We chose this cruise due to the itinerary since it focused heavily on Italy’s west and east coast. We had cruised Oceania three years ago seeing the Mediterranean. The Sirena was still fresh and beautiful from her refit in May. Love the new decor in the staterooms. We had a concierge balcony which was a guarantee. Oceania was oversold on this cruise and offered us an upgrade to a penthouse and on board credit to sail in November on another itinerary which would have meant we had to change flights as well as cancel tours. We didn’t accept the offer. We were placed in the same concierge balcony we reserved and were on the starboard side all the aft next to an Owners Suite. The balcony had an iron facia that covered up a small part of our view to the right looking aft, but it wasn’t anything we couldn’t live with or obstructed the view unless looking directly outside.
We boarded in Venice, Italy and had one night on the ship in Venice before sailing. We went into Venice three days early and stayed at the JW Marriott before boarding the ship. The Venice Film Festival was taking place while we were there so traveling to the port to board the ship meant transportation was more challenging. We opted for the private boat transfer at the hotels recommendation for 90 euros. A beautiful wooden boat pulled up to the hotel and whisked us away to the port. We pulled in literally right next to where the attendants were checking luggage in. We were escorted inside the cruise port and walked up to the concierge lane. It was nice to have expedited checkin while seeing other Oceania passengers in line. Even better was the Ponant Cruise line was in port also. All their guests were standing in one long line. I can’t believe they allowed their customers to stand in long lines waiting to checkin and register with the staff.
We boarded around 3:00 pm as we wanted to spend time at the hotel since we paid $450 per night to stay there. Our room was ready upon arrival. Our luggage arrived about an hour after we boarded. We immediately went to eat a late buffet lunch. We sat outside since the restaurant was aft.
Cabin redo was beautiful with whites and blues. Room was spacious and plenty of storage. Bath has a shower that looked very small but when using was large enough without hitting my arms at 5’10. Plenty of warm water, toilet worked with no malfunctions and room temp was very good. The bed was oh so comfortable.
Wandered the city On foot.
Wandered the city and visited the ancient amphitheater
Took train to Rome and wandered the city.
Ok stop. Glad I visited San Marino being a single independent country within Italy. Got a passport stamp for San Marino while there
Did this tour the next morning after we arrived. Was four hours tour but informative and enriched our experience and time in Venice so much.