Speciality Restaurants on Sirena vs O Class Ships

I don't know if this subject has been discussed before or not.

We have cruised on Marina a few times and enjoyed all the speciality restaurants and now feel we would miss them by going on a R class ship again. Now we are considering a voyage on Sirena. We are aware of the specialty restaurant options on this particular ship but would like to know if any of you have experienced them versus the O class ship. Eg. Is the noon hour Jacques menu in the grand dining room available each day and same or different as dinner one on the Marina/Riviera?

Any feedback on the other Sirena specialities would be appreciated.

There are many threads on this if you do a search on Sirena

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The menu online for Jacques looks more of a Cafe type dishes not like the dinner menu on the O class ships

I could be wrong but it seems more casual/rustic dishes to me

I think that is the menu daily for Jacques

Hopefully you will get an answer from someone more helpful

We have not been on Sirena yet

We were on Sirena for two weeks in October.

Polo and Toscana have been combined into the "Tuscan Steak" restaurant. From our perception, more Toscana items are on the menu, but there are plenty of beef choices for the meat eaters.

I have always loved the shrimp cocktail appetizer on the Polo menu, but when I ordered it served in our suite it was totally different. The shrimp were the same but without the sauce that I love. But when DH had dinner in Tuscan Steak with friends and ordered the shrimp cocktail, it was the same one we'd always ordered before. :confused:

The other "original" restaurant is now Red Ginger which was quite good ... and this comes from a couple who have always ranked RG at the bottom of our favorites. (We had dinner with friends one night there who were celebrating a birthday and for once the "Happy Birthday" rendition wasn't embarrassing. In fact, it was quite delightful. They had a unique routine that even for these two classical musicians was most enjoyable.)

The lunch menu in the GDR was from Jacques, but it is limited. I wasn't happy with the "standard" menu, a number of the the dishes being from the dinner menu. I wondered if they reduced the size of the main courses now being offered for lunch, but we didn't try any of them. They DID have a "specials" blackboard at the entrance to the GDR which had daily specials. And we did try those.

Bear in mind that the regular GDR dinner menu does have a few of Jacques' dinner selections on the menu. We did not find a different one each night. They tended to alternate, or even sometimes be offered two nights in a row.

Two dishes that I remember as being frequently available were the 5 Peppercorn Steak (fabulous, I had it several times) and also a Prawn dish. I forget exactly what it was and we didn't try it.

I personally can be a Luddite and in this case I would wish that they had kept the two specialty restaurants as they were (even though Toscana was never our favorite) and provide choices from RG and Jacques at dinner.

I for one was definitely not happy with having a "set" menu for most of the lunch selections, even though Jacques has been my favorite restaurant on Marina. We have always liked the changing menu, and that wasn't the case in October.

Of course, we still have the option of going to Terrace if we want varied selections...

It is what it is! At least for now ...

Mura

We enjoyed the Jacques lunch menu very much. Normally we eat lightly at Waves or the Terrace so lunch in the GDR was a calorie splurge. The menu offerings were bistro like with very good sandwiches, salads, pork, beef, chicken, fish. The lunch meat entrees had some different seasonings compared to Jacques dinner. They also served daily specials that corresponded with the entrees in the Terrace Grill. Definitely the best lunch at sea we could ever imagine.

We enjoyed Tuscan Steak very much as we love Toscano and Polo. RG was fine but not our favorite.

The GDR dinners were the best ever on Oceania. Food was beautifully presented, seasonings and preparation were excellent. The menus were standard Oceania.

We sailed on Sirena this summer, and I posted a review which included our opinions on the restaurants. Most of the Sirena cruise reviews discuss the restaurant options, since they are different from the other ships. Suggest you check them out.

We did back-to-backs on Sirena in June.

Obviously everyone's idea of what is good and bad is different, but many I talked to agreed that the revamping of Toscana and Polo is a mstake.

The Toscana "experience" is completely gone - as is that of Polo although less so.

Tuscan Steak has a most unwelcoming decor compared with the previous restaurants, and the faux wood flooring combine with bright lighting to provide a backstreet diner effect. The menu is a pale reflection of the other two, with many favourites disappearing.

Red Ginger has never held any attraction and to dispense with (especially) Toscana just doesn't work for us.

Jaques lunchtime menu in the MDR is perfectly adequate: after all you usually don't want to have a blow-out at midday, but I do wonder what is the value of the change.

Going to an R ship is a trade off...there are still plenty of great meals and dining options,. O ships class is twice the size and its a different feel altogether.

Better ambiance and space on R class and just a different feel a trade off both have their strong points

We never liked Toscana... heavy oily, starch pasta cheese. Never figured out the fascination with Italian cooking.

Loved Red Ginger Love the Terrace and Main dining room...

There is still plenty of options to keep you more than busy...far more than any other line that I know for quality of that level.