR looks like every other "R" ship. Jacques Bistro is a disappointment. A very small list of specials daily but the standard menu doesn't change. They have taken pretty standard MDR luncheon fare and given it a French name but otherwise the same. One day the 'specials' for Jacques mirrored the Asian Buffet from Terraces but had fancier names.

 

Red Ginger doesn't seen to be going over well and extra reservations are available every night.

Good to hear about overall condition of ship, the food, and the service. However, it is a crying shame (IMHO) passengers in the less expensive cabins are getting a "half a**" refurbishment, at least for the first few months. Comments on CC lead me to believe Oceania has left a bad taste in the mouths of some loyal Oceania cruisers. I don't have a feel for the extent first timers who won't be back. Execs missed the opportunity to make a Good First Impression.

Greg

Good to hear about overall condition of ship, the food, and the service. However, it is a crying shame (IMHO) passengers in the less expensive cabins are getting a "half a**" refurbishment, at least for the first few months. Comments on CC lead me to believe Oceania has left a bad taste in the mouths of some loyal Oceania cruisers. I don't have a feel for the extent first timers who won't be back. Execs missed the opportunity to make a Good First Impression.

 

Greg

I was on this ship 12 years ago in Tahiti. I had what now is a PH cabin.. It was lovely then. .Do not remember the bathroom but loved my cabin. I will be back in a PH this winter.as a loyal AZ person I hope the bathroom had more storage under sink and on the counter. the redo on AZ in the PH is not to my liking at all. will miss my bathtub .. long time with no options

Jacques Bistro is a disappointment. A very small list of specials daily but the standard menu doesn't change. They have taken pretty standard MDR luncheon fare and given it a French name but otherwise the same. One day the 'specials' for Jacques mirrored the Asian Buffet from Terraces but had fancier names.

I agree about Jacques in the MDR at lunch. Jacques was one of our favorites. There is a limited offering now in the MDR from the original Jacques menu and the "specials" are from the offerings in the Terrace Cafe. We had the veal piccata and it was pretty bad. At first we thought they brought us the wrong order since the plate had two huge heavily breaded pieces of meat (which were tough). It looked like weiner schnitzel. I preferred it when the MDR had it's own menu for lunch.

It is interesting to read these early opinions on Jacques Bistro and Red Ginger.

So far they don't seem to fulfill the expectations but of course, it is way too early.

Let's wait and see what the statistics over time will tell Oceania and if they will be positive enough to change the other R ships to the new restaurant format.

We'll be on the Sirena in December and I am anxious to see what my opinion on this subject will be.

Good to hear about overall condition of ship, the food, and the service. However, it is a crying shame (IMHO) passengers in the less expensive cabins are getting a "half a**" refurbishment, at least for the first few months. Comments on CC lead me to believe Oceania has left a bad taste in the mouths of some loyal Oceania cruisers. I don't have a feel for the extent first timers who won't be back. Execs missed the opportunity to make a Good First Impression.

To borrow another subject line, it sounds like Oceania does have a class system.

To borrow another subject line, it sounds like Oceania does have a class system.

That thought went through my head, too.:D

That thought went through my head, too.:D

Says mister "Big Red Boat" to "Silver Whisper"-

Sounds like someone has been working towards a class system for nearly a quarter of a century, now.... :D

Actually , the entire concept is naive.

Short of Unicef, I'd like to know which companies don't prioritize their high end clientele?

It is interesting to read these early opinions on Jacques Bistro and Red Ginger.

So far they don't seem to fulfill the expectations but of course, it is way too early.

Let's wait and see what the statistics over time will tell Oceania and if they will be positive enough to change the other R ships to the new restaurant format.

We'll be on the Sirena in December and I am anxious to see what my opinion on this subject will be.

I would love another opinion later on in the game. I hope it it is more more positive than mine. Enjoy your cruise.

We think your review NIX70 of SIRENA is very interesting and the details are positive - each ship has good an bad news - we will see next week whats coming up on our trip Le Havre - Barcelona with SIRENA and after returning we will make our Review - our two former tours on OCEANIA Riviera were alwaxs beautiful and the really the best food on sea!