Sirena Review

4.5 / 5.0
285 reviews

Great Dining and Service - Rest Below Expectations

Review for the South Pacific Cruise on Sirena
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philippi666
2-5 Cruises • Age 70s

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Additional details

Sail Date: May 2017
Cabin: Penthouse Suite

My wife and I took the 10 night South Pacific Cruise from Papeete to Papeete. The embarkation process was a breeze, with smiling and helpful crew members guiding us all the way. We had to kill time in the buffet restaurant till our Penthouse Suite (see review below) was ready, but the wait wasn't too long. Our butler was professional and helpful.

The food and service in the main dining hall were excellent. The waiters were very friendly and open to suggestions about future menus. The dining hall transformed into Jacques Bistro for lunch, with a different and innovative menu every day. The desserts and the escargot were especially yummy. The buffet restaurant had a wide selection for breakfast, but we could hardly experience it, because of the inexplicable opening times of 7.00 am and even 7.30 am. (Most cruise lines start breakfast service at 6.00 am or 6.30 am). Considering that we had to report for most shore excursions by 7.45 or 8.00 am, the late breakfast timings made no sense at all. We were forced to eat limited choice room service breakfast on our tiny and uncomfortable dining table. The speciality restaurants, Tuscan Steak and Red Ginger were outstanding.

The nightly entertainment was way below par, considering Oceania advertises itself as a luxury cruise line. There was an average Australian singing duo and a so so comedian who were repeated almost every alternate night. The only one good show was about the golden oldies. Also there was only one set at 9:30 pm. Considering that half the passengers finished dinner by 8.00 pm, this entailed an unnecessary and boring wait. Deeply disappointing.

Cabin Review

Penthouse Suite

Cabin PH2

Although labeled a Penthouse Suite, it was really just a slightly larger veranda cabin with a large shower stall and no bathtub. The "dining table" was so tiny that one could either fit the serving dishes or the dining plates, but not both. My wife and I ordered room service breakfast a few times; and it was very uncomfortable. The television was only slightly larger than a computer monitor and of much inferior quality. Definitely not HD, as one finds on other cruise lines - and a very limited choice of channels. We had a butler who was professional and obliging, but only available part of the time. Considering the hefty premium we paid for this so-called suite, we felt somewhat cheated.

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